Thunderbird
AN: This is a based off both Voltron Force looks for characters and Devil's Due comic back story with some twists.
Chapter 1: Blindsided
Thunderbird…
Protector… Harbinger of the Gods… look over my son.
Officer Charlie McClain cussed over the weather. Bad enough his idiot nephew was busted pulling some kind of stunt, but the weather had gone south fast. Now he and Lance were hoping the snow to clear up. That or at least let them see another ten feet more in front of them. Looking for a quick moment at his nephew, he gave him an elbow for him to get his seatbelt on. Last thing he wanted was the boy getting killed after saving his butt from the crazy manager at Dude Ranch Resorts. Lance was eleven years old and already had a record. Granted they were minor infractions, but he was starting to get a third page to his rap. Charlie prayed something would get into the head of his nephew before things got worse.
The radio crackled to life. An accident had happened just ahead of him on the same road. A truck jack-knifed and a car had collided into it. Charlie hit the lights as Lance sat up. Lance was not sure what to think. He welcomed anything that might divert the fact that he was in deep trouble with his folks, but a crash? Lance thought crashes were kind of cool, but only when no one was hurt. By the bright yellow glow up ahead, Lance feared there would be no such luck here. He could hear his Uncle cuss as he called for the fire trucks.
When they got there, the snow cleared enough for them to see the damage. The Freight truck covered the two lanes of the narrow back road of Nebraska. The car that was on fire lay in a ditch just near the truck, on fire. As Charlie tried to stop he could feel the snow making braking hard. Stopping feet from the truck, he jumped into action as fast as he could. "Don't touch anything, you hear?" Lance nodded. If being good could get his Uncle to ease things over with his folks, Lance would do it.
Charlie grabbed a fire extinguisher and looked over the scene. By the trail of bits of metal, it seems the car failed to see the jack-knifed truck in time and plowed under it trailer. He felt lucky that the fire was small enough for his extinguisher to put out. He was ready for what he might see, but it was the scream he wasn't ready for.
In the wreck, he could see the two front passengers were dead. Just like the car had lost its roof as it went under the trailer, so did they. It was from the back seat that the screaming was coming from. A boy no bigger than Lance was lying across the seat, howling, at the other half of the woman dangling before him.
Charlie swooped into the car, grabbing the boy to drag him out. He could make out "Mother" barely as the boy screamed and kicked. If the boy was injured, he showed no signs of it. Opening the back door of his car, he yelled for Lance to join the boy in the back. "I want you to hold him in here. Don't let him out of this car, understand?" Lance gave a quick "Yes, sir." and held on to the boy. As Charlie closed the door, he could taste the bile coming up his throat. Hell of a day. Looking again at the mess, he spotted a male head lying on the road. And by the sound of someone heaving, he saw that the truck driver must have seen it too. Walking to the front of his car, he gave in as well. Hell of a day.
The boy's screams were starting to dissolve away into tears. Lance wanted to be sick as well. He couldn't see all of it, but if Uncle Charlie was hurling, it was bad. Lance looked the boy over. He was about his size, the blackest hair he had ever seen and tanned skin. The way he was dressed seemed strange to him. It seemed like it was Native American, but the colors and pattern were nothing like what was at the Tribe lands. Was he an Indian from somewhere else traveling through?
"Aw hell, what do you say to someone who may have just lost his family?" Lance thought to himself. Heck, did he speak English? Some of the American Tribes had reclaimed their language and spoke it exclusively. Hell, he might as well try English. Then it would save some trouble later.
"Um… What's your name?" Lance asked quietly.
The boy sat in Lance's arms, facing the window of the back seat. In the red and blue lights of the police car, he could see the snowflakes drifting. He felt like sleep was trying to lure him back to into its void. Just as it had before this nightmare began. They were traveling home from the major spaceport after visiting his Grandfather's ranch on the thunder lands of Ganelv. It was a long trip and customs was rude to say the least. Dad wanted to save some money after paying so much for the space flight, so he planned a car trip back home in Texas. He was so tired and his mother was singing a lullaby from her youth. He had lain down for what seemed to be just a moment to be awoken by a scream and a shower of glass and metal. Then he saw her face. What was left of it. The tears swelled up in his eyes as he tried to bury his face into Lance's coat. "Keith," he mumbled before the pain choked what little air he had left in him.
"Mine is Lance," the other boy replied. "I'm so sorry."
Lance watched the trucks and other police officers come. A medic popped in to look over Keith. When they wanted him to leave the car, Keith didn't want to. He kept a grip on Lance, not wanting to leave the back seat. As the other adults gathered around the car, it seemed something was decided upon. Lance could also see the car being covered in plastic. Seeing his Uncle returning with a handful of papers, he braced himself to hear how bad it might be. "Cripes. I really don't know Keith, but hell, who's going to look out for him?" Lance thought to himself. Charlie plopped down into the front seat. Placing the papers and his hat in the passenger seat, he let out a large sigh, then looked to Lance as if to ask if Keith had said anything, "His name is Keith," Lance said.
"Keith… Keith Kogane. I'm truly sorry, son, for what you just went through," Charlie said. "Do you have any family here on Earth?"
Keith barely moved his face from Lance's coat. All Officer McClain could see was one blood-shot eye, a flash of blue in a sea of red just barely covered by black. "I have an Aunt in Houston," he squeaked.
"Well, we are going to contact her. Let her know what has happened. In the meantime, I have to get you to a hospital for a check-up. If they say you're okay, you can stay with me till your Aunt comes for you." Charlie told him.
Keith gripped Lance tighter. Sensing the fear in Keith, an idea struck Lance, "If you want, I'll stay with ya." Lance chipped in. "That is… if that's okay, sir."
Charlie looked at the two boys. Lance was always one to help someone in need. He saw how Keith clung to Lance. It felt right. Hell, it would make it a bit easier to keep an eye on him. Not like he was married and would be troubling a wife. To top it off, Lance was in a heap of trouble with his folks. Having him out of their hair for a day or two might be what they could use. Nothing better than having some time to breath before laying the hammer down when Lance went back home. Who knew, it looked like it would help Keith more than anything else.
Charlie started moving the car to the nearby hospital. Hell of a day.
AN: Ganelv if the internet is correct is Abode in Cherokee
