The story of us (Shance Fluff Week 17/18)

Familiar shades of peace - Day 6: war/peace

To be fair to it, the Garrison hadn't changed at all.

Apparently, in all the years they'd been away, the biggest changes the Garrison had made was replacing Iverson with some younger model who met them at the security checks with a firm handshake and broad smile as he led them through the main barracks.

The idea was that, now Voltron was free to go back to Earth in the peacetime, the Garrison was holding a special ceremony for them, a combination of a late graduation and a 'welcome back'. They were all being given honourary titles, medals, and positions, in some attempt at cleaning up after the mess they left behind.

It was a weird feeling, Lance thought, to be back a hero rather than just another deadweight cadet.

"You're telling me," Shiro replied with a laugh after he explained it, head moving back to Lance after shooting a grin at some rebellious cadets that had sneaked out to get a peak of the mythical Voltron paladins, "I've been here as both a sergeant TA and a pilot, and I still feel like I'm expected to salute every time a professor walks past."

"It's hard to believe you were ever that young," Lance whispered with a snickering laugh, "like, you're sure you didn't come out of the womb with an eight-pack and facial hair?"

Shiro barked a laugh, beginning to to turn a brilliant red and slowly covering his mouth with his hand as Pidge gave them a glare. "Believe it or not, the eight pack didn't come until Kerberos, and the facial hair didn't start until I was twenty."

"Seriously?"

"Yup." He nodded, cutting himself off as the new Commander led them into a wide meeting room. "I was skinnier than you - didn't bulk up until Commander Holt put me on a heavy protein diet for six months, a thing I would recommend to no one-"

That was when Keith's elbow quickly connected with Lance's ribs, and the Commander coughed awkwardly in front of them.

To be fair, he looked the part, even if Lance had his doubts that he was old enough to be Commander in the first place; he hardly looked older than Shiro, nowhere near as rugged and ancient as Iverson was.

"It's an honour to have you all back," he started, extending a hand to each of them in turn as they filed onto a fairly long couch, "even if you don't stay for long, closure's always a nice thing to have."
He chuckled to himself, settling back in his seat whilst folding his arms. "So, any questions before we start?"

"What happened to Iverson?" Hunk asked immediately, shooting up before relaxing back into the couch, "I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I don't recognise any of the professors we saw. So, what happened? Did they all just like, retire?"

The new Commander grimaced, and Lance shot Shiro a confused glance as a cold metal hand laced with his. "Well, he retired shortly after the disappearance of you three as cadets," he explained slowly, "but between you and me, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter; the disappearance of a special observance kid, as well as three more five months later, one of which being a faked persona, really didn't look good in the public eye. Combine that with a resurgence of interest in the heavily classified Kerberos failure, and, well," he stopped, running a hand through his hair, "there wasn't much of a decision to be made."

"And the rest?" Shiro asked, leaning forwards in his seat.

"Went with him, particularly after questions were asked about the 'comet in the sky' that was visible all the way to Las Vegas."

That 'comet in the sky' had to have been Shiro's escape pod, and Lance wasn't really surprised; it nearly blinded him from his position on the Garrison rooftop, and he gave Shiro's hand a squeeze at the memory.