Red's Adopted Son (WIP)

Part 16

Lance tapped his fingers against Red's dashboard as a nervous tick. He was anxious to see his team, knowing they had ditched him with no second thoughts. Red seemed to have sensed her cubs inner turmoil and sent some calming emotions. Lance ran a hand through his now white and brown hair.

His family had always been known for their great hair, growing up in such a small place with such a big family had an impact on him, and he knew that. Since the tender age of five he was obsessed with his outward image. If he didn't look good, no one would look at him. He had grown up with a big family, being the middle of the middle of the children ment he was often too old for the younger and too young for the older siblings. Lance wouldn't exactly call it neglect- it's just when he was four his parents forgot to feed him. When he was five they were distracted by his younger baby siblings, and he had to learn to bathe himself. When he was six he finally learned how to cook for himself. When he was seven he gave up on getting his parents attention.

Lance knew he was different from the rest of his family. He had always been more... intelligent- an out of the box thinker. Of course his family was always distracted... but they cared for him... Lance often found himself at the local animal shelter surrounded by cats. If he was any younger he would have a stroke when he realized he could technically turn into a cat. He had always been a cat person...

When Lance wanted to go to flight school, his parents shipped him off with no thought. It would've hurt if he wasn't used to it. At flight school he met his 'rival' Keith- of course he never actually hated Keith... but Keith seemed to hate him, and he didn't know why. His mask of sorts of being the stupid jock stayed up and high when he was around Keith. Lance, who had grown up with no attention, didn't want attention for being the nerd. If anyone had bothered to look closer they would've seen a slightly traumatized boy, but Lance was a good actor and no one actually cared. When Keith dropped out, Lance felt bad, but his dreams were right around the corner.

Then Lance realized he probably had ADHD, between the consistency with getting sidetracked and the fact he zoned in on specific things... it was a shock he didn't make the connections sooner. Of course, if he told anyone under the illusion of the popular jock, they would think he was faking it. Eventually he met Hunk and Pidge, he knew Pidge was a girl but he pretended because that was easier than wondering why. Then the fateful night happened when he met Blue and Shiro. By the time they met Allura, he was too far down into the mask to change. Lance knew they didn't like him, but getting left behind hit a little too close to home.

Lance was snapped out of his minor flashback by Red sending him some calming emotions through his bond. Lance smiled softly, at least Red wouldn't leave him.

'We're almost there.' Red purred through the link.

"Guess I should go fix my hair." Lance murmured to himself, before disappearing to the bathroom in the lion.

(Idk if there is actually a bathroom but there ain't no way they built these space lions and forgot a bathroom)

-

Coran sat nervously at the cockpit, waiting for any flashes of Red. He glanced down at the message from Lotor, mentioning that he knew the paladins were back and Lance and him had separated. Lance's plan of attempting to befriend the prince of the Galra seemed to be working. Coran knew Lance was smart, and he always has, no one else would be able to learn about Altea as fast as him. Coran sighed, and looked out the window.

A flash of red caught his sight, and he narrowed his eyes. It was in fact the Red lion, but he noticed the Altean marking on it. He doubted anyone else would be able to tell what they were. The Red lion's tail seemed to have grown longer, and it had these white ruins gracing the metallic hind legs. Coran was not looking forward to having to explain those to Allura when she eventually found out.

Coran stood and walked to the Red lion's hanger and ignored as Shiro stood and asked where he was going. He stood as the Red lion landed in its spot. It bowed down and opened its mouth. Coran knew Shiro was behind him, and that meant Keith was as well. It seemed Red was putting on a show.

Lance walked out of Red, his helmet under his arm and his signature grin. Coran smiled to himself as he noticed the white strands in his hair, it made him look more Altean. He could hear Keith's breath hitch in shock and Shiro's light gasp. Of course while they were gone Lance had been cleaning the ship and training, he had a nice figure but he felt the white strands are what shocked them.

"Coran! Your errands are done-!" Lance announced, looking solely at his father figure, feigning ignorance. Lance didn't seem to realize that Keith and Shiro were in the door, he did but he didn't let it show.

"Lance?" Shiro asked tentatively.

"Yeah? What's up boss man?" Lance nodded his head at Shiro, casually, and a bit more confident.

"What happened to your hair?" Keith interrupted, his confusion winning over.

Lance ran a hand through his hair, feigning confusion.

"Why? There something in it?"

"No- it's white??" Keith pointed out mildly ignorant and confused.

"Ah, yeah, it started to grow in white strands after you left. Me and Red have spent a lot of time on different planets so it's probably a side effect of something." Lance lied smoothly.

Keith and Shiro looked at eachother confused.

"What do you mean by spending time on other planets?" Shiro bluntly asked.

"You think the Galra stopped attacking when you left? I was out fighting?" Lance deadpanned, not noticing the looks of guilt creeping in on their faces.

"Ah, speaking of which, how are our new allies doing?" Coran cut in, referencing Lotor.

"Good, we seem to have pinned down a good way to defeat Zarkon." Lance grinned, knowing how good of an ally Lotor was, even if he was a blueberry.

"We have new allies?" Shiro interrupted.

"Lance. Lance has new allies, the other planets pledged to the red paladin after they found out the rest of Voltron ditched them." Coran said rudely.

"Now if you'll excuse us we have war plans to make." Coran turned and walked out. Lance shrugged and followed Corans lead. And Cosmo teleported behind Lance happily to follow him.

Keith and Shiro looked at each other, before retreating to tell the Earth runaway group what had just happened.

----

1172 words guys... longest chapter right here....

anyways, if anyone is interested, I will now be taking requests for other stories (For any fandom) (I'm bored) 

ANYWHO!! I might update again later today if I feel silly enough, or the next update should be Tuesday