The Paladins awoke, and quickly realised all was not right. There they were, captured, aboard Sendak's ship. A few feet away, Admiral Sanda was.
"Now what, guys?" Pidge asked. I watched so many people get killed out there. What do we do now?"
"I don't know, Pidge." Hunk said.
"I hope Rora is okay." she mumbled.
"She will be." Keith replied. "I promise."
Meanwhile, on Earth, Shiro spoke. "I have an idea. It's risky, but it could work. If we use all of our power on the Atlas, we might be able to get it up and working. We could take offence here."
Sam nodded. "Let's do it."
I hate writing action scenes so just watch the end of season 7 we can get back to drama.
Shiro found Kassy sat outside, cigarette in hand, leaning on Veronica.
"You told me you quit." he mumbled.
"Yeah. I did. But that was then, this is now. Congrats, by the way, on the TV show."
Shiro smiled softly. "You saw it, then?" he took a seat next to her. "I'm... I'm so sorry about Maeve."
She shrugged, standing up. "Why does it fucking matter? She's just another number in a statistic now."
"You know that's not true." Shiro placed a hand on her arm. "Sit down, Kassy. It's okay."
She sat down again. Veronica placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing. "It's okay, baby." she murmured to her. "She died in character, you can admit that."
Kassy sniffed. "If she was gonna go down, it would be fighting. I guess you're right." She took a long drag on her cigarette, holding it for a moment, before breathing out smoke.
Then, Hunk joined them, and sat with them. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, Hunk." Veronica said.
"I didn't know you were a smoker, Kassy."
"Yeah, neither did I." she replied.
"Um... if you ever need support... you can come to me." he said.
Kassy looked up at him. "I know you're torn up about this."
"Huh?"
"Hunk, I'm well aware how you felt about her. I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to say anything."
Hunk looked down. "Yeah, it's true. I... I wanted to wait until after the war was done. That was my little thing getting me through it, you know? Other than seeing my family, I wanted to... I just wanted to tell her how I felt."
"If it helps, she liked you too." Kassy mumbled. "She was always asking about you. I've never seen her like that with anyone."
There was silence for a few minutes, and Kassy coughed, standing up and putting her cigarette out.
"I'm getting food." she said. Veronica stood up.
"I'm coming."
The two wandered off, leaving Shiro and Hunk alone.
"I think she's good for her." Hunk said.
Shiro nodded slowly. "Yeah. They're a nice couple."
Hunk looked at his face, his expression unreadable. Then, he understood. "Hey. At least she's alive. At least she's in a happy relationship. That's better than what I'm working with."
Shiro smiled wryly. "Right." he stood up. "You wanna gather everyone up and grab a bite to eat?"
"Sure."
***
"I don't sound like that!" Pidge whined.
"I'm all shook up!" Rora imitated. Pidge pushed her off her chair.
"Shut up."
"Ouch, you little bitch." she grabbed Pidge's arm and pulled her off her seat.
"That's enough." Shiro said. Ulaz was sat on his lap.
"Auntie Lura?" he asked.
"Yes?" Allura replied.
Ulaz pointed to the point on his cheek under his eye, where Allura's markings were on her own face.
"Oh, my markings? That's because I'm Altean. See, Uncle Coran and Auntie Romelle have them too."
"Too many Uncles." Ulaz replied, burying his head into Shiro's shoulder, who laughed and rubbed his back.
"I'm the best uncle, though." Lance replied. "Plus, I'm his actual uncle, seeing as my sister dates his mother."
"My favourite uncle is Jasper." Ulaz said.
"Rude."
"My Auntie Maeve has diabetes."
There was a silence for a moment.
"Ulaz, remember what daddy told you? Auntie Maeve isn't here anymore. She died."
Ulaz nodded, before yelling in Shiro's ear, just because.
"Ow! Alright, less yelling, buddy." Shiro said. A few moments later, Veronica and Kassy entered.
"Oh, hey, everyone." Veronica said, smacking Lance's head as she passed him.
"What is it with Earth siblings and slapping each other?" Allura asked.
"It's fun. Watch." Rora said, smacking Pidge, who smacked back.
"Enough about siblings, please." Kassy sighed, going into the cupboard and finding wine, pouring out two glasses, handing one to Veronica. As she took a sip, Kassy downed her own glass, pouring herself another, and wandering off.
"Is she okay?" Lance asked Veronica.
She shrugged. "No clue. I'm letting her get it out of her system now, and if it carries on then we'll chat." Veronica followed after her.
"Anyway, what's new with everyone? Any plans for the last night, considering we're all running off tomorrow?" Shiro asked.
Lance cleared his throat. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Um... Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"I guess it's... it's not much of a secret that we've had a few... moments together. But I was wondering if you'd like to, like, have dinner with me? A-and my family. Like, as a date, a bit. If you wanted."
Keith looked up in surprise at everyone looking at him, before nodding. "Sure."
Lance exhaled in relief. "Nice."
So that evening, Keith and Lance headed to have dinner with Lance's family.
"Hello, Keith, it's lovely to finally meet you." Lance's mother smiled, kissing him on both the cheeks. "You know, I didn't know about these gay people at first, but I see Veronica and Kassy, and I think, wow! How nice. So don't worry, this is fine. Sit down, sit down."
Immediately, a group of children ran over, curiously climbing onto Keith.
"Hi." Keith said, awkwardly to them.
The door opened again, and in walked Veronica and Kassy."
"Ugh, why are you here?" Lance sighed.
"Cos it's a family dinner and my baby brother is leaving tomorrow." Veronica said, kissing his head. "Oh, hi, Keith."
"Hello, Kassy, how are you?" Lance's mother walked over, kissing her cheeks. Kassy smiled slightly.
"I've been better, I'll admit."
"I'm so sorry about Maeve. What a lovely girl, it's such a shame. Sit down, here, have some bread."
Kassy sat down, and Keith and Lance snook off.
"Your family is so..."
"Loud, big, and annoying?"
"Not what I was thinking. Loud and big, yes. But I'm glad you have so many people that care about you."
Lance nodded. "Me too. You'll slot right in." he took Keith's hand and squeezed it.
"Makes me miss my mother. She's all I have."
"Don't say that. You have all us, too. And... and Id like to be your family. I... I love you, Keith."
Keith blushed slightly. "I... I love you too:"
Lance leaned in and kissed him gently, before pulling away. "Come on. Oh, and prepare for my mother telling you you're too skinny and need feeding. You'll get used to that."
Grabbing his hand, Lance ran back inside with Keith.