They're Back

4

Lance POV

After Keith and Hunk's unathourized and reckless mission to save Hunk's parents worked, the Garrison and rebels started doing more rescue missions, each time bringing more and more people. But never more than five, otherwise the Galra would know something was happening. Teams of two would go out, and it became customary for all the paladins, MFES, and highest ranking Garrison officials to be there to greet the new comers.

One day, a new group came in with Ryan and Crutis. There were two women and three guys. The women rushed towards a few kids and a man, tears of joy  streaming down their faces. Two of the men each went to different women, and one had a little kid, three, maybe four years old. I felt bad for him. He'd been born not too long before all this shit happened.

The last man got out of the rover, and James looked like he had seen a ghost. Him and the man stared at each other for a moment before they both smiled. James walked towards the man, who opened his arms. "Dad, you're okay." James said, hugging the man. The man, who was apparently James' father, didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms around his son. They pulled apart and James was still smiling. "I thought you were-"

Then the man decked him. Punching him right in the face. James stepped back in shock, and the man advanced on him, punching him in the gut as well. James doubled over, and the man punched him again. James fell to his knees, mouth open, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of his lungs. The man then started kicking James over and over, while he just stayed on the floor, unable to defend himself from his attacker. "You stupid son of a bitch. You're a worthless piece of shit, you know that? Not bothering to check up on your old man when the motherfucking alien terrorist attacked." He said, kicking at James's face. "Dad stop!" He protested, trying to cover himself. Me and the others watched in shock as this man beat the crap out of James, turning the once strong and unbreakable solider into a shaking mess.  "Still can't stand up for yourself, eh? You're not strong enough. Not good enough. Not being good enough for anything. I'm gracing you with my attention. You don't deserve it you faggot. Liking a boy of all things. I would've left you for dead if you were with me." He said, as he kicked James particularly hard, sending him sliding across the floor. He stepped forward, an evil look on his face. "Only the best survive and you're not good enough. You're a failure you know? I should kill you right now, you-"

He was cut off when someone ripped his away from his advance on James, who lay on the floor shaking and clutching his ribs. It was Ryan. He glared at the man. "Don't fucking touch him." He growled. "Oh, so you're the whore that ruined my son? You little piece of sh-" Then Keith stepped forward and punched him in the face. "No, I am you fucking jackass." He spat, and him and the man started fist fighting, so me and Shiro rushed forward, and had to pull them apart. Ryan and Keith looked ready to kill him, and I was with them. This man was James's dad? No wonder he was the way he is. He had this abusive jackass as a father. "That's enough. Crutis, Mark, put him in a cell." Shiro said, handing the man over to two other men, who dragged the man away.

Meanwhile, Keith and Ryan, who had now calmed, knelt next to James, who still lay shaking on the floor, now crunched into a ball, his head in his arms. "James? James?" Ryan asked, looking increasingly worried. "Please, stop. Stop stop stop, please. I didn't do anything wrong. Dad please stop." James whimpered, still shaking. "James? James, he's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore." Keith said softly. James looked up at him, tears in his eyes. "He is?" Keith nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah. He's not going to hurt you anymore. We took care of him. He's gone." "All-all I did was hug him.." James said, trailing off, tears still streaming down his face. "Hey." Keith said, cupping his face gently. "You didn't do anything wrong. Okay?" He said softly, as if talking to an injured puppy. James nodded silently, and Keith pulled him into a hug. James shook and cried into his chest, as Keith rubbed his back and ran his hands through his hair soothingly. James soon stopped shaking, but without seeing his face, you couldn't tell if he was still crying.

Me and everyone else just stood in shock. Luckily, the families with the kids had left, but everyone else had seen what happened. "I'm going to fucking kill him." Ryan growled, getting up. "Not if I do it first." Rizavi said, heading in the direction they had taken him. "Get in line." Adam and Veronica said, also heading in that direction. Shiro stopped them. "Whoa whoa whoa, everyone call down." He said, hands up. "Call down? He just beat the shit out of James!" Rizavi said angrily. "Shiro, I love you, and normally I would trust your judgement, but let us do this." Adam said, attempting to sidestep Shiro, who stepped along with him. "No. In this case, violence is not the answer." "Yes it is." Veronica said, glaring at Shiro. "Commander Shriogane, with all due respect, get out of the fucking way and let us handle him." Ina said. I was in shock. She hardly ever talked, and was normally very level headed. I didn't think she was capable of cursing.

Shiro sighed. "Look, I know James means a lot to all of you, but hurting the person who hurt him won't change anything. You have to have control." "But Keith got to punch him!" Ryan protested. "Keith also has the ability to kill someone with one punch. He restrained himself. And I couldn't stop him. But I'm stopping all of you."' Shiro said, glaring at them pointedly. They all relented, stepping back. I had no idea that James meant this much to those people. I had pegged him as the loner type. Good at leading and high-pressure situations, but not social situations.

I looked over at him and Keith, and was surprised by what I saw. James had stopped crying and shaking, and was leaning into Keith, eyes wide. Keith was still running his hands through his hair and holding him.

It was a shocking transformation. The normal confident, arrogant pilot was now on the floor looking terrified, and the normally distant and moody paladin was kind and sweet, comforting him. James's eye fluttered close, and you could see his breathing slow. His head leaned into Keith's chest, and his body went limp. Keith didn't stop runinng his hands through his hair, and he shook his head. "Poor James. I had no idea." He said. Adam sighed. kneeling next to him. "None of us did. But what matters is that he's okay now. But I need to take him to the med bay, he may be injured. May I?" Adam said, reaching forward. Keith reluctantly let go of James, and Adam picked him up bridal style. James was limp in his arms, face tear-stained and pink, arms crossed in his lap.

Adam left the room, and the other MFES followed him, along with Veronica and Keith. Shiro sighed. "That poor boy. He's lucky they all care about him so much." My stomach felt uneasy as he said that. Just how exactly did Keith care for him? "Well, they've been through a lot together." Mr.Holt said. "They've know each other for years, trained together, almost died together. James is a big part of what holds them together. Adam mentored him, nurturing his talents. James encouraged Ina to step out of her shell, and be more confident. He helped Rizavi become more serious, while also maintaining her playful personality. And him and Kinkade are like brothers, along with Veronica. When the Galra attacked, Kinkade had a panic attack and he was able to stay calm while also calming him. And when we heard that Voltron was missing, he was there for Veronica when she was crying her heart out. He convinced her not to give up, and that you guys weren't dead, just missing. They help him out, and tease him, make him loosen up. They all have a sibling dynamic, especially those three. They look out for each other, and have each other's back." He said, smiling fondly. "I've never seen anything quite like it."