Wings of Home II: Wings of Change

Conscripted

The smell of cheap coffee drifted up from the cup Shiro clutched in his calloused hands. He'd always hated the political game the higher ups at the garrison ended up playing, yet now he – one of his younger brothers – and three other teens, found themselves in the middle of such a mess. The caffeinated drink did nothing to calm his nerves, yet in the back of his mind, he wondered if his sleep would be plagued with more nightmares.

Letting out a sigh, Shiro glanced up from his cup at the small group gathered in the conference room, unsure of what he should say to lighten the mood despite the fact he was the leaders of the paladins – the five pilots the robotic lions selected for the task of forming Voltron and defending the universe. The thought of children fighting in a war sickened him, yet he was also responsible.

"I'll ask Mama to fix a nice, hot pot of cafecito when we get back to the apartment if of course, we have power. She might find a way to still make it though."

"Cafe..." Shiro found himself distracted by the tug of his sleeve as his sixteen-year-old brother tugged his sleeve. "Keith?"

"Ryo."

"He's with my mother, but quite fine, given the circumstances." Penelope let out a deep breath as if making small talk helped her relax. Shiro wished he could relax as she did, given the situation. "As for cafecito, consider it a much better pick me up than the instant coffee they make here at the garrison, not to mention it's also a tradition."

"You know that..." Shiro took a deep breath, his eyes taking in each of the other four Paladins.

Matt was the oldest, set to graduate soon, yet there was still a bit of worry given the fact the oldest of the two Hold siblings leaned towards intellectual interests instead of any form of athleticism. Hunk, on the other hand, was known for his strength and size; he was also known for being a big-hearted teddy bear. Then there was his younger brother – Keith, whose social interactions with others left a lot to be desired.

Of course, the one he worried about the most once he put aside his brotherly instinct for Keith, was, in fact, Penelope's eldest, Elena. Unlike the cadets who were selected, she had no experience regarding the military from what he could tell, yet she honestly struggled with the idea of dying, let alone her significant other – Syd, dying. Turning his head, meaning to apologize to Penelope for dragging her daughter into the matter.

Only, he stopped upon seeing Syd and Elena's hands on the table, his mouth opening slightly as he tried putting his feelings together. A hand clapped down onto his shoulder, making Shiro turn and look Penelope in the eye.

"Don't apologize for dragging Elena into this. Instead, be there for her when she needs it."

"That..."

He turned, catching the look in Penelope's eyes. The woman smiled despite the fact she knew – like him, that the lives of these four teens were now turned upside down, given the fact they were the only ones able to pilot the lions. She knew they were stuck in these roles fate forced upon them.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait much longer, although Shiro would rather Sablan wasn't in the room with Iverson. The memory of the man interrogating Keith without his legal guardian's permission didn't sit well, yet something told him Sablan still wanted to interrogate Keith as if he were the enemy; in fact, something told him Sablan wanted to sink his teeth in all of them regarding the matters.

"So, we have an issue." Iverson stepped to the front of the conference room.

"Yeah. The Galra attacked us! That is a major problem!" Matt's younger sister Katie stood up, lifting her hand into the air. "What kind of defenses are they planning?"

Iverson cleared his throat, glaring at the girl standing there, her ginger colored hair pulled into a ponytail, reminding everyone she was just as much of a geek as her older brother. "You, young lady, do not have the proper security clearance to know that."

"Yeah, but..."

Iverson cleared his throat. "Anyways, let me get to the point since we do have civilians involved. Unfortunately for us, you five are the ones selected by those lions to be their pilots and as such are our only defense against the Galra."

"And?" Lance leaned back in his chair, thankfully not putting his feet onto the table. "Isn't there a way for – you know – someone else to pilot one of the lions." He turned his head to glare at Keith who suddenly glared back, coming out of whatever fog he was once in. "I mean, I'm sure there are those of us who would make a better candidate."

Shiro flinched, seeing the look of self-doubt on Elena's face. He let out a deep sigh. "Geese."

"Yeah. I think he's..." Elena, of course, responded, obviously thinking any of the cadets at the Garrison were better candidates, including her cousin Lance."

"No. We don't know of any method of changing who pilots the lions, so I must, unfortunately, say that all of you are officially conscripted to active duty."

He gave Iverson a look which he hoped would tell the commander he'd stuck his foot into his mouth majorly just as Keith started sliding down in the chair he sat in while Elena stood up, leaving the room, Syd following after her. "No! That... you can't do that!"

Shiro glanced over at Penelope, wondering how she would handle the situation, yet the look in her eyes said everything. "I'll handle this."

He stood up, glancing over at his younger brother and catching sight of the look of confusion on Keith's face. Letting out a sigh, he headed out of the room, focused on his military duty instead of his familial. Elena stood outside of the room, one finger pushing up her eyeglasses in frustration; she was obviously lost regarding where she should take off towards. Syd turned towards Shiro. "She's right."

"Sort of. We're at war, so one can be drafted up, although I will admit it's not really your typical – um, draft circumstances. I mean, you're not yet eighteen, but aren't male either."

"Okay. I admit that the draft stuff is sexist in that it doesn't include women, yet I'm also right now glad that it doesn't simply because I don't like being drafted against my will."

"I know. Do you think that I want Keith getting pulled into this either?"

"Shiro." Syd piped up, their mouth twisting into a frown while their arms crossed their chest. "Will make sure Elena is okay?"

"Yeah. I promise to do my best. That said, I'm just as uncertain as you two are."