Chapter Text
Their bond flooded him and despite how his body rebelled, Lance limped toward her. She pulled back as she got close, trotting around him in circles to inspect all his injuries. Lance reached out and, when his hand touched warm fur he just… He could feel his face crumple and tears sprung up unbidden. Blue sat and let Lance pull her into a hug, raising a large paw to grab at his waist. It was so warm and soothing and Lance never wanted to let go.
Blue purred loudly, the force of it rumbling through his chest. (A brief memory skittered across his mind and he shared it with her, a long-ago heated discussion on if the Voltron Lions could purr since Earth Lions couldn’t. Pidge had been adamant but Keith’s argument was that they were magical space robot lions and because of that, Earth’s big cat biology didn’t apply.) He felt her amusement even as she nuzzled at the side of his face.
Lance sniffed and turned to look to White, who had come over while they’d had their moment. “How is this going to work? When we leave… it’s not like you can come along. If we get too far away?”
I am stronger than the other members of our Pride. I am still connected to my center. White stated simply. I was able to reach you and bring you here, although I could not convey complex thoughts. You may not be able to reach me yet, Cub, but Blue and the others will when they are bonded with you. The more you reunite us, the stronger we will become.
Lance nodded slowly and, when words failed him, pushed at White with what he wanted to say. He knew how bad loneliness could get and after reuniting White with one of his Pride (or, technically two, but Lance didn’t count himself because this was the first time they were truly meeting) he didn’t want to take it away from him and leave him alone once more. White nudged the side of Lance’s face with his nose and chuffed happily. His gratitude washed over Lance.
Thanks to you, I will never be alone again. Our Pride is richer for having you. Lance bit his lip as tears welled up again. How many families could one guy collect? Here he was with three and loving each of them with every bit of his entire, too-big heart. Come, it is time you returned. You are hurt and need attention you cannot get here.
Everything he’d learned and seeing Blue like this had been plenty distracting, but it was starting to hurt more to use his left hand and his right wasn’t exactly an option either. How the hell were they going to manage this? He blinked and he must have just been standing there and staring off because Blue was staring at him expectantly, his armor carefully held in her mouth from where it had spilled when White had moved. Lance climbed back up onto White’s back, exhaustion hitting him hard when he half-laid in the voluminous mane and buried his (better) hand in the strands to keep from falling off.
“I don’t know how much time has passed outside… Or how soon I could get a wormhole to our position…” Lance was talking to himself as much as he was to Blue and White. “Before with… with Allura and Lotor it had only been hours but that was before the multi-verse was…”
Not everything went back to how it was before, Little One. Time flows were altered in places to restore things that had been long-lost. Blue walked close to Lance’s side like she needed to keep an eye on him.
It was a flowery way to say that neither of them knew. Lance let his questions drop. He had many more, but he was also exhausted from his ordeal. He was adrenalin-crashing hard now that the threat was over. Lance would honestly be surprised if he didn’t fall asleep the moment he felt safe. He just needed to make sure someone told Hunk that he’d gotten back safely. He didn’t want to make him worry.
He might have even drifted off while on White’s back, because the lions had stopped in front of Blue’s curled up mechanical form. He climbed off of White carefully and smiled when the massive Lion gently bumped and rubbed his head against Lance’s chest. He rubbed at White’s ear and scratched his chin in thanks, smiling softly as he ducked his head a little to bump foreheads. White sat and watched Lance and Blue move toward the powered-down Voltron Lion.
Be safe, Cub. If you need me, I have no doubt that you will find the strength inside you to summon me for aid. He didn’t wait for Lance to respond before fading from sight.
The Blue Lion shifted and opened her mouth for Lance and Blue to walk up and into the cockpit. “Is this weird for you? To be in and out of your body all at once?”
This metal body is simply a vessel. I do not find this odd. I am glad I can finally take this form again, for I am more easily able to help you.
Lance hummed and headed to storage to find something to construct a sling to keep his arm immobile. The pain had skyrocketed now that the adrenalin was gone and he was worried about making things worse. He found a large enough square of fabric and returned to the cockpit. With Blue’s help holding a corner in place as he wrapped and tucked, he was able to loop the fabric around his left shoulder and middle to tie the knot at his left side and keep the arm pinned snugly against his body. It was almost an immediate lessening of his pain.
“Will you be able to fly us on your own?” He asked as he gingerly lowered himself into the pilot’s seat. He sagged once settled, groaning softly.
Yes, Blue placed a paw on the arm rest to push up and nuzzle at Lance’s cheek. I can bring us home. White will open a wormhole to New Altea, we will be back in no time at all. Are you alright if I…? It made sense that she couldn’t move two forms at once. Lance nodded and after one more fond forehead rub, she faded from next to him and the Blue Lion awoke.
The HUD lit up and cast everything in the familiar, beautiful, blue glow. As tired as he was, he still felt a shiver of excitement. He’d never get over this feeling—the anticipation before flight and the Blue Lion waking under his fingers. He reached out with his left to trail his injured fingers lightly over the cool metal. He tipped his head back against the seat and no sooner than he connected with the seat did he slip into Blue’s mind. It muted his pain and he felt it as each component did a test movement, a ripple through Blue’s entire body from nose to tail.
Together, they rumbled happily to be reunited like this. Blue crouched and leapt into the air as smoothly as she could. They ran through the sky, unlike how the Blue Lion had moved before. The bond to White through Lance had already improved Blue’s strength and abilities. He couldn’t wait to see what happened as the bonds continued to grow and strengthen.
Blue burst through the cloud layer and out into the bright center of the white hole. White’s massive head was waiting for them and, Lance dared to say, he was smiling.
I will miss you, Cub. At this scale, even with White speaking quietly, his words were loud in Lance’s head. Next time, I will personally show you around Oriande. Lance perked up at the thought of getting to come back one day. Maybe he could finally take his time looking at all the carvings in the temple. As long as he didn’t have to do the trials again.
The White Lion opened his mouth and roared. Instead of the beam weapon that he had attacked Voltron with years ago, there was an invisible pulsing wave that made all of Lance’s hair stand on end. The electric crackle of it on his spine made him sit up straighter, his eyes going to where the wave went—outside of the white hole. As soon as the wave stopped, they left the brightness of the white hole behind.
The blackness of space was a shock to Lance’s eyes and it took him a moment to adjust and realize what they were facing. The White Lion had created a wormhole. It wasn’t as big as the ones he was used to the castle ship making back in the day, but it was plenty big for them to fly through. Instead of the frame inscribed with Altean markings, it was a likeness of the White Lion’s head, mouth stretched wide and the wormhole inside his mouth.
Blue wasted no time taking them through. Unlike the feeling with Altean-made wormholes, going through this one could only be described as feeling as if his cells were statically charged. The crackling of electricity in his ears cleared with a jaw-popping yawn. The wormhole collapsed on itself with a whooshing force that Lance swore he felt from inside the Blue Lion. He was hailed almost immediately, asking to identify himself. He didn’t blame them, really. It hadn’t exactly been a scheduled wormhole, he got it. With permission to land, Lance closed the connection and hesitated on calling Hunk.
He’d promised, so he’d do it, but what if Keith was there? What if Keith wasn’t ready to forgive him yet? His stomach churned and he bit his bottom lip. He punched in Hunk’s code slowly and sat back. Blue even waited, in case he needed time before landing on New Altea. His pulse sped up the longer he waited for an answer, wondering if now was a bad time—
“Lance!” Hunk’s grinning face nearly covered the entire screen. Lance recognized the sounds of welding torches in the background. The forehead band was not Hunk’s usual, but one attached to a welding mask. “One sec…” He leaned back and lowered the mask to protect his eyes so he could turn back to the people behind him. “Hey! Guys! It’s Lance! Lance is back!” The welding sounds cut off and Lance heard Pidge call his name.
Hunk shifted the angle of the communicator so he could see Pidge rigged up in protective leathers and suspension gear so they could weld the plating that was held up by a ponytailed someone also in protective leathers. Lance’s heart skipped painfully in his chest. Keith. Pidge turned off the torch and waved it. They shoved up their mask now that the harmful light was gone. They swiped their forearm across their sweaty forehead, sticking their bangs to their skin. “Lance? You look like shit.”
Lance sighed and sat up a little straighter and didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. “Kinda feel like it, too.” He flapped his left hand as if he could wave their worries away. “I’ll be fine after a jaunt in a healing pod—”
“You need a healing pod?!” Keith let go of the thick sheet of metal he was holding for Pidge to weld to Red’s side and ripped his mask off as he stalked toward the communicator. Lance winced at both his tone and in sympathy as he saw the band get caught in his ponytail and yank the tie out. That must not have been comfortable.
“U-uh…” Lance lowered his hand out of sight, knowing that the ripped and bloodied tips were harmful evidence. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a very obvious sling revealing the worst of it anyway. “Yes…” He drew it out slowly, as Keith’s face took up nearly the whole screen, his narrowed Galran pupils eating up the details as best they could through the call. “The Trials were rougher than anticipated, but I made it out fine—”
“How the hell is that fine?” Keith snapped but Lance knew him too well by now and knew the furrow between his eyebrows was all worry. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
Lance reached out for the HOTAS and wrapped his stiff fingers carefully around it to nudge the Blue Lion forward. He used it as an excuse to avoid Keith’s gaze even though he could feel the force of his stare against the side of his face. “New Altea’s upper atmo, currently. The White Lion created a wormhole for me. I’m coming in now, I’ll meet you in the Garden of Lions.” Blue cut the connection off for him and he relaxed. He had no idea how this conversation with Keith was going to go but he knew they needed to have it.
The trip to the Garden took mere minutes, but it simultaneously felt much longer and shorter than that at the same time. The Blue Lion crouched on her designated dias and settled down, opening her mouth and powering down. Blue appeared next to him in an instant. Lance wrapped his good arm around her neck and moved carefully as she helped pull him up. He hadn’t been sitting for that long, but his body had taken every opportunity to stiffen up.
He braced the side of his left hand between her shoulders as she walked beside him down the ramp. He limped a little, the hip he landed on when he dislocated his shoulder had seized up, complaining about taking his weight and movement in general. The steps at the base of the dias were the worst, every one of them reminding him where all his pains were.
Blue leaned her head against his side a little, so she didn’t upset his balance. She lifted her head from his torso, ears pricked forward. Lance glanced across the courtyard to follow her gaze. Half a second later, Keith burst through the double doors. Kosmo kept pace beside him, Pidge and Hunk bringing up the rear. The relief at seeing them all was like a punch to the gut, leaving him breathless. He stopped and let them come to him.
Keith stopped first, staring with his mouth open at Blue. Kosmo’s ears couldn’t decide if they wanted to perk with interest or lay back in threat. His nose twitched constantly like he was trying to smell her despite the distance between them. The other two Paladins stopped even with Keith and Kosmo, also staring.
“Guys, meet Blue. Or, the hard light projection version of her.”
Keith tore his gaze away from Blue and hurried over to him, his eyes taking in every detail. Lance knew Keith was cataloging every change since they’d last seen each other. The way his gaze lingered on the sling, his missing pieces of armor, and no doubt the various small cuts or bruises on his face.
“Lance, man, I have so many questions.” Hunk began when it looked like no one was going to speak. “But I think Keith just might vibrate out of his skin if we don’t get you to the infirmary first.”
Lance couldn’t help himself. He laughed. He also regretted it nearly instantly, his poor abused diaphragm not pleased at all. He winced and took a slow breath, his eyes closed. When he opened them, Keith was close and hesitantly reaching for him.
He had a lot of apologizing and explaining to do but it seemed like Keith just might be willing to listen.