A/N: If anyone notices any errors, let me know. I'm editing/posting this half asleep which is typical of me. But crap, man, I make and miss stupid mistakes when I'm like this.

Side note: In case anyone's curious, the time slice words I'm using in this fic are the canon words.

**Deca-phoeb - time slice year

**Phoeb - time slice comparable to a month

**Quintant - time slice comparable to a day; 20 vargas, or ~1.167 days (28 hrs)

**Varga - time slice comparable to an hour (~1.4 hrs, 60 doboshes, or 84 mins)

**Dobosh -time slice comparable to a minute (~60 ticks, or 84 secs, or 1.3 min)

**Tick - time slice comparable to 1.399 secs

Chapter summary: In which Lance vanishes, Team Voltron hunts, and both Lance and the Team learn something. Not necessarily a pleasant something.

12: Vanish

"What?"

Hunk's voice sounded much louder in the ensuing silence than he probably intended. But the emotion behind that one simple word was felt by everyone in the room. Even Keith wasn't immune to the shock.

"That's not true," the princess whispered in horror. "That's not true, Lance."

"It is!" the Druid insisted vehemently. "Go search your oh-so-amazing and no bout outdated star charts if you want to. Daubazaal is gone, obliterated by the Alteans along with all of the innocent Galra people who were still on the planet. Only the Galra in space at the time survived."

"That's not true!" Allura repeated, her eyes sparkling with hurt and righteous fury. "My father would never murder innocent people like that."

"You fa-" The fight vanished from the Druid as quickly as it had flared up, replaced by abject terror. "You father?" he murmured. His ocean blue eyes were so wide Keith could see white complete surrounding the irises. The blood drained from Lance's tan skin leaving him thin and sickly, and trembling. "Your father," he spat the word, "is the Demon Alfor?"

Allura flinched, fury igniting in her eyes. "My father," she said slowly and succinctly, clearly doing her best to bank her wrath, "was not a demon."

"You're the Demon's daughter?" the Druid cried, his voice cracking as it climbed to a higher register.

"My father," Allura repeated, her turquoise eyes sparking dangerously, "was not a demon!"

Lance didn't seem too inclined to reply to that. The Druid was curled in a tight ball and pressing himself as close to the back wall as he could in an attempt to escape the princess's anger. It was almost pathetic.

"Hold on," Shiro said, stepping between Allura and Lance. He lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture and said, "I know how you feel, princess. I do. But this is something we need to know." He sighed. "We joined this war to fight the Galra based on what they did to our people without provocation and based on what you and Coran told us. We all know there are always at least two sides to every story."

"Not to this one," Allura snapped. "My father-"

"Was a good man, I'm sure," Shiro said gently, "but Lance and the Galra obviously think otherwise."

"Because they're Galra!" she hissed.

"Princess," Coran said, grabbing the princess's arms to prevent her from pushing past the black paladin and advancing on the cowering Druid. "It's been 10,000 deca-phoebs since the Great War. That's a lot of time for Zarkon's propaganda to spread and take root. Instead of facing this problem head on, like I know you want to because I do too," he sighed and shook his head, "I think in this case, delicacy is the best path."

Allura stopped struggling against her advisor but the furious spark in her eyes hadn't faded in the slightest. There were even angry tears pooling along her eyelashes when she turned to Coran, shaking and hurt.

"Coran's right," Hunk said, surprising Allura. "Trust me. On Earth, we had several toxic regimes rise throughout our history that were based on and heavily influenced by propaganda campaigns that often lasted for decades."

"Decades?" Allura asked hesitantly, sounding out the unfamiliar word.

"A decade is ten years," Pidge said helpfully. "Just like a century is one hundred years and a millennium is a thousand years."

"So your campaigns would last for tens of deca-phoebs?" Coran asked carefully.

Hunk nodded. "Right. Often times these campaigns were so thorough that the new generations had no idea what to think or do when the regime was brought down whether by war or failure from the inside." He shrugged sadly. "It's not something we're proud of. But it's something we're familiar with."

"Hunk's right," Shiro said, drawing Allura and Coran's gazes. "If that's what happened here, then we need to know what Lance's people were taught. If we do that, then we know where to start working to disprove the propaganda and free them."

"It won't be easy," Keith said grimly. "Don't expect them to just accept you at your word and that's it, they're on your side. It doesn't work like that. It never works like that." He shifted so he stood straight. "They'll probably fight you and they won't hold back. If they do fight, you'll have to fight back."

Allura covered her mouth with her hands in horrified understanding, but Coran nodded sadly. "But… They're Altean," Allura whispered. "They're my people."

"That's just it, Allura," Pidge said, tucking her hands in her tan cargo shorts. "They aren't your people. Not anymore. They haven't been your people for 10,00 years, er, deca-phoebs, I guess." She shrugged and pushed her glasses back up her nose when they were jostled by the move. The Alteans been indoctrinated by Zarkon and the Galra Empire all this time. That's a lot of programming the debug. It's not going to happen tomorrow, or realistically not a year from now. It may take an entire generation before the Galra's influence begins to really show signs of fading."

The tears that Allura had done her best to hold back, finally spilled over onto her cheeks when she closed her eyes. "We finally find proof that we're not alone in the universe, that the Alteans survived the massacre," she sobbed the word, "only to find out they're fighting with the Galra. For the Galra."

Coran wrapped his arms around the princess's shoulders and pulled her close. "There, there," he said. "On the bright side, at least we know we aren't alone. The rest will come with time, patience, and effort."

"That's the spirit," Hunk said, a smile returning to his face.

Keith allowed himself a small smile when he saw Shiro nod in agreement. This wasn't exactly what he'd expected from this whole Voltron misadventure, but it definitely kept him busy. When Hunk found the Yellow Lion hidden in that cave back on Earth, he'd been expecting… Well, he wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting. He certainly never expected the Yellow Lion to be a flying alien spaceship! Seriously though, who decided building a spaceship shaped like a Lion was a good idea?

A rumble was the only warning Keith got before the Red Lion mentally batted him over the head. She thought she was perfect the way she was, thank you very much. Just because Keith couldn't appreciate her grace and speed and agility and hea-

Okay, okay, geez. She won. Again. Red Lion: 5. Keith: 1. The red paladin sighed and crossed his arms. He wasn't really annoyed so much as weirdly amused by the whole thing. He rolled his eyes, casually glancing back at the Druid's bunk bed.

It was empty.

He stiffened. "Guys! He's gone!" he cried, jumping into a battle stance and scanning the room for the Druid or anywhere the sneaky Druid could hide. There wasn't anywhere.

"What?" Pidge gasped, spinning to stare at the empty bunk with everyone else. "How'd he get by us?"

"Teleport," Shiro guessed, turning to the Alteans. "Princess, we'll look for him on foot. Can you and Coran scan the Castle for any life signs?"

"What if tries to leave the Castle?" Hunk said.

"I'll seal the hanger doors to both the pod bays and the Lions' hangers," Coran said as he moved swiftly for the door, Allura and the paladins at his heels. "That way even if he manages to get control of a pod of his Lion, he can't get out."

"Good idea," Allura said, catching up to her advisor. "I'll lock down the airlocks as well, just in case he tries to space jump."

"Good thinking," Shiro said, slowing down to give instructions. "Hunk, you're with me. Keith, go with Pidge. Avoid lethal force. We want to catch him, not kill him."

"Yes sir," Keith said. His reply was almost drowned out by Hunk's "Gotcha" and Pidge's "Roger." Damn, this was going to be one hell of a hunt.

Shiro and Hunk ran ahead of Allura and Coran so Keith and Pidge turned around and went to search in the opposite direction.

"Wait a sec," Pidge said, skidding to a stop by the bunk room they'd just left. "Maybe Allura's mice are still here."

"Good thinking, Pidge," Keith said, following the green paladin back into the room.

Keith flipped the lights back on to full brightness before dropping to his hands and knees. He scanned the floor for any sign of the colorful mice. Nothing. They weren't even under the overhanging lip at the base of the bunk bed where a blue strip light glowed. Although there were a few dust mites and evidence of this place needing a thorough deep clean. Yuck. Too much information.

"Nothing down here," he reported, sitting up. "You got anything on bed?"

After a moment, Pidge replied. "Well, yes and no," she said, sounding like she was studying something.

Curious, Keith got to his feet and walked over to join her on by the bunk bed. "What d'you got?" he asked.

"Well," Pidge straightened out the folds in the blanket, "there aren't any mice on the bed, but I think I can safely say I know both how Lance vanished and roughly where he went."

Keith straightened in surprise, impressed despite himself. "What? How?" he demanded.

"This." Pidge lifted the blanket revealing the metal grating used to cover the Castle air vents.

Keith shook his head in confusion. "What's that got to do with-" Pidge moved the pillow that had been leaning against the wall where Lance had huddled only minutes before and his eyes grew round. "Oh, no way," Keith breathed, looking at the newly revealed, open vent tunnel. "How did he even fit through that?"

Pidge leaned forward and stared at the dimly lit interior vent. "It's not too small, actually," she commented. "I've gone through the events before. Back when Sendak tried to take over the Castle, I used the vent system to get around without being caught. Lance may be taller than me, but he's skinny as a fucking stick. If he wanted to, I bet he could climb through these, no problem."

"Oh-kay," Keith drawled. "So, are you going to follow him or are we going to wait for Allura to start tracking him using the Castle's interior scanners?"

"I'll go in," Pidge answered easily. "Stay out here and keep me in the loop in case anything happens."

Keith nodded. "Can do. I'll let Shiro and Allura know too. They can keep an eye out for any open vents."

"Good idea," Pidge said, rolling up her sleeves and climbing into the tunnel. "See you on the other side."

Keith waited until Pidge was out of sight down a curve in the tunnel before moving to the doorway and hitting the communicator button. "Hey Shiro, Princess, can any of you hear me?" he called into the speaker.

"I can, Keith," Coran replied. "The Princess is attempting to activate the Castle's interior scanners. Unfortunately, it's one of the many systems that still need repairs after so long without maintenance so it's running as smoothly as we'd hoped. Would you like to broadcast you message ship-wide?"

"Yeah, and you might want to hurry up the repairs," the red paladin said, glancing back at the gaping vent. "We think we figured out how Lance escaped."

"Teleport, we know," Coran said.

"Actually no," Keith said. "I think he wanted us to think he teleported."

"That makes no sense," the princess muttered. "Why would he do that? How else could he possibly have gotten out of that room without any of us noticing?"

"He went through the vents," Keith said simply. "Pidge just climbed in to find him the old fashioned way, if she can."

"Through the- Shiro, are you getting this?" Allura said.

"I am, yeah," the black paladin said, sounding both impressed and mildly annoyed. "Keith, stay there and keep an eye on things. We'll keep looking around out here in case he decides to get out through another vent."

"Why would he go through the vents?" Hunk said. "I mean, woah, clever. But why the vents?"

"Actually, I think he's done this before," Coran said suddenly, sounding thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" Shiro demanded.

"Well," Coran said, "I didn't think about it at the time because we were in a bit of a rush, but I did notice one of the vent covers on the bridge walls near the ceiling had fallen off."

"Why didn't you say something?" Keith said in exasperation.

"Like I said, it wasn't important at the time," the Altean advisor said, sounding a bit offended and apologetic. "Besides, that wasn't the first thing I've seen break in the Castle over the last few doboshes, and I doubt it'll be the last."

"That doesn't matter," Keith snapped. "If the Druid came through that vent, that means he's been on the bridge."

"Well, yes, I suppose but- Oh dear."

"Princess," the red paladin said suddenly, "check to see if there were any outgoing transmissions made in the last few days, er, dobo-thingies."

"Doboshes," Allura corrected, sounding distracted. "And I'm checking now."

It was silent for a few seconds while the princess went through the Castleship's computer logs for any possible outgoing transmissions. Keith really hoped he was wrong, but it made sense. If Keith had suddenly found himself on a strange ship with people he didn't trust, he'd use the first opportunity he had to send an S.O.S. out to his team for help. If Lance was even remotely as smart as he claimed to be, then-

"Your suspicions were spot on, Keith," Allura said, sounding grim. Damn. "There was an outgoing transmission made two doboshes ago."

"But that was right before…" Hunk trailed away in realization.

"Before we helped save the Balmera," Keith said, aiming a glare at the gaping vent. "I'm guessing the transmission was sent to a Galra ship."

"It was," the princess confirmed. "Although, I'm not sure which one. I doubt it's in the same position as it was then, but we'll save the contact codes just in case."

"Do you know what the message said?" Shiro asked.

"No," Allura replied. "It was both a visual and text based transmission. I don't know what was communicated visually, but I may be able to find the text message. Hold on."

"Don't worry about it. I've already found it," Coran said.

"What's it say?" Keith said, his forehead creasing in frustration.

"It's actually very short and to the point," the advisor said, sounding mildly surprised. "'Aboard Castle of Lions. All Lions accounted for. Only three active. Headed to a Balmera. Sendak dead. Alone. Injured. Hiding.' Ah, and here's the interesting part. The last line is 'Take me home.'"

"Take me home?" Keith repeated softly.

"That sounds like more of a cry for help than a spy report," Hunk said.

"He told the Galra we were going to the Balmera," Keith argued.

"Well, in his defense, I think those traders who tried to steal the Green Lion told the Galra too," Hunk said wryly. "I'll never underestimate Pidge's technophilia ever again. Ever."

"Besides," Shiro spoke up, "most of that information is obsolete now. We do have all the Lions, but they're all active."

"As long as the Blue Lion tolerates Lance," Keith mumbled.

He still couldn't figure out what the Blue Lion saw in the Druid. Crazy, robot cats. And yes, Red did count. Red was the definition of crazy, robot cat. At this point, Keith wouldn't have been surprised if Red decided to chase and play with a giant ball of yarn if Keith threw it near her.

He heard the Red Lion perk up in his mind and groaned. No giving giant, crazy, robot cats ideas, he chided himself. They took those ideas and made them dangerously realistic. Like the Yellow Lion interpreting his, Shiro's, Pidge's, and its own pilot Hunk's wish to go home as flying through a wormhole to who-knows-where space with no feasible way to get back.

Keith may be attached to Red, but he would definitely be the first to say the Voltron Lions were insane. A feline purr that sounded suspiciously like laughter warmed his mind, filling his body with heat and Keith rolled his eyes.

"And even if the Balmera didn't know we were going to the Balmera," Shiro continued, his voice breaking through Keith's thoughts, "we would have been fighting them anyway. It the part about Sendak that's interesting."

"You think he got into the Castle when Sendak did," Keith said, reaching the same conclusion as the black paladin and not liking it one bit. "What if he tries to get to Sendak's prison pod?"

"I'm working on blocking access to those vents from here," Allura said. "But if he's already passed them, then they won't do much good."

"We'll go down there and check in person," Shiro said.

"Um," Hunk said suddenly, "I don't mean to play Devil's advocate here, but uh, what about the whole alone-hurt-take-me-home part of the message?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," Coran said. "He may have been injured when we took the Castle back from Sendak."

"He did say Pidge blew him up and electrocuted him," Keith offered. "Maybe that happened then."

"That makes sense," Shiro said. "I do remember Sendak having a Druid in his entourage, but when I never saw it again, I figured Pidge had gotten rid of it like she did Sendak's subcommander."

"I guess that's one more thing we need to ask him once we catch him," Allura said.

"We'll have to hold him, this time," Keith said. "Allura, do you know how to stop someone from using quintessence?"

It took a second for Allura to reply. "I'll look into it."

Which meant yes, but it wouldn't be pleasant. At this point, Keith was open to ideas. He leaned back against the wall, annoyed he couldn't be involved in the actual hunt with the others. Damn… What a hunt. He sighed.

Quiznak, these people were frelling crazy! That vent barrier very nearly cut his legs off at the ankles. That would not have been the most pleasant experience. At least the green paladin couldn't follow him now. He should've know the sneaky frakker could fit in the vents like him. He did not know that the green paladin had just about as a good of a grasp of the Castleship's vent layout as he did. That little run-around had not been fun.

At least he was safe for the time being. He looked around, ignoring the mice chittering by his ears. He hadn't ever wandered into this part of the vent system before. He hadn't wanted to. It was much darker and colder here, and not necessarily in the good way. He was only here now because the green paladin kept chasing him.

Oh well. Since he was here, might as well check it out. Maybe there was a vent opening he could slip out of. He was still too weak to try teleporting. Even if he had the energy, he could tell his mind wasn't ready for it yet. He was too tired still. Teleporting while tired or dizzy was never a good idea. Sometimes, not everything arrived at the right place. Sometimes nothing appeared. Ever. Best not to leave that to chance. Lance was happy being alive, thank you very much.

Well, hello there vent opening. He scooted down the narrow tunnel. The vents were definitely narrower down here than the rest of the ship too. It was almost too narrow. If Lance couldn't get out through that vent, then… He didn't want to think about it.

When he was close enough to the grated opening, he peered through the slats. Better to safe than sorry. Wouldn't want to pop out into an ambush of Voltron paladins if he could avoid it. It was a dark hallway. The only light sources were from a row of pods along either wall, all dim except for one. But although it was the pod's brightness that attracted Lance's attention, it was the pod's contents that held it.

Commander Sendak. He was alive?!