You reached your arm out, ice flying towards Keith's ship. Before it reached him, and before his ship could reach the shield, a laser shot right through the ship and its shield. A large explosion began to expand.

"Oh sHIIIIIIIITTTTT!!!!!!" You flew away from the explosion and out of its radius. When you turned back around, you saw an all-too-familiar ship fly by. "Oh god..." You sighed, shaking your head. When the explosion died down, the remnants of the ship was floating through space. The cruiser, which held Haggar, took off into hyperdrive.

"Attention, Paladins of Voltron, rebel fighters, and Y/n L/n," Lotor's voice came through your comm, "I know we've had our differences in the past, but... I think it is time we had a discussion."

~
You were in a lower part of the castle. While the others went on missions without you, you were in charge of watching Lotor... even though he was, basically, your prisoner and kept in an air-locked chamber.  It was silent between you two. You didn't know what to say to him.

"I must admit, out of all of them, you've been the most open with me," he spoke first, but he didn't look at you.

"Well, unlike them, if you tried anything with me, I'd probably break every bone in your body."

"So that's why they assigned you, the brute, to watch me," he said thoughtfully. You scoffed, crossing your arms.

"Perhaps," you agreed.

"Tell me, why did they leave you to watch me? I'm stuck inside of this chamber and don't have any special powers to get out." His gaze finally slid over to you.

"Who knows."

"Perhaps they're trying exclude you from their group."

"What?" Your head snapped around. "What are you talking about?" You and him locked eyes together.

"Think about it. When was the last time you went on a mission with them as a part of Voltron, and not as a convenient strong-arm to get out of pinching situations?" His head lowered, piercing blue eyes gazing into yours.

"I was never a true part of Voltron to begin with," you said, turning your head away from him. "Doesn't matter how much I try. I don't have a lion... or... anything to pilot, anymore." You sighed and shook your head.

"I'm telling you, Y/n, if we had the opportunity to form a team together, we would be an unstoppable force."

"I'm not going to sway from the Paladins because of a few pretty words," you asserted.

"It seems that you're not getting very far with them, as of right now."
You laughed lightly.

"You have absolutely not idea how to shut your mouth, do you?"

"When it comes to bettering the universe, no, I don't." He stood up from the bench and walked closer to where you stood. "You and I have a common enemy. Our father, Zarkon, and the witch, Haggar. We both want them dead."

"I thought Zarkon was dead. That's why they called you in," you said.

"You thought wrong," he replied, "He's alive. Barely, but still breathing."

"Oh Jesus God Mary and Joseph..." You sighed.

"You have a power no other being in the universe does," Lotor began, "You, a child of the Galra and Glaciens, a product of a trans-reality comet, has so much untapped power inside of you." He came so close to squishing his face against the glass.

"You could have the power of controlling quintessence in all of its forms. Including life itself."

"That's a power I'd rather not play with."

"You're a fool."

"Maybe I like being a fool."
Your conversation was cut short when you heard the whirring of the elevator. You looked over and saw Allura and Shiro coming down from the upper level.

"Guess they're back," you murmured, walking away from Lotor. When the doors slid open, the both of them walked out.

"You all look loose and happy," you spoke to them.

"Please Y/n, now is not the time to make jokes," Allura said, walking past you. You rolled your eyes and stayed behind them. The two of them walked up to the glass.

"Your intel checked out," Shiro said.

"You still feign surprise," Lotor said, a smirk coming to his face. "All of the information I've given, proven correct. Every target I've provided, easily dispatched. Yet you still look at me—"

"—as if you were the leader of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known," Allura interrupted.

"Woah, down kitty," you said, placing your hand on her shoulder.

"Can people not change?" Lotor asked, "Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra Empire to a bygone of peace?"

"I mean, you haven't had a very good track record," you said, pursing your lips.

"She's right," Allura agreed. Your brows shot into space.

'Holy shit she agreed with me...' You thought.

"Our fathers were friends once, long ago. There must be hope for us."

"I guess we still need convincing," Shiro spoke. You leaned closer to Allura's ear.

"Should we toss him into space and just... see how he does?"
She just glared at you.

"... sorry..."

"The facts speak for themselves," Lotor said, "The Galra Empire is completely reliant on quintessence. Serve that need peacefully, and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new dawn for the old empire."

"And you're the man to make this happen?" Allura asked.

"My plan from the beginning has been to find a way to harvest quintessence without resorting to the barbarism of the Komar. Extracting quintessence from entire planets at the cost of every living thing? I think not."

"I mean, he's right," you said.

"And your solution was to send Voltron to do your dirty work," Allura countered.

"Only Voltron could retrieve the trans-reality comet... with the exception of Y/n, but her knowledge of her origin was still unknown." His eyes lingered on you for a few seconds. "So, yes, I'm afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting it's retrieval."

"But if the Paladins were killed, that would be fine for you, too," Shiro said.

"It was a calculated risk, I admit that," Lotor replied, "But I knew they'd come out without a scratch... especially having Y/n with you."

"God, stop bringing me into these conversations..."

"Since recovering the comet, I haven't been the least bit aggressive."

"What about your generals?"

"A simple misunderstanding. I had no idea our paths would cross in the Ulippa System. What would I gain by fighting you?"
You sighed and rubbed the bridge of your nose. Allura and Lotor no sooner got into a small bout of words.

'God where did I pull the short end of the stick to end up with these broads...'

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}