Phantoms
A Voltron Legendary Defenders story. Contains gore, violence, depression, swear words, Klance, and more, if you don't support Klance then I apologize.
Chapter 1: Seventh Wheel (Lance's perspective)
I opened my eyes, sleeping in Red. I sat up and looked around. Kaltenecker was sitting in the corner eating some hay I put next to her. I stood up and heard voices coming from the cockpit. Although my legs begged me to rest I walked over and sat down in the cockpit, answering the intercom. "Hey guys…" I said, trying to sound like my usual self.
"Where were you Lance?" Pidge asked over the com. I rubbed my eyes.
"Sleeping…" I groaned.
"We're expecting a galra cruiser to come soon so get ready." Keith said. I nodded and looked out at space, straining to see something other than the endless void of space. Keith was in Black ahead of me. Pidge activated her cloaking device and flew her lion towards the spot they thought the cruiser would come to get an advantage. Hunk and Allura were in Yellow and Blue next to Red.
"They're here!" Pidge yelled over the intercom. What a wakeup call… I thought rubbing my eyes before flying Red forward.
"Alright, Lance you try and melt out a wing, Pidge you try to destroy the cannons, Hunk, Allura, we're going to distract them from Lance and Pidge as well as give them cover fire." Keith said.
"Rodger!" everyone said. Pidge flew to the nearest cannon while I went to the nearest wing. I saw Hunk and Allura fly to different spots around the cruiser and giving cover. I blasted near fighters while rushing to the wing, still not used to Red's increased speed. You're okay; everything's going be fine, this is going to be a great day you're going home soon! Just don't ruin this mission. I told myself. I shot some lava out at the wing once I reached it.
"West cannons taken out!" Pidge called over the com. I blasted off the wing I was working on after much work.
"South wing taken out!" I said over the com.
"Great work, Lance after you take out the west wing can you fly around the cruiser to try and find any other cannons?" Keith said over the com.
"No problem." I said. I dashed to the second wing, flying a bit too far due to Red's speed. After a while I blasted off the second wing and flew around the ship, looking for cannons while also trying to avoid getting hit by the cruiser swaying uncontrollably due to the missing wings. One by one I found the cannons and sent coordinates to Pidge. After a couple hours the cruiser was taken out.
"Great job guys, let's get out of the area before another cruiser is on our tails." Keith said. I tried to slow down the speed of my lion, failing multiple times and rushing ahead of the group.
"Lance slow down!" Allura called the first time.
"Bud you're going ahead again…" Hunk said the second time.
"Lance…" Pidge said the third time.
"Lance can you try and slow down?" Keith said the fourth time. For some reason the complaint hit the hardest when he said it, was it because he was leader, I don't know, whatever the reason I just snapped at that point.
"This is harder than it looks! I'm not used to Red's speed yet okay, so just lay off me!" I said. Everyone seemed somewhat shocked at my outburst.
"S-Sorry…" I said. I heard Keith sigh.
"No Lance we should have remembered you're still shaky with Red. Sorry." Keith said. It warmed my heart a little to hear him say that, though I was oblivious to why. After a few hours we agreed to rest on what looked like an abandoned planet. Everyone landed they're lions and stepped out except for me. I chose to stay in my lion a bit more. I sat in the long box full of pillows with a blanket I had made into a makeshift bed. I figured that everyone would feel a lot better being away from me. I kept pretending I was happy, trying to convince them that I was, but I knew I wasn't. I didn't know how longer I could keep it up. I was acting so weird and felt really weird about Keith, liking him more than Allura even. I don't want to sound like some cheesy poet but rainclouds over hovered over my head… no matter how many times I tried to tell myself otherwise I knew deep down…
I was nothing more but a Seventh Wheel…
Chapter 2: K and L (Keith's Perspective)
Everyone was talking outside of their lions, laughing and stretching. I looked over at Red, not seeing Lance coming out. "I'll be right back guys." I said. I started walking to Lance's lion, muttering to myself. I felt a bit bad about before, he didn't deserve to be yelled at for not being able to adjust to Red's speed. When I approached Red she lowered her head and opened her mouth. I felt at home when I stepped into her… suddenly missing the early years of Voltron. I saw Lance in a box that looked like a makeshift bed.
"Hey Lance? You okay?" I asked, sitting next to him. He shrugged.
"I dunno." He said, looking at the ceiling. I blinked in surprise.
"What's that mean?" I asked, chuckling a bit while talking.
"It means I don't know!" Lance said, looking at his feet. I felt some of my impulsive anger drape my body.
"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked, standing up. He looked up at me.
"How do you know I hate you? Maybe I really like you!" Lance yelled back at me, standing up. I felt my stomach twist in a knot as I stared at him, speechless for a minute. Was this a chance to tell him?
"Well maybe I do too! Maybe I've liked you for a really long time!" I said. I cursed at myself under my breath, wishing I hadn't shouted. Lance looked baffled.
"Y-You're joking right? Or are you serious?" Lance asked his voice at his normal tone but stuttering. I took hold of his shoulder and looked at him straight in the eyes, something I rarely did with anyone.
"Yes." I said. Lance blinked a few times. He grabbed my shoulders like I grabbed his and stared at me with an intense look.
"Prove it… I need to know for sure." He said. Shoot I was worried he'd say this I'm bad at human to human interaction! I thought. Not knowing what else to do I pulled him in closer, my heart beating a million times per second. I was about to do it. Right before I did it I paused… hands shaking. Lance then lunged into a hug, seeming to be crying.
"Thank you… that's enough…" He said.
"So are we-"Lance started.
"Yes." I responded, not needing him to clarify. We separated, feeling awkward.
"Let's not tell everyone yet…" Lance said. I nodded. That's when I began to pray nothing would ruin this…
Chapter 3: Rainclouds (Lance's Perspective)
It was a week after the interaction with Keith. I expected everything to go back to usual when this finally happened but everything seemed the same. Why wouldn't the damn rainclouds go away? I leaned back in my seat, what everyone was saying over the intercom becoming a blur. I knew I wasn't okay; I had come to terms with it. Shiro was staying in Keith's lion with his mom and wolf and rarely came out… I hadn't seen him in weeks. I was slightly relieved. I had cried at night so much you could almost see tear streaks printed into my skin. "Lance?" I heard Allura call.
"Hm?" I realized I hadn't been paying attention. I looked at her image over the intercom. Allura sighed.
"Get your head out of the clouds! We're discussing a plan." She said.
"S-Sorry…" I said.
"It's fine, anyways the plan is that in a few weeks a galra fleet will be escorting a supply ship that will be delivering supplies, Pidge has contacted Matt and alerted them that we are alive. Matt and a few other rebels are going to distract the cruiser while one of us board the supply ship and bomb it. We're deciding on who will go." Keith said over the com.
"I'll do it! It should be simple, in and out right?" I said. Keith gave a small nod.
"If everything goes right, in and out." he said. I stretched in my seat.
"Then it's decided, Lance will perform the mission." Allura said. I stretched in my seat, putting my hands behind my head. Maybe a simple foot mission like this is what I needed to get rid of these rainclouds.
End of Part 1