AN: lance is my favorite hurricane
A cry escaped him as he was shoved down, his knees smashing into the hard floor. And then the hood was yanked off. There were gasps from either side of him, both delight and horror. The room was only dimly lit, but he still had to blink a few times before his eyes adjusted. He was on a platform only big enough for him, and two guards. From the walk up the stairs, he'd guess it was maybe fifteen feet up. In front of him was an even taller platform, and he had to crane his neck to meet the eyes of a judge. They sneered down at him, purple speckles under their eyes. To his left, down below him was a stand of masked Ebians, all dressed so extravagantly that if Lance had been asked to describe one he wouldn't have been able to. His eyes danced from gaudy detail to gaudy detail. They looked at him eagerly, and it made his stomach churn. He looked away to his right. Another identical stand, except this one was filled with guards- and the other paladins. His heart nearly stopped. He looked back to the crowd on his left. Anything was better than seeing the fear on their faces. That would be burned in his mind until he died. Which would probably be very soon. The judge launched into a speech, and Lance started. He never thought he would hear his name in the same sentence as the words "treason", "terrorism", and "first-degree murder of a federal official, and attempted murder of civil servant". Blip was still alive then, but who knows for how long?
Lance was finding it hard to breathe, hot and cold flashes running down his spine. He wanted his hands free, wanted to be able to do something with them.
There was sudden movement at his right, a muffled shout that cut off and turned into a groan. A titter of excitement from the Ebians. Lance chanced a look. Keith was crumpled on the floor, the guard nearest to him holding the butt of their gun over his head. Lance clenched his jaw. Pidge was crying. Shiro was attempting to help Keith up, get between him and the guards. Hunk was looking straight at Lance. They locked eyes for half a second, far too long for Lance to bear. The Judge cleared their throat impatiently, waiting for the small interruption to finish. Lance stared at the floor of the platform for the rest of their very long-winded speech. He hated when people talked for too long, especially when he already knew what was going to happen in the end. He was going to die. A part of him was still warring with this idea, but it was being smothered by apathy. He was never very important anyway, never good enough. Always messing up. Maybe he should be put out of his misery. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to stop fighting. He wanted to-
"Do you have any last words?"
His eyes caught the faint traces of blood in the cracks of the wood. Last words? He had always been good at talking. But, looking over at his team, his friends, the words died in his throat. What could he even say? The only sound in the room was faint rustling from the stand at his left.
"There's just so much." Hunk shook with a silent sob. Lance hated that, he hated seeing Hunk cry. Hunk didn't deserve this. "Hunk." He didn't care that his voice was cracking.
"Hunk, I love you. I love you so much, you deserve so much better. You're smart and kind and you were the best friend I ever had and I loved you so much." His heart was aching so much he thought he might wither and die without any outside help. "And Keith?"
He barked out a bitter laugh. "Keith, I'm in love with you! I've been in love with you for so long, and I'm sorry that I'm just now saying it. You just never stop fighting. You're so strong, and you're so much better than me, at everything , oh god."
Keith says his name, small and subdued. Lance talks over him. He has to get it all out, or else he's going to burst. "I'm sorry for giving you shit all the time, I'm sorry we never talked, I really, really just want to talk to you. A-and Shiro, you're- god, you're my hero. I know I'm an idiot and I don't pay attention sometimes, and I know I let you down but," He stumbled for words. "I love you man, I just- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He felt like he was drowning, and was vaguely aware that he was crying and making a fool of himself. He went on, trying to ignore their faces.
"Pidge, you're so goddamn smart, and- and talented, and I want you to get out of here and go find your family."
"You're all so good. I love you so much. I was just never fucking good enough, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so-" He's the only sound in the room. It gushes out, in ugly sobs and he knows his face is a mess. It pours out of him, all the grief, and fear, regret and guilt. It racks his entire body, tears its way out in screams of apology. Until all he's left with is a snotty nose, and a bloodstained floor. The floor is the only thing that seems real right now. He's not sure he even has a body anymore. Maybe all the screaming has unraveled it, and he's turning into the stars. That would be nice.
The Judge clears their throat again. "If you're quite finished making a mess of my courtroom, we'll move on." There's snickering at his left.
Lance can't even make himself feel angry. He just follows the Judge's hand as they gesture to a guard. The guard steps up to him, so close that Lance could lean against their shins. He follows those legs up, to the barrel of a gun, and then his eyes shoot themselves back to the floor. The Judge starts into the final part of their speech. Lance's throat is dry, and he's so far disassociated from the scene that all he can think about is what kind of gun he's going to be killed with. It's familiar, and he vaguely remembers Hunk rambling about it earlier in the city. At the market. Yeah. Yeah, it's the newest model. It weighs more than he does but the firepower more than makes up for the weight. A little extreme for an indoor execution, but then again, this is supposed to be entertaining. One shot is all it takes. One shot. One-
His eyes widen in realization, that one small part of him still denying death. The gun only has one shot. It's a show-off gun. Recharging takes at least 10 seconds. That would be...enough? If he… But the paladins. Sure, Keith just tried to break loose, but that was Keith, hotheaded and without backup. Besides, what other choice do they have?
Death. That's the choice they have.
They'll have to be ready. Slowly, painfully slow, he looks to their box. He just needs a moment of eye contact. They're all looking at the ground. He wills them to notice him, just this once, please, please notice him without him having to make noise.
And Hunk does.
It's a fleeting, watery glance, but he notices Lance staring. Lance hardly dares to breathe. His eyes flicker from Hunk to the guard, and Hunk follows his gaze. Lance silently taps against the platform with his fingertips, spelling as quickly as he can.
Wait. Idea. Ready.
Hunk watches before slowly, almost imperceptibly nodding. He nudges Shiro slightly with his elbow, and Shiro looks up. Lance watches the paladins slowly, silently get ready, warn each other. Prepare. Lance feels like every inch of his body is vibrating, humming a silent war song. He drops his face back to the floor, and swallows hard. The Judge recites the concluding sentences. The crowd at his left leaned forward, excited. The guard raised the barrel of his gun up. If Lance is off by even a tick, he's dead. The moment stretches into eternity. And then, just as they squeezed the trigger, Lance swept his leg to the side and ducks, knocking the guards feet out from under them. Their shot goes wide, and Lance heard glass shatter, and screaming as it rained down on the spectators in the stand. He tuned it out, rocking backwards, and knocking the other guard off the platform. Then he threw himself onto the guard in front of him, biting into their neck as hard as he can. The guard shoved at him with a scream, and Lance released them before smashing his forehead down on their nose. In a second, the guard was gushing blood and Lance left them to their pain. He grabbed the abandoned gun with his still-bound high-pitched hum of its recharge set his teeth on edge as he aimed the barrel up at the Judge. Their eyes widened in surprise, the gun beeped, and Lance pulled the trigger. The recoil sent him backwards, his head slamming into the floor. He blinked away the spots and sat up at the same time the guard did. The gun began humming again, and the guard staggered over Lance, blood dripping onto their armor. Lance kicked them in the shin. They stumbled a bit, just enough for Lance to push himself upward, and use the gun like a battering ram. The guard fell backwards again, and Lance stole the small pistol from the holster on their belt.
He fired it, point-blank. Lance pushed himself up with his elbows, dropping the pistol for the knife strapped to the guards leg. It was awkward, and he nicked his wrist in haste, but the bindings came off. He grabbed the pistol, and stood on unsteady legs. He turned just in time to meet the guard running up the stairs at him. He raised the pistol, and fired without thinking, the body toppling backwards over the side of the railing. He glanced down at his team, who for the most part had taken out the guards, unarmed as they were. But Keith was about to be blind-sided by a guard. Lance took the shot, and Keith looked up at him. It was hard to read his expression.
More guards started storming through the courtroom doors. The other paladins would have to go through a different door on the balcony, but Lance ran down the stairs, and jumped the railing the last few feet, landing next to the body of the guard he'd just shot. He raised the pistol at a guard rushing him, but realized with a jolt that there was no ammo left. He scrambled backwards, tripping over the corpse. As he slammed into the ground, he heard his name from the balcony. A gun was thrown over the edge, and skidded across the floor, stopping a foot short of him. He grabbed it with barely time to get his finger on the trigger before the guard was trying to wrestle the gun away. A short struggle ensued, a few wild shots fired into the ceiling, before Lance was able to put the barrel against the guards chest and pull the trigger. He heaved the body off of himself, panting for breath. There were more coming. This gun was smaller than the one aimed at his head earlier, but it could still do some damage, and it didn't need to recharge. Lance wished he had his bayard but he was thankful to have a weapon at all.
The next few minutes were a blur of shooting, running, narrowly dodging guards before slipping out into a hallway. He ran blindly, not sure where it would let out, sweat dripping into his eyes. Guards in twos or threes ran at him, but for the most part they were terrible shots, not trained for resistance. No one had ever caused any violent disturbances before the paladins got there. The paladins. He had no idea where they could be. Their door had been on the opposite side of the courtroom, and Lance had taken quite a few turns since then. A part of him worried that he had walked in a circle, but another part reassured him that no, he was headed out. The adrenaline was making him feel dizzy, but clear all at once. Somehow he knew he was going roughly toward an exit. He had found it hard to concentrate during their initial tour, but now he was somehow confident in the map in his head. He took a left, following his gut. Hearing movement, he swung himself back around the corner. Deep breath, Lance. The sound of footsteps, panting, and low talking. He counted to three in his head, then stepped around the corner, finger on the trigger.
"Lance!" Hunk picked him up in a hug so tight he could barely breath.
"H-hunk?" His feet touched the ground again.
"Are you okay?" Lance looked at Shiro and let the relief fully wash over him.
"Yeah- Yeah, I-"
He was cut off by Keith. The boy pushed past Hunk and pulled Lance in by the sheer fabric of his shirt before he had time to move. The kiss was firm. He tasted like sweat and cheap lip balm. Keith released him and took a half-step back. Lance blinked.
"You should have said something earlier, you idiot." A slow grin spread over Lance's face and he laughed. He forgot the way his legs ached, forgot the weight of the gun in his hands, forgot the blood smeared on his shirt.
Pidge wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his torso.
"You're family too, Lance."
The hall went silent. His throat went tight and he pulled away from Pidge slightly. She looked up at him, snotty nose and gleaming eyes. Her glasses had a small crack through one lens, a result of their escape.
"I, uh…" He remembered all the things he'd said on the platform, and wished he'd said both more and nothing at all. If they got out of here alive, how could he face them?
Before he could paint himself anymore the fool, a pair of guards rounded the corner behind the team. He shoved Pidge away, and shot one of them, but the other smashed Shiro's shoulder with a baton. Keith raised his own stolen gun, the first shot missing by an inch, but the second shot tore through the guard's neck. They slumped to the ground.
"Shiro, you good?" Shiro grimaced but nodded, rubbing his shoulder.
"We gotta go. This way." Lance turned on his heel, grateful to postpone the talk. They jog in silence, aside from their footsteps and the sound of their hearts pounding in their ears. Lance was becoming increasingly worried that his sense of direction was wrong, when they finally see it. The twisting halls have lead them to a back exit. There's one side door between them and it though, and they can hear someone inside the room. The group slowed to a halt outside. He turned to the team and mouthed a countdown. On one, he whipped in front of the doorway, two shots hitting the two closest guards who go down before they know what happened. The last guard ducked behind a table and Lance's shot whizzed over their head. The guard fired blindly, and Lance stepped to the other side of the doorway. There's another shot fired into the hall, and Lance took the chance to duck his head back in, and spray cover fire over the table. Keith slipped through the door silently, looking entirely too smooth as he hopped the table. There was a scuffle, and Keith popped his head up again. He wiped a knife against something with a frown before picking up the guns in the room, and rejoining the group in the hall. He handed the weapons off to Pidge, and Shiro, who had been unarmed. Lance nodded at him, and they advance to the exit. Keith and Pidge stand to the side, and Lance kicked the door open, just like in the movies. There were no guards outside and he sent a silent thank you to the universe for that. He didn't know how much ammo he had left, and they still had to get to the lions. It was getting dark. Soon, the whole city would be out looking for them. Footage and news from the courtroom probably plastered on every billboard from here to the other side on the planet. Lance grit his teeth, and the team followed him outside. This was going to take a miracle
