Please have some tissues nearby...you might need them if you're sensitive...I tried to be as gentle as I could, but...well, you can only be so gentle with a sledgehammer. The things in this chapter is one of the reasons a friend of mine hates me as much as she loves me... But, it will get better! Promise!

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter Twenty

Allura sat in her office the next morning, waiting on Duvessa to arrive. She quietly sipped her tea and read over some paperwork.

X x x x x x x

Duvessa dressed and walked down to the infirmary. She stepped into Larmina's room and smiled at the young woman laying on the hospital bed.

"Vessa? What happened?" Larmina asked softly. She held up her wrists, which still had the restraints on them. "I don't understand…"

Duvessa walked up beside her. "Do you remember anything of last night?"

Larmina nodded. "Yeah. I went to the ball and had to dance a few dances with Daniel and a few other visiting dignitaries. Prince Sylvan couldn't dance at all and scratched me with his ring. Then I vaguely remember you bringing me down here for some weird reason…"

Duvessa nodded. "Sylvan drugged you last night when he scratched you with his ring," she stated. "He's in the brig now."

Larmina growled. "I want to hit him."

Duvessa laughed softly. "I know that feeling all too well," she agreed as a nurse came in, sporting a black eye. She quickly checked Larmina's vital signs then quickly left the room.

Larmina stared after the nurse. "What happened to her?" Larmina asked, her gaze turning back to Duvessa.

Duvessa bit her lower lip. "You did."

Larmina's face went slack. "What?"

Duvessa nodded. "The drug he used on you made you black out, forgetting everything that happened. I know because it is what happened to Keith and I. The effects are different on everyone," she stated. "You got a bit violent with the staff in here. I managed to calm you down and, to be honest, I don't know how or why you calmed down for me."

Larmina held her head in her hands. "Aunt Allura is going to kill me," she muttered.

Duvessa laid her hand on Larmina's shoulder. "No, she won't. You were drugged, you had no control over your actions. She knows that."

Larmina sighed. "Still, I shouldn't have…"

"Alright, you can stop beating yourself up over this," Duvessa stated, shaking her head. "You're starting to make me think of someone."

Larmina paused. "Keith," she whispered.

Duvessa nodded. "Yeah."

Larmina blushed. "So, can I be released?" she asked, lifting her hands.

Duvessa released the restraints on Larmina. "I'm sure Doctor Gorma will be along in a little bit. Let him check you over, ok? I need to go talk to your aunt."

Larmina nodded and Duvessa left the infirmary and headed to Allura's office.

X x x x x x x

Allura gasped softly when a knock sounded on her office door. "Come in," she called.

Duvessa walked into Allura's office and smiled. "Sorry I'm late. I stopped to check on Larmina."

Allura smiled. "How is she?"

"Awake, confused and embarrassed that she attacked most of the medical staff," Duvessa answered. She sat down across the desk from Allura. "Otherwise, she seems to be alright."

"That's good," Allura whispered. She looked at Duvessa. "How are you doing?"

"Me?" Duvessa asked, surprised at the question. "I'm fine. We caught Sylvan, I couldn't be happier."

Allura nodded. "Speaking of, we need to transport him to Earth so the Alliance can deal with him."

Duvessa nodded back. "When?"

"As soon as we possibly can," she stated. "And there is a series of meetings that need attending on Earth as well. I was wondering if you would go and stand in as our representative."

Duvessa nibbled on her lower lip, but nodded. "Sure. I take it Coran has other obligations currently?"

Allura nodded. "Yes, he's working on several other alliances that have been coming in from other member planets of the Alliance."

"Sure, why not?" Duvessa asked with a grin.

Allura laughed. "I was planning on having the shuttle to Earth leave today."

Duvessa sighed and shook her head. "You're not giving me much time to pack."

"We need to get him to Earth for trial."

Duvessa nodded. "Alright. I'll go pack," she stated and got to her feet. She took a few steps and stopped.

"Duvessa?" Allura asked.

One of Duvessa's hands shot out and braced against the wall, while the other landed over her stomach. "Allura," she whispered.

Allura came around the desk and stared into her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Duvessa shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered, pain lacing her voice. "My stomach…"

Allura's eyes went wide and she lifted her Voltcom. "Medical emergency," she stated. "Doctor Gorma to my office!"

X x x x x x x x x

Gorma rushed into Allura's office to find Duvessa curled into a ball on the floor, Allura on her knees beside her. "What is going on?" he asked.

Allura looked up at him and shook his head. "I don't know, doctor," she stated. "She said something about her stomach and she seemed to be in pain. Next thing I knew she was on the floor like this," she murmured, looking back to Duvessa.

Gorma knelt beside her and gently touched Duvessa's forehead. "I was afraid of this," he whispered. He looked back to the door where his medical team stood with a gurney. "Let's get her to the infirmary."

Allura watched, a puzzled expression on her face as she watched Gorma and his staff lift Duvessa onto the gurney and wheel her off towards the infirmary. He was afraid of this? What? She quickly got to her feet and hurried after the medical staff.

X x x x x x x x x

Allura ran into the medical wing and saw the chaos that was erupting all around the ward.

"She's miscarrying, Doctor!" a nurse shouted over the din.

Allura paled. "Oh, no," she whispered. "No…" She sank to her knees as her tears fell.

X x x x x x x x

Lance ran into the infirmary and saw Allura on her knees in the middle of the waiting room. He moved over to her and gently pulled her to her feet. "Allura? What's going on?" he asked.

Allura turned and buried her face in the leather of his jacket on his shoulder. "Lance, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you call for a medical emergency," he stated. "Keith, Pidge and Hunk are preparing Sylvan for transport, so I got elected to come down and figure out what was wrong. What is it?"

Allura looked up at Lance, tears streaming down her cheeks. "She's miscarrying."

Lance blinked. "Huh?"

"Duvessa. She was in my office and just as she was about to leave, she touched her stomach and she doubled over," Allura explained. "I called the emergency and Gorma came with his staff. They brought her in here and someone shouted that she…"

Lance paled. "Keith…"

Allura nodded. "From Sylanka."

Lance closed his eyes and pulled Allura into his arms. "This is going to be hell," he muttered.

"I was asking her to go to Earth," Allura whispered. "To sit in on some very important meetings with the Alliance. Coran thought it would be best if she went because of who she is and he's been working on several treaties with several Alliance planets. I told her she was going to be going with the transfer of Sylvan…"

Lance rubbed her back. "Stop. This isn't your fault," he whispered.

"I know, but…Lance, when Gorma came to the office and found her on the floor," she paused and looked up into his honey brown eyes. "Lance, he said he was afraid that this was going to happen."

Lance froze, his face going paler than usual. "He knew she was…"

Allura nodded. "That's what I figure. How did he know?"

"She came in here yesterday morning," Gorma's voice stated from behind them.

Allura spun and Lance looked up at him. "Why did she come in here?" Allura demanded.

"She said she wasn't feeling good in the mornings and sometimes in the late evenings, so I ran some tests," Gorma answered. He glanced back towards the room his staff was busily going in and out of, making sure they didn't need him right away. Satisified, he looked back to Allura. "I got the test results back late last night. She was pregnant, about a month along which coinsides with the incident on Sylanka. Once I got the results, I was worried that with her having only come out of cryostasis a mere two months ago if her body would allow her to come to term or…" He waved towards the room behind him. "I never did get a chance to tell her the results, either," he admitted.

"Keith isn't going to take this well," Lance muttered. "He will find out, we can't keep this from him."

Allura shook her head. "But, will he blame her for it? She knew she wasn't feeling well, but will he accept that she didn't know?"

Lance frowned, ran his hand through his hair and with a curse, walked out of the infirmary.

X x x x x x x x

Keith looked up as Lance walked into the hangar bay where the last of the provisions for the prisoner transfer was being loaded onto a ship. "Is everything alright?" he asked, seeing the carefully schooled expression on his friend's face.

Lance shook his head. "We need to talk," he murmured quietly so Pidge and Hunk couldn't hear.

Keith's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Allura? Is she…"

"Allura is fine. It's not her," Lance answered.

"Larmina?"

Lance shook his head. "Come on, Keith. We really need to talk."

Keith paled, suddenly realizing the intense look in his friend's eyes. "Oh, hell."

Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder and walked him out of the hangar, through the Control Room and into the cadet's empty classroom.

Keith moved several steps into the classroom before he spun to face Lance. "Duvessa."

Lance nodded, a pained and worried expression on his face.

Keith shook his head. "I don't like that look you've got…"

Lance bowed his head. "There really is no easy way to tell you this, Keith. She's miscarrying."

Keith felt as if the floor fell out from underneath him. He wavered on his feet until Lance moved to him and caught his arm.

"Easy, buddy," Lance murmured and guided him to the ground. He knelt beside him.

"From Sylanka, right?" Keith asked, his eyes on anything but the man kneeling beside him.

"Yeah. At least that's what Gorma's thinking. She had felt sick for a couple of days so she went and had him run a couple of tests yesterday morning," Lance told him quietly. "He didn't get the results back until late last night and he hadn't had a chance to tell her."

Keith nodded.

"But, Keith, he said he was worried about this happening. He said after he got the results back he wasn't sure if her body was going to carry it to term. She's only been out of cryostasis for a couple of months and she was in it for five damn centuries," Lance stated.

Keith closed his eyes, but nodded again.

Lance frowned. "Don't bottle this up, man."

Keith opened his eyes and blew out a harsh breath. "What else can I do, Lance? I…got her… And now…"

"I know," Lance answered. "This isn't fair to you or her. Hell, even Allura was taking it hard."

"She's in the infirmary?"

"Both are in there."

Keith nodded and carefully got to his feet, Lance helping him.

"Are you sure you want to…" Lance asked, noting his friend wasn't steady on his feet.

Keith looked at his friend. "I have to," he whispered.

Lance nodded. "You need me to…"

Keith shook his head. "No. Make sure the transport is ready to go. I want him off Arus as fast as we possibly can get him off the planet."

Lance frowned, but nodded. "Alright. Don't beat yourself up over this and don't take it out on her, either. She didn't know."

Keith nodded and calmly walked out of the classroom, headed for the medical wing.