#but being sooo against a ship based on the fact that there wasn’t enough ‘build up’ and that they don’t have a deep emotional bond

[djungleskogs]

.

[flaine1996]

Reassignment

Sooo lol! Update on project timeline: slow but progressing 

to the point I have actually written a bit of a story that will be most likely implemented in the timeline with small photoesque pictures on it xD so here goes more under the cut :)

–June of 2183–

Shepard had found herself in an alliance outpost in one of the colonies inside the Attican Traverse. She hated it.

Not that there were places she liked but more so, it felt way too close to home. Causing her hands to clench and unclench repeatedly. She would never admit to being nervous but the feeling of being in rough terrain without a full set of armor and a full arsenal of weaponry made her feel naked and exposed just like before. Her blood boiled as the air around her started to shimmer a comforting soft blue hue.

She took a deep breath. Fortunately enough though for the colony she landed in, it became apparent that the Alliance had not spared an expense in making sure they were fully equipped for any sort of attack or raid by any species. And by any Shepard truly meant the batarians. No one wanted a repeat of Mindoir. No one. She’d make sure of that.

The colony had a firm presence of Alliance soldiers patrolling the areas of the colony in the latest M35 Mako and small bunks of alliance outpost itself lining the outer edges of the colony making sure that any entry or exit would be checked thoroughly and carefully by the Alliance Soldiers. In the center of the town itself was the central hub of alliance personnel. Considering how this was the latest expansion of the Alliance to the Attican Traverse they would do anything to protect it. If only they’d do the same for the rest. But considering Shepard’s status in the Alliance her words amount to the dirt on a soldier’s boot. Not that she ever shared her thoughts. Not that anything mattered to her regarding Alliance affairs.

She took another swig of colonial homebrewed beer. The one benefit of these outposts was that the colony felt safe enough to focus on their own development. Small houses to big buildings lined the area that was not occupied by the Alliance. The effects of it were noticeable from agriculture to infrastructure. Considering how much time would’ve been spent on security now that the Alliance was here people could focus on the important things. Like alcohol. One good thing then.

Shepard knew she had to meet her contact in the central hub of the alliance but honest to god seeing the faces of any Alliance high ranking officials may as well end up with a blood bath. Especially the fact that none of them were ever able to hide the disdain they had for her. Even the Alliance Soldiers would not stop there constant whispering in her presence. Dumb fucks don’t know how to shut up. She’d do them all a favor and sew their mouth shut but apparently System Alliance Regulations do not condone such acts to civilians nor peers. Hypocrites. Which is why she sent her location to the private line given to her by her contact.

Shepard closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on her breathing. The silence of the makeshift pub was comforting if not foreboding. She had taken a seat in the far end closed off to the other patrons. Though patrons is a too generous of a word, after all she was the only one here. That didn’t stop her from drinking though. Though the only sensation she felt was of the metallic floor underneath her which was in an odd sense grounding as if the metal had swallowed her boots and refused to let her float away to the unknown darkness above them. She felt the ends of her mouth twitch, the alcohol must truly be getting to her. As she turned her head to the side she noticed she was on the eleventh bottle by now. “Where in hell was her goddamn contact”, she thought to herself bitterly.

Though it did give her time to appreciate more of the décor of the place with the lights dim enough not to be disturbing and small windows at the side filtering the rays of the sun from getting inside considering it was 8 in the goddamn morning. The owner or atleast bartender was standing in his makeshift bar with a metallic table to isolate himself from his customers and a full closet behind him stacked with common labels to their special homebrewed beer that apparently they had yet to name. Work in progress, he said. She was never the type to refuse a drink. Though in this case a particular strong one with a hint of herbs? One in particular was one her mother often used mugwort was the name. The rest she couldn’t even name, deciding then to might as well talk to the barkeep about the ingredients so as to not go directly to the alliance central hub, find her contact and kick their ass from here and then back to the earth.

She opened her mouth from her seat when a familiar rough but comfortably warm voice rang out, “It’s good to see you enjoying yourself.”

Shepard could not have shot to her feet quicker and her spine straightened as her right hand was raised near her forehead, “Good morning, Captain Anderson, Sir!”

Anderson hadn’t changed a bit his hair still shaved  and cropped closely to his head, his stature still fit and combat ready as ever, and his expression still weary and guarded but she can see a small smirk playing at his lips and his eyes exuding warmth from its natural brown color though a few more extra lines could be seen underneath them.

“At ease, soldier,” he replied without missing a beat and his lips still holding on to that smirk, “Though I seem to recall that soldiers usually raise their right hand rather than their left.”

Shepard had to do a double take to see whether Anderson was lying when she heard a soft chuckle from him, “I also remember you being more guarded than to fall for these kinds of tricks.”

Shepard rolled her eyes as she dropped her stance immediately, “If you have time to joke around then I suppose this isn’t as serious as I thought. You wouldn’t have been using another name to call me here unless…”

Shepard’s eyes turned to slits as her stance changed into one of a prey trapped to the wall. Anderson knew it well especially when he would bring up a conversation, she wanted no part of.

This time it was Anderson’s turn to straighten his spine, after all dealing with Shepard required him to use his full authority and to strong arm especially when she was ready to bolt. “Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss.”

“To hell with that, I am not ha—”

“Ezner Mason Shepard, Take. A. Seat.”

Shepard shut her mouth hard that the grinding of her teeth could be heard but she did as she was told and sat down. 

Anderson couldn’t help feeling a bit proud of the little victory as his smirk grew a bit wider even as Shepard sat there foot tapping at the metal floor quite harshly, he continued as he sat down and leaned in with a much softer tone to hopefully coax her to being more honest to him and to herself, “This is a great opportunity for you, Ezner. I really cannot understand why you are adamant to not be transferred to the frigate.” the last words were spoken a bit more quietly in case there were ears on the walls, ��If this is about what happened in—”

Shepard did not hesitate as she stared Anderson down, “Then there is nothing further to discuss, Captain.” Despite her cold harsh words she still hadn’t moved from her seat.

Anderson then sat straighter deflated but not defeated, “Shepard I will not stand by and watch you ruin your own career by your own sheer stubbornness. The Alliance are already trying to make an official case against you to have you dishonorably discharged. Fortunately all they have is your misconducts not enough to build a case on.” Shepard barely budged from her chair as her posture slackened and her expression remained absolutely neutral, “Let me guess you also vouched for my attitude but the higher ups don’t give a shit for grunts like me and the only reasons the council wont let me go,” a disruption could be felt in the air as a blue hue engulfed the beer bottle lifting it precisely to Shephard’s lips, “Let me guess it was Hackett again? This what i get for fucking his grandau–”

“Shepard.” Anderson’s voice was devoid of its usual warmth that it even made Shepard noticeably sit straighter to the trained eye, “I know you have disagreements with Admiral Hackett but show him the respect he deserves. He helped you on torfan.”

“More like tossed me out of the Alliance as fast as he can,” Shepard muttered.

“Wasn’t that by your request? And then what did you proceed to do? Piss off all your commanding officers to the point you’ve been sent from one ship to the next.” Anderson replied as a matter-of-factly, “And yet here I am, willing to offer you the best second chance you can ever get and you still deny it. What will it take, Shepard, to get you on my ship?”

“Wait… Your ship? Last I heard…”

“Things have changed back in the Alliance. They gave me the ship and allowed me to hand pick my crew personally.”

“No wonder you’ve been hounding me more incessantly. Using another name too, not bad. Wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t for him.”

“Javier knows I borrowed his contact. Only way to get you to meet me face to face.”

“He has information on Balak. That’s more important than any damn ship,” Shepard said her face contorting with anger as her hands grip the edge of her metallic chair creating a dent.

“Not just a ship, Ezner, The ship. The best that the alliance will ever have. And I want you onboard,” Anderson’s voice was filled with conviction once more and a fire burning bright.

Only to be snuffed out by Shepards words, “No. I am content with where I am.”

Anderson leaned back and examined Shepard carefully. Her rusty orange hair cut short to the base of her neck, her scar on top of her right eye spanning down onto her left cheek much less pronounced than five years ago, and her built was still as muscular as you would expect a vanguard soldier to be. She was still in better shape than before and her expression still was as cold as stone but the fire alight in those grey eyes was still there ever since he first found her under the rubble in mindoir.

“I see but that does beg the question where is your team now,” Anderson asked as he searched the perimeter for any that looked like an official alliance soldier and found none - aside from a wandering local whose face had met the table after three local drinks in - “As far as I can tell there aren’t any here unless you soldiers have been recruiting civilians in and per regulations i will have to suspend your operations. Making you as they say legally free.”

 “Funny, but no we don’t do that. Ever,” if looks could kill Shepards stare would incinerate a man, “There… Somewhere.”

“In this colony?”

“…..”

“In this planet?”

“Not exactly,” Shepard replied slightly adjusting from her seat trying to hide any body language that could give her away. 

“There not here are they,” Anderson quickly caught on. The fact that Shepard was no longer looking him straight in the eye means she had done something. Quite possibly illegal.

“I left them on Anhur. One of Balaks men was stationed there apparently were gonna be getting more information,” Shepard admitted, knowing for a fact if she didn’t answer him now he’d find a way to get the information and it would be more of a pain in the ass having the team of soldiers she was with believing she was being favored by the amazing wonderful Captain Anderson.

“And you left all of that to come to me? I’m touched,” Anderson replied with a soft smile despite the sarcasm in his words, “Im guessing they do not know you are here?”

“Says the man using a fake name,” She replied brutally honest but a small smile played on her lips as she looked at him, “And no, they don’t.”

“And how did you get here,” Anderson was curious now afterall she had illegally come here of her own free will for the information how did she plan to go back?

“I may have procured a shuttle and a pilot.” Shepard replied cleaning what looked to be dirt on the table.

“Procured,” Anderson suspiciously asked as he raised his eyebrow that hadn’t sounded like shepard at all.

She looked him straight in the eye then, “Fine, I threatened him that id take off his legs and beat him to death with it if he didn’t take me to and from the area I needed to go. And yes, he resisted and yes i broke his toes just 4 of them in one foot. Okay, five one in the other as a warning. Happy?”

Anderson shook his head, “Violence Ezner does not always work out the way you want it too, even if you think it leads to the results you want.”

Shepard let out a huff but said nothing, letting the silence fill the air.

Her shoulders slumped, “Look Anderson, I get what your trying but I really am fine where I am. I don’t need your handouts. I’m doing much better on the frontlines than I am stationed at some decorative ship.”

“It’s not decorative, Shepard. It’s a state of the line frigate war ship co-created by the Tu–”

“Save your lines for the media. I know what it is, You’ve been sending me those damn reports how could I not have known it by now.”

“Then do you know you’ll be working for me as my Executive Officer, You will be on the field when I can’t and lead the crew and advise me when necessary” Anderson said with pride in his tone, “Alongside with the best damn crew you will ever get to know.”

There was a long pause as Shepard stared directly at Anderson’s eyes. This was always Shepards habit everytime she weighed judgement she would always stare down someone’s eyes. Anderson was sure that this time Shepard had finally seen what he could see. Her greatness.

“No,” Shepard replied resolutely as she stood up.

Anderson then heaved a long sigh, “Whatever you think your punishment or redemption or whatever you think your out there looking for, I really hope you find it soon, Shepard. Before it eats you whole.”

Shepard only gave him a glance before leaving the makeshift bar. Shepard breathed the fresh air of the colonial planet looking at it with one more glance and strengthening her resolve as she thinks to herself, “Because she would no longer drag anyone down to the depths of hell she would create and she would keep everyone safe, no matter the cost.”

Anderson sat there for a few minutes both tired and frankly disappointed. He already knew how this talk would go considering her determined and constant disapproval of transferring anywhere near his command. She had completely closed off after torfan much less when the Alliance not only denounced her and shipped her off - per her request- out into the traverse right after finishing her N7 training. The Alliance wanted to wash their hands clean off of her and yet Anderson wouldn’t let them. Shepard was the only soldier he met that could stand their ground against anything and anyone. More than that, the would survive and thrive in any conditions. The perfect soldier just needed a guiding hand and he was more than willing to reach out no matter what it takes. He stood up and walked briskly back to the ship that had brought him here and as he reached his quarters he opened his omnitool to contact the one man who could help him get her under his command and to greater heights. 

Anderson then recorded a voicemail to a private line, “Spectre Nihlus, You may not remember me but we have met during the council meeting of allowing a human spectre into the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I am Captain David Anderson of the System Alliance Military. I have handpicked personally a potential recruit and would like your affirmation. Attached to this file will be personal data, biography, and achievements they have done. Hoping to hear from you soon. Captain Anderson out.” 

[sparklebitch]

Lance was a mercenary (or something somewhat similar) before he became a paladin

A/N: Just FYI I am currently accepting prompts again! P.S. Me, an idiot (who's surprise tho) forgot that assassin and mercenary are not the same thing sooo I done messed up again. 

Trigger warnings are listed in the tags.

Pidge noticed something strange as they walked through the streets. Voltron had just liberated their planet, people were celebrating in the streets, but the moment that walked by some people began cowering. Some ran and hid, others bolted their doors. Pidge didn't understand why. They had just saved their planet, why were they afraid?

Pidge lagged behind the others and observed the scene carefully. She watched as Allura and Coran led the way, confidently moving through the crowd as bystanders yelled out their praises. Then came Shiro,  Keith, and Hunk, who modestly waved at the citizens who were all waving back excitedly.  After them, the mood shifted. Lance walked meekly, his head held down as he trailed behind his teammates. When the people's attention turned to him, their faces changed to one of fear. They hid their children behind them, as they retreated, disappearing in the shadows. Judging by the look on Lance's face, Pidge guesses that Lance knew exactly why they had this reaction.

"So what do you all think?" Allura asked as Pidge caught up with the others. "Shall we stay the night?" One of the Yinnoi leaders was standing behind Allura with a hopeful look in her eye.  These people so desperately wanted to do something to repay Voltron for all that they had done for them.

"We would love to" Shiro said with a kind smile. Pidge could visibly see Lance tense beside her. He had his eyes downcast and he was continually reached up to fix his hair or scratched his neck so that part of his face was concealed. Pidge jammed her elbow into Lance's side and shot him a look. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and frowned.

'What?' he mouthed.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered as the group followed the Yinnoi leader to the large building down the road. Lance pinched his lips and shook his head.

"Not now" he pleaded. Pidge shrugged at him and then followed the others into the building.

~   ~

"Spill" It was hours later. As it turns out, the Yinnoi people were partiers. The paladins were exhausted and after thanking the leaders for the celebration, they excused themselves. They were shown to extravagantly decorated rooms and told to stay as long as they wanted.

Lance's hands flexed involuntarily against his thighs as he turned away from Pidge. "I... don't know what you're talking about" he said smoothly. Pidge raised her eyebrows and strode further into the blue paladin's room.

"Don't play stupid. You know I noticed" Lance's face hardened.

"I seriously have no idea--" Pidge stopped a few feet away from Lance and crossed her arms. She hadn't seen Lance at the party at all, aside from when they first walked in and he darted to a table in the corner of the room.

"Lance. Cut the bullshit. Why were those people so afraid of you?"  

"Drop it" Lance said firmly. Pidge stepped forward dangerously.

"You know I won't" she said stubbornly. Lance clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "Tell me. What could you possibly be hiding?" A vein throbbed in Lance's neck.

"You don't want to know" his voice was quiet, cold. He spoke slowly, like he wanted to be doubly sure what he was saying before he said it. Pidge had never seen this side of Lance before. His face was devoid of any emotion and if it wasn't for the anxious bouncing of his knee she would've thought that he was completely calm.

"Oh, actually I do" she argued. "I saw the way they were all looking at you. How do they even know who you are?" Lance didn't respond. "Fine, if you're not going to answer then I'll just have to guess" Again, Lance said nothing. "Based on the terrified looks that the people gave you, and the fact that they were hiding their children I can assume that they know you, and it's not for something good. This is an alien planet, so for them to know you specifically and to be this afraid of you I have to assume that you currently or at one time posed a threat to them directly, meaning that you either have been here since joining Voltron or... you've been to space long before now" Lance swallowed thickly but didn't otherwise react.

Pidge began pacing across the room, her hand on her chin as she mused. "I'm going to assume that you've been to space before Voltron, seeing as we've had little time to even sleep since being flung through a wormhole in space. Am I on the right track so far?" Lance crossed his legs and stared blankly at the wall behind Pidge. "Hmph fine, don't give me any clues. I got all night pal."

"Now, the question is WHY were you in space before Voltron? Not only that, but why were you all the way out here? Unless of course you weren't born on Earth, and since we don't really know that much about your family or anything about you before you came to the garrison maybe you were born out here... Maybe you were born on this planet..." Lance pound his fists on the bedside table, startling Pidge out of her thoughts.

"Oh for FUCKS SAKE, Pidge, can't you just let it go!?" Lance's outburst only served to intensify Pidge's curiosity. "Why do you have to butt into business that clearly isn't yours!" Pidge turned to face Lance, not intimidated in the slightest.

"I thought we were supposed to be a family, Lance. That's what you said. Voltron is out family now, and families don't keep huge secrets. Especially ones that might prove to get us in trouble with people in our alliance! Just tell me what you're hiding!" Lance shot up and swiftly crossed the room to the window that overlooked the glimmering gold lake behind the building. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands before dropping them and focusing on the water.

"It was a long time ago" he said softly. Pidge inched closer so that she could hear him. "I- It's not who I am anymore. I didn't tell anyone because... I don't want you guys to think differently of me" Lance lapsed into silence.

"I would never judge you for anything, Lance" Lance closed his eyes and touched his forehead to the cool window.

"Don't be so quick to say that" he said with a humorless laugh. He took a deep breath and then began. "Before I attended the garrison, I was... a rough kid. Really rough. I grew up being bounced around from place to place because of my dad's job. We never really had a lot of money, sometimes we didn't even have enough money to buy food for weeks on end. It... it was really hard. I had three younger siblings and my mama tried so hard to take care of us the best way that she could but that was had with what we had" Pidge leaned up against the dresser next to the window and listened intently to Lance's story.

"When I was at the grocery store one day I saw this flier on the bulletin board by the door. It was advertising this military type school that children fifteen years and older could attend to learn leadership skills and discipline. There were scholarships for those who qualified, along with a monthly check that got sent to them for the work that they would be doing. I begged my mama to let me go. I told her that I wanted to help the family, and this was the only way how. Unfortunately, I wasn't old enough. I was only twelve at the time, but I looked really grown up for my age" Lance shrugged. "Anyhow, my parents both told me no. But I couldn't let it go. Everyday I had to watch my parents struggle to keep us from being thrown out on the streets. I had to watch my siblings cry because they didn't have milk or a single piece of bread to eat. My family was wasting away, and I knew that there was a way for me to help them. There was no way that I could just forget about it"

Pidge watched Lance's face. It was dark as he spoke. She had no idea about any of that. From what Lance had told her before about his family, she assumed that they were just a normal happy family. "So you ran away?" Pidge asked when Lance paused.

"Yeah. I packed up what few things I had and left a note for my parents. I went to the address on the flier and wrote out my application for the school. I lied about my age and a few other things, forged my parents signatures and voila. I was gone"

"Gone?"

"Yeah. Turns out the whole school was bullshit. It was a ploy to steal children and ship them off to some intergalactic mercenary training school on the planet Tabradus and--" Pidge waved her hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa. You mean the Tabradus!?" THe so called 'school' on that planet had been shut down after years of turning children into trained killers, using them to kill people at their command until they were 18, when they were subsequently turned loose into the world to wreak havoc. It was a messed up place. And to think that Lance had gone there so that he could send money home to his family?

"Yeah" he said simply.

"Wow" Pidge said in shock. "So... when those people saw your face... they were scared because--"

"I was sent here to kill the previous Yinnoi leader. Publicly. I made... a lot of money" he said hollowly. "My parents were able to rent a nice apartment for a few months after I wired the money to them"

"Holy shit" Pidge sunk down until she was sitting on the ground. She couldn't even fathom what Lance had been through at that school, or what he had done after leaving there.

"Before you even ask, I yes it was just as terrible as you're imagining and no I'm not going to tell you about it. Like I said, that's in the past now. That's not who I am. It was something that I was forced into, and I was too naive to realize how truly deplorable the things that I was doing were. It's something I have to live with every day"

"How did you get out?" Pidge asked after trying to process the information for a few moments.

"An ex-member of the school ended up joining the Blade of Marmora. He snuck into the school and helped a lot of kids escape. He gave us a place to stay and offered to take us back to our home planets. But... I just couldn't go home. Not after what I had done to those people. I couldn't face them. So he told me about the garrison. He told me that it would be good for me, and that I could get a weekend job working there so that I could continue to send money home to my parents. He helped my get enrolled. He... he saved my life" Lance said.

The air hung heavy in the room as Lance concluded his story. Pidge didn't know what to say. She had no idea that Lance was carrying this around with him. How long had he been struggling with the memories of this? Being with Voltron in the middle of this war couldn't have helped. He was only a child when he was taught to kill people. The effect that that has to have on a person...

Pidge stood and in an instant her arms were wrapped around Lance's middle. Lance froze in surprise. The last thing that he expected after telling his story was for Pidge to hug him.

"Wha-" Lance stuttered, his eyes wide. He didn't know what to do with his arms. Pidge's face was buried in Lance's shirt. "Why are you hugging me?"

"I don't know. It feels like the right thing to do right now" she mumbled. "I'm sorry for pushing"

"I should've told everyone a long time ago" Lance said numbly.

"Lance I'll keep it a secret if you don't feel comfortable telling the others" she said, still clinging to Lance. Lance began to relax at Pidge's touch.

"Oh. Thank you" His fingers brushed against the back of Pidge's shirt. "I will tell them. It's just..."

"Hard" Pidge supplied. Lance nodded. "Don't feel pressured at all. Tell them when you're ready to tell them" Lance looked down at the smaller paladin attached to him and his face softened. He was confused. After hearing a story like that any normal person would be horrified. They would be weird and probably wouldn't want to be around him anymore.

But then again, Pidge wasn't really a normal girl.

Lance finally moved his arms and hugged Pidge back, closing his eyes. For the first time in a long time, he cracked a small smile.

~   ~   ~

| Other fics | Ko-fi |