Terminal Velocity • Voltron x Terminal List

V

But it didn't change much else. Lance had never really pictured his next steps after his list was finished. He honestly had never expected to finish the list and still have next steps for himself. He was on the news, on the military's watchlist, and probably on Capstone Industries' too. If he didn't end up with a bullet in his head, the tumor would do its job. One way or the other, it would all be over soon, and that was fine with him.

Because after all this was over, there was no home for him to return to.

There were two soft knocks on the motel wall that he and Keith shared, Keith's old Voltron code for Are you okay?

He'd probably heard everything as Lance had more or less assumed would happen.

"It's fine," Lance said, trusting Keith's superior hearing to pick up his words. "Get some sleep."

Lance did his best to take his own advice, not because he wanted to sleep – he'd gone longer without it on several missions – but because he wanted to be well-rested and ready to go for tomorrow. Before checking out for the night, he doublechecked the lock on the door, jammed a chair beneath the knob, and sent a message that would hopefully be seen before tomorrow.

Then he laid down on top of the covers and closed his eyes.

--

Raphael moved his action figure around, making sound effects as he flew through the air, and Lance grinned. He took the action figure Raphael had entrusted him with for today and copied his nephew, letting his figure fly through the air and meet up with Raphael's. Raphael launched into a story about their mission: to rescue the princess (a Polly Pocket that had seen better days) and defeat the evil villain (Mr. Penguin). Lance followed his lead, adding in some dialogue and sound effects, and he looked up to catch Veronica watching them fondly.

"What are my two boys up to?" she asked and listened intently as Raphael explained the situation before defaulting to his new favorite phrase, "I'm not a little boy anymore!"

"Welllll," Veronica said, finger tapping at her chin as she pretended to do the math. "You're only seven, so you're not exactly grown up either."

His face scrunched up in a pout as he temporarily forgot about their mission, and Lance laughed, scooping him close. "Maybe you're not grown up yet, but you will be someday."

"When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you, Tío Leo," Raphael grumbled.

"Dashingly handsome?" Lance asked, striking a pose, and Raphael's pout was replaced with a laugh.

"Nooo, Tío Leo," Raphael said, and Lance faked being hurt, putting a hand against his chest, aghast. "I'm going to be a supersoldier, and I'm going to save everyone!"

Lance's grin slid off his face as he looked up to find Veronica looking equally uncomfortable. "Nahh, you don't want that, bud," he said, trying to salvage the situation, but Raphael was a stubborn little kid, and he nodded a bunch of times in a row, completely insistent.

"I do! I'm going to grow up to be big and strong, and I'll be a hero that fights the bad guys and protects people and saves princesses."

A princess did appear in Lance's mind at that moment. One he hadn't been able to save.

Veronica caught the switch in his expression, and she reached out her arms to pull Raphael close to her instead. "Tío Leo is pretty cool, isn't he," she asked quietly, and Raphael nodded, giggling, but it did nothing to fix the hole that had just opened itself up inside of Lance, and he looked away, trying to shove the image of Allura's face somewhere else, just for now.

"My job isn't all cool," Lance said after a moment, looking over at Raphael. "It's scary sometimes."

"Scary?" Raphael echoed, and Veronica gave him a small look of gratitude. They'd talked about this before, Raphael's slight obsession with Lance, and they both wanted to discourage him from pursuing a lifestyle anything at all like Lance's. Not that I don't love and appreciate you, Veronica had said clearly to him, It's just not something I want for my own kid. I worry about you enough. I can never worry enough for him. And Lance understood because he agreed with her.