Author's Note: I apologize that this is a little late. I had so many ideas for this chapter, but this is the one that won out. I blame Keith. He just had to demand his own chapter.

I tried to skim over some of the events of the episode in order to avoid slowing down the story too much. If you haven't watched it in a while, hopefully it's not too confusing. If it is, please let me know!

Chapter Three

Keith was disappointed in himself. He'd told Shiro to stay back, that they could handle this intruder themselves. And surprisingly, Shiro had stayed out of the fight until it became obvious that the intruder could probably kill them all without breaking a sweat. Then he'd stopped the fight in seconds with one swing of his Galra arm.

Keith crossed his arms and frowned, watching as the intruder revealed himself to be a Galra, apparently one that Shiro recognized. Why would a Galra have a symbol like the one on his knife? It just didn't make any sense.

Allura insisted that they shackle the prisoner and interrogate him. Keith wished that he could do a little private interrogation of his own, but right now the needs of the team were more important. While Allura cuffed the prisoner to a bench in the interrogation room, Keith looked around and realized that they were missing someone.

"Where's Lance?" The other paladins looked at each other.

"I haven't seen him since the control room," Shiro said, frowning. "Did any of you see him during the fight? I thought I heard his bayard."

Hunk scratched his head. "That was probably mine. I didn't see him anywhere, which is weird. Usually he gets right in the middle of the action if he can."

Allura shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we have bigger problems right now. We can figure out what happened to Lance later."

The Galra prisoner cleared his throat. "I apologize for interrupting, but is this Lance a tall, brownish human? I may have encountered him while trying to find you."

Allura's eyes narrowed and she seemed to grow a few inches taller to loom over him. "What did you do?"

"I assumed he was some sort of guard and attempted to neutralize him." Keith ground his teeth at the calm way he said it. "Unfortunately, I did not take into account the more fragile nature of humans."

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked. He had tension in his jaw that Keith recognized as a sign of barely concealed anger.

"Do not worry, I merely knocked him unconscious. He should recover fully."

"I've got to go find him," Hunk blurted out.

"I'm coming with you," Keith said grimly. He and Lance might have their differences, but he had to see that he was okay. But before he and Hunk could leave, the door swooshed open and Lance stumbled in, led by Rover. He was still wearing his civilian clothes, and he was obviously unsteady on his feet. "Hey guys, what did I miss?"

Hunk was the first one to reach him. "Lance, buddy, are you all right?"

He blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

Keith gestured to the cuffed prisoner sitting on the bench. "This guy said that he attacked you and knocked you out."

"Oh, right. That." Lance winced. "We had a little misunderstanding. Who is this guy, anyway?"

"That's what we've been trying to determine," Allura said. The coldness was still in her voice, and she looked torn between wanting to check Lance for injuries or give the prisoner some.

"I told you, this is Ulaz, the Galra who helped me escape." Shiro also looked back and forth between Ulaz and Lance. "Are you sure you're all right? He said that he hit you pretty hard."

"Yeah, and you're bleeding," said Hunk, pointing to a spot on the back of Lance's head. Keith moved a little closer and saw that some of his hair was matted with blood.

"That looks pretty nasty," he observed. Lance shot him an angry look that he was pretty sure he didn't deserve.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, okay? I'll just sit down over here and you keep . . . doing whatever you were doing. What is that, again?"

"An interrogation, I believe," Ulaz said drily. He looked over at Lance. "I am truly sorry for injuring you, but I had to make sure I made it to Shiro to deliver my message."

"Right." Lance looked him over skeptically as he sat down. "Why are we trusting him?"

"We aren't," said Allura, folding her arms.

"He saved my life," Shiro protested. "We need to hear him out."

Keith listened with a mix of resentment and reluctant curiosity as Ulaz explained that he was part of the Blade of Marmora, a group of Galra dedicated to resisting Zarkon. That sounded interesting, but far-fetched. Why had they never heard of this group before? When Ulaz mentioned a hidden base surrounded by the explosive xanthorium clusters, Keith grew instantly suspicious. That sounded like the makings of an excellent trap.

But Shiro remained stubborn, and when they found the space pocket and the base, Keith's curiosity got the better of him. He had to find out if Ulaz was telling the truth. Maybe he had a chance of getting some answers about the symbol on his knife too.

"Lance, you should stay here," said Shiro as they were preparing to leave. Keith looked over at the blue paladin, who had slumped down on the bench and covered his eyes with his hand. That wasn't good. Lance never showed weakness if he could help it.

"Okay." Lance removed his hand from his eyes and made a shooing motion. "You guys go ahead, I'll hang back and protect the princess." His attempt at his normal cockiness fell flat when he followed it up with a grimace and quickly covered his eyes again. Keith and Shiro exchanged glances, but neither said anything. Keith knew that making a big deal of it would only make Lance act more stubborn, and Allura would probably be able to take care of him better on her own anyway.

Keith pushed worry for Lance out of his mind and braced himself for whatever they were going to find at this secret base. He needed to be ready for anything.