#the focus on shiro but ichiro is smiling and happy

[avidbeader]

“Voltron” Fanfic: “The Quintessential Bond” Pt. 10

I had intended to focus on “Scattered” in the hopes of finishing it before the new season comes out, but when ideas hit you on a plane, you write them down.

Established Sheith, rated T. Start from the beginning here or read it on AO3/FF.net.

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Part 10

Katie pulled up her messenger window and a browser. She opened a reference page and did a quick bit of math. “Okay, Japan is fourteen hours ahead of us, so you’re looking at five-thirty in the evening their time.”

Shiro nodded. “That’ll work.”

She entered the information from her mother and Shiro watched as an antique telephone icon appeared and started ringing. The screen shifted and his father’s face appeared.

“Takashi?”

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hoshiko! Hoshiko! It’s Takashi!”

Shiro could hear a startled cry in the background, then running feet before his mother slid into view. “Oh my god, Takashi!” She put her hand to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.

His father looked ready to join her. “Colleen said you’d made it back.”

“Have you gotten in touch with Keith yet?” His mother asked.

Shiro looked up and smiled, reaching for Keith and pulling so he would sit next to him. Katie slid the laptop over slightly.

“He was the one to find me, Mom. He knew when I escaped.”

A smile burst across her face and the tears spilled down her cheeks.

Ichiro zeroed in on Keith. “Where have you been?”

Keith’s happy expression faltered. “I… staying hidden. I didn’t want the Garrison to find me.”

“We could have protected you.”

“I…” Keith glanced at Shiro, who put his arm around him, sending encouragement along the bond. Just tell them.

Keith took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I was so afraid of them finding me and breaking our bond, I didn’t think.”

Ichiro replied, “That’s understandable. But you have to remember, Takashi comes with a family. We’re your family.”

Keith nodded.

Hoshiko leaned forward. “Can you come home? Your grandmother would love to see you.”

“I’m not sure, Mom. There’s something wrong with the Garrison – they wouldn’t hear me out. And there are aliens coming, looking for a weapon that was hidden here. We need to find it before they do.”

Ichiro frowned at that. “Not you. Let Earthforce handle it if you don’t trust the Garrison.”

“Dad, we don’t know who we can trust. There’s a lot of cooperation between the Garrison and Earthforce. Besides, bringing them in will only delay things. We have to move fast.”

His father tried again. “Keith, please! Tell him!”

Keith’s expression crumpled into apology. “I can’t, sir. He’s right. We need to find this weapon first and we’re the only ones who can do it quickly.” He gripped Shiro’s hand and Shiro squeezed back reassuringly. “I’m sorry.”

Hoshiko laid one hand on Ichiro’s arm before he could argue more. “Takashi, please get in touch again as soon as possible. Let us know when you’re safe.”

Shiro felt tears welling up. “I promise.”

She kissed her fingers and touched them to the screen. Shiro used his left hand to repeat the gesture. “We love you, darling.”

“Love you too, Mom. Dad. We’ll talk to you soon.”

Katie reached over and closed the connection. “Okay, anyone else we should notify? Keith?”

Shiro shook his head and began, “Keith doesn’t have—”

“Wait! Dr. Hooper!”

Katie’s eyes lit up. “That was the name! Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Keith bit his lip. “I’m not sure we can find her. She was going up to Canada, Alberta, to get away from whoever had her project terminated.”

Katie pulled the laptop over and cracked her knuckles. “First name?”

“Margaret.”

She leaned over and began tapping keys.

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 Lance huddled next to Hunk as he put the finishing touches on the Voltron Geiger Counter. Hunk noticed the frequent glances Lance shot at Shiro and Keith as they sat with Katie and communicated with people.

“Dude, you need to chill. I know Shiro’s your hero and all, but he needs the chance to talk to his family. You’ll get your turn.”

Lance glared at him. “I just don’t get it. I don’t get how he has this connection with Shiro. Why him, of all people?”

“That’s the thing about soul bonds. They just happen. My moms weren’t looking to hook up with one another. Ma-lisa figured she’d get married after culinary school and Ma-nee was focused on learning everything to open her own restaurant. And then they reached for the same bottle of olive oil in class one day. It is what it is.”

“But—”

“No buts, dude. You gotta get over it.”

Lance grumbled, but stopped arguing for the moment.

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 After about five minutes of detective work, Katie pushed the laptop back to Keith and Shiro. “Okay, this connection is for her sister. Hopefully she’ll have a way to get in touch.”

Keith swallowed hard as the laptop worked to connect the call. The cross, sleepy face that appeared on the screen was similar enough to Dr. Hooper. He straightened. “Hi, I’m looking for Dr. Hooper? Margaret Hooper. I’m Keith Kogane.”

The woman went from sleepy to alert at his name. “Oh, wow! You’re alive! Molls has been worried sick about you.”

“Is she okay?”

“Okay enough. I think she’s—um, are you somewhere secure?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah. I just need her to know that I’m okay and that Shiro made it back.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Wait, the Kerberos captain? He’s back?”

Keith turned the screen so the webcam showed both of them and Shiro gave a small wave.

“Oh my god, oh my god, we have to let her know! Give me a minute!”

Keith and Shiro traded looks, then looked at Katie. Her face was scrunched up tightly in thought. “You said she was trying to get away from somebody?”

Keith replied, “Someone with a lot of influence killed the project, studying the distance effects of our bond. I think someone was looking to erase all the evidence available that Shiro and your family survived.”

“Including trying to break the bond between you two.” Katie’s expression turned furious.

Shiro felt Keith tense up beside him and was suddenly immersed in Keith’s memory of the assault: dragged away by masked assailants, strapped down, shouting at Iverson to stop until he was gagged, and his absolute helplessness as the second person approached with a syringe full of drugs. He put his arm around Keith and sent back his strongest reassurance: It didn’t happen. I’m still here.

Keith looked at him, his eyes fearful. It was so close, though.

Shiro was racking his brain for anything to say that might help. Katie reached over and put one hand on Keith’s arm, able to read their body language.

“It’s going to be okay. You’re together again. We’re going to work it all out.”

Keith drew a deep shuddering breath and nodded at them. But whatever he might have said was interrupted by the doctor’s sister appearing on the screen again.

“Okay, I’ve called her. She’s waiting to hear from you right now!”

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 Franke watched the security video for the twentieth time. As the medtechs and Iverson went down, he growled deep in his throat.

Across from him, Iverson squirmed. Franke paused the video and glared at him.

“How? How did you let a fucking teenager take you down like that?”

“He came in like a tornado! We had no chance to react!”

“And the rest of the unit? No one thought to stay behind in case the explosions were a diversion?”

“We were dealing with a confirmed alien spacecraft! We had no way of knowing it was the only one!”

Franke slammed one hand down on the table. “There is not going to be any way to cover this up! McClain and Garret’s families issued their statements within minutes of the first press release about their deaths. They have to have been in touch with their sons already.”

“What about Gunderson?”

Franke’s eyes narrowed. “Gunderson...is an interesting case.”

“What do you mean?”

“The contact information for him no longer exists.”

“What?”

“Gunderson is a false identity for someone. No telling who.”

Iverson’s eyes widened and he let out a slow breath as the puzzle pieces fit together. How had he missed it? “The daughter. Holt’s daughter.”

“That makes it worse. Colleen Holt is talking to reporters. And I just got word that Shirogane’s parents have asked for help from the Japanese government. Our only shot is finding those kids and finding them fast!”

“All we can do is try to search the desert from the air when we have daylight! Kogane took them right off a cliff and straight into a no-man’s-land!”

“Scramble the search teams. I want them out at first light.”

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 Keith sat up as Dr. Hooper’s face appeared on the screen. She brushed her dark-again hair out of her face and smiled. “Keith! It’s so good to see you!”

He smiled back. “Good to see you, too.”

“Mary said Shiro’s back?”

Shiro leaned in. “Yes, I made it back.”

Dr. Hooper’s smile faded as she took in Shiro’s appearance. “I see. What happened to you?”

Shiro retreated into self-deprecation and shrugged. “Got abducted by aliens. Ended up fighting as entertainment in an arena. Some traitor in their ranks helped me escape. Crash-landed back here.”

Keith squeezed his hand and leaned into his shoulder as he sent comfort along the bond.

“And…how is your bond?”

“Still there,” Shiro replied.

The doctor’s eyes widened. “Do you…do you know how far away you ended up?”

Shiro shook his head. “Not exactly. The Galra have something called a hyperdrive that can travel faster than light. I never got a good look at the sky to try and orient myself while I was a prisoner. And the one who freed me programmed the ship I came back in. All I know is it was far outside our solar system – even in hyperdrive it took hours, maybe over a day to get back.”

Hooper blew out a long breath, taking it in. “Then it’s possible there’s no measurable distance limit to the bond.”

Keith spoke up. “Something did happen, though. When we were back together, physically, it was like the bond was too strong for us. Like we were going to merge into one identity and be stuck like that forever.”

The doctor gasped at that. “Hold on, I need to be recording this!” She disappeared from the screen and they heard footsteps receding.

Katie looked up from her pocket tablet. “Update from Mom: the Garrison tried to announce our deaths, burying the news in the middle of the night. She’s talking to multiple reporters now about releasing the video of the Kerberos landing. Lance and Hunk’s families issued their statements before anyone could contact them first and that’s gotten the media’s attention. Your parents are trying to bring in the Japanese government since Shiro’s their citizen.”

Shiro raised his eyebrows at that bit of news.

“And according to what I’ve just found on the high-security server at the Garrison, they’re going to be searching for us by air starting at first light. When’s sunrise?”

Keith thought for a moment. “Two, two-and-a-half hours from now.”

Katie turned to the others. “Hunk, how’s the Voltron detector?”

“Almost ready!”

Shiro looked around. “I think we need to be ready the minute we have enough light to see by.”

“Keith? Shiro? I’m ready. Can you repeat what you were saying about the bond again?”

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 Hunk was on the porch of the cabin, turning in a slow circle and watching the needle on the repurposed Geiger counter. There was a clear indicator that the alien signature was coming from the southwest.

Lance was leaning against the railing, watching the bunker. Shiro and Keith had disappeared into it once more, saying they needed to talk but would be back shortly. Pidge had physically jumped in front of Lance when he moved in their direction, hoping to get a word in first, and he had come close to decking her for it.

Hunk sighed, made a note of the direction where the signal was strongest, and set the device down. He moved to Lance’s side and nudged him.

“Seriously, Lance. Whatever is eating you so bad, you have to let it go.”

“I just…I just wanna be able to talk to him! And…fucking Keith is always there! Or Pidge is getting in the way!”

“Lance, if your parents were separated by a huge distance for a long time, wouldn’t you give them time alone first?”

Lance looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. “We’re family! Family sticks together!”

“And when people in your family want privacy?”

Lance shrugged. “I guess they tell us. Or go…somewhere else…”

Hunk nodded, seeing Lance finally make the connection. He knew from visits that Lance’s family was almost constantly in one another’s space. It was almost diametrically opposite to what he remembered of Shiro’s personality at the Garrison—friendly if approached but not super-outgoing—and his initial reading of Keith was of an intensely private person.

“So, they went somewhere else for a bit. Let them have some time.”

Lance glared through the window into the cabin where Pidge was typing away at her laptop. “So you’re on their side against me?”

Hunk face-palmed. Lance was his best friend and normally a fun and chill dude, but once in a while he got obsessed over things. This was apparently one of those things.

“No. There is no side here. I’m not sure why Pidge is going off the rails to protect them. Maybe it’s because she knew Shiro before. Maybe she’s one of those people who wants a soul bond really badly and overdoes it when she meets a pair in real life. My moms have had to put up with a few people like that over the years. But if you back off, she’ll calm down and you will get your opportunity to talk to Shiro.”

Lance ran his hands up and down his arms through his jacket, trying to warm himself against the cold night air. He didn’t meet Hunk’s gaze.

“Lance, I’m serious. Shake it the fuck off.”

That got his attention. Hunk rarely swore. Lance looked at him for a moment and finally nodded.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

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 Leaning over her laptop, fingers flying, Katie orchestrated.

The Garrison had an army. Hell, the Garrison was technically part of the army, focusing on recruiting and training teenagers for space exploration.

They needed their own army.

Her mom. Shiro’s parents. Hunk and Lance’s parents. A growing mob of reporters. And now Dr. Hooper. They were the core group and Katie had made sure that they could all contact one another.

Now they needed the public.

Her laptop pinged a notification. Dr. Hooper had sent her the research presentation she had finished in the hopes of being able to publish it one day. She had made a hasty addendum outlining Shiro’s return and how Keith had described the exponential solidification of their bond.

Katie attached it to the post and took one more look at what she had composed. Everything was there: the coverup of Kerberos, Shiro’s escape and return, aliens searching for the Voltron, the attempts to hide the existence of aliens, anything relevant that Shiro had mentioned about these Galra.

Taking a deep breath, she hit “send”.

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 Once back in the bunker, Keith immediately moved in, ready to pick up where they had left off. Shiro took him by the shoulders and kept space between them.

“Shiro, what?”

“I said we had to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“I need to know exactly what happened with you. I’ve got the impressions, the emotions. I could see through your eyes on the way back. But I don’t understand why. What happened? How could you pull things together so fast in the time it took me to get back here?”

Keith swallowed hard. “I… I knew something was coming tonight. I didn’t know it would be you, not until that person helped you escape. I was preparing to intercept whoever arrived and try to hitch a ride with them off-planet.”

Shiro’s hands fell away from Keith as his mouth dropped open. Keith’s insides twisted, unable to feel anything from his soulmate other than shock and growing disapproval. He flinched as Shiro’s expression grew stormy. But just as Shiro drew breath to speak, a low, warning growl thundered through both of them.

I did not help you for this.

Shiro looked around. “What is that?”

“That’s…” Keith groped for a better way to say it, but nothing came. “That’s my guardian angel.”

“Your what?”

“It’s like the bond, but different. More lopsided. It’s helped me, almost from the night I arrived here. Boosted me, helped me help you. It may have even saved my life when you lost… when they took your hand.”

Shiro’s anger had faded and now he was lost in thought. “That’s what you were saying to Dr. Hooper. About something outside us bringing the bond back under our control.”

Keith nodded.

“But…you said you knew something was coming. How did you know?”

Keith held out his hand. “You should see this.”

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 Keith would have preferred showing the corkboard just to Shiro, but there was no polite way to tell the others to stay out of the main room. He pulled the sheet down and began trying to explain.

It got easier sooner than he expected. Keith had barely begun tracing out the direction of this strange presence when Hunk nodded vigorously. “Yes! That’s the direction the Voltron Geiger counter is showing!”

Pidge was typing, adding new information to the stream as Keith gave it.

“The cave markings all had two things in common, predicting the arrival of something tonight and a mysterious blue lion—” Keith broke off and looked at Shiro.

He had made the connection as well. “A blue lion! That’s what we have to find!”

“Is that what the Voltron thing is? A blue lion?” Lance asked. He frowned at a feeling of amusement coming from somewhere. But everyone else in the room looked as serious as he did.

Shiro straightened his shoulders. “I don’t think we can afford to wait for daylight. Keith, can you get us to these caves now?”

He nodded and pointed to a box under the makeshift coffee table. “Flashlights are in there. Everyone grab one.”

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More to come...