Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Consciousness came back to him with a jolt.

Groaning, Keith placed a hand on his head. The helmets that Allura had given them as part of their paladin armor were incredibly sturdy, and he'd never been more grateful. Getting shot out of the corrupted wormhole hadn't managed to knock him out, but the way his head had slammed back against his seat definitely had.

If he wasn't so sturdy, he might be worried about having a concussion.

Slowly cracking his eyes open, he took in his surroundings. The interior of the red lion was still dark, and an attempt to maneuver its controls proved fruitless. It wasn't hard to guess that it was still drained after his fight with Zarkon.

Which... definitely was a thing that he did.

(In his defense, it had been their best option at the time.)

"Okay girl," he sighed, "-you rest up. I'll just... figure out what to do about my other problem."

With a huff, he hauled himself to his feet. All things considered, he was virtually unscathed, save for the definite headache he was developing. Considering he'd gone straight from fighting a druid to fighting the leader of the Galra Empire himself, he'd say he was doing pretty well for himself, actually.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to say the same if he wasn't stuck in Galra form.

Hence his other problem.

Pulling off his helmet, Keith shook out his hair. His ears were grateful for the release, popping right up. His helmet did shift to accommodate them whenever he changed between forms, but it could still feel a little cramped in there. He was sure that he could maybe have it altered to allow for even more freedom for his ears, but that... wasn't exactly a real option. That would involve asking Coran, and that would involve telling the Altean he was Galra.

Or well. Part Galra, anyways.

If his helmet didn't have a tinted enclosed mode, he'd never risk switching between forms to begin with. He was more than happy to take the secret to his grave, which was probably where Allura would put him if she found out that he'd been lying to them all this time. Not that he could blame her- he'd have a pretty rough time trusting himself too, if his entire people had been wiped out by the Galra.

They were kind of alike, in that respect.

And that was to say nothing of the others.

Shiro had suffered so much at the hands of the Galra. They'd took his arm, forced him to fight for their entertainment in the arena. They'd taken away half of Pidge's family. They'd all seen firsthand the devastation that the Empire had wrought on the Balmera- it had nearly died, taking its entire population with it. No one had been more affected by it than Hunk, though, who he knew still regularly messaged Shay.

The only one who hadn't really been directly impacted by the Galra was Lance. But well- he was Lance- they weren't exactly on the best of terms, even if he never quite knew what his problem with him was. Something about a rivalry?

He was pretty sure he'd remember a rivalry.

(Why did it feel like Adam was laughing at him.)

Anyways, suffice to say, he'd kept his mouth shut about being part Galra. It was easy enough to stay in human form, only switching when he was hidden behind his armor- made a lot of battles a lot easier- or behind a locked door.

Which in this case, meant the red lion.

"I'm gonna go check things out, girl." Keith said, lightly brushing a hand against the pilot's seat. He couldn't feel her at the moment, but he knew she was just resting.

Using the lion's emergency power, he opened the hatch in the cockpit, hauling himself outside. He'd landed in what looked to be some kind of forest, but he was pretty sure he'd seen some signs of civilization on the way down. That was both good news and bad news- good news, because it meant he had another way off this rock, and bad news, because they might have seen the crash.

His coms seemed to be down, but the rest of his armor seemed to be mostly working. Bringing up its internal star map, he squinted at the readout. His mom had left behind a lot of maps of the Empire, and based on what he recalled, he didn't think this was a Galra occupied planet? Granted, those records were all at least twenty years out of date, but for now he'd just stick with the theory that they hadn't conquered this section of space just yet.

His suit's internal clock told him he'd been out for at least an hour.

It was night on the planet he'd landed on... or maybe this planet just never experienced daylight. Either way, the forest was pitch black- it would have given him trouble if he'd been human, but well... yeah. Not an issue right now. He could see just fine.

Humming in thought, he glanced up towards the trees. Guess it wouldn't hurt to check things out.

He made a running leap, grabbing the nearest tree branch and hauling himself up on it. It held steady underneath his weight, and he quickly climbed until he was at the top. Hauling himself above the treeline, he scanned the surrounding area, easily able to make out what looked to be some kind of city that was maybe about a two hour hike away.

Okay. So he hadn't imagined that. Good to know.

Still, if they were advanced enough to have some form of electrical lighting, it was pretty safe to say that they'd be here by now if they'd noticed the red lion. Guess he'd gotten lucky.

He doubted it would hold out.

Climbing down, he jumped back onto his lion, heading back in through the cockpit hatch. Something told him she'd be out for awhile, which meant it would likely be awhile before the Castle picked up on his location.

Great. That gave him plenty of time to figure this out.

This being the fact that he couldn't change back.

It had started, he thought, with the fight with the druid. He didn't think the druid was responsible for this- it wasn't like they could sense he was Galra, and trap him in one form. At least... he was pretty sure they couldn't. No, if anything was at fault for this, it was the quintessence. He'd been thrown into like, two vats of the stuff. It would be weirder if it didn't have some kind of effect on him.

Okay, so maybe actually the one really at fault here was him. He didn't have to shift forms before fighting the druid- it just seemed his best option when it came to not dying. He'd heard about them from his dad, who'd heard about them from his mom- Galra magic users who could do things like teleport and hurl lightning. Dreaded all throughout the Empire. Servants of Haggar.

Guess all the stories were true.

All he knew was that he hadn't been able to shift back into a human after the green lion rescued him. He'd tried- had kept trying right up until they'd had to throw themselves into a firefight against Central Command. It just... hadn't worked.

(At least he'd managed to excuse keeping his faceplate tinted by claiming his helmet had malfunctioned because of his fight with the druid. With everyone so distracted by Allura's capture, nobody had really pressed him about it.)

Still, he hadn't tried it since then, so maybe...

Closing his eyes, Keith tried to focus. It was usually so easy- like flipping a switch. But now he just... couldn't.

Exhaling, he opened his eyes. He had a feeling that wouldn't work.

This was bad. This was really fucking bad.

If he couldn't figure out a way to turn human again, he couldn't go back to the Castle. He couldn't just wear his armor with the faceplate tinted forever. It wouldn't work. And if he couldn't go back to the Castle, then he couldn't be a paladin anymore either. But the universe needed Voltron. He'd been raised on the legends, had grown up in the shadow of the blue lion, but nothing proved that more true than actually being up here.

He'd seen what the Empire had done to the Balmera too.

Placing a hand on the pilot's seat, Keith narrowed his eyes. The red lion would probably be down for another day, at the very least. That meant he had at least a little while to fix this problem. But if he couldn't...

...he'd have to send the red lion back without him.

He didn't have any other choice. He couldn't go back with the face of the enemy, and tell them that he'd been lying to them this whole time. They'd never trust him again.

And trust was essential for Voltron.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. How many times had he heard his old man tell him that? He could almost hear him say it in his head.

So that's what he'd do- he'd hope for the best. He'd hope that between now and when the red lion regained power, he'd be able to figure out how to return to human form. But he'd also prepare for the worst, and make a plan for if that didn't happen.

At least, he thought, he'd landed on an inhabited planet.

(He wondered if everyone else was okay.)

The first thing he was going to need was a change of clothes.

His paladin armor might protect him equally from laser fire and the vacuum of space, but it didn't exactly do much to help him blend in. Besides, if he was leaving Voltron, then they would probably need it for whoever his successor was. He couldn't keep it.

He kind of wished he'd had the forethought to stow a change of clothes into the red lion, but he hadn't exactly predicted this scenario. He was just grateful he had the foresight to carry his mother's blade with him wherever he went, tucked into a crevice of his armor. He'd... probably also need a new sheath for it, since that was also back at the Castle, but one thing at a time.

He waited around for another two hours, just to see if anyone would show up. Then he stripped down to the undersuit of his armor, and made his way towards the town.

Up close, he could tell it was a space port of some kind, which was great news. If he was going to get off this planet, then he'd need a ship. Finding one he could... borrow in a space port was much easier than finding one anywhere else. Whatever bad luck he'd had to run into that druid, it kind of seemed like the universe was trying to make up for it.

Fine by him.

Sticking to the outskirts of the city, he found what looked to be a clothing shop of some kind. After checking to make sure no one was around, he used one of his claws to jimmy open the lock on the back door, quietly slipping inside. In the back of his mind, he could already hear Shiro chiding him, but he brushed it aside.

It was fine. He'd only take what he needed.

It was easy enough to find a pair of what looked to be black work pants in his size. The sleeveless black high neck shirt was a little too long on him, but it would have to do. He struck out on footwear- whatever it was that lived on this planet didn't seem like they had clawed feet. Guess he'd just have to go barefoot for awhile.

He grabbed a belt on the way out, a dark gray one that reminded him a bit of his own, with pouches on its sides. He scanned the store one last time before quietly making his way out, shutting the door behind him. He'd change once he got back to the red lion.

He didn't see a jacket he liked. Shame. He'd really liked the one he'd left back at the Castle. He guessed he'd just have to keep an eye out for another one- maybe this time with a hood. He wasn't exactly unrecognizable in this form.

The red lion was still offline when he returned, but he kind of expected that. Climbing back into the cockpit through the hatch, he wasted no time in changing out of his undersuit and into his newly acquired clothing. Folding up the undersuit, he placed it alongside his discarded outer armor, ready for whoever it was that would wear it next.

He had a feeling it wouldn't be him.

Dawn broke, and the red lion was still offline.

He'd barely slept. Nightmares haunted him, though he barely remembered them when he woke. Yawning, he scrounged through the box of rations that he'd squirreled away onto Red after they'd freed the Balmera. They'd been happy to share some resources with them, and given that nobody but Hunk seemed to be interested in the cave bug jerky, he'd taken a box of it for himself.

Idly munching on it, he tried to change back. It worked about as well as it had yesterday, leaving him with the sinking feeling this might be permanent.

Yeah. He wasn't that lucky.

Swallowing his last bite of jerky, he climbed out of the red lion. He kept his ears perked for the sound of anyone nearby, but he only picked up on animal noises. He hadn't seen anything in the area but animal tracks last night, so maybe nobody really came out this way much.

Worked for him.

"Okay girl," Keith said, lightly brushing her head, "-I'm gonna go check out town again. See if I can rustle up some more information. I'll be back."

The red lion didn't reply, but he didn't exactly expect her to.

Carefully making his way back towards the town, he didn't go in immediately. Instead he watched the place from a tree, trying to get a lay of the land. The town was arranged in an almost crescent shape, with the actual port area being at the farthest end from where he was. It looked like the section closest to him was shops and houses meant for people who actually lived here, and the section closer to the port was meant for those in a more transient state.

It didn't look like there were many Galra here.

No surprise there. Most Galra were either with the Empire, or with the Blade of Marmora. His mother had once told his dad that there were a few Galra who were still unaligned with either group, but they were few and far between- usually serving as mercenaries or space pirates. He'd definitely stand out if he headed in, but he didn't exactly have much of a choice if he wanted a chance to scope out the port.

He could wait until night fell... but the red lion might be back online by then. If he was going to do this, he had to do it now.

Using one of the back alleys, he quietly slipped into the main flow of traffic. His presence got some odd looks, but nobody seemed to spare him that much attention. Idly tugging at one end of his two-tone hair, he wondered if it was that obvious he was mixed. Though given what he'd seen of Sendak and Haxus... yeah, probably.

If it helped him evade suspicion, he'd take it.

He also took the wallet of some pompous looking bigwig. What? He needed the cash. Allura didn't pay them.

(In the middle of her fourth time loop, Allura sneezed.)

The main port area itself was much more diverse than the outer edges of the city. There were even a few more Galra, most of whom seemed to be serving as bodyguards for people with way too much money. They cast him a few odd looks, snorting and muttering something about halfbreeds under their breath, but he ignored it. He couldn't exactly afford to start a fight, not if he wanted to keep a low profile.

Guess it was that obvious he was mixed.

At least he'd remembered to bring the forged imperial records his mom had left for him with him. The identity card was tucked safely away in one of his belt pouches.

Hopefully he wouldn't need to use it.

Making a loop of the port, he tried to not look too much like he was studying the ships. He wanted something small and unobtrusive, but also one that looked like it could go fast. He'd also need one that wasn't heavily guarded, something he could quickly hotwire. In and out. No need to attract attention.

Sure, his only experience with flying something alien was the red lion, but he had confidence he'd be able to manage. He'd never driven a car before either the first time he'd jacked one in town for a joyride, and he'd done fine. Sure, he'd gotten caught, but it wasn't like he'd crashed it or anything.

(He'd gotten much better at not getting caught since then. Turned out his dad had a few tips from when he was a teen jacking cars. Like father, like son, he guessed.)

By the time he'd done a full loop of the port, he'd found a few targets that looked good. He wasn't sure if they'd all still be here when the red lion's power came back online, so it was good to have a few options. He didn't exactly still want to be on this planet when the Castle found the red lion. Nearby planets would be the first place the paladins would look for him- and he wasn't stupid enough to think they wouldn't try. He had to be gone by the time they came.

With what he came here for done, he started to make his way back towards the red lion. He made a pair of pit stops on the way- first to purchase himself a new sheath for his knife, and then to purchase some kind of meat on a stick situation. His nose had called him towards that one, the scent of cooking meat too tantalizing to resist. He gobbled down six of them, and then proceeded to lick the remaining sauce off his fingers.

Hunk would love these, he thought.

The red lion was still offline when he returned. He gave her a soft pat on the foreleg, before he hauled himself back up into the cockpit. Fixing his new sheath to his belt, he tested it out. Both the weight and the draw were good, even if it sat a little lower than what he was used to. He practiced with a few times, unsheathing his knife to make a few lunging strikes.

Yeah. He could get used to this.

Which was great, since he couldn't exactly bring the red bayard with him either. Voltron would definitely need it.

Good thing he had plenty of practice with his blade. His dad had run him through his paces growing up- apparently he'd made a promise to his mom, or something. He just thought his dad thought getting into knife fights with his son was a form of bonding.

He snorted. No wonder a Galra had fallen for him.

Humming, he tossed his knife in the air once. He caught it, awakening it with a flick of his wrist. It extended into a sword, faintly illuminating the darkened cockpit with purple light. He gave it a spin, before changing it back, returning it to his sheath.

At least that still worked.

Yawning, he slumped over the pilot's seat. There wasn't much else he could do for now. Maybe he should get some shut eye while he had the chance.

He woke to the sound of the red lion powering back up.

Groaning, he cracked an eye open, one ear flicking in the direction of the noise. Hauling himself into a sitting position, he yawned, mentally noting that it was dark outside.

Must have slept for awhile, then.

"Hey girl," Keith said, "-nice to have ya back online. Any chance you can hold off on sendin' a signal to the Castle?"

The red lion rumbled positively in response.

"Thanks," he said, "-'ppreciate it."

The red lion probed him questioningly, and Keith huffed in response. Still, he gave transforming another go. Predictably, it gave him no results.

"Ain't workin' still," he said, "-sorry girl."

The red lion rumbled, sounding displeased. Not because he was stuck in Galra form, he knew- but because he knew that she'd sensed what he was planning. That he wasn't going to return to the Castle with her. For half a second, he got the feeling she might just shut him in the cockpit and take off anyways, but she didn't.

Paladin, she purred instead, trust.

"You an' I both know why that's a bad idea, girl." Keith frowned. "I trust the paladins. I don't know if they'll be able to trust me."

He could sense the red lion's doubts, but she also didn't have a good argument to back them up. He knew she'd been hiding the fact that he was half Galra from the other lions just the same as he'd been hiding it from the other paladins.

They'd all lost things to the Galra as well.

"Yeah, I don't like it either." Keith said. "But you know I can't stay. Not if I can't change back. An' you definitely can't stay."

The red lion's rumble sounded sadder this time.

"I know how you feel, girl," Keith said, "-I'll miss ya just the same. But you'll find a new paladin. Maybe give Allura a try? I'm sure she'd kill fer the chance to follow in her old man's footsteps."

The red lion's rumble sounded indignant this time. Keith couldn't help but snort.

"Don't tell her that," he said.

He knew he should leave, but he still found himself lingering in Red's cockpit. There was something comforting about it, familiar- like she'd been with him all her life. Meeting her was like finally feeling complete in a way- like he'd only been half of himself all his life, without ever realizing it. It wasn't a bond he could explain in words, and he knew he was unlikely to ever experience anything like it again.

All the same, he had to go.

This wasn't just about him. This was about the universe.

Hauling himself to his feet, Keith readied himself to leave. He grabbed a few more pieces of the cave bug jerky, tucking them into one of his belt pouches. There wasn't much else he needed, aside from double checking to make sure his identity card and knife were still in place- plus the leftover credits from that guy's wallet.

Anything else he could pick up on the way.

He still lingered in Red's cockpit for awhile longer.

If he could have it his way, he'd want to stay too. He'd like to believe that he could return to the Castle like this, and that the others would still accept him. That they'd be a little surprised, and maybe even a little upset that he'd lied to them, but that things would go back to normal. That him being Galra wouldn't be a problem.

He just wasn't that naive.

Heaving a long sigh, he rested a hand on the pilot's seat. He could hear the red lion's sad rumble, feel the way it prodded at him in a last ditch attempt to get him to reconsider. He could even sense it debate whether it was worth reconsidering the whole trapping him in the cockpit thing. It made him smile, grateful that someone had his back.

"Sorry, Red," he finally said, "-I have to go."

The red lion mourned.

It also didn't stop him.

Hauling himself out of the cockpit for the last time, Keith leapt down to the forest floor. He lingered for a long moment, drinking in the sight of his lion- and then turned away, heading towards the town. He could feel the red lion watch him until his figure disappeared into the forest-

-and then she was gone.

No turning back.

Thankfully, it turned out hotwiring an alien ship wasn't that different from hotwiring a car. He'd picked a small ship located on the outer edge of the port, one whose hangar was relatively unguarded. It had a sleek design that suggested speed, with a single person cockpit and a small sleeping area located behind it. Its gray and black color scheme meant it didn't stand out much either.

It was perfect.

It had taken a few tries, but he'd eventually gotten it to start up, bypassing its biolock. He might not be a hacker like Pidge, or a mechanic like Hunk, but if there was one thing he was really good at, it was stealing shit.

(The headache it caused for Shiro was constant. Adam had always just found it kind of funny.)

He'd probably have to steal pressure suit of some kind too, because the one that came with the ship was definitely made for an alien that didn't share his proportions. He'd sort of just tossed it out into the hangar, it not worth the extra space it took up. In the meantime, he'd just have to try and not wreck his new ship in the middle of space.

Taking a moment to change the ship's transponder code, Keith studied the controls. They honestly weren't that different from the red lion's. The launch sequence was almost entirely the same, and before he knew it, he was back in open space.

He could see the red lion in the distance.

Slowly exhaling, Keith forced himself to turn away. He turned his ship in the opposite direction, not sticking around to see the wormhole that opened up for his lion.

Well. She wasn't exactly his lion anymore.

Opening up the ship's star map, he considered his options. There were a few other ports nearby he could land at, but he'd rather put some more distance between himself and his starting point first. The only problem was that the best option looked to be under Galra control- a port about half a day's flight from here.

Except, well... he was Galra, wasn't he? Definitely mixed, but he'd stick out a lot less at a Galra controlled port than he would literally anywhere else. Plus, it would be the last place the paladins would ever think to look for him.

And maybe he could find some information about the Blade of Marmora.

Just because he was leaving Voltron, it didn't mean he had any intention to leave behind the fight. Now that he was out here, now that he had seen what the Empire was capable of, he knew that he couldn't. His best choice was to try and hook up with the Galra rebel group.

Maybe he'd get to see his mother again.

He'd just... have to find them first.

Something told him that was going to be the hard part.

Chapter Text

"Identity card."

Keith produced the card, pretending to not hold his breath as the port officer scanned the contents it projected. His mother had taken care to forge records for him within the Empire, should he ever need them, and his dad had kept them updated as he got older. Still, he'd never exactly had a chance to test them out before.

If it didn't work, he'd have to get out of here in a hurry.

But the port officer barely blinked, handing back the card to him. He took it, carefully putting it back into his pouch.

Phew.

"Ship registration," the port officer requested.

And it was back to holding his breath again, as he handed over the registry for his... newly acquired ship. He'd lucked out- its owner had left it in the ship, and it had been relatively easy to modify so that it was under his name instead.

Or at least, the Galra name his mom had given him.

The port officer hummed, seemingly giving it more scrutiny than he had his identity card. But eventually he just huffed, passing it back to him.

"Checks out," he said- and then winked at him?, "-but maybe change the purchase date before you have someone else check it out. You look a little young to have purchased this baby twenty years ago."

Oh. Whoops.

"I'll... keep that in mind." Keith said, before arching a brow. "Yer not going to report me?"

"Eh," the officer shrugged, "-wouldn't be the first time a mixed kid from the fringes showed up with a stolen ship. Probably won't be the last. None of my business, as far as I see it."

Keith exhaled, tucking the ship's registration back into his pouch. "Thanks."

"No problem," the officer said, sliding a small data chip in his direction, "-here's your map. Word of advice though- stay away from the Zeta quadrant. There's a particularly nasty gang there that doesn't take kindly to those with mixed blood."

Keith hummed, taking the chip. "Noted."

"Enjoy your stay on Valquid," the port officer said, before turning away, "-next!"

Keith lingered for a second longer, before making his way into the port city proper. It was much bigger than the last port he'd been in, and much busier. There were more Galra here than he'd ever seen in one place, which shouldn't have come as a surprise to him. This was a Galra port, after all.

And he blended right in.

Huffing, Keith navigated his way through the crowds until he found a place that was a bit quieter. Leaning against a building, he brought out the data chip with the map on it, giving its contents a good look. It had a very helpful 'you are here' dot on it that indicated his current location- in purple, of course- so he had a feeling it would be pretty hard for him to get lost.

First he had to find a place to stay.

He wasn't planning on sticking around here long- just long enough to try and gather some information. He wasn't even entirely sure where to start looking, though something told him that just going up to random Galra and asking if they'd heard of any resistance groups wouldn't be a smart idea. The port officer hadn't blinked at what he thought was a port brat with a stolen ship, but a port brat looking for a resistance movement?

Yeah, that'd put a target on his back.

Speaking of which...

Pulling out his stolen ship's registration, he quickly changed the purchase date to a year ago, before tucking it back away. He'd have to be a little more careful not to make another mistake like that. He should just consider himself lucky the officer had been nice.

...which was a weird thought.

But he guessed not all Galra were like Sendak. He'd kind of known that- he was Galra, and his mother was literally part of the rebellion. But it was a little different to be in a place like this and see so many Galra just going about completely normal lives. There were probably Galra from all walks of life here, not just the soldiers he'd gotten used to. Hell, some of them could have even been accountants.

(Probably, or the Galra Empire's budgeting divisions would be in serious trouble.)

Turning his attention back to the map, he searched its contents. It had a helpful list of all known business, and from it, Keith selected what he was pretty sure was the Galra equivalent of a seedy motel. Maybe not the most secure place in the world, but he'd stick out there a lot less. Double checking to make sure it wasn't located near that Zeta quadrant the officer had talked about, he memorized the directions there from his current location.

With a destination in mind, he stepped back into the main street.

Making his way through the Galra port was a surreal feeling. He felt like someone should be raising alarms about his presence here. He had to fight the urge to duck his head every time someone in military uniform passed him, only breathing easy again once they were out of sight. The Empire wasn't looking for the red paladin of Voltron at one of their ports- they didn't even know he wasn't fully human.

...probably?

("You fight," Zarkon had told him, "-like a Galra soldier.")

He found the motel without issue. The Galra woman who checked him in was also mixed, by the look of her massive horns, and barely spared him so much as a glance. He rented a room for three nights- long enough for him to gather some intel.

Hopefully.

The room itself was pretty dingy, but he'd kind of expected that. He also didn't really care. He and his dad would always stay at cheap motels whenever they went on a road trip- when they couldn't just pitch a tent, that was.

He missed that.

He wondered how his dad was doing. He wished he'd come up here with him, but he'd let himself get captured by the Garrison in order to buy them some time. He wasn't that worried about him- he knew Adam was with him, and he knew his old man wouldn't lose to the Garrison of all things.

But he still missed him.

Shaking the thought off, he gave himself a surreptitious sniff, making a slight face. Right. He hadn't showered in like, three days.

The bathroom didn't look particularly clean, but it was clean enough. He scrubbed himself until he didn't stink anymore, then shook off the excess water. Drying himself off, he changed back into his clothes, letting his towel hang over his head. Wiping the fog away from the bathroom mirror, he tilted his head, briefly considering his reflection.

His Galra face stared back at him. Leaning closer to the mirror, he gave transforming another vain attempt. When he opened his eyes to find that they were still a solid yellow, he heaved a long sigh, his ears drooping.

Guess he was just going to have to get used to always looking Galra.

It wasn't like he had an issue with it. He'd just prefer to have a choice.

Yawning, he made his way back into the bedroom, sitting down on the bed. It creaked underneath his weight, reminding him of the old futon out in the shack. He'd kind of taken it over in recent years, turning it into a whirlwind mess of half finished projects and half completed sketches. One wall had turned blue from when a spray paint can had exploded in there, and he'd just kind of never bothered to clean it up. It made Pidge's room at the Castleship look practically clean.

He huffed slightly at the thought of his fellow Voltron arm. He wondered how she was doing- if Allura had found her and the other paladins by now.

He hoped so.

Considering the remote by his bedside for a tick, he switched on the space equivalent of a television. There were only three channels- some kind of Empire sponsored news channel, a channel that looked to be dedicated to sports, and... infomercials?

"Ugh," Keith crinkled his nose, "-like the fascism wasn't bad enough."

Switching off the TV, he tossed the remote aside and flopped back on the bed. For a little while, he just stared up at the ceiling, before heaving a sigh and digging out his identity card. Pressing his thumb against it, it lit up, bringing up an information display.

A photo of his Galra form stared back at him.

He huffed, scanning the contents. Yorak, eighteen deca-phoebs old. From the port of Ntia, on the fringes of Warlord Ranveig's territory. Mixed. Parents deceased.

For the foreseeable future, this was who he was.

Better get used to it.

He didn't linger in his motel room for long.

He was back out on the streets in a varga, this time without much of a destination in mind. The side of town he'd found himself in seemed perfect for gathering rumors about a resistance to the Empire- it was run down, and didn't seem to have much military presence, be it from the Empire or the local authorities. It reminded him of the seedier part of Plaht City. His dad had took him there once when he was sixteen, to visit an old friend who ran a bar there.

They'd ended up getting involved in a bar brawl. They'd both briefly been arrested. Shiro had to bail them both out.

Fun times.

Might as well start with the seediest bar he could find.

It wasn't hard. He made one pit stop first- there was a shop selling footwear on the way, so he hadn't hesitated to duck in and grab something. He'd ended up with a pair of dark red boots that looked a lot like the kind of combat boots you'd find on Earth... except the ones on Earth definitely weren't made with claws in mind. That issue resolved, he quickly found the other thing he'd been looking for.

He grabbed a seat at the bar, ordering a drink and something that looked like the space equivalent of deep fried onions. The barkeep raised a brow at his apparent accent, but didn't even ask for ID. The legal drinking age for Galran citizens was around sixteen, so it wasn't like it was a problem.

(He could still hear Shiro's lecture in the back of his head.)

The drink he ordered burned as it hit his throat, but he kind of liked it. He'd kind of been worried that it would taste like that nunvill crap that Coran had given them once. His dad let him drink at home, but he'd never actually gotten drunk before- apparently his mom was the same way. She'd told his dad that there was a piece of common wisdom up in space- that only a fool went up against a Galra in a fight... or in a drinking contest.

He'd... still be a little careful. He was only half Galra, after all.

(Also the deep fried space onions kind of ruled. Hunk would love these.)

For the most part, he kept to himself- all while keeping an ear out. Even in human form he'd always had great hearing, but it was nothing compared to that of his Galra form. Quietly listening in on half a dozen other conversations, he monitored them for anything that might catch his interest.

"-Voltron-"

Immediately, one ear swiveled in that direction.

"You didn't hear it from me," someone not-so whispered, "-but I hear they attacked Central Command."

"Nuts," their companion whispered, "-and they made it out alive?"

"That's what they say. Apparently the red paladin fought the Emperor himself. Course, Emperor Zarkon won."

Keith tried very hard not to choke on his drink. Oh. Right. Yeah. He had done that.

"Well yeah, of course they lost. Nobody wins against Emperor Zarkon," the Galra said, "-still, takes guts. Guess the Champion's not just an isolated case."

And now suddenly, Keith didn't want to listen as much.

Shiro didn't really talk about his time as the Champion. It was mostly because he didn't remember it- his time as a Galra prisoner was all one big blur in his head. But he suspected that even if he did, it wouldn't exactly be a hot topic around the Castleship.

But he knew enough. Enough to know he'd gone through hell at the hands of his own kin.

Enough to know he couldn't face Shiro when he looked so much like the enemy.

He shook the thought off, forcing himself to pay attention. Unfortunately, they'd moved on to other subjects, ones that were less interesting. Swiveling his ear back, he stared down into his drink, narrowing his eyes in thought. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him that he might hear the Galra talking about Shiro.

Huffing, he downed the rest of his drink. Maybe it was time to change locations.

It was the sound of someone getting punched that attracted his attention.

Perking his ears, he turned in the direction of the sound. It was followed shortly after by some cheering, and without thinking too much about it, Keith made his way towards it. It lead him to a back alley practically brimming with Galra, all of whom looked like they were probably around his own age. They were arranged in a ring around some kind of makeshift elevated platform, where a pair of burly Galra were locked in a fight.

One of them knocked the other to the ground, and a cheer went out in the crowd. When the other Galra didn't get back up, several of the spectators groaned, forking over GAC to several others.

Huh. Guess he'd found a Galra fight club.

Not what he was looking for, but he couldn't say he wasn't interested.

The fallen Galra was dragged out of the ring, leaving behind the other one. They were probably twice his size, and Keith couldn't help but wonder if this was what Sendak had looked like at his age. They both had the same fuzzy bat ears. From what he could tell from the cheers, his name was apparently Rudgir.

(Rudgir the Crusher. Charming.)

Another Galra stepped into the ring, though based off the flashy way they were dressed, he was pretty sure they weren't here to fight. Actually... tilting his head, Keith looked him up and down. They were kind of the same size, and if he had to be honest, he was kind of digging his jacket- it was a dark purple with a dark red inner lining, and had a black fur collar and hood, with several small belts dangling off the end of the jacket.

He kind of wanted it.

"Is there anyone among you who wishes to face up against our reigning champion?" The flashily dressed Galra asked the crowd.

Oh, he definitely shouldn't do this.

Keith held up his hand.

"We've got a challenger!" The flashy Galra announced, pointing straight at him. "You've got a name, kid?"

He almost opened his mouth to say Keith, before hastily correcting himself. "Yorak."

"Yorak?" Rudgir leered, cracking his knuckles. "You look more like a dead meat to me."

Keith bared his fangs at him in challenge. "Where I come from, those are fightin' words."

Rudgir bared his fangs in return, as the crowd parted to allow Keith access to the platform. He hoisted himself up onto it in one smooth motion, standing on the opposite end from Rudgir. The bulky Galra locked eyes with him, a challenge which he met.

"Rules are the same as always!" The flashy Galra announced. "No weapons. No other restrictions. Winner can take whatever prize they want."

"In that case," Keith didn't break eye contact with Rudgir, simply gesturing to the announcer with his head, "-I want yer jacket."

The flashy Galra arched a brow. "Seriously?"

"Serious." Keith said.

The flashy Galra shrugged, like it wasn't the weirdest request he'd ever gotten. "Fine by me, kid. Let the battle start!"

Rudgir wasted no time in lunging at him- all muscle and no finesse. Keith easily evaded it, immediately pivoting into a counterattack. His speed was one of his strong points, and clearly wasn't one of Rudgir's, because he wasn't able to protect himself in time from his kick. He grunted, but didn't go down.

That would have been enough force to knock even a human of his dad's size out. But he hadn't expected another Galra to go down as easily.

It quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse. Rudgir would lunge at him, and Keith would avoid it, slipping underneath his blow. Adrenaline thrummed through his veins, a wide grin plastered on his face even as Rudgir grew more and more annoyed- and more and more exhausted. He was bulky, but he wasn't built for stamina.

It had been awhile since he'd had this much fun in a fight- normally he needed to hold back, even in human form. His dad had once told him he hit like a truck, and they had a graveyard of punching bags to prove it.

He didn't need to do that now.

Sure enough, before long Rudgir's movements grew sloppy- and that was his chance to strike. Darting into his guard, he slammed his foot hard into his chin, a loud crack echoing through the air. For a few ticks Rudgir stood in place- before crumpling to the floor.

The crowd went silent.

Then it got very, very loud.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the flashy Galra announced, "-our new champion!"

Keith huffed, trying not to let the title grate at him too much. It wasn't the same as the Galra who had been talking about Shiro at the bar. Instead he held out his hand, locking eyes with the announcer. The flashy Galra just huffed, shrugging off his jacket. Keith took it, wasting no time in trying it on himself. It was a little longer on him than it had been on its previous owner, but otherwise it fit perfectly.

Yeah. That was more like it.

"Hey! You kids stop right there!"

Keith's ears stood straight up, as he turned towards the entrance of the alley. There was a soldier in military garb he wasn't quite familiar with at the entrance, and several sentries behind her. And judging from the way everyone else had started to bolt, it was pretty obvious this was-

"-a raid!"

Yep, that's all he needed to know. Leaping off the elevated platform, he grabbed the railing of a nearby building, hauling himself up on top of it even as the sentries moved in to start rounding up everyone. He made his escape across the rooftops of several buildings, before dropping down into another alley and taking off in a run.

He definitely wasn't about to let himself get caught by the Galra police.

Weaving his way through the back alleys, he finally came to a stop once he was a good distance away. Swiveling his ears, he listened for any sounds of pursuit, but heard none. Slowly exhaling, he stopped to catch his breath for a tick, before checking out his surroundings. According to the map-

-oh. Whoops. He'd run straight into the Zeta quadrant.

Huffing, he studied the map, already mapping out what looked to be a relatively safe way to return to the motel. He was just about to leave when he heard the distinctive sound of something clanging against metal, and automatically froze, his ears swiveling in that direction.

Then some kind of rodent scurried past his feet, and Keith exhaled. Looked like it had just knocked over a crate or something.

Glancing down at what it had disturbed, Keith picked up one of the canisters. They looked... awfully familiar, like an aerosol can you could find back home. Guess some things were just universal. Giving the text a cursory glance, his brows shot up, the ghost of a smile touching the edge of his lips.

Oh. This was spray paint.

The population of the Zeta quadrant woke up the next morning to a portrait of Voltron spray painted onto a warehouse wall. The gang that ran the area was apparently furious, and was offering a substantial bounty for anyone who found the culprit behind the disgraceful graffiti that had defaced their territory.

Keith cut his stay on Valquid short.

Totally worth it.

"Shiro, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

Shiro came to an abrupt halt, casting an apologetic look in Pidge's direction. The green paladin was giving him a not unsympathetic side eye from her chair, even as she continued work on her scanning program.

"Sorry," he said, "-just worried. Are we sure we haven't heard anything back from Hunk and Lance yet?"

"Not yet," Allura said, casting an equally sympathetic glance in his direction, "-but I am certain it won't be much longer now."

"Yeah, aren't you the one always going on about patience?" Pidge asked.

In spite of himself, Shiro laughed. She had him there.

"Ah well, I don't think anyone can blame the lad for being anxious." Coran said. "I'm worried about Number Four too! After all, it's not every day that a lion returns to the Castle without its paladin."

Yeah. That was exactly their current predicament.

They'd found the red lion- but no Keith. The only thing that kept him from outright panicking was that they'd also found his paladin armor neatly folded up in the cockpit of his lion, which could only mean that Keith had left by choice. He just... didn't understand why.

He thought Keith had been adjusting to life on the Castle just fine. Sure, there was still a bit of a distance between him and the other paladins, but it was smaller than it had been. It was nothing that a bit of time and effort couldn't surmount. And sure, it wasn't like he didn't know how much Keith valued his independence- but just like his father, he had a strong sense of justice.

...which was, admittedly, sometimes at odds with the number of times they'd both been arrested. Nobody said it was the standard sense of justice.

"I'm just surprised you're not actively tearing out your hair." Pidge remarked. "No offense, but I kind of pictured you for the type."

"Yeah, well," Shiro huffed, "-this isn't exactly the first time Keith has disappeared."

Allura frowned. "Are you saying this is a habit of his?"

"You could say that." Shiro shrugged. "His first semester at the Garrison, he didn't come back after a long weekend. Turned out he drove his hoverbike all the way to Mexico and got arrested because he'd entered the country without a passport. Well, that and the fight. That's probably the only reason they caught him in the first place."

"Wait, Keith's been arrested before!?" Pidge asked.

"Well-"

"This is Lance and Hunk, reporting in!"

Shiro felt himself exhale, turning his attention towards the screen that had popped up. "Good to hear from you two. You find anything?"

They'd managed to track down where the red lion was likely to have crash-landed. The red lion had been absolutely no help in the matter, refusing to let anyone look at its logs. Its particle barrier had gone up shortly afterwards, shutting them all out. Near as he could tell, it seemed to be trying to protect Keith.

Still, they'd managed to find a recent impact crater on one of the planets near where they'd picked it up. They'd sent Lance and Hunk down in the yellow lion to investigate. He would have gone himself, but Coran had him under strict orders to restrict his physical activity, given that he'd passed up treatment via healing pod in favor of a slower method.

He couldn't afford to be out cold, not with Keith missing.

"Not really?" Lance frowned. "We couldn't find anyone who says they saw Keith."

Shiro frowned, his brows furrowing. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, we showed them his picture and everything." Hunk said. "Nothing."

That was... a little more concerning. Had Keith not headed towards the town? There was one only about two hour hike from where the red lion crashed- it would have been nothing for Keith. Had he maybe just run off into the wilderness instead?

That... also sounded like something Keith would do. He knew he and his dad were always taking camping trips during his breaks from the Garrison. He and Adam had even been invited on a few, though if he was being honest, the Spartan camping style of the Koganes wasn't exactly what they were looking for in a camping trip, so they didn't join them very often.

Then again...

"Did you hear anything else out of the ordinary?" Shiro asked.

"Uh," Hunk hesitated, exchanging a glance with Lance, "-can you specify?"

"Just anything that the locals might have mentioned that stuck out to you." Shiro said.

"Well, I did hear one say something about a stolen ship." Lance mused.

"Yeah, and there was that one guy who kept talking about how someone who had broken into his store and stolen some of his merchandise." Hunk added. "I think he ran a clothing shop?"

"Plus that one really angry dude who had his wallet stolen by someone." Lance said. "But I don't see what any of that has to do with Keith."

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. Money, a change of clothes, and a ship. Everything Keith would need if he'd decided to go AWOL for whatever reason.

"Wait," Pidge squinted at him, "-you're not saying Keith did all of that?"

"It's... not impossible?" Shiro answered weakly.

"Wait, are you saying mullet went on a crime spree?" Lance asked.

"Oh, come on, Keith wouldn't do that." Hunk said, before his expression shifted into a skeptical frown. "I mean... would he?"

Shiro could practically feel them all staring at him, no gaze more intense than that of the princess. Heaving a sigh, he met their expectant gazes.

"Look, I know this probably isn't going to sound great," he began, "-but Keith's not exactly a stranger to being on the wrong side of the law."

Allura's tone was as flat as her expression. "What."

Yeah. That was the reaction he'd kind of been expecting.

"I'm not saying it was ever anything serious," Shiro quickly clarified, "-a few stolen vehicles, some graffiti, a few fights here and there-"

"-and illegally entering Mexico?" Pidge added.

"-and that," Shiro said, "-just normal teenage rebellion, for the most part. All I'm trying to say is that if Keith for whatever reason decided he was leaving Voltron, then stealing a change of clothes, some money, and a ship sounds... pretty on brand for him."

"Okay, so that's a lot to take in at once," Hunk said, "-but why would he leave all of a sudden? I mean, I thought we were friends, and he always seemed pretty gung ho about taking down the Galra Empire."

"Maybe he got tired of Lance riling him up all the time." Pidge remarked.

"Hey!" Lance protested. "I didn't rile him up all the time! Just sometimes! And most of the time its his fault!"

"I don't think Keith would leave just for that." Shiro shook his head. "He must have had a good reason."

Or at least, a reason that had sounded good to Keith. Which... didn't necessarily mean it would hold up against scrutiny. Which wasn't to say that it wouldn't, just that Keith tended to have a pretty different way of approaching things than a lot of other people.

Heath was the same way.

"Maybe he thought we'd be like, super angry at him about the whole fighting Zarkon directly thing?" Hunk asked. "Which, by the way, I still can't believe he did that. I mean, I didn't see any of it because I was busy trying to rescue Allura, and well, you," he said, glancing in Shiro's direction, "-but it sounded pretty nuts."

Shiro frowned. "No, I don't think that's it either."

(It was nuts, and he would be having a talk with him about it when they found him.)

"Well, whatever his reasons, we must find him, and quickly." Allura said. "Without the red lion, we cannot form Voltron."

Shiro turned towards Allura, his frown deepening. The princess' tone was harsh, but he couldn't entirely blame her. They'd all seen what they were up against when they'd assaulted Central Command. If they didn't have Voltron, they stood no chance in this fight.

"We'll find him," Shiro said, "-and when we do, I'll have a word with him."

Allura stared at him for a moment longer, before she let her shoulders slump. "I'm sorry. I do not mean to judge him too harshly. It is just... frustrating to know something might have been troubling him enough to drive him away from us, and that he did not even consider talking to us about it."

"If anything, I think you're being too nice," Pidge huffed, "-I mean you saw how pissed he got when I tried to leave Voltron. What happened to that?"

"I hate to say it, but Pidge does kind of have a point." Hunk reluctantly agreed. "But are you sure that Keith never mentioned anything to you at all, Shiro? You're the one he talks to most."

"I wish I could tell you," Shiro shook his head, "-but if something was troubling Keith, I haven't heard anything about it. If anything, I think he's been a little more closed off since coming to space."

Which was... concerning on its own. It had taken awhile for Keith to warm up to him in the first place- he'd been initially pretty wary of him. Given what he'd since learned about the years long conflict between his father and the Galaxy Garrison, it made sense- he'd basically become the Garrison's poster boy at some point. It had only been after he'd started to understand that he wasn't some uptight stickler for the rules that Keith had started to come around.

He was grateful for it. His friendship with Keith- and his father, for that matter- was something he deeply valued... even if he knew it drove the Admiral a little nuts.

So to have him close back up again... it had been rough. It wasn't like he'd totally closed himself off- they still talked. It probably wouldn't seem like much to anyone else, but he'd definitely noticed. Hell, he wasn't sure if Keith had even noticed he was doing it.

And now Keith was out in space somewhere, on his own.

Shiro's gaze drifted towards the star map. It wasn't so much that he was worried if he could survive- if anyone could survive by themselves out in space, it was Keith.

No. What he was worried about the most was leaving him entirely unsupervised. Because if there was one thing Keith excelled at...

...it was getting into trouble.

Chapter Text

No one asked for his identity card at this port.

Despite being situated in Galra occupied territory, the star maps indicated that this port wasn't Galra owned. It wasn't on a planet either- located on an old space station of some kind that had been converted into use as a port later in life, well after the people who had built it had moved on.

This port was a haven for anyone who didn't want to be found- which was precisely what he was. Voltron probably wouldn't look for him here either.

(Well, Shiro might. He knew him a little too well.)

All he had to do was pay a docking fee, and he was in. Glancing down at the contents of his wallet, Keith frowned. He would definitely need to get more money pretty soon. He was already starting to run low on funds. Turned out docking fees were expensive.

Well, whatever. Maybe he could find another fight club. Or maybe he could pinch another wallet. The people gathered here didn't look like they'd be easy targets, but he guessed he could also just mug someone. That worked.

(In his head, he could hear Shiro chiding him for that thought.)

Still, he had enough money for right now. There were no convenient town maps handed out by the dock workers here, so he had to find a place to stay by asking around. Barely anyone so much as took a second look at him, but then, he was hardly the only Galra here.

He hadn't found the rebels, but he'd definitely found those mercenaries and space pirates his mom had talked about. Some of them might have been Empire once, still wearing pieces of their old armor- or maybe just armor they'd stolen off those they'd killed. Some of them spared him a glance, but he could hear the way they chuckled to their companions, saying something underneath their breath about him being a port brat.

There were a few Galra around who clearly were with the Empire. Just because this place wasn't allied with the Galra Empire, it didn't mean they weren't around. He managed to avoid the urge to try and keep his head down this time. They probably didn't see him as anything more than a mixed port brat either.

Fine by him. As long as they didn't recognize him as a paladin.

(If he kept the hood of his new jacket up, well.. nobody paid that a second look.)

He found another dodgy motel, this one shadier than the last. He only paid for one night this time, learning from his mistake from last time. He'd had to haggle with the woman at the counter to get the rest of his fee back, and even then, he'd only gotten half.

The room was smaller than the last, but it didn't matter. It was just a place to sleep.

After checking out the room, he headed back out again. He grabbed something to eat at one of the food stalls that lined the road- some kind of whole roasted rodent creature. It tasted good, but he had a feeling that Allura would get squeamish just from looking at it. He ate it as he wandered around, half trying to get his bearings, and half trying to figure out his next move.

He hadn't learned anything about his mom's rebel group at the last port- he'd had fun, but that wasn't exactly the purpose of his journey. He could probably live out the rest of his life aimlessly drifting from port to port if he wanted to, but he couldn't just sit back and watch the Galra Empire tear the universes to pieces.

Not when he could do something about it.

And a place like this? It was bound to be a hotbed of rumors.

It made the last port he'd been in look tame by comparison. He'd narrowly avoided getting hit by someone thrown out of a bar window, stopping short just in time. There was a bar brawl in progress inside, which looked tempting, but...

Nope. Focus, Keith.

Or Yorak, he guessed. He was supposed to be Yorak now.

He found himself another bar, taking a seat at a table in the back. He got a few looks from the other patrons, before they huffed and rolled their eyes. Port brat, he heard them mutter again. Guess mixed Galra kids like him were a lot more common than he'd thought.

(Also, the drink here was way weaker than the stuff he'd gotten at the Galra port.)

"Seen their bounty lately?"

Keith frowned, one ear twitching in the direction of the voice. Its owner was reptilian in nature, a hulking brute that would have screamed bounty hunter even if the topic of conversation hadn't made it obvious. It looked like they were talking to another bounty hunter, a more trim woman with a large cybernetic arm and dark red skin.

They were both looking at a holographic display. Keith craned his head a bit to see what was on it- and was suddenly very grateful he couldn't look human now if he tried.

That was his face they were looking at.

"Seen it? I'm pretty sure everyone has by now," the woman said, "-the red paladin's bounty went up twice as much as the others did. Guess Zarkon didn't take too kindly to a direct challenge."

Wait. Hang on. He had a bounty?

Or well- his human face did, at least. He'd pulled his hood down after getting his drink, but quietly, he slowly pulled it back up. Being able to shapeshift wasn't a common trait among mixed Galra and nobody even knew human him was mixed, but better safe than sorry. His face hadn't changed that much.

The photo was obviously taken from security footage from the Balmera. It felt a little weird, seeing his human face for the first time in days.

The reptilian bounty hunter chuckled, using a finger to swipe through to what looked to be bounties of the other paladins, plus Allura. "Can't say I was too interested in these paladins before, but now they've definitely caught my interest."

"Hah!" The woman laughed. "Looks like we'll be competing, then."

Very quietly, Keith finished his drink and made his way out of the bar. He liked a good fight as much as the next Galra, but something told him that if he went two on one against those two, he'd have a tough time winning. He'd rather be found by the paladins than get caught by a bounty hunter and dragged before Zarkon.

Especially not with this face.

"You fight," he heard Zarkon's voice say, "-like a Galra soldier."

He huffed. His dad would often say that even when he had a human face, his instincts were all Galra. He'd proven that much when he'd directly challenge the Emperor to protect the black lion. But sometimes he listened to his old man's teachings- and not just the fun ones, like how to hotwire a car.

"Sometimes," his father had once told him, "-not fightin' is the better option."

Keith groaned.

The desert sun blazed overhead, almost blinding to his more light sensitive eyes. His ears were still ringing with the sound of the gunshot, almost more painful than the open wound on his back. A shadow fell over him, and he growled lowly in warning- only to relax when he realized it was just his dad.

"Hey, kiddo," his dad's voice was soft, though he could pick up on the note of concern in it, "-can you get up?"

Keith groaned, shoving himself up into a sitting position. He stumbled to his feet, upon which he could hear his father make out a sigh of relief. He crouched down to his level, and he let him gently prod at him, checking on the wound on his back.

"Looks like it's pretty shallow," Heath said, "-probably won't even need stitches."

"Good," Keith grumbled, "-I hate stitches."

"That's cause human antibiotics don't work on you," Heath said, "-which is why you should stop doin' things that give yer old man a heart attack. Wanna tell me why I found my eight year old kid tryin' to fight two cougars ?"

"I didn't know there was a second one," Keith's nose crinkled, "-it was downwind."

"So you admit to fightin' the first one." Heath arched a brow.

"It looked at me." Keith narrowed his eyes, pinning his ears back in annoyance. "I ain't gonna back down from a challenge like that."

"Yeah, yer Krolia's kid, alright." Heath just chuckled, ruffling his hair. "C'mon. Let's get back home and treat those wounds of yers before they get infected."

Keith just frowned, even as he let his dad hoist him up on his back. He wasn't stupid. He knew he probably would have been in trouble if his dad hadn't shown up when he did. The shot from his rifle had been enough to scare both of the cougars off.

The walk back home was a quiet one. There were a lot of silences between him and his dad, but those were comfortable ones. This one was heavy, like there was something his dad wanted to say, but wasn't saying it yet. Pressing his head into his back, Keith closed his eyes. He knew that meant he probably wanted to lecture him.

He wasn't looking forward to it.

His father stayed quiet as he brought him inside, setting him down on the couch. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, giving his injury another once over, before leaving to get the first aid kit. Keith waited for him, nervously kicking his feet.

It was only once his wound was clean, and his torso bandaged, that his father finally broke the silence.

"Listen, Keith," he began, taking both his hands in his own, "-I know what I'm about to say probably won't make a whole lotta sense to you, but it's important."

Keith frowned, but didn't break eye contact with his dad. He didn't sound mad, at least.

"I know yer geared fer it," Heath continued, "-but sometimes, not fightin' is the better option."

Keith's brows furrowed. His dad was right. He didn't understand.

"Fighting's always the best option!" Keith said. "You sayin' I should have run ? I ain't no coward!"

"No yer not," Heath huffed, but it was more fond than anything, "-you'd probably have to look real hard to find a kid braver than you. But you could have died back there."

Keith froze. He hadn't thought about that. He'd just been thinking about the fight.

"I was just..."

"I'm not mad at you, kiddo." Heath sighed, reaching up to ruffle his hair again. "I get it. That ain't how the Galra operate."

"Victory or death, right?" Keith asked.

"That's what yer mom told me." Heath said. "But next time you find yerself in a situation like that, I want you to promise me you'll run away instead."

Keith frowned, his ears flattening against his head. Running away? That didn't sound right to him. That was coward's talk. But his dad wasn't a coward, and he was right- that situation had been really dangerous.

"I'll... try?" Keith finally said, deeply uncertain.

He didn't know if he could do it. Running instead of fighting sounded like a human thing. He wasn't very good at being human even when he looked human.

"That's all I'm askin'." Heath said, scratching behind one of his ears the way he liked. "Now c'mon. Why don't you go an' heat up some of that pizza from last night while I call into work?"

Keith's ears perked right up. "Yer stayin' home?"

His father just gave him a deadpan look. "Keith, you just tried to fight cougars . Of course I'm stayin' home."

"Uh, Shiro? You might want to come see this."

Glancing back at Pidge, Shiro frowned. It was going onto day five of no contact with Keith, and if he was being honest, Shiro was starting to get a little more worried.

Lance and Hunk had gone over the port with a fine toothed comb, but couldn't find any further information about Keith. Nobody had seen him, and other than the few complaints about petty crimes that he was almost positive were related to Keith, there was no mention of him. Certainly no one that had seen any humans.

If there was one thing he'd learned since coming to space, it was that they kind of stood out.

They'd since expanded their search to nearby ports, looking for any sign of either the stolen ship or of Keith, but so far they'd been striking out. Allura and Coran were out checking one of the last ones right now, but something told him they wouldn't have much luck either. The only other port in the area they hadn't checked yet was one that was under Galra control- Keith could be pretty reckless, but even if he was trying to hide from them, it was extremely unlikely he'd pick that one.

"You find something?" Shiro asked, making his way over to her.

Hunk and Lance were already there, Lance leaning against the back of the green paladin's chair and letting out a low whistle. "Wow. Look at the size of the bounty on Shiro."

...what.

"What are you three even looking at?" Shiro asked, peering down at Pidge's screen.

Instantly, he felt his blood run cold.

Displayed on Pidge's screen were what could only be wanted posters of all five of the paladins, plus the princess. Each of them had their own individual bounty, though apparently there was an even larger bounty promised to anyone who could bring in all six of them.

"Pidge," he said slowly, "-what's this?"

"You remember how Rolo said there was a reward put out for the blue lion?" Pidge asked, glancing up at him. He slowly nodded. "Well, I've been keeping tabs on the Empire's bounties ever since then. Turns out we've all got them."

"Which, for the record, I did not sign up for." Hunk said. "How am I supposed to explain to my parents that I'm a wanted man now?"

"I wouldn't sweat it. Being wanted by the bad guys just means you're a hero, not a crook." Lance shrugged. "What I'm more annoyed by is the fact that Keith's bounty is like, twice as high as mine. That's so not fair."

Shiro finally let his gaze drop to the actual bounties. He'd been avoiding it thus far. Scanning over the six of them, he determined that his bounty was the highest- which was something he'd commit to memory- followed by Allura's. Keith came in third, with the other three paladins more or less being the same amount.

"Take it up with Zarkon," Pidge remarked, "-Keith's bounty basically tripled after the assault on Central Command. Guess directly fighting him was enough to catch the Emperor's attention."

"Oh that's not good," Hunk said, "-that's like, the opposite of good."

Shiro swallowed. He'd took the words right of his mouth. If finding Keith had been pressing before, it was downright urgent now. With a bounty like this, he didn't doubt that half the bounty hunters in the universe were probably looking for him too.

Keith could fight. He knew he could. He sparred regularly with his dad, sometimes the two of them both using real knives. He was also absurdly strong for his short stature, proving himself to be an incredibly tough opponent to beat during mandatory Garrison combat training sessions. Shiro was also pretty sure he still had his knife with him- it hadn't been with his things when he'd gone over his room with a fine toothed comb, looking for any clues that might indicate why Keith had chosen to run away.

None of these facts comforted him much.

But also... maybe they could use this.

"Pidge," Shiro began, "-do me a favor, and keep an eye on those bounties, will you?"

Pidge arched a brow. "You think we can use it to track him?"

"Maybe?" Shiro frowned. "If I know Keith, he's not likely to keep his head down forever. Eventually he's going to find trouble for himself."

"Oh yeah, I forgot mullet's like, a hardened criminal or something." Lance said. "No wonder Iverson was always talking about him like he was a delinquent."

"He's not a hardened criminal." Shiro said firmly. "He just... has a unique way of interpreting the law sometimes."

"Unique," Pidge repeated, "-I guess that's one way to look at illegally entering another country."

"Yeah, I hate to say it, but I'm with Pidge on this one." Hunk admitted.

Shiro just heaved a sigh. He almost regretted bringing up the topic now, but if they were going to stand any chance of finding Keith, then the others needed to know what they were dealing with. If for whatever reason, Keith didn't want to be found, then he wasn't going to make it easy on them to track him- outside of his element or not.

"Look, I'm sure it came as a shock to you all," Shiro said, "-but let's try and stay on task. Pidge, do you think you'll be able to keep tabs on them or not?"

Pidge held his gaze for a second longer, before shrugging. "Sure. It should be simple to rig up a program to alert me whenever a bounty is updated."

Shiro exhaled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

He left her to it, exiting the bridge. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the photograph he'd been keeping there since the red lion came back empty. His copy had been taken when he'd been abducted, but Heath had been more than happy to make a copy of Keith's when he'd asked. It was a picture he'd taken with Keith before the Kerberos launch- both in their Garrison uniforms, Keith giving the camera an awkward smile.

He'd been the only one to see him off during at the launch.

He and Adam had broken up, and Heath... well, Heath was banned from Garrison property. He'd never exactly gotten the full story behind the cause of his feud with the Galaxy Garrison, just that he'd worked for them at one point and had quit abruptly before Keith was born, burning all his bridges on the way out.

Ironic, seeing as he worked as a fireman now.

Looking at Keith's face, Shiro heaved a long sigh. He'd thought he'd gotten to understand him pretty well, but he guessed he was wrong if he hadn't seen this coming.

"Where are you, Keith?"

Keith sneezed.

The shopkeeper laughed, even as he passed over his newly purchased box of rations. "Catching a cold, kid?"

"Maybe," Keith muttered, taking the box, "-or maybe someone's just talkin' about me."

"Superstition from the non-Galra parent?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Somethin' like that." Keith shrugged, not keen on providing more information than that. It didn't feel like the shopkeeper was fishing, but no need to take the risk. "You know any place around here where you can get a cheap datapad?"

He was probably going to need one. The computer on his ship had a lot of information on it, but it would be handy to have something he could carry around with him.

Information gathering had... not gone well, unfortunately. He'd dredged up a lot of rumors, but nothing that he was really looking for. There was a lot of talk about the paladins- he guessed their assault on Central Command was going to be a hot topic for awhile. He hadn't heard anything about a rebellion of any kind, even though he'd asked around here and there.

Either they hadn't heard of any, or nobody trusted a half-Galra kid with that information.

"Yeah, two blocks up," the shopkeeper told him, indicating with his hand, "-there's a place that sells used electronics. You can get some pretty good deals on the stuff so long as you don't care about having the latest model."

"Nah, that don't matter to me." Keith said. "Thanks fer the tip."

"No problem. Thanks for the business."

Tucking the box underneath his arm, he quickly found the shop. He picked out one of the cheaper datapads, even though the owner tried to upsell one of the newer models to him. He stuck with his guns, and walked out of there with the model he'd picked instead. It was apparently twenty years out of date, but as long as it worked, that was all he cared about.

The newest piece of tech he and his dad owned were their hoverbikes. Everything else was vintage electronics, some of them predating World War Three. His cellphone was a thirty year old flip phone that his father had refurbished and connected to the cellular network. He knew it drove Adam insane every time he saw it.

(He was pretty sure it would also drive Pidge insane. Hunk might get it, though.)

Tucking the datapad into his jacket pocket, he paused to check the state of his funds. At most he'd probably have enough for the docking fee at the next port, but that was it. He wouldn't have enough leftover for even the cheapest of motels.

Yawning, he tucked the wallet away. Oh well. That was tomorrow's problem. Right now he should head back to the motel, and-

-oh wait. There was one more thing he wanted to buy.

"Hey," he ducked his head back into the shop, "-you know where a guy can buy spray paint 'round here?"

They did. Keith bought two cans of bright blue spray paint.

Maybe spray painting the Voltron insignia on the walls of the port wasn't a good idea. Would that stop him? Well, it sure as heck hadn't stopped him from spray painting the walls of the Garrison before he'd enrolled as a cadet- and then again after he'd been kicked out. And it definitely wasn't going to stop him now.

Besides, a place like this definitely didn't have cops.

"Olia, take a look at this."

His companion came to a halt, her eyes following where he was pointing. Someone had already begun the process of cleaning it off, but they could still make out the distinctive symbol of Voltron that someone had spray painted onto the wall.

"That's the symbol of Voltron, right?" He asked, making sure to keep his voice low. "The one you were telling me about?"

"It sure is," Olia stared at it, "-I never thought I'd see it in a place like this. Good eye, Matt."

He had to agree. This was his first time here, but while the aliens running this port didn't exactly seem like they were allies of the Galra Empire, they weren't exactly unfriendly to it either- which was probably why they were even bothering to clean this particular graffiti up, when there was a lot of other older stuff left up on the walls.

It kind of reminded him of Keith.

He'd never exactly gotten the chance to get to know the kid Shiro took under his wing that well, but he knew of him, at least. The first year Matt had been at the Garrison, there'd been a commotion over some graffiti that someone had left on the walls of one of the Garrison's hangars. They hadn't caught the one responsible- they'd gotten away, but pretty much everyone in the high command had known who it was.

A year later, Keith Kogane enrolled as a cadet.

"Hey, I didn't get them fixed before leaving on my space adventure for nothing." Matt said, mimicking the act of pushing up his old glasses. "Who do you think left it? Another rebel?"

"Not sure," Olia frowned, "-not one we have any contact with, at least. It could just be a sympathizer."

"Could be." Matt said. "Should we ask around? Maybe we could pick up a new recruit."

"Quietly." Olia warned. "We don't want to attract any attention before we get what we came here for."

Matt just nodded. She didn't have to tell him twice. There was a Galra ship scheduled to dock at this port in around five hours, and it was critical that they get on board during that time. It was their only ticket in to their final destination- a Galra colony deep within Commander Gnov's territory.

"Got it," Matt said, "-keep it quiet."

"Make sure to get every last trace of it off the wall!"

Keith smirked.

By the time he woke up and checked out of the motel the next morning, a crowd had already gathered around the wall he'd tagged the previous night. Standing at the forefront of the crowd was a Galran wearing the red and black armor of a Commander, barking orders at what could only be a bunch of port employees.

They were furiously erasing his graffiti from the wall.

Guess he'd really managed to piss somebody off this time.

Yawning, he adjusted the strap of the bag he'd... acquired the previous night. He'd tucked away the rations and the datapad he'd bought last night, plus the leftover can of spray paint. All he had to do was grab something to eat, and then get out of here. He'd probably hit up a civilian port next-

"-over there."

Keith's ears stood straight up, his gaze darting in the direction of the voice. There were a pair of Galran foot soldiers talking to a man he abruptly recognized as the owner of the shop he'd bought the spray paint in.

He was pointing right at him.

Well. Fuck. Guess this place did have cops.

"Hey! Hold it!"

Keith froze. Mistake number one- he should have just bolted.

(Sorry, dad.)

The pair of foot soldiers wasted no time in closing the gap between them. Keith had to fight the urge to tug his hood down lower over his head, hoping that neither of them noticed his resemblance to the red paladin of Voltron.

"Alright kid," one of them said, "-let's see your identity card."

Keith exhaled. Okay. If they were asking for his ID, they probably hadn't made the connection. He could still make a run for it, but he wasn't confident he knew this place well enough to make it back to his ship without issue. Maybe he could still talk his way out of this.

"Why?" Keith asked. "I don't recall doin' anythin'."

"We have it on good authority that someone matching your description bought spray paint yesterday," the other soldier said, "-spray paint that matches the color of the treasonous graffiti over there."

"Well it wasn't me." Keith said.

"In that case," the soldier said, "-you won't have any problem with letting us see your identity card."

Keith narrowed his eyes- but after a few ticks, fished out the card in question. The soldier took it from him, bringing up the display.

"Yorak, from the port of Ntia, correct?" The soldier said, to which he gave a curt nod. "It says you're mixed. With what?"

"Don't know." Keith shrugged. "My mom was the Galra parent. Never knew my dad."

"Just another mixed port brat then," the other foot soldier whispered, like he thought he couldn't hear him, "-maybe that shopkeep was just trying to stir up trouble for him."

"Hm," the soldier considered it, handing him back his identity card- which he didn't hesitate to take, "-just in case, open up your bag."

Well. Shit. So much for trying to talk his way out of this one.

"Why?" Keith narrowed his eyes. "I told y'all it wasn't me."

"In that case, you have nothing to hide," the soldier said, "-open your bag."

Nope. Definitely wasn't doing that.

Keith shifted his weight slightly on one foot- and instantly, the two foot soldiers dropped into a stance, ready for an attack. But instead, he pivoted on his heel and ran, completely blindsiding the both of them. By the time they reacted, he'd already scrambled up a roof. He might lose them easier in the crowd, sure- but running through a crowd was a lot more difficult than running across rooftops.

Besides, he was pretty sure the Galra didn't know parkour.

"Commander! He's up there!"

Casting a glance over his shoulder, Keith caught sight of the Commander turning around. He wasn't as burly as Sendak, but still had a lot of muscle on him. Ordinarily he'd love to have a chance to fight him, but now was very much not the time.

(Thanks, dad.)

"Stop!"

Matt briefly froze in his tracks, before just as quickly realizing that the command wasn't directed at him. Looking up, he caught a flash of purple and black darting across the rooftops, a proper horde of Galra foot soldiers chasing the figure from the ground. He watched as they leapt off a roof, grabbing a pole and easily flipping on top of it, before using that momentum to launch himself to yet another roof.

Holy shit. Was that parkour.

"Olia," he whispered to his comrade, "-Olia, I think that's the graffiti guy."

Olia cast a glance in his direction. Whoever he was, he was fast, because he'd already almost disappeared from view. Less fast was the Galran Commander chasing after him, all bulk and no speed.

He didn't get a good look at the person being chased- just enough to determine they were probably Galra. Though based on their slight figure, he was willing to bet he was probably mixed. There was no mistaking that purple skin and those ears as belonging to any other race, though.

"You sure?" Olia asked. "Looked like just another mixed port kid to me. It is not uncommon to see them get chased."

"Trust me," Matt said, "-it's the vibes."

Actually, he wasn't so sure why he was so sure. Maybe it was just the vibes.

"I... don't understand what you mean by vibes, but I'll take you at your word." Olia said. "Do you think he needs assistance?"

Matt shook his head. He'd love to help, but...

"We've got our mission," he said, before a hint of a smile crept onto his face, "-besides, something tells me he'll be fine."

Keith was very much fine.

Keith was in the pilot's seat of his ship, already launching it. He wasted no time in putting some distance between himself and the space station, only letting himself relax when it was clear that there was no pursuit.

That could have gone better.

But it could have also gone a lot worse, so he'd just call that a win.

He'd definitely be going to a civilian port next.

Pidge groaned, the sound of her laptop's alert dragging her out of her slumber. Pulling herself out of bed, she trudged across the room, loudly yawning. She almost couldn't remember why the alert was even going off, before she recalled the request Shiro made of her yesterday.

Oh. Right. She'd set it up to track the Empire's bounty system.

Yawning again, she rubbed the back of her neck. She could just go back to sleep. The odds that it was actually Keith seemed pretty low. She was tracking all bounties, not just his.

Eh. Couldn't hurt to check.

Clicking on the alert, she fought the urge to yawn again. Looked like it was just some Galra. Shutting her laptop, she flopped back into her bed, pulling her covers back over her. Guess even some Galra ran afoul of the Empire.

...some Galra with a really familiar haircut?

Bolting upright, Pidge was now suddenly very awake. Throwing off her covers, she threw her laptop back open, bringing the bounty back up again. The images they used were obviously ripped from security footage, but- and not to quote Lance- she'd recognize that mullet anywhere.

Except its owner was, inexplicably, purple.

Chapter Text

"You guys need to see- where are Allura and Coran?"

Pidge stopped herself short, scanning the table as if she expected that the Alteans would manifest if she squinted hard enough. Based on the bags underneath her eyes that indicated she hadn't slept much, Shiro wouldn't be surprised if she did.

"They're doing their morning check of the Castle's systems." Hunk said. "But they should be here in a few minutes. You said you needed to show us something?"

"And why do you look like you haven't slept?" Lance asked, arching a brow.

"Great question. They're related," Pidge said, "-but also it should probably wait until Allura and Coran get here. They kind of need to see this too."

"Is this about Keith?" Shiro hazarded a guess.

Pidge nodded, setting her laptop down on the table. Shiro frowned, exchanging a look with Hunk and Lance, the latter of whom shrugged and got to his feet. He grabbed the kitchen's intercom, clearing his throat.

"Allura and Coran," he said, doing his best impression of a school principal calling students to his office, "-you're both needed in the breakfast nook. A Pidge Holt is looking for you."

Shiro just arched a brow as Lance slid back into his seat.

It didn't take long for Allura and Coran to show up, at least. They entered the kitchen a few minutes later, with Coran looking slightly out of breath.

"What is it?" Allura asked. "Is it the Galra?"

"Not the Galra, no," Pidge said, an odd hesitation in her voice, "-but I... might have found a clue about Keith?"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Allura clapped, taking a seat with practiced grace. "Did you manage to track his location?"

"Not exactly, no." Pidge said, opening up her laptop. "But I rigged up that program Shiro requested to track Empire bounties and,-"

"-wait," Lance cut her off, "-are you saying mullet's gotten himself into trouble already? It hasn't even been a week yet!"

"Oh wow," Hunk muttered, "-he's more of a delinquent than we thought."

"Well... yes and no." Pidge said. "I'm not even actually sure if who I found is even Keith yet, or if it's just someone who looks a lot like him."

"Pidge," Hunk arched a brow, "-we're in space. We're the only humans out here."

"That's just it." Pidge said. "The person I found isn't human."

Without another word, Pidge turned her laptop around so that they could all see what was displayed on its screen. Shiro felt his brain stutter, like he couldn't quite process what he was looking at. The bounty that Pidge had brought up was for someone who was clearly Galra, but...

"Okay," Lance found his voice first, "-I'll admit it. That resemblance is freaky."

Shiro couldn't deny it. The resemblance was uncanny.

The Galra in question had the same purple skin and solid yellow eyes that he'd come to expect from his people, but their facial structure and hairstyle was all Keith- part of their hair was even the same familiar shade of black. It didn't stop there, though- it was a little difficult to tell from the ripped security cam photos, but their size and overall body shape also looked just about right.

Holstered in a sheath just below a very Keith-like jacket, was a very familiar knife.

"I have to agree with Number Three," Coran admitted, "-why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that was our missing red paladin."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Allura's brows knit together in confusion, "-Keith's not Galra."

Shiro took in and let out a deep breath. "Any chance you can explain, Pidge?"

"Well," Pidge shifted nervously in her seat, "-like I said, I set up that program to track bounties that you asked me about yesterday, but I hadn't quite finished filtering it so that it only tracked ours just yet when I got this alert. To be honest, I nearly went back to sleep after checking it, but..."

"...let's just say Lance was right," Pidge said, "-that mullet really is recognizable."

"See, normally I'd gloat over that," Lance began, "-and I probably will later- but honestly I'm still kind of trying to process this. Are you saying that's Keith?"

"Maybe?" Pidge hesitated. "I mean, I did run the images through a facial recognition program that I rigged up, because obviously, why wouldn't I? And they were almost an exact match, except for the ears of course, but just to be sure I ran it like, three more times after but I got the same result every time-"

"Pidge," Shiro forced his tone to stay as neutral as possible, "-you're rambling."

"Oh, sorry." Pidge awkwardly adjusted her glasses. "Anyways, the point is that the data indicates that there's a high possibility that this Galra is Keith."

Keith. This Galra was Keith.

Shiro fought the urge to shudder. There was something about those solid yellow eyes being set in a face that was so familiar to him that made it feel like something out of a nightmare. But he forced himself to take in and let out a long breath instead, tempering his reaction. Because if this was true... if this really was Keith, then he was starting to understand why he might have chosen to run away.

"Okay, is anyone else freaking out?" Hunk asked. "Because I'm freaking out. No? Just me?"

"It's not just you, buddy," Lance assured him, "-trust me."

"Can you tell us anything more about this... Keith look alike?" Allura asked.

"Not much," Pidge frowned, "-apparently the bounty is for anti-Empire graffiti, plus resisting questioning and subsequently arrest."

"Didn't Shiro say something earlier about Keith doing graffiti?" Hunk asked.

"He's been... known to dabble." Shiro admitted, unable to keep himself from wildly underselling the scope of his hobby. "Anything else you can tell us, Pidge?"

"Well, I've got the location of the port that the bounty was issued at, but I doubt he's there anymore. It's in Galra occupied territory, but it's not technically aligned with the Empire." Pidge said. "Also the translation for names is always a little shaky, but I think it says his name is Yorak?"

Yorak. Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course it was.

Pidge caught his eye. "...Shiro?"

"Yorak," Shiro began, "-is Keith's middle name."

"Wait," Lance's brow furrowed, "-his middle name is Yorak?"

"Well, one of them at least." Shiro said. "His full name is Keith Akira Yorak Kogane."

Allura frowned, clearly considering that piece of information. "Yorak is a Galra name. A rather old one, but..."

"Hey, whoa," Hunk cut her off, "-not to interrupt, but like, there's plenty of girls on Earth named Shay, and I'm sure you could even find a few Rolos. Just- just thought that might be a good thing to keep in mind before we go racing off to any conclusions."

"Hunk's got a point." Shiro said. "Besides, I've known Keith and his father for years. I think I would have noticed if he was Galra."

There was something that was nagging at him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He put it out of his mind for the time being- if he couldn't pinpoint it, it probably wasn't that important.

"Yeah, plus Keith and his dad are the ones who showed us where the blue lion was." Lance said. "Which, I guess it's a little weird that they knew where to find it, but they are both nature freaks, and it was on their property, so..."

"Yeah, yeah." Hunk nodded. "If Keith or his dad were secretly Galra, they never would have helped us."

"Plus it definitely would have come up on the Garrison's physicals." Pidge added. "So I think it's safe to assume that Keith isn't Galra."

She hesitated, glancing back at her laptop. "...or he wasn't."

"True," Allura admitted, "-the Galra are also not exactly shapeshifters. And there was nothing to indicate he was using any kind of tech to conceal his true appearance on the initial scan the Castle did of all five of you, so it is... difficult to believe he could have been hiding what he was."

"So wait," Lance said, "-are we saying this Galra is actually Keith? Because I'm pretty sure I don't remember mullet having cat ears."

"Actually they look more like caracal ears than cat ears," Hunk interjected, mimicking the now very prominent pair of ears Keith had with his hands, "-they've got that same tuft of fur, see?"

"Same thing." Lance rolled his eyes. "What I want to know is why he's suddenly Galra."

"Maybe Zarkon did something to him during their fight?" Hunk suggested.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "I don't think Zarkon can just turn people Galra, Hunk."

"Likely not," Allura agreed, "-however... you said he fought a druid?"

"I mean, I don't know if that's what they're called," Pidge exchanged a look with Lance and Hunk, "-but he definitely went after some freaky Galra with robes and a mask."

"No, that's most definitely a druid." Coran said. "They're masters of Galra magic."

"Aw man, the Galra have magic too?" Lance whined. "That's so not fair."

Shiro frowned, absorbing that information. The more he looked at the Galra named Yorak, the more convinced he was that they were actually Keith. And if he didn't miss the implications of Allura's words...

"...you're saying you think this druid did something to Keith," he concluded.

"I cannot be certain," Allura admitted, "-but it does seem to be the likeliest explanation."

They lapsed into silence at her words, exchanging looks with one another. It was a difficult idea to wrap their heads around, but they'd seen a lot of other strange stuff since becoming paladins. They'd fought a robot that Shiro was pretty sure had been a person, once. Someone being forcibly transformed into another race didn't sound that far-fetched in comparison.

"...his visor was tinted after I extracted him," Pidge mused, "-he said it was because of a malfunction, but-"

"-but what if he was just trying to hide his face?" Hunk finished.

Shiro's eyes narrowed. He'd thought it was a little strange at the time, but they'd had bigger things to worry about then so none of them had really dwelled on it.

In hindsight... maybe they should have.

"But you're positive it was really him?" Allura asked.

"That was definitely Keith." Shiro said. "I don't think an imposter would have been able to fly the red lion like that."

"Plus you know," Hunk added, "-the accent."

"That's why he ran away, isn't it?" Lance asked, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Because he thought we would freak out."

"Yeah, yeah." Hunk agreed. "And that's why nobody at that port said they saw him. Because we were showing them the wrong picture. We were looking for a human, only Keith wasn't human anymore. Oh, oh man. It makes so much sense."

"But surely he could have talked to us?" Allura asked. "We would have understood."

The rest of the paladins turned a silent look towards her. Allura stiffened, before letting out a long breath, clearly picking up on their drift.

"...yes, I suppose I might have made that a bit difficult," she admitted, "-but I would never reject any of you for being forced to become something you're not."

"Yeah, but does Keith know that?" Pidge asked.

They shared another silent look with one another, before mutually coming to the same conclusion. No. Keith probably didn't. Keith had always been a bit of an outsider. He was the only one here that he had some kind of a connection too, but...

Shiro stared down at his right arm, carefully flexing his fingers. Maybe he was the one Keith wanted to see him like that the least.

"...so now what?" Lance asked.

"We keep looking." Shiro said. "Hunk and Lance, I'd like you to go back to the port where the red lion crashed and ask around again- but take these pictures this time. See if anyone saw a Galra matching this description. Pidge, you and I will check out that port Keith got that bounty at."

"Now hold on there a tick," Coran cut in, "-need I remind you you're still on restricted activity, Shiro? We wouldn't want those wounds of yours to open back up!"

Shiro fought the urge to groan. It wouldn't be very mature.

"Alright," he sighed, "-Pidge and Allura will go."

"Oh no," Coran said, "-I can't allow the princess to go gallivanting off to some dangerous place like that. We only just got her back from Central Command!"

Allura gave him a soft smile. "Coran, I can appreciate that you are concerned about me. But we cannot allow Pidge to go alone, however capable she might be."

Coran heaved a defeated sigh, clearly unable to stand up to Allura. "Alright. But I want to promise me that you'll be careful. I can't lose you again."

"I promise." Allura assured him. "In the meantime, you and Shiro can go through the archives. Perhaps there's something in them that might give us a clue as to how this happened- and how we might reverse it."

"I think I can manage that." Shiro said.

Truthfully, he'd love to be taking a more active role in this, but Coran had a point. He wouldn't be any good to them if his injuries opened back up. They were a lot better than they had been a few days ago, but it would be awhile before he was fully healed. It probably wasn't too late to go into the healing pod, but...

...but if they found Keith, he wanted to be there.

Studying the images on Pidge's laptop, Shiro furrowed his brow. He couldn't imagine what Keith was going through right now. He didn't have any clear memories of his time with the Galra, but he could still remember the horror he'd felt when he'd woken up and realized that his right arm wasn't his anymore. Keith was a resilient kid, and he was clearly adapting well if he was already up to his old tricks again, but...

...just because he could adapt, didn't mean it was easy.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, Shiro caught Coran's eyes.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Shiro," Coran said, "-we'll find him."

"...thanks, Coran." Shiro said, letting some of the tension in his shoulders fade. He was right. They would find Keith.

Keith sneezed again, a slight frown on his lips.

That was the third time in ten minutes. He hoped it was just someone talking about him, and that he wasn't coming down with a cold. He couldn't exactly afford it right now.

At least he'd been successful at finding a civilian port. This area of space seemed to be largely Galra dominated, but there were a few pockets of unoccupied space left. Out of them, he'd chosen to land on a planet called Canis- a name that felt a little on the nose when the entire planet seemed to be occupied by bipedal canines.

People also regarded him with a lot more suspicion than at the last port.

Keith frowned, pulling up his hood. He'd just have to try and not take it personally. He knew what his kind had done to the universe- he could handle a few suspicious looks. At least he was able to find a place to stay pretty easily- not to mention one he could afford. He'd used up almost all of his GAC paying the docking fee, but thankfully, there were also dirt cheap hostels this far out in space.

If the owner minded a Galra staying overnight, they chose not to say anything.

He only lingered long enough to freshen up a bit, before he was back out on the streets. It was late, but the port was still bustling with activity. He followed the flow of the crowds, looking around for anything that might catch his interest. If he happened to snatch the wallet of a drunk while he was out and about, well... he'd picked someone who looked like they could afford to lose it.

At least that solved his monetary problems.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Keith came to a halt in front of a row of televisions. They were all tuned to the same news program- some kind of local broadcast. There had been another news channel back on the Galra colony too, if you could call a load of propaganda 'news'. This program was in the local language as opposed to Galran or Common- the only two space languages his dad had taught him to speak, so he couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying, but...

...he was pretty sure they were talking about Voltron.

In spite of himself, Keith grinned. Always nice to know they were making waves.

Except. Well. He guessed it wasn't them. He wasn't a part of Voltron anymore.

Tearing his eyes away from the program, he found a small hole in the wall bar that was bustling with activity. He grabbed a seat at the bar, pulling out his datapad to try and figure out his next move. He didn't think he'd learn too much about his mom's rebels here, but he'd also rather avoid any military ports for the time being.

He hadn't checked yet, but something told him he probably had more than one bounty now.

"Try Mundor."

Keith's ears perked up, glancing up at the bartender. They tapped his datapad, indicating one of the planets outlined in purple, marking it as a Galra colony.

"It might be a Galra colony, but Mundor's a huge shipping hub." The bartender said. "Lots of things fly under the radar there. Great place to stay for awhile if the Empire's looking for you."

Keith arched a brow. "What makes you think the Galra Empire is lookin' fer me?"

The woman just laughed. "I know a mixed kid when I see one. Trying to avoid conscription?"

Keith made a non-committal hum. "Yeah. Somethin' like that."

"Figured," the bartender said, "-everyone knows the Empire treats kids like you like dirt. Especially if they're from the fringes."

Keith's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How do you know I'm from the fringes?"

"The accent kind of gives it away," the bartender said, "-not one I've heard before, and I've had a lot of kids like you pass through here. Which means you're probably from a newer colony. Which means the fringes."

Oh. Right. That made sense. It just somehow hadn't dawned on him that his accent carried over even when he wasn't speaking English. In hindsight, it probably should have- Shiro always told him that he had a really distinct accent whenever he spoke Japanese, even though his dad had been teaching him it since he was practically in diapers.

"Yeah," Keith admitted, "-guess that does make it kinda obvious."

The bartender chuckled. "So what'll it be?"

"I'm good with whatever." Keith said, cautiously pulling down his hood. A few patrons gave him the side eye, but most chose to ignore him. "You got anythin' to eat in this place?"

"Sure do," the bartender replied, "-how do you feel about fried intestines?"

Keith's ears perked up, which was apparently all the answer she needed. She let out an actual bark of laughter, retreating to the other end of the bar and returning a few moments later with a can of what had to be beer and a platter of fried goodness. The beer tasted terrible, and the fried intestines were incredible.

Okay. Best planet he'd been on so far.

"I'm Kai," the bartender said after a moment, "-you got a name, kid?"

Keith considered the question for a moment. "Yorak."

He was still a little wary, but something told him he could trust this woman. His instincts almost never served him wrong- they were what lead him to giving Shiro the same wary trust all those years ago. He hadn't actually thought much of him at first, dismissing him as some straight-laced poster boy who had only approached him because he was the type who was equally nice to everyone.

That last part had been true. The first part? Not so much.

"Yorak," Kai repeated, "-you planning on sticking around here long?"

"Probably not." Keith said. "Need to keep movin'."

The odds of the paladins finding him on a non-Galra occupied planet were exponentially higher than they were on a Galra occupied one. It hadn't even been a full week yet, so they were probably still looking for him. He'd reckon they'd give up after another week or so, fixing their attention on finding a new paladin for Red instead.

"Smart," Kai said, "-you'll want to stay away from the Javeeno star system, though. It's got a real nasty bugger named Sendak in charge. A real purist, too."

"Yeah," Keith's nose crinkled at the mention of his name, "-I've heard of him."

He was also probably dead, near as he could figure. He wasn't sure how the life support on the pod he'd been in worked, but it had to run out at some point once unhooked from the Castle's systems. For all he knew, he'd died in the middle of space somewhere.

Good riddance.

(It had also been Shiro who had ejected him into space.)

Keith idly munched on the fried intestines in silence for awhile. He kept his ears perked, but as expected, in a place like this almost everyone was speaking the local language instead of Common. There were a handful of linguistic similarities to Galran, but not enough for him to actually follow what anyone was saying.

Narrowing his eyes in thought, he cast a glance towards Kai. "Uh, can I ask you a question?"

Kai arched a brow, but shrugged. "Sure, kid."

"Have you..." Keith trailed off, dropping his voice considerably, "...have you heard 'bout any rebel groups or anythin'? Like- like a resistance."

Kai stared at him for a long moment- long enough that he started to feel uncomfortable, his ears flattening slightly against his head. But then she smiled, white teeth standing out against dark brown fur.

"Oh," she whispered, an almost conspiratorial twinkle in her eye, "-you're not just trying to avoid conscription, are you?"

Keith chewed on his lip, opting to just wordlessly nod.

"I think I might be able to help you out." Kai said, leaning closer. "Bar closes five vargas from now. Come back then, around to the back. We can talk without any prying ears."

Keith frowned, feeling a twinge of suspicion. But this was also the best lead he'd had so far, so he just nodded. "Five vargas. Got it. How much do I owe you?"

"For you?" Kai's eyes glittered. "Consider it already paid."

"Hunk and Lance, reporting in."

"Nice to hear from the two of you." Shiro said, turning his full focus towards the display screen that had popped up at the front of the bridge. "You two find anything?"

"Sure did," Lance said, "-turns out a couple people here did see a Galra matching our Keith look alike's description, just a day after the red lion crashed here."

"One of them also said they sold him a knife sheath," Hunk added, "-which you know... Keith does have. A knife, that is. He left his sheath back on the Castle. Except now I guess he has two of those. Since. You know. He bought one."

Shiro's eyes narrowed. "Then that about settles it. Yorak is definitely Keith."

Which was... a lot to process.

It wasn't like he had a problem with it now that he'd gotten over his initial kneejerk reaction, though if he was being honest... he could understand why Keith had come to the conclusion that he might. It stung, but he could see his reasoning.

"I can't believe mullet got turned into a Galra," Lance said, "-I mean, if these druid things can do that to him, doesn't it mean they could do it to any of us?"

"Yeah, I would not look good with purple fur." Hunk said.

"We don't know that for sure." Shiro said. "And there's no point in thinking about that right now. The only thing we need to concentrate on is finding Keith."

"Copy that." Lance said. "We'll head back to the Castle. You hear anything from Allura and Pidge yet?"

"Not yet," Coran said, "-but we're not expecting to hear from them for another varga or so. They're traveling by pod, after all, not by lion. Slower going."

Shiro cast an eye in Coran's direction. It sounded a lot like he was trying to convince himself of that. He was probably just worried about Allura.

He could sympathize. Recent developments had him a lot more worried about Keith than he had been before. At least Yorak's bounty was comparatively small compared to Keith's, but if he knew anything about him, it was that it might not stay that way for long. And if anyone managed to connect him to the red paladin of Voltron...

...he didn't like to think about that.

Keith returned an hour early.

He spent the rest of the hour staking out the bar from across the street. He'd clambered up on top of a roof, hiding himself in the shadows. Usually he hated sitting still, but his father had taught him patience through hunting- how sometimes the best way to catch your target off guard was to wait. He watched the bar with that same focus, trying to determine if there were any signs that Kai intended to sell him out.

He didn't notice any.

His datapad buzzed in his jacket pocket, his timer going off. Shutting it off, he leapt down from the roof and crossed the street, heading through the alley to the back of the bar. It was empty, but it wasn't long before the door cracked open, and Kai stepped out.

She wasn't alone.

Automatically, Keith's hand went for his knife. But the tall man that accompanied her merely held up his hands in a universal gesture of 'I mean no harm', and Keith slowly relaxed. His skin was a desaturated shade of blue, with thick sideburns leading into a short, but thick beard of white hair. He was wearing a long coat, and what looked like a cross between a flight suit and almost leather-like armor.

"This the kid you wanted me to meet, Kai?"

"This is him." Kai said. "Yorak, this is Lieutenant Ozar."

"Lieutenant?" Keith asked, his ears twitching quizzically. "Of like, an army?"

Kai's lips twitched in what had to be a grin. "You asked about the rebellion."

Keith's ears perked up in realization. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him that there might be another rebel group aside from his mother's, but in hindsight, it really should have been obvious. Rolo had told them as much- that he'd once been fighting against Zarkon sincerely, before he'd fallen into the life of a bounty hunter.

There was no way he could have been the only one.

"Nice to meet you, kid," Ozar stuck out his arm, "-Kai here says you're looking to make some trouble."

Keith hesitated a moment, but eventually grasped the man's forearm like his father had taught him to. "If you'll have me."

This... wasn't quite what he'd set out to find, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. A rebellion was a rebellion, and he'd rather be fighting against Zarkon than sitting on his ass doing nothing. And for all he knew, maybe these rebels had a way to contact his mother's- or maybe his mother's rebels were keeping tabs on them.

His dad always said he and his mom looked alike.

"We welcome anyone who wants to fight against the Empire. Doesn't matter where they come from." Ozar said, releasing his forearm. "And we could actually use someone with Galra blood right about now."

Kai tapped Ozar's shoulder. "I'll leave the two of you alone. The less I know about rebel business, the better. Do tell my sister I said hello, though."

"Will do." Ozar nodded. "And thanks for the tip."

Keith watched her go. Guess she had family out there, fighting against the Empire.

"You said you needed someone with Galra blood?" Keith asked, cocking his head to one side.

Ozar's expression turned grim. "A few movements ago, several of our members were captured by Empire forces. We were able to track their prison ship down, and we've got a plan to break them out, but it would be a hell of a lot easier with someone who could actually access their tech on our side."

"A prison break?" Keith asked. "I'm up fer that."

Ozar arched his brows. "You've got experience?"

"Well," Keith lips twitched upwards in a smile, "-let's just say I have plenty of experience bein' arrested."

By human cops, on his home planet. But Ozar didn't need to know about that part. He didn't want to say anything that could link him back to the paladins, not even to those who could be potential allies. He also didn't need to know that he'd never broken out per say- more like slipped away from the cops on occasion before they finished processing his arrest. It only came back to bite him in the ass once.

Ozar let out a bark of laughter. "You know kid, I think I'm going to like you."

"We'll have to see if the feelin's mutual." Keith said, crossing his arms in front of him. "No offense."

"None taken." Ozar assured him. "Our pocket of the rebellion's no stranger to how badly mixed kids get treated in the Empire, if you're not lucky enough to catch the attention of their prince. Can't say I blame you for being wary."

Keith tried very hard not to let his brows shoot up. Because prince? That was a new one. He didn't know the Galra Empire had a prince- and given that neither Allura nor Coran had brought it up, he was willing to guess they didn't either.

Although they'd definitely kept the fact that Zarkon had once been the black paladin from them. That was the only way he could explain the weapon he'd used to fight him. It didn't look like a bayard, but the way it could transform left no question in his mind as to what it actually was. It made him wonder what else they'd decided not to mention.

(But it also meant that Zarkon's betrayal ran deeper than he'd ever realized.)

"It ain't about how they treat me," Keith ears pinned themselves back, "-it's about what they're doin' to the universe. It ain't hard to tell it's wrong. I can't just sit around an' watch them wipe out entire worlds just fer some fuckin' quintessence. Doesn't matter if they're my people- matters more 'cause they're my people."

It had been easy not to be ashamed of being Galra back on Earth, when it had just been him and his dad. When he didn't know how bad things were out here. But after seeing it for himself... he had to admit there was some part of him that loathed his Galra blood. It was tempered only by the knowledge that somewhere out there, Galra like his mother were putting their lives on the line to fight the Empire.

More than anything, he wanted to live up to that.

(And now here he was, unable to look anything other than Galra.)

There was something almost... approving in Ozar's gaze.

"It was Yorak, right?" Ozar asked- and dimly, he was aware he was taking him seriously for the first time. It should have felt offensive.

It didn't.

"Yeah," Keith didn't really lie, "-it's Yorak."

"Yorak," Ozar once more stuck out his arm, "-welcome to the rebellion."

Keith didn't hesitate to take his forearm this time.

"Anything?"

Allura gave Pidge a sympathetic smile as she slid into the seat next to her. They had split up to find more information, with a strict timeline to meet back up at their pod. Their heavy cloaks did quite a bit to hide their faces, but Allura had little doubt that there were plenty of bounty hunters here who would have loved nothing more than to claim the rather sizable bounties on both of their heads. Better not to take any chances, then.

"I found a few people who definitely saw him, but from the sound of it, he was long gone before we arrived here." Allura shook her head. "What about you? Did you have any luck?"

"I got pretty much the same," Pidge said, "-I did find some video, though."

"Oh?" Allura arched her brows.

"Yeah," Pidge said, "-security's not that tight around here, surprisingly. I was able to hack into their network and use facial recognition to scrape any footage that Keith showed up in."

"Well," she paused, her nose crinkling, "-Galra Keith, at least."

Yes. Allura couldn't help but frown at that. She had to admit that it was... distressing to see the face of one of her paladins on a Galra. But it was exactly that feeling that had driven Keith away in the first place, without him ever considering talking to one of them about it. Hopefully they would be able to find a way to fix that, but in the meantime, she needed to brace herself for dealing with him while he was in this state.

"Have you looked at any of the footage yet?" Allura asked.

"Not yet." Pidge said. "Thought I'd wait to get somewhere safer first. We taking off?"

Allura nodded. "It does not seem like we will find much more here."

"Can't argue with that." Pidge agreed.

Thankfully, they were able to depart without any complications. Allura focused on steering the ship, while Pidge went over the video footage. She wasn't that far in before a low whistle caught her attention, and Allura glanced over towards the screen. Pidge had paused the footage to show the emblem of Voltron, sprayed onto the wall of the port in a bright, eye-catching blue.

Allura felt something in her heart soften.

Learning about Keith's... less than stellar past had been a bit disheartening, if she were to be completely honest. A low level delinquent did not exactly match up to the image she had built up in her head of a paladin of Voltron- nor did it match up to the image that she had started to build up of Keith. He was quiet, but strong and reliable, even if he could be a touch on the reckless side. It was difficult to reconcile that with someone who had multiple arrests on his record.

But perhaps that was only one part of her new paladin.

"I'm guessing this is what they meant by anti-Empire graffiti," Pidge remarked.

"More than likely," Allura agreed, "-the scale of it is actually quite impressive. I thought it would be smaller."

"Keith's always been stupidly athletic," Pidge said, "-even before he turned Galra. I'm guessing that probably helped."

In spite of herself, Allura giggled. "Perhaps. Is there anything else?"

"Still checking," Pidge said, fast forwarding the video a bit, "-oh, wait, hang on."

She slowed it back down to regular speed just in time for Allura to watch Keith easily scale a building, quickly escaping a pair of Galra foot soldiers. He moved with a considerable amount of agility, quick and light on his feet. The cameras tracked him as he darted across the rooftops, moving in a manner she'd started to become familiar with from the obstacle course training she'd put the paladins through.

Keith had always excelled at it.

"Okay yeah," Pidge said, "-that's definitely Keith. Jesus. We are not going to be able to catch up with him if he runs from us."

Allura had to agree. That would be the trick of it.

Then very abruptly, Pidge paused the video. Allura frowned, glancing at her face. Her eyes were blown wide open, her mouth slightly agape.

It was as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Pidge...?"

Without a single word, Pidge frantically began typing in a command. The footage zoomed in- not on Keith, who was only in the background in this particular shot, but on a figure in the foreground.

...one that looked very human.

"Is that...?"

"That's him," Pidge whispered, "-that's my brother."

Chapter Text

"Welcome back, you two. Did you-"

"Sorry Shiro!" Pidge shouted as she hurried past him. "Debrief with Allura!"

Shiro blinked, turning on his heel to watch Pidge disappear further into the Castleship. Slowly turning back towards Allura in confusion, she gave him an apologetic look.

"It seems while we were looking for information about Keith, Pidge also found information about her brother." Allura explained. "More than likely, she's going to analyze the data she got. But she transmitted a copy of the information she got in regards to Keith to the Castleship's systems first."

"Ah," Shiro glanced over his shoulder in the direction Pidge had gone, "-that would explain the hurry. I'm guessing he wasn't...?"

"Still there?" Allura shook her head. "No. She managed to scrape the station's security footage for any glimpse of him, but it seems that he and another person infiltrated a Galra ship that departed vargas before we arrived."

"Huh," Shiro arched a brow, "-maybe a rebellion?"

That was great news, in more ways than one. For one thing, it meant Matt was free- and if Matt was free, it might mean her father was free too. It also might not mean that, so he'd just keep that to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was get Pidge's hopes up only for them to be dashed. He knew how important her family was to her.

Family. Right. Speaking of that, what was he even going to tell Heath? That he'd just let his son run away from them in the middle of space? That wasn't even bringing what had happened to Keith into it... although something told him the man would accept his now Galra son without so much as a blink of the eye. Hell, if it weren't for what being Galra meant, he was pretty sure Keith would accept it the same way.

That was just what they were like. While everyone else had been freaking out about being shot across space, Keith had just shrugged and accepted it.

"Possibly." Allura said. "Which would be fantastic news if it were true, especially if we could use it to track down Pidge's family. Where is everyone else?"

"They're waiting for us on the bridge." Shiro said. "So- Keith?"

"Already gone," Allura shook her head, "-you were right. He did steal a ship."

Shiro heaved a sigh. Yeah, he'd kind of figured. The only thing he was a little bit surprised by was that Keith had managed to figure out how to hotwire an alien spaceship- but if anyone could do it, Keith could. He'd seen him hotwire one of the Garrison's AW cruisers almost in a matter of seconds. So if he were trying to run from them...

...it made sense.

Allura gave him a look that almost seemed... sympathetic?

"I suppose this is not the first time he has caused trouble for you?" She asked.

"No," Shiro admitted, "-I'm kind of used to Keith getting himself into trouble. This is definitely a step up from his usual antics, though."

Allura gave him a weak smile, which Shiro awkwardly returned. As much as he wanted to defend Keith, he wasn't exactly oblivious to what his... history made him look like to an outsider- especially someone like a princess. But he knew Keith- and he knew that when it came down to it, his heart was always in the right place.

They quickly made their way to the bridge, where Coran eagerly greeted the princess. Lance and Hunk glanced over her shoulder in confusion, before turning to look at him.

"If you're looking for Pidge," Shiro began, "-apparently she also found a clue about her brother, so she's a little busy at the moment."

"Oh," Hunk said, "-yeah, that makes sense."

"Hey, that's great news!" Lance beamed. "...it is, right?"

"It would seem so." Allura smiled. "But for the moment, we should focus on the topic at hand."

"Oh right," Lance said, "-mullet's disappearing act."

Allura hummed in agreement, bringing up one of the castle's display screens. "Pidge and I were able to confirm Keith's presence at the port, but it seems he left several vargas before we arrived. I'm afraid we don't have much to go on."

"I kind of figured he wouldn't make it easy on us." Shiro said.

"Yes, well," Allura smiled, "-it seemed he had no interest in making things easy on the Galra authorities that tried to arrest him as well. Pidge was able to scrape some video footage off of the port's security cameras."

She wasted no time in bringing it up, and Shiro watched with what he could only describe as exasperation at the sight of Keith leading a bunch of soldiers on a chase through the port. If he had any lingering doubts that the Galra named Yorak was actually Keith, well... they were gone now.

Those movements were all Keith.

"Oh no," he heard Lance groan, "-he's even more mobile than before!"

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Hunk admitted, "-because I couldn't keep up with Keith on a good day before, but I'm pretty sure I have like, no chance of that now that he's been... Galra boosted? I guess? Also did he learn parkour to run away from the cops, or..."

Shiro sighed. "Pretty sure he just picked it up as a hobby. He does free solo climbing too."

"Free solo climbing?" Allura asked, tilting her head.

"Rock climbing, but without equipment," Shiro replied, then added with a wince, "-or protection."

"So mullet's insane." Lance said. "Got it."

Shiro opened his mouth and closed it. Yeah, he had no defense for that one. He wasn't going to lie and try to claim that he didn't think Keith's hobbies of choice weren't wildly dangerous. Graffiti was the safe one.

He'd expressed his concerns to Heath once, but he'd just laughed them off. Keith was made of sturdy stuff, just like his mom, he'd say.

"So in other words, Number Four is highly adept at running away." Coran observed, thoughtfully stroking one end of his mustache. "That could make things difficult."

"Unfortunately." Shiro admitted.

"Well that sucks." Lance frowned. "You don't think we could like, put out a bounty of our own on him or something? You know, if found, turn over to the paladins of Voltron?"

"Under the circumstances, I'm... not certain that would be the best of ideas." Allura said, her eyes darting towards Keith's now very Galra visage displayed onscreen.

"Oh," Lance blanched, "-right. Good point."

"We might be able to track his ship, though." Hunk piped up, holding up a data chip. "I was able to get a copy of its registration while Lance and I were checking out the port. The owner already filed a report, so if anyone reports it..."

Shiro perked up. "Nice thinking, Hunk."

"Yes, good idea." Coran said. "If you give it here, I can even rig up the Castle to alert us if anyone does so."

"Aw, it's nothing." Hunk said, handing Coran the data chip. "I said it was for paladin business, and they just handed it right over."

Coran took the chip, inserting it into the console. It brought up a few blueprints of the stolen ship in question, as well as some other information, but it was all in some alien language that he didn't recognize. Coran had no problem interpreting it, but he was starting to wonder if they should put some effort into learning what they called Common. The translators in their helmets did a lot of the heavy lifting, but...

Ah well. Idea for another day, maybe.

"Just a few more adjustments, and... ah, there we are!" Coran said. "Now we'll be alerted the moment anyone files a report about Number Four's... requisitioned ship, shall we say."

Shiro smiled. "Thanks, Coran. Hopefully that will-"

The Castle's alert abruptly cut him off.

"Oh," Coran glanced over his shoulder in mild surprise, "-hm. Seems someone already has. How about that?"

Shiro opened his mouth to say something, but was once again cut off by Pidge bursting onto the bridge, her laptop tucked under one arm.

"Shiro!" She yelled. "I think Keith got arrested!"

...right. Of course.

Well. This sucked.

Staring at the ceiling, Keith pointedly ignored the officer that was attempting to interrogate him. He seemed convinced that his presence here was part of some kind of larger Galra scheme, which was dumb as hell. What did he even think the Galra hoped to accomplish by sending out a single teenager?

Ugh. He couldn't believe he'd gotten arrested.

He'd parted ways with Lieutenant Ozar, after arranging to meet him in a few hours at his ship. He'd take him to meet the other rebels, where he'd be given a more detailed rundown on the plan that they already had in progress. He'd planned to go back to the hostel and sleep for a few hours before he had to leave, but...

...well. Turned out his stolen ship had come back to bite him in the ass.

So here he was, in a police interrogation room. It was somehow a strangely familiar feeling, despite the fact that the two police officers that had been put in charge of questioning him were both bipedal canine aliens. One had introduced themself as Kore, and the other... well, the other was the one yapping about secret Galra plans, so Keith had immediately forgotten his name.

They'd handcuffed him- which were proving a lot harder to break out of than the ones he was familiar with back on Earth. With enough effort, he could probably wiggle his wrists free, but not without damaging them at a point in time when he couldn't afford that. They'd also confiscated his knife and datapad, which were sitting on a table just out of his reach.

He'd almost given them the slip, too- but it was just his luck that a race of bipedal canines had a sense of smell that could put Earth dogs to shame.

"Hey!" The officer barked. "Are you even listening, brat!?"

Keith sighed. He did not have the time for this.

"Nope," Keith admitted, dropping his gaze back down towards him, "-'cause you sure ain't listenin' to me. Like I keep tellin' you, I don't got nothin' to do with the Empire."

"Yeah?" The man leaned in. "Then what are you doing here, with a stolen ship?"

Keith rolled his eyes, despite the gesture being useless in his current form. "What does it look like? I'm a runaway."

"A likely story," the officer sneered, "-you had best just admit it, kid."

"I ain't admittin' nothin'," Keith hissed, "-'cause I ain't done nothin' wrong."

"You did steal a ship," Kore pointed out, "-under intergalactic law, that's a Class B felony."

Keith just huffed. "They can have it back. I'm done with it."

"I don't think you understand the position you're in, kid." The other officer leaned closer, doubtlessly trying to intimidate him.

Keith just turned his head to ignore him.

"Why you-!"

"Officer Dyl," Kore cut him off with a smile that basically radiated annoyance, "-it's obvious that you're not getting anywhere with the suspect. Why don't you let me question him for a few doboshes instead?"

The officer whose name Keith fully intended to forget again just glared at Kore, before finally grumbling and getting up from his seat. Keith watched him go out of the corner of his eye, before turning his full attention back towards Kore.

"So what is this?" Keith asked. "Good cop, bad cop?"

Kore only tilted their head, like he wasn't familiar with the phrase. Guess some things weren't universal.

"Do you know," Kore began, "-that the Galra Empire has a bounty out for you?"

Keith tried not to flinch, before Kore slid a datapad over and showed him the bounty in question. Slowly exhaling, he was relieved to see his Galra face staring back at him. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be a good look for the paladins if someone associated him with well... himself.

Also wait. Since when did Yorak have a bounty with the Empire?

"It says you're wanted for anti-Empire graffiti," Kore continued, "-and evading questioning and subsequent arrest."

...oh. Right. That made sense.

"And?" Keith arched a brow. "There a point to this?"

"Just wanted to make sure you understood I don't share my coworker's... sentiments." Kore said with a smile, putting the datapad away. "Yorak, right? You have any family?"

...okay, yeah. Now he saw where this was going.

"If I did," Keith lied, "-do you think I would be here?"

"Fair point." Kore admitted. "Now, since this is your first offense, I think we may be able to let you off easy."

"What, with like a warnin'?" Keith perked up.

"Not that easy," Kore said, "-a Class B felony isn't something we can just overlook, even for a first time offender. You'll definitely have to serve some jail time, I'm afraid."

Keith clicked his tongue. Damn. He'd been hoping that he could get out of here without a fuss. The last thing he wanted was for Ozar to leave without him and lose what might be his one chance at hooking up with a rebellion.

Clearly, there was only one way out of this.

"You guys got a bathroom in this place?" Keith asked.

"We do," Kore responded, "-you need it?"

"Wouldn't have asked if I didn't," Keith lied.

Kore chuckled, standing up. "Fair enough. Come on."

And that was his cue. Keith sprung to his feet, knocking over the table and shoving Kore off his feet with it. Before the officer could recover, Keith grabbed his knife and datapad, using the former to break the connector between his cuffs. Hastily tucking the datapad back into his jacket, he kicked down the door and did the only thing he could think of- make a break for it.

He was luckier this time.

He also learned from his earlier attempt at getting away from these cops and automatically took to the roofs. They might have a superior sense of smell, but he was clearly the more agile one. Darting from rooftop to rooftop, he eventually lost them.

Glancing over his shoulder, he let out a long breath. Well. That wasn't going to do him any favors. He definitely should avoid coming back here.

At least he had another ride out of here.

Unsheathing his knife, he transformed it in a flash. Very carefully, he sliced off the actual cuffs, letting them fall onto the roof with a clatter. Returning his blade to knife form, he sheathed it, idly rubbing his wrists as he mulled over his next step. He couldn't stay in one place for too long- just because he'd lost them, it didn't mean they wouldn't eventually track him back down again. That was how they'd caught him in the first place.

His best chance at getting out of here was to head straight to Ozar's ship.

Switching on his datapad, he brought up its location. Ozar had loaded it in, along with a map before they'd parted ways. It looked like he just had to get...

...all the way to the other side of the port.

Yeah, that figured.

With a huff, Keith pocketed his datapad, pulling his hood up. Might as well get going.

He stuck to the rooftops, pausing every once in awhile to duck into the shadows to hide himself from passing cops. He tried to keep downwind as much as possible, wishing not for the first time he could still transform. His human face would stick out here just as much as his Galra face, but at least it would change his scent enough to give them the slip.

Of course, he wouldn't be in this situation if he could still transform.

Thankfully he was able to make it across town without too much of a problem. Double checking the location on his datapad, he eventually found the ship. He lingered for a few minutes, watching it with a wary eye before he decided it was safe enough to approach. He believed that Ozar was who he said he was, but a little caution never hurt anyone.

(Why did it feel like Adam was rolling his eyes at him? He could be careful.

Sometimes.)

Ozar took note of him as he approached, looking a little surprised. "You're early. Something come up?"

"You could say that," Keith tiled his head, "...someone might have reported my ship as stolen?"

Ozar blinked, then let out a bark of laughter. "Can't even lecture you for that one. I did the same thing when I was your age. You need a ride out of here?"

"Yes," Keith said, "-uh. Please?"

"Well then consider me your ride." Ozar said, gesturing to the inside of his ship. "Come on. Unless you've changed your mind about joining the rebellion?"

Keith just huffed. "Be a cold day in hell before I do that."

"I don't know where this hell is," and Keith had to fight the urge to snort at that, "-but I think I get the sentiment. Let's go."

Ozar ducked into his ship, and Keith followed him inside. It looked a lot like the ship Rolo and Nyma had flown- a real clunker that stood in total contrast to the clean and pristine halls of the Castle. If Keith was being perfectly honest, this probably suited him better. He'd never gotten used to how... sterile everything in the Castle seemed.

Well, except for Pidge's lab and the kitchen after Hunk got done with a culinary experiment. There was now a stain on the ceiling of the latter that Coran couldn't get out no matter what he tried.

(Hunk had been very, very sorry.)

"Here," Ozar passed him a datapad, "-it'll take us a few varga to get there. You should familiarize yourself with the mission parameters before we arrive."

Keith took it from him, giving the contents a glance. "Where are we headed anyways?"

"Planet Kythra," Ozar said, "-we've got some people to pick up first."

Just one look at the state of the police precinct told Shiro all he needed to know.

Namely, that Keith wasn't here anymore.

Heaving a long sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to fight off the oncoming headache. He really shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't the first time Keith had slipped out of police custody- but it was the first time he'd done it while he was actually in their building.

The circumstances were definitely different this time.

At the very least, Keith hadn't been arrested by the Galra. His stolen ship had been spotted on a planet called Canis, whose population were not friendly to the Empire. Allura and Coran weren't overly familiar with them- apparently they were one of the many races that had cropped up in the ten thousand years since they'd gone into cryosleep.

Turned out, they were bipedal canines.

Huh. The name felt a little on the nose.

(It was also one of the Canid who had been accompanying Matt, which he'd admit, had raised a few brows but had ultimately still felt like a coincidence.)

"Can I help you?"

Shiro tried not to flinch, suddenly snapping back to the present. Right. He still had to actually ask about Keith. He'd managed to convince Coran to let him go alone, and though he'd hemmed and hawed over the state of his injury, he'd eventually conceded that he was unlikely to run into any danger on a planet like this. He'd opted to go in civilian clothes, not exactly wanting to advertise the fact that he was a paladin.

Plus, it might put Keith more at ease.

Pidge and Coran were elsewhere on the planet, asking around about the mystery Canid who Matt had been spotted with. He hoped they had better luck with that than he did. Hunk and Lance were asking around about Keith just in case, while Allura stayed behind on the Castle- something which the princess had grumbled about.

"Uh, I'm looking for someone?" Shiro half-asked. "His name is Ke- Yorak. His name is Yorak."

The receptionist's head finally snapped up, actually seeming to pay attention to him for the first time. Shiro fought the urge to take half a step back underneath her critical gaze, before she heaved an exasperated sigh that quite frankly, Shiro felt in his soul.

"The Galra kid?" She asked. "Yeah. He was here. Now he's not."

Yep. That confirmed this was Keith's fault.

(Also, it was deeply surreal to hear Keith be referred to as a Galra. He might... have to get used to that, if they couldn't figure out a way to fix this.)

"Ah," Shiro said, "-I don't suppose you know where he went...?"

The receptionist looked at him like she thought he was stupid. "If we did, he'd be here. What's your relation to him anyways?"

"He's my... younger half-brother?" Shiro only kind of lied.

He did, in fact, think of Keith as something like a younger sibling. It made the fact that he hadn't consulted with him about his situation sting more, but then- he didn't exactly know if the sentiment was shared between them. He didn't think Keith disliked him- otherwise he wouldn't bother giving him the time of day, but he didn't know if he shared the same familial feelings.

Then again, he had fought Zarkon for him.

The receptionist's brow shot right up, before her expression turned into one that uncomfortably looked like pity. "You two share the non-Galra parent, I'm assuming."

"Yes," Shiro quickly said, "-exactly."

She hummed. "Runaway?"

"Something like that." Shiro said. "We've been looking for him for awhile. Any chance you can tell me if he turns up?"

Although something told Shiro that Keith was probably long gone by now. He could still probably have Pidge try and scrape any security footage for any trace of him, but instinct told him Keith was probably one step ahead of them yet again.

He was starting to understand Commander Iverson's constant headaches.

The receptionist hummed. "Sure thing. You got a transponder?"

Shiro nodded, pulling out the one Coran had given him. She arched a brow at it- probably hadn't seen an Altean one before- before she shrugged and set to work adding its code to the system.

"Here," she handed it back to him, "-we've got you all hooked up. If he gets hauled back in here, you'll be the first to know."

"Great," Shiro pocketed the transponder, "-thanks for your help."

"Hey," she barked after him as he turned to leave, "-where do you think you're going? You're not done here yet."

"Uh," Shiro turned on his heel, glancing back at her, "-I'm not?"

"Definitely not," she said, "-I don't know how they do things back on your planet, but here the families are the ones expected to pay for the damages."

Shiro paled. "...Damages?"

"Kicked a door right off its hinges, and broke a pair of cuffs," she said, "-along with other assorted damages on his way out. Left the place a real mess, as I'm sure you can tell."

Yeah. That much was obvious.

"In that case," Shiro said, "-I may have to call someone first."

He just hoped Allura had the money to pay for it all.

Kythra turned out to be a desert planet.

Keith tried to contain his excitement- and was promptly betrayed by his ears, which perked right up at the sight of it. Ozar shot him- and then them- a look, but opted to look away with a knowing smile.

"You grow up on a place like this?" He asked.

"Yeah," Keith flattened his ears, "-somethin' like that."

"Hey, no shame in it." Ozar said. "We've all got a place we'd like to go back to."

There was something melancholy in his tone that made Keith turn his gaze downwards. It wasn't hard to guess that maybe Ozar couldn't go back home- whether it had just been occupied by the Galra, or outright destroyed like Altea and the Balmera almost had, he didn't know. Seeing firsthand the destruction the Galra had wrought on the universe...

He was kind of amazed he'd trusted him, given the circumstances.

Ozar landed the ship on the outskirts of a settlement. He motioned for him to follow, which Keith did- but not before he pulled up his hood again. He wasn't sure how much Ozar had told his allies about him, though he kind of doubted he'd left out the part about him being half-Galra. They seemed like the kind of folk who would probably appreciate that kind of warning.

He'd never been homesick on the Castle, but there was something about the way his feet sunk into the desert sands that made him feel it with a pang. He wondered again what his dad was up to- if Admiral Sanda had him under arrest, or if he'd managed to weasel his way out of it. He didn't have any reason to lie to her or the Garrison anymore, now that the two things he'd been trying to protect were far out of her reach.

He shook the thought off, instead turning his attention to the ones who had come out to meet them. It was immediately obvious that they were with Ozar- they were dressed in a similar fashion. Most of them had masks hanging off of their belts, likely to conceal their identities from the Empire. If Rolo and Nyma's talk of having bounties was true, then it made sense.

"Ozar," one of them, a woman with feathered ears stepped forward, "-is this the new recruit?"

"Yep!" Ozar said, patting his back. "This is Yorak."

"Yorak," the woman smiled, extending her arm, "-I am Te-Osh. I hear you wish to join us."

Keith grasped her forearm. "If you'll have me."

Te-Osh's smile didn't falter. "We accept all who desire to fight against the Empire, no matter where they come from, nor whose blood they possess."

"Sounds good to me." Keith said.

Te-Osh released his forearm, gesturing for them to follow her. Tucking his hands into his pockets, Keith trailed behind the two of them, pretending to not totally savor the desert air in his lungs, and the dry heat that clung to his skin. They ducked into one of the tent-like structures that made up the settlement, away from any prying eyes.

"You have come at a good time." Te-Osh said. "Did Ozar already brief you on the mission?"

"I looked over the parameters on the way here." Keith said. "Somethin' about infiltratin' Galra territory to break out some captured members?"

Te-Osh gave him a curt nod. "Yes. We have managed to track their location to a prison ship in this quadrant."

Keith hummed in acknowledgment, which Te-Osh took as permission to continue.

"We were able to determine that the ship will make a stop at a Galra colony on planet Meklor for several quintants," Te-Osh explained, "-that is when we will strike. Ordinarily, the planet is protected by a network of drones that make it impossible for non-Galra ships to enter, but we were able to sneak two of our number onboard another Galra ship bound for the colony. They'll be able to take the drone network down just long enough for our ship to slip in. From there, we'll sneak aboard the ship and free the prisoners."

"We're just waiting on a transmission from them now." Ozar said. "Glad I didn't miss it."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to attack the ship directly?" Keith asked.

Te-Osh shook her head. "No. It is too well guarded."

"But while they're in the safety of a colony they don't expect to find us on..." Ozar trailed off.

"...they'll let their guard down." Keith finished. "Yeah. Makes sense."

"Yes," Te-Osh said, "-and with you here, we may even be able to infiltrate the ship even easier."

"Those biolocks of theirs are pesky things," Ozar said, "-normally we just disable a sentry and use its arm, but sometimes they can't get us access to everything. Having someone with Galra blood on our side makes things much easier."

"Yeah, I think I can help with that." Keith said. "Although... I do also kind of have a bounty? With the Empire? So uh... that could be a problem."

Technically, he had two. But there was no need to tell them that.

Te-Osh and Ozar stared at him for a long moment- before the latter just let out a sharp laugh. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"No worries there, young one," Te-Osh smiled, "-we all have bounties. The masks can only do so much, I'm afraid."

Keith hummed, finally lowering his hood. Te-Osh's brow furrowed slightly at the sight of his face, but before he got a chance to ask, a burst of radio static cut him off. Wincing, he pinned his ears flat against his head, as Te-Osh quickly adjusted the signal.

"Hello? Te-Osh?"

The voice on the other end of the line was male, speaking clearly accented Common. It sounded... vaguely familiar, but Keith shrugged it off. He wasn't likely to run into anyone he knew this far out into space, unless it was one of the other paladins- and he'd definitely recognize their voices.

"This is Te-Osh," she replied, "-you're coming in clearly."

"Great," he said, "-Olia and I have successfully infiltrated Meklor. We should be ready to go whenever."

"Excellent news!" Te-Osh brightened. "We will prepare for departure, and contact you once we are close. Make sure to keep your heads down until then."

"Copy that," he said, "-we're in a pretty good position right now. We should be safe until you arrive. Olia and I even managed to scout out an ideal landing location. I'll go ahead and transmit the information to your transponder."

"Great work," Te-Osh said, "-we'll be bringing along a new recruit with us."

"So I'm no longer the new guy?" The person on the other end joked. "Phew. I thought my rookie days would never be behind me."

Te-Osh just huffed, but it was a fond sound. "So it would seem."

"-tt," a woman's voice interjected in the background, "-there's a patrol heading this way."

"Oops," the man said, "-gotta cut this short then. Contact us when you're ready."

"We will." Te-Osh said, ending the transmission, before turning to look at them. "Alright then. Guess it's time to move out. Do you need a weapon, Yorak?"

Keith just shook his head, letting one hand drop down to his knife. "I think I have that covered."

"Excellent," Te-Osh said, "-then we're ready."