Lance-

I heard a loud crash from inside the Galra ship.

I turned my head so abruptly that I swung away from the outside of Red.

My eyes grew wide as I stared into the large ship. Through the bay doors and the windows, I could see smoke and fiery explosions.

Nooo! I thought frantically.

Keith was in there.

He was NOT allowed to die after he had just returned.

I couldn't be the one responsible for his death.

I flew as fast as my jet pack could carry me through space, dodging the debris the whole while.

I was looking for any sign of red armor anywhere, but it was hard to see. My vision had begun to blur with tears.

There.

I saw a small flash of red through the landing bay doors before more debris passed in front of my view.

I flew as quickly as I could but it felt like I was moving through molasses.

Suddenly, I felt a gentle nudge behind me. I turned to find Red there. Red wanted to help me.

I grabbed onto his left ear and he took off, slamming through the bay doors.

There was no gravity but due to the force-field set up by the bay doors, the air was breathable.

I noticed Keith was drifting through the air, seemingly unconscious.

He had no helmet on; his stupid mullet hung loosely through the air. His armor was blackened with soot and his arms hung limp at his sides.

Without a second thought, I used Red as a launch platform and raced toward Keith.

The closer I got, the worse he looked.

I couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

Please. Please, Keith, you can't die. Not before I was… I was able to tell you…

-Nine vargas prior-

Keith-

I lay staring at the words on the page of the book in my hands, not really reading.

I was too tired.

My Blades of Marmora suit was still sooty and I was still covered in sweat from the mission we had returned from maybe twenty minutes prior.

We had lost another good soldier.

I knew that we couldn't keep losing men, but I couldn't seem to stop myself from being impulsive and either saving someone, or getting them killed. I couldn't seem to be cautious.

With a sigh, I put the book down and flopped onto my bed.

It was funny how similar the Blades' rooms and the Castle's were. The only major difference was that the Blades preferred purples and blacks while the Alteans liked blues and whites.

I was still struck sometimes by how much I missed the group. I hadn't thought I would ever miss such an odd team. But they had become my family- something I wasn't used to having.

I missed them all, Allura's kindness, Hunk's sweet innocence, Pidge's brain and wit, Shiro's calm acceptance, Coran's goofy lighthearted stories...

But most of all, I missed Lance. Stupid, flirtatious, dim-witted, Lance.

I had thought it would be good for me to get away from Lance because he was LITERALLY the only thing I could think about.

At least, that's what it felt like.

I had thought that it would be best to remove myself from the situation. That's what I usually did when I didn't know what to do.

But now, I constantly thought of Lance. I missed hearing those stupid jokes, or teasing him… or just being around his uplifting personality.

Lance… made me feel, happy.

Mostly.

The only times he didn't, usually weren't purposeful nor his fault. Such as when Lance was flirting or when I felt really awful and depressed about my life, usually relating to my crush.

"Keith," a Blade— fully masked— opened my door.

I really hated when they did that. It made me feel like they might open the door when I was doing something awkward.

"What is it?" I said standing to face the Blade.

"There is a call being sent through."

"From whom?" I inquired.

"Somebody named Lance. One of the paladins."

I was out the door as soon as I heard Lance's name.

Adrenaline was coursing though my body. I had wanted to see Lance since I left the castle, but now I wasn't certain that I would be able to act reasonably when I saw him. Plus, he might not be calling for me, he could be calling about some important crisis.

But, maybe, just maybe, Lance missed me too and was calling to see me.

-Three vargas prior-

Lance-

"Guys, I've got this," Pidge cried through the coms on the lions. "Please, I will be the fastest. Just hold everything out here and I will dart in."

"Pidge, wait," Shiro cried as Pidge launched herself from her lion and darted into the Galra ship.

This one was small. Merely a transport, but supposedly, it had vital information about the next move the Galra would make.

From what I could tell, the drones were defending the ship as though it were carrying Zarkon himself.

The five of us, with the help of Coran form the castle, had been battling endless drones for who knew how long.

Honestly, if Pidge thought she could hack into the system quickly, which she probably could, then I was totally fine with that.

I was ready to get back to my room on the castle and be able to chill out.

Shiro, Hunk, and Allura were not as happy. They thought it was too risky to let Pidge go by herself.

"Come on guys," I said through the coms. "You heard her, let's hold off these drones."

"We have to protect the Green Lion," Allura said. "Hunk, can you defend it while Pidge gets into the system?"

"Sure thing," Hunk replied as he flew over to where Pidge had momentarily abandoned her lion.

"Lance," Shiro said, "you and I are going around to the other side of the ship; I want to try to stop that flow of drones."

"Sure thing, captain," I said as I pushed my lion forward.

It still amazed me how fast Red was. I couldn't help but miss Blue, and… Keith. Keith really had been the better pilot. I hadn't wanted him to leave then and I didn't now. But, there was nothing I could do.

I shot at Galra drones and drove through large quantities of them. I fought as hard as I could to keep the drones from escaping my line of sight.

"Okay," Pidge's voice cracked through the com, "I'm in. I just have to recalibra—Why, hello there!"

Something had changed in Pidge's direction and tone of choice.

I thought I heard the soft buzz of her Bayard being drawn.

"Pidge?" Shiro called out nervously.

Pidge didn't respond though. Instead, she continued talking to someone else. I assumed that she had been found by a Galra guard and was trying to talk her way out of it.

"Hey guys?" I said, "We need to get in there to save Pidge. Stat."

"I'm already heading there," Hunk called though the com.

"No, Hunk," Allura said, "You need to protect the Green Lion. Plus, we can barely hold ourselves out here as it is."

"What are you saying, Allura?" I said, already knowing what was coming.

"We need to cut our losses, plan a rescue mission, and get out of here."

Pidge's voice called through the com, still sounding conversational but clearly meant for us. "Could you maybe come back later?"

There was a pause. I knew everyone was waiting for Shiro's call.

"Fine," he said reluctantly, "We will come back for you, though, Pidge."

"Ah, well. If you must," Pidge answered, once again loud enough for us to be able to tell she was talking to us.

Note: More chapters to come. Probably soon.

Thanks to everyone who liked my last story and to those of you who reviewed/ favored it. That really motivates me to keep writing. And thanks for reading! I hope this intrigued you to want to read the next chapters.