Hello everyone! Back for another week...First, to give credit where credit is due- 'slut-on-a-stick' comes to you thanks to my fab editor, KathDMD...I couldn't stop laughing when I saw that addition and just HAD to keep it! Thank you to all those skimming through, reading, following, and/or favoriting 'Taken'. Bear with me...things may seem frivolous now but will get pretty intense in the next few weeks ...THANK YOU!

KathDMD: 'Slut-on-a-stick' will go down in history! Seven Hells is right! I so adore 'my' Allura :-) xoxo

Drowningblonde: You are going to love Allura's dress...my awesome editor took my description and ran with it...she sent me a pic...very hot... Lance's friendship with Allura is just as solid as Allura's love for Keith. I felt that it was so important to giver her a true friend that she could trust and always depend on...besides...her closeness with Lance will make even more sense in Part 2. Double entendre? yes...absolutely! ;-)

QiaWriter: Hang on! Come Chapter 11 things are going to take a turn...

Smithy: Lotor is one persistent #%&*&**% (insert adj here). As far as Keith...maybe he'll get it together soon...

cubbieberry: Get your inhaler ready around Chapter 11 luv ;-) Not only have I been blessed with a fabulous editor...I've been blessed with a fabulous Promoter as well!(that would be YOU of course!) Thank you for ALL your hard work with the KA resurgence...especially with all you have going on...you are truly an amazing human being **extending cyber hugs**

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Voltron or its characters...

"Taken"

Chapter 9

Allura stopped short, horrified.

She had merely been following her usual routine, the same way she did any other morning - workout, physical training, shower, breakfast. The usual. What she had just witnessed with her own two eyes, however, was definitely not just "the usual."

She saw them together. She saw Francesca, dressed in a killer denim mini-skirt and black leather to-the-knee boots with a three-inch heel, with her arms wrapped around Keith's waist. She saw them smiling at each other, and the way she leaned into him so intimately...

She wanted to throw up.

It took everything in her to head back to her room as quickly as possible, walking as fast as her feet could take her. She didn't want to run. No, that would make it look like she was trying to get away. Which, in fact, she was, but he didn't need to know that.

She could hear his footsteps gaining on her as she approached her door. She heard him call out to her, but she pretended not to hear. She was still reeling from what she saw, or what she thought she saw.

Remain calm, it doesn't bother you. You couldn't care less!

Yet, on some level, she knew that she wouldn't be acting this way if it didn't bother her.

Ugh! Liar! She let out a deep exhale as she turned to face the inevitable.

As she reached her door, she felt Keith's strong hand on her shoulder. "Princess, what the heck!" he cried out, exasperated.

"What?" she snapped

"I've been calling you to stop, and you just kept on going." He placed his free hand on the wall as if to immobilize her.

"Oh, were you? Hmm, my mind must have been somewhere else." She said the words in an airhead manner to mimic Francesca's demeanor.

Oops. Keith cringed and bowed his head slightly, a look of embarrassment sweeping over his face. "Princess, what you think you saw…it wasn't…it didn't…" He stumbled over his words, raising his eyes sheepishly to look at her. She had taken his usual stance - arms crossed in front of her, looking beyond annoyed - which only added to his discomfort.

"Keith," she cut him off, "Like I told you yesterday, do whatever you want. I don't understand why you feel you need to explain yourself to me."

"Because I know you, and I know what you're thinking."

"Doubtful." She turned to open her door.

Keith squinted his eyes at her. "Come on, Princess, you know that was a set-up. Francesca knew you were coming. You had to see that she caught me off-guard."

Of course she knew it, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"What does it matter what I think, Keith? You're a free man…free to do what you wish, and who you wish, during your free time. You owe me no explanations." She waved him off and turned into her room.

Oh yeah…she's definitely spending way too much time with Lance, he thought.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. "You're my friend, Princess," he whispered. "Your opinion means a lot to me, more than you know, and I don't want you to feel as though I've betrayed you in some way." He bore his gaze into hers.

She stared back at him intently. Damn those eyes!

Her expression softened, and she let out a sigh. "Of course I don't think you betrayed me, Keith…that's just silly. It's not like you and I have anything going on."

He noted the mournful expression on her face as she said those words. It was fleeting, but it was there.

"Besides, this isn't the first time Francesca has pulled a stunt like this," Allura continued. "I've actually been expecting it from the moment I learned she was coming. Now, as you said earlier, you are my friend, and as my friend, I can only hope you realize that she is using you."

At those words, Keith felt his posture relax, and he actually laughed. "Princess, you didn't possibly think for one moment that I would actually be attracted to someone like her, did you?"

"Oh, come on Keith, you can stop the Suave Commander act," Allura challenged. "You guys all think she's hot. The lot of you almost passed out when Francesca first came off the transport."

"Are you serious? Princess, she was practically naked. And in case you've forgotten, I am a guy, you know." Keith seemed amused. "For God's sake, even Romelle almost passed out when she saw her…hell, Nanny practically had a stroke!"

"Exactly!"

"She's just not my type, period." He shrugged matter-of-factly.

"Is that so? You don't like beautiful women?"

"Beautiful? She may be beautiful to somebody like Lance, but not to me," he replied.

"You just said…"

"No, you said she was hot, and I agreed. Hot and beautiful are not the same thing." He smiled at Allura's expression.

She rolled her eyes "Keith, really, are we done with this? I've wasted enough of my time talking about Francesca."

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll drop it if you promise that we're fine." He pointed between the two of them.

She huffed. "Yes, Keith, we're fine."

"You sure?"

"Keith!"

"OK! OK, then, I'll see you later."

He began to walk away backwards at first, only turning when she nodded back to him in agreement. As soon as he was out of sight, she growled and marched into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Damn you, Romelle, and your stupid party, too!

After his conversation with Allura, Keith spent the next few days keeping everything as calm and as normal as possible. He went out of his way to give Francesca the cold shoulder, and completely wrote her off on several occasions, too. Although he still had to guard her at times, he made sure that she understood his new ground rules.

Allura found it amusing...and gained plenty of satisfaction from Francesca's frustration.

On the other hand, she and her 'bodyguard' were having way too much fun. Lance took what he said seriously. He made sure that she had some time for herself to do 'girlie' things. He talked to Allura's maids - well, the ones that he knew a little too well, anyway - and arranged for her to have a few days of pampering.

He had also spoken to Coran and Nanny to make sure that they took it easy on her until the party. For that alone, the princess was eternally grateful.

At one point over the course of those few days, Keith looked on almost jealously as Lance whispered something into Allura's ear. Whatever he said, it sent her into uncontrollable fits of laughter, causing him to furrow his brows imperceptibly.

He had always been confident that his best friend and Allura were just very close friends, but lately he'd found himself reevaluating that assumption - especially after seeing him walk out of her room the other night. The two had been spending an awful lot of time alone together and had all sorts of private jokes between them, which was starting to get on Keith's nerves.

He was sure that she'd confided in Lance about walking in on Francesca throwing herself at him. They were probably mocking him in secret.

Ugh! Lance! Of course, there was the minor detail that Lance was responsible for her protection while he babysat Francesca, but he still found it uncharacteristically annoying.

"Get off it, Keith. Jealousy doesn't become you." Sven had always had perfect timing and delivery. It was one of the many things Keith missed about his former second-in-command on a regular basis.

Keith threw his friend a sideways glance. "Excuse me?"

Sven nodded and pointed in the direction of Lance and Allura. "They just look like they're having fun, that's all."

"No more fun than she had with you," Keith pointed out, his brow raised.

"Ha!" he grinned. "True enough. Though that ship has long sailed - I am a committed man now."

Keith shook his head, amused, in quiet contemplation. "Hey Sven, do you ever wonder what might have happened if you hadn't been hurt? If you had been able to stay with the team?"

Sven closed his eyes and sighed. "Of course; it crosses my mind from time to time." He paused to look at his friend. "Princess Allura and I were getting pretty close, you know. We had quite a bit in common." He noticed the ever-so-slight cringe that briefly crossed Keith's face. He chuckled as he continued, "You would have had some serious competition for sure."

Keith looked back at him, confused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Tell it to someone else, polare. I know you. I was your right arm for a long time - you can't bullshit me." He smirked. "It was written all over your face the first time you saw her, and it was obvious that she felt the same way. I would have backed off for that reason alone."

Keith glared at his friend. "I don't want to talk about this, Sven. Drop it. Now."

"Suit yourself, Keith…but just how long are you planning on running from the obvious?"

Keith narrowed his eyes. "What part of drop it now did you not understand, Sven? Or do I need to spell it out to you in Swedish?" He shrugged. "And I don't know Swedish, so that'll be a bit of a challenge for me. But I'm willing to do it."

Sven ignored him. "I know better than the others what you're thinking. I felt the same about Romelle, but then I realized that she was my reason for being. She was what kept me going, and she gave me hope." He put his hand on Keith's shoulder. "There is nothing more fulfilling than giving your soul to the woman you love, min broder. Nothing will ever top how I feel when I am with her…nothing. I cannot imagine my life without her."

"It's not the same, Sven. It's different for you…your situation is different," Keith responded flatly.

"Skitsnacket!" Sven shrieked.

Keith looked at him with a raised brow. "After all these years, haven't you figured it out that I don't understand your language? Did you miss the part two seconds ago when I told you I can't speak Swedish?" He noticed Sven's annoyed look.

He ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "What do you want from me, Sven? I can't get involved right now, there's too much at stake."

"You're already involved, whether you like it or not," Sven didn't hesitate to point out.

Keith just looked at him.

"You're willing to die for her - that's obvious to all of us - but it's more than that. You are in deep, my friend. I can see it when you hear Lotor's name."

A flash of rage crossed Keith's face.

"Yeah, that…it's the same reaction I have when I think of all he's done to Elle. I could kill him with my bare hands and take great pleasure in it," he continued, staring intensely at the Voltron captain. "It's disturbing, what we would do for the women we love."

Keith simply looked ahead, avoiding his friend's gaze as he ground his jaw. Over Sven's shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Allura. She'd looked so happy over the past few days, so free and normal. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the next attack, and then her features would harden once more. The thought broke his heart.

He wanted to see her smiling, full of hope and promise. He hated to see her in anguish and pain, and especially hated to see her cry - something she did in private and too often. She kept all of her emotions bottled up inside so that she wouldn't seem weak in their eyes, not that they would ever think that of her.

Sven knew what Romelle had suffered, but none of them had any idea what kind of torment Allura had endured at Lotor's hands. She had never offered to tell them and they had never asked. Truth be told, they were all too afraid of the answer. The mere thought made him sick.

He wanted to run to her, hold her, touch her...but would he ever? Maybe Sven was right. Maybe he needed to let her in to help keep him grounded.

No, it's not time.

His primary focus had to be protecting her and keeping her safe. Now he couldn't even do that because he was stuck babysitting Princess...What did Lance call Francesca again? Princess Slut-on-a-Stick? He furrowed his brow once more, this time in frustration and helplessness.

"What I feel doesn't matter right now. I need to remain focused. Look at how happy she is right now, Sven. I want that for her always."

"Did you ever think that, with all of this doom and gloom surrounding her, being with you might make her happy?"

Keith snorted. "Well, right now it looks like my buddy Lance has filled that role."

Sven whacked him across the back of his head. "Dumskalle!"

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off with that, Thor!" Keith retorted angrily, returning the whack he had just received.

"Wake up, Kogane! Life is not just about protocol, honor, and war! You need her just as much as she needs you. I just hope that you realize it before you waste any more of your life."

Keith looked at his friend soberly. He was just about to lay into him when he was interrupted by an angry Romelle. She stormed towards them, throwing her arms around Sven as she approached.

"What is it, min älskade?" He returned her embrace and kissed the top of her head.

"Oh God, Sven! Allura was right. What the hell was I thinking? This was the dumbest idea ever!"

"What happened, Romelle?" Keith asked.

"Ugh! That Francesca is horrible - I just want to beat her senseless! I can't believe I was ever friends with that bitch!" she shouted.

Keith could only nod his head in agreement.

"Ӓlskling, tomorrow is the brunch and the party," Sven reminded her. "After that, you never have to speak to her again." He kissed her cheek.

Keith had to admit, he was envious of the pair. Watching the two of them, he could almost imagine being that way with someone…with Allura. Stop it, Kogane! Don't go there!

"Can't I just tell her to go to hell right now?" Romelle whined. "Or maybe Allura could kick her ass…she would probably love that, I'm sure." She smiled mischievously as she looked at Sven.

Both men laughed. "Elle, you know you can't do that without causing an intergalactic incident. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it," Sven reminded her.

Romelle looked at him and ran her finger across his chin. "Actually, Commander, there are other things that I can think of to do in my bed…and they are much more pleasurable."

She grinned wickedly. Sven returned the gesture.

"OK, now I'm outta here," Keith grimaced.

Sven and Romelle laughed. "Keith, my friend, you are way too uptight…you need to loosen up before your life passes you by. Take a chance, my friend." Sven was obviously enjoying his friend's discomfort.

"Whatever, ABBA," Keith snickered. He opted to leave the two alone and forced himself to walk back toward Francesca and her crew.

The Polluxian princess raised her eyebrows curiously in Keith's departing direction. "So, what's his problem?" she asked.

In reply, Sven tilted his head in the direction of Lance and Allura.

Romelle looked back at him, confused. "Lance? Why, what did he do now?"

Sven rolled his eyes. "Oj, Romelle, it's not Lance."

"Allura, then?"

Sven looked at her as though the reason should be obvious.

"Why?"

"God, Elle…do you not see it? Have you really been that self-absorbed that you haven't noticed that your cousin is in love with him?"

Romelle's expression turned to one of genuine surprise. "She's in love? With Keith?" Her brows furrowed as she replayed the happenings of the last few months in her head, and then her eyes suddenly widened. "Well, that would explain a lot."

"No kidding," Sven mumbled.

Romelle responded by smacking his arm. She then leaned into him and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, I am horrible! I can't believe I didn't notice this before…it's so obvious, now that I think about it."

Sven wore a slight smirk on his face. "I think you need to start making amends with your cousin over your behavior the last few weeks, Elle. I know you've been going through something and I had hoped you could talk to me about it, but Allura has taken a lot of crap from you and she doesn't deserve it." He spoke the words as gently as he could, simultaneously lifting his hand to caress her cheek.

She placed her hand over his. "I know, you're a hundred percent right. I'm not sure what has been going on with me, Sven. All I know is that whatever phase I was going through is done…and now I'm just so pissed off at myself." She paused and shook her head. "I cannot believe I guilted her into this stupid, stupid thing! I swear I just want them all to leave….why the hell didn't you stop me?"

He crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure, that's realistic…but who cares? Let's just blame the boyfriend."

"I'm not blaming you, Sven."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Elle, I knew you were not yourself, and that you needed to go through the motions and realize it on your own. Allura knows that, too. I'm sure it would mean a lot to her to have her cousin right now. She has no female friends, Romelle…at least not here. She needs you." He kissed her temple. "Besides, I worry about the advice McClain's been giving her."

Romelle laughed. "I'll bet."

Sven looked down at her and leaned in to give her a passionate kiss, which attracted the attention of pretty much everyone in the room.

"Hey…knock it off over there! Geez, there are children in the room!" Lance cracked, taking a dig at Pidge.

"Go to hell, asshole!" Pidge quipped.

"Pidge!" Allura gasped.

The youngest team member blushed as he looked at her. "Sorry, Princess," he apologized sheepishly.

Allura turned her head and giggled.

"Aw, c'mon Lance, we all know you're just jealous because you aren't getting any," Hunk teased.

Lance sported a wicked grin on his face. "Really?" He threw his arm around Allura's shoulders. "Are you sure 'bout that, Big Guy?"

Keith, who hadn't quite left the room, whipped his head around at the comment.

"Oh, for God's sake, Lance!" Allura pushed him, then smacked him across the head.

He laughed.

She rolled her eyes at him and exited the rec room through an entrance different from the one Keith stood at. After all, she didn't want to have to deal with him, too.

As she left, Lance continued to laugh while rubbing the back of his head. Once his laughter subsided, he realized that all of his friends were glaring at him.

"What?" he asked in his usual smart-assed way.

"Where is she going, Lance?" Keith barked.

"Hell if I know."

Keith deepened his glare and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Oh…yeah…shit…on it!" he cried out suddenly, realizing that he was supposed to be guarding her. He mockingly saluted his friend and ran after Allura.

Keith just shook his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. One more day…just one more day and then everything will be back to normal.