Arus, Love, and Peace
Ch. 20
Disclaimer: Voltron, Defender of The Universe isn't mine…it belongs to World Event Production and whoever they feel licensing Voltron to. The original characters like Lawrence, Diana, Dr. Wills, and Birchen are all mine though. Enjoy!
"This is just great. The only things here are crystals and rocks." Lance lamented as he made it to the end of the cave. "Nobody's been here in years. But I'll know where to get the gems for Diana's new jewelry in the future." Lance continued to mutter to himself as he turned around and made his way back to Red Lion outside. As he made his way to the entrance, the light from his lantern shined on the gems, changing their colors from a wide range of reds, purples, blues, and black. Lance also decided to ask Coran about the gems he found here. When he reached Red Lion, Lance stretched his arms as he called Keith through the communicator. "Red to Black. Red to Black."
"Go head, Red."
"Checking-in. Have you heard from anyone else? There's nothing but gems and rocks down here."
"Negative—you're the first one. Mt. Ptolemy has gems while Mt. Lileo just boasts ancient hieroglyphics."
"Nothing but old records at Brahe." Allura said as she entered the conversation. "We'll have to return to preserve and study them."
"All fossils at Copernicus." Pidge added in his comments.
"The same here at Agoras." Hunk checked-in. "It looks like nobody's been here in ages."
"All that's left is Mt. Davi." Keith said as he started Black Lion. "We'll meet up at Mt. Davi before exploring it. Lance call Diana so she can meet us there."
"You know that she should still be resting." Lance remarked as he started the sequence to call her. Just before he could finish his task, Coran interrupted the sequence and filled the screens on all the Lions.
"I have a call from the Smythe House. I'm patching it through now."
A second later, one of the doctors from the clinic split the screen with Coran. "Voltron Force, we have a situation."
"What happened Dr. Wills? Where's Diana?" Lance asked.
"We don't know." Dr. Wills replied, seemingly worried. "She left sometime ago without telling anyone and according to some of the nearby townspeople that she was heading towards Mt. Davi."
"Why does she have to be so stubborn? You'll think she'll know better by now. We're going to have a long talk after this." Lance growled.
"We're on our way to Mt. Davi now, Dr. Wills. We'll make sure that Diana's ok." Keith promised the older doctor on the screen.
"There's one more thing. A few moments ago we checked on Birchen and discovered that he left the clinic unannounced. We have no idea where he went—"
"I got a hunch." Lance interrupted. "This keeps getting better. We'll take care of it and prepare the staff for just about anything possible." Lance was already prepping Red Lion to launch as the last words left his mouth.
"Yes, sir! Please be careful." The line disconnected.
"What are we waiting for? My fiancée is in trouble." Red Lion launched into the sky. "We have to get to Diana before he does."
"Let's not rush into this." Keith called out as Black Lion launched into the sky from Mt. Lileo. "We need a plan."
"I have a plan—I come in with guns blazing and get my fiancée as well as her ex-boyfriend out."
"We need something more tactical than that. You just can't go in—"
"I'm on my way now. See you there." Lance interrupted as Red Lion streaked across the Arusian sky.
"Dammit Lance!" Keith growled. "He would just jump in headfirst."
"It wouldn't be Lance if he didn't." Allura smirked from Blue Lion as she launched to the sky. "You know how passionate our friend is. It won't make the situation better, but you know what will?"
"What's that?" Hunk and Pidge asked together as their lions launched from their mountains.
"Keith comes up with one of his famous plans on the way to Mt. Davi." Allura smiled as she turned her lion towards Mt. Davi.
Meanwhile, in the dungeon deep underground Mt. Davi, Diana glared up at the person who knocked her to the ground and continued to hover over her.
"This is not how I imagined to see you again, Diana." Lawrence stated as he continued to glaze up and down Diana's body to make sure that she wasn't hurt. "And see, you do know how to cuss fluently."
"That makes two of us as far as seeing each other again." Diana responded. "Now, if you don't mind, could you please move so I can get up?"
"There was a day you wouldn't dream of moving from under me."
"That day was a long time ago, obliviously things are different now." Diana replied icily as Lawrence moved and extended a hand to help her up.
"So, I see," Lawrence stated as Diana stood up. He released her hand and noticed the ring on Diana's finger. "That's a beautiful ring."
Diana paused and admired her heirloom engagement ring before looking back to Lawrence with a smile. "It's my engagement ring. You look relatively well."
"I had better treatment. The service here needs a vast improvement." Lawrence noticed a couple of bandages on Diana but said nothing. "I haven't seen food in a couple of days and I'm starving."
Diana took off her backpack and started to open it. "It's not the best food, but I have a few things that'll tide you over until we make it back home to Smythe House." Diana took out the ready-to-eat meal and handed it to Lawrence, before giving him her canteen. She then ate a protein bar as she made sure that Lawrence was in good shape. After taking a few gulps of water, Diana stretched her body as Lawrence finished his quick meal. Tossing the canteen into the backpack, Lawrence smiled.
"Thanks, that'll hold me for now." Diana nodded as she closed the backpack and put it back on.
"Let's get out of here." Diana said as she started for the hangar.
Lawrence stopped her. "What's the rush?"
Diana gave Lawrence a heated look. "Are you seriously asking that? We are miles underground where you were held captive. I also left Smythe House without telling anyone while I'm under medical orders to rest. By now, I'm sure that someone told the Voltron Force that I'm not relaxing as I should be. I'll let you figure the rest out."
"Not about escaping here," Lawrence stated as they ran across the dungeon. "I meant going from dating to engagement. It seems so rushed."
"I'm not discussing this with you," Diana frowned at Lawrence and stopped at the entrance to the hangar. "Especially not right now. The most important thing is to get back outside as soon as possible." Diana turned back to the entrance and started to make her way through the hangar.
Lawrence stopped again and whistled as he noticed all the machines in front of him. "Birchen wasn't kidding when he said he had enough resources to start taking over Arus. There's even a Tiger Fighter ship here!"
"He's planning to take over Arus?"
"Yes. He even has an army, too. He has human-robeast hybrids, drones, android robots. This is just for his personal squad. He seriously wanted Davi-Smythe to be his home base."
"So Davi-Smythe is just a means to a way?"
"Yep."
"That bastard. Over my dead body—Davi-Smythe is home and I'll protect it by any means necessary." Diana vowed before softening. "How come you get all the detailed plans out of him—but all I get are riddles?"
"It's not like I exactly wanted to know. He forced me to hear his plans. He has more bases at several locations—including where previous attacks were." Diana and Lawrence walked in silence for a few minutes when Lawrence noticed movements from his peripheral vision. He reached out and pulled Diana closer to him. Diana was about to protest when Lawrence shook his head. "By the way—did you win the duel with Birchen?"
Diana rolled her eyes as she took a small step back. "What kind of question is that?" Diana paused and also noticed that they weren't alone in the cave. "I guess he told you about the duel, too. Of course I won the sword duel—I'm an extraordinary swordswoman. Better than what most people give me credit for."
"I just wanted to know." Lawrence replied as he pulled Diana closer to him again. He noticed that Birchen was at the door. "I dreamed that you would be my bride. I still want you like crazy." He nodded his head towards the doorway.
Diana pulled away from Lawrence, noticing that he confirmed that they were not alone and it wasn't Lance. "Now is really not the time. Once we get out of here, we need to have a long talk about boundaries if we're still going to be friends."
"Why not now? Now is a good time to knock down those boundaries." Birchen stated from the door. "After all, we can still be family like I wanted all these years. There can still be a traditional engagement and marriage in the Davi-Smythe region."
Diana turned towards Birchen at the door. "You are supposed to be back at the Smythe House waiting to be transferred to the Castle of Lions!"
"And you should be resting in bed at the Smythe House but here we are. Now about my son—"
"I already told you that I'm not your son!" Lawrence stated as he pushed Diana behind him.
"You can't dispute what's in your DNA." Lawrence moved into a fighting stance and Birchen also moved into a fighting stance. "You can't beat me son. I already won before."
"You only beat me once—and you were lucky at that. I'm better with my fists anyway." Lawrence stated as he continued to hold his fighting stance.
"It's called skill, son. But if you just insist—let's fight again. When I win this fight, you two are going to carry out my plans." Without a word, Lawrence threw the first punches. Birchen expertly dodged each punch before responding with several punches of his own with each one connecting to Lawrence's ribs. Lawrence then took a couple of steps back to gain some distance as he dodged and duck the combination of punches and kicks from Birchen. A few moments later, Lawrence finally had Birchen on the defense as quick punches finally made their marks. During the next three minutes, Birchen and Lawrence exchanged unlanded punches and kicks until they pulled away to catch their breaths.
"There might be hope for you yet," Birchen said between breaths.
"There's more from where that came from," Lawrence replied as he slowly returned to a fighting stance. "It's not too late to change your mind and yield."
"I don't yield." Birchen started his next attack on Lawrence. The fight continued, mimicking a competitive kickboxing match. For every strike and kick there was a counterattack response. Blow after blow, the fight continued. Minutes later as both men started showing signs of fatigue, Birchen took advantage of an opening and delivered the ending blow to Lawrence's ribs. Lawrence pulled away from Birchen before collapsing to the floor at Diana's feet. "I'm impressed. I didn't think that you would last that long, Son."
Lawrence managed to shoot Birchen a hard stare. Diana gave Lawrence the first aid kit before walking around his body to face Birchen. She gave her former mentor a menacing stare before going into her fighting stance. Diana turned to look at Lawrence as he slowly worked to patch himself up. "Are you going to be ok?"
"I will be. Focus on Birchen, Angel, I'll patch myself up just fine. Take care of dear old Dad for me."
Diana turned back to Birchen and slowly approached him steps away from Lawrence. Birchen chuckled for a few moments. "You know I'll win. Why don't you be a good girl and yield?"
"I don't need to yield," Diana responded before attacking Birchen first. After a couple of minutes of straight offense, Diana found herself defending her body as she ducked and blocked a series of punches and kicks. Birchen had her backed up a few yards before Diana started to fight back. Birchen and Diana alternated turns at offense and defense for minutes until Birchen backed up so they could catch their breaths.
"I knew you'll be a challenge," Birchen finally said a few moments later. "I'm happy to see that you don't disappoint."
"You know me, I give my best in everything," Diana responded back as she turned to check on Lawrence. He finished patching himself up and was sitting up against the backpack. "How are you holding up, there?"
"I'm holding up fine considering—" Lawrence paused midway through his answer as he saw Birchen creeping up on Diana. Before he could alert her to the upcoming threat, Diana managed to turn around and push Birchen several feet away. "Considering that I'm healing up and you're still fighting."
"Good," Diana responded as she moved into a defensive stance. "Ready for round 2?"
"Whenever you are," Birchen replied.
Diana nodded her head and Birchen went on a offensive streak, combining punches and kicks until he successfully kicked Diana at the ribs. Diana hissed in pain in response before landing two punches to Birchen's abdomen. The fight continued with the only sounds coming from missed blows and skin to skin contact. While Diana was fighting fatigue and Birchen, Lance landed Red Lion next to Diana's hover cycle. Lance shut down the systems on a reclined Red Lion and jump out, landing softly on the ground. He examined Diana's bike and noticed that she took her communicator with her. "At least you had the sense of taking your communicator with you," Lance grumbled as he pressed the button. "Do you know how much trouble you're in?"
"Are we defining trouble as in the present or in the future?" Diana's breathless voice sounded.
"Both. I have a mind to—"
"Now's not the time, Lance. I happen to be fighting Birchen right now."
"Are you crazy? Do you have—"
"Again, not the time Lance. If anyone cares, we're in the hangar. It's the left path at the fork, just keep straight after that. Can't miss us." Lance heard the sound of a punch and a feminine gasp of pain.
"Diana!"
"I'm fine for now. I'm not sure how much longer though." Diana responded as skin to skin contacted sounded in his ears.
"You just can't stay out of trouble can you?" Lance asked as he ran into the cave.
"Whatever. Maybe I'll still be here for a lecture," Diana responded as she barely dodged another left punch from Birchen. Diana threw a sloppy punch at Birchen who just as sloppily blocked it. Grunting, Diana made a few more attempts before blocking a combination of blows. After holding Birchen for several long minutes, Diana finally allowed a hard hit on the rib. After a deep gasp of pain, Diana stared at Birchen as she held her side.
"You're barely holding on, Diana. You can't continue and nobody can save you now. Yield!" Birchen commanded as he was catching his breath, holding one of his sides as well.
"I never yield," Diana snapped as she stood erect again. "I never quit a fight."
"You'll be sorry," Birchen warned as he also stood up to his full height. Without warning, Birchen and Diana moved to attack each other with Diana landing most of her kicks and Birchen landing most of his punches. Nearly out of energy, Diana failed to block a high kick and was knocked to the floor. Birchen walked to where Diana landed on the floor and looked down at her. "Yield." Diana didn't say a word. "I said yield." Diana remained silent as she continued to stare up at Birchen. With a smirk, Birchen started to move his leg to kick Diana—but suddenly found himself pushed into a wall.
Diana was never so relieved to see someone as she did Lance. Lance bent down and helped Diana to stand. "Lance!" Without any hesitation, Diana gave Lance a quick kiss on the lips. "My hero!" Lance grabbed Diana to him and responded with a kiss of his own.
"As much as I love saving you, please don't try this again."
"I can't make any promises," Diana smirked.
"From personal experience, that's the best you're going to get out of her," Lawrence answered as he finally managed to stand-up. "Diana doesn't run from a fight."
"Lance McClain, nice for you to join us," Birchen drawled as he slowly stood up against the wall.
"I wish you could say the same," Lance answered as he produced his blasters. "Birchen you're in pain and you're outnumbered three to one now. Just give yourself up to our custody."
"There's still fight in me yet," Birchen defiantly replied. Slowly, he produced a small remote control and pressed the button before Lance could shot at it. Moments later the walls started to open and full-size android robots poured into the hangar. "I have the upper hand, now." Birchen walked away from the wall he was standing by and started to walk closer to the group.
"Not happening. Go to Hell. You can't be serious," Lawrence, Lance, and Diana replied respectively.
"Have it your way, then. Droids, eliminate Captain McClain. Stun Captain Wiley and Marchioness Smythe-Williams." Instantly, the droids formed a wide circle around Lance, Diana, and Lawrence. "I'll be back kids, play nice with the robots." With that, Birchen hopped on a moped and started to leave the hangar.
"This isn't over," Diana vowed as she took her pistol and barely missed hitting the moped while Lance tossed one of his blasters to Lawrence before missing Birchen as well. "I can't believe that I missed him."
"Right now, we have a more pressing issue. If we don't take care of it, we're going to get shot or stunned," Lawrence stated before shooting a couple of droids. "There's a large company of droids and they're closing in fast. We can't afford to miss any shots."
Diana turned around and shot a droid over Lawrence's shoulder. "We'll have a better chance if we fight back to back." Diana shot another droid while Lance shot a couple more before all three were back to back.
After a few shots, the droids were still marching and closing in on the gap. Diana, Lawrence, and Lance were expelling grunts of frustration. "We could really use some backup." Lance said. "My blaster is nearly depleted. I could sure use the guys here." Lance frowned again as he noticed he only had a few shots left. He quickly calculated that Diana's pistol was about to run out before his and Lawrence's will. A few seconds later, Diana uttered an expletive. Without saying a word, Lance pulled Diana between him and Lawrence before starting his last shots. Closing his eyes, Lance pressed the trigger for the last shot before opening his eyes as the sound of multiple shots and explosions hit his ears.
"The cavalry is here!" Keith said as both of his blasters continued to shoot down the androids. Hunk shot a few more of them before tossing Lance his blasters and grabbing a couple of downed robots to use as weapons against the rest. Allura shot through a line of androids as Pidge made his way to a console on the far wall.
"Hang on! I'm going to see if I could hack into the system." Pidge stated as he furiously typed on the keyboard. "It's going to take a few minutes."
"It won't have to," Diana replied, noticing that Hunk was covering the angle she needed to get to Pidge. I'm a little sore, but I should be able to slide or leap around some of the robots if Hunk covers me, Diana thought to herself forming a quick plan. "Hunk cover me—I'm going to see if I could help Pidge." Hunk grunted his approval as he hit a couple of robots. Closing her eyes, Diana ran and slid on the floor as Hunk threw a downed robot at the two closest ones to her. She then managed to run around the next three as Hunk tossed a few more robots while Lance shot the ones still moving around her. A few moments later, Diana thanked Hunk as she made it to the wall where Pidge was working.
"It still won't let me in!" Pidge cried in frustration.
"Let me try. Birchen had the base programmed to let me in. Let's see if it'll let me play around." Diana said as she started to type in a few commands and Pidge turned to help the others stop the droids. After a couple of minutes, the robots and the shooting stopped. Diana sighed in accomplishment before turning to face the others. "I'm glad to see everyone again," she finally stated after a few moments of silence. Everyone briefly chuckles except for Lance as he rushed to Diana's side.
"What were you thinking?" He roared at her.
"Stop that roaring. I'm just doing my duty as Marchioness and citizen of Arus…"
"Sweetie, you scared the life out of me. Don't forget you're not alone in this anymore. What do I have to say or do?" Lance hugged Diana before she slightly pushed him away in pain.
"It's not like she's glass. Diana is more like a diamond, she—"
"Stay out of it. Not the time." Lance and Diana interrupted at the same time, before finishing together. "Lawrence." Lance tried to pull Diana to him again, but she pushes him away as she leaves the room. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge stare at each other in confusion as Allura, Lawrence, and Lance rolled their eyes. Lance rushed out of the room behind Diana.
"She needs medical attention," Lawrence states. "She took a beating fighting Birchen again."
"She's going to get more than medical attention if Lance has anything to say about it," Allura said as she lifts up Diana's backpack. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm so sore. I fought Birchen too, but didn't last as long as Diana did." Lawrence replied as he followed the rest of the team out of the hangar. "What are we going to do about this? We can't let Birchen gain access to this base again. He has other ones, but this one has the most firepower."
"While we were fighting, Diana also changed the system to where only she can access it when we leave," Pidge stated as they left the hangar.
While the rest of the team was leaving the hangar, Lance finally caught up to Diana in the first lab when she slowed down her pace. Lance swept Diana off her feet and into his arms.
"Lance!" Diana hissed in pain. "I'm very sore right now and I think I hurt my ribs again."
"You don't say," Lance stated. "You were supposed to stay at Smythe House and relax until I pick you up in a couple of days. You are so stubborn! You are not Superwoman—you do not have to jump into every fight and mission."
"I can't help it! Arus is home and I can't sit idling by when someone is determined to harm it. When it comes to Davi-Smythe, even more so." Diana said softly as she enjoyed being in Lance's arms despite being in pain.
"I know sweetheart, trust me I know. Arus is my home and I've been defending her since I got here." Lance finished his statement before kissing Diana. Diana closed her eyes as the kiss got deeper and she tried to forget about the pain her body was in. Lance and Diana was so lost in their kiss that they didn't hear the rest of the team enter the lab. Keith and Allura shared an amused look as they left the couple and headed towards their lions. Pidge followed behind them, ignoring the couple as he commented how interesting everything else in the room was. Hunk helped Lawrence walk across the lab as they brought up the rear of the group. Lawrence was giving Lance an evil look as they walked past them.
"She still needs medical attention! She's still trying to ignore all the soreness and pain!" Lawrence called out before Lance and Diana broke the kiss up seconds later.
"Did you really have to do that?" Hunk asked Lawrence as they left the room.
"He can't help that he's envious of me. But he's right, Diana still needs medical attention at the comforts of Smythe House." Lance remarked as Diana shot a look at both Lawrence and Lance. "Giving us those looks aren't going to change anything so you might as well stop it right now." Diana groaned as Lance continued to carry her to Red Lion. After seating them carefully in the pilot's seat, Diana asked about her bike. "We'll pick-up your bike when your body is back to 100 percent," Lance answered as he prepared to move his lion again.
"That's a great idea. She can't get into more adventures without toys. Already thinking like the husband you are going to be." Coran stated as his face filled the screen in Red Lion. Diana shot Coran a miserable look, before closing her eyes in pain. "How much damage did her body take this time?"
"I'm guessing bruised skin and ribs. Her body is pretty much sore from both the duel the other day and fighting Birchen today as well. I can't tell how much Diana was able to inflict on Birchen, but his back has to be extremely sore considering that I pushed him into one of the walls."
"I'll check on her later. Perhaps she'll stay still this time."
"When hell freezes over comes to mind."
Coran let out a quick chuckle before disconnecting as Diana glared at Lance. "I already told you sweetheart that shooting looks wouldn't change anything." Diana rolled her eyes before starting to move her mouth to say something. Whatever she planned on saying was killed when Lance bent his head down to kiss her again as Red Lion started to hover.