"y/n?", Keith called, walking into Pidge's room. After talking to Allura, Keith wanted some time to clear his mind and what better way than going out in his lion to search for Shiro? So, he sought after you, wanting to see whether you wanted to come along, and found you sitting with Pidge, swaddled up in blankets as you played video games. "Darling?"
"Hey, Keith,", you chirped, feeling a little better after spending some time with your best friend to get your mind off your earlier conversation. "Something wrong?", upon closer inspection of the ravenette, it became apparent that he was distressed. His shoulders sagged, and his hair was messy in a way that told you he had run his hands through it a few too many times. Noticing this, a bout of worry surged through you, and you frowned, standing to close the distance between you. "Everything alright?"
"I should be asking you that,", he chuckled, caressing the sides of your stomach through your shirt as he regained his frown. "But yeah, it's fine. I just wanted to know if you wanted to come on a ride with me in my lion. I need to get away from everything for a while,"
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem exhausted,", you commented, hands moving to hold his face. Pidge fake gagged, interrupting your thoughts as Keith poutily pulled you closer to him. "Sorry, Pidge. I forgot about your 'no happiness' rule,", you rolled your eyes playfully, the brunette laughing in response as she pulled a face at you.
"Yeah, you did. Get that lovey-dovey shit out of my room, please and thank you,", she shooed the two of you out, allowing you to resume your previous conversation as she returned to the game you had been playing before, not wanting to lose her place. "See you later!"
"Bye, Pidge,", you hummed, smiling as Keith relaxed into your touch, the stress dissipating from his body now that you were alone. "What's going on up there?", you tapped his temple softly, watching his violet eyes flutter open tiredly and stare at you.
"I don't know how to describe it. I just feel trapped, and I need to get out of this place for a bit. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have another look around for Shiro, right?", he admitted, turning his face to press a soft kiss to your palm before turning back and waiting for your reply.
"Let me get changed into my suit, and then we can go, okay?", he nodded, and you released each other, him walking you to your room to make sure nothing happened.
---
All was well as the two of you were flying. Keith, though reluctantly, allowed you to stand up behind him as his lion had no other seats and insisted that he would be getting Pidge to find a way to somehow add one in for you later. He couldn't have you standing for too long at nine months pregnant. So now, you flew in silence, your hands gently rubbing his shoulders as he flew, trying to release all of the emotions he had been feeling recently.
Then it happened. Like the flick of a switch, the lion's eyes lit up, and a mighty roar sounded from the beast, powerful enough to make the entire lion shake at its guttural volume. Keith grunted, looking back to make sure you had steadied yourself then scanned the area, confused as to why the lion had made such a sound.
"What's wrong?", he asked the lion, gasping when a radar opened in front of him, displaying a distant but detectable spacecraft. The ravenette knew who it was. It was Shiro. He was alive, just as Keith had said he was. Eyes widening, Keith glanced back at you, shell-shocked as he grabbed one of your hands in his. "We found him,", he spoke incredulously, almost not believing his eyes.
"We have to get the others,", you whispered, squeezing his hand, e/c eyes remaining trained on the radar. Nodding, Keith sped back to the castle, informing the others and prompting Allura to open a wormhole which took you to the small aircraft that Keith suspected housed your lost friend.
As he neared the fighter jet, Keith smiled. A genuine, pure grin that expressed his relief at the return of his closest friend. It was infectious, spreading to you as you watched the boy you cared deeply for relax, comforted by the discovery of someone he had previously been lost without.
---
Though the paladins had been reunited with Shiro, that did not mean their duties ceased. Lotor still had the comet, and there was still plenty of work to be done in the aftermath of Zarkon's defeat. With this in mind, it makes sense that they would still have to clear yet another Galra base, and that's precisely what they were doing.
The base they were clearing was just like the rest of them; a strangely shaped black metal building with the signature Galra purple lights and accents. It had been built into the ground of the planet it was stationed on, giving it a sturdy structure that the paladins were more than familiar with by now. They positioned themselves accordingly, Lance inside the base and at a high vantage point so that he could put his sharpshooter skills to use, and bided their time until they revealed themselves.
"Alright, team. I've got my eye on the targets. I'll cover you from up he--", the brunette cut himself off as he looked through his eyepiece, watching the guy he was about to shoot at being fought off by a certain ravenette. "Hey, Keith! I had that guy!", he whined, continuing to watch his teammate's skilful fighting through the blue tint of the eyepiece. Keith ignored him, taking out a few other soldiers in the area and grunting as he did so, but missing his blind spots.
Lance, noticing this, looked around to see if any soldiers were targeting his friends, and found one about to fire at Keith. So, taking his chance, he shot first, then continued to survey the area, eyes falling on Hunk, who stood on ground level with the others while shooting at the soldiers.
"They're still coming!", he exclaimed, looking behind him worriedly as more and more soldiers seemed to pour in. The Cuban said nothing in response, merely shot the switch keeping the side entrance to the main part of the building open, slamming the door shut before stopping the fountain of enemies from flooding in and overwhelming them. Hunk watched, relief flooding his system before he turned to face Lance, laughing and giving him a thumbs up.
Everyone seemed to be doing well in this fight. Even Allura, while surrounded by a group of Galra, used her whip to her advantage, wrapping it around one's neck and swinging the silver-plated soldier into his companion to take multiple of them out, all while ducking to avoid being hit by any stray beams. Then, once she was satisfied, she slammed the soldier entangled in her whip onto the ground, leaving it for dead.
Moving quickly, she used her momentum to slice through the middle of another soldier, leaving him in two pieces as she swivelled around, this time chopping it down the middle from head to toe before pausing in a crouching position, scowling fearlessly. Since becoming a paladin, she had truly grown as a person and as a fighter, and that much had become clear to Lance as he watched the ordeal.
"Well that was awesome,", he commented, lowering his gun and smiling. As he remained on the small ledge above the ground, Keith, Allura and Hunk took to huddling around Pidge as she worked, the ocean of soldiers rapidly firing in their direction. Shields held high, they looked forward sternly, Hunk using his gun and beginning to take out the enemies one by one through the small gap between his two companions' shields.
"Pidge, could you maybe hurry up a little?", Hunk suggested, half-irritated, half-focused as he took a quick glance back at the brunette. Unfazed by his sharp tone, the female bit her lip in concentration and continued clicking a few more times.
"Almost...", she muttered, listening to the beep that occurred as a screen suddenly sparked to life in front of her. "There!", within seconds of the red screen flashing, the pillar of light in front of them that had previously been running the Galran base powered down, leaving all but a dull, washed-out purple pillar in its place. This, in turn, killed the remaining druids, too, the robots falling to the ground gradually until the paladins were the last standing.
Guards falling, Keith and Allura put their shields away, and Lance flew down to join his team, the five of them standing victoriously in front of the scattered druids. Everyone took a breath, releasing any tension they had previously been feeling, and a contented atmosphere fell upon them.
"Great job, Pidge,", Keith praised the petite brunette, looking down.
"That's the last outpost in this quadrant,", she confirmed, smiling softly and glancing up at her leader as he spoke again.
"Call the Blade of Marmora. Let them know that this base is cleared,", he instructed, a small smile tugging at his lips as he looked out at what his team had achieved.
---
With Shiro back in the castle and the team having a break from missions, Keith wanted to talk to his friend sooner rather than later. After assuring you had company and wouldn't be left alone, the ravenette situated himself in Shiro's room, where the recently returned male was now awake, though slightly dazed and dishevelled in comparison to his former self.
"I don't know,", Shiro spoke after Keith had asked him what he remembered, voice slightly husky from lack of use. "The last thing I remember was Zarkon trying to take over the black lion. It told me to use my bayard. Then, just nothing. I woke up, and I was back on a Galra ship,", his head was bowed as he recalled the painful memories.
"Well, you'd just unlocked the black lion's ability to teleport. Could it have teleported you? Maybe it was trying to save you,", Keith attempted to rationalise the events leading up to Shiro's disappearance, arms crossed as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him.
"By teleporting me into the hands of the Galra?", Shiro murmured in response.
"Maybe Zarkon forced it to,", he added, tilting up his head to look at his friend. "He was trying to control the black lion up until the very last moment, right?", Keith prodded gently. While he didn't want to resurface any unpleasant memories and make Shiro uncomfortable, he knew the team needed the information, whatever information, that they could get.
"Yeah, maybe,", Shiro deadpanned, not particularly wanting to continue the conversation on this topic.
"Well,", Keith hesitated, |if you're feeling up to it, the rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and around again,", his eyes flickered to the floor once more, as he added, "They need you, you know,"
"Yeah, I'll try,", Shiro responded, body unmoving.
"Okay, we'll be on the bridge,", Keith spared one final glance at Shiro before uncrossing his arms and quietly going to exit the room before a voice stopped him.
"Hey, Keith?", Shiro called.
"Yeah?", he asked, turning his head back.
"How many times are you gonna save me before this is over?", he finally looked up from his bedsheets and offered a ghost of a smile to the younger male, making Keith's face light up ever so slightly at the sight of it.
"As many times as it takes,"
---
Keith stood beside his seat at the bridge, pressing a few buttons as you sat in his chair, one hand rested on your stomach and the other held Keith's free hand, which hovered behind your head as he leaned over to see the information. The comfortable silence in the room was interrupted as the doors slid open, revealing a clean-shaven, fresh-looking Shiro. Everyone's heads turned at the noise, looking at the male with wide eyes.
"Great job out there, everyone. You've really turned the tide in this war. I'm glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone,", he proclaimed proudly to the group, a broad smile on his face which everyone in the room returned, though still shocked to see their previous leader up and moving so soon.
"You're looking better,", Lance commented. "How're you feeling?"
"Good,", Shiro ensured, moving his hand up to his head. "Just trying to get rid of this weird headache,"
"Guys, I think I have something here!", Pidge interrupted the conversation, signalling for the group to gather around. You all complied, moving over to Pidge's chair and peering at her screen curiously. "So, I downloaded intel from the Galra base we just defeated. I untied the quantum-folded encryption, and I found something on Lotor,"
"Do you know where he is?", Keith asked, furrowing his brows as he pulled your tensed body closer to him in comfort.
"Well, not exactly, no, but the last three sightings of his command ship have been in the Va'Kar quadrant,", she explained, hopeful that the data would provide some assistance in finding their newfound enemy.
"Nice work, Pidge. Although, those quadrants are massive,", Shiro realises, turning to face Allura, who did the same, facing him. "How will we pinpoint his location?"
"Hey, that comet is made from the same material as Voltron,", Hunk piped up from his position crouched by Pidge's chair. "Maybe I can scan the emission spectrum for Fraunhofer lines, like when I found the blue lion!"
"But you know those emissions are subject to free induction decay,", Pidge countered, causing Hunk's once bright expression to drop. "Those are exponential drop-offs,"
"Yeah, but if we could find a way to amplify the sensors-- no, there'd be too much interference,", he cut himself off. "What if, instead, we increase the SA magnitude?"
"The spires of the Castle!", the small brunette concluded, springing up from her seat and shutting off the computer screen.
"Genius!", Hunk complimented, smiling along with her as the pair ran off to do what they needed to do, leaving the remaining crew slightly astounded.
"I have no idea what either of them just said,", Lance shrugged, looking to the others for further explanation or instructions.
"Let's set a course for the Va'Kar quadrant while they get started on that detector,", Shiro instructed. "We need to work fast. Who knows what Lotor has planned for that comet?"
---
Keith let out a long sigh as he hung up his jacket, you frowning at how stressed he seemed as you walked to the bathroom, though you had no chance to say anything in comfort as a loud knock sounded at the door. Keith shouted "Yeah?", signalling for whoever it was to come in, and as the doors opened, it revealed Lance, who looked slightly distressed. You hid in the bathroom, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.
"Hey man,", he greeted, sounding slightly exasperated. "I just wanted to talk with you because... well, I've been worrying about something,", he admitted, standing stiffly in front of Keith. The ravenette crossed his arms and smirked at the sight of Lance coming to him about something.
"It must really be bothering you if you're coming to talk to me,", he replied, though he only meant it teasingly. As much as he and Lance could argue sometimes, he did care for the other boy, wanting nothing but for his teammates to be happy and healthy, and regardless of his mental state, he was more than happy to help them.
"Well, I mean, you're the leader now, right?", he questioned.
"I guess,", Keith shrugged, looking down.
"I've been doing some math,", Lance confessed, raising his hands to use as a reference. "With Shiro back, that makes six paladins, but there are only five lions, and if I'm right, that's one paladin too many,", he rambled, a single finger remaining after he had finished.
"Solid math,", Keith commented, not seeing where this was going.
"Look, when Shiro takes over the black lion, you're gonna want your red lion back. If I get a lion, I'd have to take Blue from Allura. But she's progressed a lot faster than any of us did. She might even be able to unlock powers we don't know of,"
"That's true,", Keith confirmed.
"So, maybe the best thing I can do for the team is to step aside,", Lance told the other male, frowning deeply.
"What are you talking about?", Keith asked, quite shocked at Lance's words.
"This isn't a participation game. This is war. And you want your best soldiers on the front lines,", he told Keith, nostrils flaring.
"Stop worrying about who flies what and just focus on your missions. Things will work themselves out,", the ravenette reassured him, offering up a comforting smile, though his words didn't seem to convince Lance, or satisfy him with whatever he seemed to want to hear.
"Okay. Thanks,", he said glumly, turning on his heel and walking out of the door.
"And Lance...", Keith paused as Lance turned to face him again. "Leave the math to Pidge,", he smiled, chirping his friend up slightly, too, who offered up a smile back before walking away, the doors shutting behind him. Upon hearing the doors close, you waddled out of the bathroom with a smile, your arms wrapping affectionately around Keith's torso.
"You okay?", you whispered, your hands drawing comforting circles on his sides as he turned in your arms, leaning down to plant a kiss on your forehead.
"Just a little on edge. We're so close to finding Lotor, I just don't want him finding us first and hurting you, or the baby, especially considering how close to your due date you are,", he confided, relaxing into your touch. "I don't want to leave you alone, but there's too much going on for me to be able to stay by your side,"
"Hey, I'll be fine, alright? Don't worry about me, you've got Galra ass to kick. You are sort of saving the universe, you know,", you grin softly, hoping that you would bring him some peace of mind, as you could tell what a toll this had taken on him.
"I guess I just wish I could say I'll be there when they're born, but with everything, I can't, and I want to be the one comforting you and helping you through it, and even meeting them when the time comes. But chances are, you're gonna be giving birth with no one but Coran, and I feel sort of, I don't know, annoyed, that I can't reassure you I'll be there?", he ranted, his hand pushing a piece of hair behind your ear.
"Keith, I'd like you there, too, but you have a lot to do. We'll be here waiting when you get back, no matter what happens. And as soon as they're born, whenever that might be, you'll get to see them as soon as you get back. All that matters to me is that you come back safe, okay?", you promise, squeezing his sides gently.
"Okay, darling. I just hope I can be here for you when the time comes,", he sighs, bringing you closer to him and relishing in the feeling of holding you in his arms before he inevitably had to go on another mission with the team. "I love you,", he muttered under his breath without thinking.
"I love you too, Keith,", you replied, feeling a sense of security wash over you as you stayed in his arms for a few seconds more before pulling away and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "Can we sit down for a bit, though? My back hurts,", he gives a small laugh in response and guides you down onto the bed, cuddling you close to him for the remainder of his break before he inevitably got called to do something.
---
"Thanks for hooking me into the system,", Hunk chirped, squinting to watch through a small hole as the mice wired everything for him. They squeaked happily in response. "I would've never been able to reach back there,", frantic squeaks replied to him, and he sat up, kneeling by the small opening rather than peering through the gap to allow them to exit. "Sorry, I know you got all dirty. I owe you guys a little mouse shower now, okay?", They sat in front of him obediently as he continued. "I'm gonna get to work on that right after we find Lotor,"
"Hey, can we fire this up and see if it works?", Pidge asked, Hunk rising to his feet to press the button. A few beeps sounded from the system as he attempted to set it up, but nothing seemed to be happening. Hunk, getting frustrated, began tapping rapidly on it before realising it was pointless.
"Uh... Maybe we didn't adjust the polarity correctly,", he suggests, slamming his fist down with a grunt, which resulted in the computer whirring as it sent out a wave of red light, effectively kickstarting the system. After a few seconds, a triangle appeared within the small circle, highlighting the comet they were now tracking. "Uh, guys! Guys, I found the comet, but it's booking it away from us! Coran? Allura? Can someone Altean move this castle?"
"Well done. We're on our way,", Allura spoke over the intercom, sparking movement throughout the entire ship as everyone made their way to the bridge, the two Alteans firing the system up and getting the castle to move in the comet's direction.
"Okay, we're gaining on it,", Hunk observed, keeping a close eye on the comet from his chair as everyone else did the same.
"Make sure we stay far back enough to be undetected,", Shiro told Allura, and she continued flying, making sure to do as he said.
"Looks like the signal dropped in the Ulippa system,", Pidge observed, hands hovering above the multiple screens at her chair. "Activating long-range scanners,", she let the team know what she was doing, and everyone looked expectantly at the screen in front of them as the image changed from the area they were in, into a base, though it didn't look familiar.
"That's not Lotor's ship,", Keith said, rising from his seat next to you to look closer at the ship, eyes narrowing as he scanned it.
"But the comet is in there,", Hunk confirmed, hearing the electronic beeping of his system locating the material of the space rock. With this, Keith moved from the seat and behind the chair, standing tall beside Shiro.
"Here's the plan, everyone,", Keith started, just as Shiro said, "Okay, team, we need to get that--", realising they had both tried to talk at the same time, the two males paused and turned to each other, everyone glancing at the two hesitantly, awaiting a reaction. Keith's face dropped, eyebrows furrowing as he made the first move. "Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Shiro,"
"We need to get that comet. They must have been transporting it into that base. It'll be vulnerable during the transfer. That's the best time to strike,", Shiro concluded, giving the team a clear message of what they were to do. Though, as they continued watching, they saw another ship come into view and began firing lasers at the base. Watching in shock, everyone tried to connect the dots.
"Who the heck are these guys?", Lance exclaimed, eyes wide as he stared forward, everyone mirroring a similar expression.
"I don't think they're moving the comet to that base. We need more information,", Shiro declared, staring hard at the screen.
"You're right. You take the black lion,", Keith told him, placing a hand on the male sitting next to you to reassure him that it was okay. "I'll stay with Coran in the castle and provide support,", Shiro looked up at the ravenette with weary eyes.
"Keith, are you sure?", he asked.
"I'm sure,", the younger confirmed, sparing a glance at your relaxed figure.
---
After suiting up and heading down to the lions, all but one exited the castle swiftly. While the red, blue, yellow and green paladins had no problem, Shiro seemed to be struggling. He wiggled the gearsticks around, willing the lion to move, but not even the lights inside the black lion would turn on.
"What's wrong?", he mumbled, brows furrowed.
"Shiro, where are you? We need you right now!", Lance shouted. The man in question tightened his grip on the handles before loosening them and sighing, realising what was happening. With a heavy heart, he looked down at his hands and spoke.
"Keith, I'm gonna need you to lead this mission,"
"What? What is it? What's wrong?", the boy stumbled over his words, slightly panicked. You squeezed his hand, calming him down.
"The black lion isn't responding to me. It looks like you're its true paladin now,", Shiro explained.
"I'm coming down,", Keith told him, hardening his stare as he prepared. With him leaving your side, you took the opportunity to give him a peck on the cheek before releasing his hand and allowing him to go.
---
With Keith now suited up and in the black lion, the five paladins set off together, landing their lions on the ground of the planet and moving into the small pods the lions were equipped with, then ejecting the pods and flying away, now able to slide through smaller, more tight spaces. Though Shiro wasn't physically there with them, he took to guiding them through the mission verbally over the intercom.
"The most important thing is for you to get eyes on that comet. Second is figuring out who we're dealing with,", he explained as the five travelled through a small, tunnel-like area that was around fifty yards from the base.
---
"Shiro, we've just boarded the ship,", Keith informed. The five of them had discarded their pods behind a small mound of rocks, and travelled on foot to the base, entering as undetected as they could. "There's no crew in sight. Moving forward with the search,"
Lance zapped the keypad area needed to open the door with his laser, allowing them to sneak in, guarding any possible entry point to allow Hunk to track down the direction in which they needed to go in. An electronic beeping sounded from the small machine he held as he walked forward, turning to each different pathway to see where it beeped most.
"This way,", he finally said, staring down at the device while walking forward, the others following cautiously, aware of the apparent brawl that was happening nearby. They continued following Hunk, pausing in a corridor for a moment as they listened to the noise, or lack thereof, as it seemed almost too quiet, spare for the beeping from Hunk's machine.
"Sounds like the fight next door is over. Let's hurry,", Keith whispered, ushering the crew to walk further, which they did, vigilantly.
---
"Coran, give me a closer look,", Shiro said, watching as the top of the base opened, revealing an aircraft that they couldn't quite identify. You sat quietly in the chair, looking curiously at the object as you clenched your fists, ignoring the shooting pain coming from your lower abdomen and hoping it would die down soon, just as it had earlier.
"Is that..?", Coran trailed off, thinking back to when they had defeated Zarkon, and suddenly recognised what was inside the base. "The teludav!", he exclaimed "What, in the name of King Groggery the Infirm, is going on?", you couldn't help but think the same as you sat there, shifting uncomfortably in your seat, though it wasn't quite for the same reasons as Coran.
---
With Lance positioned at the entrance, gun pointed and at the ready, the other four continued down the narrow corridor, still following Hunk's directions. Though, the more they walked, the more it felt as if they were wasting time on something that wasn't there.
"The comet should be in here,", Hunk sighed, listening to the rapid beeping of his machine as they approached a ship. "Like, right here", they all wavered at the sight of the magnificently crafted ship on its landing pad, Lance now rejoining the group as he looked at it.
"Where's the comet? Is it in that ship?", he asked. Hunk, looking down at his device once more and noticing the erratic signals it was giving out, realised something.
"I think the ship is the comet,", the yellow paladin suggested.
"No, it can't be! He's already made a ship from the comet's ore?", Allura panicked.
"Oh, this is bad,", Lance stated.
"More like terrible,", Pidge corrected.
"Guys...", they heard Shiro's voice over the intercom, and his face popped up on Pidge's small wrist computer, Pidge's face appearing on the large screen in front of Coran, Shiro and you. "There's a piece of the teludav inside the Galra base,", Lance's face came into view, him slightly nudging Pidge out of view to talk to Shiro.
"The one we used to wormhole Zarkon's ship?", he clarified.
"But they would never be able to operate it without an Altean--", Allura cut herself off, gasping as she cast her mind back to her encounter with the witch. The hagged woman had been Altean, she realised. "Zarkon's witch! She had Altean markings,"
"Is anyone else kind of freaking out?", Hunk questioned, face dropping.
"Yep,", Lance raised a hand, looking slightly sickly. "Mark me down for one freak out,"
"Lotor must be nearby,", Keith observed. "We need to find him and take him out for good,", his resentment towards the previous Galran ruler had grown, and he wanted nothing more than for everyone to be rid of him before he did something that would turn out to be irreversible.
"Team, you cannot let Lotor get that ship,", Shiro informed. "You need to get back to your lions. You need Voltron!"
"Why take out one ship when we can stop all of this by taking out Lotor himself? We can't let him keep outsmarting us,", Keith argued, not agreeing with Shiro's approach.
"That's exactly why we can't risk letting Lotor have that ship. This is too important,", Shiro reasoned, voice increasing in volume.
"Keith,", Allura began, looking at the frustrated paladin. "I want to stop Lotor just as badly as you, but Shiro has a point,", Keith took a moment to process and evaluate the situation, the stress having clouded his vision. With Shiro back, he didn't know where he stood with the team anymore, even if he did pilot the black lion. It seemed just when he was getting the hang of being a leader, they had gotten Shiro back, and as happy as that made him, it also made him, like Lance, doubtful of where he stood with the team.
"Okay, you guys go back to the lions,", he gave in. "I'm gonna search the ship for Lotor,"
"Keith, you need to stick together,", Shiro reminded.
"Yeah, I'm with Shiro on this one,", Lance decided, sparking a chain of murmurs of agreement amongst the others, all of them finding Shiro's approach to be more logical. As a team, they needed to move on together, and not split up, no matter the circumstances. With a small huff, Keith complied.
"Fine. Let's move,", he growled, turning swiftly on his heel to lead the team out of the room. Small pants escaped their lips as they jogged forward, gasping as the doors of the room they had previously heard a fight in opened, revealing Lotor's crew, who immediately launched into battle.
Zethrid was the first to move, hurling herself forward and at Allura, letting out a battle cry as she landed on the smaller female, spurring the others into action, Narti moving next. She wove her way around Pidge's attacks, heading for Hunk and knocking him to the floor with a swift swipe of her arm.
Acxa struck next, firing rapidly at Lance, who was quick to react after witnessing the commencement of a dispute between the others in the room. He raised his shield, blocking her attack as she landed back on the ground, and Keith propelled himself forward with his sword, grunting as he thrust it forward, grunts sounding from both him and Acxa as he lodged it into her gun. Though, upon taking a closer look at her face, a thought dawned on him.
He recognised her. Well, he recognised her attire. Her outfit, the black suit equipped with purple and orange accents, had been the same as the one that the Galran stuck in the weblum's belly had been wearing. He gasped but did not allow his revelation to faze his abilities as the two rose back up from the group, wrestling for their weapons back, but it was Ezor who broke them up, the force of her sword pushing them apart.
Then, she threw multiple, small, dagger-like objects at the ravenette, Keith unable to block them as he braced for an impact that never came. Just as he thought that he was about to be hit, he heard a laser fire and opened his eyes to see the object no longer there. With wide eyes, he turned his head to look back, seeing a grinning Lance with his gun raised.
"I got ya, buddy!", he chirped, prompting a soft smile in response from the usually stoic man. Their moment was soon interrupted, however, as Acxa and Ezor sprung into action once more, Acxa heading for Lance while the latter went after Keith.
The multicoloured female dodged Keith's blade with ease, prancing around with grace and grabbing ahold of the weapon, flinging him onto his back and holding his arm in a tight lock, a smirk on her face despite the force she was using to squeeze his arm. She was not winning as she thought she was, though, as Keith summoned his bayard into his free hand, catching her off guard.
She got back onto her feet just in time before he swung at her, letting out a murmuring of confusion as she retreated. His teammates weren't as well off, with Pidge and Hunk still working together to hold off the tailed woman, who threw Pidge to the ground, allowing Hunk to grab ahold of Narti, but the female was prepared. Her tail tangled itself around the male's throat, suspending him in the air as he gasped for help.
"Pidge, a little help?", he wheezed, holding onto the part of the tail that was wrapped around.
Allura was in a similar position to the two paladins, although she was fighting the battle against Zethrid alone. Using her whip, she made advances on the other female, catching the tip of Zethrid's gun with it, the two grunting as they wrestled to beat the other. Allura, using the whip to her advantage, began to reign it in, pulling Zethrid closer to her with the luminescent rope.
"It's been a long time since I've faced a worthy opponent. I'm going to enjoy crushing you,", Zethrid grinned sinisterly as she pulled the trigger, narrowly missing Allura, who had barely managed to dodge the beam, meaning she lost her grip on the whip, giving Zethrid the opportunity to untangle it from her weapon and fling Allura across the room before catching her in one hand, and throwing her to the ground herself, the Altean grunting at the impact.
Lifting her head, she noticed the laser beams hitting the wall and looked closer to find Lance, who was in the middle of a duel with Acxa. The two were closing in, and Acxa took her chances, knocking Lance's bayard out of his hands and sending him backwards, where he landed next to Allura in a downward dog sort of position.
"We don't have time for this. We need to get to the lions,", Keith decided. With the whole team backed into a corner, they didn't have much choice.
"Good idea,", Lance spoke shakily, giving a thumbs up. As the three standing paladins walked away vigilantly, Allura grabbed Lance by the nape of his suit, bringing him back onto his feet before the two of them scampered to catch up with the others.
"Zethrid, stop!", Acxa instructed, watching as the female ran forward. She halted in her place, anger radiating from every bone in her body.
"Come on! This is our chance to destroy them!", she pleaded, turning to Acxa.
"We have what we came for. Stick to the plan,", the smaller female concluded, walking away so as to not allow for any rebuttal from her teammate. Sparing one final glare in the direction the paladins left in, Zethrid let herself fall into her thoughts.
---
Now secure in their pods, the paladins made their way back to the lions, flying back the same way they came. Silence lingered between the five, none of them quite sure what to say to each other, but it didn't last too long, as a certain Cuban with a lot of questions decided to break it.
"Okay, seriously, what is going on? I mean, who were they?", he asked.
"I've met one of them before. In the weblum,", Keith admitted. "She stole some of the scaultrite,"
"Allura, you said they had an Altean?", Hunk recalled. "They must be trying to build a teludav so they can make wormholes,"
"If Lotor has turned the comet into a ship, we have much bigger concerns,", she told the group.
"I thought Lotor took over for Zarkon. Why is he attacking a Galra base?", Pidge questioned.
"I don't know. That's why we have to stop him here and now,", Keith announced, bringing the conversation to a brisk end.
---
"We have to stop that cargo ship,", Shiro informed, having watched from the cameras as the ship in question began to collect the teludav remains.
"On it,", Coran assured, beginning to type away. Rising from your position in Keith's seat, you hobbled towards Shiro, standing beside the dual-haired man as you clutched at your stomach, the pains returning once more. Coran moved the ship in closer, closing the screen down as he noticed a ship flying away from the base, and locked onto it, his cameras zooming in. "That must be the ship made from the comet,"
"Then let's be careful,", Shiro instructed, face void of emotion. "Raise particle barrier. Fire castle defences,", Coran did as he said wordlessly, raising the barrier before shooting the guns at the ship, which seemed to be piloted by a skilful individual, as it swerved around the attacks with ease.
"A quick little bugger, isn't it?", he commented, keeping his eyes planted firmly in front of him.
"I've never seen something that size move that fast,", Shiro added, watching in slight concern. The aircraft travelled at the speed of light, moving to the side of the castle and firing a strong laser at it repeatedly, resulting in a hole being made in the barrier. The castle shook, leaving the three of you clinging onto the dashboard as you tried to maintain balance.
"That blast cut right through the particle barrier!", Coran gasped.
"Team, where are you?", Shiro asked, steadying himself once more, his free arm moving behind your back as he realised your presence. Seeing their actions had been successful, the aircraft took its chances once again, firing at another part of the barrier, shaking the ship even more.
"We can't take another hit like that!", Coran panicked, watching in horror as the ship fired up yet another blast. Just before it was able to strike, however, a blast was fired at it, making it fly away as Voltron came into view, the beast chasing after the enemy.
"Form sword!", Keith shouted, summoning his bayard and plugging it in, the sword materialising in seconds. They swung at the ship, but it simply flew away, Voltron following and attempting to strike once more. This happened countless more times, with the ship dodging each attack and making no attempt to fight back, which both confused and frustrated the team.
"It's too quick!", Keith growled.
"Guys, the cargo ship is escaping with the teludav inside of it,", Shiro notified.
"I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important thing,", Keith argued.
"We still can't let Lotor get away with the teludav,", Shiro criticised, wanting Keith to change his focus.
"Shiro's right. We need to destroy it,", Allura chimed in, attempting to settle the argument.
"But the comet is right there! We need to take it down!", the ravenette argued, propelling Voltron forward to fight with the ship, yet it continued to fly away, raising his anger levels further. Your heart ached to comfort the boy and calm him down, knowing how much his anger could seem to cloud his vision at times, but you were unable to, and the on-and-off pains that emerged every twenty minutes were making it much harder for you to function.
"Keith, the cargo ship is getting away!", Shiro yelled. This caught Keith's attention, making him pause in his pursuit of the ship to turn around and look behind him, confirming Shiro's statement. At his realisation, he shot Voltron forward, going after the cargo ship when the comet ship began firing lasers at them, making the robot turn, holding its shield up to block the sudden rain of fire. Ignoring the powerful attack the ship was generating, the paladins turned their attention to the cargo ship.
"Guys, the teludav's getting away,", Hunk observed.
"Keith, what should we do?", Lance asked, voice strained.
"You're going to have to lower your shield, shoot the cargo ship, and deal with the consequences,", Shiro stepped in, giving clear instructions.
"But we can beat this ship first, and then get the cargo ship,", Keith reasoned.
"There's not enough time!", Shiro clamoured. "You need to make a decision!", with a loud groan, Keith gave in.
"Hunk, get your bayard ready,", he instructed. "On my cue, we're going to lower the shield and shoot the cargo ship. Ready?"
"Ready!", they chanted in response.
"Go!", he roared, firing them into action. They reigned the shield in, summoning Hunk's cannon just as the comet ship fired a strong blast at them, believing they had caught the paladins off-guard. Anticipating this, however, Keith took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, moving Voltron out of the way just as the blast reached them, meaning the blast continued on, hitting the teludav in the process and creating a large explosion.
Unable to predict the firing of another shot, the paladins screamed in pain as the comet ship hit them with a similar blast, sending them backwards at the sheer force of it. They were left hovering lifelessly, allowing the ship to leave while they regained movement.
"So, Lotor was attacking the Galra base and trying to steal the teludav? None of this makes any sense,", Lance recognised the peculiarness of the situation.
"We can talk about this later. They're getting away!", Pidge argued.
"We need to go after them,", Keith added.
"No. Get back to the castle,", Shiro interrupted. "Something strange is going on here, and we need to figure it out,"
---
"I'm sorry I had to step in back there,", Shiro apologised quietly as he placed a hand on Keith's shoulder. He found the ravenette standing in a dark room in front of a window, arms crossed as he looked down, deep in thought.
"I thought I had it under control,", Keith muttered, face solemn.
"You need to learn to pick your battles. Sometimes, you have to make hard choices,", Shiro explained to the younger male, looking at him with sympathy.
"I'm no good at this,", he sighed.
"Yes, you are,", Keith looked at Shiro curiously, not believing his statement. "It was your quick thinking that prevented Lotor from getting away with the teludav. You're gonna get there. The black lion has chosen you. I'm proud of you, Keith,", the younger of the two looked down bashfully, glad, deep down, that his role model was proud of where he'd come.
"Hey, Keith?", you whimpered, walking unsteadily into the room. His head turned at the sound of you in distress, worry overtaking his senses as he saw your shaking figure. He wriggled out from under Shiro's hand and made his way to your side, rubbing your back.
"What's wrong?", he asked quickly.
"I think I'm going into labour,"
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A/N: Hey reader!! I hope everyone is doing well and is looking after themselves after the holiday period. I'm sorry it took so long to release this chapter, I hadn't felt motivated to write for a while, and work seemed to get in the way, but it's out now, and I'd like to get another chapter out soon, too. Hope you enjoyed it!! It's finally happened, but things are a little messy, all things considered. Where will it go from here? You'll have to wait and see. Thank you for reading my book, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Have a good day/night!! - Gracie