Chapter Text
Keith gasped harshly as his back hit the wall. The air trapped in his lungs rushed free from the force of the impact. He cracked his eyes open to see the perpetrator, but before he knew what was happening two fairly large hands slammed onto the wall behind him on either side of his head, trapping his body against the wall. A larger body pressed itself close to his own. He could feel this person’s hot breath against his neck and cheek. A leg pressing between his own as his heartbeat raced in his ears.
“Your name?” The voice whispered, but Keith could tell it was a male. He shuddered at the proximity.
“I think I should be the one asking—” One of the strong hands balled into a fist and pounded the wall to Keith’s left. Startled, he looked directly into the eyes of his captor. He was met with the most mesmerizing blue he’d ever seen. Although to be fair, there wasn’t that much variation in Galran eye color anyway.
“You have no room for attitude or asking for things, Galra.” The voice spat, eyes growing furious. Keith noticed bright blue markings resting high on this person’s cheeks. “An Altean”, Keith found himself realizing. He put his hands up in surrender.
“You’re right, I don’t have room. Not with you pinning me against this wall.” He held his gaze with the stranger, who had presumably stolen one of the druids’ cloaks, as he hid most of his face and body with the offending cloth. Those eyes, however, those were clear even with the shadowed obscurity of the cloak.
The young Altean hesitated, bringing his leg down from between Keith’s, letting his arms relax against their place on the wall as well. Keith was still more or less pinned and at a great disadvantage for countering, but it was at least more comfortable this way. The Altean’s eyes, from what Keith could see, were still serious and untrusting, but Keith was eager to prove himself to the stranger. If anything in order to gain the upper hand in the situation.
“Now tell me, who are you?” The Altean said again, this time through gritted teeth. Keith looked around as much as he could, where the tall Altean wasn’t blocking his sight, making sure they were safe, before speaking.
“I am Commander Keith of the Galra Empire. And I think you and I should take a friendly walk before someone sees you holding a Commander hostage. I can take you to the pod hangar and you can escape from there.” Tensing, the Altean realized the truth behind Keith’s words before tentatively easing up, removing his body from the other’s. Keith couldn’t quite believe it when found himself missing the contact.
“Why would you want to help me escape?” he asked, and as if he couldn’t be brought to lie, Keith told him.
“I can’t explain it all here, as the entire ship is rigged with surveillance. Just believe me when I say,” Keith leaned incredibly close into the intruder’s space before whispering, “I am on your side.” Pulling away, he continued. “I promise I can’t tell you any more than that, you’ll just have to trust me.” Keith extended his hand, offering it to the other. The stranger looked pensively between Keith’s eyes and hand, before tentatively twining their arms together instead. He shot a look at the other.
“You said a friendly walk, didn’t you?”
Keith would swear that he could see a blush under that hood.
As they continued down the corridor together, the Altean took long elegant strides that matched royalty. He exuded confidence and grace, despite not knowing where he was heading or with whom he was. Keith watched the taller male, feeling what could only be an instant attraction to the other. He couldn’t quite believe himself. His entire mission was in grave jeopardy at this point and he was just letting some stranger throw him off like this.
Eventually, the duo found their way to Keith’s private chamber. It was very minimal. The long walls and high ceiling had large windows that looked out into the depths of space just outside. Various stars and planets twinkled in the distance. There was a simple, small bed and desk on one side of the room and a surveillance system on the other, monitoring nearly all of the soldiers under Keith’s command.
“What have you brought me here for? I do not want to talk business or get familiar with you. You are going to lead me to the escape pods, as you promised!” The Altean stuck his nose up at the young Commander, trying to appear snobbish and fierce. “Cute.” Keith hid a small grin behind his hand as he watched his captive glare at him. He cleared his throat, giving off his own official air before catching the other’s gaze with his own.
“Not before you tell me who you are, just how you got here, and why you stopped me against the wall in the first place.” Keith finally spoke, feeling his fingers twitch against his sheathed blade, resisting the urge to make the other talk. Sometimes, his instincts were a little bit too controlling.
“…Fine.” The Altean removed the hood from the cloak before elegantly seating himself at Keith’s desk. Crossing his legs and holding his knee, the Altean’s face was long, angular, and sharp in some spots while soft in others. His hair was an intense platinum color, brought out even more by his wonderfully deep skin color. His pointed ears perked, on alert. The markings on his face gleamed stronger than before once revealed in the lowlight. In essence, he was absolutely stunning. Keith’s face flushed all over again as he did his best to hide it.
“I am Prince Lance of Altea. I was captured and brought here by your brutish soldiers. They kept me alive in order to impress you and Zarkon I can only assume. Perhaps to also hold a ransom in order to lure my sister in as well.” The boy spoke, indignantly not looking Keith in the eyes. “Although I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. You haven’t yet earned my trust.” Keith had forgotten that Alteans cared only about one thing: loyalty. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he noticed that the other actually looked hurt.
“Your sister? You don’t mean Princess Allura, do you?” Keith’s jaw dropped. After the explanation had been finished, he found himself feeling more interested and desiring to ask more and more questions of the prince.
“Yes, my sister. We are Paladins of Voltron together. Well… mostly. Now, this interrogation is over and you will take me to the escape pods before I go by myself. I’ll take as many of you hideous Galra out as I can on my way there.” The Altean rose to his feet, tearing the Druid cloak away and towering once again over Keith. He must have been the tallest Altean that Keith had ever encountered.
“I like your style, I must admit, Prince. Come with me. I won’t betray you again.” They began walking once more. Every time Lance encountered a soldier that saw the two together, he would knock him unconscious and throw him to the side, Keith would simply watch with a playful grin on his face. The Prince would look over his shoulder with a skeptically raised eyebrow at the Galran Commander, confused as to why he wasn’t being stopped on his rampage.
“Where do you hold the Red Paladin prisoner?” The Prince asked at one point. “I never saw her in passing in the different cells after I escaped. My sister told the rest of the team that she was captured and brought here a very long time ago. Only Shiro, our leader, has ever seen her. He was a prisoner when she was captured.” Keith’s eyes shot open incredibly wide at her mention. He had nearly forgotten about her…
“…She died a very long time ago.” Keith said, “I watched her execution myself. It was part of the reason I was promoted to Commander at such a young age.”
Lance stopped dead in his tracks, eyes narrowing as Keith faced him.
“Liar. The Red Lion still feels her connection. She refuses every pilot who tries to fly her, even my sister. She hasn’t left the Chamber of Lions since that day. She keeps saying that her true Paladin still lives. Where. Is. She?” Lance demanded, stepping brusquely toward Keith with each word.
“You really are Allura’s brother, aren’t you? You both are so demanding, from what I’ve heard. Just follow me.” Keith said, guiding Lance to the hangar where the pods rested. “If she survived, as you seem to think, then I wouldn’t know where she is. I was told she had died after being executed.”
Lance lowered his head in sorrow, but Keith could tell he believed what he was saying this time.
“I’ll tell you this much, if she is still living, it isn’t pretty. The Druids love to make ugly monsters out of beautiful things.” Keith shared an intense stare with the prince, before turning around and gesturing to the open hangar. The two wandered inside.
Climbing into one of the pods, Keith patted the passenger seat next to him. Lance stood dumbstruck.
“No way. No. Not a chance. Get out.” Lance shook his head defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest and jutting a sharp hip out to the side.
“I’m coming with you.” Keith said, a playful smirk on his face as he spoke.
“Absolutely not, this is ridiculous.” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Noticing that Keith wasn’t showing any signs of standing up, he said, “Fine. I’ll just take a different pod then.” That was when Keith rolled his eyes and moved into the passenger seat of the same pod.
“Would you prefer to pilot, Mr. Paladin of Voltron?” Keith said unceremoniously, now patting the pilot’s seat.
“May I just ask why you even want to come with me? You’re not going to lead this entire fleet to my team are you? How do I know I can trust you?” Lance said with narrowed eyes. Despite his distrust of the Galran boy, he still seated himself at the controls, closing the pod behind himself.
“You have my word. Do you think I’d really give you up after all the time I just spent speaking with you? I could’ve easily had them come for you before now, if I wanted.” Keith taunted the other boy, sticking his tongue out between his fangs seductively. Lance flushed before averting his gaze and starting the pod up. “Besides, I’m all over the surveillance right now willingly guiding you to the escape pods, that won’t look good for me if I stay behind.” Keith said, shrugging his shoulders and shifting his gaze toward Lance’s again.
“I can’t believe I’m trusting you right now.” Lance shook his head and bit his lip to hide his smile. As the pod began floating and the escape doors opened, Keith crossed his hands behind his head and smiled at his new accomplice.
“Well, you sure know how to show a Galra a good time, Princey. I’m your quiznacking partner!” Lance simply gaped at the other boy, a blush once again present on his face. How did the soldier even know that strictly Altean curse anyway? Shaking his head, he guided the pod in the direction of the castle.
After some time, they found the castle and began their approach. Lance used the communicator inside the pod to contact the ship, hoping they would answer before just blowing the pod up.
“Hello, this is a neutral vacation cruiser, is that a Galra pod?” Coran. Lance felt his shoulders relax immediately at the sound of his advisor’s voice. Excitedly, he began speaking over the communicator.
“Coran! It’s me, Lance! Please let me board! I’ve got an ally with me that I rescued, but it’s just us two.” The pause that ensued was ominous. But seconds later, Coran came back online.
“Lance, thank heavens you’re alright. I’m opening the boarding dock now.” Lance could’ve sworn he heard Coran sniffle just a little bit. He smiled at the thought. They had all missed him.
“Coran, did you just say ‘heavens’? Isn’t that an earth word?” Lance giggled as he directed the pod toward the now open dock. Coran just laughed over the line.
After they landed on the castle ship, Lance told Keith to stay put in the pod so he could explain the situation to Shiro and Allura. Allura was the most cautious and defensive member of the team when faced with any Galra, even civilians or rebel allies. And this fact was rightfully so, seeing as they had taken everything from her (and Lance) previously. Her trust was the most important to be earned and the best way to do so was through Lance.
Lance wandered through the castle on his own, it had been his mission to find the Red Paladin, dead or alive, as assigned by Allura. He had technically failed, but he succeeded in that he had brought a somewhat trustworthy Galra Commander with him, which would definitely help them in the long run. If they couldn’t quite figure out what had happened to the former Red Paladin, then they could at least have the upper hand from the source on how to evade and be safe from Zarkon until they could form Voltron as a team. Although Red was showing her strong persistence as always. Lance was confident that they would soon find a way.
Keith on the other hand wasn’t one for taking orders, not even from Altean princes. So, he jumped out of the pod and started wandering around the hangar. He found an interesting door that led him to the Chamber of Lions, where each component of Voltron was present. There was the small but handy Green Lion, the sensitive and accepting Blue Lion, the reliable and steadfast Yellow Lion, the ornate and regal Black Lion; and finally, Keith came upon the Red Lion, mysterious, aloof, and definitely in need of a joyride. She was looking a little rusty with disuse.
From what Keith could remember, she hadn’t been out flying or in action since her Paladin went missing nearly ten thousand years before. “Maybe it’s time she got out.” Keith thought to himself as he climbed into her cockpit. There was a small smirk upon his face as she opened up easily for him. Her controls and everything felt like a second nature to Keith, and he was a little bit surprised at her maneuverability for someone so unfamiliar. Especially considering Lance’s warning.
Red seemed to have complete control as she took off and left the castle. She flew Keith from planet to planet, thrashing wildly and unpredictably. Keith, despite not knowing what he was doing, remained calm and level-headed. The lion kept going until finally arriving at a far off planet that Keith felt as if he’d never seen before. That was when it clicked.
It was Altea.
“Why are you showing me this? Is it because you know I’m a Galra? I’m pretty aware of what happened here. Although, I’ve never seen it in person…” Keith said, suddenly feeling self-conscious of himself and his heritage. Instantly he felt comforting vibes from the lion, as if she were telling him to calm down and trust her. Of course he did. Their bond was strong despite this being their first encounter. And suddenly Lance’s words ran through his head once more.
“She refuses every pilot who tries to fly her, even my sister.” And Keith’s eyes widened in shock once again.
“You—you want me to be your pilot? Even though I’m a commander in Zarkon’s Empire? I mean, I know I’m supposed to be… undercover but…” The lion responded by jolting vigorously, causing Keith to smack his head against the roof of the cockpit. “Sorry! Sorry, even though I was a commander. I know I’m on your side.”
On the ship, Lance was busy in the central room area of the castle. Everyone was there, and everyone showered Lance in affection and relief glad to just see him alive.
“How long was I gone?” Lance asked, looking around as Pidge smacked her face right into Lance’s ribs, squeezing tightly. He squeezed her right back as Hunk came to his side as well.
“About six quintants.” Allura’s voice cracked as she spoke, smile quivering as her eyes lined with unshed tears. Pidge stepped away knowingly. The Princess embraced her brother, desperately feeling at different parts of him to make sure he was real. Lance returned said embrace, a few stray tears streaking his cheeks as the rest of the group dog-piled him. He loved his team so much, and he couldn’t wait to get back to work with them.
“Lance,” Coran began, pulling out of the group hug. “Where is this rescued ally of yours? Are they injured at all? Are you injured at all?” Everyone’s heads shot back to Lance after Coran finished speaking, eyes wide.
“Ally?” They all said in unison.
“Were they a prisoner? Did they know my family?” Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses.
“Is it the Red Paladin?” Shiro and Allura asked.
“Who?” Hunk finished.
“Calm down, everyone. For starters, I’m sorry Pidge, but no it isn’t someone who knows Matt or your father. If it was, you’d be the first to know, that I promise. We’ll have to ask if he knows of them.” Pidge nodded, body easing from its previous tension. “Two, it isn’t the Red Paladin either. But it’s someone who can really help us and he told me himself that he’s on our side.” Lance said, a smile gracing his gorgeous face. “He’s still in the pod, uninjured, waiting for us.”
“Well then, let’s go greet him.” Shiro smiled, gesturing to the others to follow him. Lance placed his hand on Allura’s shoulder as the others were out of sight.
“I need to talk to you first.” Lance said, a look of seriousness on his face. Allura, now worried, turned to completely face her brother.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“No… but this guy… He was a commander in Zarkon’s army. However, he knew Thace and Ulaz. He’s with the Blade of Mamora and he said he’s going to help us. He’s Galra.”
“He’s Galra?”
“Allura, please listen, he helped me escape! I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t taken me to the pods. He’s not evil, I swear to you. In fact, he’s is technically a traitor of the Galra Empire. If they get their hands on him, they’ll kill him for sure. He willingly let a Voltron Paladin escape unharmed.”
“Lance, you Shiro and I will discuss this later. For now, we will have to figure something out to make sure he’s as trustworthy as you say—”
“Hey you two, we have a problem.” Shiro said, re-entering the room. She turned wickedly fast to face him, eyes narrowing. She glanced back quickly at Lance before hurrying to Shiro’s side.
“What is it?”
“The Red Lion is gone.” Shiro said, pursing his lips after he did.