#part 1 cause im eager to share with yall

[amaranthkick]

Fusion Confusion

(AO3)

Lance was insecure about the skills he can offer for his team. Shiro overheard and came up with a plan to help prove to the blue paladin that he was stronger than he thought. He just didn't expect the turn this mission was going to take.

Lance and Keith had a fight. Angry words were spilled and feelings were hurt.

That lead to Lance storming out the castle to the cliff edge overlooking the majestic ocean.

Ugh! Keith was always so strict and focused on fighting this war and completing missions. He didn't like Lance ‘fooling around’ on missions. It caused friction between the two of them. Not everyone handled stress like he did. Lance needed to joke, needed the mood to be light and not so serious all the time. The pressure would crush him. Not everyone was born for war. Not everyone was perfect and amazing at everything like him.

Lance knew he was just getting angry and that Keith was just being himself trying to get things done in an efficient manner. He needed and outlet. Thankfully something that used to help him on Earth, was also present on this planet: the ocean.

Their fight caused his insecurities to surface again after he just managed to push them down.

So he indulged his emotions acknowledging them by yelling about them to the ocean til his throat was sore and tears were streaming down his face.

I am trying my hardest out here!

No one understands being in someone's shadow for so long!

I don't have a thing that makes me stand out!

How come I'm never good enough!?

He panted out of breath. The hurt was still in his chest like deep wounds raked into him with deadly claws. Lance squeezed his eyes shut and kicked a rock down into the ocean.

Lance could feel Blue purring worriedly through their bond. He berated himself for making her worry and tried to reassure her he was fine. He turned and walked slowly back to the castle. Lance was going to spend the rest of the day inside Blue taking a nap preferably. When he's calmed down then he'll go talk with and apologise to Keith.

He didn't notice Shiro hiding behind nearby foliage. The black paladin went out and followed him just wanting to make sure he was alright. His face was crestfallen having heard every emotionally-packed word.

The castle warped to the planet Egreter, that has sent out a recent distress signal. They weren't attacked by the Galra luckily but the city had been harassed by bandits recently.

The Egretians didn't ask for help to try and look for the bandits. They already had people trying to investigate and instead wanted help to fix the any damage done around the city. Shiro and Allura had a meeting with their leader and offered any aid that they were willing to accept to help find them.

While waiting for new mission the paladins explored the city.

Hunk and Pidge were interested in their technology. The two paladins learned that most of it was powered by the green crystals they would see attached somewhere on the machine. There was a mine quite a ways from the city that held a large source of the crystals.

Keith was surveying the town, looking for what was damaged and trying to spot suspicious activity. He helped any civilian who asked the red paladin for help.

Lance found an awesome zoo. The caretaker was very knowledgeable of the different species on their planet. From the tiniest beady-eyed winged dog-like creatures to the more ferocious ‘kings of the jungle’ creatures. They looked so cool.

She even gave him some herbs that they used to capture the creatures thinking that the brave paladin would want a shot to fight a mighty beast. He tried to kindly refuse but she already shoved it into his unwilling hands.

The paladins rushed back to the open fountain in the middle of the city when Shiro called for them on their coms.

Allura explained that the leader of Egreter would allow the paladins to aid in the investigations if they showed helped the townspeople first. He wanted to wait til the soldier scouts reported back then would decide how to proceed. There however, was one secret request from the guard captain himself though, it was to check on the mine to see the state of the green power crystals that filled it. There were reports lately that suspicious figures were heading in and out of there. His soldiers were spread thin what with protecting the city and searching for the suspects. He said it wasn’t necessarily part of the investigation but they could use the opportunity to look around.

“Shiro and Lance will be the ones to go on the mission to check on the mine. The guard captain also asked to keep an eye out for his recruits who were sent to scour the nearby area. He said that they haven't come back yet.” Lance and Shiro nodded with a ‘yes princess’ then headed towards the mine.

Allura turned to the three remaining paladins. “We will aid anyone in need here in town although keep an eye out for suspicious activity in case the bandits are hidden here in town.”

As the team nodded in affirmation, she glanced at the two heading towards the path in the forest that led to the mine. For some reason Shiro insisted on going on this mission and taking Lance with him.

---

Lance needed to see for himself the talents he brings to the table. But he couldn't do that while playing support where he was looking at everyone else. That was when an idea struck him.

“Lance, I’ll let you be in charge of this mission.”

“Me!? Why? Are you sure?”

When Shiro nodded, Lance stroked his chin deep in thought. Why would Shiro let him lead a mission?

Hmm… Ah! Sometimes there were things you miss out if you’re always in the front. Shiro probably wanted a new perspective and he could probably see more bigger pictures if he was in a supporting role. He could pick up where Lance slacked off. Very smart. Even if he wasn’t going to be in charge he was a good leader. Lance nodded to himself thinking his logic was perfectly sound. “Ok, let’s do this.”

Lance walked ahead of Shiro taking in his surroundings. The bark of the trees around the dirt path were a sickly bluish color which could have been concerning if that wasn't normal for this planet. Their leaves though, were a vibrant chartreuse. It was almost like they glowed when the sun hit them.

Lance could see a hill rising up along the left side of the path. It didn't have a smooth slope but instead had rough edges jutting out almost like a cliffside He squinted his eyes when something glimmered near the center of the side facing the path. It was similar to how sunlight would reflect off a shiny or metallic surface. As suddenly as it appeared it vanished.

Lance stopped in his tracks. He could have sworn he saw something move. The hairs on his neck stood on end. His gut was telling him something’s wrong. Just like back when he took one last look at the fake Rover.

Shiro also stopped walking in time with Lance. He tilted his head confused, he didn’t notice anything. “Lance?”

Lance gasped when there was a small flash of light. He could tell it was the same kind of flash as whenever he fired his bayard. Something was firing at them!

“Shiro, get down!” The black paladin ducked just in time for a shot to whiz by the top of his helmet narrowly missing him and blasted a spot on the ground.

Lance formed his laser gun and carefully aimed at the spot where the flash came from and fired a shot. He preened when he hit something, a trail of black smoke marked its location and there was no more laser fire.

“Let's go check it out!” Lance started heading towards the source of the smoke gesturing for Shiro to follow him. He got his jet back ready to jump up the hill using the little ledges as footing.

Shiro tensed his jaw to keep from gaping in wonder. Not only did Lance take just one shot but also it seemed like it only took a second for him to figure out where to return fire. It only fired at them once, how'd he shoot it down so accurately?

It was quite a ways from the beaten path but they found the source of the smoke: a stationary turret with its muzzle blown off by Lance. The turret must have some targeting system programmed to attack anyone going to the mine.

But this was worrying, no one mentioned any security system. The bandits were most likely behind this. Luckily though, it must have been set up recently as there were hardly any reports of injuries from this thing.

From up there they got a good view of the entrance to the mine. It was closer than Lance thought which was nice, it seemed as if they were walking for a long time.

“Oh? Shiro do you see that?” There was a tiny bit of red amidst the yellow-green foliage. Shiro strained his eyes to see what it was. It moved a minute later revealing the one of the Egretians presumably a guard judging from the red uniform he was clad in. He looked around for threats then when the coast was clear promptly went back into hiding.

Lance and Shiro nodded to each other and headed towards the guard. Lance called out to him so that he wouldn’t think they were sneaking up on him and attack on sight. The guy was with two other scouts. They were sleeping to recover from their wounds they had gotten from the turret.

“We were trying to keep a watch on the mine but as soon as we got near…”

“Something fired at you, right?” Lance completed to which the guard nodded.

The guard looked over them and noticed they didn't have any scorch marks on their persons. He questioned, “How did you get here unscathed? Just peeking out a nudge too much from our hiding spot would attract laser fire to us.”

“Lance here, managed to shoot a stationary turret down at an impressive range.” Shiro gestured to Lance smiling when the sharpshooter puffed his chest out in pride at the compliment.

“We're paladins of Voltron. Your captain’s worried about you though. You want us to help you and your teammates get back?” Lance offered out his hand to the guard.

He kindly refused with a warm smile. “Thank you for your kind gesture but thanks to you that turret is gone and we now have safe passage back. I'll wait for the scouts to recover then head back with them.”

The guard pointed at the direction to the mine. “If you could, please check on the mine. We were not able to get in.”

“Of course! That's our mission anyway. Hope your friends get well soon and stay safe.” Lance and Shiro fondly waved goodbye and headed towards the entrance.

---

The tunnel had some fixtures built into the wall to provide light. The inside cave rocks were a light blue color. There was no forks or other tunnels so they didn't get lost. It lead them to this giant barren room.

The room was a dead end, the mine didn't go any deeper than this. There was only blue rocks on the walls and dirt on the floor. There was not one green crystal in sight.

Lance's face fell. They were too late, someone had managed to steal everything. He started to wander around the room trying to find any clue to go on. Something caught his eye, its color easily contrasting with its surroundings.

Lance picked up a small amber colored crystal. It was hardly as big as his fingernail. The tiny thing couldn't have been chipped off a green crystal. Did the bandits drop this?

Shiro jogged over to Lance when he couldn't find anything. The place was wiped clean, there wasn't even any footprints to track. Whoever they were dealing with were really good.

Lance held out the amber crystal for Shiro to look at. “This is all I could find. Maybe someone back in town knows more about this?”

“Yeah, we should report to Allura and the guard captain about the empty mine too.” Lance put the crystal into his pocket for safe keeping. They nodded in agreement and turned to face the exit.

They tensed when there were three robot drones approaching them. The drones weren't Galra but they didn't seem friendly either. They raised their rifles and started going at them guns blazing.

Shiro and Lance put up their shields separating to lighten the shots they were taking.

Lance tried to shoot back but they would just block his attacks with their arms or laser guns. The only bright side was that he could distract them enough to give Shiro some breathing room to dodge or try to get closer.

He saw a laser miss Shiro and blast a hole in the wall to reveal a secret entrance. There must be more tunnels hidden here. Not that the Egretians needed to go further than this room when it was filled with green crystals.

Wait a minute, something didn't feel right. It was as if these guys were hardly aiming for either of them like they were firing just for the sake of firing. Why?

The answer literally fell from the sky or in this case ceiling. A stalactite nearly smashed Lance into a pancake. All this blasting was causing too much vibrations. Oh no!

“Shiro! They're trying to cause a cave in!” Lance yelled the warning for the black paladin. His eyes widened in heavy realization. This was very bad.

It went from bad to worse when the robots seemed to pick up that they understood what was happening. They started to outright fire at the ceiling. One of them blasted at the only exit causing rocks to fall and seal it up trapping all of them inside.

The cave shook violently, more and more debris fell. They were running out of time. Lance looked back at Shiro who seemed to be trying to think of a way to escape.

Ahh! Just behind him was that small opening that was revealed in the battle. It was a gigantic risk, Lance didn't know if that tunnel would lead to another exit or was just another dead end but it was their only hope.

Their time ran out, huge chunks of rock started to fall. “Shiro, watch out!” Lance ran at full speed and all but tackled Shiro into the tunnel. They both tumbled together down a slope. Shiro clutched Lance trying to cover him with his own body. Whereas Lance tried to do the same for him.

They synced up with the desire to protect each other. Unbeknownst to them, the amber crystal started glowing in Lance's pocket. Its power affected the both of them. The two paladins blacked out before they knew what was happening. Soon the two bodies tumbling down the cave became only one.

---

“Mmnn,” Lance groaned slowly regaining consciousness. He put his hands underneath his chest to push himself up. The cave he was in had some green crystals studded in the walls providing some light if a bit dim. But he would take it, he just needed a moment for his eyes to adjust.

Lance started to look around, dread pooling in his gut. He couldn't find Shiro. “Shiro? Shiro…! Shiro, where are you!? Answer me please!” Lance desperately called out for him hoping he wasn't buried under the rubble that blocked off the cave they fell through.

---

Shiro woke up feeling oddly numb. He tried to move his body but he couldn’t tell if his limbs responded. There was also a strange sensation running just on the surface of his body almost as if it was moving on its own. Sight came to him next but it was like he was seeing through someone else’s eyes which kept darting to and fro and it was making him a little dizzy. Then it felt like ice was forming on top of him, creeping all over him, surrounding him in a frozen prison of dread.

He heard Lance’s shaky voice growing more and more worried. “Shiro? Shiro…! Shiro, where are you!? Answer me please!”

“Lance?” Shiro called out wanting to reassure him that he was alright. The ice quickly melted away and took the feelings of dread with it. It was replaced with a calm, steady ocean filled with overjoyed relief.

“Shiro!? Thank goodness! Are you alright? Where are you?” Lance sounded significantly less panicked, a good sign. While Shiro didn’t know where he, himself was, what was concerning was that he couldn’t see Lance either. Not with his strange new line of sight that he couldn’t control.

“More or less. I’m not completely sure where I am though. I think I’m safely in that tunnel you pushed us into before the whole cave in.”

“Ok, that’s good? But I should be able to find you cause I’m here too, shouldn’t I? Well at least you aren’t buried under the rocks.” Lance was rambling probably to try order his thoughts and keep calm.

Lance eyed the mountain of rubble. Maybe there was another room just beyond it and Shiro was there. He lifted his right hand and placed it on the pile of rocks in front of him. “Shiro, is your path blocked by…?”

Was his gauntlet darker than usual? He took a closer look. It was black and not his usual blue!

“Shiro!?” Lance looked excitedly over his shoulder expecting to see the black paladin beside him. But his face fell when he saw that no one was there. “Shiro?”

It felt like a chilling breeze bringing fear and confusion wrapped around him. Lance tilted his head at the sudden emotions, they almost didn't feel like his own.

Lance started gaping when he looked over his right hand. The arm clad in black paladin armor it was- it was his! It was attached to him at the shoulder as if it was always there. No, no! It was just the light, yeah, his brain playing tricks on him. That's it.

He let out a shaky breath unsettled when he noticed his right hand felt strange. Lance slowly took off the gauntlet and slipped off the glove to check his hand. His brain sputtered to a stop. He couldn’t believe what he saw. His hand was metal, the same metal hand Shiro had and it had been clad in the black paladin armor too.

Lance stumbled back and yelled, “Shiro!! Why do I have your hand!?” He waved, curled and uncurled a fist with his metal hand to make sure it was his hand. The metal limb obeyed all his directions proving it really was in his control. It was frightening, nothing was making sense.

Shiro was shocked as well. Why did Lance blurt out that he had his hand when it was right here in front of him? It might have been moving on its own but- wait a second. A crazy thought hit him and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to entertain it. Shiro felt numb with the realization that was happening but it left him thoroughly shocked and unable to fully process it. And yet if he accepted it then things would start to fall into place. He took a moment to ground himself then plowed ahead.

“Lance? Could you lift your hands in front of your face, palms facing you?”

“Like this?” Lance did as he was asked proving Shiro’s idea correct: that he was perhaps somehow looking through Lance’s eyes or Lance was in control of his body? Maybe? Everything was so confusing.

He told Lance of his theory and he took it as well as anyone would in this situation. Shiro felt the ocean around him shift and crash, no longer calm. The ocean must be Lance, it kinda felt like him when he concentrated on their bond in previous bonding exercises but it felt way too close now.

“W-Why? What happened? Tumbling down a cave shouldn't do this.” Lance took in a deep breath trying to calm down, panic won't help them. He put his right hand back in the paladin armor again. He stared at the black color then lifted his left hand. He inhaled sharply at the familiar shade of blue that stared back at him.

“Shiro, are you seeing this?” He looked over his armor. It was a mix and match of both their colors.

Shiro did see it but couldn't quite understand what it meant. He mentally sighed, while he would've wanted to take the time to fully understand what happened, they were still trapped in the mine. There were also the bandits still on the loose. They had to focus, hold off on their questions for now, and push forward. “Yes, I do Lance but I don't think we'll get answers here. We should go.”

“Oh r-right,” Lance took a calming breath, “the bandits are getting more bold. We gotta warn the others.” He got up to look for his helmet that must've been knocked off during the fall when Shiro grunted an assent.

Now that he looked around, on the opposite side of the room away from the rubble the cave went on further. Oh, there was his helmet which also was a mix of black and blue. It must have rolled all the way over there.

The walls near the helmet were made of a reflective material. Lance picked up the helmet only to drop it again when he caught his reflection. His breath was stuck in his throat. The wind he felt in the back of his mind which he assumed was Shiro also abruptly stopped in shock at what looked back at them: the person in the mirror wall had a complexion closer to Lance's, he had Shiro’s scar across the bridge of his nose, his hair was Lance's soft chocolate brown with Shiro’s white tuft in the front, and his eyes, widened in astonishment, were blue but had slivers of silver mixed in.

Lance brought a shaky hand to his- their cheek and breathed the obvious yet earth-shaking observation, “i-it's like we fused…”

(Part 2)