Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Title: Don't Call Me Babe
Pairing: N/A
Genre: angst, feminist literature
Goal: Character development, relationship development, raise awareness
Season: Season 2 Words: 1,731

When Voltron defeated the Robeast that attacked the planet, Seko. It left the city half destroyed. The paladins stayed to help rebuild what they can. Seko is a dry, desert planet, it didn't have much buildings only tents and huts made of dried mud. The city is known for selling and trading and it's one of the poorest planets in the Galaxy due to the Galra taxing them relentlessly. There isn't much for the citizens to do besides work after birth.
Pidge scouts for anyone who needs help. She does spot a young man struggling to put the beam of his tent back into place. She rushes over and assists him.
"Let me help you," she says, lifting the beam onto its hinge. The boy turns and meets her eyes. He appears to be a humanoid alien but she cannot recognize his exact race. There is no predominant race in Seko, it's the kind of planet people go to hide or have nothing left anymore. And once you live there you cannot get out. He seems about her age, blue skin and elf-like ears like an Altean, mopped burgundy hair, a cat nose like a Galra, and a monkey tail that flicks the air. His eyebrows raise in arousal as he sees her. Then he half smiles.
"Thanks for the help, babe." He says.
That pet name confused her but she decides to brush it off for now. Thinking she misheard it as something else.
"You know," he says, "There are about four others wearing the same suit but in different colors. Are you guys a cult or something?" the lightheartedness in his voice depict it as a charismatic joke. Pidge laughs along, but awkwardly.
"Oh no," she dismisses, "We're the paladins of Voltron: Defender of the Universe. You know those five lions turned into the giant robot that saved your city from that Robeast." Pidge continues talking to further explain. The boy nods along but clearly isn't listening. His eyes scan her up and down. When she notices and she grew uneasy. She crosses her arms over her chest.
"So um," she continues, "what we're trying to do is bring peace to the Galaxy and put an end to Zarkon's-"
"Yeah, yeah that sounds nice, babe." He interrupts still looking down on her.
She let out an unintentional groan but forces a painful smile.
"Please, don't call me babe." She asks, politely, "I'm Pidge, and I pilot the Green Lion.
"Mm-hm," he nods, "The name's B'av and I uh-" he inches closer to her and whispers, "I have a thing for girls with short hair."
Her skin crawls and every inch of her body cringes. She backs away quickly. She didn't want to be rude or anger him so she thinks of a more sensitive reject.
"Well, I'm ... flattered." she lies, feeling revolted on the inside "But... I have a lot of Paladin duties to focus on and I...am...not looking into a relationship...at all." she concludes.
B'av appears confused but half-smiles, "Aw, why you gotta break my heart like that, babe?"
Pidge inhales sharply, "Don't call me babe. And I told you I'm not interested." She walks away from the sleazy boy but he runs in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.
"Hey, your giant robot destroyed my shop. You owe me!" He yells.
"We're truly sorry your city got in the way of the battle and we're trying our best to help rebuild it." She justifies, "But you are not entitled to me. Why can't you just take no for an answer."
"Is it because I'm blue?" he demands, pointing his face.
"No-"
"Is it because of the ears?" He tilts his head, exposing his ears.
"No, I-"
"Is it because of the tail?" his tail caresses her cheek
"Ugh!" she smacks it away, disgusted. "No! I said I wasn't interested, now leave me alone!" She brushes past him but B'av grabs her arm. "Let go of me!"
"Just give me a chance, babe." he begs with a smirk, "I'll make it worth your while."
"Don't call me-" she yells.
"Pidge," Shiro spoke, firmly. B'av spins around and meets the four other Paladins glaring at him. Shiro stands with his fists on his hips. "Is this young man harassing you?"
Hunk cracks his knuckles. Keith's hands are clenched at his sides, does he kept one hand on his Bayard. Lance's arms were crossed above his chest in a more exaggerated pose.
B'av lets go of her arm, "Are these, Yerks, your brothers or something?" Yerk is a Seko slur for something very inappropriate.
"They're definitely something to me," she whispers, she walks between B'av and her friends. "Guys, it's fine I can handle this."
Shiro stands over B'av glaring down.
"I suggest you walk away right now," he says.
B'av exhales a laugh, "Or?"
"Or we'll wipe that smirk off your face?" Keith threatens.
"Keith," Shiro warns, "We can settle this without violence." Shiro glances back at B'av, "Just as long as this young man understands when boundaries are crossed."
"Boundaries?" B'av scoffs, "What boundaries?"
"When someone tells you to back off?" Lance says, "You back off."
"We were just having a conversation before we were so rudely interrupted," B'av smirks.
"If a conversation ends with grabbing." Hunk says, "Then that's not a conversation. That's assault."
"Yeah," Lance agrees, "think about that the next time you put your-" he studies B'av's monkey hands and feet, "-paws on anyone."
"Especially on our friend," Keith adds.
"Hobbstench!" B'av scoffs.
"And I thought 'quiznak' was a weird curse word." Hunk mutters.
"Guys, drop it okay?" Pidge interferes, "Let's just leave."
The paladins look at her then back at B'av. They don't argue with her and walk away. B'av scoffs again.
"Whatever!" He shouts, "Your loss, babe."
All she can see is red, her fists clench. She whips around and punches B'av square in the nose. He falls to the ground holding his bleeding nose.
"Don't call me babe," she growls. B'av scurries away. Pidge finally turns and walks away. The Lance, Hunk, and Keth watch her go with wide eyes and hanging jaws. Shiro just had the look of disappointment.
The Paladins fly in their lions on their way back to the Castle.
"That was a great punch, Pidge." Lance compliments.
"Aw man, the look on that guy's face was priceless." Hunk laughs, "I don't normally condone to physical violence but when it comes to my friends I turn the other cheek and I'm pretty sure that guy deserved it."
"Guys, I appreciate it but I just wanna forget about it." Pidge sighs.
"Come on, Pidge." Keith says, "If you didn't punch that guy I would've."
"No one should have punched anyone," Shiro booms, "Pidge that was incredibly unreasonable."
"Oh lighten up, Shiro." Lance complains, "The guy totally deserved it."
"We're supposed to protect innocent lives from the Galra not from us," Shiro argues.
"What, he was clearly harassing her," Keith says.
"That's not fair." Hunk complains.
"Innocent my butt, I doubt that guy had a license to sell anything," Lance mutters.
As the boy argue, Pidge chest hurts with anger. Even though three of the boys were supportive they didn't understand her motives.
"I'm sure Pidge felt annoyed by him but we had the situation under control before she used force, he could have unlearned that behavior if we just talked to him-"
"You guys have no idea what I'm feeling!" She yells. "You don't know what I go through or what other girls go through every day! It's boys like him who's so entitled that they can't unlearn their behavior and it's guys like you, Shiro, for letting them get away with it!"
All the boys fall silent. Shiro felt guilty for being so ignorant.
"Then educate us." Shiro says, "We might unlearn a few things-I might unlearn a few things."
Pidge sighs, "You guys are right, I was uncomfortable. And I tried to be polite, I did. But... I'm just so tired of having guys talk down on me like that. Like I'm not a person to them I'm just... I'm just a body to look at."
All of the boy's hearts sink. Shiro's shoulders drop and anger boils in him. He couldn't imagine someone talking down at her like that. He couldn't even fathom being a part of the problem.
"Wow, Pidge I had no idea you dealt with that on a regular basis." Lance frowns, "I'm so sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Pidge raises an eyebrow.
"I flirt all the time and I never thought anything of it. I never considered their feelings."
"That's why I snapped." she continues, "I could have ignored him but what good does that do me? I've dealt with it since I was twelve. I cut my hair and disgusted myself as a boy but they still see me as a girl. This kind of harassment needs to stop. I'm not proud of what I did but I had to do something to defend myself. I'm sorry Shiro, I should have reacted differently."
Shiro sighs, "It... wasn't acceptable for you to assault him. But I do understand where the anger and the oppression came from. And I'd be a hypocrite saying 'violence isn't the answer' when we're at war with the Galra Empire. But I will say this, 'we got your back.' I apologize for being insensitive."
"I don't need you guys to helicopter me." Pidge rolls her eyes.
"Pidge, as far as we're concerned you can definitely handle yourself." Keith replies.
"We just want you to know," Hunk adds, "that you're not alone."
"And the next 'Yerk' tries to hit on you again," Lance promises, "we'll be there to tell him to back off in a heartbeat."
"What Lance means is," Shiro says, "if you ever in a situation where someone is making you uncomfortable, do not hesitate to contact us."
Pidge is overwhelmed by the amount of active support the boys were depicting. She almost started to cry. She clears her throat.
"Thanks, guys. You really are... something." And to Pidge, maybe even more than that.

Chapter Text

Title: Ice Trap

Pairings: Keith x Pidge x Lance

Genre: Angst, suspense.

Goal: Character development, relationship development

Season: Season three (after episode 3. Shiro is missing and Allura pilots the Blue Lion).

Words: 1,908

The freezing air of Glaice, figuratively, cuts through the armor of the Paladins of Voltron as they hike up the mountain. Hunk complains about the cold while Lance and Pidge argue the correct pronunciation of the planet's name.

"It's Glay-sh-ee, not Glase." Pidge says, "It comes from the native word glacies which literally means ice."

"Oh, like who's gonna care how it's pronounced?" Lance rolls his eyes.

"The indigenous citizens who live here." Keith reminds, "That you just offend with your lazy pronunciation."

"Oh..." Lance falls silent. "So much for first impressions."

"I still d-d-don't understand why we c-couldn't just fly our Lions up to the mountain." Hunk shivers.

"Because the loud frequencies of our machines could erupt an avalanche," Allura explains.

"Okay, but isn't our armor supposed to m-maintain our body heat?" Lance asks, feeling the ice in his toes.

"The density of the air is weighing down on us," Pidge explains, looking at her screen projecting from her arm, "Our suits are doing so much already." ice cycles form in her hair, "Come on, the distress signal is getting closer."

The paladins shiver in their armor. Some of the snow banks were deeper than anticipated so Pidge sunk to her hips in snow. Hunk lifts her up. As Lance walks next to Keith she slides down the slope but Keith catches his arm and pulls him up.

"How do we know if this distress signal is legit and not a trap?" Lance grunts.

Keith understands the conditions the paladins are in so turns around to meet their faces and speak with a firm but reasonable tone.

"Listen, guys, I know it's below freezing but what if Shiro is up in that mountain trying to contact us. We cannot ignore that possibility."

The paladins nod in agreement though all of fear their safety in the harsh climate. Keith did as well.

"There's a cave up ahead," Pidge calls, "The signal is coming from there."

The team climbs through the thick blanket of snow. Nearly slipping off the hill. They finally arrive at the cave which is suspiciously quiet. Lance and Keith travel in front of the group. Allura and Pidge in the middle and Hunk hanging in the back. The cave felt more chilling than the outside. But not because it's cold.

No sounds echo the walls and there wasn't a sight of life. Surely, if someone (such as Shiro) was truly trapped, they would have built a fire to keep them warm.

"Guys," Hunk whispers, "I got a bad feeling about this."

"The distress signal is getting weaker." Pidge acknowledges, "I don't understand. It's like we just past them."

"It's gotta be here." Keith whispers softly so none of the others could hear him, "Shiro where are you?"

What the Paladins don't know is that there is a trigger that will detonate a bomb inside that cave.

And Lance just unknowingly step on that trigger.

Pidge stares at the screen, where she was tracking the distress signal. The signal disappears and their location on the screen blooms with red dots like Christmas lights.

"I'm picking up a lot of radioactivity all around us," Pidge says, perplexes.

Keith turns around, "What does that mean?"

Hair stands in the back of her neck.

"It's a bomb!" She screams.

"We've been set up!" Allura shouts. They all ran as the cave rumbles, causing the mountain to tremor. The paladins jump off the platform just in time as the cave explodes in fire and smoke. The explosion causes an avalanche and the team tumbles down the hill. The snow cushions fall after fall, however many of them were buried within the icy blankets.

Keith's head collides with exposed rock. His helmet did protect the most vital part of his skull but disconnect the heating mechanism of his suit. He becomes unconscious due to impact.

Keith's awakes freezing cold and digs himself out of the snow mound. He groans due to the pain in his head. Then he looks around for any signs of the other paladins. He stands from the bank and calls out for them.

"P-P-Paladins come in." he calls, "P-Paladins where are you?" The communication system is offline.

Afar he spots a blue armored hand waving, poking out of a pile of thick snow. Keith rushes to aid. He grabs onto the hand and pulls upward. Lance rises from the snow mound.

"You alright?" Keith asks.

"F-freezing my butt off," Lance grumbles.

"Let's just find the others and get out of here before we die of hypothermia," Keith replies.

"Allura!" Lance calls out.

"Anyone? Hunk? Pidge?" Keith yells.

"Over here!" Allura calls. Her body is half buried in snow.

Lance rushes to her and pulls her out of the snow. Keith turns around and spots Hunk's legs kicking in the air as the other half of his body is trapped in the snow pile.

"I got ya, big guy," Keith says, he pulls on Hunk's foot with his might but the cold made him weaker. Lance runs over and pulls Hunk's other leg. The two boys successfully pull him out.

Hunk inhales deeply, "Guys, our suits can no longer handle this cold."

"Our statuses are extremely low." Allura says, "And our communication is offline."

"Alright, but we're still one short a paladin. Everyone spread out and find Pidge." Keith orders.

They all nod and search within the snowy glade, calling for Pidge. Hunk dug in snow dunes hoping she would've been submerged under. Lance tried to get his communication device to work by smacking his helmet. Keith's muscles are becoming weaker as he walks through the three feet of snow. In a short distance, Allura heard a small voice. She climbs over a small icy hill and finds Pidge stranded in the middle of a frozen lake.

"I found her!" Allura calls for the others, she looks back at Pidge and realizes that there were ice cracks under her feet. "Hurry!" She watches as Pidge struggles walking on the slippery ground.

The rest of the boys meet with Allura at the top of the hill.

"Allura what is-" Keith pauses. All of their stomachs drop.

"Guys," Pidge says, her voice trembles, "A little help here." The cracks continue to spread lightly.

"Pidge, just walk slowly towards us," Keith advise.

She inches a few steps forward, growing anxious of the inevitable. Then the ice crackle underneath her boots like the sound of rubbing plastic.

"You can do it Pidge!" Hunk encourages her.

"You're gonna be fine just keep going," Keith yells. Despite the cold, she sweats underneath her armor. The adrenaline within the Paladins also kept them all warm. She glances her feet and analyzes her steps.

Do you know the reason why they tell you to not look down especially if your climbing something really high? Well, you get dizzy. You get too nervous and fall, and you immediately lose your balance because of the way your head tilts. But Pidge wasn't at a high distance, though when she saw the ice crack underneath her feet; she felt sick to her stomach.

"Pidge, don't look at the ground!" Keith orders, Pidge eyes shot back up at her leader, "Just look at me, okay? Just keep your eyes on me."

She moves her other leg forward. With that step, her foot slides forward. She jerks her body around and waves her arms in circles to gain her balance again. When she collects herself, she is motionless.

"Come on, Pidge," Lance calls, worry invades his voice, "You're almost there."

"Please, keep going, Pidge," Allura calls but her tone was more of a beg.

"Come on, pal, you're halfway there!" Hunk encourages.

The voices of her friends are muffled by her increasing heart rate. Pidge tells her trembling body to move but she's paralyzed with fear.

"Keith... Keith, what are you doing?" Lance orders.

"This is incredibly dangerous," Allura yells.

"Dude, get back here!" Hunk worries.

Pidge looks up to see Keith walking towards her on the ice. She steps towards him.

"Just walk towards me okay? I got you." Keith calms, though she can see the anxiety in his eyes. Pidge finds the energy to keep walking a couple of steps. The ice crinkle with every step. They were four and a half feet apart and Keith outstretches his hand as Pidge reaches for it.

With a loud crack, the ice began to break completely underneath them. Keith grabs Pidge's wrist and throws her out of the area. She slides on her feet and lands in Allura's arms. Keith falls into the water and is swept under the freezing current.

"Keith!" Lance yells. He runs after him.

"Lance no!" Allura cries.

"What the heck, dude!" Hunk yells. Lance ignores all the paladins' orders and skirts through the ice back to the ice opening. He circles the frozen lake ignoring the risk of falling in as well.

"Keith?" Lance calls, "Don't worry, I'm coming buddy!" Lance looks down, Keith's face appears through the transparent barrier.

Lance gasps, "Keith!" He steps back a foot and a half. His bayard transforms into an Altean Broadsword. A weapon he barely uses, until this day. Lance stabs the ice barrier to break it apart causing another opening. Lance sinks his arm into the cold water and reaches for Keith. He pulls him out and drags him back to land. The paladins rush to their fallen leader. The first thing Lance did was to remove Keith's helmet as it was submerged with water. Keith's lips are blue and his skin is grey.

"Keith!" Lance calls, shaking him, but his leader remains unresponsive, "Come on!" he yells.

Pidge clenches Allura's arm with a lump in her throat. Allura's heart is breaking at the sight of Lance scared for the first time. Hunk balls his hair in his fists, angry at himself for being so hopeless. As tears fill the other Paladins eyes. Lance is filled with rage.

"Don't you dare," Lance whispers, "Don't you dare die on us... I can't- I can't do this without-"

Keith coughs up water and all the paladins sigh in relief. Lance exhales out a nervous laugh.

"You're okay," Pidge exclaims, relaxing her grip.

"Barely," Keith responds, roughly.

"Oh my gosh," Hunk exhales, "That was emotionally, physically, and mentally intense."

"Ten minutes underwater and your muscles would have been frozen solid." Allura acknowledges, "Thank goodness, Lance saved you in time."

Keith glances at Lance, perplexed but overwhelmed, "Thank you, Lance. My heating system is broken so I would have been a goner."

"I'm glad you're alright, Mullet." Lance teases, but he meant it with all of his heart, "We can't lose two leaders already."

Keith looks at Lance then laughs nervously.

"Yeah, we sure can't have that."

Lance and Hunk carry Keith by the arms as they all head back to their lions. Though everything turned out alright in the end, the adrenaline aftershock left them uneasy on the way that they could have lost a paladin today. They almost lost another leader. There is a guarantee that a situation like that will happen again, but they won't be so lucky. Then who would be the next lead the team? With that thought, Lance's shoulders grew heavier.

Chapter Text

Title: Right Hand Man

Pairing: Keith x Lance

Genre: serious, slight comedy

Goal: Character development, relationship development, emotional depth.

Season: Season three (after episode 3. Shiro is missing and Allura pilots the Blue Lion).

Words: 1,203

It's been three days since the events of Glacie took place and Lance has been restless ever since. There was something aching in his mind and he needed to ease it and the only way to do it is to talk to Keith. He searches for a way to express his thoughts by writing notes for his argument. However, he threw most of them away.

But it seems like no matter what he rehearses. He knows Keith more than anyone in the Castle of Lions. Keith would be too stubborn to listen to him.

But he made the decision to confront him anyway. And as he stands in front of the foot of Keith's personal quarters he hesitates to knock. He wishes Shiro to be here. But that was part of the reason why Lance is at Keith's door, to begin with.

Here goes nothing. Lance thinks and knocks. The door slides open and Keith's face is perplexed to see Lance there.

"Lance," Keith says, "Is something wrong?"

"Um...well." He rubs the back of his neck and avoids eye contact. "Yeah, there is. I need to talk to you about something... It's about what happened in Glacie-" he sighs, "That was really stupid what you did."

Keith rolls his eyes and reaches to push the button to close the door.

"Wait, wait wait-ow!' Lance stood between the opening to stop it from closing. His body squishes between the door and its jam. "Will you just listen to me?"

"Lance, I am not in the mood for a lecture." Keith keeps pressing the button but the door keeps bumping Lance's head over and over.

"Ow..ow..ow!" Lance whines.

Keith groans and pulls Lance into his bedroom.

"Come on!" Lance demands, "I'm your right hand man, right? I at least get an opinion about your leadership."

"You've announced plenty of opinions." Keith mutters, "And never once did I ask." he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Okay, just hear me out this one time and I'll keep my mouth shut forever," Lance promises. Keith side-eyes him, interested.

"Alright fine, shoot." Keith shrugs.

Lance pauses, "Really? I actually expected you to be a little more stubborn... I didn't think I'd get this far... Hold on." He pulls a yellow page notepad from his pocket, "I jogged down some notes but I didn't rehearse." he mutters. He flips through the pages.

Keith sighs and leans against the wall and watches Lance flip through the yellow pages.

"Okay, I have it," Lance announces. He clears his throat, "Reasons Why Keith's Sacrifice Was Really Stupid."

"Ugh." Keith groans.

"Reason número uno: It was extremely dangerous and you could have- I don't know -died! And that's reason number two: We could have easily lost two paladins that day-"

"Oh, so I was supposed to let Pidge drown?" Keith argues, relaxing his arms. "So you're saying you would rather lose one friend than two?"

Lance's face turns red from shock, "I am not saying that at all! I cannot believe you would assume I'd think that!"

Keith's never seen Lance this angry at him. It made his heart sink.

"I'm- I'm really sorry." He says, "Go on."

Lance breathes and looks back at his notes, "3. Next time- and there will be a 'next time', it's in the job description- we won't be so lucky. 4. With Shiro gone we cannot lose another leader" he looks away from his notes and started speaking from his heart, "I mean we were grateful enough to have Allura fly Blue- But who will lead us if..." Lance trails off and clears his throat to avoid crying.

"Allura," Keith says without hesitation.

"Wait, what?" Lance perplexe.

"Allura has leader experience by keeping us all in line when she piloted the Castle of Lions. She makes better decisions than I do, no doubt about that. And she's improved a lot from flying Blue."

"Oh..." Lance's voice falters, "I just thought that... You would um... appoint me as the next leader of Voltron."

"Lance," Keith puts a hand on Lance's shoulder, "I would never put you through that kind of stress. I know Allura can do it because she can handle that kind of adjustment. Hey, I'll admit it took some time getting used to this leader stuff. You are perfect where you are now. Being a right hand man." Keith drops his hand.

Lance lets out a dramatic exhale. "Oh boy what a relief. You have no idea how anxiety ridden I was the past three days. I lost sleep from that-"

"Okay, okay," Keith interrupts. "I get you don't want to be the leader but you've got to stop doubting yourself. Seriously, even though you drive me crazy most of the time, you are still a valuable member of the team. You represent everyone on the team, you negotiate what's right and wrong due to your flexible morals, and on top of that you call out anyone who's out of line... When I'm out of line. That's what makes you competent as the Paladin of the Red Lion."

Lance shoves his hands in his pockets and avoids eye contact again.

"Well, I uh-" he stumbles, "That means a lot. Especially coming from you. The guy whose I always butt heads with."

Keith smiles, "And I meant it."

Lance sighs, "Listen, I do understand that you're doing your best. And I know you and Shiro have different leading styles," Lance lectures, "But please... make better decisions. I very much appreciate that you were able to save Pidge. We all are. But... not all sacrifices are selfless."

Keith looks at the ground letting Lance's words digest.

"And if one of us is in danger then we'll all help." Lance continues, "Like what we could have done back at Glacie was to form a chain of us. Arm to arm." Lance demonstrates, "That way we could have retrieved back Pidge to safety and if something goes wrong-" Lance pauses, "It's either all of us or none of us."

Keith was about to disagree but he thought about it. Without one paladin they couldn't form Voltron. Without all the paladins there will still be no Voltron. It was a lose-lose situation. He didn't like the probability but it's not like they have a choice. All they could do was to survive any dire situation they encounter.

Easier said than done. He thinks.

"I'll take that opinion into consideration," Keith says. "And in the future, I would like to hear more of what you have to say... But as long as they're reasonable."

"Much obliged." Lance nods, acting sophisticated as a joke. "Hasta luego, Mullet."

Lance heads out the door. Keith presses the button to close the door, but Lance stops it with his hand.

"By the way, if you ever pull that stunt again? When I die I'm going to kick your butt for all eternity in the afterlife." he threatens.

"Noted." Keith cracks another smile.

"And that's not a threat, that's a curse."'

"Whatever." Keith closes, closing the door.

"It is destined!" Lance teases.

"Goodbye, Lance!"

"You will never get rid of me even when we're ghosts."

"Leave me alone!"

Lance laughs at Keith's frustration and finally walks away. With a sudden weight being lifted from his shoulders for now.

Chapter Text

Title: Brat
Pairing: Keith & Pidge
Genre: angst,
Goal: Character development, relationship development. External conflict. Learning forgivness.
Season: Season three (Shiro is missing and Allura pilots the Blue Lion).
Words: 1596
Thanks to Pidge’s tracker that Keith had implanted on Lotor’s ship. The team can follow Lotor and finally capture him. They were getting closer when they arrive in the endless celestial planes.
“Guys, are we almost there? I don’t see him.” Hunk says, “This place is giving me highway hypnosis.
“Highway hypnosis?” Allura asks, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a saying... Back at Earth, we don’t drive robotic lions or Space Castles.” Hunk happily explains, “We drive something a lot smaller - called cars- and if you stare at the road too long you get- like- super tired and-”
“Hunk, is this an important conversation right now?” Keith asks, “Because we need to stay focused.”
“All I’m saying is I’m bored.” Hunk complains.
“The tracker is easily sensitive.” Pidge explains, “If we don’t keep moving then we’ll lose the signal.”
“We finally have Lotor in our radar,” Allura mentions, “We cannot lose our chance.”
Suddenly Pidge got a beeper on her scanners. Her eyes glance at it and gasps. Something she finally been looking for for a long time.
“Oh my gosh,” She exclaims, stopping her lion. The other paladins stop abruptly.
“What, did you find him?” Keith asks.
“No, I’ve been tracking my brother and I found out he’s in the planet Ariane. He’s there!"
“Oh my gosh really,” Hunk excites with her.
“Keith can we, please, delay the mission to get there?” Pidge beg.
“No,” Keith says, with no hesitation. The word crushes Pidge’s heart.
“Wh-wh- Why not?” She demands.
“We’re too close to abandoned the mission.” He replies, "You said it yourself if we stop we'll lose the signal."
“I’m too close,” Pidge argues, “Keith, please.”
“I agree with Keith on this one,” Allura testifies, “We cannot afford to get side-tracked right now."

“I’m sorry Pidge,” Keith says, though there is no sympathy in his tone.
The team falls silent during the tension.
“We could...” Lance suggests, “We could split up?” there is a hint of quietness in his voice. Almost like he didn’t want his opinion to be heard this time.
“Oh, so now you want us to split up?” Keith asks, sarcastically.
“I’m just trying to compromise for the team.” Lance shrugs.
“We’ll come back to Oraine after we find Lotor.” Keith finalizes, “Right now, we have bigger priorities.”
Pidge clenches the handle accelerators. She shifts them to the left and turns her lion around towards the direction of that planet.
“Pidge, what are you doing?” Keith demands. But she ignores him, so he flies his lion directly in front of her, stopping her tracks.
“Get out of my way, Keith.” Pidge orders.
“We have to stick together.” Keith orders.
“Oh how rich,” Pidge scoffs, “Where was that when we were back at that storm planet?”
Keith inhales sharply, “That was different.”
“Right, because it was for your benefit.” She rolls her eyes.
“We can’t lose him again, Pidge.” Keith yells, “This is not up for debate-”
“If it was Shiro back there, you wouldn’t hesitate to turn back.”
The paladins fear the tension escalating. All of them internalize how to break up the fight.
Keith stammers with his words, “Y-y-your wasting a lot of time, right now!”
“Or back a Glacie?” Pidge interrogates, “The risks sure didn’t stop you.” Lance quickly flies his lion towards the feuding paladins
“Pidge,” he warns, “knock it off before you say anything you don’t mean.”
“‘You’re not the only one with a family,’” she mocks in Keith’s gruff monotone voice, “Well, clearly only yours matters.”
“Pidge,” Lance snips, “Knock it off, right now.”
"And clearly none of the other paladins matter except Shiro."
Keith snaps and shoots her lion with Black's tail blaster. She flies backward into space. The team gasps.
“What the heck, Keith!” Hunk yells.
“What is wrong with you” Allura lectures.
Keith realizes what he did and feels remorseful.
“Pidge, I’m- I’m so sorry.” he stumbles, “I was mad and I didn’t mean-”
Pidge shot Keith’s lion with her tail blaster.
“Sorry,” Pidge says, deadpan, “My hand slipped.”
Hunk quickly interviews, “Come on guys we’ve said some things we don’t mean, press a few buttons, and got a little physical-” his voice trails off, “Anyways can we just forgive and forget?”
“Shut up, Hunk,” Keith yells.
“Don’t you talk to him like that!” Pidge orders.
“Then let’s settle this once and for all.” The Black lion readies himself a battle stance. The Green lion circles the Black lion.
“Alright let's go, I’m 4’9 but I’ll still kick your butt.” Pidge threatens.
“Bring it on, brat!” Keith shoots his tail blaster but Green doges. She jumps onto the Black lion and her jaw gnaws on his head. Black kicks Green off of him and blasts at her with his mouth cannon. But Green doges again and jumps onto Black’s back again.
Red crashes the two lions to separate them.
“Knock it off right now!” Lance shouts at the two. Blue flies next to him.
“Since you both wasted so much time fighting,” Allura adds, “We lost the signal.”
“But-” Pidge and Keith protest in unison.
“I don’t want to hear it!” Lance denies. He turns to Pidge, “Are you even positive that Matt is on that planet?”
“Yes!” Pidge says.
“Are you sure?” Lance doubts.
Pidge hesitates to answer, “No, but what if-”
“‘Oh but what if he’s there?’” Lance mocks, “Heard that one before and it nearly got us all killed. Do you really wanna risk that for the team?”
Pidge sulks afraid to answer. Lance turns to Keith.
“And you, I know I promised to keep my opinions about your leadership to myself but when it comes to harming one of the teammates that’s where I draw the line. You need to control your temper.”
Keith doesn’t even attempt to defend himself. He just hangs his head in shame.
“We’ll find Lotor in another time,” Lance finalizes, “when we all start acting like a team again.”
Keith leads the team forward back at the Castle of Lions whereas Pidge flies glumly behind them.
Keith walks around the Castle looking for Pidge. He doesn’t have an apology planned but he figured he can speak from the heart. He does find her in the technology bridge which her nose deep into her screen. As he approaches her she doesn’t look up at him.
Keith clears his throat, “Pidge, I-” he pauses searching for a sincere approach. He sighs, “Listen, I know I’m the last person you wanna speak to.”
She continues typing on the computer.
“I just want you to know that I’m really, really, really sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. And you don’t have to forgive me... like ever. I don’t care if you hate me for the rest of your life. I just hope you know how sorry I am for snapping at you. It was never my intention to hurt you and I guess my temper has gotten the worst in me and I promise-” Keith looks at her screen. He notices that all was opened was a plain document and keyboard spasms.
“Have you- have you just been typing nonsense to avoid talking to me?” Keith says.
Pidge stops typing and her shoulders drop. Tears drop down from her cheeks.
“Woah, Woah, Woah,” Keith sits on her desk to face her, “What’s the matter.”
“I was wrong.” She sniffles.
“A-about what?”
“About my brother in Ariane.” She says, “He wasn’t there but his tracer was.”
“Tracker?” Keith asks.
“The Galra implants tracking devices when they take prisoners, just in case they escape. I managed to hack into the security cameras at Ariane and located his tracker... He was nowhere in sight.”
Keith’s eyes widened with an idea, “Could we track Shiro’s-”
“Don’t you think that was the first thing I tried?” Pidge snaps. She then sighs. “I”m sorry its- I know you want to find Shiro, I want to find him too. But I felt like you were being insensitive to my motives."
"I'm so sorry, Pidge. I should have understood that."
“And I really am sorry for the things I said.” Pidge eyes were genuine. “I just wanted to make you mad because you made me mad.”
There is silence in the room until Keith bursts out laughing.
“What?” Pidge demands.
“Are you, actually, 4’9?” He asks, chuckling.
“Yeah, so?” She crosses her arms.
Kieth doesn’t answer and kept giggling, “‘I’m 4’9 but I’ll still kick your butt.’ That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
As much as she tries to restrain it, she cracks a smile and bursts with laughter. Her shoulders bounce up and down. The laughter died and Pidge looks up at Keith.
“I’m sorry for sabotaging the mission,” she says.
Keith shrugs, “To be honest, neither of us are perfect. I would probably have done the same thing. We make mistakes, we hurt people, and we can’t change what happened. And the best we could do is learn from our mistakes, communicate, and better ourselves.”
“That’s some good leading there.” Pidge compliments.
Keith sulks, “I’m sorry for calling you a brat.”
“And I’m sorry for acting like one.”
Keith and Pidge smile genuinely at each other while Lance watches them from a distance, smirking. Allura walks next to him and watches them as well.
“It’s good that Pidge and Keith are friends again.” She sighs in relief.
“Yeah,” Lance agrees, “As the old proverb says, ‘a man can be driven into anything if an Earth boy from Cuba is just really, really mean to them.”
Allura side-eyes Lance in annoyance.