So this was written for the Shance 2017 Big Bang- a (not quite) superhero AU. Or, at least, the beginning of it. There could be a part two in the future, but for now *jazz hands* ta-da
Art for the fic has been made by the wonderful Vegalocity and can be found post/166553935303/these-are-my-entries-for-the-shance-big-bang
Lance sighed as he walked through the entirely too familiar sleep aid section of the supermarket. In the recent weeks he'd become more and more familiar here. Usually he slept like a rock and his biggest issue used to be getting out of bed, but now he could barely fall asleep at all. Scarily vivid nightmares about drowning had begun to plague him, seemingly out of the blue and so instead of his usual 8 hours of sleep, he was barely scraping by with four a night. Not only was his poor sleep starting to give him bags under his eyes that even his daily face creams were having trouble combating, but the dreams were wearing on his nerves and starting to affect his work. He had landed a job at the nearby zoo not too long ago and it was surprisingly difficult to work with aquatic animals all day when all you dreamed about at night was drowning.
So, that's why he found himself looking through the row of sleep medication. All of them promised full nights of deep sleep, but so far nothing had actually helped. He'd tried over the counter, name brand stuff, generic stuff- practically everything short of getting an actual prescription. Still, Lance grabbed a brand that he hadn't tried yet, and dropped it into his hand basket. At this point he didn't care about the price or brand as long as it did something. Then he moved on to the next few aisles where he found things that were more to his liking.
To one side of the aisle was rows of teas, drink mixes, and light snacks. On the other side were essential oils, candles, and other scented household items. And well, Lance wouldn't say that he had a problem with buying candles and oils, but let's just say that he kept an eye out for all of the best deals and sales. Right now the store was doing a bit of clearance to make room for new inventory and so many of the products in the aisle were marked down, which meant great things for his wallet.
With probably the biggest grin he'd had all day- and that was after he'd spent the morning playing with the zoo's Leopard shark Diane- Lance drifted over to the oils and started picking through the samples at the front. He unscrewed a bottle and the scent of lavender greeted his nose and soothed the headache that he didn't even realize that he'd had. The next smell that he tried was the sandalwood, and that certainly brought back a lot of good memories. The other scents beckoned to him like a siren's song. Lance returned the sample and started to browse through the collection; he'd started using these oils to relax when he'd been a kid, and he'd started building up his own collection after he'd gotten his first job.
As Lance browsed, he noticed another person in the aisle out of the corner of his eye and he took a moment to just appreciate the view.
The man was taller than him- probably by a few inches- with close cropped dark hair and a strong jaw and nice profile. He had a long scar across the bridge of his nose. His muscular arms seemed to strain against the sleeves of his grey shirt and the way that his dark pants clung to him highlighted his nice legs. Definitely a runner or something, Lance decided. And definitely his type. Granted, his type when it came to guys was pretty vague (mostly muscular and around his height). He'd spent most of his life thinking that he was completely straight but a few really interesting experiences in college had led to him… expanding his preferences. Admittedly, he still preferred women, but the attraction to guys was there. And man, he was feeling that now.
The man stood a few feet away comparing two boxes, although he already seemed to have quite the number of boxes in his basket already, and in a variety of brands as well. He looked like the type of guy who kept to a healthy diet and actually exercised regularly. Lance didn't know if he was impressed or jealous. He was also so busy staring that he didn't notice when the man noticed him. Lance startled when he heard, "Can I help you with something?"
He looked up again at the deep voice, while immediately deciding that it was very nice and that he wouldn't mind hearing more of it. Lance's eyes trailed back up to see the guy staring back at him. His eyes were a storm cloud shade of grey and Lance decided that he was definitely into that.
Lance, who had never worked on on polishing his brain to mouth filter, immediately responded with, "I was just thinking that it was a good thing that you were wearing those running shoes- 'cause you've been running through my mind all day." And ok, maybe that line was a bit of a misfire. He was 99% sure that that wasn't how the pickup line was intended to go, but give him a break! He'd just gotten off of a work shift and he was running on limited sleep and fumes here.
It also doesn't occur to him that he shouldn't hitting on random guys in the middle of the store because there were a lot of guys who didn't take kindly to other men hitting on them. But the remark was already out there and there was no taking it back now. On the other hand, Lance liked to think that he had a pretty solid gay-dar- or bi-dar or whatever- and he was getting a good feeling about this guy. He had a feeling that he wasn't entirely on the straight and narrow.
The guy's mouth opened and closed once before he said, "I don't that's how that line is supposed to go." And Lance counted that as a win.
"Really? Do you wanna show me how it should go? I think that I need a bit of a refresher." Lance smirked, the words rolling easily off of his tongue. Flirting was basically second nature to him, and he's rewarded with an amused huff from the other man.
"I couldn't tell you." The man responded. "I don't make it a habit to remember bad pick up lines."
"Ouch." Lance laid his hand over his heart and feigned offense. "That hurts. That was a perfectly serviceable pick up line, thank you very much. It got us talking right?" he waggled his eyebrows and the man shrugged.
"I suppose so." he set one of the teas back on the shelf and dropped the other into his basket, where it bounced off of some of the other dozen boxes. "You didn't answer my question though. Can I help you?" And he sounded cautious but not uninterested.
"Well you could." Lance grinned, "I was thinking about asking for your number, but then I got distracted by your basket."
And the man looked down at the pile of tea boxes and shrugged. "What can I say? I like tea. And it's good for you."
"And so is a life without coffee, but that doesn't mean that you should do that either." Lance said in a teasing tone. The man just smiled and cocked an eyebrow and Lance gasped. "Don't tell me that you're one of those people who can actually survive without coffee?"
"It's easier than you'd expect." the man responded, still sounding amused.
"I don't think I believe that." Was Lance's immediate response. He needed at least a cup in the morning to even get out of bed, and then another one to make sure that he was fit for human interaction, but he'd known some people in college who could get up and actually make it through the day without coffee or energy drinks. They had terrified him, of course. Granted, this guy was already a bit intimidating. The fact that he looked like he could have bench-pressed Lance without breaking a sweat was definitely an positive in Lance's book, but he also had the sort of bearing that just screamed 'military. It was mostly in the way that he stood, from how he shifted his weight as he moved and his posture. Most of his dad's side of the family had been in one branch or another- including his namesake, air force pilot grandpa Lance. But this guy also radiated a sort of calmness that had Lance relaxing.
The man chuckled, "Well," he amended, "This is mostly for some friends of mine. I'm looking for something that will help them relax a little. Although the one who will probably appreciate it the most is Hunk. He always likes trying new foods."
And Lance perked up. "Well if you need something to help you relax, then this place has a pretty awesome selection of essential oils and candles." he jerked his thumb back towards his own lonely basket sat.
"Essential oils, really?" the man asked. "I've never tried them before."
"Well I can show you a few if you've got a minute." Lance said eagerly, but not too eagerly of course. He was a cool guy, and only slightly desperate.
"I think I could spare some time," The man said after checking his phone, and Lance gladly takes the opportunity to show off some of his knowledge. His mom had suffered from bad nerves when he'd been younger and she'd used on a lot of these oils to calm down. She had grown up with a 'natural is better' mentality, and even now she usually preferred things like oils and incense over medication and pills. Eventually he'd picked up on her habit, and even now he associated most of these smells with her and the idea of being relaxation and home. He doesn't say all of that of course.
Before the conversation can go on for too long, Lance holds out his hand and says, "Lance McClain by the way. And you are?"
"Takashi Shirogane. Most people call me Shiro." Shiro responded as he grabbed his hand. And then something weird happened.
Now, Lance had dated a lot of people in the past and so he wasn't a stranger to the sparks that came from close contact with someone that you were really compatible with, but he'd never felt sparks like this before. Instead of sparks, he felt chills and for a moment it was like he was somewhere else entirely. Instead of standing in the middle of a store aisle, he was adrift in space. Darkness pressed in from all sides, but balls of light- stars and galaxies- lit up the world around him. It felt vast in a way that was impossible to describe. And then it was over in a flash.
Lance stumbled back and blinked a few times, not sure where any of that had come from. A second later and he wondered if he'd even seen that at all. The lack of sleep was really starting to get to him. "Um, wow," he muttered as he wiped at his suddenly damp eyes. He didn't feel sad or anything but for some reason his eyes felt dry; like he'd gone for too long without blinking or something. When he looked up at Shiro, he seemed to be equally stunned- probably by Lance's own reaction. Way to go champ.
Lance, quick to turn anything into a joke, smoothed over his stumble by saying, "I've heard about sparks flying, but that was new."
"Uh, yeah." Shiro responded after a moment. He looked like he was thinking about something before he continued with, "I'm sorry, you were telling me about clary right?"
"Oh- oh yeah." Lance quickly recovered. "Yeah, anyways, I'm telling ya, if you want relaxation then look no farther." He briefly explained the different application methods which mostly came down to directly applying the oil to your skin- which really depending on the type of oil since some could really damage your skin or needed to be diluted with a more neutral oil-, or directly inhaling it, or using the oil in a diffuser. He preferred the last method, but there were some oils that he basically used like cologne when he was having a rough day.
There was a wide selection of oils to choose from, but Lance stuck with suggesting a few beginner scents that usually helped with things like stress and anxiety. Out of his recommendations, his favorite was of course the sandalwood.
Shiro also seemed to quickly get into it and before long he had a few favorites himself. "Honestly," Shiro sighed as he tucked a few bottles into his basket. "Now I'm starting to wonder if you're some sort of secret salesman. Do you have a quota of these things to sell?" he joked.
"I wish." Lance snorted before hanging his head. "I might get a better discount on these then." Outside of sales, some of these oils could get pretty expensive and sometimes it was hard justifying paying for such a small bottle. Sales like this were a godsend. "I always seem to end up splurging on them anyways." Which had actually been issues in some of his previous relationships. Some of the girls that he'd dated in the past had had an issue with his
"Well, depending on how well these work, I might start splurging too." Shiro chuckled. He stopped when he heard his phone ring and when he pulled it out of his pocket to check it, his smile quickly turned into a grimace. "Unfortunately, it seems like my time here is up." He gave Lance an apologetic look. "But thank you for your help Lance."
Lance played it off with a shrug. "It was no big deal, but if you really want to thank me, then your number would be a good start." He tried. Shiro cocked his eyebrow in an 'oh really?' expression before he chuckled.
"You are just full of those lines aren't you?" But he was handing over his phone as Lance's grin widened. Lance quickly added himself as a contact before handing it back.
"You have no idea. But let me know how that stuff works out for you." Lance added with a wink. And again, Shiro just looked amused, so Lance counted it as a win. He waited until Shiro had disappeared from sight before doing a quick fist pump. "Now that's what I'm talking about." he grinned. He grabbed his own basket off of the ground and continued on with the rest of his shopping in a much better mood than before.
Later, after taking the bus back to his apartment and then unpacking everything, Lance was starting to feel some strain. He'd been pretty tired during work, despite the several cups of coffee, and even though his mood had improved a little since then, he was still pretty tired. Even as he lounged on his dingy couch and tried to distract himself with his phone, he could still feel his bed calling to him from the next room over. He frowned at the closed door before glancing at his phone again. It was barely 6pm, so too early to go to bed- not that he'd skip dinner for that anyways- but maybe he could try a power nap? He had trouble getting a full night of sleep but he probably wouldn't have a nightmare if it was short enough.
So Lance set an alarm on his phone for half an hour on his phone before trudging back to his bedroom. He flopped onto his creaky bed and sighed at the ceiling and the stickers left there from the previous tenants. He could hear the pitter patter of rain through the wall and it helped calm him, even if he wasn't looking forward to what might come after he closed his eyes. Still, he needed some rest, so he grit his teeth, closed his eyes, and started counting sheep until he couldn't count any longer.
If asked a month ago what sort of things he dreamed of, Lance wouldn't have been able to answer. He usually slept like a rock and never remembered his good dreams- not even the wet ones- but he remembered the nightmares. Between growing up in Cuba and then the beachside Californian town that they had moved to later, Lance had grown up around the ocean. He'd practically grown up in it! Ariel had even been his favorite Disney princess as a kid (although Jasmine had been a close, close second). He knew that the ocean would be a dangerous place, and that anyone could easily lose their lives to it, but he had never actually been afraid of it before.
In these dreams he was terrified.
He was always drowning, with his nose and mouth burning from the saltwater and the pressure crushing his lungs. No matter how he swam or flailed, he remained trapped in the currents, without even a view of the surface above. It was... overwhelming.
This time was no different. He was under the waves, slowly sinking and unable to move. He thought he'd drown again, but then something changed.
There was pressure on the back of his neck, and like a cat grabbing a kitten, he was pulled up, up, up by that point, until finally his head broke the surface with a gasp. The waters shifted around him and pulled at him, but instead of dragging him down, it was pulling and pushing him forward until his toes hit the white sandy shores. He stumbled forward until he fell to his hands and knees, just out of reach of the surf and foam.
Lance, had he not been busy trying to get the sea water out of his lungs, might have recognized the beach around him. It was a beach in Cuba that he had visited a few times with his family in the past. The trips here had been some of his favorite.
When he finally stopped coughing and choking, he flopped over onto the sand, feeling completely boneless. He just focused on catching his breath, but even with his eyes closed, the sun seemed to burn right through them, dying the space behind his eyelids red. It felt like a blessing when some shade fell over his face. He cracked an eye open to see what had blocked the sun, but he froze at the familiar face. "Mom?"
And yeah, it looked like his mom was right there, and Lance missed her, despite the fact that they had spoken over the phone just a few days prior. In this dream she wore her favorite floral pattern bathing suit and wore her beach towel around her waist- something she was stubborn about despite his dad's playful jabs about how silly it looked. Her dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun and shoved under a sun hat. When Lance stood up, he was at least a head taller, than her. But as good as it was to see her, he knew that it wasn't really her.
And not just on a 'this is a dream, none of this is real' sort of way, but because so many things about the woman in front of him just felt... off. It was something about the smile, the posture, the aura entirely, that had Lance sure that this wasn't even a dream version of his mom. And as soon as he thought this, his dream not-mom grabbed his forearms and pulled him closer. Lance closed his eyes on reflex since his mother always liked to give him a few playful pats on the cheek when she did this. The mystery woman instead told him, "It's good to finally speak to you face to face Lance. My paladin." she inclined her head. "I'm sorry for my attempts before. I hadn't realized how overwhelming you'd find my presence. I never meant to harm you, but the black spirit has told me that it would be better to speak to you through a more familiar setting, and with a more familiar face." When she smiled, he noticed that she had the same dimples as his mom too.
Lance, of course, had no clue what she was talking about, but this was a dream, so what did it matter? She tsked. "Don't say that. It doesn't matter if this is a dream or not, what I'm telling you matters." She punctuated the last few words by tapping his forehead with her finger. "We're the only ones left now. This is the time of your awakening Lance."
Lance frowned and rubbed at his head. "Awakening? I literally have no clue what you're even talking about." The mystery woman grinned with teeth that were a little too sharp.
"You will learn." she assured him. "My paladins learn quickly." she moved past him and looked out towards the ocean. Compared to how turbulent it felt below the surface, above the surface it looked almost unnaturally calm. She brought her hands up in front of her and began moving them. Immediately the water began twisting and curling to her whim. Lance watched, mesmerized, at her flowing movements until crouched before them was a lioness crafted out of the ocean waves. Blue eyes shone down at them and Lance shivered at the power that radiated from the creature. It was unnatural… alien. It was the same overwhelming force as he'd experienced in his previous nightmares. Those nightmares, the lioness, his not-mom, they were all the same, he realized a little belatedly.
She looked over at him and said, "Fight with me Lance. I am the blue spirit, a part of the being known as Voltron- a defender of the known and unknown universes." The water shifted and rolled as the blue spirit spoke. It never broke form but Lance could see the force that it took to keep it all in place. "Princess Allura and the other paladins require us to reach Voltron's full potential." It sounded more like an order than anything and if he had been in the right frame of mind, Lance might have joked about offers that he couldn't afford to refuse. Instead he was left stunned by the command in her voice.
And, granted, Lance continued to be confused as hell. He still didn't get what she was asking, or telling, him but he could say one thing- he felt it. The blue spirit was the spirit of the oceans and the seas. Behind it was the force of the tides and the currents. The same power that had overwhelmed and threatened to drown him, now rushed through him. He felt the pull of the ocean, deep within his bones and in that moment the question of 'will he or won't he' wasn't even a question. Lance McClain had never backed down from a challenge and he wasn't going to start now. He reached out to the lioness and the second that he touched her nose, he felt something within him just click. It felt... amazing.
"Good choice Lance." The blue spirit's voice flowed through him, and he felt like he was surrounded by its presence. "Now hurry. Your enemies will not wait."
And then suddenly he was awake and blinking up at the ceiling. He could still feel the dream, feel that power rushing through him and he wondered if he might still be sleeping. The feeling was startling and off-putting but as he laid there, just breathing in and out, it started to feel more and more like it had just been a dream.
Lance sighed and took a deep breath before sitting up and reaching for his phone. He swore at the time. He'd completely slept through his alarm and almost two hours had passed, even though the dream felt like it had only taken minutes. And speaking of dreams, he put his crazy dream aside and convinced himself that it had just been nothing. He'd already been having nightmares and now he was dreaming of ocean lions? So, on the positive side, he hadn't dreamed about drowning. On the negative side, he'd dreamed about whatever that was. Which, he wasn't quite sure if that was better, but at the very least, he had gotten a little shut eye.
He stood up with a yawn and walked out into his living room. The rain was louder now and when Lance looked out the window, he could barely see anything. The lights outside of the building helped a little but the rain was coming down in buckets, leaving the people outside either rushing to their next destinations, or huddling under bus stop roofs or store awnings.
Lance closed his blinds again before walking to the kitchen. Since it was so late he wasn't going to even bother with cooking something himself. Instead he started browsing the internet for some nearby takeout places.
As he walked back and forth in his small kitchen and fiddled with his phone, he saw the text that Shiro had sent him earlier. From the timestamp, it must have been a little while after he'd gotten back to his apartment. It was a simple smiley face. Not even an emoji- just a :-). It was cute and Lance responded with a wink face- just to keep it classy.
He was halfway through a follow up text when his phone started vibrating with a call from Shiro. "Oh? Hey Shiro!" Lance pressed the phone between his ear and his shoulder. "What's up? I was going to ask if you were doing anything tonight." he trailed off as he heard some crashes and shouts on Shiro's end. The man had to shout to be heard,
"I'm a little busy at the moment but-" there wa a grunt and a yell in the background and Lance wondered what exactly was happening over there. Where the hell was Shiro? At a fight club meeting? "Where are you Lance?!"
"At my apartment, about to eat." Lance hummed.
"And there's nothing weird over there?"
Which made Lance frown. "Not weirder than that question, no." he walked over to the window to peek out. "There's a pretty bad storm outside and," he glanced around before seeing something a few windows down. "Oh man that's terrible. It looks like someone left their cat outside. That's just cruel." Each of the apartments had a little balcony outside of their window where people usually just left their house plants. The cat was balanced on one, looking unbothered by the rain.
"What kind of cat!" Shiro yelled over the sound of another crash.
"I don't know!" Lance shrugged before looking at it again. He craned his head to see. That's of course, when the cat turned to look at him- and holy crap. "It's pretty creepy looking." he hissed. "Are cats supposed to have eyebrows?" Lance frowned at it before closing the blinds again.
Lance almost jumped when he heard Shiro swear and then shout, "PIDGE!"
"Is everything ok over there?" he asked, but instead of getting a response, the call suddenly cut off. When he looked at his phone screen, he just saw the call ended screen. "Ok, what the hell was that?!" He glared at the screen, already starting to reconsider his earlier opinion of Shiro. The guy had seemed really cool, but this was pretty not too. He tried calling back but there was no response and Lance pocketed his phone with a huff. Was that supposed to be a prank call or something? Whatever it was, he wasn't in the mood for it.
Lance moved back over to the window and checked outside again. "HOLY SHI-" he jumped back at the pair of yellow eyes glaring up at him. One hand immediately clutched at his shirt over his racing heart as he stared down at the cat that was suddenly outside of his window. It was just staring at him, but fuck was it creepy. From close up, not only did it have a wicked set of eyebrows, but it also had a mane of hair- all of it dyed purple and red, which did nothing to lessen the overall creepiness factor.
"Oh hey there kitty." Lance said after a moment, his voice jumping an octave. "I really didn't expect to see you there." It didn't move a muscle as it just stared at him- he wasn't even sure that he'd seen the thing blink yet. If he didn't know better, he would have just assumed that the thing was an actual statue- although he would have had to wonder about who would willingly keep such a creepy thing around. "Hey buddy," he tried again, despite the fact that there was no way that the cat could hear him. "Why don't you go back home and get out of the rain? Your owners should be back by now, right?" Another stare.
Jesus, why were cats so creepy. Lance shivered under its stare. He'd grown up with a lot of pets- dogs, hamsters, birds, even a cow at one point- but he'd never owned a cat, and had never met one that hadn't bothered him for some reason or another, but this one was taking the cake. He had always thought that cats had this really weird stare- like they just knew something- but this cat was giving off those vibes times ten; if cats could give the evil eye, then this one would have it down to a science.
Lance's hand quickly went back to the blinds cord and he tugged on it, letting it fall again and blocking the cat. Between the weird dream, his even weirder phone call from Shiro, and the creepy ass cat just lounging around outside, he just wanted to eat and head to bed. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out, expecting to see Shiro's name and hopefully an apology text. Instead it was a text from an unknown number.
'hey' the first one read, 'u need to leave STAT'.
Then, 'right now', followed by a serious looking bitmoji with short brown hair and an exaggerated frown.
'im a pidge btw. shiros fiend'.
Then, 'friend'.
Lance rolled his eyes at the stream of texts. "Of course." he scowled and typed back, 'How about no.' Followed by him tossing his phone at the couch. Seriously! What was with today?! It had started out crappy, gotten a bit better, and now it was terrible again. Not only was he getting angrier at Shiro, but now his friends were getting in on the park? It was a load of crap. He picked up his phone again and saw a few more texts from 'pidge'. He ignored them and started dialing the number of the closest pizza place. They were cheap and delivered. Just what he needed right now.
Just a digit away from finishing the number, his door suddenly burst open. And not like 'someone opened it really forcefully' but like- it actually splintered. Lance froze, torn between screaming at the forceful entry and the destruction of his door. His door! His apartment deposit!
Before he could vocalize any of these thoughts, a woman walked through the doorway like she owned the place. Lance only had time to register that she was purple before she was in his face.
"Woah! Who are youu-OUCH!" Lance was cut off as she literally grabbed him by the throat and shoved him into down on the couch. She had a hand on his throat and a knee firmly planted on his stomach, keeping him in place, and of course the first place that his mind jumped to was 'kinky'. What came out instead was a choked warbling noise. He grabbed at her wrist to try and pry her off, but jesus, it was like a vice.
"Hello paladin." she said in a nearly monotone voice before the pressure on his throat increased. "Let's make this quick." 'That's what she said!' his brain, again, helpfully added to the situation, and dammit, that was going to be his last thought wasn't it?
"I don't think so!" Another voice shouted before something whipped past his face. Before Lance even realized what was happening, the purple woman had jumped off of him and had drawn a wicked looking blade from somewhere. As he gasped for air, Lance turned his head to the side to see his savior standing in the doorway in probably one of the dorkiest outfits that Lance had ever seen. What that a suit of armor? In green, white, and black? He wondered about the color scheme as he struggled to breathe.
Immediately the thing that had whipped past him the first time whipped past him again and he realized that it was from the weapon that the guy was holding. It glowed a bright, staticy green and crackled like stun gun.
"Sorry about that." Lance's savior shrugged. "I need that guy alive." he snapped before charging the other stranger in his apartment, who narrowed her eyes and lashed out with her sword. There was a loud shriek as their weapons clashed and they were locked together. The woman disengaged before trying to strike back at the guy. She attacked so quickly that Lance had trouble keeping up, but the guy managed to block the blows somehow.
He also managed to turn his head and snap at Lance, "What the hell are you doing?! Get outta here!" And man, did Lance not need to be told twice. He stumbled to his feet and off the couch and made a run for the door. The woman tried following him, but was blocked by the guy again, and then Lance was gone.
His brain was still trying to catch up with whatever the hell was actually happening, but his body could at least move on autopilot. He was on the third floor and thank god for that. He flew down the stairs and was out of his building like a bat outta hell. Within seconds he was soaked in the downpour and between the rain and the dark sky, there was almost no visibility. He ran, trying to avoid running right into the street, when something attacked him.
Lance shrieked as claws dug through his shirt and buried themselves into his chest. He batted at the thing that was trying to turn him into a pincushion, and when it leapt away, he saw that it was the damn cat from before. It hissed at him, but before Lance could kick the damn thing, he heard another crash and something completely different knocked him flat on his back.
He hit the ground hard and saw stars when he hit his head, but it was hard to get up- or even breath- with the weight on his chest. Whoever was on him was freaking heavy. He grunted as he was kneed in the stomach when the other person scrambled to their feet. "Sorry about th- Oh!" Lance was grabbed and lifted up by his arm. When he looked at the person holding him, he felt completely blindsided by her beauty, but that might have also been the concussion.
Bright blue eyes, silver hair, and dark skin filled his vision. If he wasn't in pain and still reeling from almost being choked to death, then he might have made a pass at her.
Granted, she probably wouldn't have heard it because as soon as he was on his feet, she was spinning around to face whoever had thrown her into him. The assailant emerged from the rain like a freaking xenomorph, spun, and whipped the woman with a long reptile tail. The white haired woman blocked it with her arm guard before grabbing the tail and throwing the person attached into the nearest wall.
Lance, meanwhile, felt something light up inside of him as he watched her. His dream flashed in his mind he knew without a doubt that this was 'Allura'. The urge to- protect, fight, win- do something raced through his veins but Lance couldn't think of what he was supposed to be doing. He was light headed, everything hurt, and the rush of emotion wasn't helping. He needed to channel all of this energy but he didn't know how.
Adding to the chaos, something burst through a window above them and Lance barely had a moment to move before where he had been standing was suddenly occupied by the sword wielding woman from before. Except now she'd switched her sword out for a pistol and it's quickly being aimed at him. His brain is still trying to register what's happening with the current situation as he stares down the wrong end of a gun, but he's saved again. A band of light wrapped itself around the purple woman's arm and yanked it back before she could fire. Lance looked back to see Allura on the other end, holding her back with a snarl.
"Behind you!" he shouted at her when he spotted the xenomorph getting up behind her, but before he could even finish, the guy from before had jumped in between Allura and the monster to intercept the blow. Then in a fluid moment, he pressed his palm against the ground and plant-like tendrils burst from the ground. The xenomorph was quick to put some distance between them.
"Get back here!" the guy shouted before giving chase. Meanwhile, Allura fought against the purple woman. Her whip kept some distance between the two of them, but her opponent's skill with her gun kept Allura on her toes.
Lance, meanwhile, was sure that his brain had just flat out stopped at this point. Again, he heard the woman's voice in his head. It was his time to Awaken, she had told him. His time to fight, and he had no clue what that meant, but he knew one thing. He needed to put some distance between Allura, her friend, and their enemies.
He focused on that one thought and clung to it. His breath wheezed out of him as his chest felt like it was compressing. It was like all of his nightmares again.
He was drowning under the pressure.
He was dying.
Except he wasn't.
He felt the presense from his dreams there, covering him, protecting him, following and encouraging those urges. Later he wouldn't have been able to explain exactly what had happened to him, or how he'd done it, but he'd just felt so powerful in that moment. He'd wanted the purple woman and the xenomorph gone and he'd known that he had the power to make it happen. For a moment, all of the water around him- the rain coming down in sheets- had stopped in midair. Lance focused on the image of the water rushing the two like a wave- like the stormy seas, overwhelming them and forcing them under; dragging down into its depths. And the water had rushed forward, powered by his will, and Lance thinks that it must have been cool to see. He hopes that it was-
Because he'd blacked out immediately after.
When he opened his eyes again, he'd seen a familiar ceiling above him. It was white but the glow from the nearby tanks had given it a blue hue. Lance turned his head and saw the clear glass tanks. Swimming leisurely around the tanks were the zoo's sharks. There were only three of them since it was difficult to house them, but they were Lance's favorite animals. They had been since he'd been a little kid, despite how many times he'd seen the movie Jaws, there had always been something about them that had amazed him. Watching them now was calming enough to almost make him forget how he'd gotten here.
He slowly sat up and rubbed his aching head. "Oh man, I feel like crap." he moaned as he looked around but the display area was completely devoid of people, with the exception of his boss, Heather. Heather had been the one to recruit him when he'd still be attending a nearby college and she had gotten him hook, line, and sinker during his internship. She put up with his antics with more patience than most but didn't hesitate to make it clear when he was out of line. She was the type of person who could make a single disapproving stare more effective than an entire lecture.
Which is why, seeing her there made him completely forget that this was a dream and instead he scrambled to explain to his boss why he'd been lying on the floor. "Crap-" Lance jumped up and tried not to feel woozy from the sudden movement. "Hey Heather! I didn't notice you. You're looking great today! Is that a new lab coat? White's definitely your color-" he babbled at her back, but his words trailed to a stop when she turned around.
"Hello Lance." The blue spirit looked over her shoulder at him and Lance recognized her from his earlier dream. She was wearing his boss' face this time but he was getting the same not quite right feeling.
"Oh, hey there, uh..." he trailed off and she turned back to the tank to observe the species swimming around there. "It feels weird just calling you 'blue spirit' in my head. Do you have a name?" But she was already shaking her head.
"I don't have a name, gender, or true appearance." she told him. "I am just a part of the entity Voltron. I speak with you through your dreams and take the appearance of people that you are familiar with so that is it easier for us to communicate." she smiled. "You are my paladin Lance, and what I want is for you to not see me as a threat, but as an ally. As of now, I am an extension of you. It is as Alfor intended."
"Alfor huh?" Lance said. "Allura's dad right?" he paused. "Wait, why do I know that? Come to think of it, how did I even recognize Allura?" He hadn't thought about it at all- he had just known that it was her. And as he focused on Alfor, it felt like he just knew things about him as well. He was the previous red paladin- current status unknown but previously he had been in poor health. Why did he know all of this?
"Because Lance," the blue spirit continued."We are connected." She turned back to the tank and the fish inside it and made a mark on her clipboard. Normally Heather would take notes about the inhabitants conditions in her chicken scratch handwriting, but he had no clue what the spirit was doing. "You've accepted my power and I've channeled it through you, making our connection complete. You are now, officially, the blue paladin. You will see what I see and know what I know and vice versa."
"The blue paladin huh?" Lance walked forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with her. "I'm still not sure that I get what that means but it's got a nice ring to it doesn't it, huh Blue?"
"Blue?" she raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.
"It's nice and simple right?"
"It is." Blue nodded.
"So," Lance stretched out the word until she looked over again. "If you're here that means that I'm dreaming again, right?" She nodded. "Then what happened? I remember some weirdo breaking into my apartment and then attacking me, and then a fight breaking out, but everything's pretty spotty after that." And now he's thinking about his (probably) trashed apartment and the lost deposit. The idea is depressing.
"Well," Blue started slowly. "You were saved by Princess Allura and the green paladin. You were attacked by generals of the Galra. I do not know more about these ones than that. When you used my energy you were able to drive them back but the stress caused you to pass out and the princess used the time that you bought them to transport the three of you to your current location. It seems like the Princess Allura has mastered the same sort of warping techniques that her father had." The last part is more to herself than him, but as Blue spoke, Lance got more than just her words. Images filled his head of people- the green paladin, Allura, alfor- and filled in the blanks for him. He frowned when he encountered the images of the Galra.
"These Galra… they're a bad group?"
"...They are a race of proud warriors and prior to all of this, they were on good terms with much of the universe." Blue said after a minute. "The previous black paladin was Zarkon- the leader of the Galra. He was an honorable man, but his soul was corrupted and in turn, his corruption spread until he had made the Galra into the terrifying military force that they are now. His greed led him to turn his back on his fellow paladins and to covet the other abilities of Voltron." As she spoke, he saw Zarkon in his head. He saw the Galra homeworld, and he saw it collapse in on itself. He couldn't see Zarkon's corruption- not like Blue described it- but he saw the shift from Zarkon, the black paladin, to Zarkon, the enemy of the paladins. Like a slideshow, he saw the rift that formed between Zarkon and his wife and the other paladins until that rift had ended in his death and odd resurrection. He knew that when Zarkon had turned his back on his power as the black paladin, that there had not been another to replace him. He felt Alfor's decision, upon Zarkon's return and thirst for either the complete control, or annihilation, of Voltron, to send the powers of Voltron far beyond his reach. The decision had left the other paladins powerless against Zarkon but he knew, just as surely as Blue did, that they were still fighting against the power of the Galra empire.
When he met Blue's eyes again they were piercing. Through their bond he felt it; she had sought him out, for whatever reason and decided that he was fit to take up the mantle as her paladin and it was a lot to take in. But hey, if she trusted him out of all of the possibilities out there, then who was he to say no to that?
"Well, we at least did good, right?" he finally said as he grinned at her. "All of that's a lot to take in." He admitted. "This morning I was crying into my cup of coffee 'cause I couldn't get any sleep and now I'm a cool space paladin!" he chopped the air and struck a pose and then Lance moved forward until they were shoulder to shoulder before he said, "Today was pretty wild, huh Blue."
"Indeed." she nodded. "And there will be more days like this to follow." she said, before adding with some pride in her tone. "But don't worry. I've told you that my paladins are quick to learn, but they're even quicker to adapt. I believe in your potential Lance." Blue said, and that made Lance duck his head in embarrassment.
"Jeez Blue, you're making me blush over here."
And Blue chuckled. "Yes, yes. Now wake up Lance. There's still more that you need to do." And just like that, his dream ended.
When he woke up next, he noticed was the smell of sandalwood and he found himself relaxing. His slumped against the walls of wherever he was and when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was in a pod of some sort. The glass in front of him was a shade of blue and gave the room beyond it a pale blue tint. He heard the steady beat of machinery from beyond it. Lance frowned and tapped on the glass. He had no clue why he was in this thing, but it was a damn good thing that he wasn't claustrophobic. He did startle a little when he looked up to suddenly see Shiro there. Shiro pressed a button off to the side and immediately there was a hiss as the pod opened.
"Well that's something." Lance said as he watched it melt into the floor. He looked down and noticed that he'd been changed out of his previous outfit into some sort of body suit. "What is this thing?"
"A healing pod." Shiro told him. "It's Altean technology. It's pretty useful but it takes a little getting used to." he told him as he gripped Lance's arm and helped him step off of the base. Lance realized why it was necessary when he tried taking a step and he stumbled forward. He ended up leaning heavily onto Shiro.
"Oh wow. My legs feel like jelly." Lance hissed and Shiro followed up with, .
"How does the rest of you feel?"
"Actually I feel pretty great." Lance frowned. "I should be feeling like crap right? I know that I got knocked around a bit but it doesn't hurt at all!"
"Like I said, " Shiro smiled. "Healing pod. It's pretty useful."
Lance hummed. "And these things usually smell like sandalwood oil too? Or was that an add-on?" And Shiro's smile turned a little bashful.
"Well you were saying that that sort of thing was good for recovery. And apparently Allura had something lying around that could work like a diffuser. I didn't know how much would be too much so I might have winged it a bit."
"I'm not complaining," Lance said quickly, "It's a nice smell. It reminds me of my mom."
Shiro's smile brightened. "I'm glad. And I'm glad to hear that you're ok. Dealing with the Galra can be… rough. Trust me."
"We don't worry, I'm right as rain." Lance looked down and noticed that he was still holding on to Shiro. He could probably stand up just fine now, but hey, he wouldn't complain if he had to hold onto Shiro for just a few more seconds. "So," Lance glanced to the side and stretched out the word. "I won't lie, I thought that you were a bit crazy earlier." he admitted in a rush. "That, or you were just pranking me. Between the weird phone call and those texts, I was really starting to wonder, but it looks like there was a good reason for it." And after nearly being killed in his own apartment, Lance could suddenly understand Shiro's urgency. Shiro, meanwhile, looked contrite.
"Actually Lance, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have left you alone earlier today. I thought that you might have been a paladin, but I couldn't be sure, and then we had to deal with Lotor." And by his expression, Lance got the feeling that Lotor wasn't a friend. "I passed your information along to Pidge just in case but it looks like Lotor's generals had come with a similar plan in mind."
"So those aliens that attacked me were working for this Lotor guy?" He tried picturing what sort of person that might work for but it was hard to even imagine. "Is he as bad as they are?"
"Even worse."
And that Lance shuddered. "Jesus."
Shiro saw him shudder and asked if he was okay again but Lance just waved off his concern. "Don't worry about it. I've can take a few bumps and bruises." he looked at Shiro again. "So, what made you think that I was a paladin?" he asked, curious.
"It was when when our hands brushed." Shiro admitted. "It was faint but I got the impression of being near the ocean. You smelled like an ocean breeze." Which brought a grin to Lance's face.
"Ocean breeze huh? That's not bad. What do I smell like now?" he asked, and Shiro paused before answering.
"Anticeptic mostly. That and sandalwood." he added. Which was, decidedly, a lot less awesome than 'ocean breeze'. Meanwhile, Shiro continued. "When I touch you now, the feeling's stronger. It was turbulent before but now you're giving off a calmer feeling, so I guess you've bonded with the blue spirit."
"Really?" Lance raised his eyebrow. "I guess that makes sense. I didn't actually feel very 'paladin-y' until after I ran into you. Honestly I went home, had a weird dream, touched a giant ocean lion, and now I can control water. Cool huh?" Lance said before immediately wondering if he could do the same thing again. Nevermind that he'd passed out the last time that he'd successfully done it. (Un)fortunately, there didn't seem to be any easily accessible water nearby, so Lance frowned and resolved to try again later. He remembered the cool plant trick that the guy in the green armor had pulled off earlier and he wondered if he could do the same.
Lance looked back at Shiro and then asked, "So the guy that I met before was a paladin right?"
"Which guy?" Shiro frowned and Lance leaned back a little.
"You know," Lance gestured around his sternum, "about this high, brown hair, spams his text messages with dumb bitmojis."
"You mean Pidge?" Shiro asked, sounding amused for some reason. "Yes, she's the green paladin. I asked her to go with Allura to find you."
Lance nodded at the information before frowning. "Wait, wait, wait- 'she'? 'Her'?" he thought back to his, admittedly, short interaction with Pidge and resisted the urge to ask if Shiro was sure. They were friends, of course Shiro would know. He had just assumed that Pidge was, like, a little kid, but maybe not. "Huh. What about Allura then?"
"Allura's not a paladin." Shiro confirmed. "And neither is our other Altean friend, Coran. You can meet the red and yellow paladins, Keith and Hunk later. They're currently dealing with the aftermath of our… Lotor situation."
"So, red, yellow, and green, and that makes you the black paladin then?" Lance asked and remembered the view of space he'd gotten when he'd touched Shiro for the first time. "It fits." he decided, and Shiro's smile dimmed a little.
"Yeah, maybe more than I'd like." And man, Lance did not like the expression on his face.
"Hey man," he reached up to poke Shiro's cheek. "I'm sorry if I made you think of something bad. Whatever you're worrying about, let's just not, ok? I still have a lot of questions to ask."
And Shiro tolerated his finger pressing into his cheek for a few more seconds before he grabbed Lance's hand and sighed. "You're right. I trust Allura, but who knows what the others might tell you."
And Lance thought about responding to that comment, but he was a bit too busy thinking about how much he liked Shiro holding onto his hand. Honestly, being this close to Shiro was pretty great. "Actually," he said, the smile slipping off his face a little. "You said before that you thought that I might be a paladin, but that's not why you were being friendly with me at the store, right?" he gestured between the two of them with his free hand, "Because I've made that mistake before and boy did it get bad pretty quickly. Probably not as bad as being forced to fight homicidal aliens but-"
"I wasn't!" Shiro said, quickly cutting off Lance's rambling, and it was hard to doubt his earnest expression. "I didn't go in there looking for the last paladin and I was being honest when I spoke to you today."
"Yeah?" Lance asked with a slow grin.
"Yeah," Shiro shrugged. "It's not every day that a random guy starts hitting on you in the middle of a shopping run. It was fun."
And Lance can work with fun. He can definitely work with fun. "Fun huh? So I can keep doing it then?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Because you know, now that I've finally gotten some decent sleep, I can actually start throwing out some good pick up lines."
"You have more?" Shiro asked, sounding like he was already dreading the response.
"Do I have more?" Lance laughed. "Oh, Shiro, Shiro, Shiro. You have no idea." He was rewarded with an eye roll as Shiro pulled away but retained the grip on his hand.
"Come on. Let's get some food and you can ask me some more questions."
"Finally. I've starved." Lance groaned before something occurred to him. "But since we're talking about food, is your name Earl Grey?" He asked, patented eyebrow wiggle thrown in.
Shiro didn't even turn around to look, but he let out a, "No."
But Lance McClain was not one to be deterred. "Because I was thinking that you looked like a real hot-tea!" Lance cackled at the resulting groan and the exasperated, "Lance!" as he let Shiro pull him along.
He had a feeling that his brand new reality hadn't quite settled in, but he didn't worry about what would happen when it did. He'd figure it out.
He always did.