Chapter Eleven:A Want To Be Enlightened
Lance is missing and the crew are left searching. But first, Pidge figures out a way to find out what Lance has been doing for the past few days. And the crew it heartbroken to find out what the Castle Recordings find.
System: Nairn
Location: Space
The cold of the cryogenic chambers pod was nothing Keith ever looked forward to. Although, the pros definitely outweighed the cons when the Altean technology rendered the machines healing factors other-worldly, meaning broken arms could be fixed in six hours, not six weeks. Not to mention the feeling of utter contentment he felt immediately afterwards.
It's just, Keith hated being cold.
It clung to his fingers and his arms and legs. It breathed ice down the back of his neck, making his hair stand up on end, leaving him with the desire for a nice hot bath where he could relax in its warmth for hours and hours after stumbling out of a healing pod.
Usually, that was what he did. He'd dismiss those gathered to help him when he woke, and promised to see them at breakfast, lunch, or dinner – whatever meal followed his awakening.
He would've now, if it wasn't for the current circumstances.
Because when Shiro caught him, there was no smile, no joking greeting of "welcome back." There was no comfort, nor explanation.
Only the wide eyes, pale faced glance to the second Cryo-pod.
Keith already felt dread and knew Shiro's fear reflected on his own face. It didn't hit him until he looked himself.
He had been expecting to see Lance looking worse. He expected his skin to be grey and sunken, or maybe he would be able to see the boy's bones underneath gossamer skin, or see blood pouring down from new wounds, his body drenched in red.
He expected forever closed eyes on the corpse of his best friend, perhaps the ghost of a smile of his lips as an apology for not being able to wake up.
But the chamber was empty.
Lance was gone.
"Where?" he asked, coughs stealing the rest of his words as he struggled to talk through the fog of forced sleep. Dread filled his stomach, his mind pulling up the imagination of a broken body somewhere, Lance crawling through the halls, bleeding from the wound in his side, his back ripped open and he called for help, with no one to help him before he bled out.
"Oh god Shiro. Is he d-dead?"
"No. Just missing," said a newcomer from the door. It's Allura, but it doesn't sound like her. Her usual stern voice, eloquently pulled into a posh accent is scratchy and choked, just as bad as Keith's. But hers is for a different reason.
The redness around her eyes tell the Red Paladin she's been crying, explaining the hoarseness of her voice, why she looks so tired with the way she leans slightly against the door frame.
Keith always thought her pretty when she wore her Altean robes, but now she looks just as haggard as the Paladin's after a long and weary battle. Her usually flowing hair is harshly pulled back into a ponytail, wispy and incomplete.
In her hands, she holds a helmet, Blue lining the top brow, clutched tightly in a strong grip that tells Keith far too much and not enough.
"Where is he," he asks, pulling himself from Shiro's grip, reaching Allura, grabbing her arms in his hands to keep his own balance, his mind still warming from the freeze. He shook her when she didn't reply, pulling her closer, fingers pressing painfully into her flesh.
"Where is he?" he asked again, voice getting louder, desperate for her to tell him he's not dead, he's not dying, he's—
"W-we don't know," the princess weeps softly, tears pulled from her eyes, her hands trapped by Keith's before she can reach up and wipe them away. "He was just missing. Pidge and Hunk are looking for him, but he's not on the ship."
"Then where—"
"Not here," Shiro said, appearing beside them. One hand reaches out to Keith, pulling at his wrist gently, urging him to release Allura. Red marks remained on the Princess's skin. They would bruise, but no one cared for that right now.
"When?"
"We don't know. We came here, a little less than five minutes ago to wait for you to wake," Voltron's Leader said, glancing back to the empty sleep chambers. "When we got here, Lance was already gone. Everyone else went to find him, but I stayed here to wait for you." He trailed off, looking to Allura, who had come with a message.
"He took Pidge's shuttle," the Princess told the pair of them, looking down to the Blue helmet as more tears poked at the corner of her eyes. She didn't even try to stop them, but her voice remained level as the explanation continued.
"It looked like he was already planning this. He's cleaned out his room, there's nothing left—"
But Keith doesn't hear it. He's already running, passing identical corridors and long stretching halls that are empty of Blue Paladins, injured or otherwise.
He bypasses the elevator, knowing the damn thing will make him stand still and he just can't right now. So he heads for the stairs, taking them two, three at a time, panting as he races up floor after floor to the sleeping quarters. He's running down the dormitories to his door and Lance's that stand opposite one another. Always so close, but still so far away.
Keith is in Lance's room; confusion clouding his head as he stands in the familiar room, drastically changed since the last time he had entered, searching for Lance to invite him to come and spar with him while Shiro and Allura talked diplomat with the Coalition.
Everything is different.
The walls, once plastered with Alien and Earth posters, are bare and plain. The shelves that run along the tops of his walls are empty; his floor usually hidden under an array of books and game consoles and clothes, is uncharacteristically clear.
There's no game stations, no amount of plants taking up space on his dresser, no clothes hanging in his wardrobe. There's nothing in the drawers, nothing in the bathroom except the echoing drip of a tap that won't turn off completely.
The room is empty.
All except for a red jacket; neatly folded on the end of the bed. The one Keith forgot he had lent to Lance, to help him hide the injuries he received from their mission to Torous.
But everything else…. is gone.
It's all gone.
He's gone.
"Keith?"
The soldier turns, seeing the brother that left him once. Left him feeling betrayed and hurt and alone on Earth, not knowing if the man was dead or alive, or if he was ever coming back. And he's stood here now, experiencing the same thing. But it's not Shiro who has left him. It's Lance.
He's not alone, like he was on Earth. He has Hunk and Pidge, Coran and Allura and Shiro with him.
But why is it that the pain is so much worse than before? Why does it feel like he can't breathe? Why is he so cold? Why is he hurting? The room is spinning, he can't breathe, it's not right, it's not right—
"Keith? Keith! C'mon breathe Keith!"
Shiro's holding him. They're together, a bunch of tangled limbs sprawled out uncomfortably on the floor of Lance's empty room. Hunk is beside them, appearing from nowhere. He's not wearing his copyright smile, his headband lopsided, his hands helping hold Keith who thrashes against the hold on him, trying to find sense as the world seemingly collapses around him.
"It's a panic attack Keith, you need to calm down. C'mon you have to breathe. Do it with me. In and out, in and out. That's it. Slowly… Slowly..."
And he's breathing with them, in out, in out. The light returns to the corners of his eyes, his head is reeling in pain, heavier than he's ever felt as it rolls loose at the top of his spine, resting on a shoulder. Keith can't keep his head upright, but at least he isn't going to pass out from lack of oxygen.
He can feel Red with him, purring gently. It's sad, she can feel his pain too, shares it with her sister who misses her Paladin. He's gone.
The episode passes and he comes out of it. They don't leave him sprawled on the floor, instead helping him so he's sat on Lance's bed, his back leaning against the wall of the small alcove. He can't actually keep his body upright by himself, he's too tired from lack of energy from the cryogenic chamber and a sudden attack that stole his breath and fed him pure panic.
Shiro sits beside him, Hunk still with them although he's standing, eyes cast on the emptiness of the room. They're all silent and he hates it. He hates the silence.
Lance is always spouting something to keep it away, always singing something wildly out of tune or loud enough that Keith knows it's going to be stuck in his head for days until the Blue idiot decides to pick a different song, and the cycle starts all over again.
It got worse when Pidge and Hunk had worked together to make him a phone, when he found one song he loved because it reminded him of Shakira's hip song that he can recite word-for-word just because of the sheer number of times Lance played it.
"Where has he gone?" he asks the silence that he hates so much.
"He took Pidge's pod," Hunk says but Keith shakes his head. "I know that. I want to know where he is now."
The yellow's shoulders sag. "We don't know, Pidge is still trying to track the shuttle, but they think Lance has disabled the incoming and outgoing transmissions. He's been thorough." There's almost a note of pride to Hunk's words, but he's not proud and Keith knows it. He's worried.
They're all worried.
It was easier when Lance was in the healing pod after their spar-gone-wrong and all they had to think about was why Lance had taken lead in training scores, why Lance had unlocked a second Mark, why the Mark had been turned on Keith and what the meant for the future of Voltron.
Keith had insisted there was no deeper meaning behind it, even if Coran was worried that Lance was searching for distance. Keith insisted that the two of them were at odds anyway from a fight and he had pushed Lance too far when he retaliated to the baiting, to the taunts and insults that he couldn't deny was… not-Lance.
But what argument could Keith play, now that Lance had run away.
And it looked like he didn't want to be found. He didn't want to be brought back.
Keith looked to Shiro, the man who he relied on to have the answers, the man he trusted most in this world.
He read the lines on his face for the smile he kept hidden, the laughter that would bubble up behind a cheeky smile, the firm slap on the back, the words of apology that this was all a prank and that's all.
Lance would waltz in with his cocky know-it-all smirk and everyone would laugh hard at Keith, the mullet-man who was pining over his friend like some love-sick teenager.
But there was no hidden smile. This wasn't a joke. This was real.
And it was heartbreaking.
"Hunk, would you give the two of us a minute," Shiro asked softly, his head ever so slightly leaning towards the door as he looked past Keith, to where Hunk was stood, eyes scanning the blankness of the room. He nodded, taking himself out of Lance's bedroom without anything more than the soft fall of his footsteps.
When the door had slid shut behind him, Shiro turned back to the boy who could do nothing but watch as the universe around him changed.
"You okay?"
"Just peachy."
The words catch in his throat at just how Lance-like they sound. It pulls forward another sob, barely suppressed behind firm lips and eye hard-set as the glare at the floor and nothing else. "Shiro I—"
"He's not dead."
Keith looked to him, his words dying on his tongue, mind painfully blank. Shiro spoke again. "He's not dead. We're going to find him. He can't have gone far in the pod, so we're going to find him, we'll bring him back home and we are going to fix this."
His words held weight to them, Keith's trust behind him as he mindlessly nodded along. "There's a rift in Voltron and we need Lance back if we're going to fix it."
"What if he doesn't want to come back?"
Keith feels small when he speaks, and a thousand times smaller when Shiro rounds on him with the darkest glare only saved for the Galra. "Of course he'll come back. The only reason he left is… is…" He stops, his eyes widening the fraction of a centimetre.
It is one of the few times Keith has ever seen Shiro scared, but he doesn't know why. "Do you know why he left?" Keith asks, standing when Shiro does.
But the Black Paladin is ignoring him, mutter to himself as he leaves the room, unaware Keith trails behind, a hand on his sleeve.
"He couldn't have. There's no way," Shiro murmured to himself, walking, running down the corridor, the Red hot on his trail, grip still tight around the older's wrist. "Shiro where are you going? Do you know where Lance is?"
Shiro isn't listening. He's just running.
Hunk is ahead of them in the corridor, turning to the sight of the others running towards him. "What is it?" he asked, but Keith hasn't an answer. "I need to know why he left," is all Shiro says, veering into the elevator shaft.
He's hit the elevator button before Keith and Hunk are completely in, their faces all frozen in varying degrees of shock and horror as the thing trundles up several levels that divide the Bridge and navigation deck from the dormitory halls.
Keith still hasn't let go of Shiro's wrist, shaking him as he keeps asking. "Shiro tell me what's wrong?"
"Lance is gone and I need to know why," is all he says, breaking Keith's grip as the doors slide open and he's gone, leaving Keith a trembling mess ready to trip over his limbs, still not quite in the now.
Lance is gone, of course he's gone but he's not in danger yet, right? Or did Shiro think he was and that's why he's…. he's what?
"What happened?" Hunk asks. He's taken the place of Shiro's wrist, Keith grabbing him and Hunk holding the Red up, for fear of another panic attack.
Keith's not panicking. It's just his head won't think in a straight line and there's a pain throbbing behind his eyes that tells him he needs sleep and food and Lance.
"Keith, what happened?" They've stopped walking now, Hunk standing directly in front of the boy to stop him moving, waiting for answers. He's talking low, reminding Keith to keep calm, it's all okay.
"It's not okay," Keith growls, but there's strength in his voice and he's standing by himself. He's still cold; the healing pod's grip won't let him go just yet. Maybe that's why his head is fuzzy.
A noise trills in the air, followed by Pidge's voice. "Allura, come to the bridge, you need to see this." They don't sound distressed, or at least, no more than they would at the prospect of a missing teammate, so Keith's fear doesn't spike any higher than its max capacity, which is where it sits right about now.
He enters the Bridge alongside Hunk, eyeing the sight of Shiro and Coran stood in front of the main display screen. Shiro is giving direction to Pidge who types the keys, Coran guiding them too when they're not sure where they're looking for… live feeds?
More boxes pop up as Keith and Hunk approach, able to identify different rooms of the ship. There's the training deck, three times, all at different angles. There's the kitchen, the lounge, the Lion Hangars, the hall outside the dorms, the bridge, the elevator, the entrance hall and several more corridors.
The biggest screen sat two the left shows a giant image of the Healing Bay.
It's empty, but they already knew that. But the picture has Shiro's utmost interest as the appearance of Coran and Pidge appear. Keith's head tilts in confusion. Why were they shown there when they are clearly stood here?
The recording Coran punches orders into the console in the middle of the room, watching as a pod lifts from the floor. Pidge has grabbed a support bed and wheels it away from the pod, hurrying to the door, just as Shiro and Keith run in, dragging with them an unconscious Lance, held up in their arms.
Oh, it's the security feed.
"Pidge, can you speed past this. We only need to see from when you left the room, up until the rest of us entering," Shiro says, stepping closer to the healing bay feed, arms folded and an expression serious as he glares at himself and the clear damage seen over Lance's back. Hunk gasps, a noise dying in his throat, but the feed flickers and suddenly it's gone as Pidge's fingers whiz over to a dial, the recording picking up speed. They watch wordlessly as Coran chases the Paladins out, setting Lance in the pod and checking on his vitals before leaving himself to head to the bridge and inform everyone of the favourite Blue Paladin's predicament.
Pidge sped the feed up again, or they planned to.
But at the appearance of a black cloak in the corner of the screen had them slamming their hand on pause, back tracking to the figure's first appearance. It wasn't one, but three small creatures, their bodies covered by the black hoods.
It didn't matter. They all knew what was underneath.
"The Trigamons. But how? Why?" Hunk asked, his words ignored as they all stared up at the sight of the three creatures approaching Lance's cryo-chamber. Coran paused the feed to heighten the audio feed, listening to the hushed whispers.
[We won't have enough time Elmore,] one called, everyone's body's rigid at the familiar name and the little creature that pulled back its hood to reveal its green furry head. [We will if we hurry.]
[Elmore, someone's coming,] the Silver said, rushing towards Lance's pod, cloak billowing out as they jumped up onto the machine, the Green and Blue following, working together to hide in the shadows of the walls, ducking into space in the rafters, just as Pidge entered the room.
Shiro hissed in a mix of fear and anger at the sight of the Green Paladin within reach of the black shadows. His fists curled with anger to the creatures, anger to himself. Pidge had been so close to danger without even realising it. What if these aliens had wanted to take more than just Lance?
Video-him followed shortly behind the Green Paladin, talking with Keith. They all stopped in front of Lance, sharing comfort.
Three Paladins stood in danger, and Shiro had let it happen.
Pidge sat with their back to Lance's pod, leaning against his pod as they pulled up their laptop readings.
With Keith in the pod, video-Shiro left the room, heading for nowhere in particular.
Shiro watched as the shadow moved. Shifted. But before they could attack, Pidge got up to leave, leaving Lance and Keith unguarded. Pidge themselves swore out a curse, but no one said anything to them. How were they to know they had stowaways onboard.
But now, with the infirmary empty, it was the perfect time for the Trigamons to strike.
The aliens stole from their hiding place. Smooth, slippery, they dropped to the ground like black ink, pooling on the floor, before the cloaks shimmered and rose.
There was a gasp, but no one turned to see who had arrived; their eyes transfixed on the display of the infirmary security feed.
Then their voices. Soft and familiar. [Is it all clear?] the Blue asked the Silver, who had separated from her brothers to watch the door, pressed against the shadows where they hoped to remain undetected. [Quickly. We don't know how much time we have until they come back to him.]
The Paladins watched, helpless as Elmore, the Green Trigamon stood in front of Lance, defenceless, a smile upon the aliens face as he moved even closer. [Let's begin.]
They watched as the invader tapped the Cryo-pod with a single claw. Again and again, pulling a horrible trill that he couldn't understand why he hadn't heard it before was heard, loud and echoing, over and over until Pidge could take no more and muted the feed.
The Trigamon tapped again, and again, until the Cryo-chamber couldn't hold out and open suddenly, throwing its ward onto the cold hard floor of the healing bay. Helpless as he lay at the feet of the creatures that wanted him.
"No!" Keith yelled, for all the good it did him, watching the two strangers, Green and Blue stand over their prey. The other pressed their hand to the boy's neck, checked his pulse. Elmore produced a small device from his cloak, white with a vial that held a black substance, pushed into Lance's vein under his chin. His entire body tensed as the substance crawled under his skin, his body shuddering violently while the two held him down.
[Elmore, this is too much for a final dose. What if he rejects it? Gereen won't be happy if we kill him.]
[Nonsense Wilt, this won't kill him, not with how much he's been given so far. Besides, killing him isn't a part of Gereen's plan.]
[So he told you what he wants with this Human?]
[No. But think about it. Would Gereen really spend three thousand credits on pure grade Sugkie, then waste it on a Culm, just to kill him?]
[I guess not.]
They waited until Lance's body had stopped shaking before they released him, standing back to admire their handiwork.
And then they were gone; walking away without a look over their shoulders, back towards the Blue Paladin that remained. Unwanted, discarded on the floor.
And slowly, the boy began to stir.
Lance, who awoke with no one there for him, pulled too soon from sleep-stasis by the aliens that hadn't kidnapped him. Infected him, maybe, but left him.
"Chase them," Shiro instructed. "We can get back to Lance, but I want to know if they're still on board." It turns out the Trigamon left immediately after releasing Lance, jumping out of the castle's garbage shoot with space suits that they had stashed nearby. They hadn't set off any perimeter alarms with their small size, but they were long gone by now.
"So they didn't take him? Does that mean he up and left of his own accord?" It was Pidge. Their voice growled with anger, their hands tight on the edge of the module, eyes red, the shine of their glasses unable to hide that fact that they were crying.
"I was worried. So worried for him and that bastard up and left by himself! WHY? WHAT DID WE DO?"
"I think it's more than that," Allura said softly. She had arrived sometime during the recording. Now, with hand on Pidge's shoulder, she steered the Green Paladin closer to her, eyes meeting Shiro, their stiff expressions clear that they already knew the reason.
"I suggest we start at the very beginning. We know Lance is not on board, and you're currently tracking the pod in which he took to leave the ship. Whilst your tracking programme continues to try and locate Lance, or your… angorisms?"
"Algorithms," Pidge corrected with a suppressed smile.
"Yes that. It will take time for your diagnostics to calculate the likeliest route that Lance would take. In the meantime, we shall review the logs, and gain a clearer picture of the past events that have lead up to his departure. Neither Coran or I were present for Lance's fight with Keith, and by your findings, Lance has been training a lot in the space of our sleep cycles.
Pidge gave a small nod, but Shiro wasn't so sure. "Allura, we don't need—"
"We know that Lance isn't in that pod now," the princess said, pointing to the feed of the empty infirmary. "But there is much we don't know, but need to, to understand, in order to find Lance."
Shiro doesn't comply at first, so Pidge bullies him away from the console, taking control.
The feed is abandoned, the pictures dropping as Pidge replaces it with six lines, labelled with different names. There's one for each of the Paladins, and a sixth labelled 'Castle.'
"Pidge what—"
"You said beginning. This is the beginning."
The Gremlin hits play and the sounds of Lance's recorded voice fills the silence of the bridge.
[Lay off Mullet,] came a familiar, yet painful drawl. [Just be thankful I didn't shoot, if not you would've had a face full of laser. Actually, maybe I should have. Then at least I'd been able to fix that atrocious mullet."
Pidge was playing the voice recordings from the day of the Pirate attack.
KEITH: [Just try it Lance.]
Keith's voice sounds angry to him, but he had every right to be. He and Lance had been sparring that morning, and he had noticed the Blue Paladin being a little sluggish. He had wanted to ask him why, but as always, he had been afraid of showing the Blue his concern and instead found himself presenting as angry.
As usual, the two of them had fallen into another argument.
LANCE: [Trust me. If I was shooting at you, I would've got a head shot.]
KEITH: [I don't trust you Lance. And if you had, I would've just taken your head clean off your shoulders. It wouldn't have been hard.]
Keith cringes at his own thoughtless words, already apologising to Lance in his head. Fat lot of help that would do them now.
He listens as Shiro quietens them, always there to mend whatever Keith breaks. But Keith has broken Voltron. How is he going to fix it this time?
SHIRO: [Stow it the pair of you. We're approaching the Ship now, so get in position.]
LANCE: [Aye aye Captain]
The sound of Lance's excited cry is cut short by their leader, not for the first time on their mission, but now Keith knows Shiro is regretting his words as much as himself when he says things thoughtlessly. Lance isn't here to listen to the apologises; the guilt building as the recordings continue and they're forced listen to just another mission. But for Lance, it wasn't just another mission.
Pidge takes the stage with their spiel about the pirate's jamming signal. Everyone remains focused on the background noise of Lance's "mhms," as conformation that he is still listening.
PIDGE: [The Pirates have got some kind of jamming signal on board. Shiro, if you guys land, it will knock out our Comms and we won't be able to talk to one another.]
KEITH: [Then how about you fix it before they land. Or, can't you fix it?]
PIDGE: [Oh, I can fix it. I just hate it when people start assuming I can do things. It would be nice if you guys stop taking me for granted.]
Pidge and Keith's bickering gets garbled when they start talking over one another, but suddenly Lance's voice is loud and no one can keep the smile off their face at the sound of his laughter.
LANCE: [Cue the music guys, I'm going in.]
There was a chorus of [no's] from the other Paladins, before a deafening screeching took their place. Everyone recoiled.
Keith ducked, as if the ship had been hit, Pidge dived to their chair, their hands clamping down on their ears to stop the bleeding sound before it could deafen them. Coran was quick enough to turn the volume down, pausing the feed so that everyone could re-center themselves again. "What the bloody hell was that?" Hunk asked, wide eyes as he looked about. But no proximity alarm sounded, so it was clear that it was simple from the feed.
"I think that was the jammers," Allura said dutifully.
And true enough, when the made to play the recording, the screech started up again. Yet the sound didn't interfere with the recordings, and Lance's voice carrying out over the god-awful sound.
LANCE: [Ow! What the hell is that? Blue turn it off!]
HUNK: [Lance! Lance come back!] But Hunk's voice gets no further. Keith remembered them all yelling out for Lance, but the Blue Paladin had never returned anything other than static.
PIDGE: [Hunk he can't hear you. It's the jamming signal, its stopping our transmission from getting through. He's too close to the ships to hear us.]
HUNK: [We have to move, he needs help.]
KEITH: [He needs to learn to listen first before he goes shooting off ahead to get himself into more bloody trouble.]
HUNK: [He– Wait, what's he doing? Oh god, Lance no!]
Keith closes his eyes as he listens to the panic in the recording, remembering as he watched the Blue Lioness stop in the dead-space between the two Pirate ships, completely open to their rail guns. He was worried for Lance himself, and they had all called out.
Hunk had forced Yellow faster, but the Lion was slow and wasn't as fast as his Blue counterpart. Even Red seemed slow, held back by Keith's hesitance and their shared feeling of fear.
SHIRO: [Wait Hunk, we have to get Pidge to counteract against the jamming signal, or we'll be cut off from everyone.]
HUNK: [I don't care, Lance needs our help!]
SHIRO: [Hunk pull back!] Hunk had ignored him, urging Yellow faster. But before Hunk could slam into Lance and take his place as the pirate's target, the Blue Lioness had shot forward at the last instant, Lance yelling [anchors away Blue!] as he did, out of range, forcing the ships to fire on themselves in the confusion.
CASTLE: [Paladins, what is happening? Why is Lance the only one engaging the pirates?]
SHIRO: [They have a jamming signal Princess. We've lost contact with Lance, but we're holding back as Pidge is working around it. We should be good to—]
PIDGE: [I'm done, Shiro we can go now!]
LANCE: [Damn it. Quick Blue! We've got to get in front and draw their fire away.]
Lance was still talking to himself, ignoring the others as usual, though Keith hadn't remembered Lance speaking even after Pidge had managed to disable the jamming signal. He had assumed the boy was silently sulking, so the extra vocals were a surprise.
They were only small remarks though, none directed to the team, nor any that contributed to the plan of working together to scare off the ships. The main focus had been securing the crew of the assaulted cargo ship, the orders relayed through the Comms.
SHIRO: [Well done team, the pirates are retreating. Hunk and I will secure the ship—]
KEITH: [Pidge and I will stay out here to make sure they're gone. If they decide to come back when we're all inside the ship, we're as good as sitting ducks.]
SHIRO: [Alright. Coran set up a proximity scan, just as a backup. Lance, you're with me and Hunk. Let's go help the crew.]
But the Blue Paladin hadn't replied as confirmation to Shiro's orders. Keith had searched for him, aware that he hadn't heard from him – Lance was probably still sulking – and got annoyed, turning to watch him still attacking the Pirate ship.
KEITH: [C'mon Lance, let them go already, they're retreating.]
But Lance hadn't, and Keith had piloted Red between him and his opponent, facing her so that she floated opposite her sister.
LANCE: [What the— Keith get out the way!]
Keith felt himself frown, wondering if he'd missed this part of the conversation. But he was sure Lance had remained silent. It didn't matter now. Here he was, on recording, talking. And here was Keith ignoring him. [Lance, stop! Let them go. Shiro already gave you an order to join him on the ship. Lance!]
PIDGE: [Shout a little louder Keith, I didn't think he heard you in the vacuum of space.]
KEITH: [Oi, Lance. I bet you're not even listening, are you? I said get back to the cargo-ship!]
LANCE: [We can't let them get away.]
SHIRO: [C'mon Lance, leave the Pirates. We have to check on the Crew first.]
It was all, "ignore Lance and focus on the mission." He must've had a reason, or maybe he'd thought of something or… or something. But they didn't listen. They just talked over him, ordered him to follow commands and got angry when he was just trying to help.
LANCE: [But Shiro—]
PIDGE: [We don't have time for mutiny. Besides, I've already thrown a signal into their transmissions, hijacking the jammer frequency, so the next time they send out any sort of beacon, we'll get their immediate location and we can go chase them then.]
LANCE: [But—] And a chorus of [Not now Lance] shut him up. Shiro, Allura and Keith blushed at their outburst, but their eyes remained on the sound wavelengths jumping up and down with any sound coming through on the transmission feed.
They were in the cargo-ship's hangar the next time someone spoke. It was Hunk. [Shiro… the crew, you don't think that… that maybe they're all… that we're too late?] The boy's voice was small and quiet. If anyone else was listening, they wouldn't be able to discern that it was the voice of Voltron's favourite teddy bear.
SHIRO: [We can't be certain Hunk. There may be some parts of the ship that remain intact. Let us hope the crew have gathered there.]
[Let us hope,] Lance repeated, his voice just as uncertain as they others.
They can all hear when the Trigamons show up, Hunk cursing the alien that introduces himself as Elmore, the same one that led the other three to release Lance from the cryogenic sleep and inject him with the mysterious something.
They listened in anger as the creatures lied about their broken ship. Or maybe it was and they had found their own loophole in the Paladin's need to save them. Whatever it was, Lance had paid the price.
[But what about the pirates?] Hunk asked, not one to forget the looming threat that no one knew was permanently gone or not. They weren't, but the Paladins weren't to know that at the time.
SHIRO: [That is why we've got Keith and Pidge on the outside. Keith, you remain on lookout—]
[No need,] Pidge interrupted. [I've got that tracker system working Shiro. They're not here. In fact they're nowhere near us. The readings say that they've stopped on the slip-side of Nix.]
CASTLE: [Nix? Are you sure?] Allura's voice rang loud with fear, and everyone knew why. But they had other fears now. Even the Princess as grimaced at her own words. [Unless they've got portal technology they shouldn't be able to cover that distance in the short amount of time. Nix is four Varga at full thrusters power from our location. There's no way they should be able to cover that distance.]
The feed sounded with Coran's voice, assuring the Princess that only the Castle of Lions was capable of Portal technology, and the ability to develop such space travel was lost with the destruction of Altea. [It is not just the Technology Princess. Portal technology isn't capable without Altean Magic, which was infused from the ore that was used in the creation of the Lions, or the Castle.]
CASTLE: [Which leaves the question, Coran, how were they able to jump from the Nairn System to the Karta XI System in the space of seven Dobosh? It shouldn't be possible.]
LANCE: [Maybe they had some wicked cool boosters.]
SHIRO: [You can't go after them.]
LANCE: [But Shiro, I can—]
SHIRO:[Be of better use to us here, rather than chasing off after the Pirates. This isn't a game Lance.]
Shiro was scowling again, his hands clenched into fists, his fingers leaving crescent moon scars on one hand, the other creaking from the sheer pressure. No one said anything when he brought his fist down onto the console, his hands shaking with more than just anger.
Keith wanted to go and soothe his pain, but his feet were glued to the floor, and he took relief in the fact he hadn't been the only one to give Lance a hard time. That's not a good thing to be happy about, he admonished himself.
Allura took the responsibility of calming Shiro and stood beside him, offering words and arms that loop around him, his head resting on her shoulder. At least his hands aren't in fists anymore.
KEITH:[Do you want us in there?]
Keith had wanted to help. He didn't mind looking out for the Pirates, but when he was certain that they had fled and weren't to return, he wanted to be aboard the ship, helping make sure the crew were safe. He felt obsolete floating in space, and no matter how much Red tried to calm him with their link, he hadn't been able to shift the uneasiness he felt. And for good reason.
SHIRO: [No Keith, stay outside and keep an eye on any approaching vessels. Red has better manoeuvrability than that of the castle, so if a fire-fight does happen, you'll be able to provide support. We know there are more than two ships out there, so keep your eyes peeled. Pidge, keep tracking the ships. Tell me if they start moving again, the direction and speed. Try to monitor how they're moving so quickly.]
[Rodger,] the Paladins replied in unison, the Comms crackling into silence, the transmission lines falling to flat line as silence swarms the feed.
Keith takes the opportunity to look at his teammates. Coran has found interest in the floor. Hunk is beside him, his arms wrapped around himself in a tight hug, the big guys face contorted in hate and anger. Pidge, hands still on the console wears the mask of disinterest. He doesn't like it and crosses the two-step gap to the little Green Paladin. They let him, sniffs in thanks, and wraps their arms around Keith's pulling him closer in an odd moment of skin-ship he is willing to be a part of.
"You okay?" he asks, hating the sound of his own voice. "Better than him," they say, nodding at their Leader, who is tense from his own thoughtless words.
LANCE: [Shiro, I still think—]
SHIRO: [Lance. Let us just sort out the ship first. You can go play Pirate Hunter when the Aliens are safely escorted off the ship.]
The silence is heavy around them once more. Keith can't stand it, but he can't leave either.
There's comfort from hearing Lance's voice, although it's all in the past, before all the hurt and hatred that consumed him.
But listening, he can hear what has driven Lance away.
Or, for a better word, whom.
"Give me a minute, I'll be back," Pidge said quickly, slipping from Keith's hug as they strode out the room, supplying an excuse to get away from their own snarky little jibes as the three-man team stalk the corridors in search of the "trapped" Trigamon crew.
Keith watched Pidge go, planning to follow when he tenses at the sound of Lance's joyful voice. [He reminds me of Stitch just a little bit.]
Keith knew what followed, and was already wishing that he had followed the Green Paladin.
KEITH: [No one has time for your lame jokes Lance, you're on a rescue mission.]
LANCE: [I wasn't joking about. I was making a scientific observation.]
It was the beginning of their argument. Keith was already curling in on himself, eyes scrunched tight as he heard his clipped tone speak when he wished it wouldn't.
KEITH: [No, you're just being distracting. If I was down there, I wouldn't be pissing about.]
[Stop it,] Lance hissed, but Keith being Keith just had to keep the argument going. [No Lance, you stop it.]
LANCE: [Keith I meant—]
KEITH: [You should take this seriously, considering your screw up this morning.]
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
LANCE: [You're still hampering on about that—]
KEITH: [You almost shot me!] Keith's voice was halfway between a shout and a screech, making the mic sing three octaves higher than anyone wanted. But it wasn't as bad as the Jammer noise.
Hunk was beside him, a hand on his back. "It's okay, you didn't mean it." He means it, but when Keith looks up, he can't force himself to smile. He turns away, not wanting to hear it, but Hunk's hand stops him from fleeing. He had to hear his hurtful words, and feel the harm they brought to his friend.
It was the recording of their mighty leader that swooped in with a sharp [Enough!] his voice raised, interrupting the argument. [We have a mission guys, so let's stick with—]
[But he started it,] Lance whined. Keith wished he could apologise, wish he could step in and say to Shiro, "yeah, I started it, I'm sorry."
But hindsight was a bitch for a reason and they're all dunked in the preverbal ice bath when Shiro interrupts Lance again. Louder. Angrier.
LANCE: [Shiro—]
SHIRO: [NO!]
Shiro's shout echoed throughout the silence of the bridge, each one giving him a sympathetic look. He hit the console again, a whine slipping from between his lips. Keith was shocked to see him red-eyed, holding back tears. Allura is whispering to him, her hands firmly wrapped around him now as their bodies rock back and forth, but it's hard to see if it's helpful or not. At least she is there for him.
Keith should be there for Lance.
The recording keeps going, Lance calling out, but the sudden noise of something dull smacking another stops him instantly. Keith feels his eyebrows knit together, wondering what, but the Hunk-recording explained. [Pidge turned your Comms off to stop you bickering.]
LANCE: [Pidge change it back,] he growled, but he was simply ignored. How could they—?
LANCE: [Oi guys, don't ignore me. Shiro, tell Pidge to un-mute me. Oi, don't ignore– Shiro. Shiro for fuck's sake—]
HUNK: [Shiro, how are we going to open the doors?]
SHIRO: [I'm not sure. Either reroute power or break through with brute force?]
HUNK: [Well we can't use the Lions. The corridors are too small to navigate.]
LANCE: [Yeah, real mature guys, just ignore me while I stand five feet from you. Because that's how this team works. You guys all get the glory and I get the dog house for opening my mouth to suggest a perfectly reasonable explanation to a perfectly explainable problem.]
Recording-Shiro blanks him, still focused on the problem of the trapped crew.
The real Shiro still looks angry. He's paler than usual.
"Sit him down," Hunk says from his place by Keith. Then he's walking over towards their leader, a hand on Keith's wrist to drag him too. "Shiro, sit down. This is not your fault. Hey, listen to me." Hunk, tender loving Hunk, grabbed Shiro's chin and jerked it so the man met his eyes. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault."
"But I shouldn't have let Pidge silence him like that. He got caught in the blast and I—"
"It was my fault too."
Pidge was stood in the doorway. In their hands they had Lance's helmet and Keith's. No one questioned them as they approached the main system, just letting the little genius do their thing as they wired the helmets up, rambling as they did so.
"It was irresponsible of me, but at the time I had a reason to silence him. None of us knew what was going to happen, so none of us are truly to blame. But listening to this might help us find Lance, so for his sake we have to listen."
"Number five is right," Coran agreed, coming closer to the gathered group. "We'll listen, and then we'll talk. And when we find Lance, we'll apologise to him." The recorded words brought smiles to faces at its timing.
Without a word, the team settled on the floor, their legs a tangle of their limbs as the recording continued.
SHIRO: [Lance, you'll need to head to the power grid. Once I patch the problem in the engines, you can power up the ship. There probably won't be much of a window, so you'll have to open the hangar doors before the ship's system automatically shut down again.]
And so signified Lance leaving the group.
SHIRO: [Alright. Elmore, where am I headed?]
KEITH: [You sure you don't need one of us down there? I can run back to the Castle to get Green then meet you on board.] The offer had been dismissed once again, the team splitting up tasks.
Quiet filtered from thinking, and in the midst of it, they heard Lance's voice: [I'm good Blue. It's just me over thinking things again. But thanks.]
It's small and quiet, and Keith can only imagine what Lance is thinking, conversing with Blue. But his voice cuts over the quiet and the recording of his own voice is talking as if he didn't hear it. He doesn't remember hearing it.
"I thought you said you muted him," Keith said, turning to the Green. "I did, sort of," they mumbled. "I turned off his notifications to the public chat so to speak. He was still speaking, but his suit wasn't broadcasting it to us, so we can still hear what he says.
"I got his helmets too, because it will have its own recorded memory of your trip to Torous. I want to look through as well." They nod themselves into silence, and the Comms continued.
SHIRO: [Alright, Wilt and I will head to the lower deck, to see if we can get the engines ready. Keith, are you still in position?]
KEITH: [Pidge and I are good on our end.]
PIDGE: [I still think this is a lot of hassle to keep the ship functional. I mean, I get that we just have to open the doors, but why don't we float this ship down to a planet and open the doors where there is already a breathable atmosphere.]
KEITH: [And have the ship burn up on re-entry? We'd still have to get the power source working for the shields to protect the ship or the crew will be cooked alive.] The Pidge-recording grumbled to themselves, muttering [this is why the Galra are smarter. Androids don't have to worry about air pockets and can still shoot you in the guts if there's a hole in the side of the ship.]
HUNK: [That's not smart, that's scary.]
Silence again.
LANCE: [I just wanted to help.]
Then, Lance is impersonating Shiro, his words spiteful. [Oh no, you can't have fun Lance. Got to stay serious, got to be the good solider that follows orders without question. Why can't you be more serious like Keith? He's a good soldier. Or hey, be useful like Pidge or Hunk. They're smart; they don't turn everything into a game. Even Coran is useful and he doesn't drive a Castle or a fucking Lion. Be more like him. Be anyone except yourself.] His tone falters to the end and everyone can feel his own self-directed anger.
Did he really think that about himself? That he wasn't useful, that he shouldn't be himself?
Lance continues to mutter under his breath, but under the sounds of the remaining Paladins talking, the words are indiscernible. Pidge moves from the group to quieten everyone's voices except for Lance's before returning to the floor where Hunk opens his arms invitingly.
LANCE: [Hey guys…?] he said, his voice trailing off. [Yep, just checking I'm still muted. Just letting you know I'm lost. Not that you know, you can't even hear me. And now I'm just talking to no one. At least they don't ignore me.]
He keeps insulting himself, swapping between little voices as he does. Until [there you are you little bugger. Had me scouring the entire level to find you. Come on work with me.]
The helmet mic had picked up sounds around him, and Keith cringes at the creaking of metal. It whines and groans, and one last give has Lance yelling in victory. Then cursing once more. [Just… let… me… in…]
Everyone has completely blocked out their own voices now, focusing solely on the sound of the Blue Paladin manoeuvring throughout the ship. When suddenly [Hello? I'm a paladin of Voltron. I'm here to help.]
It was as if someone turned the lights off. Everyone tensed, their eyes wide, holding their breath. They hadn't heard the confrontation between Lance and the pirates still on board the ship, only knowing of the explosion. Lance hadn't said he'd faced them, just that they'd just ran from him, blasting open a window for a quick escape. Had he lied?
LANCE: [And bingo. There's the problem.]
What had he found? Not the Pirates, surely. He started humming to himself, his tone light, mixed with laughter, an octave higher than normal.
Hunk heard it first: the low hum underneath the sound of Lance whispering to himself. No one expected the cry of pain. Allura sat upright, her shoulder shunting Keith who wore the same expression. Their eyes met but there was no comfort from the other.
[G-guys, there's still…. St-still someone on board,] Lance choked, voice tight. He was hurt, or at least winded. More lasers sounded, but now pained sounds from the Blue Paladin who shouted [Halt!]
Silence. Then screaming.
It was Lance, hurt, in pain, calling out for the others to help him but stranded without a life line. They had muted him and left him to the mercy of the pirates, who fired again, Lance's voice torn apart as he screamed. "What are they doing?" Pidge sobbed, but no one wanted to know. Not really.
Lance was coughing, wheezing, whimpering painfully. His breaths were rattled and Keith could hear the tears falling.
LANCE: [Shit, shit, shit! C'mon Lance, you have to move.]
Keith hated it. Hated knowing that all of this had already happened and he couldn't do anything to warn Lance, to swoop in and help him. God, he was in pain and he hadn't said anything. No one had even bothered to find out.
LANCE: [Come on! You're a Paladin of Voltron. Get! Up!] He was still talking to himself, still urging his body, although damaged, to walk. Whimpers broke through the noise, accompanied by sobs from Hunk and Allura alike, listening to the sound of Lance unable to give up, facing the Pirates once more.
LANCE: [No, WAIT!] But whatever was happening, Lance had been unable to stop them.
Then came the shrill of a phaser blaster and the sound of the bridge exploding. [NO!]
KEITH: [What was that?]
PIDGE: [Guys what happened?]
HUNK: [Elm- Aagh, guys help–]
SHIRO: [Guys, guys come in. Is it the Pirates, are they attacking?]
The voices are wild and loud, but none so much as Lance's, which tears through the babble with panic. [Keith, Pidge, help me!]
He was screaming, yelling, panic threatening to choke his air supply, coughing on the simple words as he hurtled in the vacuum of space. [Blue! Help me BLUE!] It fills the room, echoing louder and louder until Keith feels it deep inside him. Make it stop, make it stop—
[BLUE!] And Lance is laughing, because Blue is there for him. When no one else noticed he was in danger, Blue was the one to rescue him, to save him. The fear in Keith froze to a lump he couldn't swallow.
LANCE: [The breach, we have to seal it.]
His voice is small now, but no less painful, his breath rattled, not just from fear but the pain of being hurt in the explosion. They'd heard it, Keith had bloody seen it, but he had completely missed Lance and the fact that the Blue Paladin, caught up in such explosion had been hurt because of it. Because of the pirates too.
Lance sounds tired, his voice is scratchy from screaming, but he's still talking to Blue, as if they're having a conversation to one another, as if Blue can use actual words: [No Blue, I can't. The plan has changed now we can't manually open the doors from the outside. The team need me awake; you can't let me fall asleep.]
The team waits with baited breath, no one looking to another as they know what is about to follow.
They listen to the boys cries, muffled, a biting pain behind every inhale. Keith and Shiro glare angrily at the floor. They know.
LANCE: [Oh, so now they want to talk to me.]
Keith visibly winces and Pidge's hand is there to comfort him. They had asked for him, received nothing and realised that Lance was still off "group chat." They corrected their mistake, desperate for Lance to reply to them when he didn't reply at first. So they had tried again, eventually Lance accepting the transmission feed, opening him up to everyone's worry.
SHIRO: [Are you okay? What happened?]
HUNK: [I'm good. Just bumped a little. Elmore is unconscious though. He hit his head when we got thrown back, although I can't say why. Was it pirates?]
LANCE: [Hunk, you alright buddy?]
HUNK: [Yeah, yeah I'm good. Just got taken by surprise.]
LANCE: [That's good, that's good. Where you are now, are you—]
HUNK: [In Yellow, yeah. I think that's what saved me cause Blue just— Lance, is she with you? She just freaked out and broke out her ice wall.] But before Lance can confirm that Blue had indeed gone to save him, Allura spoke up, her voice taking centre stage. [But you're okay.]
SHIRO: [Just knocked back. We're heading to the trapped crew know, are they—]
KEITH: [They're still trapped. Lance is trying to kill them.]
LANCE: [What? No I'm not!] He hissed in pain, but no one seemed to notice. It was like they didn't care. That must've been what Lance thought.
KEITH: [–Then what the hell was that explosion? It took out half the bloody bridge and almost the entire ship and the same time!]
LANCE: [That wasn't my fault, that was the Pirates that were still onboard–] Lance hissed again, barely suppressing a whimper that no one heard. [–And if someone hadn't muted me, I would've been able to tell you that. And maybe I could've also told you that they were—]
KEITH: [Pidge shut you up, not me.]
[Don't you dare drag me into this,] Pidge said, barely getting the words out before Lance's temper snapped and he was shouting in barely restrained anger.
[ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN TO ME?]
The anger was… powerful; harsher than they remembered. Keith had reeled backwards, sat left blinking at the words thrown ferociously at him through his headset. He'd been worried for the other with the silence, but Shiro's orders left him without a way onto the ship and check on him.
And now he was receiving the backlash of keeping quiet.
[Pirates were on board and attacked me. Could I warn you guys? Could I ask for help? No, because someone muted me.
[Pirates stole the generator core's fuel supply. Pirates stole the ship's log data. Pirates blew up the bridge to escape, but could I warn anyone? Could I ask for help when I was shot out to space?
[NO. Because you guys cut off my Comms and left me to deal with this shit by myself.]
No one said anything, not even now as they listened to Lance's outrage.
[I was up here on my own, without any way of contacting you guys. I'm lucky I have a mental connection with Blue because she just saved my life. So before you have a go at me for saving my own neck, think whether or not this whole business was my fault or not.]
Then they all heard the unmistakable click as Lance muted himself once more, ignoring all attempts that Pidge had tried to reach back out to him.
SHIRO: [It's okay Pidge. Let's just give him space. If he got thrown out to space, he must be a little shaken up. It's not personal.]
Or was it? They had no way of asking Lance, who was still hurting, still thinking he wasn't wanted, still gone.
