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Chapter Text

“The Red Paladin does it again, folks!”

“The Red Paladin takes down The Garrison’s biggest enemy yet!”

“The Red Paladin-”

“The Paladins of Voltron-”

“The Voltron Paladins-”

Lance groaned as he leaned over the countertop in the kitchen. “Keith, turn that off, for God sake!” He groaned out as he dragged his hands across his face.

“The Voltron Paladins were spotted last night off The Garrison Tower! Our cameras were able to capture The Red Paladin taking down Zarkon! You won’t believe this!”

Pushing off the counter, Lance marched into the living room. Keith was sitting on the couch, arms folded as he watched the television. Sighing loudly, Lance leaned over the back of the chair, plucked the remote from his hand and turned the tv off.

“Hey!” Keith yelped, turning around to face Lance.

“This stuff is so stupid, Keith. You should know that by now! We live in a world of supers, so what? This stuff is day-to-day stuff. Besides, I’m pretty sure Zarkon wasn’t The Garrison’s biggest enemy.”

Keith clicked his tongue, falling back on the couch. He put his arms behind his head and crossed his ankles. “I mean, it’s not stupid. But yeah, you’re right, Zarkon wasn’t their biggest enemy,” he agreed, eyes closing.

“Then who is? I don’t keep up with that stuff.”

Keith kicked his feet. “I read from one of their interviews that The Paladins agreed their biggest enemy so far has been Frost.”

At that, Lance rose an eyebrow. “Frost, really? That guy? Isn’t he the one who has ice and water powers or whatever?”

Keith shot up, eyes snapping open and turned over to Lance. “Have you seriously never watched footage of him? He’s insane! He has high tech weaponry like anti-gravity blasters, lazer guns, and a bunch of katanas. He never goes to a fight with the same weaponry. And yes, he has water and ice powers. It’s also been a shit storm for Voltron and any Police figure to track him down because he’s able to change his physical appearance!” Keith rambled on, using obscure hand gestures as he did. Lance simply nodded at his blabbering, leaning against the couch.

“He wears this wear visor thing that may have like, special technical abilities that helps him with his shooting and attack ranges. The head piece has cat ears attached to it, it’s weird. He wears this mask over his mouth too. He has like, frosty white hair and pointy ears, and his skin glows where he has tattoos! And so do his eyes! It’s so weird!” Keith raised his hands above his head, flopping back down onto the couch.

“Yeah but, Zarkon was worse, wasn’t he?”

Keith shook his head violently. “Zarkon didn’t have weapons like Frost does. He used his own powers, which made it easier for Voltron to figure out his weakness. Voltron suspects Frost keeps a lot of his abilities hidden and that's why he uses weapons instead. The worst part is Frost is much younger and new to the villain files, so it makes it ten times harder.”

“Oh,” Lance hummed. “I didn’t know that,” he commented, laying his head down on the back of the couch. “Are you like one-hundred percent sure he’s their biggest villain? He looks like a popsicle. Not much of a threat.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Big threat! Sometimes I’m personally scared that Frost will out do Voltron and take over the city. It terrifies me.”

“Hey, don’t be scared,” Lance reached out, patting his roommates arm. “I doubt he’ll try to do that. Besides, you got me, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

“You’re not even a tiny bit scared of him?”

“Of that popsicle boy? Of course not!”

“Give me their status, Pidge,” Lance breathlessly spoke into his comm system in his mask. 

“They’ll be at your location in exactly two minutes.”

Looking up at the exact building where Zarkon had been taken down days earlier, he stopped. Citizens in their cars and on the sidewalk were screaming around him. With a sly and hidden smile, he spun quickly, icing the road and sidewalk around him in a circle.

With that done, he began running up the skyscraper like a piece of cake. He used his hands to create a strong enough current to keep him upright as he made it to the top of the building.

Creating a ball of air, he sat on it, spinning around as he landed on the top flawlessly.

“Wildfire, incoming on your two.”

Lifting his head to the sky, a familiar flash of purple came soaring over him. He circled around him before nose-diving at him.

With a distasteful smile, Lance crossed his wrists into an x, creating a forcefield of ice and current of wind. Wildefire was caught in it as he attempted to dive at Lance, hands on his side, wrapped around his katana.

Lance watched with satisfaction as Wildfire’s purple ears blew around in the wind, his eyes closed, jaw barred.

“Oh, is my favorite grape stuck?” He taunted, creating a more forceful current of air that caused Wildfire to soar backward. “Let me help him before he prunes!”

Smashing his right foot onto the roof, a spike of ice rose into the air, hitting Wildfire’s back as he came crashing down onto the roof. 

“You bitch!” Wildfire growled, trying to stand up instantly.

“Huh? What’s that? I can’t hear you! There seems to be a storm brewing!” Lance taunted, hands raising to blast cold ice around Wildfire, trapping him.

“You have exactly a minute and five seconds for him to melt the ice. Mania is coming in on your left right about-”

A loud smash grabbed Lance’s attention.

“Now.”

Icing the roof around him, Lance folded his arms behind his back, skating around the tip of the building. Hanging off the spike of the building was the familiar yellow-power ranger kind of get-up.

“Initiate blasters, aim for the right shoulder and neck, that’s where the weak points of the armor are.”

On his visor, two red circled showed up, narrowing down on the two spots Pidge ordered. Pulling his blaster out from its holster on his side, he aimed up at Mania, still skating around flawlessly.

“Get ya’ some of this!” He shouted, hitting the two points flawlessly. Mania froze up, his right hand letting go of the building. Instantly, Lance rose his left hand in the air, icing the building bellow him to catch his fall somewhat.

“Status on Wraith and Kuron?” Holstering his weapon, Lance shot around the building again. Water was pooling around and he could hear the distinctive growling of Wildfire.

“I only have status on Wraith. No Kuron.”

“Looks like Takashi is going solo today,” Lance laughed, turning the corner just in time to watch Wildfire burst out of his ice cage.

“Wraith has the Rose Katana. Wildfire has no weapons on him today. Get rid of him in-time for Wraith’s arrival in five. Lotor insists on that Katana.”

“On it.”

Squinting his eyes, Lance made his normal eyes glow a brilliant blue, enhancing his powers. The two markings on his cheeks began glowing too as he speed headfirst at Wildfire.

Pulling his arms over his head, Lance transformed the two bayards he had into two large flaming Katanas.

He watched as Wildfire’s yellow eyes grew a bit wider. He attempted to fly and miss the hit, but Lance was sure to make him stay. Twisting his neck slightly, a heavy gust of wind came bursting down on Wildfire, causing him to stay in place.

The first Katana hit Wildfire’s ankle, making the purple grape man’s fur burn. He yelled in response, turning and aiming a fireball at Lance’s head.

Blowing out harshly, a gust of ice hit back against the attack. Using his other Katana, he chopped through the ice he created in front of him, taking another dig at Wildfire. This time, the blade hit his side.

Allowing the wind to stop, Lance watched with satisfaction as Wildfire went flying down the side of the building, fingers grasping at the open wound in his side.

“Fatal?”

“Negative.”

“Good... How much-”

Lance found himself at the edge of the building, back burning. His eyes scoured the area, easily catching Wildfire’s figure on one of the ledges.

A shaky breath escaped him as he turned, Wraith’s purple sword not even inches from his neck.

“Any pleads, Frost?” He bit out, edging the blade closer to Lance’s neck.

“Well, Takashi, I do have one plead,” he laughed out, staring at Wraith’s blank face. He wondered why Takashi Shirogane didn’t wear a face mask and allowed his identity to be out in the open. It didn’t seem practical, especially seeing as Lance knew of his family and could easily use them to his advantage.

“Activating hypnosis technique, available in five... four... three... two...”

“What would that be?” Takashi bit back.

Raising his hands slowly in the air, as if he was giving into defeat, he smacked his right hand onto the side of his visor.

The visor lit up automatically with purple. A type of purple that left Lance with a gasping “ooo” smile.

Wraith paused, arms going limp at his sides.

“Hypnosis seems to be working... sweet! Wait until I show Hunk this one!”

Lance’s smile got a little brighter at that. “Wraith, hand over the Rose Katana and your Meteorite sword.”

“Understood, Frost,” Wraith responded like a zombie, throwing his sword to Lance’s feet. He reached a hand behind his back, unsheathing another Katana. It shimmered pink in the air as he threw it to Frost’s feet as well.

With a dignifying smile, Lance bent down, grabbing both weapons. “Pleasure doing business with ya!” He waved him off using the Meteorite sword, his visor returning to its normal color.

Without staying to watch his reaction, Lance went speeding down the side of the building. As Pidge liked to call it, “the naruto run.”

The day Lance always dreaded finally came after seven months of worrying.

Running into Keith Kogane, his amazing roommate, while at work. Lance would be lying if he said he didn’t love Keith, because fuck, he did. Keith was the sweetest, cutest boy Lance had ever met!

There was no way in hell that Lance wanted to see Keith while as Frost. But today, it happened. And he hurt Keith while he was at it.

He was zooming down the streets, icing the sidewalk in front of him as he skated through when he had struck a citizen with an ice ray.

He stopped, startled when he saw someone had literally ran into him instead of running away from him.

That’s when he saw Keith, arm covered in ice and blood, staring at him like he had just seen a ghost.

Without thinking, he scooped Keith up in his arms and turned right back the fuck around back to his hideout.

“What are you doing !” Keith screamed, cradling his ice-covered arm. Tears were in his eyes as he thrashed in Lance’s grip. “Let me go! Let me go! Fuck!”

“Change in plans. I hit a citizen,” Lance said into his mask as quietly as he could. He was sure Keith couldn’t hear him, seeing as he was screaming in hysterics and trying to escape him.

“What the fuck do you mean you hit a citizen?”

“Just as I fucking said!” Lance boomed, catching Keith’s attention, who now had tears streaking his cheeks.

Keith remained silent now, staring up at Lance with curiosity.

“How did you hit someone?! You’re usually very careful about that stuff-!”

“I didn’t mean to! That’s why I’m turning around so I can fucking fix this situation!” Lance screamed back at Pidge, attempting to keep himself from crying.

“You can’t bring them into the hideout!”

“If you think I don’t know that, you’re literally an idiot, do you hear that? You’re an idiot! I know I can’t do that! Tell me where I can so I can go and fix this and not kill K- the person in my arms!” Lance shouted back, glancing down at Keith.

Keith went dead silent now, hands shaking as he stared up at Lance’s mask.

“Think you’re going to live, pretty boy?” Lance questioned, which caused Keith to snarl in response.

“Ew, don’t call me that- where the hell are we going?!”

“Calm down, everything’s going to be a-okay!”

“No- no it’s not ! You’re fucking insane!”

Lance sighed, looking back up at the street and tried to keep his mind off the pain in his heart. His visor turned red with directions in a matter of seconds.

“Empty alleyway. Take them their, patch them up, and head back here pronto. I have no visuals on Wildfire but the rest of the Voltron team is on their way.”

“Understood, how far away-”

“Voltron won’t get to you for awhile. The alley way is right- yep, right there.”

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

Lance flew into the alleyway, making it all the way into the back before sitting Keith on the ground. He was shaking, jaw barred, eyes wide.

A very similar expression to something...

“Don’t move, okay? I’m going to fix this up and I’ll let you go. I’m not going to hurt you-”

“I can fix this myself!” Keith yelled in response, motioning to the literal ice block attached to his arm. “And besides, you already hurt me-”

Without warning, Lance bent down in front of Keith. His markings turned red slowly, as well as his eyes. Wrapping his hands around the ice block, he watched as it melted quickly under his touch.

“Holy fuck- you have fire powers!” Keith screamed, flinching.

“Shh, that’s our little secret. I wouldn’t be Frost if others knew, now would I?” Lance teased, pulling away when the ice was fully gone. Keith’s pale skin was burned red now.

“Here, one last thing...”

Reaching into his holster, he grabbed a small container of water. Popping the lid off it, he slowly poured it over Keith’s arm. Hovering his hands over his arm, he waited for his markings to return blue, as well as his eyes. Closing them, he placed his hands slowly onto Keith’s arm.

“It has healing properties, you should feel all better now,” Lance declared as he let go of Keith’s arm, opening his eyes.

Keith stared at him with hard eyes, biting his bottom lip. “Why did you help me? Aren’t you, you know, the bad guy?”

“Well sure, you could put it that way. Or, you could put it as I’m in a tight spot and trying to fix some things. Ya know?” He shrugged, standing up.

“Well, I’m deeply sorry for icing you. I never use my powers on humans. It seems terrifying and- yeah, you get it. Okay, be safe, bye!”

Lance’s next time seeing his all time enemy, Wildfire, was days later in front of his apartment building. A string of “fucks” left Lance’s mouth as he iced the ground around him, dodging the fire daggers that were being sent his way.

“Pidge, help me here. We’re in front of my apartment building- and my roommate is supposed to be home and there are kids here!”

“Try to leave the area, you have ti- nevermind. Looks like you’re going to need to get through Kuron, The Altean Princess, and Wildfire first.”

Another string of fucks escaped Lance. He was in no way prepared for a fight today.

Another flame dagger was sent at him, grabbing his shoulder unaffectedly.

“C’mon, Frost!” Wildfire taunted, zooming closer to the ground. “Come fight me! Shoot some ice at me, or, you know, fire! ”

Keith told them.

Keith told them-

Keith told them!

“Pidge, situation. So, the citizen I iced a few days ago was actually my roommate, and he’s obsessed with supers- and I used my fire powers to get rid of the ice on him instead of bending the water because it was faster- and he told them! Wildfire knows I have fire powers!” Lance hurriedly said into his comm.

“You know what, fuck it, expose a few more while you’re at it, Lance!”

A smile popped up on Lance’s face. “Will do!”

“Wait, no, not actually!”

Without hesitation, Lance shot up into the air. An unfamiliar jostle greeted his stomach and he heard Wildfire give a shout.

“Equal playing grounds?” Lance smiled as he hovered a few feet away from Wildfire in the air. The two stared at each other, brilliant yellow eyes meeting electric blue ones.

Before Lance could react, Wildfire came barreling at him, burning fist colliding with his side. “Payback!” Was all that came from him as Lance’s middle burned.

“Fuck!” He shouted, zooming around Wildfire in order to miss another fist.

“Look, maybe we should take this fight away from the apartment building-”

Lance’s plea went unheard as Kuron came flying into Lance. The wind was knocked out of him, and the next thing he knew, Lance was being thrown into the apartment building.

Glass broke all around him, cutting deep into his skin.

He hissed, trying to catch his breath as he tried to sit up.

“Fuck, Lance, are you okay? You got sucker-punched real hard and thrown into glass-”

“Back off! Back off! You threw him into one of the apartment windows!” Wildfire’s frantic voice came ringing into Lance’s ears.

Blinking hard, Lance looked around him. There was glass everywhere, and blood. But he recognized the room he was thrown into.

Of all apartments...

He sat up as quick as he could and pulled his mask down.

“Keith?!” He shouted. Standing up, he realized his vision was blurry and out of sorts.

“Fuck... Keith? Keith- are you here?”

Stumbling around the apartment, he dashed down the hallway where his and Keith’s rooms were. Quickly, he slammed open Keith’s and saw nothing but an empty room. He opened his own room, again, nothing but emptiness.

“What the hell are you doing?” Wildfire’s granny voice caught his attention from the hallway.

The two stared at each other, Lance’s vision still blurry and hazy, his hand still on the doorknob of his bedroom door.

He saw Wildfire’s eyes glow bright yellow and the next thing he knew, he was being thrown down the hallway.

“Lance? Lance?!” Wildfire started screaming, causing Lance’s heart to thump faster than before.

Within seconds, a warm fist had a fist full of his shirt. His vision was spotty, the world spinning in several directions.

“What did you do to him? Where is he!” Wildfire growled in front of his face, clenching the front of his suit tighter.

“Who...?” Lance mumbled, looking cross-eyed to catch Wildfire’s yellow ones.

“Lance! The boy that lives here! You were in his room- where is he? What did you do to him?!” Wildfire screamed louder, pulling him up and smashing him into the wall, hard .

This time, he saw white. The blue glow from his skin vanished.

“I didn’t do-”

“Don’t give me that bullshit! Where is he? Where is he!” Wildfire screamed, grabbing another fist full of his shirt.

Lance tried to focus on the purple face in front of him, eyes hazing in and out of focus.

“I just got thrown in here...”

“Lance was supposed to be here! He should have been here- where- where is he-”

That was when he saw the glow from Wildfire’s eyes disappear, this time, normal eyes reappearing. Familiar large dark purple eyes blinked owlishly at him, tears streaming down his face. His purple ears were flush against his head.

A string of “where is he? where is he!” kept playing through Lance’s head on repeat. His ears were ringing, eyes fluttering shut without his doing.

It took a few moments of haze and ringing for several things to click in Lance’s head.

There was no way Wildfire would have known he should have been here, in his home, right now if he didn’t know him well. Those big purple eyes were awfully familiar. Keith wasn’t in the apartment, where he should have been at this time. And the voice shouting at him was becoming weaker and weaker, and more and more familiar.

He took a shot in the dark.

“Keith...?”

The screaming stopped, and Wildfire’s eyes continued to fill with tears.

“You’re... Keith... Kogane?” Lance lolled his head to the side. “Wait- fuck... You’re Wildfire...”

“How the hell did you know?!” Wildfire- Keith , spat at him, holding him tighter against the wall.

“Should’ve... recognized the mullet...” Lance mumbled. He heard cracking in his ears, the familiar cracking when his ears returned to normal shape.

His bones were on fire as he slumped forward, visor and glasses slipping off.

The last thing he heard was a sobbed “Lance!” before everything went black.

Chapter Text

“Frost escaped,” he heard a familiar voice say. Their voice wavered, and it sounded like they sniffled afterward. “He must’ve landed into this citizen and escaped as soon as he could. I’m going to call HQ and get this cleaned up. You guys should go and see if Frost is still out there before something else happens.”

When Lance finally came back to, there was a lot of commotion.

“I’m so sorry, Wildfire. I didn’t even realize that he’d go right into the apartments,” another voice spoke. Lance couldn’t recognize this one.

“It’s alright. Mistakes happen. Now, please, allow me to fix this up. If HQ heard all of The Paladins were here we would definitely not be able to cover it up.”

There was a lot of shuffling. The sound of broken glass being moved.

A hard breath in.

“Do you even know who he is?” A quiet voice asked.

There was a moment of silence.

“You’re crying.”

A broken sob.

“Mania. This is really bad,” the familiar voice cried out. “I know him in my civilian life.”

Another pause.

“I know him as well.”

More shuffling. More pauses.

“What do I do...?”

Another long pause.

“We’ll figure it out... Wildfire- you’re shaking.”

“I’ve lost so much- I can’t lose him too, you don’t understand-”

That’s when all hell broke loose.

A door crashed open, and several orders were barked out by the most familiar voice Lance could make out. “Anti Altea, constrain Wildfire,” a feminine voice barked out. “Mania?” A pause. “Get him away from Frost. Now.”

There was movement, and the hands that had been wrapped around his shoulders were gone. “Wait, what’s going on?”

“Sector one, get the window fixed and clean the apartment before the attendants return. Sector two, get Frost up. We need to move out before Lotor hears about this.”

Two hands were wrapping around either of Lance’s arms before he could make out what was happening. There was something cold on his neck. And suddenly, his eyes were shooting open as a spike of coldness ran through the entirety of his body, shaking him awake. A heavy breath escaped him, as well as a slurred, “Fuck!”

When his eyes snapped open, he was looking down at blue hands. They shook, tingled, their color changing to a light purple.

He breathed sharply through a clenched jaw as hands grabbed at him, steadying him into a standing position.

When he brought his head up, his heart skipped a beat.

In front of him, he saw a familiar purple figure. Wildfire.

No.

Keith.

Two supers were pulling him back, one in yellow armor, Mania, and one in the inverted colors of The Altean Princess’s suit, Anti Altea.

Better known as Hunk and Romelle in his book.

The world was swaying around him. He swallowed thickly, trying to ground himself to something to keep himself in reality.

“Mania, what are you doing!?” Wildfire yelled, thrashing in his grip. In return to his resistance, Anti Altea let go, only holding him with one hand. The other swayed in front of his face in a circular motion. His eyes followed the motions of her hand, and like that, he slumped in their hold, eyes flickering up to the woman. “What the-”

“Frost,” a voice addressed him. Turning, he saw the green and black suit.

Pidge.

“Your identity has been compromised. We have two options here. We either wipe Wildfire’s memories of you completely, or we send you back to your home planet.” Her facial expression was grave, a heavy frown set on her face.

There was a twin set of gasps, neither of them coming from Anti Altea though.

It finally happened, Lance thought, eyes flickering to the floor.

The day he never wanted to come.

“I can’t go back there,” he spit out. His words were slurred, and the hands holding him up slipped, causing him to tip forward. He could feel the anger boiling in him, but made no protest as he was pulled back. “I don’t belong there. Hell, that planet is going to die . That is not my home planet, that’s a place where they used us, and you all know that!”

A stranded planet just out of the Milky Way. 

A radioactive wasteland where the strongest supers have been born. They had camps all over that planet that trained each super to fight. They brought the supers into captivity, and experimented on them, tested on them, took powers and added some more here and there...

Lance was the only one who made it out before the camps were blown up by another planet trying to make the supers go extinct.

The funny thing is, he was right when he said that wasn’t his home planet. He was born on Earth, but, there was much more to the story than that.

Pidge nodded at that. “Then you need to follow through with the other option.”

“I can’t!” Lance found himself shouting, shrugging out of the hands that held him up. Turning to look at them, he saw they were Pidge’s security bots. “I know his identity too.”

Pidge’s face dropped, looking over to Wildfire. In return, he looked back over to her, limp in his captor’s hold. They held a steady gaze. “Who is he?” Wildfire’s gaze went from Pidge to Lance in a heartbeat. He had a pleading expression on his face.

This situation was already too messed up. He couldn’t afford to lie anymore, to anyone, that was.

“He’s my roommate.”

At that, Mania dropped Wildfire’s side. He stumbled, Anti Altea grabbing him from the back instead. “You’re Keith?” Mania had the audacity to gasp offendedly.

“Mania!” Pidge scolded. Mania shrugged in response.

“I’m sorry... That just, it’s a shock! He’s nothing like Lance explained him to be!”

“Hunk!” Lance practically shouted, slapping a hand over his forehead.

Everything stung at that. He hissed as he felt his head throb, his arm tingling.

“You two are absolutely incapable of anything at this point,” Pidge scolded, grabbing at Lance’s arm, causing him to flinch, and then dragging him over to where Mania and Wildfire stood.

“How do you know me?” Wildfire questioned as he looked over to Mania, eyebrows drawn down.

“Let’s just say Lance talks about you a lot.” That earned him a hard bunch into the shoulder. “Ow! Dead arm!”

“Hey!” Pidge shouted, yanking at Lance. He flinched again, hissing. Looking down at his arm, Lance was aware of the glass shards stuck in his bleeding arm. That was going to be killer taking out later. “Let’s focus on the situation currently. Apparently, everyone here knows each other’s identity now. Wildfire, does anyone else from The Paladin team know about Lance’s identity?”

“No,” he responded with a straight face. “I told them that Frost got away and that because of Kuron’s reckless actions, this citizen was put in the danger zone. They cleared out and are looking for Frost now.”

Several sighs of relief happened at once.

“We thank you greatly, Keith. I understand this must be a lot to process. In return for keeping his identity a secret, we shall keep yours a secret as well,” Pidge said. “Because of the actions that have unfolded today, we will need to take precautionary measures now. This means that Frost will be no more.”

Lance swallowed thickly.

He wasn’t going to be able to pay his debt off without being some sort of “super.”

“We must also re-locate him.”

At that, Wildfire stood up straight. In a flash of white light, his disguise was shed in return for him looking like his regular civilian form.

Lance felt his heart plummet to his stomach.

In his civilian form, Keith had smoke and tears staining his red-rimmed eyes. His dark hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and it made Lance’s stomach do summersaults. But right now, all he could think of was all the times he’d hurt him. All the times he practically threw him off buildings, shot bullets at him, snapped limbs.

Oh god.

All those times he hurt Wildfire- it was Keith.

The sprained ankles.

The stitches.

All the times Keith would lay on the couch and groan while pulling at limbs.

“Got into a bit of an accident at work.”

“Clumsy, just fell going down the stairs.”

“Got my finger caught in the door.”

“Just a random nose bleed... I’ll be fine- hey! Stop touching my face!”

He was going to be sick.

He felt the way his heart started to throb against his chest. Faster and faster.

His stomach did somersaults.

He could feel the bile rising in his throat before he could do anything about it.

“What do you mean re-locate him?”

“He will be of no use here any more. He can’t continue his work here, as both you and Mania know his identity. Mania has known his identity since he first came to be known as frost, but we can not send him back into the field with two heroes knowing his real identity. That will put him at risk,” Pidge explained, and for extra emphasis, put air quotations around heroes.

Yanking away from Pidge’s grip, Lance fell to his knees. There was a gasp above him as he tried to stand again. 

“Hey-”

Two hands pulled him up. He pushed away from them even faster, tumbling down the hallway. He saw men in hazmat suits picking the glass off of the carpet of his living room.

He and Keith’s livingroom.

He tumbled into the kitchen, emptying the contents of his stomach into the trashcan violently. He felt his body shake and give out under him.

Tears prickled at his eyes as he turned his head to the tiled floor.

He had to be stronger than this right now.

But he could barely keep his mind to stay in one place.

Keith.

Lotor’s anger.

The paladins.

Pidge relocating him.

Keith, being wildfire.

His life having to change again.

The burning in his heart right now.

The fact he just threw up.

Keith, again.

All the people he just let down.

There was a stampede of footsteps after him.

“Keith! Hey!-”

There was a thud behind him as two hands delicately were laid on his shoulders. They pulled him from the trashcan tenderly with slowness.

“He didn’t go far, Pidge.” A voice spoke from somewhere above him.

“I-...” Pidge paused. Lance closed his eyes, letting whoever was holding him pull him into their lap. “It doesn’t matter. He’s willing to comply. We don’t need to hold him like a hostage.” Pidge coughed after that. “He’s probably suffering from a concussion right now too. He’s still human after all. He’ll be okay in a bit.”

Lance felt as the hands lifted from his shoulders to the side of his head. When he opened his eyes again, it was Keith who sat holding him tenderly. There was a frown on his face, and he retreated one of his hands to wipe the tears that trailed down his smoke-filled cheeks.

You really fucked up this time, McClain.

Pulling away from Keith, he wiped his mouth, remembering what Pidge had said before he ran to spill his guts- literally.

“Pidge, we’ll figure something out. I don’t think relocating will be necessary,” Lance insisted. Pidge turned with perplexity on her face. “Lotor and I will find something we can do. I don’t have the means for relocation if it means keeping a steady civilian life,” he explained.

Although it was lies.

He couldn’t bear to leave.

Not again..

“Okay,” Pidge spoke. She swallowed. “Let’s get the staging right then. Keith, you need to go back to Wildfire and we must escort Lance to the hospital. Hunk and I will figure out how to get you medical history in order so there are no suspicions. Can we do that?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Has this been the last of Frost?”

“Since their last battle-”

“The footage of Frost being thrown into the apartment complex-”

“No sightings-”

“Has Voltron won yet again? Stay tuned!”

“Keith,” Lance groaned. Turning on his side with the ruffled white sheets, he stared at the tired face that was purposely looking away from him. His eyes were trained on the television mounted to the wall, the remote in his hand bouncing as he flipped through channels. 

“-footage of the White Paladin of Voltron throwing the famous villain, Frost, into a highly occupied apartment complex! Thank the heavens, only a young man, Lance Mc’Cain was just minorly injured. What will be held in store for the Paladins of Voltron in the future for their carelessness? Stay tuned to find out-”

An image of Lance flashed on the screen. It was his senior photo from high school. He cringed at it as Keith switched the channels again.

“-no sightings of the Red Paladin since his last interview a few days ago with our news reporter-”

“Keith.” Lance’s voice was stern.

Keith paid him no mind, continuing to go through more channels. He heard half-formed sentences about Voltron, Frost, some about LL incorporated, and whatnot. After several more moments of this, Lance shot up in the bed, his IV pulling at his arm as he snagged the remote from Keith.

He turned the TV off and threw the remote over somewhere by his feet.

Keith looked over at him now. There were dark bags under his eyes. They were puffy too. His nose and cheeks were stained red as well. “What was that for?”

“You can’t keep ignoring me,” Lance explained. “Not if you’re going to willingly sit in here twenty-four seven.”

“I’m not ignoring you.”

“You’re not exactly talking to me either, you know.”

At that, Keith looked defeated, shoulders rising and eyes adverting.

“Talk to me, man. What’s on your mind?”

Resistant at first, Keith shook his head. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest. He gave a hearty breath, eyes shutting. Lance didn’t give up to, persistently staring him down.

Lance wasn’t dumb, though.

He knew what was bothering Keith.

How could it not?

Sitting up in his bed again, Lance was careful this time to make sure his IV didn’t snag at his arm as he reached out, grabbing at Keith’s hand. Their fingers slid together, Keith pushing away at the touch.

He attempted again to reach for his hand a second time, but instead of pulling away, Keith stayed rather still. The tips of their fingers interlocked, and Keith’s shoulders slid down into a resting position.

A simple, “Why?” His voice was broken, borderline cracking.

Despite knowing the answer, Lance responded with, “What do you mean by that?”

“Why,” Keith repeated. He turned, eyes opening as he squeezed Lance’s fingers in between his own. “I thought you were a good guy Lance? No, you are a good guy. Why... Why a villain of all people? Your powers could be used for so much better...”

Their eyes met. Lance couldn’t help but think they were having a conversation with their eyes.

Squeezing Keith’s fingers back, Lance deflated, holding himself up with his elbow.

“The whole story is messy,” Lance began. “I didn’t mean to get caught up in being the whole villain . I didn’t even think I’d get put on the radar for any of that stuff... Let’s just say I owe a debt.”

A story Lance hasn’t said in years.

The only others who have heard this story were his family, along with Pidge and Hunk.

Keith nodded. He kept his eyes trained on Lance carefully, their fingers still intertwined.

He felt his heart stutter.

“I was born into a non-super family. Genetic mutations.” He inhaled. “There was a gas leak where I lived as a child. I don’t recall what happened. Chaos broke out. We didn’t have supers where we lived at that time. I don’t remember why or how, but the water tower near the plantation was starting to collapse. At that time, I was like, aware of my powers. My parents told me constantly to not use them, that they were more of a curse than a blessing.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“But in that moment, they were the biggest blessing to ever exist. I was maybe twelve at the time. Tops. I remember the streets flooding with people racing to evacuate. I was weaving through them, racing toward the tower with all my might. And I just remember feeling a sudden rush of coldness as the tower fell. Before I could control it, I was freezing the water before it could overtake the town. We would have flooded. There was really no way anyone could have gotten through it.”

Keith was nodding again. “You used your powers for good. What happened?”

“They found me,” he breathed out.

He remembered it vividly.

The citizens around him being plummeted into fright before cheering for him, pulling him into hugs as they questioned him. He was the talk of the town as they rebuilt the tower, asking him for his aid.

“C-3 Eighteen. The bruisers planet,” he said.

Better known as Wasteland.

Everyone knew what Wasteland was.

“They were scouting for supers to take. Remember when The Queens went missing? And Kings Men Alfor?” 

Alfor Altea and Matilda Altea in their civilian lives- powerful company owners.

Two of the most powerful human supers.

“Yeah, who could forget about them? They recently closed their missing people cases. Their civilian identities were released to press not long ago.”

Lance breathed in.

Yeah. I knew them.

He knew them when he was plucked from that crowed by two strong arms and a cloth over his face.

“The super hunters from the Wasteland found them. Used chemical binds to basically kidnap them. They brought another as well. Me.”

Keith’s grip went loose, eyes falling open.

“They put us in the camps.” He closed his eyes.

He couldn’t help but remember their time there.

And Zarkon.

He the biggest supervillain- until Frost apparently, in Keith’s book...

He was creating an actual army to take over the world..

“Zarkon was trying to take the camps over. He had assistance from another planet. They blew up every single one of camps. Before that, a lot went down. They used us for testing- they made us fight in arenas against each other. If we won, they forced us to undergo a genetic process where we took on their super powers as well.”

Panic was rising in his chest.

He remembered being thrown into the chamber.

Alfor and Matilda were thrown in as well.

He remembered watching them...

“Hey,” Keith interrupted his thought process. “It’s okay... you can stop if you want...”

“No,” Lance refused. He shook his head.

“Before the last camp was targeted, they had all remaining supers defending it. I remember these ships coming in... and they just took me. They were these purple soldiers. They ended up bringing me back here, and... it turns out it was Zarkon attempting to take back the supers to use them for his army. I played it off as I had just been taken. I told him I didn’t know how to use my powers... Lotor took me in from there. He was much kinder than Zarkon was... but after being framed for being just like his father, it got to him.”

Keith looked understanding. He nodded along as he spoke, keeping eye contact, still holding his hand.

Zarkon was a big businessman before he went ‘crazy.’ He was a competitor of Altea Incorporated.  His son went on to create LL incorporated, a high tech producing company. After Zarkon went crazy, everyone began to frame Lotor for being the same was his father.

“Lotor did a lot for me, to keep me from Zarkon. To keep me from being hypnotized. I owed him a lot of debt after. And that’s where I am now... I never meant to- to hurt anyone? To be made the bad guy?

I don’t think Lotor is a bad guy. But his intentions changed over time. The work I did for him was never to cause pain or harm to anyone else, but to further testing the abilities of supers.”

He paused.

A sharp breath.

“When Pidge came into the picture, she really helped Lotor to see things in another light. She sticks around. She knows there’s a better future we can make from what Lotor has started, but right now... it is what it is...”

Keith rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean what Lotor has started?”

“It’s hard to explain...”

The labs.

The weaponry.

The ships.

The hundreds of supers waiting for orders.

The plans.

The plans Lotor has created to make a whole new meaning to life.

“You would only understand if you were part of it.”

With a whole new seriousness, Keith took his hand in his firmly. “Then let me be a part of it. Bring me to Lotor. I’ll help you get out of this... I can help you fix this, you don’t need to do this alone anymore!”

Shock ran through Lance like a lightning bolt.

“What are you... talking about? You can’t be serious-”

“I’m dead serious. If you say it isn’t all bad, let me help make it good! We can show Lotor together the good. Show me what Lotor has up his sleeve. There doesn’t need to be bad anymore! We can get the Paladins to overtake Lotor, with your help! We can-”

“No!” Lance boomed. Keith flinched, their hands letting go a bit. Lance watched Keith’s reaction, and sighed.

“I can’t. I can’t do that,” Lance explained, a bit calmer. “You don’t understand, Keith. It’s not safe for you to be around what he’s made. It isn’t safe for anyone.”

At that, the other pulled his hand away. “But it’s safe for you? For Pidge? For Hunk? I don’t understand- Lance, you can’t keep hiding stuff. Brushing it off? What, when you get out of here, do you plan on crawling back to Lotor? To follow out more work for him? Using your powers for something less than great- I don’t understand-!”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want you getting involved! You don’t understand! And I can’t make you understand without endangering you!” Lance huffed angerly. “Pidge, Hunk, and I know what we need to do. But right now, we need to keep a low profile. I promise I’ll explain everything when it’s over. I can’t... I won’t. I won’t endanger anyone again. Not- not like the last time-”

“I endanger myself daily for the great or good!” Keith shot back. “What’s so different about this? Don’t you remember the hundreds of times we actually almost killed each other? You’ve shot me, iced me, practically cut me in half, and suddenly, you’re all about not wanting to endanger me?”

Anger began to boil in Lance’s system.

“I didn’t know it was you at the time!”

“Okay? So?! I handled you then! What makes you think I can’t handle whatever it is that you’re hiding?!”

“Because-”

“Because of what?!” At this, Keith stood from his seat, forcing Lance to look up at him.

He seemed so mighty. So strong. So determined.

No wonder Lance was in love with him.

“Because I care for you. And I can’t purposely let you be endangered anymore.”

“I care about you too! That’s why I want to help you-”

“Keith.” Lance was stern, pulling at the sheets of the hospital bed as he spoke. “I don’t just care for you as a friend, okay? I can’t let you get hurt. Not anymore.”

“I don’t... understand?”

Tenderly, Lance sat up in his bed, the iv in his arm tearing. He flinched at the pain, but kept his eyes locked with Keiths.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Lance spoke just above a whisper. With his free hand, he skimmed the pads of his fingers over the sharp cheekbones of the other’s face. Keith shuttered in return, leaning into the touch almost.

“You should get going. Go home, and get some rest. I’m getting dispatched tomorrow. Pidge should be coming by soon to give me orders. I’ll come back to the apartment, I promise.”

Keith let a cold breath escape when Lance’s fingers retreated from his face.

“Okay... I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Without a warning, Keith bent down, grabbing Lance into a hug with both arms. 

Damn it, Kogane.

Lance hugged back with one hand.

He really just had to go and make it ten times harder, didn’t he?

“Is this the return of Frost?”

“The Red Paladin finally spotted two weeks after disappearing-”

“Has Frost and the Red Paladin switched sides?”