One Last Time

Part 2

"Alright team. Let's have one last adventure."

Hunk looked around, hastily, and then back at Keith. "Um, Keith?"

"Yes?"

"There's 5 Lions and . . . 4 Paladins," his voice trailed off. 

Pidge replied, "Hunk, I'm sure Keith can do basic math. I bet -"

"Mullet might be a drop out but I think he can count," Lance interrupted, gently nudging Keith in the ribs and offering him a teasing smile. 

Keith huffed and rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress a grin. He used to find Lance's teasing incredibly irritating and took it too seriously sometimes. Keith had grown to almost enjoy, finding it rather endearing. Wait, endearing? No, no, no, no, no, he meant, um, lovable, no, enjoyable. Yes, enjoyable. Keith just thought that Lance was a friend who's light hearted teasing was enjoyable. Nothing more to it.

"I bet Keith has a solution to this," Pidge finished, her voice bringing Keith back to reality. 

Like most of the time, she was right. He did have a plan if Shiro would consent to it. Keith knew the chances of success were relatively low but he had to give it a shot. 

He glanced at Shiro. "Well . . . I'm not sure it'll work. But we have five Paladins of Voltron if Shiro's willing to pilot the Black Lion again."

"Keith, no," He shook his head. "You are the true Paladin of the Black Lion."

Keith opened his mouth to argue but Shiro quickly pointed out, "Besides. This is just a rescue mission, right?"

He blinked, unsure how to answer. In all of his time at the Garrison, Keith hadn't known Adam very well. He did know that Adam was strong. If he could be in such a weakened state and desperately pleading for help, Keith thought the situation must've been pretty dire. However, in an effort to assure Shiro that Adam was fine, he nodded. 

Curtis frowned at the screen. "The message isn't very clear. It's going to take us a little while to get the coordinates."

"So," Hunk began. "Anyone want cookies?"

Keith blinked but had to smile. Leave it to Hunk to break a tense situation with baked goods. Or really, to just calm everyone down. He was just like. Considerate and loving.

Pidge wrinkled her nose. "Real cookies or scaltrite cookies?"

"Real cookies, of course," he assured her, laughing slightly.

They followed Hunk to the kitchen in the Atlas. Vrepit Sal was preparing meals and briefly waved at them before continuing his work. 

The team sat in circle, eating Hunk's cookies, and talking amicably. 

"Good thing I didn't put blue food coloring in," Hunk grinned making Pidge roll her eyes. 

Lance shrugged, indifferent, and reached for another cookie, slightly brushing Keith's hand in the process. He groaned with ecstasy as he ate the second one. "Man, Hunk! These are the best quiznacking cookies ever!"

Keith found himself staring at Lance and felt his face turn slightly red. He quickly looked down at Cosmos, scratching behind his ears affectionately.

"Remember Clear Day?" Coran asked. "Ah, winning a Yalmor calling contest the way Pop Pop would've done it. It was quite a proud moment."

Lance frowned at the memory. "I had to sign a bucket full of lions stuffed animals just to get a blue one! You know, in hindsight, that guy might've ripped me off."

"You think?" Keith snorted.

"Keith and I were stuck on a ride," Hunk recalled. "Man, it was a great ride. And the song was so catchy!"

Keith groaned. "It was the absolute worst ride. We didn't even get to check for anything suspicious!"

"Aww, you need to relax a little, Keith," Lance assured him. He took his index fingers and pushed them up again the corners of Keith's mouth, forcing him to smile and causing Keith to swat at his hands. 

It wasn't that he despised the touch. Actually, Keith was afraid of what might happen if Lance was too close to him for too long. That side of himself that he did his best to suppress would come out, he'd do something regrettable, and then Lance would laugh at him or stare or whatever but their friendship would be ruined because Lance clearly liked Allura and - ugh, he was mentally rambling.

Pidge smirked. "Looks like you can't keep your hands to yourself, huh Lance?"

They both turned slightly red and Lance glared at her. "Do not take that out of context Pidge!"

Secretly, Keith was grateful to hear Pidge's voice. He kept zoning out when he thought about Lance and that wouldn't be a good habit. Eventually, he'd end up making a fool out of himself because of it.

Their teammates laughed as Sam walked up to the room. He stood in the doorway, one hand resting on the frame. 

"Shiro . . . how are you holding up?" He sounded genuinely concerned. "I haven't seen you this shaken in a long time."

Shiro let out a shaky breath. "I . . . can't believe it. They said he was dead. But, I can't help but feel like this could be a trap."

"I understand. I was equally surprised. Adam's ship was supposedly blown up and we lost contact with him. However, we never had visuals so I think it's safe to say we really don't know what happened."

He paused, trying to read Shiro's face, unsure if he was making matters worse. Sam changed the subject.

 "Anyway, Curtis is nearly done with decoding the coordinates."

Shiro nodded and Keith placed a hand on his shoulder, offering him a small smile as he said, "Alright team. Let's plan a rescue mission."