#like black paladin lance? that's what AUs are for. go nuts

[discordiansamba]

(holds up my megaphone) there was never going to be a black paladin lance arc. they were never building up to him becoming the leader of Voltron, and in fact, it would actually be bad writing if they built up an entire arc of Keith gradually coming to accept his role as black paladin only to just as abruptly make Lance black paladin instead. thank you.

[ear]

PLEASE share your vld reboot ideas aja the show canon is garbage and your mind is so galaxy brain

OK OK ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!! alright so idk what kind of. earth landscape this reboot occurs in…. like yallve got this retro 80s/90s neon future verse going on but i didnt think my reboot version would fit into that so yall go wild with whatever hc for this earth reboot thing u want cuz im not creative and i didnt really think that far ahead

ALRIGHT here we go. this is so long i HAVE to put this under the cut but i hope yall enjoy the creations of my MIND……

- akeno “KEITH” shirogane: (age: 19) [gay] hes japanese/black/galran. hes still half galra in this reboot bc i fuck with that honestly but hes got more visible galran traits. his bottom canines are larger than usual and poke out from his bottom lip so he wears a mask to cover his mouth and his eyes r still purple but instead of his sclera being yellow(tinted), hes just like. got some odd golden flecks in his eyes. he normally wears a dirty mechanics jumpsuit with the top half tied around his waist and a black or white tank top underneath (hes still a high school flunk out so he works full time at a car repair shop so hes able to buy food and shit at LEAST + hes still got his motorcycle to keep in shape). his casual clothes r just regular grey sweats, hoodies, and adidas or whatever brand is closest in their future lol. hes blood related to shiro who ill get to in a second.. shiros blood related to him as his uncle (brother of keiths dad) ALSO his hair isnt long in this reboot, hes got a short messy head of hair that he mostly just pulls back into a TINY little pony tail on his forehead (like in the game show ep) so it doesnt get in his face while hes working. he also has goggles bc thats the one thing from yalls reboot ideas i actually like (endgame lion: he momentarily pilots black during shiros disappearance but his permanent and stationary lion is red)

- fal’allura “fala, ALLURA” naguna’ephy: [lesbian] (age: 21 or close to that in alien standards) shes altean on her fathers side and teem (what we’re gonna call nymas race) on her mothers side. she bares more altean features except her eyes are solid yellow and shes only got four fingers on each hand. instead of crescent shaped facial markings, she has painted on red and golden lines across her nose and her upper lip. her hair (very dark purple with silver highlights and literal glowing, twinkling stars) is VERY long, brushing the floor as she walks except and (now bear with me cuz this might be hard to explain) her hair, the farther down u look kind of fades away? like it becomes semi to absolute transparent… idk how else to explain it but i hope u understand…. she does wear a crown but its more like a headdress.. (imagine beyonces headdress).. she doesnt wear it often, usually only on diplomatic missions to greet other worldly rulers bc its heavy and it makes her neck hurt :/.. her dress! looks like this! but a little more spiffy .. u know.. her casual/training clothes are just…. idk imagine a royal looking sports bra and leggings?? i guess … ALSO ALSO ALSO she can still shape shift but instead of limiting her shifting to just the changing of skin tone and height, she can completely mimic different alien species but only humanoid races.. like she can have those indented looking knees and huge ass horns and all that but she cant like. turn into an earth lizard u know what im saying. also also also also she still speaks with an accent just… not a british one….(endgame lion: no lion. she keeps leading and piloting the castle ship until destruction, where she leads and pilots the atlas)

- alejandro “LANCE, ale” reyes-leon: (age: 19 ½) [bi] hes cuban/black/vietnamese. his dad is black and vietnamese and his mom is cuban! hes got longish afro textured hair he keeps back in a pony tail most of the time like this or a bun when training bc hes too lazy to put any actual effort into styling it. hes got a couple moles/freckles scattered across his face and hes got sectoral heterochromiaaround his left pupil so theres a little bit of blue in one of his other wise dark brown eyes (like this).. i havent really figured out what his clothing style is.. i thought about keeping his clothes close to vld canon like his jacket (bc that was a really good jacket) but im gonna go a little wild here so hold on. he wears one of those surfer type looking skin tight turtleneck shirts underneath his heavy bomber jacket.. he wears just regular ripped jeans and hightops like in canon…….. hmm……. he wears a pink bead necklace under his shirt that was made by his little cousin just a couple weeks before he was shot off into space and he hasnt taken it off since…………. he also has a tiny stick and poke tattoo on his ankle he did when he was thirteen bc he thought it would look cool but it turned out kinda lop sided so he never takes his socks off in embarrassment (endgame lion: blue to red (during keiths reign as black paladin) then to black when shiro leaves voltron to lead the atlas alongside allura)

- takashi “SHIRO” shirogane: (age: 31) [gay] hes japanese/black. hes keiths uncle and the only family keith really has .. his design doesnt really change much except hes got long hair (like kuron) but its pulled up into a messy bun or pony tail.. in MY canon hes still gay and married to adam (whos name isnt adam i just cant think of a new name for him yet) (and adam lives dont worry) and theyre working on adopting a daughter before shiro has to leave for kerberos. shiro usually dresses in work out outfits so like. gym shorts… tank tops.. leggings.. imagine those white blonde dudes who always wear a man bun and only eat vegan and drink chai from starbucks bc thats exactly how shiro acts but ONLY ironically ……… when shiros abducted on the galra freighter and forced to fight in the ring, his hair streaks white but instead of just a clean scar across his nose, he has multiple long scars scattered across his face from a one x one between his face and some debris thrown at him by a gladiator. his prosthetic looks and remains kinda the same i guess but this time its decked out with claws on the finger tips so it looks a little more galran yeah? (endgame lion: no endgame lion. he pilots the atlas alongside allura)

- francesca “frannie, frankie, PIDGE” eleonora: (age: 15) [trans girl lesbian] shes . just italian i guess. so anyway shes not gonna be an asshole bitch like canon pidge.. shes gonna be the caring sweet but KINDA mean little sister we always wished we had.. the little sister who would tell u, with all honesty, that ur winged eyeliner was smudged before u hit the town with the girls and made a fool of urself……. ANYWAY shes still gonna be the ‘hacker’/computer geek techno girl but not as much ykno? shes JUST a little girl so she just kinda does her own thing. i rlly like all the fanart i see of her wearing overalls and stuff SO thats her canon design…… she wears faded overall jeans over a short sleeved pale pink tshirt w a dog one it and scuffed up chucks. she wears glasses but instead of just taking them from matt she has an actual prescription and is basically blind without them. i literally cannot stress this enough but shes such a nice girl like the team pretty much adopted her as their little sister the moment they boarded the castle ship. idk what else to add on to her!!!! i literally did not put any thought into pidge at all! (endgame lion: permanently green)

- opetaia“HUNK” tuitama: (age: 19 ¾) [bi] hes samoan/black. hunk was adopted and has two moms and three other siblings, all of who are younger than him. im not sure about his fashion other than i KNOW deep down in my heart that he would wear cargo shorts…. i cant find it in me to get rid of his bandana thing so i let him keep it except he uses it to tie his hair up instead of using it as a head band thing….. HUNK in my au is more of a tech freak/engineer than pidge so he handles most of that stuff with the occasional help from pidge (like wiring… she has tiny fingers that can grab the wires easier) hunk probably wears the crocs/sandals with socks combo but just because he loves hearing lance bitch about it whnever he struts into a room. hunk also looks good in his vest so im gonna let him keep that but it looks more modified… like it has a bunch of pockets and stuff to keep bolts and nuts and other stuff he needs to work with.. thats also why he wears cargo shorts; just for the pockets.. (endgame lion: permanently yellow)

also ur probably wondering “if lance is in black and keith is in red and allura doesnt pilot a lion, THEN WHOS PILOTING BLUE????” …….. heh… peep this………..

- ADAM elsammak-althani(thank u mal @fuckvld for ur gorgeous arabic adam hcs..): (age: 32) [gay] i dont have much to say about him other than read mals hc lists and that ADAM LIVES IN MY REBOOT and he also joins the voltron team and pilots the blue lion (i FIRMLY hc that hes a very free/wild spirit and just loves to make jokes and is just.. a really fun guy to be around and obviously blue would open up to him in a SECOND. dont even @ me) (endgame lion: BLUE!)

[quickwrites]

Den Mothers: What is Age but a Number?

-Keith knew he had made a mistake the moment the Blades had all stopped talking to stare at him. Up until that moment the Galra resistance had been talking quietly among themselves in the lounge area of the castle and Keith had been drawn into a conversation with Thace and Ulaz about Galra culture and child rearing. That led to the innocent question of how old Keith was then the blank stares started. Kolivan and Antok were called over to join them by Thace, a strain suddenly in his voice and Ulaz asked Keith to repeat himself only to be met with more blank stares.

The next thing he knew every Blades of Marmora had stopped talking and set to work constructing what Keith could only describe as a makeshift bed in the corner of the lounge out of pillows and blankets they hunted down. The Red Paladin had been mostly ignored when he asked what was going on in favor of a sudden onslaught of questions about his childhood, his personal hygiene and eating habits. The answers seemed to only bother them more and by the time the “nest” was built Thace and another blade had returned from raiding the castle’s kitchen. Antok picked Keith up off the couch and set him in the middle of the nest, patting the top of his head silently and Thace set several snacks into his lap.

“What is going on here,” Shiro asked as he and the other paladins entered the room.

“Ah Shiro,” Ulaz said, approaching the Black Paladin. “We just learned of Keith’s young age. I know that the state of the universe means that we have to make hard choices but we are of an agreement that we cannot ignore a kit’s needs and development so when you are not on missions, the Blades will be taking over his care.”

“Uh what,” Shiro said, feeling like the castle floor was tilting under his feet.

“Oh my god,” Pidge laughed, her and Lance both holding out their phones as they snapped pictures of Keith sitting on the blankets, Thace sitting next to him with a bowl of minced raw meat in his hand that he was encouraging Keith to eat.

“This is too perfect,” Lance cackled. “Oh man, I am so glad I get to see this.”

“Knock it off,” Keith shouted, pushing the bowl out from under his nose even as his mouth watered. “This is ridiculous! I’m not a little kid! I’m older than everyone on the team except Shiro, dammit!”

Silence fell over the Blades again as they looked from Keith to the other three young Paladins. Pidge and Lance slowly lowered their phones as they sensed a change in the air. “Uh, guys,” Hunk said softly. “Why are they looking at us like that?”

“We will need a bigger nest,” Kolivan said in his grave tone, turning to his Blades to set them back on their search. Antok and another large Galra appeared suddenly behind the Blue, Green and Yellow Paladins, picking them up easily in their arms and taking them to join Keith in the blankets until they could finish the larger nest to fit them all.

When Coran and Allura finally made it into the lounge to inquire as to why all the blankets and pillows had disappeared from the castle they found four out of the five Paladins of Voltron sitting in the middle of the room where all the missing bedding had been laid out between the couches. Thace was sitting behind Lance with his legs wrapped around the boy’s middle as he groomed his hair, the Cuban caught some where between disgruntlement and enjoyment at the attention. Ulaz was sitting with Keith and discussing nutrition in one corner, both leaning on the couch while still sitting on the floor. Pidge had taken a perch on Antok’s shoulders with her laptop balanced on his head and Hunk was asleep with his head resting on his lap while Antok seemed very content with his position.

Shiro and Kolivan stood by the door, the Black Paladin trying to convince the Leader of Blades that, while the Paladins were young, they weren’t as young as the Blades seemed to think they were. From Coran’s point of view, as he quietly assured the Princess back out of the room, he was losing the argument completely and knew it would be best to avoid mentioning his ward’s age less he lose her to the nesting Galras.

------

Characters belong to Voltron

Den Mothers AU belongs to @paladin-pile

Something that has always driven me nuts about Dads of Marmora where Keith’s age is realized by the Blades is that it’s very often overlooked that Keith is not only a legal adult by human standards but that Pidge, Hunk and Keith aren’t even that! Hell Pidge can’t even drive without an adult in the car! So the first thing I thought of when reading Paladin-pile’s post (https://paladin-pile.tumblr.com/post/159695899052/i-need-a-fic-where-one-day-keith-has-a-long-chat) is Keith throwing the other three under the bus by pointing out that they are younger than he is. Also this falls under the Everyone Lives AU since I need all the Dads okay? Okay.

[avidbeader]

Voltron fanfic: “Scattered” Chapter 14

Season 2 AU. No ships, K+ to T rating. Begin at the beginning here.

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Desai burst into the conference room where Iverson, Baker, and several other officers were arguing while they waited for General Benítez to return. The medtech began babbling something about Kogane before Iverson had the chance to tell her off for breaking the lockdown protocol. Then he began to decipher what she was trying to say.

 “…going to wake up. Maybe by the end of the day! He’s going to be all right!”

 “That’s good, that’s very good! But you shouldn’t have left your post or been moving around during the lockdown. We’ve got an alien ship up there and until we can establish communication with it we have to keep everyone out of the way.” Iverson picked up a radio from his desk. “Squad 1524, report in. Someone needs to stay in the room with Kogane until Desai and I return.”

 There was no answer.

 “Squad 1524, acknowledge!”

 Baker picked up his own radio. “All Earthforce units, we suspect a security breach. Everyone inside the main building, surround section L5 and move in. Everyone outside, you are authorized to fire on the aliens if they attack first.” At his words, the klaxon began to sound across the campus.

 Iverson snarled at him. He couldn’t belay that order from his own radio because the Garrison and Earthforce operated on different frequencies.

 But he could do something else, something that would be more effective than trying to fight Baker for his radio. “Dos Santos, Montgomery, I am ordering the arrest of Captain Baker for trespass on Garrison property. See that he does not leave this room or use that radio until further notice.” He turned and raced from the room.

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 “Sam! Matt!”

 Sam saw his wife snatch up the tablet and stare into it, trying to convince herself that what she was seeing was real.

 “Yes, Colleen, it’s us. We’re back…well, almost back. Shiro and Katie are taking care of something and then we’ll figure out how to get to you.”

 “Katie? How…how…what happened? Have you reported to Earthforce yet?”

 “No!” Matt cried at the same time that Sam shook his head.

 “Colleen, whatever you do, do NOT contact Earthforce or the Garrison! They’re holding Shiro and Katie’s team member prisoner—that’s what they’re doing right now, trying to get him back.”

 “Katie’s…team? I don’t understand! What’s going on? Where were you? You’ve been gone over a year, Katie’s been missing almost seven weeks—”

 “I know, I know!” Sam tried to head her off before she lost control.

 Next to him, Sam heard Matt hiss under his breath, “Over a year?”

 “Colleen, let me explain. We made it to Kerberos safely, but were captured by a scouting ship belonging to a race of aliens called the Galra.” Behind them Sam could hear the princess directing the team and tried to condense the story. They might be needed. “Matt and I ended up separated from Shiro, put in a work camp of sorts, until a few days ago when we were freed by a member of the Voltron Force, a kid named Lance from the Garrison of all places.”

 “Lance McClain is alive? What about the Garrett boy? We were told they were killed in a training accident!”

 “No, they’re all fine. Look, we have to help when the team gets back to the ship. I swear to you we’ll be back in touch the second we can. Trust me and don’t do anything!”

 The elf with the mustache shouted, “Matt! I need you! Get in the green station to monitor those troops!”

 “Yes, sir! Love you, Mom!” Matt left his father’s side and Sam saw Colleen gasp.

 “We will see you soon, I swear!” Sam blew a kiss to his wife’s tear-stained face before breaking the connection.

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 Pidge sliced the door in two with her blade and Hunk pushed the pieces apart. The four of them poured in and looked around, seeing no one else in the room but Keith, unconscious and strapped down on a gurney. His armor and helmet were piled on a table against the wall.

 They all deactivated their cloaking devices. Lance moved to Keith’s side and started pulling electrodes off him. He looked around for something to cut the straps, flashing back to a previous rescue with Shiro and Keith’s places reversed.

 Pidge went to the laptop and began tapping keys, scanning the resulting information. “Ugh, this isn’t good. They knew he wasn’t telling them everything about what happened, so they drugged him to try and get more. But for some reason Keith was able to resist normal doses and they doubled the prescribed amount and they still couldn’t get anything out of him.” She scrolled down. “Same thing with the sedative. They poured three times the normal amount into his system, along with large amounts of adrenaline trying to wake him from that. It’s a quiznaking mess!” She paused, her eyes narrowing on something flagged in a blood test result.

 In the distance, an alarm began to blare. They all heard Allura’s voice as she monitored the movement of the garrison troops. “At least two squadrons are coming, from opposite sides, toward your location. You need to hurry!”

 Shiro glanced out, seeing the empty hallway but hearing running feet in the distance. “Any ideas on getting out of here without having to attack anyone else?”

 Lance looked up. “L5 is one story, isn’t it?”

 Hunk grinned. “I think you’re right.” He held up his bayard and aimed the resulting cannon at the ceiling, adjusting its firepower to full. “Take cover!”

 Pidge slapped the laptop shut and grabbed it. Everyone dove under a table or counter, with Shiro lowering the gurney and pulling Keith to shelter behind him. Hunk fired twice and retreated behind a cabinet to avoid the resulting rain of debris. Sunshine streamed in through the ragged hole left in the roof.

 Shiro used his cybernetic hand to rip away the straps holding Keith down and heaved him up in his arms. “Allura, we’re coming up. We may need covering fire.”

 Pidge scooped up armfuls of Keith’s armor, dropping everything on the gurney with the laptop and pulling up the cover around it all to use as an improvised pack. Lance summoned his own rifle and brought it back to full power.

 Shiro looked around to make sure everyone was ready. “All right, team, let’s move.”

 Hunk activated his jet pack and rose first, ready to fire. Shiro followed with Keith. Pidge stayed close, carrying Keith’s belongings, and Lance took the rear.

 As they started flying toward the Castle, the troops outside began to point and mill around. Lance tried a few careful shots near larger groups, hoping to confuse or scare them without hurting anyone. Allura added a warning strike from the ship, which seemed to change someone’s mind.

 “Quiznak! Incoming!” Lance began firing more frantically as someone had decided to aim shells toward them. Hunk joined him and they shot at the larger projectiles. Thin energy bolts erupted from the Castle, pinpointing launchers one by one with care, sacrificing quick neutralization for minimal casualties.

 “Pidge, scatter!” Shiro cried as he tried to focus on getting to safety and trust his teammates behind him.

 “No way!” she shouted back, maneuvering in front of him and bringing up her shield in order to protect Keith. A shell that the others had missed exploded some fifteen meters from them, rocking them and slowing their ascent.

 Pidge saw the next missed shell behind Shiro, coming straight at him, and tried to move her shield over his shoulder to defend him. She deflected it, but as it careened away it exploded. Shrapnel lodged in Shiro’s jetpack, knocking out one thruster and throwing him off balance. He was losing his grip on Keith and Pidge tried to help him while hanging onto her burden…

 And an enormous roar sounded as the Red Lion streaked toward them. It neatly nipped and suddenly all three of them were sprawled on the ramp that formed the Lion’s tongue, safe inside the jaws. Shiro and Pidge yelled and grabbed for purchase as the head snapped around so the Lion could collect Lance and Hunk. With all five of them inside and protected, the Red Lion made for its hangar.

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 Red felt the physical contact with her Paladin as he slid from Shiro’s grasp across the ramp and their connection snapped to full strength like two powerful magnets joining…

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 …the link he was following exploded into flame-like light around him, driving the darkness back as it surrounded him…

 RED?

 I have you, my Paladin!

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 The Red Lion landed in its bay and lowered its head so the Paladins could exit. The restored connection sang through her, from nose to tail. The other Lions sent their relief and joy to her and Black suggested that Blue should return from her escapade.

 Blue agreed, but deliberately veered to the west for the return trip. There were so many more population bases to buzz in that direction…

 Black gave a mental sigh. Her Paladin was definitely rubbing off on Blue.

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 Iverson burst into the communications center and unceremoniously dumped the guard monitoring the console from his chair into the floor. Entering his override code with quick jabs, he brought up access to the public address system.

“STAND DOWN! ALL UNITS STAND DOWN! CEASE FIRE!”

He moved to the observatory glass just in time to see the red lion ship snatch up the armored figures and retreat to the giant white starship. A bubble with a grid pattern appeared around the entire structure. With no small targets left, the forces outside stopped firing.

Iverson turned back to the console. “There has got to be some way for us to talk to them! Jameson, get up and help me!”

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 The media outlets were going nuts. They had no official confirmation of anything yet: no issue of military information, no press conference or statement from the executive branch. A few mayors had spoken to the press about an alien ship passing overhead from close range. Social media was ablaze as more and more pictures and vids of the ship were posted and the recorded conversation between some princess of Altea and a couple of military personnel was rapidly climbing the list of the most shared links ever.

 In a house in Varadero, a few blocks from the beach, a pair of sisters were glued to their tablets, their heads together as they refreshed their timelines and shared new updates with one another. Mina found a link claiming to be the recorded conversation that had been reported so widely and followed it, turning up the volume so Sara could hear. Their eyes widened at the fury in the woman’s voice before an equally angry deep voice shot back.

 “Cadet Kogane is a member of our forces, one who disappeared in suspicious circumstances. His actions suggest treason against Earth. We need answers!”

 “He’s not a cadet, he’s a civilian! You kicked him out for being a discipline problem! That’s how I ended up fighter class!”

 The listeners’ ears perked up at that.

 “You heard my Blue Paladin. You have no authority to detain a member of the Voltron team. Release him and send him to his ship, now!”

 “Wait a minute. Is that Cadet McClain?”

 The girls looked at one another in shock. “Play that again!” Sara ordered.

 Mina did, zeroing in on the familiar voice and looping it.

 “He’s not a cadet, he’s a civilian! You kicked him out for being a discipline problem! That’s how I ended up fighter class!”

 “He’s not a cadet, he’s a civilian! You kicked him out for being a discipline problem! That’s how I ended up fighter class!”

 They bolted to their feet and ran to find their parents, planted in front of a television news bulletin that was currently outlining the path of the alien ship zooming across North America. Their voices ran over one another as they rushed to impart their news.

 “Mamá! Papá! We heard Lance!”

 “Lance isn’t dead! He’s on that ship!”

 Seamus McClain rarely shouted at his girls, preferring to leave day-to-day discipline to his quick-spoken wife. But faced with the shattering news that aliens did exist and possibly were not friendly and then two screaming girls, he yelled, “Stop, both of you!”

 The girls fell silent and shared a look before they nodded. Sara dove for the television remote and muted it while Mina refreshed the browser to play the recording from the beginning:

 “I am Princess Allura of the planet Altea. I am here to reclaim my Paladin and his ship, the Red Lion. Where is he?”

 A lion’s roar sounded in the background.

 “You imprisoned him? You drugged him? How dare you! Release him at once or face the consequences!”

 “Cadet Kogane is a member of our forces, one who disappeared in suspicious circumstances. His actions suggest treason against Earth. We need answers!”

 “He’s not a cadet, he’s a civilian! You kicked him out for being a discipline problem! That’s how I ended up fighter class!”

 “You heard my Blue Paladin. You have no authority to detain a member of the Voltron team. Release him and send him to his ship, now!”

 “Wait a minute. Is that Cadet McClain?”

 “Identify yourself.”

 “I’m Commander Iverson. I’m the one who convinced Keith to come out and talk to us. Then Earthforce chose to double-cross me and took him. He’s being held in the medwing, section L5, under heavy guard. They’ve begun the process of transferring him to another facility.”

 “Iverson, I’ll see you court-martialed for this!”

 “The hell you will, Baker! You were one of Darzi’s people, weren’t you? He’s not here now to back you up!”

 “Enough! For the final time, release my Red Paladin and allow him to return to his ship!”

 “Negative. You have no rights to an Earth civilian.”

 “Paladins, retrieve your missing comrade. Try not to hurt too many of them in the process.”

 Rosa Salguero McClain fell to her knees, grabbing for her husband’s hand. “My god…that was him! That was Lance!”

 McClain grabbed his phone to try and dial someone, then hesitated as he realized the only people who could verify their son’s whereabouts were still up to their ears in dealing with the larger situation.

 His wife, however, did not hesitate. She got to her feet and retrieved her own phone to open a vid call.

 McClain blinked as the tearstained face of Colleen Holt appeared on the screen. “Rosa, I was trying to decide whether to call or not.” She was wiping her eyes but smiling.

 “Then you’ve heard the recording? You were right. Lance is alive and I am so, so sorry for not listening to you.”

 “Recording? No. Sam contacted me. They’re all alive! Him and Matt, Katie and Shiro, your Lance…they’re all alive!”

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 Shiro carried Keith straight to the cryo-healing room, Pidge at his heels with the laptop from the medlab, and found Allura there first. She gasped at Keith’s limp body and Shiro hastened to reassure her as he knelt on the floor and rested, propping Keith against him.

 “It’s all right, Princess. A little time in one of the cryo-pods to flush the drugs out of his system and he’ll be just fine.”

 Pidge set the laptop on the center console and opened it. “I just need a few minutes to break a password and get these two machines talking to one another. Then we should have a record of exactly what they did to Keith. That will tell the cryo-pod just what he needs.”

 “I hope you’re right.” Allura crouched beside Shiro and reached out to touch Keith’s face. She gasped and pulled her hand back as if burned.

 “Princess? What is it?”

 She looked at her hand, puzzled and a bit frightened. Slowly she reached out and took Keith’s hand, her brow wrinkled in concentration. Shiro inhaled sharply and Pidge’s eyes widened, seeing their joined hands start to glow. It was like the glow that had enveloped the Balmera when the princess had directed the rebirth process.

 “What is it?” he repeated.

 “He’s…he’s practically bursting with energy! It’s as if he’s been dipped in pure Quintessence!”

 Pidge frowned at that. “How could that have—”

 “Princess! We need you in the control room now! Someone from Earth is trying to hail us!”

 Shiro jumped to his feet. “Let’s get Keith into a cryo-pod and go.”

 Allura shook her head. “I can’t leave him! I don’t know that a pod can deal with that energy! Perhaps I can—”

 “You have to go, Allura! We have to get both sides talking if we’re ever going to sort out this mess!”

 Pidge let out a satisfied sigh as she got the two machines linked. The first item that popped up on the Altean screen was the blood test and she glanced hurriedly at Allura before adjusting the screen to hide it. “Look, I’ll stay with Keith. He’s stable and obviously not going to get any worse now that he’s with us and not being pumped full of drugs. Maybe let some of this energy dissipate before trying the cryo-pod. When you get back I might have some answers and we can let the pod do its job.”

 Both of them stared at her and Allura voiced the question. “Why you?”

 “Because part of the conversation is almost certainly going to involve us and our families and how long we’ve been gone. I’m not needed since my dad and brother are already here and they can contact Mom as soon as there’s a chance to.”

 “They already have,” Allura replied faintly. “Coran helped them.”

 “There you go, then. I’ll take care of Keith. You go diplomat us out of this mess.”

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  Hunk and Lance entered the control room to find Shiro and Allura in a heated debate, with the Holts to one side and Coran to the other, looking uncomfortable. A signal for incoming contact beeped in the background.

 And then they registered Allura’s appearance. She looked like Shiro’s sister, from the dark hair and eyes to the pale gold of her skin…and round ears.

 “It’s what we always do!” Allura shouted. “We blend in!”

 “You can’t do that this time! If you make even one slip and they realize you presented a false front, any hope of negotiations will vanish! If there’s one thing our military hates, it’s being lied to!”

 “Oh, that’s rich coming from them! They lied to your people about what happened to you!”

 Suddenly Matt stepped forward. “Um…I think the point is moot. When we contacted my mom, she could see you two in the background. She already saw you were different.”

 Allura turned on him with a glare as Shiro gave her a snarky smile of triumph. “Trust me on this, Allura. Change back to yourself before you open that channel.”

 She huffed, but closed her eyes. Her hair faded, her skin darkened, and her ears stretched back to their usual pointed shape. When she opened her eyes, they were back to the usual brilliant sky blue. “Happy now?”

 “Well, not exactly, but it’s one less thing to worry about.”

 Allura turned to Coran. “All right, open the channel.”

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