Crippled
by: SPskater411
A Voltron Legendary Defender Fanfiction
It hurt.
More than it should've.
Deep down, Lance knew it. But it didn't he wasn't gonna be hurt about it.
Breathing out, the blue paladin glanced back at the sight of Keith and Shiro talking quietly to each other, then joined their hands in a 'brotherly' hold and…hugged. To the normal eye, it would look like companionship of friendship. But Lance knew better.
Oh he knew better.
Lance then watched Hunk and Keith walking to the yellow lion and leaving for their mission. The Cuban sighed, smiling his usual goofiness and saluting to them, hiding the turmoil of his mind.
No had to know.
No one had to know how much he was hurting inside.
It all started with rivalry.
Well, doesn't everything when it came to two souls that were so alike that they cared to admit? For Lance, he saw Keith as someone that was on his level, that challenged him to better himself. The reason of getting up in the morning. His mantra was always 'Today I will beat Keith and be the best dang pilot ever!' and always one up the other.
It goes true when they became paladins of Voltron.
At the prospect that Keith didn't see Lance as an equal (well that wasn't true, but still), and that even Keith didn't know that Lance thought they were rivals since the Garrison, Lance of course thrived to get Keith's attention.
For many, like his best friends Pidge and Hunk, it looked like kindergarten syndrome. The one where a boy pulls at a girl's pigtails because he has a crush on her.
Lance denied this at first.
There's no way I have a crush on Mullet Head!
And yet mission after mission, being together in and out of the action…they grew closer. As Keith said once, they had a bonding moment. But Lance didn't realize it at the time.
And so, through their moments together, Lance began to notice things. Like, when Keith smiled, like…really genuine smile, it made Lance's face warm over like the room just increased in temperature. Or the way Keith's snarkiness made Lance riled up in a way that wanted to poke fun at him more, and Keith scrunches his nose cutely and narrows his eyes, making his dark violet like eyes spark. Or the way that Keith's body is so…flexible. In a way that made like Keith's fighting in practice like some sort of hypnotizing dance.
It was official to Lance.
Dude…I think I have a crush.
And of course, Hunk and Pidge were there when Lance said this. All three of them together in Pidge's hanger and hanging out just like the Garrison days. Hunk just smiled, as if saying 'I know, and we're here for you buddy' like the good friend the giant teddy bear was. Pidge, of course, teased Lance about it; also suggesting cool themes for their future wedding.
And then, the day they went to a space mall, Lance confessed his feelings to Keith.
Surprised, even to Lance, Keith just smiled and kissed Lance.
It continued for days, and everyone noticed. Allura was confused, but just said 'As long as you're still focused on taking down Zarkon, then I do not mind'. Coran just shrugged, saying that it was normal for Alteans (gender never matter when it came to love, and unknown to Lance at that time, Keith flinched at this), and gave his blessing. Hunk and Pidge just grinned and were giggling at Lance and Keith blushing.
The only one that wasn't vocalizing anything, was Shiro.
And Lance should've taken that as a sign.
"Lance?"
The Cuban looked up for a moment, seeing Hunk and Pidge at his doorway, pity in their eyes. He really didn't want their pity, but before he could shoo them away, Pidge…sassy and always a know-it-all troll Pidge, just quickly reached to Lance and hugged him, her face buried into his chest. Lance was surprised of this. Pidge, who was always teasing Lance and so…strong and confident, looked so small. A little girl crying and murmuring 'I'm sorry Lance' and 'I'm gonna kill him, I swear'. Lance looked up at Hunk for an explanation, but was even more surprised that Hunk was looking down and fists tight at his sides.
"What-"
"We heard what happened Lance. Our walls aren't exactly thick even if we didn't hear you guys shouting," Hunk cut Lance off, his eyes softening.
Lance's breathing hitched, his fingers twitching for a moment as Pidge's hold on Lance tightened.
Now he understood.
An hour before this, Lance and Keith were spending time together in Keith's room making out. Lance almost wanted to go all the way, give himself to Keith for their first time and…Keith broke away and told Lance that he couldn't do this.
"I can't keep doing this to you"
Was what Lance remembered. Everything else was a fast blur. A lot of shouting exchanged, hurt and anger between them, and some punches here and there too. But Lance remembered a name being mentioned in the fury of shoutings.
"I'm still in love with Shiro,"
The green paladin looked up at Lance, her big brown eyes full of tears behind her glasses, "A-are you okay Lance?"
Lance blinked, but then softened, moving her glasses up and wiping her eyes, trying to laugh off the tension, "Hey, w-why are you crying? I thought Pidge Gunderson doesn't do crying like a little girl?"
"Don't pretend not to be hurt by this Lance!" Pidge argued, her temper flared, "I don't get why you're just sitting your dumbass here and not fighting for Keith! I know that he said what he said, but…"
"Pidge…" Hunk tried, and Pidge then sobbed.
"How can you stand it?"
Lance shrugged weakly, not knowing the answer himself.
The three of them stayed together that night. Just like the many nights in the days of the Garrison.
It came to no one's surprise, except for Allura and Coran, that Keith and Shiro came together in the training room, holding hands.
Pidge couldn't help but glare at them, arms folded, but was nudged by Hunk. They gave each other's looks, then looked back at Lance, who was grinning and teasing at Keith and Shiro, confusing the two Alteans in the room.
Pidge hated this.
But for the sake of Lance, who begged them the other night to act normal for him, to not start anything since they are a team, Pidge yielded as Hunk agreed immediately, even though he didn't like it.
"Hold on, I thought Lance and Keith were mated?" Coran piped up, frowning a little.
Allura looked from a blushing Shiro and Keith, to Lance who was blank faced for a second before laughing and explain to Coran that what Keith and him had was just a one time thing and broke up; which resulted Lance explaining what 'breaking up' means. She may not understand about 'dating' and 'romance' but she was no fool.
She was worried that this…whatever it was, was going to distract the paladins from forming Voltron. The Princess just hoped that this would pass.
It did not pass.
And this resulted with a win and a loss.
They defeated Zarkon, thanks to their planning and allies, but they lost Shiro in the process.
Lance didn't know what to think, or say, and he was just as shellshocked and upset as everyone there.
Keith, of course, was heartbroken.
And even though Lance just wanted to go to him and hug him, and comfort him like he did before…he knew he couldn't. Even with Shiro gone, he didn't want to betray his leader, just as he and Keith had betrayed Lance.
"Lance?"
The blue paladin looked back at Keith, who had followed him after everyone retreated to get some sleep after their battle today. But how could anyone sleep? Knowing that their own was gone?
"Er, h-hey Keith?"
This was the first time that they talked one on one like this. Lance tried to avoid being alone with Keith most of the time because it still hurt being around him, especially when Keith had Shiro. But here they were, and there was this heavy tension around him. Unspoken words. Ones that Lance wanted to open up, but he knew once he opened it, he wouldn't stop.
"Hey um," The brunet started, rubbing the back of his neck, "I…I'm sorry,"
Keith nodded, his eyes not meeting with Lance, "Yeah…"
Lance gulped, wanting to reach out to Keith, then stopped himself. No, not again. He thought and stepped back, and was about to walk away until Keith spoke up again.
"H-Hey, um…can I maybe stay with ya in your room tonight?"
This sent mixed feelings in Lance. One was a bit angry at Keith suggesting such a thing, especially since Shiro, Keith's lover, was gone, but another part of him, a big part of him, wanted to just run to Keith and hug him, and forgive him and…just be what they used to be.
But he knew it was a bad idea.
"I don't think it would be good idea,"
Keith's face fell, and Lance almost retracted what he said, until Keith sighed, nodding.
"Y-You're right…I wasn't thinking straight…"
And that hurt Lance once again. I guess I got that coming, the Blue Paladin thought bitterly, and soon he and Keith parted ways to their rooms.
And it would be the last time they saw each other that night like this.
"I fucking hate you,"
Keith's tired eyes looked at Pidge for a moment, his vacant expression and his blank eyes just looked at the angry green Paladin for a moment, "And where is this coming from?"
"You know, I only tolerated you because of Lance, because he told me to be fucking nice to you even though you broke his heart! You and Shiro!"
"Pidge-"
"Don't," The girl raised her hand up and looked away, "You may be leader now Keith, but I won't be listening to you, ever,"
"Oh yes you will Pidge,"
Allura stepped into the room after hearing this, frowning a little as Hunk was trailing behind her.
"I know you're upset, but arguing like this and blaming Keith is not going to bring Lance back,"
Pidge stared at the Princess for a moment then her gaze was sad. Mostly because Allura was wearing the red battle armor, Keith's battle armor.
While Keith? He was wearing the Black Armor. Shiro's armor.
"We will get Lance back," Allura assured them, her eyes determined, "I know we will,"
Hunk and Pidge looked at each other as Keith looked away. Allura sighed as she was shooing them off to bed, and then looked at Coran, who just came in and looking solemn.
"Any sign of that Garla ship that infiltrated our defenses?" The Altean princess asked quietly, as Coran shook his head.
"None, Princess," He murmured as he then was opening a holographic image in front of them, showing some security footage of someone entering the docking bay, and breaking into Lance's room, "But it seemed to know how to get into the Castle without the alarms going off,"
Allura's eyes hardened as the picture froze, seeing the face under the hood of the intruder carrying Lance away in the getaway ship.
"Prince Lotor…"
Lance groaned as he was opening his eyes, groggily looking around for a moment and frowned for a moment, feeling like he couldn't move. Alert, the paladin was struggling, seeing he was strapped down to a table and looked around, then froze.
Galrans.
"Don't worry little pet~" A dark silky voice spoke, as Lance was shifting his eyes to the source, seeing sadistic golden like eyes staring down at him, "It will be all over soon~"
Was he dreaming?
Lance struggled for a moment, seeing hands over his ears and his face, fingers touching under his eyes and saying something in rough voices, in a language that Lance couldn't decipher.
And then he heard it.
The drilling sound.
Lance struggled even more as he was shaking his head, but he felt large hands holding his head still and saw some sort of needle like object in a Galran's hand, coming near to his face.
And screams of horrid pain and heart wrenching begging echoed into the room.
One that one Prince Lotor enjoyed.
End of Prolouge
A/n: So what did you guys think? I have finished watching Season one and two of Voltron: Legendary Defender and in waiting for Season three :3 I will still update on the stories needed, like Hawk Latern and probably deleting some that aren't of my interest. Anyways, chapter one is already written, but I shall just let the reviews roll in and see if I should continue this or not. It's my first Voltron fic so please go easy on me and tell me if I'm getting the characters right? Pretty please?
Thank you for reading~!
-SP
