But Lance likes crossdressing as a woman {Ya'll can make up his "female" name lol}. So much so that everyone thinks he's a woman the entire time because they met him when he was crossdressing nearly 90% of the time.
At some point Shiro {or if ya wanna be really fucking angsty, Kuro/Kuron} finds out Lance is actually just a dude that likes crossdressing, and promises to keep it a secret.
Platonic or romantic? Your choice!
Would Lance wear wigs when crossdressing? Yes!
Would Lance wear makeup when crossdressing?
YES!!!
Basically like a "Reverse Pidge" situation. But it's only happened because he's a crossdresser XD
Lance was able to find a suitable planet to hide for a while.
As far as he knows, this area was uninhabited - no signs of life for miles and miles away.
He parks the stolen cargo ship underneath some tall trees.
In times like these he wishes that he had Pidge’s brains and customize this ride on the fly - cloaking abilities, boosters… but the unassuming, unremarkable cargo ship will do for now.
It was only a matter of time until they find him. This star system has barely enough planets, and Lance doesn’t have wormhole creating capabilities or access to a ship created from transreality metal - well, not anymore.
Lance turns off the ship and steps out for a bit to survey the area closer.
He made sure to hide in the thickest, densest part of the forest. The convenient green color of the cargo ship and the leaves will do for a basic camouflage.
He steps back inside the ship to reassess the condition of the stolen cryopod and its patient. Lance fiddles a bit with the main controls, he may not understand all the techno-babble, but he has been inside these a few times too many and is able to get the general gist of the readings.
The pod is still functioning, the person inside was still healing, but will be finish in just a few ticks.
Lance let’s go of the breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he sits next to the pod.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Lance mutters as tears starts to cloud his vision again.
Those were the last words he said as he bid goodbye to both Red and Blue Lion as he exited the hangars for what Lance hopes to be the last time.
He couldn’t stay there anymore, he just couldn’t. They wouldn’t understand unless they were in his position.
They didn’t need him anymore.
They didn’t need them anymore.
The cryopod opens with a loud hiss which awakens Lance from his reverie.
“Where… where am I? W-what happened-” Shiro murmurs as he tries to stand up, but Lance stops him. “Lance? Is that you?”
“Shiro, Shiro, sweetheart… I’m here,” Lance cries with happiness.
At least he recognizes me… Thank the stars he remembers me…
“Just rest a bit more,” Lance insists as he gently runs his hands through Shiro’s hair as he lays him back down in the open cryopod.
Shiro, with half-lidded eyes, turns to Lance.
“Lance? Are you crying?” He tries to say as he stifled a yawn, “Are you okay, babe?”
“I’m okay now…” Lance can’t stop his tears from flowing, but he had the biggest smile on his face - he couldn’t help it, Shiro called him ‘babe’. Shiro remembers-
This Shiro remembers that they are together…
That they are in love.
“I’m okay, we’ll be okay… ” Lance feels cold metal fingers wipe away his tears. Lance takes the metal hand into his and kisses them, each knuckle and finger.
“Go back to sleep, Shiro…” Lance carefully repositions Shiro on the makeshift bed that was the cryopod.
It was obvious that Shiro was still too tired, too weak.
“I’ll explain everything when you wake up, I promise.”
“Just a couple of doboshes… wake me up, okay?” Shiro gives him a small, sincere smile. Lance nods, he can never say no to that face.
“Can I have a kiss goodnight, babe?” Shiro whispers, he was just starting to fall asleep.
Lance leans over and kisses him sweetly.
Shiro reciprocates with what little energy he had left, he closes his eyes and falls back to sleep.
Lance carefully closes the cryopod and reactivates it.
“I p-promise… I’ll wake you up when I find out how I’m going to explain all of this to you… without you hating me by the end of it,” Lance whispers into the surface of the cooling cryopod. “I need you, Shiro… now more than ever.”
Lance will need to wake Shiro up eventually.
He needs Shiro. Shiro is a survivor. He is a skilled fighter and he always knew what to do… calm, cool, and collected.
Everything Lance isn’t. Wasn’t. Will never be.
What am I now?
A Paladin who abandoned his Lion.
A dirty traitor who abandoned his friends.
But fuck it all… Shiro is worth it all. Worth even more than all of this.
“You’re all I have left, Shiro…” Lance was crying again. He watches Shiro’s breathing slow down as cryostasis starts to set in.“Please, please, please forgive me… because… b-because I am all you have left as well…”
This brings Lance back to his main problem: How to tell Shiro that… he’s actually not Shiro.
That during last fight with Haggar, she was able to take control of him… possess him.
As her personal puppet, he fought all of them - Paladins of Voltron, Blades, and Galran soldiers - almost effortlessly.
It took careful planning from Lotor, Allura, and Kolivan to find a way to capture Haggar and get her to undo her wicked spells.
With Haggar finally imprisoned and all her machinations either destroyed or nullified, it was only a matter of time for Shiro to be released from cryostasis, in hopes that he was back to normal.
While Lance and Keith stayed by Shiro’s side in the Med Bay, it was Pidge and Hunk who ventured through the reclaimed Galra ship that was turned into Haggar’s base.
It was in an innocuous locked room where they found another Shiro, hooked up to a breathing apparatus, floating in a tube filled with liquid.
Despite all the confusion, terror, and panic - they crack open the tube and immediately bring this other Shiro back to the Castle of Lions and straight into the Med Bay.
While the Shiros are both in cryostasis, awaiting their fate. Lotor and Allura scour all of Haggar’s notes and research, eventually stumbling upon something called Operation: Kuron.
And much like everyone feared, the Shiro that Keith rescued floating in space was a clone - a puppet created by Haggar to spy and then use to destroy the Paladins of Voltron - that the Shiro they have rescued now was the real one.
Once released from the cryopod, Shiro awakens in a panic, but he eventually calms down once he realized that he was back in the Castle.
Shiro starts to explain that he can barely remember anything, his last clear memory was fighting Zarkon - he had the black bayard in his hand, there was a flash of light and then just darkness.
While Shiro was telling his story, Lance couldn’t help but notice how closely Shiro was holding onto Keith’s hand like a lifeline.
Lotor and Allura immediately call for a meeting.
Keith volunteers to stay behind to fill in Shiro regarding all that has happened in the past year.
Lance remembers how his heart ached then.
Allura starts the meeting with a cold statement:
‘What do we do with the Shiro clone?’
Arguments from everyone starts spilling out.
The clone cannot be trusted, there is vital information that we can extract from the clone, the clone is still a threat to us…
‘Clone or not… Shiro is still Shiro.’ Lance voiced out.
Everyone temporarily forgot that when ‘Shiro’ reclaimed his position as the Black Paladin, it was Lance who was in Red, the Second-in-Command.
Everyone temporarily forgot that despite a difficult beginning, the two bonded and became closer.
Everyone temporarily forgot that they started dating, fell in love, and were very happy with each other.
Shiro and Lance… even Keith gave his approval and blessing.
But Reality made a wake up call, the Shiro that Lance gotten close with, the Shiro that loved him was a clone, a weaponized puppet created by Haggar to destroy them.
For Lance’s sake, the clone Shiro was to remain in cryostasis until further notice.
Shiro was given a full bill of health and was now properly reunited with his team. He also finally gets a formal introduction to the New Galran Emperor, Lotor.
With another quick briefing regarding the current events of the Galran Empire, Shiro claims that he was ready to be the team leader again, to be the Black Paladin.
Keith, who was by Shiro’s side the whole time, never letting go of his hand, announces that he was returning to the Castle of Lions and he was finished with all his missions with the Blade.
Everyone was happy, but a bit concerned - specifically to Lance’s silence.
It finally occurred to them that it was back to playing Musical Chairs with the Lions due to both Shiro and Keith ready to return to their duties as Paladins… and only one can be the Black Paladin.
‘I don’t think I can pilot anything right now… much more be a Paladin of Voltron…’ Lance remembers saying before he locked himself in the hallway where the cryopods were kept… where one cryopod was currently occupied by the love of his life whose days are numbered.
Lance fears that once whatever information his Shiro had was extracted, he would be of no use and will be disposed of.
‘You’re all I have left… ’
It was at that very moment that Lance decided that he was done with it all.
In the dead of the night, Lance steals a shuttle pod and one occupied cryopod. He flies to the nearest satellite and leaves the shuttle there before hijacking the nearest vehicle, which happened to be a cargo ship.
“… And here we are now, I have been on the run since then,” Lance concludes as he wraps himself with a blanket, resting his head on the cryopod next to him.
“ Don’t hate me, Shiro…” Lance prays as he feels exhaustion finally take over him, “Please let me be selfish this one time…”
Lance closes his eyes, letting the dull hum of the cryopod lull him to sleep, to dream of happier times with his Shiro.
