COWT; Voltron; May only death do us part CH 4.

[ephitomis]

Title: May only death do us part CH.4
Fandom: Voltron
Notes: Written for the prompt "Tragedia" for COWT9
Wordcount: 18000
Summary: The future that Keith lives in is very different from what he had always imagined and dreamed of. Namely, Shiro’s absence by his side haunts him like a waking dream.
He watched him fall to his death a hour and seventy years ago. There’s a statue of him, a monument of hope and a symbol of freedom, commemorating the Black Paladin’s sacrifice and the end of the first Galra Invasion.
But Keith had never been anything if not a fighter and he’s moving on, putting memories to rest with the help of his new team and his job as a superhero.
At least until his memories come to haunt him with a vengeance in the form of Project Kuron.


Like Kolivan had predicted, three spaceship entered Earth's atmosphere and were on New York in a flash, attacking the Helicarrier while aliens swarmed the city.
It seemed that they had decided to eliminate the threats before proceeding to attack the rest of their targets.
Kolivan had told them to try and defend the city, that the Blades would have protected the skies, and no one had tried to argue. The city was the most vulnerable position and there were citizens to protect.
Anyone that was a member of the Blades knew what he had signed up for.
Keith, Allura and the robot, being able to fly, had gone ahead of the others - who had followed suit with a jet.
The city, by the time they arrive, is already a mess. There are Galra and droids attacking buildings and civilians. Keith can already see that this will be much harder than anticipated.
"We should think of a plan," the robot says, but Keith doesn't have time to listen to them. He's not here to work with them, and as long as he gets the job done, they won't care how.
He flies ahead then, punching one of the Galra with his flaming hand. The alien screams, and Keith remembers this part well.
It hasn't been that long since the last time he had been in a fight just like this, and it comes back to him as easily as riding a bike.
"Well there goes that plan," the robot says and it reverberates in his earpiece. They had explained to him that it was a way to be in contact at all time, and while he doesn't really care to cooperate with them, he knows that in a battle being able to talk to each other was strategically important.
"You really wanted to make a plan with hothead over there?" Lance's voice arrives clear to Keith's ear, even if Lance himself hasn't even landed yet.
"There is no time to chat," Allura says, behind them, "a battle is upon us." A thunder strikes the air, and Keith looks up to the clear sky, startled. He turns in time to see Allura remove a weapon from her side, something that looks like the handle of a gun but that quickly turns into a staff.
She wields it over her head and flied towards the street below them. The moment the staff lands on the asphalt, a flash of energy flashes from it, and thunder flies from it towards the enemies, striking them all down.
"That's what I call an entrance," Lance laughs, and Keith has to admit to being moderately impressed. "Come on, we can't let them outshine us. Pidge!"
"Codenames!" the robot, Pidge?, says, but it complies quickly, landing beside three droids and hitting them with three quickly bolts of energy. Keith has never seen anything like it, but they look a lot like his fire.
He doesn't have much time to admire this, however, and he soon has to join them in battle. There are more Galra than they are, and soon they start to notice.
"Whenever you guys feel like showing up," the robot grits, and Keith agrees with it.
"We're coming, I'm sending you a gift right now!" Lance says, and he seems to be smiling.
Keith has a couple of seconds to wonder what exactly he meant, when he hears Hunk's voice say: "I'm not sure this is a great ide-" and then only screams.
Keith ducks his head in an involuntary gesture to avoid the loud noise, and he looks up to where he can see something falling quickly to the ground. Is that Hunk? He gets ready to fly off and catch him (burns are probably better than falling from that height) when a Galra hits him in the side with a blast.
Keith crouches in pain and flies away to avoid another hit. The Galra is relentless however and more come to his aid. He tries to fight them off as much as he can, but he can see that they are overpowering him. Keith's flames hurt them, of course, but it seems like their suits protect them from the most of it.
He's already cursing under his breath when a deafening roar makes him stop in his track. A second after a creature crashes against a Galra soldier.
The creature is covered in yellow fur, and it seems to move on all fours.
"What is that?" he has to ask out loud, unable to hide the surprise from his voice.
"That," someone says before a shot reverberates through the air, hitting a Galra that was advancing towards the towering beast, "is what happens when Hunk gets angry. Or really, really scared."
"One day he'll kill you," the robot only comments.
Keith can't see what Lance his doing, but he can spot his shuttle ahead of them. "Lies. The big guy loves me."
The beast, Hunk, looks up towards the ship for a second, and Keith wonders if Hunk has enough intelligence left in this form to understand what they are saying. The beast is distracted by a Galra soldier before Keith can figure it out, and he remembers that they are fighting a battle, and he can't be distracted right now.
"Tell Lotor to stop this now," Allura says, her voice carried by the device in their ears. She sounds desperate, sad. Keith wonders what it must be like, fighting people she had once considered allies.
"Lotor didn't tell us to do this," the Galra snarls, "we have to, Princess, and you should support us."
"This is not the answer! We can fix it," She says, but it doesn't look like the Galra is ready to listen. The Galra attacks and Allura swings her staff, hitting him and making him fly.
They are stronger than each singular Galra, but their enemies are more desperate. They fight like they can't do nothing else, like its their last hope.
"Are they ever going to end?" Lance ask, and he seems out of breath. Unlike them, Lance has been flying above them in the ship, shooting down the Galra from afar and avoiding being taken down. Keith has to admit that the man was a good shot and had saved him a couple of times from some painful hits.
Keith flies back, avoiding a blast from an enemy weapon, but he crashes against something else. "Ouch!" he hears, and he realizes that he had bumped against the robot. "You're hot! Even my suite is having trouble stabilizing that."
"Sorry," he grits, feeling the exhaustion deep in his bones. He won't be able to fight for much longer, and it seems like the robot is in the same condition. Even Allura's thunder seems to have lost most of its strength.
"Have they secured the Helicarrier?" he asks, sending a stream of fire towards some of the approaching enemies. The robot stays at his back and imitates him, shooting some of his blasts.
"I don't think so, we're still on our own." the robot says, and Keith curses under his breath.
"Maybe if we actually worked together," Lance's voice says, "this could be a little easier."
"I don't want a team," Keith reminds him. Lance only scoff.
"You can die here alone for all I care, but this isn't working," he says, talking now to the robot, "come on Pidge, you know I'm right. Hunk is out of commission, so you gotta come up with some good idea. We can't continue like this."
"Codenames," the robot repeats, but it seems like it's reflecting. "And I do have an idea. The Galra are not the main threat. If we could put the bots out of commission then I think we could do this."
"Yes! I knew you could do it! Now, figure out how!" Lance says, and another shot rings in the air.
"If Allura can help with her electric powers. We can use m--- Holt's tower as an amplifier. If we use the right frequency we can create a strong enough EMP to fry any bots around."
"Wouldn't that put you out of commission too?" Keith ask, confused, and the robot only shrugs.
"As long as I'm somewhere safe it doesn't really matter." The robot says, and Keith can't really doubt its word. At this point they might be desperate enough to try.
"The only problem," the robot continues, "is that I would need Allura to come with me for a while to set everything up. You guys would have to hold up the fort on your own."
Keith is exhausted. And his flames have started flickering out ten minutes before. He has never tested the limits of his powers, not in this way, and he fears he's discovering them quickly. Still, there is no other choice.
"I can do it," he says, gritting his teeth, willing himself to actually believe it.
"We can do it," Lance intercedes, "right big guy?" The beast roars from somewhere near them and Keith takes it as an answer.
The robot hesitates a moment longer before nodding. "Do you understand, Allura?"
"Not even in the slightest. But I just need to use my powers and you'll do the rest, right?" the princess says. Her voice is strained too, but she keeps fighting valiantly.
"Let's go with that," the robot agrees, leaving Keith side and flying away, "Allura follow me. Guys we need at least ten minutes."
"It's just the two of us, ah, Fire Mullet?" Lance says, while Keith launches himself at some other androids and melts their faceplate.
"As long as you don't talk too much and annoy me," Keith replies, "then you're on your own."
"Was that a joke? Are we actually having semi-friendly conversation? This really is the end of the world."
"Just shut up," he replies, even if he can admit that he's smiling a little. Lance will never know it.
"Yeah, and we're back. This is not the day we die," Lance exclaims and Keith can only agree.

In the end it takes the robot and Allura close to thirteen minutes to activate this EMP. When the robot screams "Now!" Allura flies at the top of a very tall building and thunder agglomerates around her staff. The whole sky darkens, and a storm hits her staff.
It really does look apocalyptic.
A second later, the thunder leaves Allura's staff and it explodes in waves around them, knocking Keith out and making him fall to the ground. Thankfully he wasn't too high up and he's only a little winded. He looks up in time to see the ship Lance was using starting to wobble before starting to crash.
He can't hear anyone else, and he wonders if this EMP has fried their means of communication too. Still, he knows Lance was in that ship, but he can't fly to save him, even if he wants to.
It's only because he's watching that he sees the moment Lance jumps out of the machine and gets caught mid-air by Hunk. He can't hear them from where he is, but he can almost imagine Lance's laughter.
Around him bots crash to the ground, lifeless. The robot's plan seems to have worked, and Keith sees the moment the Galra realize they have lost their advantage. There is a certain uncertainty in their eyes and for a second it looks like they decide to keep fighting, but the next they are retreating. The ships that have transported them here fly over them all and pick them up.
Keith watches them, unable to move.
They have won, and Keith just wants to sleep.
He lies there with his eyes closed for a couple of minutes before he feels something touch his foot. When he opens his eyes, Lance is watching him.
"Oh, you're alive then. Good I guess." Beside him Hunk, still transformed, huffs. It looks like the beast actually likes Lance, and it sticks to him. It's a strange sight.
"Sorry to disappoint," Keith says and Lance just smiles.
"It's okay, I don't want to be yelled at because I let a national icon die."
"I'm not a national hero," Keith has to reply immediately, but Lance just looks at him with pity.
"Sorry buddy, you really are. There is a statue and everything. It's over Ellis Island. It's very big. A monument for you and..." the chatter stops, and Keith knows what would have come after.
He closes his eyes, letting the feeling of sadness wash over him. He wonders if it will ever pass.
"I'm sorry," Lance whispers after a second.
"It's okay," Keith reassures him. He doesn't even believe it himself.

There is a stillness in the room that feels almost unnatural. They are all tired, exhausted beyond belief, but no one has moved to retire in their own rooms. Not even Keith, who is looking at his hands, feeling 70 years away from that moment.
They have won. There is a city left in shambles under them, but a city nonetheless. Would Shiro be proud? Probably. I never doubted you for a second, he would say smiling at Keith like he always did.
Keith had never been stronger than with Shiro’s support at his back.
“What you did today, is something we will never be able to repay you for.” Kolivan’s voice cuts through the silence. He stands tall in front of them, tired but always dependable. “If we won today is thanks to all of you.”
“Man, I’m exhausted. I know this is important, but can’t we just go to sleep?” Lance mutters, loud enough to be heard by everyone.
Keith can’t really disagree. All of him is hurting, and it feels like his flames are consuming himself inside him. His skin is boiling, like the flames are still burning under the surface, and he’s awake out of sheer stubbornness.
Kolivan looks at them for a moment before nodding. “Of course. Rest, you have earned it.”
Keith rises, uncaring of what everyone else is doing. He’s too exhausted to think, and while he’s not looking forward to going back to his room, the idea of sleeping is too good to pass out.
He starts to shuffle out of the door when a voice stops him. He turns back to see the Robot catching up to him. It’s not the first time he thinks there is something human about the robot’s face, but it’s even more clear now, when the machine is almost shuffling in place.
“Look. I know you like your loner image, but I just invited Allura and the others to sleep at my place. So, I’m here to ask if you want to come too. I certainly have the space,” the robot says, with a strange laugh. Keith doesn’t understand what it means, if there is a joke he doesn’t know.
Still, he’s left confused by the proposition.
“Your place?” he asks, looking up at the others.
Hunk is half-asleep on the table, exhausted after his transformation, and Lance is beside him, showing something on his phone to Allura. No one of them seems weirded out that a robot just invited them to crash at their place.
He’s too tired, however, to really think about it. And, if he’s honest with himself, he doesn’t want to be alone right now. So, he shrugs, deciding for once to just let it go.
“Sure.”

Keith isn’t sure what he’s more surprised by, when they leave the jet they used to reach the robot’s home: the fact that its place is a massive skyscraper, or the fact that Green isn’t a robot at all.
The moment they step down from the jet, robot arms start dismantling the armor, revealing a person.
He looks around and he sees that not even Allura is surprised. When you’re the last one to realize something, even after the alien princess that crashed down on earth three days prior, then you know you really weren’t paying attention.
“Honestly Pidge, if we knew all we needed to get an invitation to your house was an alien invasion, we would have organized one a long time ago.” Lance joke falls flat, with everyone ignoring him in favor of following Green - Pidge - inside.
Pidge looks young. Younger than anyone fighting an alien invasion should be, but Keith has seen firsthand the atrocities of war and he doesn’t think he has any room to judge.
He doesn't know what Pidge's story is, and it's obvious no one else sees anything wrong with it.
"Rover can find a place for you guys to crash," Pidge tells them, when the armor is completely off. "I'm going to my room to sleep, and I'm not coming out of it for at least three days."
"Amen to that," Hunk mumbles, walking inside the big door in the terrace.
Keith sees the other follow him quickly, but he hesitates before doing so himself. He looks back, towards the city, and what he can see from so high up.
Everything is different, it's not something he can ignore, even with the destruction. It makes his skin itch with a need to escape, but there is nowhere to go.
Here, on top of a building so high it almost touches the cloud, Keith thinks that there is no way for him to go back home and, for the first time, he accepts it. This is where he will live the rest of his life.
And maybe he still hates it, maybe he's not happy about it. But he accepts it.
"Are you alright, Master Keith?" someone ask, and Keith almost jumps out of his skin.
He looks back towards the entrance, but he doesn't see anyone there. "Who talked?" he asks, getting ready to fight. He might not be at his best, but he won't let someone get the drop on him.
"My name is Rover. I am an AI created by Master Pidge. I am to show you to your room," the voice continues.
Keith hesitates a second before relaxing. Pidge had mentioned a Rover, even if it feels surreal. An AI? He knows what's happening only because of his weeks spent researching inside the Blade's headquarters. "You're not a person too, right?" he asks, while he starts following the path.
"No, I can assure I'm completely inorganic," Rover promptly replies. Keith can only shake his head.

The time passes strangely at Pidge's house. Unlike the Helicarrier, they don't let Keith close himself in his room. Every day it feels like the other wait for him to leave his room to eat to make him do a series of activities.
Mostly Lance, Hunk and Allura.
Most of his days, then, are spent with the trio, while they bring Allura to try every kind of dish in existence.
After a while, Keith can admit - at least to himself - that he starts having fun. He never had many friends, his and Shiro's life had never allowed them to get closer to that many people, and it's a bit surreal to go out to eat with them.
Pidge, however, doesn't join them often. Keith had googled her the moment he had woken up after the fight and what he had discovered had been... troubling.
Pidge, or Katie Holt, was the sole heir of Holt Industries, a company built by her father that specialized in creating technological advancements and military contracts. From what Keith had seen, the military contracts had been just a side business when Pidge's father had been at the head of Holt International.
It's only a year before, when Pidge's father and brother had gone missing during a humanitarian trip, that the company had started to invest in the weapon business. Growing rapidly in size.
Pidge, from what Keith could gather, had no saying in how the company was handled.
Still, it seemed that Pidge's calendar was always full. Speeding from one place to another and spending the rest of her time closed off in her lab.
So, even if Keith had spent most of his last two weeks with the rest of his housemates, he had seen close to none of his host. He was curious, but he knew how important someone privacy was, and he didn’t want to impose.
Pidge has been generous in letting them stay in her house, and Keith doesn't want to go back to the Helicarrier if he can help it.
"Do you think she's okay?" he asks Hunk, one day, watching Pidge live the room to go back to her lab.
Hunk blinks, surprised, looking up from a tablet he had been using to look over a code Pidge had sent to him. "Pidge? Why wouldn't she be?"
Keith doesn't really reply, shrugging.
"She's stronger than she seems," Hunk reassures him, looking back at his tablet, "she doesn't get discouraged easily."
Keith blinks and looks back at the door where Pidge had disappeared. He has thought many things about Pidge in the weeks they have lived together, but he has never doubted her strength.
Still, if Hunk says that he has nothing to worry about, he will believe him.

Although Keith is starting to acclimatize to this century it doesn't make his nights more bearable. When darkness come, so does his nightmares.
He dreams of Shiro burning, Keith's flame consuming his completely. He dreams of snow, and Shiro forever abandoned. He dreams of them happy, in their little apartment, and those are the hardest to swallow once they are over.
Once Keith wakes up and there is no broken heater on the floor. Once he realizes the bed is empty beside him.
The nights are harder to get through, and it's why he spends most of them wandering the tower. Sometimes he goes to the gym, work out, but sometimes he feels too tired for that.
Those nights usually find him in the kitchen, slumped over a table nursing some warm milk, like what Shiro used to make him when Keith couldn’t sleep. It doesn’t taste like home, not like Keith would want, but it’s enough to soothe the pain he feels.
He's usually alone, and he doesn't know if the others sleep peacefully or if they prefer to stay in their rooms when the nightmare come, but he's used to the quiet of the night. Which is why he's surprised one day when Pidge enters.
She looks terrible. Her eyes are hollowed out, and her hair are unkept, like she passer her fingers through it time and time again.
Like this she doesn't look eighteen and it breaks his heart.
For a couple of seconds, it seems like she doesn't even see him there, and Keith watches her as she shuffles towards the coffee machine. It's almost three in the morning, but Keith isn't really in a position to say anything.
"Rover," Pidge mumbles, "remember me to contact Kolivan tomorrow. I might have figured out another part of the code."
Kolivan? Keith furrows his brow, confused, his interest piqued. If it was just a personal matter, he would have stayed silent, but if Kolivan is involved it might be Paladin business.
They asked him again to join shortly after the invasion, but Keith had been adamant in refusing. Now, weeks down the line, sometimes he thinks he might have made a mistake.
"What code?" he asks, and he watches Pidge actually jump in surprise. It's an amusing sight, and she turns towards him with a, frankly, pitiful fighting position. She wouldn't be able to knock down someone untrained, let alone Keith.
She seems to realize who is in the room with her after a few second and she relaxes marginally. There is still something wild in her eyes, something that reminds Keith of a feral animal.
"Keith," Pidge says, turning back towards the coffee machine. "Hadn't seen you there. Sorry, my mind is not the best at," she pauses and furrows her brow.
"Three in the morning," he supplies for her and she nods, without saying anything else. As if Keith would forget that easily.
"What code?" he asks again. Pidge's shoulders tense up, but she continues to pour herself her cup of coffee.
"It's paladin's business," she says, steadily, "nothing that concerns you, right? Don't worry."
Keith, who has been lying all his life, can spot the telltale signs of someone lying easily. He's uncertain, however, if it's really his place to break this fragile equilibrium.
They aren't friend, not in the way he and the others have started to become, and it doesn't feel like something he should do. However here he is, and there doesn't seem to be anyone else up to the job.
"So if I asked Hunk, tomorrow, he would know?" he probes, knowing full well the answer to that question. Pidge turns towards him, then, a strange look in her eyes.
"Let it go, Keith," she uses her name, but in her mouth it sounds sharp. Dangerous. He remembers Hunk telling him that she was stronger than she appeared, but to him, Pidge had always looked like the armor she uses to fight. Unmovable and deadly.
"If there is something that could put us all in danger..." he starts, getting up.
Pidge arches an eyebrow and, calmly, sips her own coffee. "You're not part of this team, right? I remember you turned down the position."
It's true, but he doesn't care right now. The memory of his dream is still clear in his mind, and there is a part of him that is grateful for the distraction. He doesn't care what he will burn, following this path, it beats thinking about Shiro.
"And yet I wonder how the others will take it when I tell them that you're keeping secrets from them," he taunts.
"This has nothing to do with them or you," Pidge tells him, "just stop!"
"Why? If it's nothing bad why can't you say-" he feels the first flickers of his flame react to his irritation and he qualms them before they can even be born. He's probably raising the temperature of the whole room just by being there, but he feels righteous in his curiosity.
This is the first place in this universe that makes him feel almost normal, and he doesn't want to lose it for any reason.
Before he can say anything else, however, it's Pidge that screams. "It's my family, okay? Are you happy?" and Keith closes his mouth.
She's panting slightly, but she holds his gaze. There is a fire there that burns deeper than Keith's flame, it makes his power like a fleeble campfire.
"Is that what you wanted to know? I'm searching for my family." Her voice rises, and Keith wants to shrink under it.
He doesn't know what to say. He remembers what he had read and all the articles had been sure that Pidge's family had been dead. Thankfully he's smart enough to keep that to himself.
"I know you read about it," Pidge continues, "you asked Rover about it. You probably think they are dead, just like everyone else, but I know they aren't."
Keith stays silent a couple of seconds, enough that Pidge seems to get back some kind of composure. "You talked about a code."
Pidge stops and nods, looking back at her mug. She doesn't drink from it, just stares into it. Keith recognize her stare, one that is seeing too much and too far. He sees it every night when he sees himself in a mirror.
"Months after my father and my brother... disappeared, I received a code. I haven't been able to crack it, they encoded it with some kind of technology I don't know. But I'm sure it was them." She explains, huffing. "It was nothing I had ever seen before and I know all the technology from earth. I'm kind of a genius."
"So you went to the only person who knows all about alien technology," Keith guesses. She nods, with a smirk.
"Offered my services with the armor and in exchange he lets me use the Blade's computers and decryption machines."
"But you still haven't made any progress?" he asks, curious.
Pidge looks up, affronted. "No. I have deciphered the message. Mostly. There were some words that didn't made any sense, but it basically said that they were leaving a hideout in the desert with some thing called Kuron. What I have never been able to do was track from where they sent it."
She closes her eyes, and she looks tired again. "I have tried for months, but even with Kolivan's help, there doesn't seem to be any way to track from where they sent it."
"If you could track them..." he starts, but he doesn't finish. He wonders how many hours she has spent on this, closed off to them and the world, trying to find her family. She's still holding out hope, even after everyone has already given up.
He knows that if there were any possibility of Shiro being alive, he would do the exact same thing. It seem he and Pidge have something in common.
"I'm sorry..." he says, after a second, because it's obvious she deserves an apology.
She studies him for a second before nodding. She doesn't say it's alright, but she's not holding it against him either.
They lapse into silence for a couple of minutes while Pidge drinks her cup of coffee, Keith's milk forgotten where Rover had finished it.
Can Keith really keep living like this, waiting for something that will never happen? For a chance that he will never have again. Maybe it's time to take a little step forward.
"I want to help." He knows this is the right choice to make, that he has hesitated too long. He's sure that this would be what Shiro wanted. "With the Paladin project. And finding your family." For his there weren't any chances, but if they could find Pidge's, at least something good would come out of it.
Pidge, on the other hand, seems taken aback by his sudden decision, looking at him like she's not sure what's happening.
"I also think you should tell everyone," he continues, "they would want to help too."
"I..." she stops and looks down at her mug again. "This is something personal, I didn't want to..."
"If we work together," Keith interrupts her, finally getting up to retrieve his own mug, "we can work better. Hunk can help you track the message. And we can be on standby for when it's time to actually intervene."
Pidge looks troubled and Keith wonders what kind of excuses she's making in her head. Maybe she has a voice that points out all her mistakes too, maybe it's another thing they have in common. "Don't do it for yourself. Use us for your family," he tells her, with a smirk. He knows he has hit the point when she looks up, startled.
There is no way she will refuse his offer now, not worded that way.
"Then I won't hold back." She looks steadier now, but there is a smile pulling at her lips. She still looks tired, but there is something softer about her.
Did you see this, Shiro, Keith wonders, I might have done something good.

Becoming part of a team, officially, is a lot less overwhelming than he'd have thought. They don't get called on a lot of incidents, so Keith's everyday life isn't much different from before.
One thing that changes is that Pidge spends more time with them, going out to eat a bite every once in a while. Her and Hunk work tirelessly on tracking the message, and while they might not get results immediately, it's obvious they aren't losing hope.
Pidge also starts to look younger, the less stressed and isolated she is, the more time she spends with them. She's witty, and she bickers with Lance constantly to Allura's amusement.
This might not be the family Keith imagined for himself, but he thinks he could have done worse.

Months have passed since he has woken up in this century, and every day it feels like he can breathe easier. The Paladin are starting to get called more often, and they have became famous.
It's strange, knowing that people on the street talk about him.
When the news of his return had started spreading through the media, people had questions. A lot of people had asked him about what happened, but most of all about Shiro. Keith had never told anyone the truth.
The only ones who knew about his relationship with Shiro, in this century, were Kolivan and some of the Blades that had served with them during the war (like Thace or Antok).
He knows that, maybe, it would be less of a stigma, now, that he could tell the world the truth, but he doesn't want to.
The times might have changed, but not so much. If there is even a chance, Keith doesn't want to taint the memory of Shiro, doesn't want anyone to have any ammunition towards him. And for Keith... he will never love anyone again. So his sexuality doesn't seem relevant.
Even if he came out, what good would he do to him? There is no future in which he finds someone else to love, where Shiro’s memory gets washed away from his mind so much that he would feel ready to love someone again.
As much as the time here is starting to heal him, he knows that there will always be a break in his heart where Shiro once used to be. He cherishes it, a sign that he’s still with Keith in some form or another.
Still, he’s surprised to enter the living room one day and see Shiro’s face in the television. It’s enough to bring him short, one foot inside the room, the other hovering between flight and the desire to stop that moment for eternity.
He doesn’t remember anyone ever filming them, but he knows enough now to know that they had always wanted for Shiro to be some kind of good publicity for them. It makes sense that they had filmed them. That they had materials about Shiro. It’s just that Keith isn’t ready to see them, nor can he live without looking at them.
It takes a while for his brain to focus on what they are actually saying, too shocked by the images. It seems to be some kind of documentary on Shiro’s life and Keith feels a pang inside his heart.
There is a shot, old and low quality, of their old building and even after more than a year, Keith remembers clearly the noise it made when he opened it. He remembers the way it never really closed properly, how he always had to push it to close it. He remembers his neighbors and the cold hair of winter, when their heater wasn’t working.
But he also remembers Shiro. And their ratty couch.
It’s scary to realize how much he misses even the things he once had hated.
“Everyone knows the prowess of the black paladin during the war, but not many people know the man behind the legend,” the tv is saying, in a deep voice that only seems to aggravate Keith. “Takashi Shirogane was famous in this neighborhood, where many of the accounts from his life come from.”
The image changes and now there’s a lady, an old woman, speaking to the camera. A text appears to inform them that her name is Elisabeth Wight and Keith looks at her. He remembers Elisabeth, she had been young, a little over eighteen. She had been one of the girls that had been paraded around Shiro, and Keith remembers a night at the pier, one of the many dates to keep up appearances.
The woman talking doesn’t resemble the Elisabeth he remembers at all. Is this how he’s supposed to look?
“Oh yes, I remember him. All the ladies hoped for a chance with Shiro,” she says. Even her voice is nothing like what he remembers. She’s… old. “He wasn’t rich, but he was kind. At the time, that seemed to be in shortage.”
“It seems strange that for all his life, he could never find love,” the narrator continues, and Keith almost seethes. What do they know? Even if it’s Keith who decided not to reveal anything, who had given them the right?
“One of the things that I always regretted the most,” Elisabeth continues, with a wistful smile, “is that he died without having someone at his side. Someone waiting for him.”
“He did.” Keith realizes after a second that the he said those words. They came out of his mouth too fast for him to even realize, and hey burn inside his lungs. Elisabeth Wight, who had only one night at the pier with Shiro, doesn’t have the right to say any of that.
Keith had a life with him.
The others turn towards him immediately, and it’s obvious they are surprised to see him there. He remembers that today, Keith was supposed to meet with Kolivan at the helicarrier and that’s probably why they had been so careless with their watching habit.
“Keith!” Hunk exclaims, moving to get the remote.
Pidge beats him to the punch. “Rover, shut down the television,” in a second, Rover obeys and the screen goes black. It’s too late, Keith thinks, seeing Elisabeth’s face in front of him, wrinkles and all.
“Don’t let it get to you,” Hunk says, after a second of shock, “they are just-- after the war a lot of the women that Shiro dated came forward so there was this-- it became kind of a scandal? A mystery for the age--”
Lance cuts down Hunk’s rambling without a moment of hesitation. “What do you mean he did?”
Keith doesn’t reply immediately, still too focused on the television. Shiro’s dating history had become a mystery. This is what Keith wanted, right?
Their rouse. The two room apartment, the dates. They had all worked.
“Earth to Keith? Come on, buddy,” Lance says with an aggravating smile. “I can’t believe we never asked you about this.”
“Lance,” Pidge’s voice is threatening enough that Lance has to know he’s entering a minefield, but it seems the other doesn’t really care.
“What? I’m just thinking that maybe talking about the guy a little would help him!” Lance explains, shrugging. Keith isn’t even listening to them.
“Keith,” someone calls him, awakening him from his trance. Keith turns to see Hunk watching him with a worried gaze. “You don’t have to answer Lance, you know that, right?”
Keith does know that. He doesn’t owe nothing to Lance, or anyone else, but at the same time he’s starting to trust them. Months of working as a team has made him feel better and more at home, and now he thinks that maybe he doesn’t owe it to them, but he owes it to himself.
“He did have someone,” he croaks. This will be the first time he actually says it, he realizes. Even Kolivan had seen them, and they had never talked about it.
“Yes!” Lance exclaims, fist pumping the air. “I knew it! Look, I’m mostly heterosexual, but even I would have said yes if he had asked. The fact that he was single has been the biggest mystery ever. So who was it? One of those ladies? Maybe someone who died during the war?”
Keith watches the television for a moment, thinks of Elisabeth’s biggest regret and he stills. “Me,” he whispers in the end. He’s not sure he said it loud enough for them to hear him, but the resulting silence is encouraging.
“We didn’t mean you,” Lance says after a second with a put upon sigh. Keith glances up, startled. This isn’t the reaction he expected. “We know about you two. The bromance of the century, the friendship that shaped a generation.”
Keith blinks, stunned for a second. Is this how they described them? It was true, in a way, and yet so far from the truth.
“No.” Keith stops him, his voice stronger than before. He looks at Hunk and Pidge, and he sees in their face that they understand what he means. It’s just Lance. “We weren’t friends,” Keith says then. Now that he has taken this step, he doesn’t want to go back, he needs for Lance to understand. “I-” there is a block inside his throat. He has never said these words to anyone but Shiro. Never thought he would.
Lance looks him with a confused expression, surprised by Keith’s silence.
The truth it’s that it’s hard. The truth is that Keith hadn’t said anything until now not to preserve Shiro’s honor, but because he hadn’t want to think about what he had given up. Here Keith is, seventy years in the future, in a world where he and Shiro could have had it all.
And he’s alone. The tragedy of it all, he thinks, it’s astounding.
“I love him,” he says, finally. He’s ashamed to realize his words almost turn into a sob. “He loved me,” he continues, and this time he’s not able to hide the watery tone of his voice. Loved. Past tense.
“Oh.” Keith doesn’t know who says that, doesn’t care. His biggest secret is out, and he doesn’t care. There is nothing they can say that will hurt him as much as the word loved.
“That’s your mystery,” Keith says with a cruel smile. “That’s the big scoop. Shiro was never alone.”
Is there anything else to say? He wants to go back to his room and hide from them, from the world, from himself. He thought he was doing better, but there is a void inside him that grows larger every time he thinks about Shiro.
He almost turns to run out of the room when he feels someone hug him, He’s so surprised he almost catches on fire. It takes a moment to realize that it’s Pidge, holding him at his waist. Keith blinks, and after a second he notices both Hunk and Lance join the hug.
It’s strange, he hasn’t been hugged by anyone but Shiro in… never. He looks at them, surprised and a little uncomfortable. How does one react to something like this?
Before he can even formulate a plan, they hear the door behind them open and then all turn to see Allura, looking at them.
“What did I miss?” she asks, surprised.
Keith freezes. He’s not ready to say it again, nor to hear the others repeat it, but he’s not sure how else to explain the situation.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lance speaks up, and now that Keith can look into the other’s face, his eyes seem to be watery. “Just come here and hug Keith.”
“I don’t need to be hugged!” Keith protests, but a second later, Allura joins the hug.
“It’s okay,” she says, her voice kinder than he expected, “I need one.”
She probably does, he realizes. While they haven’t really talked about the situation on Altea, Keith knows it mustn’t be easy for her.
Everyone here has suffered, he thinks, and they don’t seem to be much better than him at dealing with the consequences. Keith relaxes and decides to give in.
Maybe they all deserve a hug, and there’s nothing wrong about that.
 2014


Keith sits down slowly. The early morning breeze is enjoyable, and he's happy to soak it in for a moment more. The team doesn't know where he is, he had left the tower that morning with a vague excuse of going out to buy something. He regrets it now.
The truth is that he isn't ready for this, but a part of him knows that he will never be.
It's early enough that he's completely alone and for a moment he almost gets up again to leave. He forces himself to stay put.
It takes him a moment before he finds the strength to raise his eyes and finally look at the statue in front of him. He looks at the statue of himself first. They had decided to show engulfed in flames and even Keith can admit that it's an impressive work. He should be proud and a little flattered, or so he was informed many times, but he's mostly embarrassed.
There is a giant statue of himself on Ellis Island to honor his life and his sacrifice, and Keith wasn't even dead. Still, it's an incredible piece of art.
The real problem, of course, is the rest of the statue. Just like he's unable to turn now to look at it, Keith has been avoiding coming here since the moment he woke up. It feels like a test too difficult to pass.
Yet, he has to.
Inhaling as much as he can, Keith turns his head and finally gazes at Shiro's statue in all his glory. Unlike Keith, Shiro had been portrayed with a smile, in an heroic and inspiring pose. The artist had made Shiro looks otherworldly. The Shiro that was encased in the stone was not a human being, with flaws and fears, it was a hero.
It wasn't the Shiro that Keith loved (loves) but it's the closest thing he can get.
"Hi," Keith croaks. His voice trembles, breaking at the end of the short, simple word. He coughs, trying to stop the tears from pooling in his eyes. He's glad now that he didn't tell the team about this visit. While he would have liked to have some comfort, the idea of showing his vulnerability so openly to them is jarring. They might be close, but there are things that Keith needs to keep to himself.
"I'm sorry," he continues, "I should have come sooner. You don't have a tombstone, so this will have to do." There was no body to bury, Kolivan had explained, so the statue was a way to immortalize them.
Shiro would have hated it.
"Sometimes it's difficult to believe that it has been two years since I arrived here. The team is great. I could do without Lance, but all in all it's not so bad." He wonders why he's even wasting time like this. Shiro isn't here, he can't hear Keith, and this isn't the reason why he came here.
"It never gets easier," he says then, his voice small and broken. "I thought it would, but some days I wake up and I expect you to be there." Even two years later, the pain always catches him by surprise.
Grief should be a fading pain, always present, but more manageable with each passing day. Keith's grief is an encompassing beast eating at his insides.
"But I know you," Keith starts again, trying to force his voice to work. "You wouldn't want me to wallow in this. I hope you're proud of what we're doing. I hope you're proud of me."
He thinks Shiro would be. In these two years, Team Voltron has done a lot of good. The Paladins have been recognized as a team specialized in superhuman and alien emergencies, and they have battled and conquered many foes. Superheroes people call them, and it brings a smile to Keith's face.
Shiro would have liked that.
"I think you would have liked this world." He smiles, looking at the statue's face. It has Shiro's smile, and his face, but none of his warmth. "Our apartment was destroyed. I tried to search for it, but they had built a restaurant over it. Shwarma. The couple that owns it is a same-sex couple, Shiro. You would have liked them." Shiro would have liked the place too.
Keith has imagined, sometimes, having a date with Shiro there. Smiling and holding hands in public, in the same place where once they had hidden.
They are fruitless dreams, but they bring him comfort.
"Two years and seventy years and you're still the first thing on my mind." The laughs that escapes his throat is sadder that what he would have liked. "I hope you knew, by the end, that I wasn't angry anymore. I knew why you had to do it, and I love you for it even now. I'm glad I followed you into war too, I'm glad I was by your side when you..." he chokes on the world died and feels stupid for it.
"I don't know what good it will do for you, but I needed you to know it." He finishes, shrugging and finally getting up. Soon tourists will arrive on the island, swarming around and taking photos. Keith doesn't want to be here when it happens.
"I miss you, Shiro, but I'm happy here." It's a painful admission. In the beginning he had clinged to his sadness like a jealous lover. Letting it go has been difficult. A part of him feels like he's betraying Shiro. The more rational part of him knows that it's what Shiro would have wanted for him.
It doesn't make it easier.
"I'm happy here," he repeats with a watery smile. He hopes he'll stop feeling guilty about it soon.
He hesitates, but in the end he just flies away. There are many more things he would like to tell Shiro, but that lifeless statue isn't Shiro. It's nothing more than a photograph. Bigger, but not less dead.

When he lands on Holt tower he's not exactly surprised to see Pidge there. Maybe a little disappointed, but not exactly surprised.
"So," she starts, without looking up from her HolPad "How were the bagels?"
Keith blinks, surprised, before he remembers his flimsy excuse this morning. Right. Bagels. "Good, I ate them all coming back."
Pidge huffs a little and then just shrugs. "Okay. I honestly don't care. I'm here just to stop Lance and Hunk from being here."
Keith can appreciate that, and he does. While Lance and Hunk are usually more suited to deal with feelings and the likes in their group, Keith doesn't really want to talk to anyone about what he said to Shiro's statue. It's not something anyone else needs to be privy to.
"Was it useful? I hated going to my family's grave," she says, looking at the sky. It's obvious that the constant failures are grating on her.
In two years, they've had a lot of fake close calls in the search of the missing Holt Family and discovering the details about project Kuron. Fake was the key word.
He shrugs, unable to really give her an answer. Had it been useful? He doesn't know. But it felt necessary.
In the end he simply settles for: "I don't regret it."
Pidge seems to accept the answer with a nod. She stands up and smiles at him. "Come on, there are actual bagels downstairs. Hunk was in a mood."
Keith smiles and starts walking inside with her.
I'm happy here, he repeats to himself, and he thinks about the statue's face. I'm happy here.

Nowadays there aren't that many reasons for Keith to visit the Blade's headquarter, but every once in a while, he actually enjoys spending time with Kolivan and the other Blades. He had spent a lot of time with them during the war, and it's nice to spar with Thace when he feels particularly lonely; or spend time revisiting battle plans and emergency plans with Kolivan.
It's what he's doing today. He had escaped the tower early in the morning, eager to avoid Lance.
Someone had recorded him arriving and leaving Ellis Island the day before, and apparently his personal grief was newsworthy enough that the video was all over social media. Apparently #RedBlackPaladins was trending on twitter.
Keith mostly thought it was annoying.
He's hiding, he knows, but sometimes one has to do what is better for themselves. And listening to Lance fumbling to make Keith feel better wasn't high on Keith's list of favorite activities.
He much prefers looking at ship's schematics with Kolivan. "So they are almost ready?" he wonders out loud, a little curious.
They had designed the Omega Shield almost a year prior. Three ships that should have acted like the first line of defense between Earth and any invading alien army. After the attack on New York everyone had felt like something was needed.
The Omega Shield is the best solution they could come up with. There three ships, designed to be self-piloting helicarriers would be spread out across the globe, acting as a shield when required, but also equipped with a self-targeting mechanism for eliminating threats when needed.
Only Kolivan and Pidge can activate that feature, however, and Keith feels safer for it.
"We have completed construction the other day. The Green Paladin told me she wants to improve on a couple of things, but they are almost ready to be activated."
Keith nods, relieved. They haven't heard from Lotor since the invasion, but it has been a worry hovering over their heads for far too long. Allura told them that Lotor wouldn't just act out of the blue, but sometimes it was difficult to trust Allura on her opinion on Lotor.
They owe her a lot, but it's impossible not to see the attachment between her and Lotor. Even now, her eyes always go a little soft when she talks about him.
Keith feels compassion for what she's going through, but if he can avoid fighting another war against the Galra, he'll take the big ships in the sky any day of the week.

The reason he enjoys the time he spends with Kolivan is because the other is a man of few words. When Keith needs to escape his own head, or the noisy personalities of his teammates, Kolivan always proves to be a safe oasis.

He hoped for this today as well, but it seemed that for once, even the stern leader of the Blades feels like he has to weigh in on Keith's life. Another day, Keith might have suffered through it with annoyed but resigned acceptance.
Today his nerves are too fragile; his entire being sensitive from the raw pain. He feels like an open wound, oozing everywhere.
"Sometimes I go as well," Kolivan informs him. For a moment Keith lags behind, wondering what exactly the other is referring to, before he catches up. He doesn't understand what Kolivan expects with this admission.
He doesn't really want to find out.
Keith stands up quickly, almost dropping the plans for the Shield on the floor. His oasis has been breached and he feels almost betrayed.
"I understand my relationship with him was far less significant than the one you two shared," the other continues, obvious to Keith's struggle, "but I found peace by talking to the both of you first, and then just him. You saved us when we thought no one would."
"It was supposed to be private," Keith snarls. He wonders why nothing in this world could remain a secret. Everything was shared through social media and cell phones. That one moment was supposed to be his and his alone.
Kolivan finally turns towards Keith, and his gaze is somber. There's a gravity to him that's familiar. His eyes speak of too many years, of too many tragedies. Keith sometimes sees the same exact expression in his own eyes.
"We never get what we want, Keith," Kolivan reminds him. "What you've done the past few years has made a difference. I hoped that yesterday was your way of finally letting go of the past."
Keith knows that what Kolivan really means is letting go of Shiro, but there's a part of me - the most broken and vindictive one - that wants to hear him say it. "What do you mean?" His words are venom. They cut through the air with purpose.
Flames dance on his tongue.
"I know how much Shiro meant to you. I know how much a tragedy his death was," Kolivan must be a braver man than even Keith imagined, or maybe just stupid because he continues as if Keith had said nothing at all. "But if you let emotions rule you, then you'll never learn to control your powers."
Keith looks at the other and for a second, he lets his flames free. He sees the rest of the room tense up. They will shoot him if he even tries to attack Kolivan right now, and yet it's not enough to make him stop.
"You don't get to decide that," Keith informs him, vitriol clear in every syllable. Shiro gives him strength, he wants to say, Shiro is the only reason he ever made it this far.
It seems this is not a fight Kolivan wants to continue, however, since his whole posture changes in response to Keith's rage. It makes Keith tumble, unsure of how to respond. Where Kolivan has accused him of letting his emotion guide him too much, Keith has acted exactly like Kolivan accused him to. Responding with calm confidence is exactly the right move to bring the point across.
"Just think about it," Kolivan simply says, dismissing him. "I'm trying to look out for you."
Keith shakes his head, turning to exit the helicarrier. The Blades follow him with their gaze. They're judging him, and he thinks they might find him wanting. It's a difficult pill to swallow.
"I don't need it." His response is curt. A part of it is the shame that fester inside him at the display. Another part is fueled by the memories of what Shiro made him once.
How can his memories be a hindrance if everything Keith is now is thanks to him?
He wishes he found the words to say this to Kolivan, but words have never been his strength.

Life, after this, continues as normal as it can.
Lance and Hunk try to get him to talk about it, but he must send them a terrifying enough glare, because they desist faster than Keith anticipated. It's a relief to be safe from the constant judging. At least in his own house.
The one that actually talks to him is Allura, surprisingly enough. In the two years after the battle of New York she has scarcely returned to her home. And each other visit leaves her tired and determined.
He doesn't know what is happening, doesn't think it's right for him to ask (now as two years ago), but he has caught her and Lance talk at night. He makes sure to keep his presence hidden when he notices them and walks away as quietly as he can.
It's not that Keith and Allura are not close, but as their inexperience with this new world faded, they realized they had too much in common. And sometimes that made things... difficult.
It's surprising, then, when one day after sparring Allura asks him to stay behind. They are both a little sweaty, satisfied after a successful training exercise, but there is something glistering behind her gaze.
A woman with a plan indeed.
"I know Pidge has talked to you," Allura starts, without a inflection. "Lance and Hunk tried as well, they tell me, but you didn't want to talk."
Keith's ankles rise. A week has passed since that day, it's exhausting to see how much the effects still guide his life. "If you know, I don't see why we have to talk about it."
"We're not," Allura informs him, with sincerity. "I wanted to talk to you. About myself and what I'm going through."
That makes Keith pause. It's surprising enough that he feels all of his earlier reluctance vanish. Still, he's not sure what this could mean. "I'm... flattered. But I'm not really the best at... things." Feelings. Emotional support. Most days he feels like he's not even capable of controlling himself, let alone help with other's problems.
Allura smiles, amused. "I know. I think we're very similar in that. We're too focused on our goals, it can blind us from other things." She lays down their weakness without any bite in her voice. It still hurts, to have one of his failing so broadly laid out in front of them.
"These past few years have been difficult," Allura explains. His gaze shifts and he turns towards the wall, but it's obvious her mind is as further away from this gym as it can be. Another planet, probably. Another galaxy. "My father was a great ruler, but also a source of peace and strength. I've found myself... wavering in his absence."
Keith knows what she means entirely too much. He wonders if, even after Allura's preface, will be a masked attempt to ask him to move forward from Shiro's death.
"Coran, my advisor in Altea, has told me that my father would have wanted me to be the ruler he knew I would be. And he's right of course, but it's difficult after my father's... demise and Lotor's betrayal. We might have never shared blood, but we were close. I don't know how to rule over my planet after what they condoned."
Keith doesn't know what to do. Should he say something? Is there something to say? After all this is nothing he has any experience on. Why did Allura want to talk with him?
"I left my people in good hands. Coran is a great advisor and one of the few people I can trust, but soon I will have to face my responsibilities. Earth is nice, but I can only run away for so long." Allura finally turns back towards Keith. Her expression is troubled, burdened by the knowledge of her obligations.
"I..." Keith tries, unsure of what to say. Allura interrupts him immediately.
"I don't need your advice," she quickly tells him. "I thought you might find comfort in knowing that, in a way, we once again share the same struggle. It always seems like our fates are linked in tragedy."
Keith nods, but it doesn't sit right with him to leave it at that. Allura has shared with him something personal, and while she doesn't expect reciprocation... Keith finds himself more willing to talk with her.
"What they taught us, those are the things we should keep of them," he says, trying to form the right words. "I don't think keeping their memories close is a mistake. I know everyone things I'm just clinging to him, but I'm doing so because even just in memory he makes me a better person."
Allura looks at him surprised, before her face softens. Understanding and compassion color her face as she nods. "I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for my father. You're correct in that."
Keith nods, satisfied that at least he said this one thing right. Whatever else, at least one person understood.
"I know we just finished, but would you like to go for another round?" Allura ask him, a smirk in her feature. "Sometimes a good work out is what we need."
Keith smiles, letting his flames come to him. Allura and Hunk (when transformed) where the only two members of the team he could use his powers freely on. Pidge's armor tended to melt under the heat, if Keith pressed enough. Lance was just Lance.
"Bring it on."

As always, Keith's life shatters without notice. One day he's training with his team, the next he receives a call from Kolivan to come alone because they need to talk.
Still weary from their last conversation, Keith thinks it might be Kolivan's attempt at making things right and he's unsure if he's ready to accept a reconciliation. However, he owes the other man the decency to show up.
Kolivan, surprisingly enough, choses the Shawarma place under the building where Keith and Shiro used to live. It's a little shocking, because Keith has never told anyone of that place.
When he slides in in front of Kolivan, then, he's already a little suspicious. "Who told you about this place?"
Kolivan looks rumpled. He's disguised, with a device Pidge had built, and so he looks like a human. No one would be able to tell the difference.
"That is not important and not why I called you here." Kolivan seems jumpier than usual. Every once in a while he looks outside, nervously. Keith follows his gaze and he notices Thace, watching them from the other side of the road. He's disguised as well, but Keith has come to know their appearances like this too.
"What's going on?" he asks, feeling the worry and unsettling feeling grow inside him. Something is wrong, but he's not sure what and being kept in the dark is only making his uneasiness more pronounced.
"You can't trust anyone, Keith," Kolivan says, looking at him. "I would like to say trust your team, but at this point I don't know."
This makes Keith blink, surprised. "What?"
"The Blades have been infiltrated," Kolivan explains, his voice severe. "I don't know how deep this goes, or how far does it reach, but it has become obvious."
"Infiltrated by who?" he can't help but ask, feeling the air knocked out of his chest. Everyone beside him and Allura had ties with the Blades. If what Kolivan is saying it's true... he understands his worry and his caution.
"I don't know. But it's grave enough that I thought wise to tell you. There are only a scarce cluster of trusted people, but the others..." Kolivan shakes his head. "I've found evidence that-" but before he can finish a loud noise interrupts him.
It takes Keith a moment and seeing Kolivan's body flown across the shop to realize it was a blast. He turns immediately, getting ready to fight, only to hear another shot. This time he sees from across the street Thace slumped on the ground. He looks around quickly, panic and instinct working in his favour, and he sees a shadow on the rooftop running away. His instinct screams at him to follow the figure, but he fights it and looks towards Kolivan.
The other is still breathing and trying to sit up. "Go!" Kolivan roars, "I'll be fine."
That might be doubtful, but Keith still nods and exits the shop. Only then he activates his powers and flies towards the rooftops.
Their assailant might have a head start, but Keith has the advantage of being capable of flight.
From up in the sky, his target is easy to spot. Keith flies in his direction, with a single focus. He seems to be faster than a normal human would be, and he jumps from roof to roof effortlessly. There is no hesitation in his movements, a certainty in his own capabilities that is proven correct every single time.
He's so fast that even Keith is having problems catching up to him. Even pushing his flames to the maximum, the distance that separates them doesn't shorten. He fears he'll lose him soon. It doesn't seem like the man has noticed that Keith is following him, but he must have an escape plan in place.
Common place dictates that, usually, Keith's powers aren't to be used in the city. Especially not carelessly thrown at buildings, but Keith doesn't think he has any other choice. Thace might be dead, and Kolivan is at best seriously hurt. The time for common sense has long left.
He prepares a ball of fire in his hand, controlling the powerful force of the flames as best as he can, and he sends it towards his target.
For a moment it appears like Keith's strategy might work out. The ball is flying towards the man at high speed, and it seems like the other hasn't noticed anything. Keith holds his breath in anticipation, but the man stops and turns around.
Faster than Keith can see, the man raises his hand and catches Keith's flames like they are nothing. The ball dissipates in the other's hand, leaving no damage in their place. Keith freezes, shock overcoming his entire system.
The unknown enemy looks up towards him, and his eyes are as cold as ice. There is nothing to be found there: no rage, no fear, no glee. Keith feels like he's looking directly at a black hole.
For a second, they don't move, simply staring into each other's eyes. Then, the man turns and jumps from the rooftop into an alley and out of Keith's vision.
He should follow him, he knows, but the encounter has him shaken. The man blocked Keith's attack with ease, but it was more than that. There was... something.
When Keith finally manages to shake the sensation from his bones and move again, the man is nowhere to be found. Lost to the nothingness from where he appeared.
There are no traces to follow and so Keith returns to the shawarma place, hoping to arrive there on time. Hoping that at least one of the two survived.
He lands in the middle of the street, but the traffic is already blocked. It seems like someone has already called 911, but Keith can also see some Blade's among the rescuer. He sees someone he thinks he recognizes and rushes towards them.
"How are they?" he asks, hoping that his voice is steadier than he feels.
The man blinks - if Keith remembers correctly his name was Regris - and looks towards the ambulance. It's obvious he knows who Keith is, and his hesitance doesn't bode well.
"The Director is being rushed to be treated. He should survive. Thace..." Regris doesn't finish his sentence, but Keith doesn't need him to.
Kolivan's words ring inside his head. You can't trust anyone, Keith. Can he trust Regris? Can he trust the people who will cure Kolivan?
Who is the man that shot them?
Kolivan seemed to think that there was something greater at work and this attack certainly doesn't disprove his fears.
"Actually, we would like to talk to you," Regris informs him, looking around. "You were with the Director, right?"
Keith simply nods, but he already knows he won't let them interrogate him. He doesn't know if Regris is untrustworthy, but right now he doesn't feel like it would be wise to risk it. "Yeah, I'll fly to the helicarrier."
Before Regris can stop him, Keith flies away.
In the air he realizes that he has a decision to make. Kolivan warned him not to trust anyone, not even his team. If someone has really infiltrated the Blades then there is no corner of this city that is safe.
Thinking about the Omega Shield, if the Blades are really compromised, then there is nowhere safe anymore.
So, Keith has to make a choice now. He doesn't have enough information or the right clues to complete the puzzle, but there is no time to waste. Kolivan might be dying at his exact moment, and with him possibly the only person who knows what is going on.
Keith doesn't think he's capable enough to resolve this on his own.
For two years he has lived with his team, trusted them with part of his life that no one else knew. If they are compromised, if one of them is part of this mysterious enemy, then they already have the upper hand.
They already know where to hit Keith the hardest.
Keith needs to make a choice, but the moment he realizes he's flying towards the Holt Tower he thinks he probably has made it already.

He lands on the roof without much grace, but time is of the essence. "Rover!" he calls, already walking towards the door to the tower. "Call everyone, tell them that we need to have an emergency team meeting. It's important."
"Of course, Master Keith," the AI replies immediately.
There is a possibility that the news of the attack has already spread to the team. He knows that Pidge monitors most of the city's surveillance system to be always informed about anything that happened.
He doesn't know what to tell them, how to explain his conversation with Kolivan or their assailant. Should he tell them that Kolivan suspected them too? Should he keep this information private?
There is no time to figure it out. He needs to hope that once he's in there his instincts will guide him in the right direction. Which one that will be... he'll have to see.
When he enters the meeting room, where they usually converged to talk about their missions, he finds Allura, Lance and Hunk already there.
They look up towards him the moment he strides into the room. Keith can see the confusion in their eyes clear as day. They don't seem panicked, nor upset. The probability that the news hasn't reached them yet is high.
Keith isn't sure if this makes it easier or harder.
"Keith?" Hunk asks, cautious. "What happened? Rover told us it was an emergency."
Keith advances towards his seat at the table, feeling the tension in the room grow with every step he takes. "I would prefer to do this all in one go. Where's Pidge?"
Lance opens his mouth to reply, but before he can the door of the room opens again. Pidge walks in already in armor and her eyes are hard. She's gearing up for a battle. She knows, Keith realizes.
"I've heard what happened," Pidge says, the moment she's close enough. Keith simply nods in reply, unsure of how to reply.
"Can someone clue us in too?" Lance says, exasperated. "I mean, first Keith calls an emergency meeting, then Pidge arrives in full battle gear. It's not another invasion, right?"
"Or another attack from those gigantic frogs?" Hunk pipes in, trembling at the memory.
Any other day the memory of that fight would have brought a smile to Keith's mouth, but today he can't muster any hilarity.
"Kolivan was attacked," he says. The three that didn't know the news straighten up immediately, the gravity and urgency of the problem at hand capturing their attention. Pidge simply stands still. "Thace is dead. I... couldn't catch the one responsible."
Lance nods, while Allura looks first towards Pidge and then back to Keith. "Is that it, then? We have to do a manhunt?"
A manhunt, what a strange term. While the assassin is a problem, Keith's attention has to be focused on the biggest mystery. "There's more. Before he was attacked, Kolivan told me not to trust the Blades." Kolivan had looked somber, but nervous. He had expected an attack, Keith realizes. "He thinks they are compromised."
"The Blades?" Lance exclaims, the shock clear in his voice. "But that's impossible! I mean-"
"No, it makes sense," Pidge intervenes immediately. She touches the table and a hologram appears over it. "Rover, show them what we found today."
Immediately a string of data flow in front of their eyes, incomprehensible for Keith. Hunk inches forwards, reading intensely. After a few seconds his brow furrows. "That's not right."
"I know. There is something strange in this code," Pidge confirms, swiping the data away. Soon they are replaced by an image, a representation of the three ships. "The Omega Shield is designed as a last act of protection against invaders, but the way it's being set up... they are planning on putting something else on the ships. I don't know what it is, I can't... I can't figure it out."
"What do you mean you can't figure it out?" Lance asks, surprised. "You're Pidge! Shouldn't this stuff come easily to you?"
"Whatever this is," Hunk intervenes, "it's nothing like I've seen before. It's a code too complex to come from us. It has to be some kind of galran device. But we would need more to understand exactly what it did."
"Time we definitely don't have." Allura finishes for him. She sounds calm, like someone who has faced many adversities and always came out stronger for them. It's obvious that the pressure weights on Hunk, but the other seems to be reacting better than Keith expected.
"There's more," Pidge says, touching the hologram again. "When I noticed this - and I almost didn't - I went looking for more information. I found something else in the files, buried deep. Project Kuron."
Keith blinks, surprised. He remembers that name. It had been part of the message from Pidge's family. Why is it popping up here?
"It didn't go into many details," Pidge explains, but then she puts up an image. Keith recognizes it immediately. It's a photo of the man he had followed before, the one who had shot Kolivan and Thace. His metallic arm, the same one that had stopped Keith's attack, glisters in the light.
It has to be him.
"This was the only thing I could find," Pidge's voice brings him back to the present and Keith turns towards her.
"He's the one that shot them." His heart beats frantically inside his ribcage. More and more pieces of the puzzle are coming together, but the picture seems still impossible to recreate. "I followed him after. He's fast, and he blocked my attack with his arm like it was nothing."
"That's not good..." Hunk murmurs. Keith agrees with him.
"I think whoever took my family is responsible for what's happening with the Blades," Pidge explains. "And I think we don't have much time to figure out what's happening before it's too late."
"What can we do?" Lance wonders out loud, looking at everyone else. "This is just... I'm feeling a headache coming."
"You said that Kolivan was hurt? Who is taking care of him?" Allura wonders, and Keith tries to school his expression.
He made a choice by coming here directly. Right now it's entirely possible that whoever orchestrated the attack would utilize this opportunity to finish the job. But there was nothing more to be done. He knows Kolivan would approve.
"Oh, perfect! You left him with the possibly murderous people that have tried to kill him! Splendid idea!" Lance exclaims, shaking his head.
"It's not like I had much choice," Keith growls defensively. "By the time I arrived back at the scene, the Blades were already there. They wanted to talk to me but..."
"You came here," Hunk finishes for him, "which means they'll come here soon." He sounds panicked, but there's always a flicker of annoyance in his tone. It's obvious that the news about Kolivan has shaken him.
"I hope they do." Pidge's voice shocks them for a second and they all turn towards her, surprised. "This is my tower. If you think someone can just come in, you're mistaken."
She moves then, walking towards the window. "If they come here, then we make them talk. We demand answer. If they know where my family is..."
Pidge doesn't finish, but they all know how important this is to her. How much she has put into the search of her family. How much trust she had put in Kolivan and the Blades. Keith doesn't know what she's feeling right now, but he knows it can't be anything good.
"If they dare come here," Allura interrupts, "then we'll make them regret it. We deserve answers and we'll have them one way or another."
"Look. Not that I'm not on board with this plan. Because I know there are some assholes I would gladly put back in their place," Lance says, looking around the room, "but the Blades are a powerful organization and... wouldn't it be better to make them think we don't suspect anything? Act like actual spies."
"I'm not a spy," Pidge intercedes, ice in her voice.
"Please, I think you're the best spy here. The point is that instead of letting them attack us, we should try and catch them by surprise." Lance looks around to everyone, hoping to find some sort of encouragement.
When no one says anything Lance sighs. "Think about it. If they are so good that no one has noticed them until now, do you think they'll make the mistake of hunting us here? We're sitting ducks if we just wait for them to do the first move." He stands up, pointing at the hologram. "They have cannons and whatever this Project Kuron is. They don't need to come and get us. We need to stop them."
No one speaks for a moment before Allura intervenes. "I agree with Lance. Sometimes attacking is the only defense we have."
"it... doesn't sound unreasonable. But we don't have enough information to move now." Pidge sighs, looking back towards the hologram. "I tried digging deeper, but I couldn't find anything. I might be able to do more if you give me a couple of days but..."
"We're not sure we have that kind of time," Keith confirms, looking down at his own hands. He feels powerless.
"You're a genius, Pidge, but even you have your limits," Hunk intervenes, standing up. "We've been working with the Blades for years, but even now galran technology sometimes feels too advanced for us. But if we had help, from someone who knew this kind of technology like the back of his hands..."
No one talks for a second before Pidge makes a surprised gasp. "You know where Slav is?"
"Slav?" Keith wonders, curious while Lance groans.
"He used to collaborate with the Blades," Pidge explains, "he was the one who helped me with the early investigations with my family. He's not exactly..." she stops, unsure how to continue.
"He's a pain in the ass," Lance helpfully supplies.
"Okay, yeah," Hunk admits with a sigh, "but he's a genius."
"He is. I don't say that lightly," Pidge confirms, nodding. "He might be as intelligent as I am. Most importantly he has more knowledge about galran and altean technology than I do. He might be able to crack this code much faster than me."
"Yes, but would it be worth it?" Lance wonders out loud. "Honestly death and being subjugated by a evil organization becomes more and more appealing the more we talk about it."
No one actually listens to him, but it's obvious Lance doesn't mean any of it. Hunk and Pidge are already scheming, talking excitedly between themselves and Allura goes to Lance's side, to console him while the other laments their luck.
Keith watches them and hopes that he has made the right choice in trusting them. He hopes that Kolivan's words, ominous and full of nervous fear, will be proven incorrect.
This is his team, the only thing that helps him feel like he's alive most days and Keith hopes that this future doesn't decide to wrench them away from him too.

They leave the tower on one of the most inconspicuous of Pidge's cars - which is not saying much. Hunk refuses to tell them where they are going until they have wandered aimlessly for an hour.
"I promised it to him!" Hunk explains, when Lance screams in frustration.
When finally they have met all of Slav's ridiculous requirements - that consist of stopping at least thrice in different sides of the interstate and turn four times at the wrong intersection - Hunk tells them that the place they are going is four hours away from the city. A little cottage that's basically impossible to track on a satellite - he has tried.
"Why did he tell you when he was going?" Pidge wonders, a little curious.
Hunk doesn't seem to have an answer to satisfy her. "Honestly I have no idea. He just told me that there was a 78,34% possibility that we would need his help in the future. And that out of everyone he was sure he could trust me. Well, 82% sure."
Pidge and Lance sigh in tandem while Allura looks in Keith's direction, evidently confused. It's good to know that he's not the only one confused by the strange exchange.
They all know that if they could use their usual means of transportation - flying for Pidge, Keith and Allura and the flying bike for Lance and Hunk - they would arrive much faster. However, they are probably already attracting too much attention on themselves and they need to lay low at least until the truth of the situation is revealed.
So a four hour drive it is.
After a while the scenery starts to change. The farther they go, the less civilization they encounter. Soon there isn't anything but country road and trees around them.
"Are we sure we're going in the right direction?" Lance wonders, while they hit another hole. The car shakes violently and Pidge murmurs a curse.
"I certainly hope so. Or I will have destroyed a car for nothing," she grumbles, even if they all know that she's going to fix it quick enough.
"I mean, it's not like his instruction were super precise," Hunk mumbles, looking at a little map on his cellphone. "And I can't really ask google maps."
"Why would you ask Google anyway?" Pidge asks, affronted. "You've been living in my towers for two years and you can still stab me in the back that way?"
"I wouldn't be using Google Maps if you had listened to me when you made Holt Maps," Hunk simply states, arching an eyebrow.
It's a discussion they have almost every day and Keith already knows it by heart. It's why he decides to interrupt them quite abruptly. "Can we just focus on this?" he asks, gritting his teeth. "Maybe me and Allura could fly around and see if we spot something?"
"Really, Keith? You want to turn into a matchstick here?" Lance asks, pointing outside the car's window, where Keith can't see anything but trees. There's nothing Keith can say about that.
"I can go, however," Allura reassures them. "We don't have time to be wandering in the woods."
"This is a road," Pidge tells them, driving. "I don't think there are many roads around here built for cars. It will have to lead somewhere."
"We don't have time-" Lance starts before something hits their car. Pidge steers, surprised, while the vehicle stops dead in its tracks.
"What was that?" Hunk wonders. Keith opens his eyes, looking around wildly.
He doesn't know what hit their car, but their entire surroundings have completely changed. Gone is the forest that had surrounded them until now, but there is only grass around them and, up ahead, a house. There is no sign of whatever has hit them, however.
"What is happening?" Keith asks, feeling the flames dance under his skin. He's alert, keyed up by the crash and the strange circumstances.
"Of course, he had a damn field around it," Pidge mumbles, trying to restart the car.
"It's why I could never find it with the satellite," Hunk reasons, looking around, "and probably what caused the crash. We must have gone past it."
"So you mean Slav is there?" Allura asks, looking at the run-down house in front of them.
Keith has to share her skepticism. It doesn't look like the hide-out of a genius. Honestly it looks more like a barn than anything else.
"Knowing Slav he's probably holed up in one of the rooms and never goes out," Lance reasons, with a smirk. "There are too many ways to die here in the wild."
"We need his help," Pidge reminds him. "I know it won't be easy, but we should try and humor him."
"Last time," Lance reminds her, " he had me stay still in the same position for an hour because he said that whenever I moved there was a 60% possibility that a meteor would hit us!"
Keith opens his mouth to say something, but he's not sure what there would be to say about that and so he closes it almost immediately. All of a sudden, he understands the team's dread about meeting this guy.
"I know," Hunk says, with a sigh. "But we really need the help."
"I'm sure I could talk to him. I'm very convincing," Allura says and Lance actually guffaws out loud.
"I'm not sure threatening him is the way to go," Hunk replies, honestly, "even if it would be satisfying." Allura deflates a little.
"Look. Just let us talk." Pidge says in the end, "it's usually better."
Keith isn't really in any rush to talk with this guy is he's being honest with himself. It seems like it would be almost impossible to have a normal conversation with him.
They finally reach the house, which looks just as run down up close as it did from afar. They climb out of the car with some hesitancy, unsure of what will be waiting for them.
They wait a couple of minutes, but nothing actually happens.
"Do we have the right address?" Lance asks, out loud.
"Are we even sure he still lives here? Your information is dated how many years ago?"
"He has to be here," Hunk immediately replies with a huff. "Do you think he would leave a shield up for no reason?"
"Yes." Pidge's and Lance's answer is immediate, and Hunk tries to protest for a second before he has to concede. "Okay, yes, but we can't give up before we look inside."
"I agree," Allura says, stepping up. "Kolivan is a friend, and if he needs our help we can't give up at the first inconvenience."
Everyone nods after a second and start walking towards the door. They converge in front of it while Hunk knocks on it. "Slav? Are you there?"
A minute of silence passes, and they start to look at each other, unsure of how to proceed, when, out of the blue, the earth under their feet literally opens up.
They all fall down, taken by surprise. Keith can hear Lance and Hunk scream beside him, and he lets the flame consume him, in order to fly. He can't carry them, not like this, but when he turns towards them he sees that Allura had a firm hold on both of them and she's slowing their descent.
Pidge is completely covered in her armor and hovering in midair. "I really hate Slav," he hears her say, while she goes to help Allura with both Lance and Hunk.
Knowing full well that he's useless with this task, Keith flies deeper down, ahead of the group. If this mysterious Slav is down here, then they'll talk to him, but he needs to make sure it's not some kind of trap.
The moment he lands a scream pierces the air. "Are you crazy?" before Keith can do anything water sprinkles from the ceiling. "Don't you know that fire is one of the biggest causes of death inside workshops? There was at least 68% probability that we would die because of it."
Even if Keith has never even seen Slav before, he's sure that this voice must be his. He looks up, drenched, while he lets his flames dissipate. The room he has landed in looks like Pidge's workshop in the sense that it's more controlled chaos than anything else.
What surprises him the most, however, is the owner of the voice.
For all of his experience with aliens, Keith has only encountered Galra and Alteans in his life, but never something that looked like the creature he has in front of him. It looks like a furret, if he's being honest, only with eight arms.
Keith is too stunned to say anything and can only watch as Slav starts to rummage in a pile of what looks like garbage mumbling something Keith can't hear.
"Slav!" Hunk says when the rest of the group finally reaches ground. Keith turns towards them, unsure of how to act.
Slav doesn't really turn towards them, seemingly too interested in continuing his search. "We need you help!" Pidge tries to take a step forward, but in that moment, Slav must find what he was looking for and screams a satisfied Ah!
"I have been looking for it for so long," Slav murmurs, moving towards what seems to be the central station. He doesn't seem too concerned with them now that Keith isn't on fire anymore.
"Slav..." Hunk starts, trying to catch the other's attention. Slav interrupts him yet again.
"Yes. I heard. You need my help. Of course, you do, it's why I told you were to find me," he reminds them, finally turning, "I was just setting up the data."
"The data?" Lance questions, curious. Everyone advances towards Slav then, leaving Keith in the back. He doesn't feel comfortable there, and especially near Slav. The natural heat of his body has already cooled off most of the water, but he prefers staying away.
"Everything I gathered three years ago about the organization that was infiltrating the Blades," Slav explains, like it should be obvious. Everyone looks stunned. "Have I miscalculated? There was a 92% possibility that this was the universe where you came to ask me about this. We could be in the 8% of universes where you're here for the giant octopus."
There is a moment of stillness between them. For a second no one breathes, as if even the world had stopped. The, from a second to the next, everyone moves.
Pidge and Lance launch themselves at Slav, evidently distressed and angry. Hunk recoils back, and Keith can see a suspicious yellow twinkle in his eyes.
"You knew? And you didn't say anything?" Pidge asks, venom in her voice.
Keith knows what's at stake for her; how much she has searched everywhere for news of her family and how much every failure had hurt her. It's cruel to know, now, that she might have found her answers years ago.
"They weren't really hiding that well, if I'm being honest," Slav replies, huffing. "But revealing it then, would have been useless. The possibility of victory was lower than 12%."
"You should have still tried!" Lance screams, an evident tension in his shoulders. "We don't know what they have done in three years. How many people have suffered because you couldn't bother to say anything."
Slav sighs, shaking his head. "Only someone blind wouldn't understand the stakes here. What if I had exposed myself then and they eliminated me? Then your chances would have dropped to 0.03%"
"Stop with the strange numbers! You can't predict the future," Lance screams, aggravated. Slav doesn't really respond, looking back at his monitor.
"I hid and researched. For three years I've compiled anything I could, so that we could stop them." Slav says, after a second. "You might not believe me, but it was the only way to make sure this was the universe where everyone came out alive."
Keith, who has been listening all this time, can't help but flinch at that. "Thace is dead," he points out, his voice hollow. Keith hadn't even been able to see his body. He had liked Thace.
Slav slows for the first time since this conversation started, his fingers hovering over the keys. Keith can't see his face, but he thinks there might be genuine sadness there.
"Many more would have died as well," he says, pushing another key. A moment later the screen fill with a myriad of photos, headshots of members of the blades that line up one after another.
"But for three years I've studied them, and I've compiled a list of who we can trust and who we can't," Slav explains, looking back at them. "Everyone in here is part of this force trying to control the Blades."
Keith scans the faces and he sighs in relief when he doesn't see anyone from the war. He had thought with them, trusted them with his (and most importantly Shiro's) life. He's glad to see that it hadn't been misplaced.
"So many..." Hunk whispers taking a step towards the screen. Keith can't help but agree, there must be more than half the Galra force of the Blades.
"Why? Why are they doing this?" Pidge wonders out loud.
Slav promptly turns back towards the screen. "I don't know their full plan. I know who they are following, however." A moment later all the photos disappear, only to be replaced with a single headshot.
Keith feels his entire body freeze. Allura, beside him, gasps in shock. It's good to know that he's not the only one rattled by the vision of Honnerva staring at them from the screen.
He hadn't asked, he realizes, what had happened to her. All too busy being consumed by his pain, he had never interrogated Kolivan on Honnerva's fate.
Still, how could he have predicted this?
"Wait, who is she? She doesn't look like a Galra," Lance wonders out loud.
"That's because she's not," Allura immediately replies. Her voice is hard, sharp as a knife. That's one of her people up there, he realizes. From what he remembers of Kolivan's explanation, Honnerva had been a trusted advisor to the king of Altea before joining Zarkon on his quest. Maybe Allura knew her when she was young; maybe this is even more personal for her. "She's Altean. And Lotor's mother."
"His mother?" Lance's voice is shocked, and he turns to look at Honnerva with renowned curiosity. "So the crazy just runs in the family."
"She was an incredible scientist," Allura interjects. There is a note of sadness in her words, but Keith can't feel any sympathy for her situation. All he can see is that day, that ravine, and Shiro's body being flung over the edge.
"They call her Haggar now," Slav informs them, looking at the screen. "She's dangerous. Apparently, her powers have only grown during the years. I've intercepted conversations that referred to Quintessence being delivered to her."
"She was using her spies in the blades to acquire Quintessence," Hunk says, a little mystified. "And no one noticed."
"If so many inside the organization are on their side," Pidge points out, "it wouldn't have been difficult to just cover the evidences."
"But why? What is her end goal?" Allura wonders, gaze focused on the altean's face.
"During the war, Zarkon and her were obsessed by the idea of creating a pure cube of Quintessence," Keith points out, "I don't know if Zarkon's death could have changed anything."
No one says anything for a while, but Keith can see that they are all deep in concentration. He knows they are missing something, but he doesn't know what.
"Wait," Pidge finally says. Her eyes fly open and she moves towards the computer, handing Slav the usb. "I think this is what they are planning. The device on the Omega Shield ships. They aren't weapons they are devices to extract raw quintessence."
Slav takes the offered USB and puts it in his computer, after a few second the data flash in the screen and Slav blinks. He furrows his brow, evidently concerned.
"If the three devices were activated at the same time they would do irreparable damages to the Earth," Slav says, clicking at the keyboard. "It would set the Earth on a road of self-destruction. I would put it at a couple of years and not much more."
"Is this what Project Kuron is all about?" Pidge wonders at no one in particular, but Slav almost jumps on his seat.
"Oh no, no. Kuron is something else. Very fascinating." He babbles, muttering things that Keith can't really hear, before the screen changes once again. Slav puts on the screen a dozen of photos, blurry and dark. It takes almost a minute for Keith to see what the photo represents.
He recognizes the man almost immediately. His metal arm shines even in the blurry images. "He's the one that attacked us today," Keith immediately says, taking a step closer.
"It doesn't surprise me," Slav confirms, nodding. "Project Kuron refers to an assassin, trained by Haggar herself. I have found proof of him being active since fifty years ago."
"Fifty? Is he a Galra as well?" Lance asks, squinting at the pictures.
It's difficult to distinguish anything about the man from those, but Keith had seen him. Had looked him into his eyes and he knows that, whatever else, the man was human. "No. He's human."
"That's impossible then, right?" Hunk points out, blinking, "maybe there are more than one Project Kuron."
"I don't know," Slav simply says, shrugging, "but I know that he's trouble. They send him to take care of their most dangerous enemies. I don't think he has ever failed."
"Kolivan might still be alive," Lance points out
"If someone can survive an ageless assassin, that's Kolivan," Allura says, nodding to herself. "We need to believe in him and stop Honner- Haggar's plan."
"If I may!" Slav says, with a smile, "I can help. I have a plan that has the 80% of possibility of working and a 36% chance that no one will die."
"Those don't seem like a lot," Hunk murmurs, fear clear in his voice.
"It's better if I don't tell you the probabilities for all the other plans," Slav simply says.
They start talking, then, losing themselves into planning. Keith should listen to them, he knows, but his gaze keeps wandering over the pictures still up on the screen. Project Kuron. He doesn't know why the man left such a deep mark on him, but the more he remembers, the more he can't shake the feeling that he's missing something.
And that he needs to figure out what before it's too late.

They leave Slav’s house hours later with a plan, and a much better understanding of the danger that awaits them.
The Omega Shield is almost ready to be completed and they don't have much time to waste. The moment they'll reach New York again they'll have to infiltrate the Blade's Helicarrier.
Slav and Pidge have built three little devices, as small as coins, that will need to be put inside the main frame board of each of the three ships. Keith holds one of them, while the other two have been given to Allura and Pidge. As the only three of the team able to fly, it makes sense that they are entrusted with this responsibility.
The ride back is as silent as the one before
Honnerva's reappearance has made it impossible for Keith to not think about Shiro and the last time they saw each other. It's masochistic in a way, and yet he can't help but play the memories over and over in his head. If he manages to kill Honnerva now, will he finally be able to feel like he has avenged Shiro?
"We're almost there," Pidge reminds them. Her hands firm on the steering wheel. "We need to be focused. I want to pass by the tower before we reach the Helicarrier. Less suspicious, and I have been building some toys we could use."
Everyone simply nods, on board with the plan when, for the second time for the day, the car swears violently.
"What the-!" Lance says, before their car flips over. It takes a second and then Keith side hurts where he just crashed onto the car door, pushed there by the crash. He hears Lance say a very heartfelt "Ow" and one of the doors opening.
A second later it's obvious that Hunk has left the car when Keith hears the familiar roar that accompanies Hunk's transformation.
He opens his eyes in time to see Allura and Pidge both follow Hunk outside.
"You alright, Mullet?" Lance wonders and Keith simply nods. His shoulder hurts more than he's comfortable admitting, but he has fought while feeling much worse.
"You?" he asks, because everyone has clear in mind that Lance, as the only human (not protected by an armor) of the group is the more fragile of them.
"Fine. I just need to be pointed out where to shoot at," the other replies with a huff while he gets up.
Finally, Keith looks around them and he sees, through the broken glass of the car, that they have been ambushed. There are many Blades' uniform that are fighting against Allura, Pidge and Hunk. It seems that they have stopped being subtle about it.
"Well, I suggest not shooting at us," he says to Lance before he springs into action. He leaves the car and allows the flames to consume him once more.
He's ready to send a fire blast towards one of the Blades who is attacking Pidge when he feels someone move at his left. He staggers back just fast enough to avoid a metallic arm to the face.
The man, Kuron, stares at him with his yellow eyes, devoid of any emotions. Keith only has a moment to blink before the other pushes his arm right and elbows Keith in the face. Kuron doesn't seem to care about the fact that Keith is on fire, and his arm, one again, seems to be immune to his flames.
Keith flies away, putting some distance between them. The man looks at him only for a second before running towards where Allura is.
In a second he's at Allura's side, stopping one of her punches and delivering one back. He's going tow to tow with Allura and if that doesn't make it clear how dangerous he is, nothing will.
It's then that they all wordlessly decide to focus most of their attacks on him. The other Blades are easier to control and handle. But even alone, Kuron holds his own against them.
He avoids their attack with inhuman agility and attacks them with a strength that is on par with Allura's.
For a while it seems like they might be at a standpoint and Keith wonders what they can do to gain the upper hand when one of Lance's bullets grazes the mask covering Kuron’s face.
It doesn't hurt the man, nothing more than a scratch, but it falls from the man's face and Keith freezes.
He knows no one realizes, because he has changed very much from the war, in ways that make Keith’s heart ache: there is a scar on his nose, his eyes are yellow and cold, there is a turf of white hair where before it was all black and his arm isn’t made of flesh and bones anymore. And yet it’s Shiro, indisputably.
Keith stays stock-still while Allura punches Shiro and the man avoids the hit, delivering a blow to her side where the kidney would be; he stays frozen while Shiro avoids Lance’s shot and then punches Pidge with his mechanical arm, piercing the outside of her armor; he watches in horror as Pidge blasts a laser at Shiro’s back, hitting him.
He sees Hunk, transformed, running towards Shiro and that’s when he acts, flying towards the group and scorching the asphalt in front of Hunk, stopping him from coming any closer. “Stop!” he orders, and he hopes his voice trembles less than his body, but it might be a losing battle.
“Keith! What are you doing?” he hears Pidge ask, while he puts himself in between Shiro and the rest of his team.
The realization that he’s ready to hurt them if they get closer is chilling, but not enough to make him hesitate. “Stay back!” he repeats, while his flames extend towards them as a warning.
Allura hesitates, looking at him, and soon the rest of the team stops as well, uncertain. He knows they still haven’t realized, but he’s glad they trust him enough to stop when he asks them to.
He turns back, looking at the man that’s standing up again, holding his shoulder a little tighter than before —is he hurt? What has happened to him — and banishes the flame away, not caring about the Blade of Marmora agents around.
“Shiro?” he asks, taking a step towards him “how…?” he stops, his voice trembling again. He thinks for a second that maybe, maybe, life has given him something back.
Then Shiro turns towards him, no recognition in his eyes as he asks: “Who is Shiro?”
Keith should have remembered that his life will always be a tragedy.