#crew on kerberos: 'captain I know it's not my place but please

[spectraling]

Just saw someone point out that there's def a trend among Andreas' characters to be inexplicably (half-)naked and I suddenly realized I'm gonna get Captain Larsen all wet and naked on that damn ship aren't I

[patientfocusly]

major canon divergences 

( i don’t expect anyone to read this because it’s a lot lmao. this is more so for me to have a reference because i forget things about my own muse / canon rip. if we’re rping together we’re probably also talking ooc so anything important from this post will be mentioned to you at some point. )

( please note that by canon, i’m referring to my general main verse which includes no interactions with other muses. each interaction with a muse is put into its own verse. new interactions can come into the main verse at any point of the timeline and then diverge from that point. )

does not marry curtis. they noticed each other because they worked closely as part of the atlas crew and maybe if the time and place were different there might’ve been a chance for them to get to know each other and form something but for shiro, there is a lot weighing on his mind that he needs to wade through

( a ) shiro has been thru Sum shit and he has an endless list of reasons to be sad but i just want to make it known that shiro’s no. 1 source of guilt and just general mind-anguish is the fact that he is living in a borrowed body, that he took from someone who had to die for him to live. 

( b ) at this stage he is also coming in touch with his feeling for keith which have been with him for a while, so even if he was aware of other potential interests . . . he’s not actually interested back.

adam is alive. he was critically injured in the first wave of attack by sendak and recovered enough only to provide ground support for the second wave. he remains an officer of the garrison and heads training and recruitment. he does not fly again. he’s happily married and reaches out to shiro. they’re amicable, but not close friends. maybe eventually they will be. ( this will obviously not be the case if i’m writing with an adam. )

allura is alive – i need to rewatch the end of season 8 to figure out how, but she’s alive.

after a year or so of captaining the atlas, the need for atlas to be an offensive military ship decreases and shiro consults sam and pidge for their thoughts on deweaponising his prosthesis. The new arm is still powered by allura’s crystal but looks more similar to the galra arm ( except it starts at the shoulder since his bicep??? disappeared magically ), but it’s coloured white and light grey, and the lit up areas are aqua ( same as the crystal. )

speaking of the crystal . . .  the original arm was designed to operate via a balmera crystal, because that’s what most of altean designs are based off of. however they didn’t have a crystal to use, and sam says the remaining energy required for the armto work would be drawn from shiro’s own electromagnetic field. he tries it for the first time and . . . his body rejects it, in what looks like an incredibly painful and potentially fatal way, if it hadn’t been for allura stepping in and replacing the original energy source for the arm with the crystal from her tiara. we don’t ever find out why shiro’s body rejected the first energy source but here are 2 theories:

( a ) shiro’s body is actually kuron’s body, a clone, manufactured by haggar, using ~space science~ and likely some form of quintessence. the electro magnetic field coming off of the clone’s body would vary to that of a human’s, which is what sam would’ve based his calculations on. balmera crystals have incredible properties that aren’t really explained in great detail but we know how powerful they can be, regardless of size. 

( b ) because it’s kuron’s body, maybe the connection to haggar didn’t completely shut off when keith cut off the arm. that flash that happens when the arm connects and shiro’s body starts rejecting it is very similar to the flash that happens when haggar starts controlling kuron earlier ( better explained in this headcanon piece. ) my only issue with this headcanon is that it implies haggar may still have some degree of control over shiro, and I just………….it’s been so overused, i just don’t want that for shiro anymore, so i’m most likely sticking to theory a !!!!!

still on the subject of the crystal, let’s talk about what shiro says after allura places the balmera crystal in his arm ; “i feel strange . . . i feel – great !” strange, as in he’s feeling something he’s never quite felt before. this is in contrast to what he feels when the first energy source is used in his arm ; “i feel . . . good,” but he sounds hesitant, like he doesn’t feel good at all, and obviously we see why moments afterwards. the great part is emphasised. he almost seems excited, like he really does feel great, and the scene cuts off with him trialling his arm by making a fist, and smiling. again, the properties of the crystals are pretty much undefined, but they are an immense source of power – what allura’s tiara contains is likely more than enough required to power shiro’s arm, and going back to how allura operated the castleship, and how shiro is able to operate the atlas, i’m loosely headcanoning that the crystal acts as a link between “captain” and “ship”, though obviously, allura herself channels quintessence and has so much more capabilities as a “captain.” 

what does the crystal providing an energy source for not only the new prosthesis, but also shiro’s body mean for shiro? an external boost of energy and human-compatible quintessence is probably the first dose of anything resembling treatment shiro has had since the kerberos mission. i don’t see the balmera crystal nor altean healing pods having the power to edit genes but as far as healing goes, it must have some effect in alleviating pain and / or fatigue for shiro to exclaim, “i feel great !”

( a ) sometimes it’s difficult to write in a universe set in the future because things of our current reality ( social injustices, shit politics, technological limitations etc. ) may not be a reality say 100 years in the future, and add space and alien technology to the mix and you’re sort of left with a lot of potential for creation and imagination and progression but also hindered by the reality of present day and representing present day. i wouldn’t want to “magic” away shiro’s disease or magically come up with a cure, but at the same time i don’t want to take away the possibility for him to be potentially cured ( which is what the “i feel great !” line hints towards ) just because of the limitations of today ???????? i’m just having an inner conflict over this - i will update what i decide when i decide !! 

major fanon divergences

does not qualify as space dad. it simultaneously infantilises the other paladins and takes away from their own journeys of being forced to grow up too quickly and take on the responsibility of fighting in a war, and puts undue stress on shiro who is only ~25 himself responsible for his team only in the role of their commanding officer at best

his prosthetic arm is not a sex toy, it’s a prosthesis ( refer to this post on arm related bed time activities )

shiro did not have a romantic connection with keith pre-kerberos. if anything the earliest signs of anything resembling a romantic connection would be late into season 2, but that is pending heavy plotting

shiro came from a happy family . . . he just lost almost all of it very early on. he grew up loved even though he learnt about loss too quickly ( please refer to this headcanon. )

shiro cannot sing lol . . . i dont know where this headcanon came from, but it’s sticking

i think it’s popular headcanon for shiro to have a little sister, or a big family; i wrote his backstory with his older sister before i came across this, so i’m sticking to my original headcanon because his bond with his sister is so strongly formed in my head  

shiro is not afraid of death . . . but he doesn’t want to die. i feel like his relationship with death needs its own post but the tl;dr version of it is that he had a timer put on his life when he was around 17 years old. life goes from seemingly endless to suddenly very very short ( not just in the sense that his lifespan is predicted to be shorter, but that his body will soon restrict him in movement and opportunity. ) and then kerberos happens, and the arena happens, and voltron and zarkon and he’s reminded that life is short regardless of whether they give you a timer at 17. any moment could be his last and shiro has had a long time to come to terms with this. it makes him incredibly grateful for the present, and of what he’s had in the past. it also is potentially why he prioritises a mission that will take him to see the stars, over a relationship with adam ten years down the track.

if anyone makes it this far . . . ur the real mvp, thank u for reading my brain ramblings <3

[slashtakemylife]

Just finished the last episodes and I need to rant about Adam because boi, if they had actually given the importance to Adam they said he had, Voltron would've been very different, in a better way

When S7 aired and I learned of Adam's death I felt upset and shocked but I never raged, I was just disappointed, I nosedived to every interview to see if the general media talked about it, and they did! However in the interviews I read things about Adam like, "since Shiro is gone, Adam is the next best pilot there is" (as to why it was Adam on the first unsuccesful wave), "he didn't hesitate" " he was made of the same cloth as Shiro" "His importance to Voltron is very big", I got massive warning signs of they doing what I personally call "sugarcoating" specially after reading the apology were JDS said they never intended to make Adam a recurring character, but alas, I waited to finish the season and properly make an opinion, well the warning signs were true and now I AM RANTING!!

I'll be going a little off topic but one thing I seriously hate in movies and shows are when female characters, specially love interests, are the best of the best, the most high rank, the smartest, the strongest, the handmade creation of the gods themselves, up to a point that sometimes you go, then why is the male character the leader? Isn't she more qualified? well yeah but she isn't just because, but other than saying how awesome she is, they barely show it, in important, crucial, deciding, defining moments they are not there when by their rank they should be or they are just adorning the background barely making any opninions, or despite being shown to be badass in certain scenes they are just sitting plants in others just for the hero to rescue them

Female characters are awesome and I love many of them but there are obvious parts were they are simply pushed aside despite the amount of importance they give them, Hollywood is afraid of putting female leads but also afraid of being called mysogynist so they create secondary female characters and then they "sugarcoat" them to us with valuable aspects such as a big family conection, a big link to the plot of the movie, a rank, a skill or smth to show she is a "strong woman" but only when convinient

As a female I'm used to this sugarcoating, so when on interviews I read those things about Adam, that is what pissed me off. Listen, in my true honest opinion, the VLD crew really wanted to make this rep for us, Barlee admitted it was greenlit late, it was smashed together (and it shows) but they did their best, I accepted Adam as JDS letter clearly says, Adam was just a character meant to show Shiro's sexuality, nothing less and nothing more, it's not that he is not important, he just wasn't planned for more and I'm not mad about it, I can accept that.

Suddenly declaring Adam as a symbol of loss, regret and war; a major character that has a major impactful role in Voltron..., please, that comes straight out of nowhere, since they saw how meaningful Adam was to ppl, they decided to "sugarcoat" him by giving him more value than he actually has or was meant to have, just let the man die and let me mourn him in peace

If I really give Adam the characteristics and value they said, things would've and could've been different in a so much better way and here is my how: (remember Adam is supposed to be like Shiro, one of if not the best pilot, behind Shiro, the garrison has to offer and a brave man that doesn't hesitate to jump into action, a team leader)

(Take this as a prompt as well please because I would love a fic like this)

So Shiro wants to go to Kerberos but Admiral Sanda won't let him, Sam Holt is pushing for Shiro because he is the best, but you need to replace him so, who is the second if not also the best pilot such as Shiro? You know it, Adam, he was there for every record but he is Shiro's flight parter so there is a high chance some of those records are Adam's as well, also Sam is close to Shiro so he probably would accept Adam as a replacement (or at least that is what Sanda would think)

If Adam is a self sacrificing hero like Shiro, he would want to accept just to keep Shiro safe back on Earth, Shiro could feel betrayed by Adam and the whole drama would've been so much better, but we need Shiro on Kerberos (unless you want BlackPaladdin!Adam) so imagine Adam coming over to Shiro and saying:

"Out of our time together, out of my respect and love for you, I'm doing this last thing, I'm rejecting Admiral Sanda's proposal and promote for you to be there, so go, but don't expect me to be here when you get back"

So Shiro basically has Adam's blessing but they still break up, they still parted on rocky terms but is more bittersweet and you show how mature and deep their relationship is

Back to canon, I believe they introduced Adam in the breakup because we are supposed to like him but not get invested in him so when he does die we won't feel so bad, VLD promoted Adam as Shiro's significant other, then they sugarcoated him by saying they were close to marriage but when we finally discover Adam's fate they go like, "we'll remember he is his ex, not current, so while feelings are still there Shiro already knew it was kind of over, so don't feel sad for Adam or Shiro, just remember Shiro is gay"

Having Adam just, "how important am I to you?" let's just say I'm not surprised ppl disliked Adam because he gave Shiro that ultimatum, his character felt needy and greedy but then again, we are not supposed to get too invested in him. (Boi, that went exactly the wrong direction, the fandom imprinted on Adam like newly born ducks)

I'll be going a little off topic but I'm coming back to Adam after explaining this thing: the cadets, why you use cadets and not fully trained officers? In all shows the main characters share their audiences' age but they always explain why, the adults are evil, fate just happened to put them there, a mystical something chose them (in the paladins cases) but here? They just say they are the best of the best, and that is good but still, just cadets, you can't do test with them, they could die, ppl have died while testing things, some of the crew of the guys that went to the moon died in a test in rl, right?

I thought, ok I'll go with it, but the Why You Don't Do That pretty much slaps them in the face, when the Galra attack, why they don't want to deploy them?

They are just cadets!

THEN WHY TF TRAIN THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!????

Sam came back knowing a Galra attack is inminent, the garrison is about to make the most advanced ships and weapons and they are giving them to cadets?! WHY?!?!

(Fix it and prompt time!)

Before Sam arrives they couldn't even make the pod move, so they could've explain the cadets as this

"It will takes us Years to create a simple prototype, if we were to train older cadets, they woulb be close to or retiring so better young ones so when we finally fly something they would not only have years of training but would be at their prime"

When Sam arrives

"I know you all expected to use this years from now but the Galra won't wait and neither will we, you are already trained for this so may as well keep it up"

- (the continuation of this prompt is after we talk Adam some more)

Back to the interviews, in one they said Adam's death was inminent given the natural flow of the show, if the Galra attack then we will deploy the best we have but the best we have is Adam so tough luck.

Me after watching the show: I'm calling BS on this! They HAD a defense line, they HAD the knowledge, they just sent them because they were stupid enough to put cadets in the only advanced weapon they had and to show how shitty Sanda was, and our poor gay man was the price, also brave Adam? I don't doubt it but then again, he did what soldiers do, he followed orders, so they didn't show me how brave he was, they showed me him doing his job, he knows what those commands mean, he knows what is his job description so while yeah he is obviously brave, so is everyone, he doesn't stand out, if he had been already buckled in Before the command then yes he is great but no, he just followed orders

You want to show his bravery and leader skills? Hold my juice, (I don't drink beer, sorry) we are about to get to the next part of the prompt

- (The next part :D)

Sam:

"We will keep you cadets but since the making of the ships is about to be done with the info I brought, we need an experienced pilot to be your leader specially in battle since you are new to that"

-Quiz time!-

Who is the best pilot the garrison has to offer known and acknowledged by both Sanda and Sam?

ADAM!!!

MFE pilot and leader!Adam

When the Garla attack, Adam is no longer in his squad, he stayed in base when Sanda deploys his unit and sees them get decimated, before they all die he does this

Adam:

"Cadets, I won't force you into doing anything, but there are good man and women out there getting killed by the very threat we've been training to defeat, so I'm taking my MFE and blast them to the next moon, anyone who wants to come along is welcome"

Sanda: "don't you daaare, court martial BS!"

Adam, while in his MFE:

"Open the particle barrier or I'll see a way to blast throught it!"

Sam does open it and they cover fire enough to save the few remaining earth pilots

(End prompt)

You see?!?! This is how you show me Adam being brave and a team leader, the original paladins are 4 young ones and a space dad, they could've had the earth equivalent with the 4 cadets and their own Shiro with Adam as their leader, can I also mention how he is now VERY much alive? So yeah, Adam is dead because you chose so! Shiro is alive because you chose so too! He was supposed to die to let Keith be the leader but you found his value and made great things with him and we all love him!

WHY COULD'NT YOU DO THIS WITH ADAAAAAAM!!!!!!

And you can't tell me it wouldn't be absolute poetry to have Space Dad as Captain of the Atlas, Space Son as the Voltron leader and Earth Dad as he leader of the Earth forces, being the support to keep safe his two idiots he loves and calls family

Adam should've left Griffin in charge for a moment, go to Shiro and blast Sendak with his MFE while screaming, this is for killing the love of my life! (Ok I got over excited in that last bit but you know it would've been epic)

If you reached this far you probably think I'm just a rabbid Adashi shipper ranting about my ship, and yeah I sorta am, as I said, I'm really just venting but still my true discomfort is the whole sugarcoating thing

I accepted Adam as JDS said, as what the show is showing me he is, a background character that, while he definitely is a major someone to Shiro, it is just for him, he doesn't have so much major importance in Voltron as a whole but he was designed that way, he is still part of Shiro's backstory but he is dead now and we shall move on

Don't try to make him more than he is outside of the show canon, this whole issue is because EVERYTHING is out of canon, the show reflects NOTHING of everything you said of both Shiro's sexuality and Adam as a character, if S8 brings Adam back whether is a flashback or alive, I'll come back to this because I will judge if they will own up to what they said he is or once again leave vague things that reflect nothing and try to cover it up outside of canon, I'm mad but mostly disappointed

I'll be fine in a few days and I will see S8 with the same excitement as I have all the rest of the seasons

[dork-empress]

Please Stop Dying

Read on Ao3

Rating General Audiences Archive Warning Major Character Death Category: M/M Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Relationship: Adam/Shiro (Voltron) Characters: Adam (Voltron) Shiro (Voltron) Iverson (Voltron) Sam Holt Additional Tags: Fix It Fic

In which Iverson decides to lead the defense instead of Adam.

Fix it Fic where Adam lives but I still kill someone. Sorry Iverson.

I really do like season 7 I hope this isn't something thats like, contributing to the negativity around it, I just....I wanted to think of a better way for it to go so I can properly enjoy the season.

EDIT: I've gone back to fix some mistakes. This is why you read things over before you publish them. Oops.

“Iverson, you will follow protocol!”

“No!” Holt said, “You’ll just get them all killed! The jets aren’t prepared--”

“The CADETS aren’t prepared!” Sanda yelled back, “Iverson, you will follow my orders this minute!”

Iverson looked between the both of them weighing his options. He made no secret he agreed with Holt. He was in charge of the jet fighters, trained each and every one of them. He never sent them into any missions lightly, and never if he weren’t at least somewhat confident of success. That’s why he didn’t want to send Shirogane in the first place, not out of some stubbornness, but to keep him safe. He blamed himself when the Kerberos mission presumably failed.

On the other hand, Sanda was his commanding officer. He was a soldier, no ifs ands or buts, and didn’t take orders from his commanding officer lightly either. Disobeying was not only mutiny, it was stupid. Sanda could strip him of rank and order the flyers to go herself, and what would he have accomplished but making it just so he didn’t have to pull the trigger.

“I’ll send them out,” He said, through gritted teeth, “But I lead the squadron.”

“What? That’s absurd!”

“Iverson, no, you can’t!”

Well, it looked like Sanda and Holt agreed on SOMETHING at least. “They’re my pilots. I’m not going to ask them to do something I’m not willing to do myself.”

“I need you here!” Sanda said, “You are under MY command, I need you at base to organize the attack!”

“Walsh!” Iverson called back. Adam Walsh stepped up, the usual jet pilot leader. “It’s about time you got a promotion, don’t you think?”

“Sir?” Walsh asked, screwing his eyebrows up, confused.

Iverson stripped the bars off his own uniform and handed them over to Adam. “Congratulations, son. You’ll be organizing the attack under Sanda. You’ll probably do a better job than I could anyway.”

Walsh gaped first at him, then Holt and Sanda behind him. “Sir, I can’t possibly--”

“You can, and you will,” He said, “It’s an order, Walsh. Understood?”

Walsh swallowed, gripping the bars tight. “Yes sir.”

Iverson nodded, and headed out to the jets. Holt grabbed his shoulder before he could make it out the door. “Iverson,” he said, voice getting lost, “This is suicide.”

Iverson almost chuckled. He recalled saying something similar to Sam about the Kerberos mission. “When you see Shirogane again, let him know I’m sorry about the kidnapping thing. Hopefully he understands.”

 “Of course I understand,” Shiro said, looking at the wall of fallen soldiers, “He was following orders, like any soldier would.”

“He died a hero,” Adam said, leaning against the wall of the honored, “You know, even though he was in charge of covering up what happened, no one fought harder to try and rescue you. He even came up with simulations to take cadets out there, see if there was any way we could get you back.”

Shiro took a breath. “Well, if I’d have listened to him, none of this would have happened in the first place.” He looked over to Adam, trying to meet his eyes. “If I had listened to you.”

Adam shifted, his strict military posture failing as he looked at his feet. “Yeah, but then you wouldn’t have like, saved the universe or whatever. That seems pretty important.”

Shiro shrugged. “It wouldn’t have come to Earth though.”

“Yes it would, and you know it,” Adam said, “If you hadn’t gotten the blue lion out of here when you did, the Galra would have taken it, and then this would just be another planet under their control, with no Voltron to free it. Stop trying to turn this into some guilt trip,” He sighed. “Besides, you didn’t die, and you came back. So. It all worked out.”

Shiro tried not to choke at the words ‘you didn’t die.’ He wasn’t sure how to break that particular escapade to Adam, and decided, maybe it was just best not to. “I came back,” He agreed with that part at least, “And, despite my memory being essentially a bag of swiss cheese, if memory serves, you said if I come back, you wouldn’t be here.”

Adam bit his tongue, turning away, “block.”

“What?”

“BLOCK of swiss cheese,” Adam said, “That’s the stuff with the holes in them. You wouldn’t get a ‘bag’ of swiss cheese.”

“I would if it’s sliced!” Shiro countered with a smirk, successfully making Adam’s mouth twitch up and eyes roll. “But you’re avoiding my point.”

“And what was your point?” Adam asked, mask of seriousness back on as he rolled his head back Shiro’s way.

“The point is,” Shiro said, daring to take a step closer, “You’re here.”

Adam swallowed, the apple of his throat bobbing. “You know, I said I MIGHT not be here,” he corrected Shiro’s memory, “And just because I’m here physically doesn’t mean…”

“Adam,” Shiro said, tilting his head to the side, “Look, it’s been a long time, for both of us. We’ve both gone through a lot, so I’m not expecting anything, but--I just want to say, I miss you.”

Adam closed his eyes, like Shiro had actually hit him with his words. He took several stuttered breaths, echoing in the empty hall. “I--” he started to say, but he swallowed the words. He was trying to phrase things, Shiro could tell. Ever a diplomat, he never wanted to say the wrong thing. “I can’t. Not now.” He shook his head, looking at his feet again, not willing to see the affect his words would have, “The planet’s being occupied by aliens, I’ve ordered most of the people on this wall to their death,” he nodded at the wall behind him, “And I’m pretty sure I’m not qualified for this and--”

“It’s ok,” Shiro said, “Really, I get it. It’s not a good time.”

“We just--” Adam continued on, holding back tears well enough he’d probably trick anyone who didn’t know him as well as Shiro, “We would need to talk, and it’d be a thing, and figuring things out right now….I just can’t.”

“I know,” Shiro said, “Believe me, I...I know stress,” He weaved a hand through his white hair, earning another snort. “If we all, you know, survive this,” Shiro said, motioning to the Garrison and world around them, “You think, maybe we could talk? Just talk. No promises, no--no declarations, just talk?”

Adam bit the inside of his lip the way Shiro had often told him not to do, for fear of drawing blood. He had apparently gotten back in the bad habit. “Just talk. IF we don’t die.”

Shiro smirked, “Well, now that I have something to look forward to, I’ll make sure to stay alive.”

Adam’s lips twitched up again. Before Shiro could think of something else to say, Adam had wrapped him up in a hug. Shiro blinked unsure what was happening as Adam squeezed tighter. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Shiro relaxed, hugging him back. “Me too.”

 “We have to take this ship down!” Shiro shouted over the Atlas’ bridge crew.

“We can’t from out here,” Coran said, in his hilariously mis-sized cadet uniform. It wasn’t really designed for grown adults, “We would need to get inside the ship to destroy it’s energy crystal!”

Shiro looked at the various schematics, analyzing the best plan. “I’ll do it,” He said to himself, then nodded and said it more confidently to the crew, “I’ll do it. I know Galra ships, I’ll go on board and sabotage them from the inside.”

“Captain!” Veronica said, adapting to Shiro’s new title a little too comfortably for Shiro’s taste, “That ship’s CRAWLING with Galra and Sentries! If you don’t make it--” Her eyes traveled for just the briefest moments over to Adam who was staring up at him, face going through an alarming array of emotions.

Shiro tore his gaze back to Veronica. “Then I’ll just have to make it.” He nodded to all of them, “Good luck to you all. Coran, you have the ship.”

“Roger that,” Coran said, saluting him.

Shiro turned around to head out, but paused at the voice behind him, “I’m going too!” Adam said, jumping out of his chair. “To make sure you make it back.”

Shiro opened his mouth to argue, but Adam frowned, daring him to say ‘you should stay behind.’ He sighed, motioning for Adam to follow. Adam ran behind, and in seconds, it was like they were in sync with one another once again.

 Adam whistled low, “So this is what the inside of these things looks like,” He said as they snuck through the Galra hallways.

“Now, follow me closely,” Shiro whispered back, “The sentries have a very specific pattern to their movements. We have to move fast.”

Adam nodded. They stood at the door, listening for the sentries to pass. Shiro counted in his head. “Now,” he said, and he led himself through the doorway, Adam hot on his heels. They froze at the next hiding spot, adrenaline pumping through their veins. “Now,” Shiro repeated, going along.

At the next hall, Shiro course corrected, avoiding a galra soldier who was coming their way, grabbing Adam’s hand to pull him into a weapons closet.

It was so cliche, it was every stupid movie all happening at once as they waited, practically nose to nose, listening for when the guards were past. Shiro tried to back away, giving Adam as much room as possible, but Adam didn’t get the memo, lining up against him, head tilted perfectly upward to look at Shiro. They still had their helmets on, creating a barrier, but it didn’t stop their eyes meeting.

“They’re gone,” Adam whispered.

Shiro nodded, breaking his trance, and taking Adam’s hand in his own once again, “Come on.”

 “Whoa,” Adam said, when they finally arrived, hands still intertwined though neither mentioned it, “THAT’S a Balmera crystal?”

“Improperly mined, yes,” Shiro said, “Coran, we’ve reached the crystal how do I destroy it?”

“Well, this is going to sound a bit odd,” Coran said, “But I’m going to have to uplinkto your brain and then divert the energy through your nerve system down to your arm.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Adam asked back.

“Only a little!” Coran said, like it was some sort of comfort, “Really the only risk is somehow overloading his memory and disconnecting his limited hold of his consciousness to his body.”

“His WHAT to his WHAT?”

“Adam, it’s fine,” Shiro said, “It’s not like it’s the first time.”

“It’s not WHAT?”

“Coran!” Shiro said, putting his hand on the crystal, “Download the uplink.” Adam was frowning in that way of he really wanted to yell but knew it wasn’t the right time. “You, uh, might want to step back.”

Shiro’s arm started glowing as Adam retreated, a solid beam of energy shooting out and lighting the giant purple crystal.

The beam grew hot, the sound coming from it raising in ominous pitch. Shiro felt his socket burning, but held on, flinching back, but not letting go.

Finally, the first crack formed. He pushed forward, and the crack expanded, growing like a wildfire until it shattered, blowing him back.

“Shiro!” Adam said, rushing forward. He turned Shiro’s head to the side, his helmet having been forced off of him. “Shiro, come on, say something! Shiro!”

He slapped at Shiro’s face trying to wake him, over and over, until finally Shiro flinched, his eyes peeking open “You know,” he murmured, “This is why you failed basic triage.”

Adam sighed, bending over Shiro on the ground as though he was about to fall asleep on top of him. “You have got to stop dying.”

“So they keep telling me,” Shiro said, trying to push himself up.

Adam quickly helped, grabbing him beneath the arm to support him. “Geez, did you gain weight in space?”

“It’s muscle build!” Shiro shot out, defensively, “and, you know, the robot arm.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Adam said, lugging him out of the room and up to their escape hatch.

The wind from being outside of an actual spaceship blew through Shiro’s hair, nearly knocking Adam off his feet. Shiro was thankfully taking more and more of his weight on his own, climbing up to the surface.

“I should have known it was you,” an all-too familiar voice said, getting both their attention. Adam had only seen him in videos, and Shiro hadn't seen him in ages, but there was no mistaking Sendak when he was right before them.

Shiro snarled, “Adam, you need to get to the Atlas.”

“It’s too far,” Adam said, “I’ll help you.”

“No, trust me,” Shiro said, “Trust me, I know a trick I learned from Allura,”

“What trick?” Adam asked as Shiro grabbed his uniform with his robot hand, “Shiro, what are you doing?! Shiro!”

Shiro launched Adam in the direction of the Atlas, mostly depending on Adam’s ability to keep himself steady with his rockets. Sendak reached out to intercept him in the air, but Shiro charged at him, getting the focus turned back on himself.

He was testing his own strength against Sendak’s giant arm when a communication flickered in his ear, “IF YOU DIE OUT THERE I’LL KILL YOU, TAKASHI SHIROGANE!”

He sighed to himself, “Some things never change,” and he went back to his fight.

 Shiro smiled over the audience of friends and allies, terrestrian and alien alike. They cheered for his message of hope, and he smiled and nodded to them all, stepping down as the somber music of the Garrison played in honor of the fallen.

“Nice speech,” Adam said, intercepting him outside the hall, “Short, sweet, but hopeful. All you need, really.”

Shiro smirked. He’d been wondering where Adam had hidden off to, but wasn’t going to criticize him for that now. “Glad you liked it.”

Adam smiled, no longer trying to hide it from Shiro, but not saying anything either, like he was waiting for something. “So,” Shiro said, “I know there’s still a lot of work, but the world isn’t under occupation anymore.”

“I had noticed that,” Adam said, smile not fading from his face.

“So,” Shiro continued, “I was just wondering, is it too soon to talk ye--”

He was cut off as Adam stepped very, very far into his personal space, wrapping his hands around Shiro’s neck and stopping his speech in it’s tracks. “We could talk,” Adam said, “If that’s what you really want. Or…”

“Or?” Shiro asked.

Adam shrugged, “Or…..we could not talk.”

“We’re going to have to talk,” Shiro said, his own hands wrapping around him, “I mean, there are still a lot of complications...the paladins are injured, there are Galrans still fighting across the galaxy, and aliens are coming every day as Earth becomes a base for the rebellion, and we….we’re caught in the middle of all of it.”

Adam sighed, leaning his head against Shiro’s. “I know,” he said, “I know, and we’re going to have to deal with all of it, and more. Not to mention you still haven’t gotten out of telling me exactly what happened with your….clone? Did Keith say?”

“Damn that kid…” Shiro said, turning his head away, as though he were about to march down to the hospital and chew out his protegé right then and there.

Adam turned his head back to face him, holding his chin in his hand, “But this is one of what I find to be very rare moments in life where we don’t have to worry about that. Not yet. And we’re probably not going to get too many more of them.”

“That is VERY true,” Shiro said, raising his eyebrows.

“So, can’t we use it, just to exist for a little while?” Adam asked, “Not as soldiers or paladins or rebels or whatever else, but just to be Adam and Takashi? Just one more time?”

Now, how could Shiro help but smile at that. “Ok,” he said, a small whisper to the universe. “Ok,” he repeated, more confident, making the choice.

Adam leaned up and captured his lips with his own, the both of them holding steady, only rocking very slightly back and forth as they got to know each other, both settling into the memory they held dear, and learning the new person they had each become.