VLD Not!Fic - Post Season 2

[mad_madam_m]

So after the cliffhanger at the end of VLD season 2—WHERE THE HELL IS SHIRO—I rambled this not!fic to a friend of mine and put it on Tumblr in 2 parts. I'll combine in the two into the post for the sake of simplicity. XD

Originally posted to Tumblr here and here.

So Keith doesn’t quite go off the deep end after they come into the Black Lion and see that Shiro is gone, but he is borderline obsessed with getting him back. The year that Shiro was missing after the Kerberos mission was one of the worst of Keith’s life, and after spending all that time thinking Shiro was dead, only to find out he was really alive…

Keith isn’t going to lose him again.

He has Pidge running diagnostics on the Black Lion nonstop, searching for something in the code that might tell them what happened. He spends hours digging through the castle archives, learning everything he can about the Lions, hoping to find some clue in their history that will tell him how to bring Shiro back.

The only time he eats is when Hunk comes in and makes him. He doesn’t really sleep so much as he passes out when he can’t stay up any longer–on the bridge, in the Black Lion, in the Red Lion, in the hallway between the training deck and his room. Lance tries to get a rise out of him, and Keith doesn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow.

That’s what really convinces the team that something’s wrong.

Originally everyone is on board–they all miss Shiro, he was their leader, they want him back–but Voltron is needed in the universe. Their victory over Zarkon was a temporary one, and they’re still needed to help free the thousands upon thousands of worlds still under Galra rule.

The first couple of times, they can handle the fights with just the Lions, but it becomes increasingly clear that they need to be able to form Voltron again.

And so Allura calls them together and broaches the subject no one’s wanted to touch: a new paladin for the Black Lion.

Keith shuts it down immediately. “The Black Lion is Shiro’s.”

“We need Voltron,” Allura says, gently but firmly. “I know that you miss him, but we can’t keep waiting for him to come back. We need to find a fifth paladin.”

“What, you want us to just give up?” Keith shouts. “Shiro wouldn’t abandon any of you, but you’ll give up on him just like that?”

“Keith—”

“No!”

And with that, Keith runs out of the bridge, leaving his team stunned and silent in his wake.

He goes to the furthest place he can: the Red Lion’s hangar, where people are least likely to look for him. He knows he’s supposed to lead them now, he knows that’s what Shiro wanted, but accepting the role feels like giving up, and Keith can’t give up. Not on Shiro. Not when he only just found him again.

To his surprise, it’s Pidge that comes to find him. For the longest time, she just sits there, until Keith wants to throw something at her to make her either say something or go away. And then she says, “I have no idea if my dad’s alive.”

Okay, she has Keith’s attention.

“I know how it feels.” Pidge has her knees pulled up into her chest and is hugging them so close she looks like a tiny green ball. “I mean, I don’t know exactly how it feels, but I spent all that time thinking my dad and my brother were gone, and then I found out Shiro survived, and I knew that meant there was a chance my family was still alive. I haven’t given up on them—I won’t give up on them—but Voltron has to come first. If we don’t protect the universe, if we don’t stop the Galra, then it doesn’t matter if I find them.”

For the first time, she raises her eyes to meet his, and they’re huge behind her glasses. “But I’ll never stop looking.”

Keith doesn’t know what to say. He can’t really say anything. She’s right. And he knows, in his heart of hearts, that Shiro would want them to continue the fight.

Pidge nods at him once, then stands up and leaves.

Later, Keith heads over to the Black Lion. It’s not until he gets in the hangar that he realizes he’s come here to say good-bye.

He stands in the cockpit, touches the cool metal. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you faster. I’m sorry…”

He sags to the ground, utterly exhausted, wanting to cry but he just…can’t.

He falls asleep like that, leaning against one wall of the Black Lion, his heart breaking a little more with every beat.

And then he dreams.

Keith’s standing on a moon or something, a vast, desolate landscape as far as the eye can see. The sky above is so full of stars it’s almost impossible to believe, and he stands there, staring up at it.

When he looks back down, Shiro is standing in front of him.

Keith freezes. He can’t move, can’t speak for fear that Shiro will vanish, drift away before his very eyes.

Shiro smiles and takes a step closer to him. “I thought you were supposed to be leading them.”

“That’s your job,” Keith says, trying for a light tone and failing by several thousand kilometers.

“Yeah, and I passed it to you.” Shiro steps forward again. “You’ve got to lead Voltron now, Keith. The universe depends on it. The others are depending on it.”

He’s almost close enough to touch, but Keith can’t bring himself to do it. “I’m not good at this, not like you are,” he whispers.

“You’ll get there,” Shiro says. “I know you can do it.”

“I don’t…” Keith drags his hand through his hair, trying so hard to keep his voice steady. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want—I don’t want to lose you again.”

Shiro nods, and there’s a sadness in his eyes that hurts to look at. “We’ll find each other again,” he says. “I promise. Until then,” he holds out his bayard, “take care of them for me, will you?”

Keith does the only thing he can: he reaches out and takes it, trying to say with his eyes all the feelings he still can’t put a name to.

From the small smile Shiro gives him in return, Keith thinks he understands.

When Keith finally wakes up, sore and aching from the awkward position, he’s clutching the black bayard in his hand.

***

Keith doesn’t take over the Black Lion. He’d too close to Red, and they’ve been through too much together. He gives the black bayard to Allura, says she should be the new paladin. Allura protests, but the rest of the team wholeheartedly agrees with Keith.

He gets the sense that the Black Lion is also behind the decision.

It’s strange, the first few times they form Voltron without Shiro there. Keith isn’t comfortable leading on his own; he and Allura balance the role. He’s surprised at how well it works.

(Allura tells him much later that it feels oddly right to her—Zarkon and her father had both been paladins and friends when Voltron was originally created; perhaps it was necessary for an Altean and a Galra to lead it together.)

But, just as he promised, he never stops looking for how to bring Shiro back. The more he learns, the more the thinks that somehow, Shiro merged with his Lion. Given his own dream and some of the things he’s heard from Allura, Keith is pretty sure that’s the case.

The question is, of course, just how they’re going to get him back into a physical body again.

The answer comes from Pidge and Hunk.

They come to Keith because they’ve found something, some kind of transporter that combines Galra technology and Altean magic. It looks like it can do what they need. Granted, it’s only theoretical, but—

Keith tells them to go ahead before they even finish the explanation.

It takes several weeks and a few false starts, but finally they have something that can work. The only problem is that it requires a lot of quintessence to work.

Well, maybe it’s not much of a problem, because every single one of the paladins is ready to offer what they can to help bring Shiro back.

That’s when they learn that quintessence freely given is so much more powerful than quintessence forcibly taken. When the light fades, Shiro stands before them, looking a little tired and worn but whole and real and there.

They all mob him at once, and the joy lasts for about ten seconds before they all realize he’s naked.

There’s collective embarrassed laughter—Keith is pretty sure he’s never seen Pidge blush like that before—and Shiro crouches behind the machine and politely asks for someone to bring him some clothes. Or, you know, just pants.

Allura ushers everyone out, ordering that they should give him some privacy, and tells Hunk to go make a celebratory meal. As she’s forcing them out, Keith looks over his shoulder to see Shiro staring at them, a small, fond smile on his face.

It makes his heart lurch.

Keith goes to the training deck, because his whole body is buzzing and he has to do something with all the energy coursing in his veins. He makes it through three rounds with the training droid when the simulator suddenly shuts off and there’s Shiro, standing at the open door.

“Looking for a sparring partner?” he asks.

Keith lowers his sword. His heart’s pounding, and it only has a little bit to do with his exertion. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

Shiro grins and holds up his hand. “I think I can handle a round or two.”

Keith raises his sword again and returns the grin. “Let’s go.”

It’s a harder fight than the droid, and Keith can’t hide his surprise. Shiro’s just as fast as he’s always been, maybe even a little quicker, and he’s got a mastery over his cybernetic arm that he didn’t have before. Their first fight ends in a draw, and the second has Keith on the ground, with Shiro’s hand at his neck.

“I thought you’d still be recovering,” Keith admits.

Shiro’s eyes are dancing; there’s no other word for it. “Does that mean you were going easy on me?”

Keith huffs. “Of course not.”

Shiro takes his hand away from Keith’s neck, puts it on the floor beside his head. It would be easy now to flip him off, but Keith really doesn’t want to.

“I told you we’d find each other again,” Shiro says, so quietly that Keith knows it’s meant for him only, even though there’s no one else around to hear.

His heart stutters. He’d thought that was only a dream, but from the way Shiro’s looking at him, it must have been far more real than Keith had suspected.

Shiro still hasn’t moved, doesn’t look like he’s going to move, and his eyes flick from Keith’s eyes to his mouth.

“Shiro,” Keith says, and it comes out soft and broken. There’s more to say, so much more to say, but somehow it all fits into that one word.

Shiro leans closer, hesitates, and Keith wants to scream at him not to stop but also can’t bring himself to break this moment between them.

Then the castle’s klaxons blare.

Keith nearly jumps out of his skin, and Shiro falls to the side with a curse.

“Paladins! To your Lions, immediately!” Allura’s voice shouts through the loudspeaker.

Never in his life has Keith hated that phrase more.

Shiro gets to his feet and holds out his hand. Keith takes it, and Shiro pulls him up.

“To be continued?” Shiro asks.

Keith squeezes his hand and nods. “Definitely.”

Comments

[kalira]

This still gives me so many feels~

[mad_madam_m]

Thank youuuu. <3

Much as I love what they ended up doing with that storyline, I'm still kind of sad we didn't get a scene like that between Keith and Pidge. I think it could've been lovely.