Ok, as promised...PART THREE of this series of mine and we're back to Duvessa and Keith being the mains, though it won't seem like it here in the beginning, but I've had these first bits in my head for awhile and am only just now committing them to "paper". I hope you enjoy it, because what is in my head...is EPIC!

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter One

It was cold and dark. It had been for a while. And uncomfortable, unable to move. Trapped. Need out.

"Duvessa!"

Duvessa sat straight up in bed, panting and sweating. She sat there, panting for several minutes, looking around the room before she got up, took a shower and dressed. Picking up and putting on her crown and sliding her Voltcom onto her wrist, she made her way down to the Control Room.

Hunk sat quietly at the main computer, watching the radar and a crush car derby on a holomonitor. He looked over as Duvessa silently walked into the room, leaving the lights dim. He watched her walk over to where Keith lay beneath the floor in stasis and he frowned.

Duvessa stood there for a few minutes, staring at the floor.

A huge crash came from the derby Hunk was watching and he flinched, quickly muting it.

Duvessa jumped and spun. "Oh. Hunk. You scared me."

Hunk smiled. "Sorry, wasn't intentional. You all right, Vessa?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

He leaned back in the holochair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Vessa, of all the things you look like right now, fine isn't one of them." He frowned. "Well, you look nice, but…you know what I mean. Right?"

Duvessa bit her lip. "I just…had a strange dream, that's all. I needed to come down and check on…" She waved to the floor.

Hunk punched a button on the console and a monitor flashed to existence next to her. "He's fine. No change. And if there was, Gorma would be all over this room."

Duvessa looked over the readings, her eyes critical. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry…"

Hunk got to his feet and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Vessa. You're doing fine, he's…reasonably fine in there. And dreams, well," he paused. "Those happen. Sometimes they're your brain trying to tell you something, others not so much. They're working on a cure and as soon as they have one, he's going to wake up and you and him are going to live happily ever after."

Duvessa looked up at him, a funny look on her face.

"Well, you're a princess and that's what all princesses are supposed to have. A happily ever after," Hunk stated, color faintly staining his cheeks. "At least, that's what's supposed to happen…in Earth's fairy tales."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Hunk. I do appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

"Hey, it's what I do best! Are you hungry? I can go whip you up some breakfast if you'd like," he offered, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

She shook her head. "No, but thank you. I do appreciate it."

An alarm blared and they both turned to see a small fighter falling into Arus' atmosphere.

Hunk quickly moved back to the computer, hitting buttons. "That's not good. It's Polluxian."

Duvessa growled softly. "Pollux."

Hunk blinked. "Hey. Pollux is friendly now."

Duvessa looked at him, astonished. "Really?"

Hunk nodded, a meek grin on his face. "Distant cousins. So, reign it in?"

Duvessa frowned, but nodded. "I'll go see if I can bring them in safely," she stated and ran for Black Lion.

"I'm right behind you, Vessa!" Hunk stated and he ran for Yellow's chute, quickly disappearing down the zip line to the shuttle.

The two Lions streaked across the sky, intercepting the badly smoking ship.

"Polluxian craft, this is Yellow Lion, are you declaring an emergency?" Hunk radioed.

"Hunk!" cried a young male voice. "Yes! I could use some assistance. I was coming to give you and the Force some top secret information when I was ambushed by a Doom ship about three parsecs from here."

"Prince Bandor?" Hunk asked. "Yeah, all right. Let's get you safely on the ground. Do you have any control?"

"Negative," Bandor answered. "Frankly, I'm just glad I didn't skip off the atmosphere right now."

"Knew we'd be up here in minutes if you came in, huh?" Hunk laughed.

Bandor chuckled. "Yeah."

"Ok. Let's do this," Hunk stated and moved Yellow into position to help slow Bandor's shuttle.

Duvessa moved Black under the shuttle and Yellow, slowly easing the shuttle onto Black's back and bringing the shuttle down on a landing pad near the Castle.

Hunk hopped out of Yellow and moved towards Black and the shuttle.

Duvessa stood just outside Black as Hunk walked over.

"You all right, boss lady?" Hunk asked, concerned. "You've been quiet."

"Just…wasn't expecting Pollux to be a friendly," she stated. "It's a bit of a shock."

"They weren't back in the day?"

She shook her head. "Not even close," she admitted as a slim, red headed man walked out of the ruined shuttle towards them.

Bandor blinked as he got closer to Black and the two members of the Force waiting there. "Uh, Hunk? Where's Keith?"

Hunk chuckled nervously. "Well, he's…unavailable."

Bandor stared, shocked. "No… it's him?"

"What's him?" Hunk asked, innocently.

"The member of the Force who…I need to talk to Allura. It's urgent," Bandor stated, a desperate look on his face.

"Well, let's get inside then, but I would first like to introduce you to Princess Duvessa," Hunk stated, a meek grin at her as he held his hand out to her. "Vessa, this is Prince Bandor of Pollux."

Bandor stared in shock. "The Black Devil? Of legend?"

Duvessa blushed. "I prefer Duvessa," she stated. "And legend? What stories have been being told of me to make me such a devilish terror to the public?"

"I'm sorry, just…you're legendary, even on Pollux," he stated.

"Good legend or bad?" Hunk asked.

"Uh," Bandor stammered, looking at her. "Well, seeing as how Pollux used to be Arus' enemy…"

"Never mind. Forget I asked," Hunk stated. "Uh, this way, Bandor." He turned and led the others into the Castle.

"So, you see, Princess, there are conflicting reports that Arus is weak and Voltron is out of commission," Bandor stated, leaning forward on his elbows over the conference room table, his hands moving as he spoke.

"But, we're not," Vince piped.

"As I said, conflicting, because there are reports that Voltron has been seen fighting off various robeasts around the Denubian," Bandor stated. "They're confused."

"Well, we know the truth, but if it keeps Doom guessing, I'm all for it," Lance muttered, looking between Bandor and Allura.

"So, Bandor, what is the urgent matter that caused you to fly all the way here from Pollux?" Allura asked.

"Those same rumors that say Voltron is out of commission also tell of one of the pilots being either incapacitated or dead," Bandor answered. He glanced to Duvessa, who was pacing at the far end of the room, then to the vacant chair at the table. "And seeing as how Commander Keith isn't here, that one seems to be true to a point."

"He's not dead," Lance growled, a dark look on his face. "He's in cryostasis. Maahox hit him with some sort of virus that no one has ever seen before."

Bandor nodded, a thoughtful look on his own face. "Then this might be of interest to you," he stated and slid a chip from his data pad into a slot on the conference table. A holomonitor appeared above the flat surface.

Allura gasped, reading what was displayed. "There is a cure? Who has it?" she demanded, looking back to Bandor.

Bandor shook his head. "This doesn't say. My analysts back traced the signal. They think it's from Doom, but they're not sure."

"It's a trick. Maahox thinking we're desperate, so he'll trick us by saying he has the cure," Lance spat, turning his gaze to Allura.

Allura slowly nodded. "While that is possible, Lance, it could also be true. I mean, if you're going to create something like a virus that you could accidentally infect yourself with, sometimes you do create a cure just to be safe," she whispered. "That way you don't die, too."

"Yeah, but its Maahox and Lotor, sweetheart," Lance stated. "While they 'might' have a cure, they're not going to just hand it over because we asked nicely for it. They hate us. They're going to deny all of this."

"Maybe not," Bandor stated and pressed another button.

" 'Willing to exchange'," Pidge read. "For what?"

"Some Haggarium infused armor that apparently was 'left behind' on Arus a few months ago," Bandor answered.

"No. No way!" Lance declared and slapped his hand onto the tabletop. "I'm not willing to risk Keith's life on a cure that might not even be a cure for them to get back some of their toys so they can try to destroy us again. No way!"

Most of the eyes of the team were drawn to Duvessa, who was still silently pacing at the far end of the room.

"Duvessa?" Allura asked softly.

Duvessa stopped pacing and looked to the people gathered around the table. "I'm listening, Allura." She sighed. "If you're looking for my thoughts, I'm torn. While I agree with Lance, we shouldn't recklessly endanger Keith's life, but at the same time, he needs that cure." She shook her head. "I don't like the thought of negotiating with Doom on any level, but if we can guarantee that it is a cure…"

"You can't be serious!" Lance declared, staring up at her in shock.

She held her hand up, stopping him. "Please, Lance. He's your friend and brother."

Lance sighed, shaking his head. "He wouldn't want us to do this. Even for him."

"I know, but if we don't have any other choice?" Duvessa asked, placing her hands on the table and looking at him.

Lance looked up at her. "He'd hate it. It would be like a knife in his gut…but he would do it if he had no other choice."

Duvessa looked at Allura. "If, and this is a big if, we do decide to negotiate with Doom for this cure, we're going to need to set stipulations."

Allura nodded. "What are you thinking?"

"We test a sample of this cure on Keith's blood. If it clears the infection, then we make the trade. If it doesn't, no deal," she stated.

"For the armor?" Pidge asked. "I was still running tests on it."

"Then you'd best run as many as you can while you still have it," Duvessa stated. "If Doctor Gorma or New Balto doesn't come through with a cure soon, we may not have a choice." She turned and left the room.

Lance looked at Allura, then followed Duvessa. "Vessa, wait up."

She stopped and turned. "Yes, Lance?"

"I'm sorry for…" He waved to the conference room.

"No. I understand your reasons and for the most part, I agree with them. But, Lance, he's been in there for six months now and they're no closer to a cure than when they first put him in there," she sighed and looked away, moving to the doors for the conference floor balcony and stepped outside.

Lance followed. "I know it's hard for you, but you've got to give them a chance to work this out."

She looked up at him. "Gorma says they've all but given up on ever finding the cure, Lance. They can't crack its DNA. It is like nothing they have ever seen before. Even the folks on New Balto are puzzled. They feel like they are inventing a new science trying to decipher it."

Lance watched her. "You were talking to Pidge and Gorma recently."

Duvessa nodded and looked out over the landscape. "Yesterday." She sighed. "I keep having these dreams of being cold and trapped with no way out. And then, I hear him calling my name like a desperate plea."

"Telepathic?"

She shook her head. "When Gorma gave him the sedative right before he was frozen, I lost him in my mind. I couldn't hear him at all. He was gone."

Lance sighed and leaned on the rail beside her. "Damn. You could have said something sooner. Allura might have…"

"Lance, you and her were newly married. I wasn't going to dump this on you two. I'm not that cruel," Duvessa answered. After a lengthy pause, she spoke again. "I don't want to negotiate with Doom unless we have no other choice, Lance. I'm not giving up hope that our people can find a cure. But, we need him back. I can't…I can't do this forever."

Lance nodded. "All right, Vessa. How long do we give them?"

"I don't know," she answered, a soft breeze stirring her long black hair. "I don't know."