Story bits

"James, when's the last time someone said they loved you?" Nadia asked.
James thought for a moment. "I'm not sure anybody has ever told me that."
"Really?" Lance asked, and James nodded. "Yeah. I mean, my mom left hours after I was born, and according to the doctors and nurses, never even touched me. Me dad went MIA on an Army mission when I was 5, and I his squadron was more of a family to me than my own. My uncle and cousins didn't like me much, so they definitely didn't. My grandmother, quote unquote, put up with me, so neither did she. So unless my dad did and I don't remember, nobody has. Why?"

Lance leaned back in his chair. "That explains so much." "Lance, be nice." Veronica scolded. "That's rough buddy." Ryan said. James shrugged. "Not really. You can't miss something you never had."

Static came from the com. "This is squadron 3345 from the US Army. Requesting retrieval." "Army signal? this must be decades old." Pidge muttered. "Wait, what channel is it on?" James asked, going to Pidge's station as they rattled off a string of numbers. His eyes widened with recognition. "Can I?" He asked, gesturing to the station. They nodded and back up. James tapped away, and they heard static. "Squad 3345 can you hear me?" He asked. More static. "Roger that. This is squad 3345 from the US Army, faction Alpha Charlie Bravo, requesting retrieval. (advanced combat battalion). "Solider, identify yourself." James said. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Commander Alexander Knight." James let out a laugh, a wide smile on his face. "Commander, this is Little Griffin, requesting coordinates for extraction."
There was movement on the other side. "WHAT THE- HA HA! HOLY SHIT! HA HA! CHRIS, IT'S YOUR KID! HE GOT OUR SIGNAL!" The commander yelled. "What? Give me- James? Is that you?" Another voice asked shakily.
James grinned, and they could see tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. "Hey Dad." "HOLY-" Muffled cursing and more movement. "Dumbass. You dropped it." The Commander said. "James? James is that really you?" His dad asked. "Yeah." James said with a shaky laugh. "My god. It- it's been so long." "Yeah, and it's gonna be even longer if you don't give him our coordinates." A third voice grumbled, and James's smile grew wider. "Good to hear from you too Uncle Charlie." "Yeah yeah, you too kid. Alright, we're at-" He rattled off some coordinates, and Veronica input them into the computer. "It's only a few hours away. Maybe one if you take the lions." "We'll take the lions!" Keith declared with laugh. "Is that Keith Kogane? It is, isn't it? I knew yal would be close forever." Keith laughed, standing next to James. "Hey Mr. Griffin." "Stop talkin so they can come get us!" Charlie said. "Boys, get your asses over here! I don't wanna deal with no man tears by myself!" A female voice says.
"Erin!" James exclaimed. "Yeah I know, you missed me. Now get your ass over here. Stop your crying, he'll be here soon. This is squad 3345, over and out." She shut off the comms, and the room fell silent.
"He's alive. He's actually alive." James whispered. Then he turned to Keith and grabbed his shoulders. "Keith, my dad is alive!" "I know!" Keith said with a laugh. "18 years! It's been 18 years, but he's alive!" Keith laughed again. "I know!" He took James's hand. "Now come on, the sooner we leave the sooner we can see him!" The two ran off the bridge, and Pidge sighed. "I have to go with them, don't I?"
"I think we all should." Veronica says, rising. "I'd like to see James with his dad."

Together, all the paladins and MFES, along with Coran, Iverson, Mr. Holt and a few medics, piled into the lions and flew to the coordinates. It's in a dense jungle, and they can see a group of people gathered on the edge or a ridge.
The Black lion lands first, and James runs out, Keith not far behind him.

"DAD!" James yells, sprinting towards the ridge. "JAMES! JAMES!" A man yells, running down the ridge, the others following, echoing James's name.
The two crash in the center as James throws himself into his father's arms. "My son." He whispers, hugging him tightly. "Hey dad." After a few minutes, they pull apart.
James is a spitting image of his father, and you can see what he'll look like in 20 years. Same shade of brown hair, same skin tone, same wide smiles, same broad shoulders. James's hips have more of a curve to them, and he has purple eyes instead of brown. His father has a short stubble on his chin and upper lip, and a scar on his right eyebrow. "You got so tall! Last I saw you, you were barely at my waist. Now look at you! Almost my height." His father said fondly, holding James's shoulders. "You have your mother's eyes. But my jaw and shoulders. You've grown up so much."
James chuckled, tears in the corners of his eyes. "Well yeah. It's been a while." "18 years. That makes you 23. God Jamie, you're 23 years old. What happened to my little five year old who was too short to drive the go kart?"
"James!" Another man says. He has platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and pale skin. James smiles and hugs the man. "Hey Uncle Alex." The man pulls back and ruffles his hair. "Look at you! Spitting image of your old man. Well, minus the old part." "Alex, stop bugging the kid." Another man says.
He has kind brown eyes and dark brown hair, and tanned skin. "Uncle Charlie!" James exclaims, hugging him. "Hey kid." They pull apart. "Look at you." Charlie says in an almost awed voice. "You ain't a scrawny five year old anymore." "Uncle Charlie are you- are you crying?" James asked. "What? No! Just the- the ships are kicking up dust." Charlie says, wiping his eyes.

James greets several other men. Nathan, Eric, Alec, Xander, Will, and Tony. The Coaliton people have never seen him smile so much.

"Come on lil Griff. Aren't you going to give your favorite aunt a hug?" A woman asks.
Brown hair and stormy grey eyes, but she's all smiles. James rushes over to her, not even bothering with a greeting. He hugs her tightly, even tighter than the others, burying himself in her neck and sighing contently. She laughs and hugs him back. "I missed you." James mutters. She rubs his back comfortingly. "I know. I missed you too." They pull apart and she cups her face. She's got at least 4 inches on him, and smiles at him fondly. "I guess our little Griffin grew his wings and learned to fly. So, you're flying a ship in a war?" James nodded. "What's it like?" "It's amazing! Well, when I'm not almost dying. Or my friends. But when we're not almost dying, it's great!" She laughed and ruffles his hair. "Not dying is pretty good. What else? How was elementary school? What about your birthdays? The Garrison? Did you make friends? Any special friends? A certain someone?" She bombarded him with questions as the others laughed.
"E, give him a chance to answer. He's only just seen us after 18 years." Alex says. "And that's a lot of hugs to make up for." He pulls James to his chest and the others join, making a group hug with James at the center.

James's dad comes to Keith. "Look at you." He says. "You really did something, didn't you?" Keith grins. "Hey Mr. Griffin." "Come here." He says, opening his arms. Keith steps into it, smiling softly. "Your father would be proud of you." James's dad says. Keith pulls back and gives him a weak smile. "My god, you're as tall as me. James must hate that." Keith glances at James, who meets his eyes with a fond smile before he turns back to the others, face flushing. "He used to talk about you a lot." James's dad says. "Always wanted to tell me what his best friend Keef did. I was so glad when I heard your voice. I had a feeling you guys would always be close." Keith's smile wavers. "Uh, yeah, about that." Mr. Griffin smiles. "Tell me later. And call me Chris. I've known you since you were a child, you've earned the right."
James came back towards them. "Keith, I wanna introduce you to the rest of /my/ family." He said, placing a hand on his arm. "I thought I'd met your entire family?" Keith says with a raised eyebrow. "My /real/ family." James amends. Keith lets James pull him away.

"Hello." Krolia says, and Mr. Griffin jumps. She extends a hand to him. "I am Krolia, Keith's mother." Mr. Griffin smiles. "Pleased to meet you. Tex spoke highly of you. I'm Chris, James's dad. So, you're an alien? Does that mean Keith is too?" She nods. "Part Galra. But don't worry, we're friendly. Most of the time." She glances at the others. "I've never seen him this happy." She comments. Chris looks back to where James is enthusiastically introducing Keith and the other paladins and MFES to his squadron. "Who? James or Keith?" "Yes." She says bluntly.
"Hi. You must be James's dad. My name is Takashi Shirogane." Shiro says, coming over. "Christopher Griffin. And yes, yes I am. So, can either of you tell me whether or not the two of them are dating?" Krolia shrugs. "It's a mystery really. Both are very fond of the other, but from what I know, they also have a somewhat complicated history. Especially during the time when they were 10-13. And they were seperated for several years before that." Chris's smile falls. "What?" "Chris, that would better be explained back on base." Iverson says, coming over and placing a hand on the other's shoulder. "But right now, I believe it's time for us to get acquainted." Mr. Holt said, coming over. "Sam Holt. Pleasure to meet you Chris." "And I'm Coran." The mustached man says, popping up. "Come, I believe we have much to discuss. But first, let's have some drinks!" Coran exclaims, tugging Chris and Shiro back to the ship. "Oh! Um, ok."

Six hours and 20 bottles of Nunvill later, and only the parents are left standing. Hunk, Ina and Veronica ditched when they heard about the drinks, saying they'd seen their friends drunk enough times for a lifetime.
Erin surprised even Kolivan with her alcohal tolerance, and they had a shots contest with Lance and Nadia, which led to the younger two drunkedly dancing around before Ryan and Veronica got them to their rooms. (don't ask. It's wasn't easy) Pidge challenged Keith to a drinking contest and lost miserably as James cheered them on. They were currently passed out on a recliner as Keith and James held each other on the couch. Keith had fallen onto it after hugging James and leaning back, and James had fallen ontop of him. They'd laughed for a few moments before passing out in each other's arms, sleeping blissfully.