Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender or it's affiliates. None of the characters, settings or plot lines belong to me. Thanks.

Chapter 1: Rude Awakening

Lance woke up not with a start but with a few, slow blinks and a lazy stretch. That was the last time he drank anything concocted by Coran. All the Blue Paladin had wanted was to have a drink for his 18th birthday (the designated drinking age for all academy students), but — Wait, Lance's birthday was two days ago. He wasn't waking up from an alien hangover.

The memory of a battle flashed vaguely in his mind's eye. A crash, a loud sound followed by a flash of light. The feeling of his back hitting a hard surface as he was flung from the rafters of a Galra ship, then … nothing.

Lance carefully took in his immediate surroundings. He was laying on a cott of some sort, barricaded by a wall and a glass door on either side. A prison, that much was clear. He tugged at his wrists, bound uncomfortably behind his back, and let out a loud groan.

Understanding dawned on the Blue Paladin and he threw back his head, exclaiming dramatically, "Not again!"

There was a brief silence, then a voice said, "I take it you come here often?"

A purple-tinged figure stepped into Lance's view, having been leaning against the opposite corner in utter stillness until that point. Lance jumped and gave a shrill yelp. It was none other than the prince of the Galra empire himself.

The prince crossed the threshold and stopped a few feet before Lance, a cool smirk stretched tensely across his mouth.

"Perhaps you can shed some light on what exactly is going on," he said.

"Lotor?!" Lance exclaimed, propelling backward off the cott and on the hard floor.

The prince straightened and looked away with the cool flip of his silvery hair.

"Unfortunately," he sighed. "It seems you and I were captured during the cacophony of battle."

Lance sat up a little and thought back to the previous fight, saying, "I remember an explosion, I think. Ugh, my head …"

Lance went to touch a hand to his head but only succeeded in yanking on a heavily bruised shoulder.

"Never mind that now!" Lotor snapped, pacing the room with a sense of urgency. "What is this place? Is it a rebel prison? A gladiator ring? A work camp?"

While the prince speculated, Lance got to his feet and took a cautious lap around the cell. It was oddly spacious for just two prisoners to occupy. The walls weren't your typical Galra purple and black. No, this place looked dirtier and much lower tech. The door hinges were rusted, the air damp and quite pungent now that Lance thought about it.

He wrinkled his nose.

"I don't know what this place is but it reeks," said Lance. "I've never been here before."

"You said 'not again' earlier."

"Look, I get kidnapped and tied up a lot these days. This is just a regular Tuesday for me."

Lotor did little to hide his scoff, and replied, "Figures."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I just — figured you'd spend most of your time in restraints, is all."

"You know what, in the interest of my sanity, I'm going to ignore that. Now, how do we get out of here?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Well, aren't you the helpful one? Fine, I'll figure it out on my own.'

"Oh, I'm so sure."

Lance rolled his eyes. They went their separate ways, investigating every inch of their cell and what they could see of the outside. Lance was missing his helmet, so there was no way to contact the others. He seemed to be completely stranded, though he was sure his friends were already looking for him. The thought put his terrified mind at ease.

Due to the cramped space, the two fighters kept running into each other as they inspected the cell. Each time, they'd glare at one another, mutter some kind of formality, then continue on their way.

After finally giving up on the walls, floor and ceiling, Lance strolled to the door and craned his neck to try and see down the hall. As he did, Lotor paused and eyed him. He'd never interacted with the Blue Paladin this close up before.

In fact, he'd never really interacted with any of the paladins. Only his generals had that pleasure. Lotor wasn't sure what he'd expected from meeting a paladin at last, but it wasn't what he was faced with.

The Blue Paladin was young and willowy, with dewy, brown skin and bright blue eyes. He was aloof and awkward at times, but looked rather graceful in sleep and concentration. Lotor found his gaze pulled to the long curve of the paladin's neck and the sharp edge of his jawline.

"H-hey, I think someone's coming!" The paladin cawed, jolting Lotor out of his daze.

The prince stood back, following the approaching form with his eyes only. It was an alien unlike any he'd seen before. It was as tall as it was wide and a sickly pale brown. It had such a severe underbite and heavy brow that Lotor wondered how it saw much if anything.

"Stand back," it barked in a gruff, gurgling rumble. They did.

The alien entered the cell and closed it behind him. The alien had to duck down and squeeze past the glass door to do so. The brute was large enough that he could probably spatter the prisoners with the swipe of his hand. He looked mean enough that neither of them thought to try an escape.

The alien grabbed Lance by the neck and drew him close.

"Wounds?" It growled.

"Huh?" Lance's voice was little more than a squeak.

"Got any wounds? Broken bones?"

"Well …"

"None," said Lotor on Lance's behalf. "He's perfectly healthy."

This seemed to satisfy the alien. He dropped Lance abruptly and went to Lotor, who moved away promptly.

"I'm just fine as well. Thank you."

The alien paused, then reach out and snatched a tuft of the prince's white hair in his bumpy fist.

"Don't tell me how to do my job," the alien gurgled.

"Apologies," ground out Lotor, biting back a wince.

"Hmphf!"

The alien let the prince go, then waddled out of the cell, leaving the prisoners to themselves once more.

"So, … it's a gladiator ring, then." Lance said. "Why else would they wanna check our health?"

Lotor shook his head, a sweat breaking out across his forehead. "There are many reasons they'd want us in perfect health, Paladin. None of them are any good."

"Then why did you say I'm fine?! My head is killing me!"

Lotor looked at him, then tossed out a devilish smirk, "Because you're not leaving me yet, Blue Paladin."

So, Idk why I felt compelled to write this. I might not continue but I've already got a few chapters lined up, so let's see where this goes. Teen for now but Mature later possibly? Stay Tuned.