Lance shot at another enemy ship, his laser melting the metal and causing a small explosion. He turned around fast and attacked another alien ship, hearing Hunk screaming in his helmet set.
"Hunk, calm down. It's just one fleet."
"You say that, but I've already hit the ground three times in the last two minutes and I don't think my guts can take another one. I'm going to puke, I swear."
"I got your back." Lance shouted, firing up his sonic cannon and taking down five ships at once. He was about to fire again when Hunk yelled his name.
"Lance! Wake up!" Well that doesn't make sense, I'm already awake. I thought you were supposed to be smart Hunk. "Lance! Wake up! Lance, come on man you've got to see this! Wake up dude!"
The action unfolding in front of Lance slowed down until it came to a full stop. What the hell, Hunk? What is happening? One second I'm shooting bad guys and now they're not even attacking me anymore.
"Lance! Come on, they're bound to leave soon. We got to check it out now. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Lance's vision went black and it took another second for his eyelids to open slowly. Hunk was shaking him violently and yelling his name repeatedly.
"I'm awake, Hunk. What the fuck?" Lance groaned, shoving Hunk away as he stirred from sleep. Bright morning light was coming into the dorm room from their only window, blinding him momentarily.
"Dude, the police are outside. I think there's a dead body." Hunk explained, rubbing his arm gently where Lance had hit him.
"Woah! And also eww. But mostly awesome, I think. Who is it?" Lance exclaimed, getting out of bed and reaching the window. Their room had a view on the entrance to the building, the small courtyard now filled with two police cars and an ambulance. "Is it someone we know?" Lance added, his eyes focused on what was happening outside.
"I couldn't see who it was, but we should get down there." Hunk was already wearing his shoes and jacket even though he was still in his pajamas.
"How did you know there's a body?" Lance asked, "I can't see shit down there." He grabbed his own jacket and shoes, not bothering to change as well.
"They covered something in a black sheet earlier. It has to be a body, right? That's what they do to bodies at crime scenes, at least in the movies."
The two boys rushed out of their room, not even bothering to lock the door. They ran down the stairs and joined the crowd that had amassed at the bottom. The police were outside, still taking some pictures of the scene.
"How long are they going to stay here?" Lance asked randomly into the crowd.
"I heard they're mostly done, maybe an hour?" answered someone in front, turning to face Lance. It was a blonde girl with hazel eyes which Lance had never met before.Well hello beautiful. "I think they also want to interrogate everyone in the building."
"Do you know what happened? Did someone die?" Hunk asked, looking slightly sick at the thought of seeing a dead body.
"I got here a few minutes ago, but it looks like the resident assistants know more than we do, they keep trying to get us back to our rooms."
"Well that's not going to work; I'm not going back up without answers." Lance said, scanning the room for his resident assistant and friend Shiro. He finally found the white tuft of hair belonging to him near the front door, pushing students away. Grabbing Hunk's hand, Lance swam through the crowd, receiving insults left and right, until he reached Shiro.
"Shiro, buddy, what is going on?" His tone had started joyfully but one look at Shiro's features and it switched to deep concern. The older man looked fatigued and older, bags under his eyes looking heavier than they ever did during exam season. Shiro tried a cheerful smile at the sight of Lance but it felt forced.
"I can't tell you. The police will make a statement when they're done."
"But you know, right?" Hunk asked carefully.
"Yes, but I'm not allowed to say anything."
"Not even to your friends? Come on, we're your favorite youthlings to look after." Shiro's smile looked more real at Lance's comment, but soon went back into a frown.
"I could get into trouble." Shiro tried as a last attempt to reason his friends.
"We won't tell." Lance moved closer to Shiro, inciting him to confide in them. Shiro stayed silent for another few seconds before sighing.
"It's Allura." He gave in, shifting his look downward. "She's dead." He added in whisper through a voice heavy with grief. He looked about to cry. Overcoming his initial shock, Lance reached Shiro's shoulder with his hand and said:
"That's rough, buddy." Hunk's very serious look of disapproval was all Lance needed to know he had somehow fucked up.
"Forgive Lance and his love of crappy one liners of any kind." Hunk wrapped his arms around Shiro as best as he could. "We're here for you. Whatever you need, man." Shiro locked up, the lifted corners of mouth slightly overshadowing the tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Thanks guys. Right now I just need help keeping those idiots away from the crime scene."
"You got it!" Lance exclaimed, more than happy to help his friend. He turned around to the crowd and added, "There is nothing to see here, people. You can go back to sleeping, or studying."
"Like that's ever going to happen." Sarcastically said a voice which Lance recognized even before he turned to face who it belonged to.
"No one asked you opinion, Keith." Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest in the hopes of making his point across. Keith looked nonplussed as he managed to get through the two people separating him from Lance and the rest of the crew. He reached them, and looked directly at Shiro, purposefully ignoring the other two.
"Are you okay, Shiro?"
"I'll be fine, Keith. Don't worry about me." Shiro replied, a small smile escaping his lips.
"Wait, you told him?" Lance practically squealed, pointing his finger at Keith. The other looked back at him, a single eyebrow raised.
"Keith was the one who found her." Shiro whispered, once again looking down. Keith reached out to his friend, a rare compassionate and semi-comforting smile on his face.
"I'm sorry, Shiro." Keith said in a tone that sounded more emotionally charged than it should be. Shiro looked up for a second and mutual understanding passed between the two.
The crowd grew louder behind them as Shiro had not really said anything in a while and the other resident assistants had already given up and gone upstairs. Shiro stood up, determined, and addressed the others:
"Listen up, people! The police are going to be here for another hour at least. You can't leave the building until they are done and have a way to contact you. You will all have to talk to them about what you were doing last night and if you saw anything out of the ordinary. Until then, go back to your rooms, there's nothing to do here."
A common disappointment groan rose as students began to move slowly towards the elevator, few of them going up the stairs. Shiro turned to his friends.
"You guys should go back up as well; I don't want to get a bad rep for having favorites."
"See you later, Shiro!" Lance said as he and Hunk followed the crowd to the elevator.
"That means you too, Keith." Shiro added after waving goodbye to the other two. Keith sighed.
"You text me if there's anything, okay? Don't do anything stupid." Keith paused, "I'm really sorry." He repeated, joining Lance and Hunk at the elevator. They had to wait a few more minutes for the waiting line to be empty, but they eventually went back to their respective rooms. Shiro was left alone at the entrance, staring blankly at the empty space in front of him.