The Paladins of Voltron have been tolerating doing missions without Keith for the past few months. He's been with the BoM for now. You've joined the Paladins on a few missions, but not a lot anymore. Ever since you came back from your fight with Shivv, they've been careful about what missions you go on. So now, you were in the castle with Shiro. The others had left a while ago. He was looking at plans that were made to escort refugees out of the Fimm System.

"Keith's attention has been divided lately," Shiro spoke up. You put your own attention onto him.

"Yeah? What about it?" You asked, leaning against one of the sliding doors.

"I don't want it to come to this, but if Keith is unable to lead the team, I want you to step in and do it." He turned his head to look at you. You took a double take and almost fell over.

"I'm sorry, what!?" You exclaimed, pushing off of the wall. "Don't you think you're cutting him short? Isn't that a little unfair?" You walked up to him.

"The entire universe is at stake, Y/n. Besides Keith, you are the most ideal leader."

"What about you? You had a bond, why can't you reastablish it?"

"This isn't about me," he interrupted.

"Don't you think Keith would feel he let down the team? I can't just do that," you said, crossing your arms. "Besides... I can't pilot the black lion... I can't pilot anything after P/n." You bit your lip in slight nervousness. Shiro furrowed his brows and let out a sigh.

"Y/n, I understand P/n meant a lot to you, but you'll need to get past this sooner or later," he said.

"I know! I know!" You exclaimed, sighing. "It's just... it feels like I'm betraying her. I don't want to do that." You were very uncomfortable piloting a ship. You swore devotion to P/n since she was made for you. Besides, your mother did make her. The doors to the bridge slid open and Keith walked in, back from his mission with the BoM.

"Keith," you greeted. He sent a small smile your way, but it vanished when he looked at Shiro.

"Keith, good, you're back. The team's on a mission. You need to get to your lion and join them immediately," Shiro said, looking at holographic images of ships.

"I will, but I think we just discovered a new form of quintessence. The readings are off the charts. Kolivan says it could be linked to Lotor," Keith replied. Your brows raised in surprise.

'New form of quintessence?' You thought.

"Okay, we'll discuss it when you return," Shiro dismissed, "The team's escorting refugees out of the Fimm System."

"This is Lotor I'm talking about. He hasn't been seen in months. This might be our chance to track him down," Keith pushed.

"I said we'd discuss it later. Right now, I need you to focus on the mission at hand," Shiro said, firmer this time. 

"But—"

"This isn't a request, Keith. Get to the Fimm System. That's an order."
Keith didn't say anything after that. Instead, he glanced at you before turning and walking to the lion's hangar.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" You questioned once he was gone.

"When he's here with us, he should be focusing on what we're doing," he replied, never looking at you.

"Still. Don't you think that's important information?" You continued to question.

"Of course, but now's not the time to discuss it," he replied. You sighed and decided to let the conversation go. "Y/n, I think the time is coming for you to be the new rightful leader."

"What's with you and wanting to get me in the Black Lion? Why are you all of a sudden so desperate?" You asked, truly curious.

"Voltron deserves a strong leader who's going to be there. Keith's time and attention is divided. And I'm out of the question," he replied smoothly.

"You're not giving yourself a chance, Shiro," you said.

"Y/n, I've already tried. The Black Lion won't respond to me anymore."

"This poor Black Lion is going to go through four pilots, when, really, you were supposed to be the second and only one until the next generation. Do you realize?" You questioned, leaning around to look at him in the face. "The Red Lion has had two just like the Blue Lion."

"The team is functioning and working together, aren't they?" He challenged.

"Yes, but for how long?"
Shiro didn't respond to that. You sighed and turned away from him.

"Something's different about you Shiro."
That drew his attention.

"I don't know what it is. Maybe it's that horrible haircut, but... you're not your usual self." You walked off of the bridge, leaving him. Walking down the empty hallway to your room, a sudden tingle went down your back. Like someone was watching you. You quickly looked around, but the feeling vanished. Frost began to form around your feet. You looked left and right, but that feeling went away.

"Why is this shit always happening to me?"

~
The Paladins returned from their mission in the Fimm System and were now huddled around the bridge together.

"Okay, everybody, today? We'll be heading to Reiphod, a planet recently liberated from Galra forces," Coran explained.

"This is embarrassing. We're basically the grand marshal of a parade," Keith spoke up.

"Not a parade. A show of arms!" Coran corrected, flexing his muscles.

"Whatever it is, this is the second one of these we've done just this week," Pidge piped up.

"I know it's not exactly battling the Galra, but believe it or not, this helps us boost morale and strengthen alliances," Allura said with a smile.

"Right, right, strongholds, blahdy blahdy blah. Now I say we go over our lion choreography one more time. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time, Hunk," Lance discreetly said.

"I thought my lion had more room," Hunk replied shyly. You let out a snort.

"Oh yeah, I watched that. Shit, Lance, you flew like a hundred miles!" You exclaimed, almost bawling on the floor laughing from remembering it.

"It wasn't funny! I had motion sickness for hours after that!" He exclaimed back. You hopped off of the floor and wiped your hands together.

"Shiro, my apologies for interrupting, but this is an urgent matter," Kolivan's face appeared on the screen in front of you. "A Galra supply ship has been spotted passing through Quadrant Omega-Raylar Six." An image popping up on screen.

"A mouthful," you flatly said.

"What's it doing so far from the normal supply routes?" Shiro asked.

"We can't be certain, but taken together with the fact that Lotor hasn't been seen in quite some time, and the emergence of this new form of quintessence, we feel compelled to investigate," Kolivan explained, "Normally, we would wait for better intel, but I believe we should act on this now."

"I'll send Voltron to intercept," Shiro said.

"An infiltration mission makes more sense. We can plant a tracker and see just how far the supply route extends. With all the Galra activity as of late, my agents are spread thin," Kolivan replied.

"Not anymore. Count me in," Keith said from the back of the group.

"Hey, what about our performance? We can't razzle dazzle the crowd with just four lions," Lance spoke up.

"This mission is more important than a show of arms," Keith retorted. Before Lance could reply, you skillfully slid yourself between them, forcing them to halt the conversation.

"Shiro?" Keith turned towards him.

"How long will it take?" Shiro asked towards the screen.

"Not long, but we must act fast, or we risk the ship jumping to hyperspace," he replied. Shiro then turned to Keith.

"Go. But when you're done, meet us on Reiphod," he said to him. You watched Keith nod and run off of the bridge. A sudden thought swirled around your head.

"Hey, Shiro?" You spoke up, hesitation clear in your tone.

"What is it?" He replied.

"If Keith isn't here by the time you do your show of arms... I'll... pilot the black lion if it comes down to it."

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}