#PIDGE:\ file \ ic

[sylvabled]

‘ just focus on my voice. that’s it. you’re okay. we’re okay. ’

soft family things ★ ( accepting! )

         The last time she had a  NIGHTMARE  or  NIGHT TERROR  were the weeks following the first few battles in space, giving time for the stress to break her down.  Now with nearly  three months  under her belt, it all piled up; as it usually did.   DISGUSTINGLY VIVID  pictures in her head wouldn’t stop, nothing she could do except  watch.  Everything felt as if it went on forever until being woken up by Shiro gingerly shaking her.  Jolting awake, Pidge sat up holding onto him.  Coming back to consciousness, she realized  TWO THINGS:  she’d been screaming, evident to the scratchiness in her throat, and crying, with her cheeks covered with dry trail marks.  Those  god awful  images were recent enough to break her again.  Letting the tears flow again, she curled up against Shiro, clutching the blankets as he calmly shushed her through the worst of the aftermath.

       [ USER:\ @moonfavored​ ]

[phoenixyfriend]

Dry Martinis and Ice-Cold Beers

Chapter 4: Night-Night

It's always so satisfying to see the death of an amoral megacorp.

Alternatively known as: God I hope there aren't any plot holes that I forgot to fill.

Final chapter!

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Break Through

Break Through - Kidge Month Day 8 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: Third part that goes along with these: [One, Two]. With leads and intel running out, Keith and Pidge take a break from their Garrison investigations to grab a bite and maybe raise their spirits. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more.

She dragged one hand through her hair and let out a loud, infuriated growl. "How are they doing this?" Her voice came out more as a screech than a shout, which caused her partner to wince a bit. A part of her said she should feel guilty, but the much larger part of her was just pissed. “There’s no way that they’ve upped their security this much in less than two months! I shouldn’t be running into this much trouble trying to track down files!”

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We’ve already had smaller breaks in this whole thing," He said, a bit of frustration starting to tinge the edge of his words. He pushed another pin into the cork board they used with more force than necessary, clearly trying to keep a handle on his own irritation.

She glared at him over her shoulder, reaching up to push her hair out of her face. "We've been at this for five weeks and we've gotten almost nowhere!"

He glared back at her before indicating her laptop with one hand. "We know there's a missing audio file; that's a huge step in the right direction!" He glanced back at the cork board to verify where they pin had been placed. It was covered in a maps and photos, with pieces of colored yarn attaching each map to its corresponding photo. She could see the familiar spark of determination in his dark eyes as he observed all they’d discovered so far. "It's only a matter of time before we find it."

She scoffed, feeling no where near as certain as he did. "Unless they completely wiped the hard drive. They wouldn't want potentially damning evidence like that just sitting pretty for someone with a little bit of hacking skill to find. It's a huge liability that they can't afford," She grumbled, closing her laptop and shoving it aside. For as much as she wanted to keep going, a part of her felt so tired. She’d been working tirelessly since two and a half weeks ago, when she’d first found the clue in some confidential emails that there was a final audio log picked up from the Kerberos mission. “The Garrison is run by a bunch of assholes, but they’re clever assholes, Keith.”

Keith stared at her before sighing, setting his hands on his hips and looking down at his boots. "Maybe we need a break to help clear our heads. We can get some food or something,"He suggested, lifting his gaze again to look at her. She didn’t look over at him, though, and instead decided to focus on the tiny hole starting to appear in the old socks she was wearing. "Wanna go to the new Denny's they opened up?"

"Whatever," She sighed, stretching her legs out and getting up.

She toed her sneakers on while she pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail, wanting to just get it over with. Her stomach roiled quietly, clearly thrilled at the idea of food, but she didn’t want to yet. She wanted to stay and work more, try to find an answer. If it was there, surely she could find it with a little more time! But no, just because she was feeling a little frustrated, Keith decided they needed to stop any progress! Did he just not care about the fact that the Garrison was spitting outright lies about what had happened to Shiro, Matt and her Dad? She’d noticed he seemed more interested in whatever strange energy reading he’d been tracing through the desert.

She was silent the whole ride to Denny’s staring at the window, stewing in her resentment at Keith for dragging her out.

Despite it being well after midnight, there was a modest crowd at the restaurant. Not enough people that it looked like they’d need to worry about waiting long for service, but certainly more than she’d been anticipating. Normally when they felt the need for post-dinner-pre-breakfast pancakes, they were the only diners in the place. They had to wait a moment while the server dropped some drinks off at one table before being greeted properly.

He offered them a small smile. He seemed a bit tired, but the smile was still genuine. "Good evening. Just two for you?" He asked as he reached to grab two menus.

"Yes, please. Thanks," Keith said gently. They were led to the dining room and were given a corner booth, with an empty booth between them and another pair of dinners. Pidge immediately scooted in as far over she could, glaring out the window again. While she did that, Keith ordered their drinks and opened his own menu. "You know, sitting there and pouting won't accomplish anything, Katie."

She looked over and glared harder, miffed to find he hadn’t even lifted his eyes from the page to address her. "Maybe if I was at my computer I'd be able to do something,"

"Patience yields focus, you know," He commented casually, tilting his head a bit as he looked over an item. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his words and how completely cliche they were. Where had he heard that from, she wondered. The server returned with their drinks and then headed off again at Keith saying they needed more time. She pulled her own drink over and took a sip, unsurprised at the taste of Dr. Pepper. He knew her so well. "Hmm. If I order some mozzarella sticks, would you have some?"

"Where did you hear the hoakey nonsense?" She asked as she stirred her ice with the straw.

He looked confused, finally tearing his gaze from the menu to look at her. "Well, I'm not hungry enough to eat a full meal and a whole order of mozzarella sticks on my own. Plus, I know you like them, too, so it just made sense to ask,"

"What? No, not about the mozzarella sticks," She said, taking another sip before opening her own menu. She may as well figure out what she wanted for herself, too. "That thing you said just now, about patience and what not?"

"Patience yields focus?" He repeated, clearly confused.

"Yeah, that. Where did you hear that from?"

"Oh, Shiro used to say it all the time, when I'd get pissy about stuff with the Garrison. It... It's helped me a lot through this whole situation, remembering what he said back then," He admitted, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. He tore his gaze down, swiped up his water, and started chugging it, as if trying to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"Oh," She trailed off, looking away for a moment before looking back over at him. And, this time, she really looked at him. She had enough time of knowing him to be able to read his subtle gestures. One hand was gripping his water like he was trying to shatter it, the other drumming along the table. His eyes had returned to fix on the menu, but they weren’t registering the words on the page, cloudy with pain. Her own heart lurched, knowing that look and that pain all too well. She looked back down at her drink as shame swallowed her whole. "I'm sorry."

He perked up in surprise and looked at her, blinking rapidly to recompose himself. "For what?"

"You're going through all of this junk, too, and sometimes I forget that. I need to be more aware that I'm not going through this all alone, that you’re trying just as hard as I am,” She admitted, peeking up at him as she spoke.

"It's okay; it's not like I don't occasionally forget myself," He said, offering her a small half-smile in return. Some of the shame wiped away and she squared her shoulders a little bit more as he returned his attention to the menu, turning the page and looking at the dinner options. "When we get back to the house, we should watch a movie or something. Oh, or we could listen to music and just veg out."

“You mean like we used to do on the Garrison roof?” She laughed.

“Yeah, only way better, because we can play the music as loud as we want,” He said with a sly smirk.

“Yeah, but can you even get your stereo up there? Since, you know, you don’t just use streaming sites like the rest of modern society,” She teased, peering over the different breakfast options. She wanted the mozzarella sticks, but pancakes also sounded really good.

He laughed back and took another, smaller sip from his water. “Oh, please! Your streaming sites are only good when you have internet connection. Having a physical copy of the album to use is a great approach; especially with bands or albums that are particularly great,” He retorted.

She opened her mouth to respond before a thought occurred to her, causing her to gasp. “Keith, you genius!” She squealed, reaching across the table to grab his face and pull him closer.

He looked stunned and stared back at her, blinking slowly, before chuckling. “Ah, made you see the light of day?”

“No, what you just said! That it’s good to have a physical copy of something, in case you can’t access it otherwise! That would also be a great approach when dealing with sensitive materials, such as classified files from a computer? Burning a physical copy to keep tucked away somewhere safe, so that you still have a record of it, to maybe assure that people snooping around on your computer can’t find it?” She pressed further, lowering her voice as she spoke her last few words, not wanting to risk being overheard. They hadn’t encountered anyone from the Garrison in their time off base, but she was still a fan of being safe rather than sorry.

He sucked in a quiet breath, eyes widening. “It’s a huge liability they can’t afford, but they also can’t risk not having it, in case of the higher ups wanting it,” He breathed out.

“Exactly,” She hummed, letting go of his face and slumping back in her seat. Her lips turned up in a grin. “Celebratory mozzarella sticks?”

“Fuck it, let’s go all out. Celebratory mozzarella sticks and celebratory milkshakes,” He said with a smirk of his own.

[stuffandnosense]

Never Ending: Message in a Bottle (Part 4)

So everyone over @altean-plance-au is still doing their thing, and the recent updates have been fantastic (a couple of which I still need to catch up on), and thanks to them and also my friends at the Pidgance Positivity Discord I finally managed to get back to this, and I’m really excited about my plans for it going forward. ;) I hope you enjoy the new chapter! 

Never Ending Oneshot  |  MiaB Part 1  |  MiaB Part 2  |  MiaB Part 3

***

“Almost every single one of these video files has a name - like a real name, not just a number or something. AND they’re color-coded into topics,” Lance observes, as they flip through the file folder on the screen in his room. “Why does that not surprise me?”

“Because you know me,” Pidge smirks. “Just because the log was your idea doesn’t mean I’d have let you get away with doing it without some basic organization. What are we, animals?”

She’s expecting a laugh at that, but when she glances at him his face has fallen, and she realizes she made a mistake in her attempt to make a joke.

Too soon, she thinks. Too soon to be identifying with the people in these videos completely, even for a joke. Lance has come around enough since earlier to agree to watch these videos with her, but he is still confused. Still scared, even, maybe.

“S-Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean…”

Lance blinks and shakes his head. “No, I know; you were just being funny. It’s fine. Ignore me.”

Pidge lets her hand fall away from the screen “We don’t have to do this right now, you know. We could wait a little longer.”

He smiles. “It’s okay, Pidge, really.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable; are you sure—?”

“Pidge!” He grabs her hand and tugs her back to sit facing the huge screen they’d set up in here phoebs ago for the game console they bought at the space mall. “I mean it, come on,” he chuckles. He points the Altean remote-like thing at the display. “I guess we should just start at the beginning? What ARE these categories anyway?”

“One looks like messages to specific people; those we’ll skip. Otherwise, looks like…” Pidge squints at the screen. “General Logs, Altean History & Culture, Nonsense Logs - of course - and oh, neat, what’s Project Window? There’s also a Miscellaneous tag, because you have to have one of those.”

“You’re enjoying this too much already and we haven’t even started.”

She smirks at him, and then he comes to the end of the long list. The last several files aren’t named, or color-coded, and she frowns.

“What is it?” Lance asks.

“Nothing…” She tells herself it doesn’t have to mean anything, and steals the remote from Lance. “Come on, let’s pick up where we left off in the first general log I guess.”

“Hey give it back!”

***

Nonsense Log 2: Or, I knew this would probably devolve into Feed Funniest, and I was right.

“What are you doing?” Pidge turns on the recorder as Lance floats past her upside down - not that direction really matters in here. He’s trying to use bits of unfrozen water to propel himself across the space, but the stream keeps coagulating into clumps.

“Practicing. I’ve never used my powers in zero gravity before; it’s harder to keep it liquid when it otherwise wants to freeze, and it keeps, you know, acting like things in zero gravity do…”

He freezes a large ball of the water to grab onto to stop himself spinning, but with no anchor he just goes spinning away with the ice ball in his grasp.

Pidge giggles at his shriek. “You need to stay tied to the side!”

“That’s not going to help me figure out how to operate somewhere with zero-g that doesn’t have walls…!” Lance and his ball of ice bounce off the inside of the sphere; he unfreezes the water and pushes off from the wall with it to send himself back to her.

Pidge catches his arms as he gets closer; he’s still somewhat out of control, but at least he ended up relatively where he seems to have wanted to go.

“Well that was better,” she gives him, pulling him into the nest with her.

“Of course it was.” He winks and kisses her cheek.

“Since when did you like training?”

Lance feigns offense. “Excuse me; I’ve matured enough to recognize its’ merits, thank you very much. I wouldn’t be the skilled bodyguard or the master of my abilities I am without it.”

Pidge grins wickedly at that, and extends a pair of vines to shove him back out of the nest. “Oh? Show me what you’ve got, then.”

A glob of water hits her in the face as she emerges from the nest; Lance’s laugh echoes off the frozen walls of their life boat.

“You’re on.”

***

On venturing out for food they ask Allura what Feed Funniest would have meant, after seeing it in one of the log titles.

“Oh, the Feed was merely a...network of messaging and content channels, really. Those used by everyone. There were many, but that was the collective name for it. Feed Funniest was a channel used to compile humorous entries.”

Lance blinks at her. “It was social media.”

Pidge shrugs as she pulls a spoon from a drawer. “I mean, people are people everywhere, and Altea was a technologically advanced society. That makes sense; why wouldn’t they have had a way for people to collectively communicate?”

“Altea had social media!”

Allura seems confused. “Social media?”

Pidge smirks as she nudges a shell-shocked Lance out the kitchen door. “Don’t worry about it; he’ll adjust.”

“Pidge, Altea had social media!”

“I heard her, Lance.”

***

Project Window Entry 1: Or, I really hope this doesn’t get us killed.

“So we’ve decided that we can’t just sit here,” Pidge says. Her fingers fly over the projected keypad from the computer as it records them. A vine curls out from the wall of the sphere, wrapped around her waist to hold her in place as she runs her calculations.

“This one computer we have does have limited comm and scanning abilities, but the scanners won’t reach outside the sphere, and the comms barely will. We might be able to detect signals from ships close enough, but we definitely wouldn’t be able to tell what kinds of ships they were. If we want to have a chance of detecting and reaching out to a friendly ship and being rescued rather than captured or killed...we need a way to know for sure.”

Lance is floating over her shoulder, examining a section of the wall.

“Lance?”

“What?” He glances down at her and the computer. “Oh, right. What should I…?”

“Just tell the log what you told me.” Pidge grins, teasing but anxious. “You’re the one who wanted to record things.”

“Right…” He sighs. “We need to open a section of this wall so we can see out, but seeing as we’re floating in space we can’t just...do that. But there are several layers of plants, and I think if we replace them one by one with ice in this one spot, we can get all the way through. And even though it’ll be several layers, and they’ll need to be thick, I think with my powers I can make them clear enough for us to still be able to see enough for it to make a difference.”

Pidge is nodding. “It’ll end up acting like a magnifying glass, but at least we’ll be able to tell the difference between a Galra ship and one that might actually want to rescue us. And the magnification might actually help in some cases, too.”

“We have to be sure everything stays sealed while we do this, though. Quiznak, why did I even have this thought…?”

“It was a good thought! We can do it. I can make sure we don’t decompress; the plants will warn me if we’re in danger. We just have to treat it like an airlock.” The computer pulls away from her as she asks a vine to reach out and take it while they work.

Pidge offers Lance a reassuring smile. “Detail work is what you do.”

“Usually the life or death involved isn’t quite so direct…”

She tugs him to her and kisses him. “How’s that for motivation?”

Lance smiles back softly as he holds her against him for a moment. “I guess I did tell you we weren’t done, didn’t I?”

“We’re not,” she whispers into his cheek. Around them the glowing plants that light their lifeboat shine off the ice that seals it; the beauty still surprises her every morning she wakes. “If we made this place, we can do anything. We’re not dying in here.”

Log 5: I was going to delete, but Lance said not to; people need to understand what Zarkon did.

Pidge affixes the wrist computer to some vines beside the fruit basket woven into the sphere’s side, making it easier to begin recording as she pokes Lance’s resting form under the moss blankets in their nest bed.

“Lance? You awake?” Nothing, at first, but his breathing isn’t even in sleep. “Lance?”

“...I’m awake.”

“We need to work on this window; if we take too long, our allies could give up looking for survivors. If they’re even doing that, but anyway.”

His shoulders tense, and he still doesn’t turn over to face her. “Not right now, Pidge...”

“Are you okay? I’m still a little tired, too. Maybe you’re right; we could just record today. Maybe go over whatever we can remember from our history classes or something...whatever we can do, you know? You weren’t wrong; I guess it is a good idea to get down as much as we can about Altea somehow…”

Lance shifts under his blankets and pulls them up around his ears. “Not right now,” he repeats hollowly. Drops of liquid float over his shoulder, glinting in the glow of the bioluminescent plants, and Pidge’s chest clenches.

“Lance…” She gets a quiet sob in answer, and her own throat clogs. “I’m...I’m sorry.”

Having only just woken up herself, she doesn’t know how long he’s been awake. She does know there have been moments she’s woken up in the night, too, paralyzed. Moments when all she could do was miss her family. And Lance was there.

She leans over him and wraps her arms around him, slipping back under the moss to pull him close and let his tears soak her shoulder rather than floating away. Lance clings to her like a lifeline. They are each others’ lifelines. They are all they have left.

“It’s okay...we don’t have to do anything today,” she whispers. With a flick of her wrist, she turns the computer off with the tip of a vine.

***

Lance pauses the computer’s playback before the next log can start. His arms are wrapped tightly around his chest in the dim castle bedroom.

“Lance…?”

He swallows. “I...I still don’t know if there’s a whole other family I should be mourning, or…”

Pidge loops an arm around his shoulders and rests her head against his arm, because she isn’t sure what else she can do. He lets her, for a moment or two, but in the end he extracts himself gently from her grip and gets shakily to his feet.

“You want to take a break?” she asks.

“Yeah…”

The break lasts longer than either of them planned; Voltron is dispatched on a rescue mission almost immediately after returning to Galra headquarters.

***

“Lance…? Lance, are you okay?”

The cool castle wall presses into his forehead where he’s leaned into it. They must have returned from the shield station half a varga ago or more, but he hasn’t even made it out of Red’s hangar.

Hunk is hovering over him and Pidge is kneeling beside him, clutching at his arms and looking up at him with so much concern and…

When did he end up on his knees?

“I...I don’t...know…”

Lance…! LANCE! Pidge is screaming in his memory, but it isn’t HIS memory.

Hunk gets down on his knees with them, a hand rubbing at Lance’s back. He can’t feel it much through his armor, but the weight is welcome.

“What...what happened out there?” he asks. “I know I didn’t have time to ask before; everything was kind of going nuts. I’m sorry, man…”

“I-it’s okay, I know, I…” He shakes his head, trying to clear the buzzing from it. He was fine, he was fine, but then it hit him all over again.

“I know you saved Allura,” Hunk says, somewhat in awe. “That was...that was…”

“Stupid,” Pidge swallows.

“I was gonna say BRAVE…”

Lance snorts quietly. “Pidge is probably more right, but i-if I hadn’t…”

Allura would be dead. With no one to bring her back.

Like he’d been dead.

He’d been dead.

He died.

There are arms around him now. Hunk and Pidge pressing into him from both sides, wrapped around him. He’s shaking and he doesn’t know when that started.

“Lance? Buddy!”

“Lance!”

“I died,” he gasps. “I...just for a minute. Allura brought m-me back. Re...st-started my heart and healed me, I guess, I...I mean I guess it’s not really that different than like a defibrillator or something bringing me back, it wasn’t that long b-b-but I still…”

Pidge’s breath puffs against his neck. “What!”

“Oh man…” Hunk trails.

Their arms tighten around him but Lance doesn’t mind. He needs the touch. He needs to feel like he’s still here when his mind won’t stop racing.

“It’s okay,” Pidge is saying. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” It sounds like she’s saying it as much for herself as for him.

“I know,” he breathes. “I know.”

Over and over he feels the charge hit him. It HURT...so much. And maybe it was while he was screaming and maybe it was...after...but…

She was reaching for him. The vision. The...memory. It was a memory. Pidge screaming his name. Reaching. Or clinging to him? So much like she is now but...not this Pidge. And she was...

“Older,” he says aloud.

“What?” Hunk asks.

Lance sits up straighter. “She was older.”

“Who was?” Pidge asks.

He gets to his feet, maybe too quickly, reaching out for the wall for balance as his head spins. “You. I think. When what happened out there happened, I...saw something. Like we did in your hanger. Sort of. When we touched that energy.”

Where is Allura?

“I think she and Coran are still with Shiro; they wanted to make sure he was okay after whatever happened to him out there,” Pidge says.

“I asked that out loud?”

“Yeah...” Hunk says warily.

“Sorry, I’m just...ugh.” Lance winces as he finds Pidge’s hand and squeezes it. “I need to see something. Come on. Hunk, can you uh...can you find Allura and Coran? Get them to meet us in my room? If they’re done checking up on Shiro I mean.”

“Sure?”

“Thanks, man.”

Pidge follows him as he tugs her from the hangar, but her fingers are rubbing his worryingly as she clutches his hand in return. “Lance, what’s going on?”

He still feels...unsteady. And not because Allura didn’t heal him well enough. Physically he’s fine; it’s only the mental and emotional toll of what happened that’s making him shaky, he’s almost sure. But even through the fading tremors he has a purpose as he pulls her through the corridors.

“You’ll see.” He turns on the large screen when they reach his room, and starts scrolling through the log files to get to the end.

Pidge reaches out to still his hands. “What are you doing? I thought we weren’t skipping.”

She says it as the door opens again, Allura, Coran, and Shiro on Hunk’s heels.

“What? What’s going on?” the princess asks, echoing Pidge from moments ago. “Lance? Are you all right?”

He looks back at her and smiles. “I think so. Now. I...look, Allura, I know you and Coran have been watching these logs too, and...I know you haven’t wanted to get to the end, and I know why. But...I don’t think we have to be afraid of it anymore.”

Allura swallows. “How do you know?”

Lance winces. “What happened out there...I saw something. It was a memory; I know it was. And...I mean it wasn’t exactly the greatest kind. I don’t know what happened to them later. But what I saw, Pidge was older. Maybe ten or twenty years older, Allura. I don’t think they died in that sphere.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The last couple of files are so aren’t named,” Pidge says, her voice cracking.

He knows they don’t want to question him just to question him. Allura and Pidge are both looking at him, and they’re just afraid, and he understands. What if something went wrong finishing the window? What if they finished it, but no one came? He’d been thinking the same things. But...

“I know what I saw. I know it was a memory.” He looks from Allura to Pidge. “Can you trust me?”

***

Log 6: Or, We may be crazy but that’s okay

Lance is already recording when Pidge wakes up. She squints up at the light from the wrist computer’s projected screen.

“Why are you recording me sleeping?” She seems to be trying to sound disgruntled, but she can’t hide her smile.

“Because you’re beautiful in the light in here.”

“It’s still weird,” she smirks.

Lance leans down to nuzzle her cheek. “Hush. I only just turned it on.”

She yawns, stretching, and settles her arms around his neck as he floats just above her in the lack of gravity. “All right...what are you up to?”

He flips through the files. “You didn’t tell me you had music on this thing.”

“Not much...just some instrumental stuff I use when I’m working sometimes.”

Lance pushes himself back, hanging the computer on a vine and pressing play on a file before he floats away from the nest. A soft ballad drifts through the chill air.

“Come on,” he says. He holds out a hand, smiling. “Dance with me.”

Pidge laughs. “In zero gravity?”

“Hey, I can’t trip on your feet.”

She huffs in amusement as she pushes back the moss blankets and drifts to the edge of the nest. Lance wiggles his fingers at her to beckon, and her expression softens as she reaches out to take his hand.

Lance pulls her close, sending them into a gentle spin in the center of the sphere as the music plays from the computer.

“Sorry I kind of put the kibosh on yesterday,” he says quietly.

Pidge shakes her head. “It won’t be the last time one of us needs to do that.” She rests her head against his chest. “We lost...our planet. Everyone…” Her voice catches.

Lance strokes her hair, his face settling into a determined stare at nothing in particular. “We are going to get out of here. We’re going to finish that window, and someone is going to find us.”

“You can’t know that,” she whispers. “But thank you for saying it anyway.”

“We will,” he says again. He nudges her chin until she looks at him. “Because I want to have a life with you. I know it can’t be the same as it would have been on Altea...but I want it.”

“Zarkon will be looking for us. For any Alteans left. Anyone who was off-planet.”

“So we find them before he does.”

“More than that,” she says suddenly. “If we get out of this, we have to fight back.”

Lance is quiet for a moment, but at the certainty in her eyes, he nods. All he wants is for her to live, for anyone left to be safe, but…

“If that’s what you want, I’ll be by your side.”

***

Lance pulls up the last log file, from what must have been weeks after the last one they watched, and Pidge’s face fills the screen. The Altean version of her face.

It’s still so strange to see it, even though they’ve been watching these logs for a couple of days now. It still sends a strange shock through her stomach, sometimes. But Lance slips an arm around her shoulders, and it grounds her.

This time only the soft glow from the screen illuminates Pidge’s doppelganger; behind her the sphere is nearly dark. The plants are dying.

She looks so tired, her breath visible in the air, but her eyes are alight.

“Trigel’s people have found us! Not a moment too soon...another few quintants and…” She shakes her head. “They’re going to fire an escape capsule into the side of the sphere to get us out safely. We’ve weakened the wall just enough; they should be able to lodge the hatch end inside without decompressing our atmosphere.”

Her excitement fades. “They’ve told us the Paladins are gone...all of them. Even without the lions they fought to save Altea, but...and-and no one knows where the castle is, or who was still on it when it left.”

The Pidge on the screen swallows. Over her shoulder Lance floats into view, and he looks just as weak and exhausted, but he’s smiling tiredly as he holds onto her.  

“Allura, if you’re out there…” The Pidge on the screen smiles, too. “I hope we find each other, but if we don’t, if you find this at least…”

“We lived, Allura. And we did everything we could.”

[snprblu72]

Comforter Comfort

Voltron

Keith & Voltron Paladins

Bonding with the other paladins, blanket included.

Also posted on AO3.

Shiro was the first person he ever allowed himself to get close enough to for him to feel comfortable curling up near on the couch. It was during the spring break at the Garrison his first year there. With his father gone and his foster family not having planned for him to join them on their vacation, he had thought he would have to stay in the dorms. However, when Shiro found out about that, he had insisted that Keith spend the week with him. That was how they ended up on a ratty, but comfortable, couch with the TV playing an ancient episode of some documentary on an ancient civilization. He guessed it was interesting enough.

He slowly scooted down a bit further and stretched his legs out of the curl he normally preferred. They were going to be there a while considering what his mentor had said about the channel holding a marathon on that particular civilization. Maybe he could catch up on some of the sleep he had missed while studying for midterms. Those had been more difficult than he had expected, but also easier in some ways.

Just as he was on the verge of dozing off, a weight fell lightly against his thigh and he startled slightly. A glance showed that Shiro had beat him to sleep by just a few short minutes. He was not about to wake him just to get him to move. The man had to be even more exhausted than he himself was.

He looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on the blanket on the back of the couch. That was the only thing missing and he slowly grabbed it and shook it out over them. It settled over them and he hurried to uncover Shiro’s head but kept his own knees covered. Once that was finished, he turned his attention back to the documentary. This was such a new development that he would need a bit of time to acclimate, but he would sleep soon enough.

-

He had been co opted by Pidge not that long before when he had stopped to check on them. They were sifting through the data, both scrolling on their laptop and the data pad they had handed him, looking for anything that could indicate that their family was being held somewhere or transported. He could tell that the files he was skimming were death records. Understandable. While they were not giving up hope, the records still needed to be checked for thoroughness.

A bump against his shoulder dragged his attention from the data scrolling before him. Pidge’s arm was outstretched with the blanket they were curled up in, a wordless invitation to join them underneath. He obligingly scooted over and pulled the free edge up over his shoulder, knee to hip pressed up against them and he curled an arm around their shoulders, knocking his temple against their’s comfortingly. They returned to their tasks, both more comforted by the contact.

-

A frown pulled at his mouth as he watched Lance stare out of the window with a rather devastated expression. He turned on his heel and made for his room, returning quickly with his comforter in hand. To announce his presence, he dropped the blanket on the blue paladin’s head, causing him to sputter in indignation while he sank down to sit near him.

“What was that for?”

Keith shrugged in response, settling his chin on drawn up knees. “I miss sundaes.”

Lance quirked a disbelieving eyebrow in his direction even as he curled the comforter over his shoulders, hands fisted in the material even as he rested elbows on knees and propped his chin up.

“There’s got to be some kind of ice cream up here in space. Or maybe we can get Hunk to try making it?” he tried again. When he got no response, he continued as if Lance had answered. “You’re right. Hunk would be the better option. At least we know most of what we’re getting into there. And how do we know that ice cream won’t murderously offend someone up here? Maybe it’s like insulting their mother and not in the funny ‘yo momma’ jokes way either.”

That brought a light chuckle from the cocoon next to him.

“You know ‘yo momma’ jokes?”

“I mean, I went to public school.”

-

Hunk was surprised when Keith wandered into the lounge, blanket wrapped around his shoulders and dragging like an extra long cloak or one of those extremely fancy veils or dresses behind him. If that was not weird enough, he then proceeded to flop on the couch and butt his head up against Hunk’s arm like a cat demanding pets. He was just going to go with it and not think too hard. If he did that, he was only liable to freak himself out.

Eventually, he needed his hand back to continue with the calculations he was working on just to hear a whine from Keith before he was scrambling to perch, sprawled out really, on the back of the couch he was lounging on and resting his forehead against the yellow paladin’s neck, draping the edge of the comforter over Hunk’s other shoulder. Apparently that was how the rest of the evening was going to go. He shrugged, settling Keith in a slightly more comfortable position. At least it was warm.

[braincoins]

Paladin and/or Starlight face off against Sendoff and/or Unerva(or a more clever villain name for a version of Sendak and/or Honvera)

((Well, Dr. Honerva King has already shown up in this universe and I have… plans for her. Though, not gonna lie, “Unnerva” would be a pretty good name for her… Also, I’m calling Sendak “Sendoff” for the rest of my life now. I’m just letting you know that.))

This wasn’t anything he was supposed to be working on. There was the human trafficking ring still operating - he and Starlight had been busting up the actual traffickers, but someone was creating the demand - and he was, of course, supposed to be finding out who Paladin was. He was mostly buying time on that, and quickly burning through excuses Allura would buy as to why her star reporter wasn’t getting his scoop.

But he’d gotten wind of something at Galra, the tech/R&D company that was quickly amassing a lot of power in the city. Everything on the record for the company was legit, almost spotlessly so, and it made him even more suspicious as to how a company that had been in existence for decades could suddenly be worth so much money, suddenly have so much political influence at its beck and call. Dr. Honerva King had been employed by Galra - she had been, in fact, married to the CEO, Zarkon King.

Workers at the loading dock at the back of the building taking a smoke break. He had to be careful. Fortunately, Paladin didn’t need to walk places if he didn’t want to. He waited for them to go back inside; they punched in their code for the back door and opened it. He teleported inside right after them, then teleported down the hallway when they turned at feeling a presence at their backs. 

Jump, jump, jump until he found an alcove to hide in and he paused to catch his breath. He wasn’t truly winded per se, but it was the anxiety of getting caught. He wasn’t used to this yet. He felt a bit more …trapped in here than he did busting up dock crime in old warehouses. But it was still night, and the building should be mostly empty.

He tried to find the lobby, looking for a directory. He wanted to poke around directly in the CEO’s office if he could. But he had no idea what floor he was on, let alone what floor the lobby was on. Zarkon’s office should be on the top floor. I’ll take an elevator up. If nothing else, there should be some top exec’s office I can snoop through.

It would have been nice to be able to teleport straight up, but he didn’t even try. He didn’t know what would happen if he teleported into a desk or a filing cabinet or something. He didn’t think having a bunch of wood or metal where his internal organs were supposed to be would be a good thing. He had to be careful. So, for now, he jumped back to where he remembered seeing a bank of elevators.

He nearly ‘ported right into someone’s chest. He stumbled back. This was a man even taller than he was, big and beefy, and very, very unhappy to see him. He cracked his knuckles with his huge, meaty hands. “Well. And here I thought tonight would be dull.”

“Yeah, I hate nights like that,” he said in reply. “The time just drags.” He was going to teleport away but the man grabbed hold of his left arm. Shit!

And then he was punched in the face. He’d been in the process of turning his head to look at the hand on his arm, or it would have caught him right in the nose. He flopped back, the man’s grip on him tightening. 

Getting away was useless. Theoretically he could teleport without whoever was holding onto him, but he’d never tried it before. He dealt with the situation as it was, as if he had no superpowers to speak of. He ducked as best he could as another left hook came in, and put everything he could behind the punch he leveled at the man’s gut. It helped that it was his right hand, made of metal.

That did it. The man grunted loudly and backed away, his grip loosening enough for Paladin to teleport. He jumped to just behind the guy. “Sorry, but I’ve got to go. You’ll have to go back to jerking off to porn mags.”

The man whirled on him, but he ‘ported away, back to just outside the building. Hmm. I’m going to contact Matt and Pidge, see if their way of getting in might be better. 

He jumped back to the apartment, got some ice for his face, and went online. He sent a message to Matt, then poked around the internet for listed Galra employees.

There he is. He found a picture, part of an article from when Galra first opened. He finally had a name - and a rank - to put to the face: Sendak - Head of Security.

Now why would the HEAD of Security be there in the middle of the night? Why wouldn’t you get some random schmuck to pull third shift?

In the picture, he was standing right next to Zarkon, looking every bit as no-nonsense as he had when he’d come across him on some random floor at some random hour. 

His instincts screamed that something was going on. He frowned and shut the laptop. He had to get some sleep, but he was going to pitch this to Allura in the morning. Perhaps a new story like this would get her off of Paladin’s identity a bit longer, if nothing else. And she had to know he’d keep working it anyway. She’d give in and let him pursue it, open up some discretionary funds so he could pay Matt and Pidge for their cyber-snooping services without it coming out of his own pocket. (Hey, friends still had to eat and pay rent, after all.)

In the meantime, he just wanted to sleep. He was going to have fun coming up with an explanation for his face in the morning.

[hailqiqi]

1, 14, 21, 23 for the end of year asks <3

[Fanfic Ask meme!]

I no longer feel bad for strafing your inbox thank you for the ask!

1. favorite fic you wrote this year

Honestly?  It might be this Coran article and the other pieces I wrote for the abandoned Oasis Fan Magazine (I should really post them). But then Skirting Katabasis is my baby. And I also really like both airport kisses and the cave fic. SUCH A HARD QUESTION.

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

C’mon I only had like three fics planned for the year and have finished none of them. They’re almost all unexpected.

Toss-up between nose-hole crack and Christmas Carol crack-taken-angstily.

21. most memorable comment/review

Ohhh man.  Again, hard. Toss-up between the day @cgf-kat binged Katabasis and reblogged with a massive comment on each chapter in quick succession, a gigantic comment LookMaITypeLikeThis left on Here, and basically every comment @ibupony leaves.

I have so many I want to frame, though.  I think at some point I’ll like pay to get all my fics printed out and bound together in a book, together with the comments on each one.

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

SO. MANY.

No. 1 is the Pidge + Shiro au collab with @octaviainthewasteland.

Then I’ve got the Pidge has Game one-shot, the Umbrella AU (which will be my plance minibang piece), the Kindergarten Sheith Story (oooh I could make that Post-Canon now), the Plance Twin Epic, finish up my ice-skating fic, and also that freaking file called Thigh High Stockings because literally all I can remember about my ideas for that story were the damn stockings and how excited I was to write it. This is why we need outlines, children.

[sylvabled]

one kiss for nath bls ?? :o

five smooches ★ ( not accepting! )

           Public displays of affection were still  foreign  to her, she often got flustered over the  simplest  things, like the thought of even holding hands with another.  Still, the smallest gesture could mean the most to people who dated.  Rejecting him outright was an option, but not one she decided to take.  Her hand intertwined with his as a  CHASTE KISS  was placed on his cheek.  Nothing was said, for there weren’t any need for them. 

           [ USER:\ @drawnred​ ]

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

WIP MEME

Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you, or interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!!

I’m gonna alter the rules and offer up fandom and a couple words of description because I don’t have titles + this might entice people to ask about them! 

send me a number or numbers of the ones that intrigue you and I will leave a small snippet or tell you more about it!

I was tagged by @fallen-angel-nightshade!! thanks!!

***

1. Allura, Romelle and Pidge decide to try a polyamorous relationship (VLD)

2. Hunk as an Alpha and everybody is is Betas and Omegas (VLD)

3. Modern Magic AU with Makoharu (Free!)

4. Shiro fantasizes about Adam, Keith, and Hunk (VLD)

5. Kuron lives and he and Shiro bond while Keith gets thirsty (VLD)

6. Callum and Soren reunite after many yerars (The Dragon Prince)

7. Viktor as Father Frost and Yuuri as the katsura otoko (Yuri on Ice)

8. Klance + snowed in during the holidays (VLD)

9. Yuri and Otabek as kids (Yuri on Ice)

10. Wolfgang, Rajan, and Kala being sweethearts to each other (Sense8)

11. Keith bleeds for Shiro (VLD)

12. Heith + a lot of spiders so many spiders (VLD)

I’m tagging @glove23 @bekasyura @jenarys @merlinsbed @rapha-writes @geekmom13 @clotpolesonly @bisexualmichaelangdon @shelton-devers @queerbycrs @misstchotchke @pledgetoyoumyundyingfidelity to play! (And if you wanna send asks too!)

[hikkibu]

It's been awhile since I last tried to fic but I was inspired to start a klance thanks to @i-write-shakespeare-not-disney I don't even have a title for it but I got a chapter. If I get more of it done I'll probably put it up on ao3. Here we go

What was that god awful noise? Keith tilted his head to look over his shoulder not at all surprised to see Lance rolling around on his bed guffawing so hard he was wheezing. “Louder, the whole campus didn't hear you.” Keith made a face turning back around to his computer intending to finish up his report.

“Dude dude no, look at this!”

“I don’t have time for that Lance!” Lance however didn't give him a chance to refuse, shoving his phone between his nose and computer screen. “What am I looking at?”

“Read it!”

His eyed narrowed in scrutiny and concentration on the picture and text. “’This bread tiny…yeast’. Yes yeast makes bread rise Lance, where's the punchline?”

“Nooo, you gotta say it right! This bread tiny! YEAST!” When Keith continued to stare blankly Lance laughed again smiling wider. “Y'know? Like the meme?”

“What?”

“Oh come on! Yeet! Remember like that one time when Matt threw his water bottle in class and shouted YEET?”

“No?”

“Man Hunk would get it, you're no fun.” Lance fixed the elder teen with a disappointed pout returning to his place on the bed. ‘Then go show Hunk.' Keith grumbled in his head just as a knock came to the door. “It's open!” Lance called.

Before Keith could scold him for inviting god knows who into his room he physically relaxed when he saw Shiro's face pop into the doorway looking in with curious eyes. “What was that sound?”

“Lance existing.” Keith muttered typing away. Admittedly inviting Lance into his dorm room tonight wasn’t his brightest idea, or rather allowing Lance to invite himself in.

Shiro turned his eyes to see the giggling teen curled up quite comfortably on the bed. “Ah, could you exist a little quieter?” Shiro grinned at Lance. “Adam thought someone snuck Kaltenecker into the dorms. Again.” Okay Keith couldn’t hold back the sudden snerk but he covered his mouth knowing Lance was giving Shiro his best indignant huff.

“Okay first of all I totally don’t sound like that, and second check this out!” He grinned with pride holding his phone up.

“Oh god don’t bother him with that crap La-“ He turned around just in time to see Shiro bust out laughing.

“Hahaha! YEAST!”

“YES! See? Shiro gets it!” Of course he would. The two shared a good hearty laugh although Shiro tried his best to straighten up first. Keith gave his brother the most disapproving unamused frown he could muster and rolled his eyes when all he got in return were stupid puppy eyes. He turned back around and saved his file muttering something under his breath along the lines of ‘stupid memes'.

“Well I'm going to turn in. Don't stay up too late. Keith.” It was more directed at Lance but Shiro had noticed the dark circles under Keith's eyes as of late. The younger brother gruffed but nodded. “Goodnight guys.”

“Night.” The both of them echoed. It was some time later the both of them sat up on the bed. Lance was content to watch a steady stream of vines giggling girlishly as Keith sat up at the head reading a book casually when he felt the tug on his pants leg. He didn't need to look away from his page to know Lance had that stupid dopey grin. “What is it Lance?”

“Watch this with me?”

“No I hate vines.”

“It's a meme.”

“That's worse.”

“Keeeiiith~” The answer received was a growl, frown and his complete undivided attention. “Kay. This one's cool.” He wiggled over sitting up next to the other holding his phone up for the both of them to watch. Once the play button was pressed Keith was confused on contact though mostly irritated as a deadpan expression locked in place.

“What are we watching?...”

“Forever spinning kid.” Lance bit his lip trying not to laugh, simple pleasures for the simple minded Keith figured. The beat was actually a little catchy, not that he'd admit that.

He never understood the humor behind the memes and vines Lance had no problem finding. Seriously, vines, how the hell was he finding them? If he was contending to be the most annoying human within a stone's throw he was doing a bang up job. It was like he was addicted to the things, like if he couldn't find them fast enough something bad would happen.

Having been away for some time on break he hadn't been filled in on what all he missed during his absence but noticed the first week back that Lance wasn’t himself anymore, he seemed isolated from everyone. Maybe he was imagining it? Keith pulled his eyes away from the screen watching Lance grin. It had been so long since he saw that smile, it was only until recently that he had become aware that it was missing.

“Funny huh?” He looked back at him so quick Keith had to turn away quickly so he wouldn’t be caught staring.

“I guess.”

“Look, there's others!”

He groaned allowing just one more, then one more, then one more. He was letting him get away with so much more than he used to. Here he was, allowing the descent into madness with the Cuban teen leading the way. He couldn't honestly tell how many hours they spent staying up watching silly videos and before long the stupidity was contagious. When they came across one that made Keith crack a grin or even chuckle, it encouraged the younger and made him laugh that much harder. Huh, seeing Lance happy like this? Well, it was almost worth it. Side by side, with Lance's head on his shoulder they both began to nod off.

“Thanks for watching with me.” Lance murmured out of nowhere.

“Hm?” Turning from the montage of videos Keith looked to find Lance still watching but with a far away look in his eyes as he lowered his hand. “Lance?”

He looked back at his phone chuckling despite feeling like utter crap. “I needed a laugh.”

“That bad?” Keith grinned.

“It's just…the family's been busy with other things and with you gone I haven’t had a chance to laugh with anyone. Guess I kinda just now realized how bad I needed to laugh.”

“Your family?” Damn, he started to feel the ice of guilt start dropping down into his stomach. “Are they alright?”

“What? Yeah no they’re alright!” Lance waved his hands animatedly unable to hold back the smile watching Keith relax in relief. “It's just...no one's called me in forever. They're busy I get that. I know I’m just pitying myself but I just miss them you know? And when you went to see your mom I was happy for you but... I still wanted yo- y-you know, someone to talk to.” Lance hugged himself with a small laugh. Watching the way he pulled his knees up like that made him look smaller somehow. How long had he smiled like that, making everyone think he was okay with that painted smile? Keith knew the difference, he definitely wasn't just imagining it.

“Not even with Hunk?”

“I wish. He's been hanging out with Pidge and Matt and you know I don't understand anything they talk about. It's like they're speaking a whole other language I'm too dumb to understand.”

“You're not dumb.” Keith found himself murmuring.

“I feel like it sometimes.” The laugh was a little hollow, and to be completely honest Keith didn’t like the way it rattled in his chest either. “I don't feel like I’m worth the effort.”

“Not worth the effort?” What was going on?

“I don't know…like, not worth the air I breathe.” Shit.

“Lance, if you're-“

“No I’m not hurting myself.” Lance murmured shutting down the thought before it could get started not seeing the wave of true relief wash over Keith's face. “I just feel so useless and alone.”

“I’m here.” He offered quietly, wetting dry lips nervously. God that was a stupid thing to say but he didn’t know what else he could say. He wasn't good at this, he had no idea how to comfort Lance. He didn’t respond to the words only kept his head down as if studying on them.

Keith hadn’t known he felt that way, hell he didn’t know he could feel that way and he felt like he should have. He wanted to ask where it came from, who made him feel this way, who did he have to hurt for putting him down. Instead just like always he remained silent and mentally kicked himself for not knowing the words to say. “Thanks Keith.” He wasn’t sarcastic, or loud with that ever bright grin of his, but peaceful with the tiniest smile on his lips. “I really mean it. Most people would probably pep talk me or get angry that I feel that way.”

“You're allowed to feel things.” Keith remained where he was letting Lance use his shoulder as a pillow.

“I know, but when I feel rotten like this its comforting to know I got someone like you to help me.”

“Even when I say nothing at all?”

“Especially when you say nothing at all.” His blue eyes began to get their luster back. “Because I know you're listening to me.”

That smile on his lips was his undoing. If Lance's addiction was to laugh, Keith's was his smile, the one smile that reached his eyes. He gave Lance a little nudge with his shoulder. “Come on, I'll do one more video.” And there it was in all its glory. It was a crime for that smile to not exist and if Keith could make Lance that happy he would gladly watch as many of these godforsaken videos until that stupidly goofy smile stayed. He watched the phone come back up and a fresh reel of more videos began to play. It hadn't been maybe five minutes after feeling his own eyes grow heavy that he felt the hand drop.

Violet eyes blinked alert turning to watch the other teen’s peaceful sleeping face. It was already way too late to send him off to his own dorm room is what he told himself when he reached over to turn off the lamp at his bedside snuggling down next to him. The glow of the city seeped through his blinds into the dark space just barely illuminating the walls giving his room an almost surreal feel. The soft subtle warbling of some song on his radio he had turned down earlier that evening now distinctively filled his ears adding to the ambiance their combined silence made.

After giving the room a quick sweep Keith turned to look back at Lance unable to stop the smile. He really had no idea how important he was did he? They hadn't been friends long, they'd known each other almost two years now. At first he found the Cuban teen to be absolutely insufferable due to his mouth and incessant desire to pick a fight whenever they were in the same room together. It wasn't until they were forced to work together on a group project that they began to learn about what really made the other tick, then that grew to tolerance. Tolerance grew to respect, then respect to like, and like to… Keith sighed silently scolding himself. He couldn't help the tugging in his chest when Lance smiled at him now. And he wasn't ready to admit to himself how much he missed him.

He pulled his phone from his limp grasp placing it on the bedside table so it wouldn’t get lost in the blankets and turned back to face him. He let his fingers curiously brush his cheek finding the skin warm. Huh, he wondered if those sunny Varadero summers soaked into his skin in his youth. His eyes flickered to his hair giving it a gentle stroke rubbing the strands between his fingers, soft. Closing his eyes he leaned in very nearly burying his nose into the mop of brown hair. A mix of cocoa butter, coconut and something else, maybe something uniquely Lance. “I'm sorry I'm so mean to you…I’ll try to be nicer, I promise.”

His body tensed up when he felt Lance shift and turn in towards him but relaxed and rolled his eyes with a smirk when let out a series of soft snores.

“That's so you. You'd sleep through a hurricane.” Keith chuckled. Deciding to end his explorations he settled down with him resting their heads on the pillows pulling a blanket over them. “Goodnight Lance.”

[queeniesthoughts]

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into

Summary: Lance is going to get to the bottom of why Keith's been avoiding him.

Crossposted on Ao3

"Hey Pidge," Lance tries to get her attention. "Have you noticed how weird Keith has been lately. Every time I try to talk to him, he mumbles something, and then leaves. He'll stay out until he knows I'll fall asleep to come to the dorm and is gone by morning!" He yells, throwing his hands up and frowns at Pidge's lack of an answer. He was really worried about Keith. While they haven't always been on the best terms, he really thought their relationship was starting to evolve. Last week, Keith let him borrow a pencil in class! Keith never lets anyone touch his stuff! Something about germs or whatever.

Pidge, who was getting annoyed by Lance's constant pacing, decided to give him some advice."If you're that worried, go ask Shiro if Keith has mentioned anything that's happened lately." That was a great idea. If there was something wrong with Keith, then Shiro would definitely know. He thanked Pidge, rushing out the door like his life depended on it. Pidge rolled her eyes. It was obvious to everyone on campus what was wrong with Keith, except Lance that is.

"King of Romance, he calls himself," She snorted, writing down a few notes on her paper." Dumbass can't even control his own love life."

Lance ran down the hall like a madman. He was finally going to figure what was wrong with Keith. If Shiro didn't have the answer to his problems than he was going to do something desperate. Like kidnap Keith and make him tell Lance what was wrong with. Lance just got a manicure that he didn't want to ruin and didn't want to get beat up, so he filed that plan way back in his mind.

Although, he could only imagine the angry blush on Keith's face while yelled out profanities as Lance dragged him along. Keith sure was pretty when he blushed. Now that Lance thought about it, he really loved Keith's blush. Not only that, he loved Keith's smile, his soft black hair that he sometimes tied up into a ponytail, and made Lance want to cry about the sheer beauty that is Keith Kogane. Lance was too busy daydreaming about Keith to notice that the real Keith was turning the corner. Until both of them slammed violently into each other that is.

"Shit!" Keith gasped out. He grabbed out for a source of support but was met with air. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain that was to come.

It never came.

Warm arms wrapped around him. He found himself buried into his Savior's chest. Whoever they were, they smelled heavenly. It was an odd mixture of the ocean and laundry detergent. How can someone manage to smell like the actual ocean? There weren't oceans nearby. An unusual smell but a surprisingly pleasant one.

"Wow Keith, first all you do is avoid me, now you look like you never want to let me go." Joked Lance. He may have looked calm on the outside but the inside he was having a panic attack. Keith was in his arms, Keith had sniffed him, and seemed to like the way he smelled. Bonus points for Lance. He's not sure what do now. Should continue to hold Keith and never let go or detangle himself. He liked the former option. Keith's body fits perfectly with his own. As if the universe knew they were made for each other and made Keith's body specifically to fit Lance's body like a puzzle piece. That analogy sounded complicated but that was Lance and Keith's relationship. Complicated.

Unfortunately, Keith had decided for both of them. He pushed himself out of Lance's arms, moving as far away from Lance as possible. A look of hurt crossed Lance's face. It reminded him of the reason he had crashed into Keith in the first place. He was running to find Shiro because Keith was avoiding him.

"Are you mad at me?" He whispered.

Keith, who all this time was trying to avoid eye contact, snapped his head to look Lance. "No!" He protested. The last thing he wanted was Lance to feel like he was mad at him. He grabbed Lance's hands into his. "No," He said again, this time more softly. Lance looked at their intertwined fingers, feeling his face start to heat up. Keith cleared his throat. "It's just," He started, sounding frustrated. "When we got lost in the woods last week, at first I thought how unlucky I was that of all people, that it was you I got lost with." Lance felt his heart drop. Keith really hated him that much?

Keith dropped his hands to his lap. Lance missed the warmth."But then I got hurt, and you wouldn't leave me, not even to get help." He gave Lance pointed look. "Which was pretty stupid might I add."

"It's not like I could've anyway, we were lost." Lance pouted. He crossed his arms. "Where are you going with this?" He bet you people were staring at them, thinking they were a couple of weirdos. They were sitting in the middle of the floor. He's not sure when he even sat down!

"I don't like many people," Keith coughed. Lance laughed, now it was Keith's turn to blush. " It's especially frustrating, when this guy that you thought you knew, goes and messes up your emotions!"

"Is he talking about me?"

"From that one day, you went from a guy that I'd never be into." Here goes, Keith's heart was pounding, he was going to finally tell Lance how he felt. "To a guy that I kinda be into."

Lance is pretty sure his brain short-circuited right then and there. Maybe he had heard wrong because there's no way, Keith "I'm too cool for school" Kogane liked him. He glanced Keith. The same Keith that Lance fantasizes about every single day. The Keith who had just confessed. The Keith who was probably waiting for an answer. Lance opened up his mouth to tell the black haired boy that he very much returned his feelings.

"So, you avoided me because you couldn't handle the gay feelings for me. Keith, that's not how you get your feeling across." That's totally not what he meant to say. "That smooth, real smooth. Now, Keith was going to take back his confession." He thought. Keith was unimpressed with Lance's lack of brain-to-mouth filter. "Uh, what I meant to say was go on date with me."

Keith wasn't sure what to say. He honestly didn't think he was gonna get this far. He expected Lance to reject him gently, then for both them to spend the rest of their lives awkwardly avoiding each other. Shiro's advice didn't include anything about dates, neither did those self-help books dammit. "Yeah, okay, let's go on date." He stuttered out.

"When you asked me on a date, I didn't think you meant now. I didn't even have time to grab my jacket." Keith mumbled. He hated the winter, it was cold, he constantly slipped on the ice, and overall, he much preferred the summer. Unlike his companion, Lance didn't mind winter at all. Sure, he liked spring more because it wasn't too cold or too hot.

"Oh come on Keith, don't be such a downer. It's our first official date." Lance said taking of his own jacket. He draped it on Keith's shoulders. He was wearing a sweater underneath, so he didn't need it. Plus, he kinda felt bad, seeing as it was his fault Keith was out here with out one. Keith let out a noise of appreciation. He'd forget his jacket a thousand times if it meant he could wear Lance's. It was big on Keith and basically swallowed him whole, but to Keith it was perfect.

"Now where do you wanna go first, the skating rink or maybe that new cafe," Lance paused to think. "Castle of Lions", I think that's what it's called. I don't know why it has a such a weird name, but I'm pretty sure Allura works there and she can give us a friend discount." Lance needed to start paying attention to his surroundings, because for the second time today, Lance smashed into something. Only this time, it was not a person. No, that would be too good for Lance. This time, Lance smashed into a fountain.

He was quickly engulfed in water colder than Pidge's glares when he steals the last of Hunk's cookies. He didn't know if he was glad that water had not frozen over or not. In the end deciding that cold water was better than hard, cold, ice. What had he done to deserve such a cruel fate as this? He was a model citizen, he helped old ladies across the street and most of the time turned in all his homework.

A sound broke his train of thought. This sound caused his chest to tighten. It wasn't like anything had ever heard in his life. His eyes scanned the courtyard to find where the majestic noise was coming from. They landed on Keith. It was coming from Keith. Keith was laughing at him. Not a little chuckle, but full blown laughter.

"I'm sorry," Keith apologized, trying to get his laughter under control and failing miserably. "It's just, how do you WALK into a fountain?!" Keith couldn't help it anymore, Lance looked silly with his long limbs spread in such a tiny fountain. He was now hunching over, amusement all over his face. Lance was sure he was going to fall over.

That moment, Lance made a vow. A vow to make Keith laugh every single day as long as he lived. The world could not go on being deprived of something so wonderful. Keith moved to go help Lance out of the fountain.

"Come on, let's go back to our dorm before you die of hypothermia. We'll drink hot chocolate and watch those trashy drama TV shows you like. " Lance shivered but nodded. He would follow Keith to the end of the Earth.

As they walked back to their room, Lance couldn't stop the grin that split across his face, despite not being able to feel his toes. He's not sure how this development in their relationship is going to pan out. It's going to be a long and weird process. They would figure it out together though because they were Lance and Keith.

[mistyhollowpro]

Log: Communications/1900...05/16/26...42

Pidge: Hey Matt! You there?

Matt: That I am, sis!

Pidge: How is it up there?

Matt: It’s so awesome! Really Pidge! I wish you could be up here to see it with me. 

Pidge: I wish I could too. Make sure you bring me back some souvenirs!

Matt: Don’t know how the Garrison would feel about that...

Pidge: Right, because us talking while you’re on your way to Kerberos is totally not going against the rules.

Log: Communications/1403...05/28/26...54

Pidge: You got there, right???

Matt: Yep! Oh man, Pidge! We’re the first humans on Kerberos! We did it!

Pidge: I’m so excited for you guys! You’re taking lots of pictures, right?

Matt: That and then some! All of the files are going back to the garrison. Tomorrow we get to start excavating some of the ice for samples to bring back to Earth. This stuff is so delicate.

Pidge: Is it like muscovite?

Matt: Sort of, but I think it’s even more brittle. We have to look for really strong filaments before we we can set up a base and start drilling, or else who knows? Maybe we’ll end up at the center of the Earth?

Pidge: You’re such a nerd. By the way, not on Earth. 

Log: Communications/2100...05/29/26...55

Pidge: Matt? Matt, you’re there, right?

Pidge: Matt, please tell me you’re there!

Log: Communications/0200...05/30/26...56

Pidge: Matt, this isn’t funny! The news is saying your ship crashed! That’s not possible! You said you landed!

Pidge: Matt, answer me!

Log: Communications/1403...05/31/26...57

Pidge: Matt...

Pidge: The Garrison just came by... Said you were dead...

Pidge: Please... Please answer me...

Log: Communications/Error loading file...

[brittysaucefanfic]

Operation: Voltron

Part 5

Keith

(First)(Previous)(Next)(AO3)

Keith had been knee deep in his files on Blue Lion when his brother knocked on the door. Usually, when interrupted in the middle of his thought process on this infuriating case, Keith would not be happy. He would have snapped at the person, no matter if they were a King from another country, or if they were his overprotective big brother. Keith wouldn’t have held back.

But his thoughts were already so jumbled up and ready to send Keith to the loony bin, that he actually appreciated the distraction. He swirled around in his chair, which might as well have been an extra body part from how long he was sitting there. In the doorway stood his obnoxiously muscular older brother.

Don’t get him wrong, Keith adored hs brother Shiro.

When he was eleven, and was first brought home to the Shirogane household, he had met Shiro for the first time. And it was like Shiro just became God in his eyes. To this day Keith couldn’t tell you the moment he stopped hating this family he loves so dearly now, to when he was suddenly practically worshipping the ground that Shiro walked upon.

It could have been when they first locked eyes. Or it could have been when Shiro bailed him out of school to get some ice cream a week later. Maybe when Shiro left for another tour overseas. Perhaps it was long before the first meeting though. 

When the Shirogane couple he calls Mom and Dad now first came to the orphanage, Keith was their first choice. They had talked to him maybe twice, told him about Shiro, when Keith had demanded to know why he wasn’t with them.

They gave him a letter, one he still has hidden in his house somewhere. 

It was a letter from Shiro, and it said, in summary, that Shiro wanted the choice of adoption to be up to his parents and not to Shiro. There were so many kind words crammed into a single sheet of notebook paper, that Keith had immediately ran to his room in the orphanage to hide it. 

So, yeah. Keith loves Shiro dearly. But the amount of hours in his day just spent working out or cleaning, especially after getting the new arm, was ridiculous. Sure, it looks good on him, and he wasn’t exactly the size of a mountain, but still. Chill dude.

“Shiro, what’s up?” Keith asked, eyeing his brother who simply stood leaning in his doorframe. They were in his office at the FBI headquarters, which was a fancy little area, small but cozy. Nice view, not too much furniture- just Keith’s style. Shiro smiled fondly down at him, and Keith knew it was a fond smile, because only one corner of his lips lifted.

“Just came to talk. Got a minute, or am I interrupting?” Shiro asked as he stepped off the frame and stepped inside, letting the door swing gently closed. It was glass, because there was a lot of glass walls and doors in this building. 

"Please." Keith said, rubbing his sore eyes. He needed a coffee, or five. "I'm begging you to kill me right now." Shiro only gave short scoff before dragging out a chair and taking a seat.

Keith watched with lidded eyes as his brother scanned the table piled up with Keith's most infamous case. It was separated into two halves. The first half of the pile, to Keith's right, was directly involving his criminal, named Blue Lion.

It wasn't very much, maybe three folders worth of actual information and two boxes full of origami lions made out of Blue paper. Hence the name. Each lion was about the size of a softball, and they were intricately designed.

Should you line each lion up from oldest to newest, you could physically see the skill get more and more perfected. But Shiro's already seen all of that. Even the folders of information, no matter that Keith could lose his job for it.

It was the second pile that was more interesting. Keith has pulled every case file he's done since becoming an FBI agent, and he's been steadily combing through them for any similarities. Like connections to each other and connections to Blue Lion. It was just a hunch he had.

Recently, someone Keith put in prison had recognized keith right off the bat. When questioned, the man had simply said ‘Blue was right about you.’ Refused to speak at all after that, no matter how long the interrogations went, or if Keith was or wasn’t in the room. The man had said nothing, not even to taunt the interrogators, which was a very common reaction from guys like him. So after that, it got Keith wondering just how many people he’s gone after who had connections to his number one case.

"What's all this?" Shiro asked. His eyebrow was raised and a curious glint in his eye sparked. Keith's always hated that glint in his brother's eyes, because most of the time it gets Keith into unwanted situations. Like a double date with twin girls. 

Keith is gay.

"These are all the cases that I've done since I joined the FBI. I'm looking for any correlations between my old cases and the Blue Lion case." Keith said. Goodness, even he could hear how exhausted he sounded.

Shiro looked back at Keith briefly, before he did that thing he does when he's hiding something or being nonchalant to get his way. It's hard to put a name to what it is, but Keith knows it by heart.

Because he taught Shiro how to hide things and lie to their parents.

Before Keith came along, Shiro was horrible at lying and keeping secrets from his family. And at first, Shiro was perfectly fine with that. Up until the moment when Keith got away with something Shiro never would have. The look of astonishment was priceless. After that Shiro shyly asked Keith to show him how to do it.

"What if I told you," Shiro started. He had gone as far as poking at the left pile to keep up a charade in front of Keith. It was useless. One, Shiro was too obvious when you knew what to look for. Two, Keith had been both a detective and an FBI agent for a while now. Kind of part of the job description to read people. "That I made some friends who could help you out in the Blue Lion case?" Shiro said, still thumbing the edges of a stack of files. It got Keith's interest at least, and Keith leaned forward. 

He was definitely awake now.

Shiro never tried to help anymore, Keith had been too irritable to let people help him on this case. Any other case? He loved to have someone else’s opinion. Not the Blue Lion case though. Keith felt it in his bones that he had to be the one to catch this guy, no one else. Maybe it was a pride thing, or maybe it was just him desperately wanting to prove himself to his old mentor. 

Or maybe it was both. 

He never wanted help with catching the Blue Lion, but at this point Keith would take anything. It's almost been three years since he was handed down the case from his mentor and boss. Three years working on this case all alone.

Three years of chasing smoke while his suspect avoided him like a pro.

"Listening..." Keith said, trailing off. If it meant finally being able to sleep at night without obsessing over this case, he would bend his pride and accept an offering of assistance.

It had been after his fourth closed case, which was a counterfeiting ring bust that ended with a boat load of bad guys in prison, when his mentor had approached Keith about the Blue Lion. It wasn't a secret that his friend, practically a God among mortals when it comes to closing cases, had been having no progress on this one single case.

Said he was tired of the case haunting him, and that it was his greatest regret on not being able to close it himself.

He had told Keith that he was stepping out of field work, and handing Blue Lion over to Keith. Keith had dutifully taken the mantle and spent the next week combing over the three pages worth of information. Which wasn't a lot, but by the end of the week Keith knew the details of the case back to front.

After about three months of chasing geese, his mentor had given Keith a new case, putting Blue Lion on the back burner. Anyone sane in his profession would have deemed it a lost cause. But Keith was too invested.

Why?

Because his mentor, friend, and boss deserved to see the case closed by someone he trusted to take over it. Over the three years working this case, Keith has nailed down every potential lead. There were maybe three people he put in lock up who had suspected ties to the Blue Lion, but interrogation offered nothing more than sarcasm and snark. 

Either these men were extremely loyal to Blue Lion, or they were terrified of him. 

Keith was almost afraid to find out which one it was.

“You remember how I told you about the new job offer, the one I agreed to take on?” Shiro asked. He had finally stopped messing with the files to try and look casual, now leaning his side against the table from where he sat, his chin propped up on his hand.

Keith nodded but didn’t reply.

“So far we, Allura and I, have recruited two more people to be on the team.” Shiro said after he realized Keith wasn’t going to reply with his words, as per typical of Keith. 

Allura. Keith remembers her. 

A white haired bombshell with more power in her pinky finger than the past four presidents combined. Shiro introduced the two of them at lunch one day maybe a week ago. And with how those two interacted, one would think they were already married for a decade. 

The sexual tension was disgusting.

“One them specifically, is a computer genius who used to work for NASA, and also well versed in hacking and breaching high level security databases.” Shiro said. Keith pretended he didn’t hear that, but didn’t interrupt Shiro. “She’s a bit younger, but she’s good. Remember Matt? From the space launch?” Shiro asked.

Matt? Keith vaguely remembers him. They never met face to face, but they did say hello one time when Shiro was doing a video call. Matt was one of the scientists who accompanied Shiro to space, and were also taken prisoner by the same terrorist group Shiro escaped from. He nodded to Shiro’s question anyways. 

“Katie, or Pidge as she prefers, Matt’s little sister, is the NASA scientist I’m talking about.” Shiro continued. “She can be a really big asset when going after Blue Lion, look at things you might have never even thought about thinking about.”

Keith pushed his tongue into his left cheek as he thought, considering this new turn of events. Then a thought hit him that had his eyes narrowing suspiciously at his brother. “And what? You’re just gonna give her to me like some sort human pet to use as I desire regarding the case?” 

Shiro cringed, his nose scrunching and bunching the scar on his nose up as he did so. “When you say it like that it sounds like I’m pimping her out or something.” Keith quirked his lips a little at that, because that was what he was going for in the first place.

“So what do you want in return for her helping me?” Keith asked, not beating around the bush and going straight into it.

Shiro sighed as if he held the world on his shoulder, which wasn’t too far from how Shiro carried himself. He was always the first to volunteer when someone needed to unload their own burdens. He was an extremely empathetic person, feeling someone else’s pain as if it were his own. And though it wasn’t the best of things to be when in the war zone, Shiro never let it hold him back.

It was one of the many things that Keith admired about Shiro.

“I can’t just help my baby brother?” Shiro said, his voice raising a notch in a classic tell for lying. Keith raised an eyebrow at Shiro, who caved in far too soon for someone who could survive a year in Zarkon’s captivity and escape.

“Okay fine. I want you to consider joining Allura’s task force with me. You know? We could bond and watch each other’s backs and all that. I think it would be fun.” Shiro finished weakly with a shrug. Keith rolled his eyes, but caved as well at Shiro’s puppy eyes.

“I’ll think about it. When do I meet this Pidge?” He asked. A new, and very unfamiliar voice sounded behind him, making Keith spin around, his hand already placed on his gun just in case.

“How about right now?” Said a short female with choppy cropped strawberry blonde hair and thick rimmed glasses. She was dressed in a pair of shorts, which barely peaked out from her lime green hoodie, zipped halfway up her body. Her brown eyes were sharp, even sharper than Allura’s were when they met. Speaking of the white haired bombshell, she appeared in his doorway behind the short female, as well as a very large man with a headband. 

“I’m Pidge, and this is my friend Hunk. We’re on the task force with your brother Shiro.” Pidge said, pushing up her glasses with a jacket covered hand. She looked kind of childish right then. “Shall we start then?”

****** 

(First)(Previous)(Next)(AO3)

[scriveyner]

shining like the stars p98

Lance’s room had acquired the most stuff over the course of their adventures; which included an additional display console that was not, thankfully, holographic. Not that Keith really had a problem with the holographic displays in the Castleship, but it sometimes made things simpler to be looking at them on an actual screen. He still hadn’t gotten dressed though, and made movements like he was going to retreat to his room to fetch some clean clothes when Lance rolled his eyes dramatically at Keith and pulled open the wall panel that hid their clothing. “You took over my room, remember?” Lance said, pulling out some of Keith’s stashed clothing. “At least I’ve made sure everything in here is clean.”

@ ao3 or continue after the jump

“The Castleship automatically cleans all the clothing,” Keith said, amused, as Lance shoved the balled-up clothing into Keith’s chest. Lance stuck out his tongue at Keith and then set to inspecting Pidge’s thumb drive, checking to make sure it was compatible with Lance’s console. Keith pulled his shirt on over his head and felt so much relief it was staggering. Lance was being normal, and that things seemed more normal than they had been in a week and a half.

He sat down on the floor in front of the console as Lance finally got the drive connected and pulled a keyboard out of somewhere. Keith stared at it, and Lance looked down at the keyboard and then over to Keith before shrugging. “Pidge,” he said, as if that were the answer to every single bit of technology-driven strangeness on the ship and not a huge can of worms in and of itself. Keith shook his head, as Lance opened the file drive and pulled up the data files.

Immediately, the screen filed with text, all violet and magenta-hued. Lance blinked, and made a noise of disappointment. “I can’t read Galra writing,” he said. Keith’s heart had frozen in his throat, the happiness of normalcy already long gone. He hadn’t sat down to talk with Pidge yet - he hadn’t had a chance, so much happened so fast, everyone else knew but he’d forgotten they were already gone when his secret was dragged out of him. “Boring,” Lance announced, and started scrolling faster than Keith could even begin to read the page.

Several images flashed past quickly, embedded into the data, before the file seemed to hitch and then shot all the way down the page, automatically pulling up a recording that made Keith’s blood run cold. It was a monitored recording, the sort taken by a camera set up in a lab, and as such the quality of the image was slightly lower due to the cheapness of the technology. Lance was frowning at the screen, leaning forward to try to make out the display, but Keith didn’t need to, the terror clinched tight in his gut and the memories he’d long fought to repress threatening to overwhelm him.

“Turn it off,” Keith said suddenly, his arms shaking as they wrapped around himself, unable to tear his eyes from the screen. Lance looked over to him, as if now suddenly aware of Keith’s altered demeanor, his expression baffled at the sudden change in the mood of the room.

Abruptly, the recording buzzed to life with activity as a high-pitched yell filtered through the speakers. It was static-filled and much younger than even Keith remembered but still recognizable. Keith could still remember the shape of the words. “Let me go, let me go, no-”

Lance whirled on the console, jaw gone slack as some Druids entered the frame. “Turn it off,” Keith’s voice hitched and overlaid his own young voice as a tiny, struggling form was revealed between two guards. “Lance, please turn it off, turn it off-”

“Unsuitable,” one of the guards said in a thick voice, full of scorn; but a Druid held up what looked like a syringe. Lance’s entire expression had frozen over but Keith wasn’t looking at him any more, his arms over his head and clamped tight over his ears, trying to drown out something he never thought he would hear again.

With his eyes closed tight he didn’t see Lance stagger to his feet and lunge, yanking the drive out of the console without ejecting it, he didn’t hear the high-pitched whine of disrupted playback or even hear Lance’s boot slam on the delicate electronics. He jerked physically when he felt Lance’s arms around him and nearly headbutted him but Lance didn’t let him go, pulled him tight and wrapped his own arms around Keith’s head himself, holding him close. “It’s all right, buddy,” Lance’s voice was quiet in a way he’d never heard before, but soothing still as Keith pressed his face against Lance’s shoulder and shook, choking, against him. “You’re safe now. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

#

Keith lay curled up on his side in Lance’s bed, the sheet wrapped securely around him. Lance sat on the edge of the mattress and watched Keith quietly; he hadn’t moved in a while and his breathing had finally evened out. Lance had never actually seen Keith cry before, to look so helpless and vulnerable and he was shaken to his very core.

A core that was now a tightly-packed ball of incandescent rage. Keith was strong, and he was good, and he didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve any of this, and he’d come from such a terrible place and was able to keep it all packed away and even shouldered so much more without complaint. Lance was almost shaking. He wanted to find every single creature in that video and make certain that they couldn’t harm another sentient being in this universe, or any other one, ever again. Why had Pidge given that to Keith? And expected him to watch it by himself, holy shit…

Wait, Pidge.

Lance looked down at Keith again, and then tentatively brushed his hand through Keith’s hair, pushing it back slightly. He looked absolutely human like this, not a hint of anything alien about him … unless you counted his taste in hairstyle. Lance smiled at that thought, even if it was watery, and then leaned down and kissed Keith’s temple. Then he picked up the smashed drive from the floor and went to find Shiro.

#

Lance’s immediate impulse to smash the drive had actually only damaged its outer casing, once stripped of the damaged parts Shiro was still able to plug the drive into the console he’d set up in his own room. He watched the entire thing. Lance couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing any of it and stood outside the door to Shiro’s room, his back to the door and arms crossed, feeling sicker than he’d ever been. It was against every single instinct he had to stand there, but he waited for Shiro because he didn’t feel he could trust himself.

The sound of playback, muted enough that he could only distinguish noise from silence and not much else, ceased. It was a very long stretch of silence that followed, long enough that Lance was considering opening the door before there was a sudden loud and violent crash. Not ten seconds later the doors to Shiro’s room opened and Lance’s blood went to ice. Shiro looked absolutely fit to kill. “Where is he?” he asked, and Lance had a split-second of worry. Shiro sensed the way he reacted to Shiro’s question and he sighed, but that didn’t entirely take the edge off. “Is he okay, Lance? Is he safe?”

“I can’t answer the first one,” Lance said. “But he’s safe, at least.”

Shiro surprised him then by enveloping Lance in a tight hug. Lance didn’t realize how badly he’d needed it until Shiro’s arms were around him, and he pressed his forehead into Shiro’s shoulder and took deep, steadying breaths. “What do we do?” he asked quietly.

“That’s up to Keith,” Shiro said, and Lance raised his head.

“Like hell it is,” he said. “I’m going to turn those fuckers into ionized carbon and launch anything left over into a fucking star.”

“You’re assuming I would leave anything behind,” Shiro murmured, but his arms remained tight around Lance. “But it’s up to Keith. Not us. Remember that.”

“If you guys wanted to swing by Earth and turn those alphas inside-out I wouldn’t peep a word of protest,” Lance grumbled, and Shiro rubbed his back.

“You said Pidge gave you the files?”

“Yeah. What the fuck.” Lance lifted his head again. “Why would she do that?”

“We’ll talk to her,” Shiro said, and Lance nodded.

#

Pidge was in the Green Lion’s hangar bay, sitting at the mass of consoles and computers she had wired together that Lance had affectionately nicknamed the bat-computer. Matt was sitting on the ground by her chair, the outer casing of a computer sitting empty behind him and its innards strewn about. “Hey guys,” he said cheerfully when he saw Shiro and Lance enter the bay. “Uh,” he added, when he sensed the mood. “Everything okay?”

“Pidge, what the fuck,” Lance wasn’t able to contain himself.

She half-turned and looked at him, baffled. Then her gazed sharpened. “I told you to give that to Keith,” she said, and Lance’s entire frame went rigid with the implication. Shiro put his hand on Lance’s shoulder firmly, and then looked to Pidge with a severe expression.

“Did you know what was in those videos?” he asked, his voice forced very level.

Pidge’s expression had shifted from Lance’s strange reaction back to Shiro and she realized suddenly that something was very wrong. “No,” she said. “I didn’t even realize there was embedded video. I just grabbed an entire sector packet about a Galra breeding experiment, there were pictures that looked like…” she glanced sidelong at Matt for a moment before she continued, “that looked like Keith was in them, so I packaged the entire file cluster for him. I haven’t had time to actually go through any of the raw data yet, things keep coming up.” There was a hard edge to her voice, with the next statement. “He is Galra though, isn’t it?”

“He’s Keith,” Lance spat, and Shiro didn’t remove his hand from Lance’s shoulder but he also didn’t stop him from speaking. “He’s our friend, Pidge!”

“I know,” Pidge said and finally spun her chair all the way around. “I know he is.” She folded her arms and glared at them. “What was in the videos?” Notably, she did not move to pull them up herself. Matt stood up from where he was seated, his own face concerned.

Shiro’s jaw moved around but he did not speak, and Lance said, finally, “they tortured him, Pidge. He was a kid, and they…” Shiro’s hand again, tightened, and Lance fell silent because Pidge’s face had fallen even further. She pushed her glasses up off her eyes and into her hair, before she pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes for a long moment.

“Shit,” Pidge said softly. Then, after a moment she spun in her seat and changed the console she was working on. “My first instinct is to destroy the files,” she said, anger tinged in her voice, “but that’s a stupid idea because there might be information in them that we need. But I can at least lock their archiving so no one accesses them accidentally.” She slammed her had down on the keyboard in front of her suddenly, and leaned forward. “God dammit.”

“Pidge,” Matt said, and slung his arm over his sister’s shoulders.

“Can you tell Keith I’m sorry?” Pidge asked. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to see me, and I don’t blame him. I am sorry,”  she added, looking to Lance. “I really didn’t know, I didn’t … okay, no,” she self-corrected. “I was mad that he was concealing this from us and maybe wanted to give him a little ‘gotcha’ but I really didn’t know what was in most of the data. I didn’t think he’d go deeper than the pictures.”

“It would mean more coming from you directly,” Shiro said. “But we’ll tell him.”

“Thanks,” she said, quietly.

When Lance and Shiro left, Pidge pulled up the file that she had just locked. Matt kept his arm over her shoulder, and when she leaned into him he let her cry for a little while, rubbing her back. “You didn’t know,” he said softly, and Pidge lifted her head, smearing her wet eyes on his clothing.

“It’s no excuse,” she muttered, and this time scrubbed her hand over her eyes and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

leaned over and hugged Matt tight. Her brother wrapped his arms around her and let her cry for a little while, rubbing her back. “You didn’t mean to,” he said softly, and Pidge nodded, smearing her wet eyes across his clothing. She let out a quiet sob, and then this time scrubbed her hand over her eyes and put them back on her nose, returning her attention to the console.

“I’m going to see what information I can pulls from these files,” she said, her voice still uneven but forceful. “If I slingshot the data to your terminal, do you think you can map it to a star chart, or at least glean the location data?”

Matt said, “you don’t have to do that right now, Pidge.”

“Yeah,” Pidge said. “I do.”

“Okay,” Matt said, pausing for a moment. “Okay. Yeah, I can see what I can do with the info you pull.”

With that, the siblings got to work.

#

“I’m going to go talk to Allura,” Shiro had said, standing outside of Lance’s room. His arm had remained over Lance’s shoulder the entire way back to the pilot’s quarters, and it was a small comfort. Lance suspected it was as much for Shiro’s benefit as it was his. Lance had nodded quietly, and accepted the kiss from Shiro without complaint. They both should be there if Keith woke, he felt, but … there were other things afoot, even now.

Keith hadn’t stirred, his back presented to the room and still curled into a tight ball. Lance sat at the edge of the mattress for a while, far too keyed up to consider sleeping but at a loss for what to do next. So he sat silent and waited for Shiro to return.

His nature had always been to react instead of act - let something happen, and he’d deal with it or its fallout in due time. That was changing, Lance realized, and it was something that had started with the introduction of the Blue Lion into his life. Lance stared at his hands and thought again of how he would Handle This if Keith deigned to let him, and his mouth quirked a little with savagery of it. He was enjoying a rather visceral plan when he felt the mattress shift and Keith rolled over, pulling him from his thoughts like an anchor. “Lance?”

“I’m here,” Lance said immediately, turning slightly. Keith shifted again and sat up, staring listlessly ahead. Then he rubbed both of his hands fully over his face and let out a low noise which was almost a growl, but when his face emerged from behind his hands he looked so much more like Keith again.

“Who have you told?” Keith asked without looking at Lance.

“Shiro,” Lance said. “Pidge… kind of. She doesn’t know exactly, but … she is sorry. Said she hadn’t watched the videos, only saw some of the data files and some pictures and was hurt you hadn’t told her yet.” He trailed off and immediately felt bad for making the excuse for Pidge, but Keith tilted his head forward and sighed raggedly.

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Keith said. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”

“You’re…” Lance’s mouth actually fell open, because he couldn’t quite process that. “Excuse me, you are sorry? Why the fuck are you sorry? Fucking hell, Keith…”

Keith said again, his voice almost too calm, “you shouldn’t have had to see that.” He started to move, like he was going to get up, but Lance threw an arm out and blocked the way off the bed.

“Keith,” Lance said, his voice hard. “That was not your fault. I’m going to find whoever the fuck was on that video and kill them, do you understand? That isn’t an exaggeration, I can put a bolt of plasma between their eyes at a thousand meters, and I will-”

“Lance,” Keith said, and he had a strained smile on his face. “You don’t have to do that.”

“The fuck I don’t,” Lance said. “I will.”

“No, I mean you really don’t have to,” Keith rubbed his knee with one hand and stared at the top sheet, instead of looking at Lance. “They’re all dead.” He dragged his gaze up to Lance’s and for a brief moment Lance was scared of what he saw there, reminded terribly of the bloodthirsty expression he had seen on Keith’s face in the arena as he headed for Rian with murder on his mind. “Didn’t you wonder why I was on Earth, and had been?” Keith didn’t wait for Lance to ask the inevitable question. “I escaped. I made sure I wasn’t followed.” Keith shrugged his shoulders without moving his arms. “The end.”

Lance stared at him, still stunned into silence. Keith looked away. “I never wanted any of you to find out how much of a monster I am,” he said, his voice still quiet. “I’m sorry.”

“Keith,” Lance said. “If you’re a monster for that, then so am I. Same with Shiro.” Keith turned and looked at him, and Lance was deadly serious, more serious than he had ever felt. “I absolutely wasn’t kidding about blowing their heads off, if Shiro hadn’t beaten me to it. You are our mate.” He shifted more on the mattress and reached for Keith’s hand. Keith didn’t jerk away, and let Lance hold his hand with both of his. “You’re the Red Paladin, man. You are badass. You’re a good guy, no matter what you think your past says otherwise. We love you and we’re both here for you.”

Keith raised his eyes to Lance, but before he could open his mouth the doors to Lance’s room opened to show Shiro. The hard expression on his face softened when he saw Keith sitting up, and he crossed the room quickly, putting his knee on the bed beside Lance and nearly smothering Keith with his arms. Lance went to let go of Keith’s hand, but Keith didn’t let go of his, and put his other arm around Shiro’s neck, face buried in Shiro’s chest. “We’re going to find-” Shiro started, but Lance shook his head and Shiro caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.

“No point,” Lance said. “They’re already dead.”

“Well,” Shiro said, “Fuck that, who do I get to kill?”

“See?” Lance said, squeezing Keith’s hand. Face buried against Shiro’s chest, Keith actually laughed.

#

Keith looked like himself in the morning. He beat Lance out of bed, but not Shiro, and when Lance stopped by the training deck he saw the pair of them running laps. “It is way too early for that shit,” Lance said, and bypassed their insane work-out routine for breakfast.

Hunk was super cheerful, and Lance gave him a suspicious glare, although Illianya was nowhere to be seen. “Why is Hunk so happy?” Lance asked Pidge, who jumped at being addressed directly and gave Lance a guilty look. “Did he get laid? Do I have to drag him in front of everybody?”

“Can’t you let Hunk do his own thing in private?” Pidge asked, and Lance shrugged.

“He dragged the shit out of me when I first got laid.”

“Well, maybe that wouldn’t happen if you remembered to, I don’t know, lock your door once in a while,” Pidge muttered.

“Hey, Miss ‘I’m-unlocking-this-door-whether-you-want-me-to-or-not,” Lance said, indignant, and Pidge put up one finger.

“Once. Once, I did that, and boy howdy I have learned my lesson, okay?”

“Hey, Pidge,” Keith called as he entered the dining area. “Can we talk for a second?”

Lance had never actually seen Pidge turn that particular shade of pale before, but she nodded her head and made to stand up. However, before she could rise out of her chair Keith slid into the chair beside hers, across the table from Lance. He smiled at Lance though, and … well, he still wasn’t entirely used to Keith actually smiling like that but Lance felt relieved that Keith seemed to fell like Keith again.

“Keith,” Pidge said, standing. “I am really sorry-”

Keith interrupted Pidge before she could really get going. “It’s okay,” he said, glancing over a moment when the chair on the other side of him was pulled out, but that was just Shiro sitting down. Lance put his chin in his hand and grinned at Shiro, who gave him a Look in return to dial it down for a minute, earning a pout.

“it’s not okay,” Pidge said. “I did it to hurt you, even if I didn’t realize the extent of what was there, and it’s not-” her voice broke for a second, but she caught herself. “It’s not okay,” she said again, reining her voice in.

Keith had an expression on his face like he didn’t know what to do, and looked over to Lance helplessly. Lance gestured his arms at Keith wordlessly, a universal sign for ‘hug her you idiot’ but Keith clearly didn’t get the message. Fortunately for them both Pidge straight-up decided to hug Keith instead. “I know you didn’t mean to actually hurt me,” Keith said, patting her back awkwardly because despite everything he still wasn’t quite tuned to body language.

This was the moment that Hunk bustled into the room and paused at Pidge hugging Keith. He was followed by Allura and Illianya, who had clearly been having a morning meeting of some kind. “Uh,” Hunk said at the display. “So what did I miss?”

Allura glance at Keith, who nodded as Pidge got up from her awkward hug and shuffled back to her seat. All the Alteans had filed in together, and Rian grabbed the seat beside Matt while Coran chose to remain standing as he often did. Keith stood up from his chair after a moment, and that drew attention to him again as well.

“So, I have something I need to tell everyone,” Keith said, finally. “I’ve been keeping a lot of secrets and you all know that by now, but…” he looked across the table and met Lance’s eye and Lance nodded his head. They’d talked about this last night, and it was Keith’s idea to tell tell everyone. His pause lingered though, and then Shiro leaned forward and took his hand, squeezing it. Keith glanced at Shiro and smiled. “But I think it’s time everyone knew the whole story.”

#

“I think it went well,” Lance said, seated on the bench at the end of the training deck. Keith was busy doing hanging crunches, the show-off, his legs hooked over a bar as he hung upside down. Keith didn’t actually answer him, and Lance really didn’t expect him to huffing and puffing, but he knew that Keith appreciated the company. Shiro was sparring with Hunk on the mat, and Illianya was supervising them both, wearing a bodysuit not unlike the ones they wore under their Paladin armor. Occasionally, it appeared that she stepped in and showed both Hunk and Shiro a move.

Rian crossed the room toward them, and Lance groaned. “Our favorite Altean is heading this way, buddy.”

Altean ears were sensitive, and Rian was already scowling by the time he got close. He said something that Lance didn’t quite understand, and Keith stopped doing crunches and snorted. “What the heck was that?” Lance said, but Rian didn’t respond to him and Keith dropped from the bar and straightened, sweat dripping from his hair. “Why did you laugh?” he asked Keith suspiciously.

Keith regarded Rian silently, fetching his towel of the bench. Rian folded his arms and frowned and seemed to be bracing himself to say something. Finally, he sighed. “I don’t like you,” he said finally.

“Feeling’s mutual,” Keith said, and this time Lance snorted.

“I sense a ‘but’,” Lance said, and Rian shot him a dirty look.

“My mother escaped from one of the Galra research ships,” Rian said finally. “Before I was born. I think it was probably the same one.” He looked away. “Thank you for killing them,” he said softly. “I’ve been trying to track them down for years to do it myself.”

“I’m sorry about your mother,” Keith said.

“She lived,” Rian clarified. “For a while, at least. Couldn’t stand the sight of her purple child, just like her.” He smiled bitterly. “That was why she killed herself, or so I was told.” He kept his arms folded, fingers digging into his skin. “She didn’t live long enough to see that her child also inherited the long-lost Altean shape-shifting abilities.”

“Well that explains why you’re not purple,” Lance said, and then looked at Keith. “Wait, do you have Altean blood, too? Is that why you can shapeshift between furry and not?”

“I don’t know,” Keith said. “And I really don’t even care at this point.” He looked over to Rian, who still looked irritated that he had even shared any of this with someone he allegedly didn’t like. Then Keith held out his hand. “Truce?” he said, and Rian looked at his hand for a long moment, then took it.

“We’re on the same side now,” Rian said. “I guess.”

“Good enough for me,” Keith said, and rolled his eyes before he looked back over to Lance. “Why do you look like that?”

Lance’s eyes had gotten large and glittering. “I’m just so glad to see everyone getting along,” Lance said, mock choked-up, his hand on his chest.

Keith smacked Lance in the back of the head, who said a very loud and injured, “ow!” He rubbed the back of his head and muttered something under his breath while Rian folded his arms and shook his head.

“I still can’t believe that you’re with someone who gutted you like a fish,” Rian said, his tone derisive, and Lance shrugged.

“He’s my mate,” he said. “I would bare my throat to him if he asked to rip it out with his teeth.” Both Keith and Rian stared at him, and Lance hesitated. “…what?”

“I think that’s legitimately the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” Keith said, a little awed.

“Okay, that’s a problem,” Lance said. “We need to fix that.” He waved to Shiro. “Hey, Shiro! What’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever said to you?”

“Nothing that I’m going to repeat in polite company,” Shiro yelled back from across the training deck.

“God dammit,” Lance said, and folded his arms. “I’m disappointed. I need to step up my wooing game.” He looked up when Keith placed his hand on Lance’s head and leaned down, in close, rubbing his sweaty head against Lance’s.

“You’ve already won me over,” Keith said, and Lance pushed him away, affronted.

“Oh, gross, you’re so sweaty,” Lance yelped.

Rian shook his head and started to walk away. “Disgusting,” he said, as Keith grabbed Lance in a headlock and continued to rub his sweaty face all over Lance.

[ao3feed-klance]

The Voltron Files

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2E73Lg3

by AnAwkwardAvocado

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that a little more than an ice-covered speck. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, ex-friends Katie and Lance (who are barely even talking to each other) are forced to escape on the evacuating fleet.

But their problems are just beginning. The fleet's AI has gone crazy, a deadly plague has broken out on one of the ships, and nobody in charge will say what's really going on.

As Katie hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her: the ex-friend she swore she'd never speak to again.

-Illuminae Files AU-

Words: 3656, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), Coran (Voltron), OCs for plot purposes, Lots of OCs, Galra

Relationships: Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, platonic plance, Minor Klance, Alternate Universe - Space, Space zombies!, ...kind of, Space Plague, More tags as they come along, letters and email, theres gonna be like 300 if not more chapters, It's all broken up into documents, You'll understand once you start reading, Lance and ridge will say ilu in FRIENDLY ways, THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANCE AND PIDGE, THERE WILL NEVER BE ONE

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2E73Lg3

[piratefrost]

Voltron Evolution Au Part Two

Heyyyyyyyyyy, wow.... I am a horrible person.

Basically I wrote this months ago but got distracted with school so I completely forgot but found it today while clearing out some files.

so Ennnnnnnjoy!!!   (Creator of AU is @fangirltothefullest​ credit to them pls)

Chapter two:

It had been days now, and they were still struggling to find out what had happened to Lance. But Lance was the one truly struggling, he wasn’t allowed to leave the Pod in fear of what could happen next. But Coran had been doing research all around everywhere, still, nothing had come up that could possibly explain what had happened to dear Lance. Everyone was tired, but not as much as the blue paladin. He could barely be considered as a paladin anymore, he obviously can’t walk, who knew if he could even fly his lion any more.

 But he was too ashamed to try, even if he was allowed to exit the pod, he was afraid to try. Afraid of the potential chance that he’d have to leave Voltron and all its glory. Lance had given himself time to rest, nothing else to really do other than sleep. But as he rested in his deep slumber, he failed to hear the sound of boots walking the ground. A few good seconds between each bang of sound.

 “Lance” A voice called, gently tapped on the glass screen of the pod.

 The merman woke almost instantly and jumped back in fright, the action causing his head to bang painfully against the walls of his pod. “Keith!” Lance exclaimed, not needing the red paladin’s attitude round about now. “What the hell do you want?” He followed that with a groan. Crossing his arms against his exposed chest.

 Keith raised an eyebrow, “seriously, Lance? I’m just here to check up on you, fish.” Lances frown dipped further down at the petty insult. Keith didn’t even know why he’d even bother, Lance hadn’t let anyone talk to him since the… incident… And why would he open up to Keith out of anyone, the mice had better chances of a conversation. Keith and Lance went as well together as ice-cream and chilli sauce; aka horribly. So, with a grunt Keith spun around on his heels and marched towards the door, his boots banging loudly against the hard floor once again. “Fine, seeya...”

 A empty feeling rose in Lance’s stomach and suddenly he felt cold, “Keith wait!” He called, stretching out an arm to him. “don’t-don’t go…” Secretly, all he wanted now was someone to talk to, to vent out all his frustrations with the world and his tail. He had been rude and selfish towards the others; they were only trying to help to. And he didn’t want to push another away.

 Not this time ……. Even if it was grumpy Keith.

 The sound of boots stopped yet again and Keith looked over his shoulder, looking into Lance as if asking ‘are you sure?’ Lance nodded, with blue orbs pulled down to the ground and holding an arm sheepishly. A bubbly feeling came from his gut, assume to be from embarrassment. Keith stared at him for a few extra moments – just to make sure – before walking back over to him. He took a chair that was facing the pod and twisted it around to sit in it backwards.

 “How’re you doing, Lance?” Keith asked, his voice softened to prevent any anxiety from Lance.

 Lance rubbed his shoulder in response, “I don’t know… Not good.. I want to get out, go for a walk or something.” He let out a huff and leaned against the side of his Pod, grunting at the realization that he can’t walk. “Has Allura or Coran figured out any explanation to explain… this” He waved a hand down his body, taking a deep breath to control himself.

 The boy in front of him only sighed and chewed on his bottom lip to stop him to stuttering, refusing to show his pity for his friend. “No, nothing yet... I-I’m sorry, Lance. Maybe soon..” He stopped to scratch at his skin. “Maybe…”

 “Well let’s just hope we can find something out about … growing fins…” Lance had tried to joke about it but his small chuckle died into a long sigh… He tried to think of something really quick, anything, anything he could use to somewhat change the subject. He stopped on, “Uhhh, how’s the weather been?”

Eyebrows rose in confusion, weather? Seriously?? But Keith shrugged and answered the question. “We’re in outer space, Lance. Not much to report.” He found it comical, the way Lance could just say random things on the spot. That was something he could always appreciate about the blue paladin.

 “Oh yea…” Lance let out an awkward chuckle of defeat, ok… something else, damn… what does someone who was turned into a fish say to someone they’d usually hate talking to…? “How have… How have you been?” Lance would normally not really care about how Keith was going, but for some reason. He felt that he wanted to keep conversation with him.

 Keith rose his head up, staring for a moment in awe before dropping his chin back onto his palm. “Umm… good? I think.. Pidge was babbling on about some dumb science stuff again, so a little bored.” He dropped his hand down to his lap, feeling his lips go dry as he spoke. “But truthfully… I’ve been worried about.. You.”

 Lance shot up at that, a hand gently pressing against the glass, almost reaching out for the angsty teen. “Really?” he asked with a quiet breath.

 “Really Really – ARGH!!!”

LOL!!!!! Cliffhanger

sorrey my dudes but this is so I know that I’ll end up working on this again, and if I don’t come and annoy me. Should do the trick ;]]]]

(give me two weeks before sending anything lol <33