Lance and Keith loaded up their lions before making their way to Lance's childhood home. It was off base, but only a block away.
The house itself looked small and run down, but the collected mess outside gave off the impression of life and memories. Lance paused in front of the house, looking at it with a blank face. Keith figured he was forcing the blank look, and instead was suppressing a bunch of feelings from showing.
They walked up to the door. Keith noticed the abundant knife marks along the doorframe but decided to shake off his dread. Lance took a deep breath as his hand reached for the doorknob.
Lance jumped backward, pushing Keith to the side as 3 knives were thrown through the barely open door.
"Good throw, Marco," Lance congratulated with an easygoing smile on his face.
"Obviously not, I missed," A voice muttered from inside the house. They sounded younger than Lance and held a tone that Keith most related to a teen brooding. Still, the knives that stuck up from the grass a few feet from him set his heart pounding painfully in his chest.
"Well try not to kill our company, will ya?" Lance asked, pushing the door open farther and walking inside. Keith realized the reason Lance wanted him here was to act as a barrier between all the agents. No one acted out when they had guests over.
"Oh! Keith!" Ms. McClain exclaimed, rushing to pull the boy into another hug. A woman jumped at Lance. He was ready for her as he quickly caught her and pulled her into a hug.
"Lance!" She yelled happily, giggling as Lance spun her around a few times.
"Rachel! It's good to see you too!" Lance let go of her, holding her at arm's length so he could get a good look. They looked exactly the same and Keith wondered if they were twins.
"Did Lancy finally bring a boy home?" An older woman walked into the room. She had a Garrison uniform on, her glasses pushed high on her face. There was a clear resemblance between the whole family, even Marco. Keith didn't understand how that was possible considering they were supposed to not be related by blood.
"Hi, I'm Keith," Keith held out his hand for Veronica to shake. She gave him a once over, a clear mischievous glint on her face, before taking Keith's hand.
"So, what has Lancy said about us?" She asked, leaning in a little closer like they were sharing a secret.
"Only that all of you are psycho," Lance yelled from where he was being smothered by his mom.
"If you don't like us that much why did you come back?" Marco glared from where he was sitting on a kitchen stool, a bunch of throwing daggers in front of him as he carefully polished the blade of one.
"Don't be like that. In case you haven't noticed my plate's been kinda full," Lance frowned.
"You could have stopped by yesterday! You're not the only one that lost a brother!" Marco shot to his feet, pointing the dagger in his hand at Lance.
"Boys, knock it off," Ms. McClain sent a glare to each of them that send shivers down Keith's spine. He wondered what rank of agent she was, but then decided he didn't want to know. "Mijo, help me in the kitchen," Ms. McClain ordered.
"Mama, we can't stay that long, I have a meeting in 2 hours and we still need to fly to Hifosa," Lance furrowed his brow.
"I'm making something for your trip, tell your boyfriend he can help," Ms. McClain smiled. Keith's face flushed red.
"He's not my boyfriend yet, mama," Lance shook his head with a smile, but Keith's mind caught on the "yet" he threw in there. The girls laughed at Keith's face as he followed Lance to the kitchen.
"You need to talk about it then," Ms. McClain nodded her head in understanding. Keith realized she was in the middle of making what he assumed were tamales, 3 were already wrapped in corn leaves, and the makings of another were strewn about on the counter. Keith stood beside Lance, watching what he was doing and attempting to copy him. His tamale was not as neat as Lance's, but Lance seemed happy either way.
Lance's phone buzzed from his pocket. He wiped his hands on a towel hanging next to him and pulled the device out. Lance's eyes scanned the screen, his brow drawn slightly together and his eyes squinting. Ms. McClain watched as a vein pulsed on Lance's brow, clear stress and annoyance shown on his face. She let out a sigh.
"I pray for the moment Directer Raven returns and lifts the strain he has put on your shoulders, Mijo," Keith tensed at her words. Lance only found out about Raven's death yesterday. Still, Lance looked up and gave her a soft smile.
"I'm fine, mama. And I think we both know he's taking his lovely time getting back because he knows you'll rip him a new one about leaving," Ms. McClain chuckled light-heartedly at her son's words.
Keith didn't understand how Lance could be smiling and joking when he broke down in the training room yesterday, cursing Raven for leaving without saying a word. Keith knew Lance must be heartbroken, and yet here he is, lying to his family for their own sake.
Keith decided to focus on making the tamales, steadily getting better at the whole process. Rachel skipped into the room, hovering over Lance's work silently. Both Ms. McClain and Lance watched her closely.
"Can I help?" She asked finally.
"No," Lance and Ms. McClain said in unison and without hesitation.
"Aww! Come on! Why not?" She asked, her posture loosening in a dramatic "humph!"
"Because I plan on feeding these to my team and I don't trust you to not put poison in them," Lance glared. Keith stared wide-eyed at the group.
"When you said there was a risk of her killing someone with her food, I thought you mean it was because she was bad at cooking," Keith muttered nervously. Lance laughed at his words.
"Partially that too, but Rachel likes to experiment with chemicals. She's a rank 7 agent," Lance explained. She was a scientist. That made sense.
"What rank is Veronica?" Keith asked.
"Rank 9. She's part of the second group though, the ones with the difficult missions," Keith remembered Lance talking about that. "Mama used to be a rank 9 too. Got so good at it that Directer Raven feared for the agency's safety and instead gave her a gaggle of kids to take care of," Lance smiled at the way his mother both blushed and glared.
"Hush, Mijo, you don't know what you're saying," She scolded lightly, though, Keith could tell she enjoyed the compliment. At this point most of the family was gathered in the kitchen, watching as Keith struggled to make the Mexican food.
"So, Keith, how good are you at fighting?" Veronica asked from where she was now leaning against the counter opposite Keith. He found she gave off an intimidating aura, even when smiling.
"I thought I was pretty good, but then Lance had to go and show off," Keith shrugged. The girls laughed at the comment while Marco rolled his eyes with a scowl.
"Don't be like that, you were the best fighter on team Voltron for years," Lance nudged Keith's shoulder with his own.
"Only because you were undercover," Keith reminded lightly.
"Well, you're way better at flying than I am," Lance raised an eyebrow as a challenge. Keith considered his words before shrugging.
"Yeah, sure. I'm a damn good pilot," Keith smiled while Lance wrinkled his nose at him.
"Jesus, it's like they're already a couple," Rachel whispered to Veronica. Keith blushed at the comment while Lance smiled brightly. He bumped his shoulder against Keith's, causing the shorter boy to sway slightly on his feet.
"You're all so much alike, even your appearances. How is that possible?" Keith asked the question that was plaguing his mind.
"Rachel and I are actually twins, but everyone else was just lucky enough to match their features with mine," Lance smiled, stepping back as another dagger was thrown in his direction. The blade embedded itself into the hardwood floor 1 foot from where Lance was standing.
"Marco, another hole in my floor and it'll be your head! Also, I was here long before you, Mijo, you're lucky enough to share my smooth skin," Ms. McClain ran the back of her hand down the side of her face with a dramatic pose. Keith saw where Lance got his theatrics.
It didn't take long for the food to be packed up and placed in a bag. Ms. McClain handed the bag to Keith while Lance hugged his sisters and mother goodbye. He waved at Marco who only flipped him off while his mother wasn't looking. Keith found the McClain dynamic surprisingly refreshing. Maybe it was because all he had was his father, but even seeing the way Marco and Lance interacted felt close and familiar. It was domestic in a way that Keith never had, even when considering they were all highly trained agents.
Keith and Lance rushed to their lions where they messaged the group that they were ready to take off.