Hero // Klance

Ch. 12 - Something Big

Veronica told the whole story to her little brother, from getting caught up in an attack to escaping to gathering a group to do something about it, only to find out one already existed.

"It was the livestream that tipped us off," she explained, "We figured that if we found where the violence was, we'd find you guys. Although, I didn't expect to see you here." She ruffled his hair affectionately, but she could tell he was still bothered. She frowned.

"What is it, Lancelot?" He winced at the nickname.

"So you just disappear without a word, come back as some badass rebel leader, and expect nothing else to have changed?" He asked, venom in his tone. She took a step back, shocked.

"I'm sorry." It was all she could say. After all, he was right.

And then he was hugging her, and she briefly wondered if this is what it was like to be attacked by a boa constrictor.

"You'd better be. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

"Let's go kick some GALRA ass," Lance declared, pulling away.

"Language," Veronica rebuked, grinning.

"English, but I can say it in Spanish too if you want. Why?"

"You're an idiot."

"I get that a lot."

Keith was more than a little bit confused by the appearance of Lance's sister, who had apparently gone missing some time ago, with a ton of reinforcements, but hey, he wasn't complaining.

They were aggressive, and the tired fighters rallied behind them. He glanced over at Allura in the center of the fight, not daring to hope, but she was smiling. This was just the event they needed to turn the tides.

She stood up and fired her gun straight up. No one could miss it. Suddenly, GALRA soldiers began turning on themselves.

It was time for the Blade to do their thing. Twenty or so spies were in the ranks, none of them were foot soldiers. They were good at everything they did, and if they died in this fight they wouldn't do it without taking down as many enemies as possible. It was the Coalition's trump card, and the GALRA weren't ready for it.

Up on the Parade Float of Death, the younger figure pulled a gun on the elder.

Zarkon went limp and fell with the bullet's impact. Keith stood in shock. That was not a part of the plan, at least, not as far as he knew, and he knew quite a lot.

The mysterious assassin then called out in a haughty-sounding voice,

"Retreat, terrorists. Your ruler is dead, and I, Lotor, son of Zarkon, now rank highest. I say scatter. The GALRA are no more."

He made his way gracefully down as the remaining troops scrambled to get out of his way, straight to Allura. But one of the spies had unmasked herself, and Keith didn't care about their prissy savior anymore.

"Krolia!" He called, and ran into his mother's arms.

The first thing Allura noticed about Lotor was his eyes. They were gold, a beautiful and equally rare contrast to her own blue-violet ones. The second thing she noticed was that he was speaking to her, and she tuned in, embarrassed, hoping to figure out what he was saying without asking him to repeat anything.

"-have been waiting for the right moment to dispel the GALRA from my position. I never liked my father, nor did I approve of the GALRA's goals. I'm fortunate to have been in the position you put me in, and I thank you very much."

"We owe you this victory, Lotor. Thank you."

He smiled softly, and she felt heat rising in her chest. To think she was ready to kiss Lance merely hours ago. This was so different. This was sudden, complete and possibly irrevocable. Was it love?

Shiro saw Allura hit the ceiling. He'd done that too, once. The butterflies had been almost constant then, but now there was just an empty, painful darkness inside him. He couldn't make himself look at Adam's body. He had known that there would be sacrifices made today, but hadn't he already sacrificed enough? Keith still had his face buried in his mother's shoulder. Shiro couldn't even remember the last time he'd done that, or if he ever had. Lance was talking to his sister. They could have been twins. Veronica probably knew this, otherwise she wouldn't have felt the need to call him 'little brother' so often.

Sam Holt held his family tightly, and Colleen had tears in her eyes. Matt and Katie tried half-heartedly to escape it.

Hopefully, he could start calling them by their real names again. They had been friends of Shiro's for a while, and he almost felt himself idolizing their relationship.

He hugged his knees to his chest, knowing no one was watching him. Alone was how he always ended up. He shouldn't have expected anything different.

Curtis was watching. It was weird to see the commander so vulnerable. He'd always admired Shiro, and seeing him so human only strengthened the feeling. He couldn't let him stay like that, though.

Silently, he sat down next to him. Not a word was spoken between them, but he knew he understood. Curtis would be whatever he needed him to. Now, a support. A friend. As for the future, who knew?

888 words and I may be a horrible person