"I can't put my finger on it, but your face really pisses me off," Lance told his new drug dealer as she strapped him down, "Like, your face is begging me to make fun of you…"
She ignored him, just like everyone else he tried to strike up a conversation with. It seemed like Haggar had done a complete turn over on her staff. Though he hoped she still kept the cook, the poor guy didn't need to be divorced AND out of a job.
He sighed as she strapped his head down and fastened the bit in his mouth. He wondered if he should be concerned with how rote this all felt like.
The door to the lab opened and Lance twisted slightly to get a look at who it was. Four sentries entered; two carried an unconscious Keith in between them, while two more carried Shiro who had a massive gash across the side of his head.
"Ahhh…Uk…."Lance garbbled through his bit as he pulled at the restraints. Looking up at his dealer, though, he paused.
She was pissed.
"What is this?" She asked, "Who are these people?"
"Haggars orders," was all the sentries would respond. She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and her face was once more the calm and unconcerned arrangement that had been there before.
"I see," she said, "you watch them, I will go tell Madam Haggar that preparations are ready."
As she left Lance looked between her and Keith, realizing why her face had irked him so much.
()
"How exactly did this happen again?" Hunk asked trying unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position on the cell floor.
"Very quickly, that's how," Pidge answered, "It was a set up."
"You sure?"
"there's not enough proof to call it a set up," Allura said for the tenth time. Pidge had it in her head that this had only gone so wrong because it was aimed against them from the start. Everything was aimed against them at the start, so Allura wasn't convinced.
"You could tell they targeted Keith and Shiro right off the bat," argued Pidge, "we had no choice but to surrender after that."
"That still doesn't mean-"
Their cell door opened and Haggar stepped in. She gazed at them for a moment before saying anything.
"Take the intelligent ones and send them to Commander Roshak. Leave the Princess here."
"How about not?" Hunk said leaning back as sentries moved toward them. The witch was already gone, expecting her orders to be obeyed to the letter.
()
Krolia had no idea what to do at this point.
She had never set much score for Kolivans way of doing things, but in this situation, it was much harder and much more dangerous to react. She hadn't expected this 'mama-bear' feeling to be so hard to repress.
"Madam Haggar," she bowed as she came up to the witch in the corridor, "Preparations are complete."
"I want you to over see the two remaining paladins," Haggar said, "Make sure they get to Roshak, this cannot go wrong."
"Yes ma'am," Krolia replied and walked further away from the room she wanted to be in.
()
Lance couldn't move. Having quintessence put in tended to make him a little loopy, that was about it; not accounting for the after effects. But having the quintessence removed was like having someone shove their hand in his gut to remove his innards.
Somehow he still retained his sense of self, but he was so exhausted afterwards it was a chore to breathe. His head spun and something just didn't feel right. But that wasn't all.
As Haggar drained the majority of the quintessence he had stored, he caught a glimpse of her own. Her plans were suddenly very clear.
()
Shiro started to come around, his vision tinged with all sorts of colors. He made out the hooded figure of Haggar standing on the other side of Keith. The red paladin was curled up into a ball, clutching his arm and shouting in pain.
"Watch well," Haggar said in his ear, making him jump. When did she get from there to here? "Watch everything carefully before I kill you. Because this is all your fault. This is happening because you escaped. These children had nothing to do with anything, until you dragged them out here. Your selfishness will not kill them, but give them eternal pain. I no longer have my emperor, or my prince…and it's your fault."
