Took a minute to get this puppy up and running, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Please R/R. Remember, your thoughts and comments are always appreciated and helpful. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
Allura had always wondered what it would be like to kill someone with her hands. She had taken out countless numbers of Zarkon's soldiers in Blue Lion. But they had been at war. She had never seen their faces – never felt the blood drain from their body. Now, she stared at Lotor's lifeless body lying prone on the floor before her. His normally vibrant blue skin had already began to fade into a gruesome gray color. His eyes were open, but stared at nothing. And there was the blood. The pool of red continued to spread across the marble floor as the last of Lotor's blood drained away. Allura wanted to look away, but she couldn't. She had always assumed that killing someone would provoke some emotional response. But she felt nothing. Nothing but numbness.
The sounds around her crept into her consciousness, slowly bringing her attention back to her surroundings. She was acutely aware of movement in the distance. The muted sounds of guns firing over and over, and boots running through the corridors thumping mercilessly in her brain. What started as far away, indistinguishable noises in her head, suddenly became louder as they came into focus.
"Allura, are you okay?"
It was Deirdre. Allura had all but forgotten that she was not alone. She turned and gave a weak smile before she nodded. At that moment, she wasn't really sure if she was okay or not, but there were more important things to worry about. She glanced once more at Lotor before taking the first steps toward the bottom of the throne room. She would deal with the aftermath when she had her kingdom back.
Deirdre met her at the bottom of the stairs and gave her a once over before smiling thinly. It was then that Allura realized how she must look. Glancing down at her tunic, she saw splatters of deep red liquid that had already begun to soak into the fabric. Lotor's blood traveled the length of her sleeves only to stop as broad smears that covered her hands. It was a terrifying sight.
The blood curdling wail that echoed throughout the Great Hall, caused both women to snapped their heads upward, focusing on the top of the staircase. Hagar hovered briefly over Lotor's body, before throwing herself down over his lifeless corpse. She grabbed the front of his tunic and shook him as if she could raise him from the dead. "Lotor! You fool! I told you that woman would be the death of you!" she screeched at him.
Allura instinctively reached for her blaster only to find the holster empty. She had relinquished her firearm to Deirdre when they had been discovered by Lotor's soldiers. Deirdre, on the other hand, already had hers drawn. They waited to see what the witch would do next. The wait was brief.
Hagar's attention immediately turned to them. "YOU! I WILL DESTROY YOU!" she bellowed, rising to her full height. She lifted her staff above her head. The orb that rested atop came to life, emanating a dark green light.
Allura cringed. She knew what was coming next. She also knew that there was no way that they could could get to the entrance of the room before Hagar thrust all of her anger in the form of dark energy at them. Then something happened that Allura was not expecting. Deirdre took a step forward and pushed Allura behind her.
"Get behind me!" she said.
There would be debates later about what really happened next, but Allura closed her eyes tightly as Hagar unleashed her power at them. The inevitable never came. Looking up, Allura saw Hagar's beam had stalled only feet from them. In front of her, Deirdre's entire body glowed with a blinding white light. A light that Allura recognized. An equally bright shield of pure energy had manifested itself from Deirdre's torso, spreading out before them, blocking Hagar's magic from reaching them. Hagar screeched loudly, summoning more power. It could not break through the shield. Finally, the witch yanked her staff back. The green light disappeared. At the same moment, Deirdre's shield dissipated, and she fell to her knees, exhausted.
While she didn't think anything could possibly surprise her any further at that moment, Allura witnessed something that she had never dreamed in a million years was possible. Staring up at the throne, Allura saw Hagar's red eyes widen. And there she saw fear. Hagar was irrepressibly afraid. The witch dropped to the ground, covered Lotor's body with her own once more, and they both vanished.
Allura knelt beside Deirdre. "Are you alright?" Beads of sweat had formed on her brow and her skin seemed to be devoid of all color, but she appeared to be lucid.
She nodded. "Yes, I think so."
"What happened?" Allura asked.
Deirdre swallowed hard. Her mouth was incredibly dry. "I have no idea."
More fire could be heard outside.
"Come on." Allura picked up Deirdre's blaster, wrapped Deirdre's arm around her neck and helped her stand. With Allura supporting part of Deirdre's weight, the two of them limped towards the door.
Just outside the throne room, Keith and Lance flanked the heavy, wooden doors on either side. Lance, as was his way, wanted to go in guns blazing, but Keith had warned him to be cautious. They had argued of course. In the end, neither got his way. They jumped back, blasters drawn, as the doors creaked open.
"Allura! Deirdre!" Lance croaked as the two women stared at them from the doorway.
Keith gave them both a once over. Allura was struggling to support an obviously weakened Deirdre, but they both looked like they were no worse for wear. While seeing that the pair was safe was a relief, Keith's hardened expression was unmistakable. He still had a mission. He narrowed his eyes at them. "Where's Lotor?"
The women glanced at each other briefly before Deirdre spoke. "Lotor's dead," she said hoarsely.
"Dead?" Lance blurted out. Both women nodded. His gaze locked onto Deirdre. "How did you...?"
Deirdre said nothing, but shook her head and looked to Allura, who dropped her gaze to the ground.
Keith's jaw ticked as his brain processed the information. The monster that he had come to kill was already dead, and, if Keith was being honest with himself, he really didn't know how to feel at that moment. He watched Allura who continued to watch the ground, refusing to make eye contact.
"Alright, Allura!" Lance was cooing. "You wasted the bastard!"
"Lance," Keith silenced him with a stern voice. When he turned to Allura, his tone softened. "Where's the body?"
"Hagar took it," Allura said.
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Hagar?"
The princess nodded. "She took Lotor's body and disappeared. But not before she tried to kill us. If it hadn't been for Deirdre..."
Deirdre interrupted. "That's a story for another time."
An unspoken moment passed between the women. A moment that neither Keith nor Lance missed. There would be time for talk later.
"Yes," Allura said. "we need to get her to Dr. Gorma."
"Right," Lance agreed moving to help them. "Why don't you let me take her off your hands," he offered, taking Deirdre's weight from Allura. He pulled her arm around his shoulders and snaked his other arm around her waist for support. "I know that she can be a burden sometimes."
With her free arm, Deirdre punched him weakly in the arm. "Stop being a dick."
Lance beamed at her. "It's good to have you back, Dee."
With Deirdre no longer leaning on the princess, Keith was able for the first time to see the blood smears on Allura's tunic. With two great strides, he went to her. "Allura, are you...?"
She shook her head. "It's not my blood," she said quickly.
Realization struck Keith as his gaze followed the deep red trails on her tunic to her bloody hands. This had not been a simple case of taking Lotor out with a blaster from a distance. Allura had been up close when she killed him. It had been very personal for her, and now she had Lotor's blood on her hands. He understood now as memories of the first time he had killed someone with his bare hands flooded his thoughts.
Keith had just been recruited to join the Spec Ops within Galaxy Garrison. He was barely out of the academy. His first mission was to free a group of Drule revolutionaries that were being held by Emperor Zeppo. They were scheduled to be executed – to be made into totems of what happened when someone crossed the leader of the Drules. It was supposed to be an easy, search and rescue, but of course, nothing is ever that simple. Being young and naive, Keith truly believed that the Drules would welcome them as great emancipators. It was not the case. Keith had been disarmed by one of Zeppo's officers, and was forced to fight for his life. He had snapped the man's neck in two with his bare hands. He would never forget that moment in time. Nor would he forget the aftermath. It had taken him weeks to come to terms with what he had done.
He watched Allura a moment longer. Unlike himself, she was not a trained soldier. She had never been prepared for the eventuality that she may have to someday take another's life. He gritted his teeth. That was on him. He should have readied her for such an event. In the back of his mind, however, he knew why the topic had never come up. Foolishly, he had hoped against hope that he would be able to protect her from it.
He reached down to take her hands in his own, ignoring the still fresh blood on her fingers as it smeared onto his own hands. She would not bear the burden alone. Lotor's death was on both of them. Allura finally met his gaze, and he could see the distance in her blue eyes even as she gave him weak smile. Her mind was still in shock. It would take Allura some time before she truly processed the recent events. He would make sure that she had all of the support that she needed.
"The castle," she finally said. "Keith, we have to get the soldiers out of the castle."
"Shh..." he soothed. "Romelle, Sven, and Richie have it covered."
A loud roar of cheers from outside echoed through the corridors of the castle.
"What was that?" Allura wondered.
Keith shared a smile with Lance before turning it to her. "Come and see for yourself, Your Highness." He dropped a hand, but kept the other secure in his own as he turned to lead her outside.
Allura blinked at him. It was a rare occasion that Keith called her Highness, usually reserved for snarky remarks when he was upset with her. But there was no hint of sarcasm or anger with her. He was simply showing respect for her station. She nodded and allowed him to lead.
The afternoon sun blinded Allura as Keith led her outside to the courtyard. The scene she saw when she looked out from the landing took her breath away. Almost two hundred of the villagers from the surrounding areas were gathered in front of the castle. Some carried guns and some had crudely made swords and farm tools. They all held their weapons high chanting loudly.
"Long live Princess Allura! Long live the Voltron Force!"
Keith leaned closer to her. "Your people came to fight for you, Allura. They came to fight for Arus."
She looked up at him, and he saw the tears brimming her eyes. He smiled broadly at her, then nodded back to the crowd whose chants had faded into silence.
Allura took a breath and swallowed hard. They were waiting for her to address them.
"Come on, Allura." Lance smirked as he shifted Deirdre's weight. "I've never known you to be at a loss for words."
It was true. From the moment she had learned to talk, she had been groomed to give addresses in front of large audiences. Now, she found all that training failed her – that she had no idea what to say to her people. They had come out of hiding to defend their own way of life. There did not seem to be anything that she could say that would translate how grateful she was to them. So, she decided to keep it short and simple. She raised her fist into the air and shouted, "Long live Arus!"
The crowd erupted once again into thunderous applause. "Now, everyone go home and find your loved ones. Tell them that you have freed Arus from the Drules!"
The crowd chattered loudly as they began to disperse.
"Allura!"
The princess scanned the crowd until she saw her cousin, Romelle running towards her. The two women hugged each other tightly, both laughing and crying at the same time.
"We did it, cousin!" Romelle cried.
Allura couldn't find the words to reply. Instead, she just squeezed Romelle tighter and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she breathed free. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Sven and Pidge approaching, both supporting an injured Hunk between them. Allura released Romelle and went to them.
"Hunk!"
"Awww...it's just a flesh wound." he said. He turned slightly to show her the bloody patch on his thigh. "And if these two mother hens would let go..." He shrugged Pidge and Sven away from him to prove his point, only to stumble slightly as his leg gave in to the pressure. He quickly regained his composure and stood tall, thrusting his chest out. "See?"
Allura smiled at him. "Rebeka will be relieved, but you still need to get patched up."
"I think that we could all use a once over." Keith said, glancing at Allura. He was still concerned with her mental state. "Pidge, you go to the bunkers and get Dr. Gorma. And let everyone else know that it's safe to come up. We'll get Hunk and Deirdre to the medical bay."
"You got it, Keith!" Pidge said. He took off at full speed back into the castle.
"Commander."
Keith frowned even before he turned to face the voice that had addressed him. Wade was making his way up the steps to the landing, flanked by the Vehicle Voltron Force. He could not see the Explorer or any of the other ships, and wondered idly when and where they had docked. Swallowing every once of contempt he held for the man, Keith nodded appropriately to the ranking officer. "Sky Marshal Wade."
Wade also seemed to be holding something back as he gave a thin smile that was almost completely hidden by his graying mustache. "Congratulations, Commander." He eyes drifted to Allura who stood just behind Keith. "And to you as well, Your Highness. That was an amazing show of strength and courage."
Behind her, Allura was sure that she heard Lance grunt with disgust – a feeling that she shared – and she made no move to return Wade's gesture. "Thank you, Sky Marshal." She glanced behind him and did entreat the Vehicle Voltron Force to a small smile of gratitude. "And my thanks to all of you. Your bravery has helped to save my planet. I will always be indebted you."
"We have come to collect Lotor, Your Highness. I assume that he has been captured?" Wade cut in.
Allura stared at the Sky Marshal. She knew that eventually she would have to tell them what had happened, but at that moment, she could not find the words.
"Lotor's dead." Keith spoke for her, taking a half a step in front of her.
If Wade had held any reaction upon the hearing the news, he did not show it. In fact, Keith noticed, the man's face was as set in stone as he had ever seen it. "Is that so?"
"Yes, Sir," Keith continued.
Wade rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Very well. We will take the body back to Earth. The Alliance will want proof of your claim."
"The body is gone, Sir." Keith answered with no emotion. "The witch, Hagar, took it and disappeared."
"Really?" Wade narrowed his eyes, first at Keith and then at Allura. "Well, then, I will have to personally interview all of those involved in his demise. I must have something to report back to the Alliance. I am sure that they will want to know for sure that Lotor is no longer a threat."
Keith nodded. "Of course." He felt Allura grip his arm tightly. "But it will have to wait, Sir. We have wounded soldiers that need to be cared for." Without waiting for Wade to answer, he turned to the injured Hunk and Lance, who supported the half conscious Deirdre. "Hunk, help Lance get Deirdre to the med bay. Wait for Dr. Gorma there."
Both men looked at him wide eyed, and Keith knew that neither wanted to leave him alone to go against Wade. They were loyal to the end, and that could prove to be their downfall. "That's an order," he said simply, before either could argue. He was pleased when both of them dropped their gaze, nodded respectively to their commander, and disappeared from the landing through the doors of the castle.
Something in Wade's expression told Keith that the Sky Marshal was none too pleased to be put on the back burner. Keith really didn't care at that moment. He was not about to expose Allura to Wade's brand of interviewing.
Wade, however, was not planning on letting the Commander get the last word. "Then there is the matter of taking you and your men into custody." He glanced behind Allura. "That includes you, Holgersson." Romelle gasped and grabbed Sven's hand who had to this point been standing passively by watching the proceedings.
"What?!" Allura cried out. The world was wavering beneath her feet. Now, at the hour of their victory over the Drules, everything seemed to be falling apart again. Allura felt sick to her stomach. She swallowed hard, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I am sure that you are well aware that the Commander and his subordinates are still wanted for questioning in the murder of General Graham. We will be escorting then back to Earth for a formal hearing."
"You will not be taking them anywhere, Sky Marshal."
Everyone turned to the new voice on the landing. Coran stood in the entrance of the castle with Pidge by his side. "These men have been granted asylum by the ruling monarchy of Arus." He made the briefest eye contact with Allura who only stared at him. He nodded to her.
Yes, she thought. Maybe there was a way out of this. The sickly feeling in her gut began to turn to anger, and she forced the anguish that threatened to consume her to the far recesses of her thoughts. She would be damned if she was going to let Wade take them back to Earth to face what no doubt would be his own version of justice. Taking a deep breath to clear her thoughts, she eased the grip that she still had on Keith's arm, squared her frame, and moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with the commander. "Yes, these men are now under the protection of Arus."
She gave him a hardened glare as she waited for his reply. His response wasn't what she had been expecting. He merely smirked at her.
"That would be true, if they were not soldiers in Galaxy Garrison, Your Highness. The only way that they could accept asylum from you would be to relinquish their commissions with Garrison. They would all be stripped of their ranks and considered deserters from the military."
Allura glanced at Keith. His face was set in stone, and it was impossible to read what he was thinking. She wanted him to say something – do something. Get angry. She couldn't believe that he could just stand there and be railroaded by Wade. She wanted him to fight for himself and his team. But he said nothing.
"Is what he saying true, Sven?" Romelle pleaded with him.
"Yes, my love, I'm afraid it is," he answered, pulling her close to him.
"And," Wade continued, "if they were ever to return to Earth, they would be arrested on sight and thrown into jail for treason. A charge that carries a maximum of a life sentence." He paused to let them process the information. He was obviously pleased to have them right where he wanted them.
"Screw you, Wade!" Everyone turned toward the sudden outburst from the normally reserved Pidge, still standing by Coran in the doorway. "You know we didn't kill Graham!"
"A court will make that decision." Wade said. "Now, you will find that I am not completely heartless."
"Yeah, right." Sven snorted under his breath but just loud enough for all to hear.
Wade purposely ignored him. "I will give them time to make their decision." He turned his attention back to Keith. "Tend to your wounded. Think it over. We will be leaving Arus in three days. You will either come willingly to stand trial," he paused and allowed himself a sinister smile, "or you will stay on Arus as traitors to everything to which you pledged your loyalties. I will be waiting on The Explorer for your answer."
With a demonstrative flourish, he turned on his heel and marched down the stairs, followed by the Vehicle Voltron team. Only Jeff stayed behind. He approached Keith.
"I'm sorry it has to go down this way, brother, but there's nothing I can do to help you anymore," he said. Keith only stared past him, refusing to let him off the hook. Jeff understood and turned to follow his team. He paused on the steps and looked back. "Come back with us. Prove that you're innocent," he appealed to them once more.
"Aw suck it, Jeff." Pidge came at him. "You know as well as we do that Wade's probably got a mountain of evidence against us. There's no way we're getting out of this."
Sven nodded. "Yeah, go on back to your ship, whipping boy."
A look of deep sadness and regret crossed Jeff's face as left them standing on the landing.
Allura stood speechless as she watched him leave. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly? She looked at Keith who was lost in his own thoughts. This time she could clearly see that Wade's words were hanging heavy on his mind. She wondered what he was thinking, but too afraid to ask outright.
As it turned out, she didn't have to say anything. Coran approached and spoke. "Commander, you've been awfully quiet. Do you have a plan of action?"
With an unreadable veil back in place, Keith simply turned to look at him. "I have to check on Hunk and Deirdre." With that, he turned and disappeared into the castle, leaving them with little else to do but watch him go.