Altean!Lance because I'm weak, also anything from season 3 isn't cannon bc fuck kuro

Lance frowned at his bright white roots, tousling his hair to confirm what he was seeing. It had been a long time since he had access to hair dye, but he had hoped that it would take longer for the true color to show.

Maybe he could ask Allura for hair dye? No, she had white hair just like he did. Besides, she would ask questions that he wouldn't want to answer.

Lance bit his lip. Could he change the color of it? He had hidden his markings after seeing Allura change colors, but it had taken an hour of practice. The change had significantly reduced his morning routine time, as he had to put several layers of concealer over the markings to mask their vibrant colors.

After about five minutes of intense concentration, he felt a tingling on his scalp. He looked in the mirror with expectant eyes, but was met with no visible change.

Lance sighed and brushed his hair down on his face. Maybe nobody would notice.

°•°

"Oh, come on!" Keith shouted, stomping over to Lance. "I had that guy, what is the hell is wrong with you?" Keith was breathing heavily, his face twisted into an intense sneer. Lance furrowed his brow - wasn't he supposed to protect Keith? That robot was about to slice him in half! How was it his fault?

"Keith, he didn't do anything wrong," Shiro spoke up, an eyebrow raised in disapproval. Keith huffed and took a step back, folding his arms over his chest.

"Alright, can we switch training modes already?" Pidge groaned, rubbing her shoulder. "This attack and protect thing is getting... Old."

"Yeah, I want some real action!" Hunk said, miming shooting everything. Pidge watched with mild amusement as he made machine gun sound effects and waved his arms around.

"How about some one-on-one?" Shiro proposed. "You never know when you'll be caught without your Bayard."

"One-on-one it is," Pidge said happily. Lance smiled weakly, hoping he wouldn't have to fight Keith. He wasn't in the mood for getting yelled at.

Luckily for him, he was paired with Hunk. Shiro sat out because of his arm - he didn't have a Bayard in the first place, so he had become an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

"I don't want to hurt you buddy," Lance joked, pulling his helmet off. Hunk scoffed.

"As if you could hurt me. I'm two hundred pounds of pure muscle!" Hunk flexed his arms, his helmet already laying off to the side next to his Bayard. Lance fanned his hair out once more, pushing down the nervousness rising in his chest.

"Alright, let's go. First one to pin the other down wins," Shiro said, stepping back to give the two full reign over the floor.

Lance started with a kick towards Hunk's stomach, but the yellow paladin quickly grabbed his foot and knocked him to the ground. Lance yelped and jumped to his feet, raising his fists defensively.

Hunk advanced nervously, obviously scared despite his advantageous size and power. Lance used this to his advantage, leaping towards him only to jump back and kick him again. Hunk cowered back and then fell to the floor at the force of Lance's kick.

Before the yellow paladin could get up, Lance put his foot on his chest.

"Didn't even break a sweat," Hunk laughed airily.

"You okay, bud?" Lance asked, reaching out an arm to pull him up.

"Yeah, just a bit winded," Hunk admitted, dusting off his armor. "Man, you pack a punch. Or a kick, I guess."

"Alright, our turn," Keith stepped forward, Pidge bouncing after him. She looked somewhere between absolutely terrified to insanely happy.

Honestly, Lance knew the feeling.

Kieth started the fight with a punch, which Pidge easily dodged. She proved a most difficult target to hit due to her size. She leapt out of the way every time Keith neared her.

"Hey, so what's up with your hair?" Hunk leaned over to Lance, whispering in his ear.

"Nothing's wrong with my hair. Why would you ask that?" Lance chuckled dryly, trying his best to play it cool.

"Dude, not to be rude, but you're totally going white at the roots. If you're feeling stressed or anything, you can always talk to someone." Hunk patted Lance awkwardly on the shoulder, and the blue paladin suddenly felt another feeling rising in him. Before he felt nervous, but the gut wrenching emotion was more equivalent to guilt.

Hunk had always been there for him, and he hadn't told him his secrets. The team had poured their hearts out to each other multiple times, and he hasn't even told them this.

Of all the people he had ever known, his team deserved to know. Allura especially. Lance tightened his grip. Would it be better to tell them all at once? No, he needed to practice, and Hunk had known him and supported him the longest.

"I'm Altean," Lance whispered. Hunk's head whipped around to meet his friends deadly serious gaze.

"You're what?" he whispered back, eyebrows raised in skepticism.

"Altean," he said. "I'm Altean."

"No way," Hunk gasped. "No way! That's so cool. Wait, prove it."

"Watch," Lance said, looking up to make sure nobody was watching. He took a deep breath and let his marks show - bright, glowing blue patches of skin under his eyes. Hunk gasped again.

"Lance, what's going on over there?" Shiro's voice drifted over to Lance. The blue paladin quickly concealed his marks, but the damage had been done.

"What was that glowing?" Keith asked, walking over cautiously. Lance laughed and waved it off.

"No worries, it was just my suit."

"Lance..." Allura was eyeing him with a slightly distanced gaze. She didn't look him quite in the eyes, but instead looked just off to the side. "Please tell the truth."

"I..." Lance's gaze flicked between Hunk and Allura. Could he do it? Was he strong enough to tell the truth? He would have to be, it wasn't as if it could wait. "I might be Altean?"

Allura stared at him for a moment. She didn't move or breath, and neither did anyone else in the room. Lance stayed slumped against the wall, unable to stand up. Unable to say anything more.

"Why couldn't you tell me?" she whispered.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Lance brought his knees closer to his chest. "I got so used to hiding it..."

And suddenly arms were wrapped around him, not just Allura's but the whole team's. They surrounded him and embraced him and cried with him.

"You don't have to be sorry."

Hey, hey hey! I'm back! I won't update until Friday or Saturday but then I'm on break and should have a lot more time!! I'll be digging through and writing requests after this, since so many people had ideas and I only did like two. Anyway, hope you enjoyed ❤❤