Change me, erase me
It was 27th July. Lance McClain sighted. Tomorrow is his birthday and the only thing he wanted was to celebrate it with his family in Cuba. The gentle caress of sun and wind, the laughter of his brothers and sisters, the smell of homemade cake- he missed all of this so much that he was about to cry.
But Lance held in his tears. As far as family and home were concerned, he had it better than most of his comrades. Alura had her parents and her whole race killed. Keith had no home to return to. Shiro had been kept as prisoner of Galra Empire and tortured for years. Pidge and Hunk should be missing their families too.
Although he had no right to complain, Lance felt extremely lonely and at the same time pitiful. They were at the middle of a war for the future of the Universe and he was worried about his birthday. Instead of training or doing anything useful, he had spent the time after dinner in dreaming of sunny beaches.
The day after Lance was not in his best mood. Before going to the dining room, he forced a smile. It was nothing to dramatize about - he needed to do his duties for today and pretend everything was okay.
To his surprise, no one was to be seen in the corridor, even the lights were off. There was no sound from the dining room either. That was strange. The main part of Voltron team was getting up early. Keith even started training at dawn. In fact, Lance was an early bird as well, but needed more time to get up from his bed, especially today.
He was overthinking before falling asleep and that left him tired and unrested in the morning. He always thought about what or what not had he accomplished during the day, how much had he disappointed himself and the others and so on. He even kept a diary, in which he wrote down if the day had gone good or not.
Still worrying what he was going to write for his birthday, he opened the door of the dining room. Suddenly the lights went on and his friends screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ". Lance was so stunned that he couldn't react properly at first. They knew and had prepared him a surprise.
"Oh, my God."- Lance's voice trembled from excitement. - "You, guys .."
"Come, Lance, there's a cake to be eaten and presents to be opened."- smiled Hunk, a big chocolate cake in his hands.
Lance didn't know what to say and just nodded. His smile wasn't fake anymore. He wanted to hug everyone and finally decided to do it. Even Keith didn't resist and smiled a bit after the hug. That was something new.
Today's breakfast was the amazing cake, made by Hung. No one could doubt his cooking talent anymore. Pidge had crafted a small player with some of Lance's favorite songs, which they used to listen to in Garrison. The three of them laughed at the memories of the nights and afternoons spent together.
Alura came up with a cushion, containing minerals from a planet the Voltron team had found not long time ago. They smelled like sea and sand, like home. Lance hid his damp eyes with his hand. Coran's gift was a strange Altean gadget, whose purpose wasn't wholly clear for Lance. Maybe after some time he was going to find it out.
Lance opened the last present. There was a big knife inside. It seemed multifunctional like the Swedish knifes on Earth. There were blades, key for handcuffs and chains, scissors, bottle and door openers. Lance's smile grew bigger. How typical Keith.
"I was not sure what exactly should I buy for you. I am not the best in choosing presents"- the black haired boy smiled awkwardly. - "And I was not sure that people buy such a things for each other."
"It's perfect, buddy."- Lance touched his shoulder to encourage him- "I will put it to a good use."
That was one of the "good days" in his diary. Lance seemed to have found his new family. Several days later the truth hit him harder than ever - the Voltron team was divided into groups and he was the seventh wheel. Alura and Coran were old and close friends. Pidge and Hunk hang out as the remains of the Garrison Trio, to which he didn't belong anymore.
Lance had started to spent time with the person he never expected- Keith. He was determined to become a better Paladin, so he trained together with the black haired boy every day. But Shiro came back and the badass, heroic duo was no longer torn apart. Lance was left behind.
"Talk to me please."-whispered Lance, tears streaming down his face. -"Just tell me what I have done wrong."
Blue didn't show any sign that she heard him. He visited her every night in unsuccessful attempt to find out why she had shut him out. Nobody even Alura could explain the behavior of the lion. Yes, Lance had Red now, but it didn't feel right. His current lion was not meant for him.
"I need you. But if you don't want me, say it and I will leave you."- in spite of his efforts, his voice was trembling.
The following silence broke all of his remaining self-control. Lance fell to his knees and sobbed loud. It wasn't just about the battles and Voltron formation. Blue knew all his secrets, all his insecurities and fears. And yet, she suddenly stopped supporting him. He was abandoned by his girl and had no one to confide in.
"Why had you chosen me and not Alura from the beginning? Am I such a bad Paladin that you decided I no longer deserved to pilot you? "- screamed Lance. –"Do I mean anything to you or I am just a trash that you will throw away?"
The boy from Cuba reached desperately to his mental bond with Blue. He had never tried to do that before. That was his last chance to connect to her. Then he gasped - there was nothing. His bound with Blue had completely disappeared.
Lance woke up from his nightmare with а brow swept into a cold sweat and steamy eyes. He needed a quarter to calm down and distinguish reality from dream. His mind was playing games with him. It wasn't hard to find the reason for his anxiety- today started a dangerous undercover mission in Galra battleship.
While Lance was changing in his clothes, he tried again to think of a logical reason for Keith to choose him as his partner in this operation. Since Shiro wasn't accepted by the Black lion, the black haired boy still was the leader. Lance was sure he will be just reinforcement as always, so Keith's decision was a greater surprise than his birthday party last week.
Lance had trained as hard as he could the past week and had remembered every single part of the plan perfectly. Maybe he was the goof ball, but this time he was not going to mess it up. Since Keith had trusted him, Lance had decided to prove that he is worthy to be part of the Voltron team.
"Are you ready for the mission?"- asked Keith as they met in the corridor.
"Of course, leader. I will infiltrate that Galra ship like a cave, full of mermaids."
"You are nervous, aren't you?"- unexpectedly, Keith smiled instead of frowning or rolling his eyes.
"A little. How do you know?"
"You always crack stupid jokes, when you're nervous. I am already used to it." – Keith's face became serious again. - "There's no need to worry about the mission. Things will work themselves out."
The words of the current Voltron leader were simple, yet effective. There was something soothing in his quiet, but firm voice. Lance's heart stopped to race and shock after the nightmare left. The panic set his mind free and he was finally able to focus.
"Thank you, buddy."
Lance panicked again as soon as they were on the Galra ship. His imagination showed him every possible thing he could do wrong. Fortunately, he was together with Keith. When did he start to be so happy about the other boy's presence?
As soon as Lance saw the tall figure with long white hair, he knew they were in trouble. Nobody had told them that the heir of Galra Empire was on that ship. Fortunately, Prince Lotor's crew was nowhere to be seen. Next to him Keith tensioned, his knife already in his hand.
The situation got worse. Lance didn't know if Lotor was aware of their infiltration, but the best decision for the moment was to stay covered. As Voltron leader Keith bore personal grudge against the Prince and always lost his senses in his presence. Lance grabbed his hand before his hot headed friend did something stupid.
"Keith, don't."-hissed Lance. He knew that his partner was stronger than him and he couldn't hold him for long.
"But that's him. We need to…"
"To stay hidden. We are not prepared to fight him right now. Imagine if his crew is here. That makes five against two."
"We will finish with him before that."
"Keith, please."
"Okay, fine."- Keith frowned, but relaxed a bit.
The aim of their mission was the plans for a new Galra battleship. The two Paladins should copy them and then show them to Pidge and Coran. Barely had they reached the engineering room, when Lotor appeared again. Although they looked like regular Galra soldiers, Lance didn't dare to pass by the Prince.
Keith sensed his anxiety and stopped. Suddenly a general with a big group of soldiers appeared and the Paladins were forced to go with them. There was going to be testing of the power supply that could be both a benefit and a problem for them.
Since the group was riding off the engineering room, Keith pulled Lance in a small empty room. Their hiding turned out to be filled with lot of cables and wires. The current Red paladin lost his balance and fell over his friend.
The two boys found themselves on the floor, totally entangled in cables. Lance was just about to stand and help Keith, when the lights went off. His task suddenly became tough, since he literally saw nothing.
"Lance, find my knife. My hands are totally tied up."
"I can't see anything."- complained Lance.
„Use your hands."
"That sounded so wrong."- Lance couldn't help, but laugh. - "I am starting to imagine things."
"For God's sake! "- Keith growled.-"Can you turn off your pervert sub consciousness at least for a moment?"
"I am extremely nervous at the moment."-snapped Lance.
After several minutes the two boys were finally free. The corridor was completely dark and quiet. Keith was irritated, while Lance had forgotten his worries and was smiling widely. Little did he know that this was going to be his last smile for a long time.
Lance made the mistake to get up sharply and immediately clenched his teeth. The pain meant at least one cracked rib. His head was throbbing and his bruises from the first encounter with the Galra still hurt. In addition to that, his hands were now in chains and the metal had already galled the skin beneath.
The door of his new cell opened and Lance tensioned. When Prince Lotor came in, the Red Paladin stepped back as far as he could. The heir of Galra Empire was extremely intelligent and cunning, so extremely dangerous for the Voltron team.
"Oh, my sweet Paladin, don't be so afraid of me."- Lotor smiled, revealing his sharp teeth. Lance was impressed how perfectly white are they. - "I thought you were dauntless, considering you infiltrated the ship and after you were caught, tried to escape."
Lance preferred to remain silent and tried to look confident in himself. Showing fear and weakness in front of one of his worst enemies would lead him to nowhere. His eyes dilated, when he noticed the little phial with purple liquid in the right hand of Prince.
"To be honest, I wanted to let you find your friend. It would have been so funny, since only one of you had an eventual chance to get out of this ship."- Lotor came closer and Lance's heart started to beat faster. - "But I should test this interrogation water, as Haggar named it. Sorry, if it has bitter taste."
Lance didn't have the time to fight, when Lotor pinned him to the cold floor of the cell. The Red Paladin tried to withstand, but his hands were ineffective. The Price gripped his throat and his nose. Lance couldn't resist the urge to breathe and opened his mouth. The purple liquid burned his tongue.