"So, Beyris," Lance said. "You ready to go see Coran and the others?"

Beyris nodded enthusiastically. "I like Coran - he's so funny!"

Lance chuckled. "Yeah - Coran is pretty funny. I think he really likes to make you smile, Beyris."

Beyris grinned. "Well…maybe you and Coran should have a contest!"

Keith blinked. "A - contest?"

Beyris nodded and pointed at Lance. "You and Coran should see who can make me laugh the hardest!"

"No bets on that one," Keith said under his breath, and Lance thought he heard a touch of amusement in his friend's voice.

Lance put Beyris back on the ground and crossed his eyes at Keith when she wasn't looking. Keith rolled his eyes again, but he was already looking back down at the map again.

"Okay, come on," he said. "I think the others would like us to get back soon."

Lance was helping Beyris get her small backpack on. "We can go whenever - it doesn't really seem like there are many people around right now - and there's no rush."

Keith glanced out the corridor. "You're right…" he said. "Why is that?"

Beyris looked up at them then, innocent and trusting, and Keith and Lance exchanged semi-concerned looks.

"Beyris," Keith said, going down onto one knee, "is it - is it usually - busy - around here?"

Beyris bit her lip, thought, and then shrugged. "Sort of. Mostly just guards lately." She glanced between the two Paladins, and her face was curious. "Why?"

Keith got back to his feet, and Lance saw the Red Paladin summon his bayard as he kept his voice light. "Oh - I just wondered if the tunnels would be crowded."

Keith turned back to Lance and handed him the comms unit. "Lance, I think you and Beyris should have the map. You can both guide us - that's be - cool, right, Beyris?"

As Beyris squealed in delight and jumped up and down, the two Paladins exchanged meaningful looks.

Rayzor was a newly appointed Council member, and he was a strong advocate for the alliance with the Paladins of Voltron.

He was also an accomplished warrior, and had the loyalty of most of his men.

But that didn't rule out the possibility that someone might try…something exceptionally stupid if it meant derailing the alliance.

The lack of people around was probably nothing, but both Keith and Lance wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

"Lance," Keith said as they left the room and began to move quickly down the first set of tunnels, "do you think we should let Coran know we're on our way?"

"I'm sure he'd love to hear from Beyris!" Lance said brightly. "Let's see here…uh…aha!"

He's gently twisted the knob until he saw a picture appear on the screen. It was Aurelis, the healer who was in charge of the infirmary and was the appointed healer for the Paladins. He seemed to be sitting at a desk in the infirmary, and he was deeply engrossed in a book.

"No, no, no," he was saying under his breath, apparently talking to a character, "no, that's always where the trap is! Dark corridor - terrible visibility - don't - oh, you stupid, stupid person - gaaah, I told you - trap. Right there. How you survived the first half of the book is a miracle-"

Despite his nerves, Lance had to laugh at how intensely the man was engrossed in the story. The healer jumped in his chair, the book falling closed, and he scrabbled for his comms device.

"Paladin!" he said, and he seemed somewhat flustered. "Um - why are you calling?" The healer looked behind his shoulder, towards where Lance assumed Allura still sat watch by Shiro's healing cryo-pod, and when the healer looked back at the screen, his manner had become less frazzled, and more sympathetic.

"Your friend is doing well - and the Princess is resting now," he explained, "but - well, there really isn't anything to - "

"Oh, uh, no, actually," Lance said, trying to keep his voice nice and calm while he and Keith kept moving, Beyris skipping at Lance's side and holding his other hand. "-actually, Aurelis, is Coran there? I'm - I'm using his comms - Rayzor was called to a Council meeting, and Keith and I are bringing Beyris to our quarters - you know, for -"

"Fun!" Beyris called up at the comms unit, and Lance saw Aurelis nod in understanding. "Ah, yes, of course - one moment," he said, and he disappeared from the screen for a moment.

Lance and Keith kept moving, not rushing, not exactly, but Lance made sure he kept close watch on the map. No wrong turns, not now, not with Beyris.

When Aurelis returned, Coran was with him. Aurelis picked up the book he'd been reading and made to leave, but Lance told him he actually had a question for both of them.

"This - this may seem like an - odd question," Lance said, "But - uh - how busy would you say our route should be? Like, not busy at all? Or relatively busy?"

Coran looked at Aurelis, who sat down again at the desk, tapping out a series of commands on a keyboard, apparently calling up something on a screen that Lance couldn't see.

"Well - the alarms would affect traffic somewhat - " Aurelis said, and Lance felt himself sigh silently in relief.

"-but, based on the time of day - you should at least see some others going about their business," Aurelis continued, and out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw Keith's face go grim.

"…why..?" the healer asked, looking at Lance, his red eyes suddenly concerned. "Is -"

"Oh…it's just us…walking here..." Lance laughed nervously, wishing he could somehow convince Beyris to cover her ears while he and Keith and Coran figured out what the hell was going on. Something wasn't right.

"Just you?" Coran asked, and his eyes were worried too, now. "I - hmm - that seems - "

"Strangely coincidental?" Keith said from the back, where he held his bayard down by his side, ready to summon it at any moment. "Yeah…we thought so too.."

Aurelis was quickly typing into the screen again, and he asked Coran a question, and Coran answered it. The healer pointed to something on the screen, and Lance saw that the healer's hand had begun to tremble, just a little. Coran looked back at Lance then, and the Altean's face had gone pale.

"Lance…" Coran said, and Lance almost dropped the comms and reached for his bayard at the sound. The tone of voice Coran was using was his absolutely serious voice, the one reserved for 'act now, talk later' situations.

"Lance…it seems there was no Council meeting scheduled for this morning."

Lance and Keith looked at each other then, and Keith's eyes were glinting with hints of yellow. In that moment, Lance and Keith were able to communicate through looks only.

Rayzor was summoned, but the summons hadn't been from the Council.

It had been to separate him from Beyris.

She was a target.

Lance suddenly wished they had Hunk and Pidge with them, too, and Coran and Allura.

Beyris seemed very small and vunerable, and the tunnels were…well, before they'd looked just like normal tunnels. Now they seemed enormous, like almost any number of enemies could come swarming out at any moment.

"C-Coran," Lance managed, noticing that his hand holding the comms unit had begun to quiver slightly, "-how - how close are we to you now?"

Aurelis must have brought up a map on the screen Lance couldn't see, because he seemed to be tracing his finger down the screen, and he and Coran spoke swiftly to each other.

"Half-way," Coran said, and although he was trying to keep his voice calm, some of his worry and fear bled through. "You're - you're halfway to us - listen, I'm sending Pidge and Hunk out to meet you - for now, just - just keep coming. We can track your location through the comms unit, so be sure to keep it on-"

Lance looked down at Beyris, who was humming to herself, happily unaware of the impending danger.

"What - what about Ra-" he began to ask, but Keith made a 'nixing' motion with one hand, looking down at Beyris, and Lance broke off.

Aurelis looked at them, his face set and strained in anxiety. "I-I'm opening a channel to the Council now," he said. "I'll find out - where he is. Just -"

Suddenly, Lance saw figures standing about twenty feet in front of them. It was two of Proselyt he'd seen before, but this time, they weren't walking forward. They stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking the corridor.

Even though Lance tried never to swear in front of anyone under the age of ten, he muttered 'Quiznak.' under his breath.

Apparently Keith had no such inhibitions, because Lance heard him say, 'Dammit,' and turned to see that two other Proselyt had come to block the way behind them. They also stood shoulder to shoulder, about twenty feet back.

They were trapped.

Lance looked back down at Coran's face on the screen, and all Lance could remember, in that last, terrifying moment, was that Coran had already seen so many people he cared for die. And he might watch two - or three - more die in the next few minutes, unless they could find a way out of this.

Keeping the comms unit tightly clasped his hand, hoping Coran would listen and figure out his plan, Lance bent down and scooped Beyris into his arms, saying, "Hey, Beyris, it's gonna get loud, so just - hold onto me - and try to cover your ears - and - and shut your eyes - okay?"

She squeaked as he picked her up. "Loud?" she asked him, and he nodded. "I'm - I'm going to pretend to be a big, big bear, and Keith's gonna chase me."

"Ooo…kay…" she said, looking slightly puzzled, but she closed her eyes and covered her ears, and then Lance had glanced over at Keith, and Keith saw what Lance had planned. They nodded at each other, the movements so minuscule, there was no way the enemies could tell it had happened.

I'll run. Get her as far away as I can.

I"ll hold them off.

Don't get killed.

Good luck.

Even as they exchanged looks, the enemy began to come towards them. Keith activated his bayard, snarling a challenge at the opponents coming towards him. Shifting Beyris onto his hip, holding onto her with one arm, Lance used his free hand to summon his own bayard, so that the men coming at him would think he intended to hold his ground, just like Keith was going to.

He saw the instant the men walking towards him smirked, the moment when they thought they knew what he was about to do.

But they were wrong. Lance wasn't going to stand and fight like Keith was.

He was going to do what he did best.

He was going to be loud, unpredictable, and take the enemy by complete and total surprise.

Without any warning, Lance raised his weapon and fired, two shots, one for each solider, the same kind of shots he'd fired at Sendak. The two guards went down, and then Lance was running forward, running as fast as he could.

As he ran, he deactivated his bayard, so he could hold onto Beyris with both hands, so that he could bring her as close as possible, for maximum protection.

As Lance leapt over the unconscious bodies and pelted down the corridor that led towards safety, he hoped to God and all the stars that Keith could hold his own against two opponents and could remember his way back to the safety of the infirmary wing.

Over the comms, he could hear Coran and Aurelis, and the healer was saying that Rayzor hadn't gotten to the Council chamber yet, that he'd been - delayed, somehow - but Lance just kept running, running towards the only safety he could give Beyris.

If he could meet up with Pidge and Hunk, they could help him defend Beyris. He just had to keep her safe until they could get to him.