Chapter Two: Something In The Way
There was something about time that became irrelevant when you spent most of it in a giant purple tank underwater. Don't get him wrong, Lance loved drowning as much as the next war prisoner but the chemicals alone were detrimental to his skin routine. Drowning would have to be a close second to dying and y'know, being magically resuscitated on the daily. Both award winning activities right there. However, after the fourth or sixth...or fortyish time Lance just shut his brain off. It's not like Haggar didn't have her spacey witch hands in his gumbo pot anyway. Did brains taste like gumbo? They probably tasted like a fleshier version of space goo. Lance laughed breathlessly to himself which caused the Galran soldiers/scientists to exchange looks as they tightened his restraints.
Man, he was losing it. Brain goo.
He preferred this room to his usual king-sized suite. His didn't have a giant fish tank and fun company. Sometimes he missed being dry but at least he had someone other to talk to than Bob. After a couple of weeks together the pair had chosen to unanimously end their partnership. Lance needed someone that made him feel alive. Like his Galran scientists, one of them had to be dating. As one particularly dashing alien with shiny armor tightened his neck restraint he flashed the most dashing smile he could offer, "Come here often?"
The alien's helmet couldn't hide their attraction to the blue paladin. Oh baby, they wanted him so bad.
Lance chuckled, trying to disguise his building panic as the machine began to hum around him and said, "Maybe after we're done here we could grab a coffee. I saw a neat little coffee shop next to the morgue. We should hang out. I mean, how many of these sessions have we done together? You can't deny the spark between us."
The alien ignored him as the tank began to fill with a purple liquid. He took that as a great sign to be honest. Playing hard to get. Which genuinely made the whole drowning thing kind of kinky. He voiced said feelings to his captors who just glanced at each other and continued at their work. Lance began to tremble as the liquid continued to rise and he uselessly pulled at the restraints. He squinted at the overhead light and then turned his head towards the machine next to him. He closed his eyes tightly. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. The cool liquid began to close in around his torso. Inhale. Exhale. Think of literally anything else, Lance. It's just like swimming in the ocean. While you're being barbecued in space. It's fine. Just breathe. As the liquid covered his nose and eyes, Lance fought to hold the air he had stolen ticks ago. A few bubbles escaped from his nose and the machine generated pockets of bubbling air as the electricity crackled around him. His scream was muffled by the water around him as the electricity bit through his skin and shot up his spinal cord. He jerked around in his restricted confinement and the needles jammed in his arms pushed their chemicals into his bloodstream.
A bright white shot quickly in front of his vision. It pierced into his brain causing him to jerk away and slam his forehead into the glass. His body screamed for air.
Garlic Knots. His mom's hugs.
His grasp on consciousness loosened considerably as his vision swayed and darkened. It could have been a trick from his mind or the go-go juice being forced into him but Lance could have sworn the alarms on the Galra ship were blaring through the speakers flashing orbs of red light. He kind of had bigger problems, y'know, the whole drowning part and everything. The lights continued to flash as there appeared to be a commotion outside of his tank. The Galran soldiers began to rush through the process much quicker than usual and upped the voltage and injection levels. Lance screamed as bubbles escaped his mouth. Blackness corroded his vision as his body convulsed. Before the dark void overtook the paladin entirely the temperature dropped in the tank considerably. The machines outside blew up in tiny sparks and Lance welcomed the void as the liquid crystalized around him.
The alarms continued to blare as the soldiers scrambled around the prisoner. Lance stopped jerking around in the tank after several time slices and began to float gently at the bottom. Soldiers shouted outside the airlock doors as gunfire rang out in the distance. The Galra momentarily stopped their work to stare at the paladin with shock as the liquid began to freeze over.
"What the quiznak?" One of them said before examining the prisoners vital signs. They were currently flatlined, waiting for them to resurrect the paladin. However, there should be no reason for the machine to malfunction at this time. The gunfire in the ship continued. The Galra unplugged the machine as the electricity died in the solid cube of ice. They all stared uselessly as Lance remained slack, seemingly frozen in time. One of the soldiers began barking orders causing three of them to leave the room to assist the external disruption. Two remained in the darkened room as the red lights flashed rhythmically and the only sounds were of cracking ice and hissing metal instruments. Several time slices passed when a loud crack tore through the tank. The pair met each other's eyes behind the helmets. The vital signs were still shooting in a solid straight line but the cracks violently shredded the ice around the pale body. One of the soldiers shouted orders at the other Galra as they started to close an airtight lid over the tank. More gunfire rang outside the door and the pulsing light on the screen jumped. Another bang. The lid continued to lower. The pulse jumped again. After a tick, all the noises seemed to die off, leaving an eerie feeling in the static, cool air. The soldiers let out an audible sigh of relief as the lid began to seal itself over the container.
The body didn't flinch as the cracking of the ice died off.
The red light pulsed over them, illuminating the fog that curled around the tank and inches above the floor.
Three ticks dragged out for what seemed to be several movements. One of the Galra noticed the pulse line jump again and their leader followed their attention in stunned silence. Another tick. Lance's eyes snapped open, his irises shone an eerie white inside the ice. Before the soldiers could pull their weapons, the tank exploded and shards of glass and ice embedded themselves in whatever they could find. Pieces of their armor split from flying debris as rest scattered across the floor. Lance's irises flickered from white to blue as he sat up and swayed. The lights above the tank had exploded leaving the room in a dark low red light. He took in the temporarily fallen soldiers on the ground and then his blood oozing from small wounds on his face, neck and limbs. The paladin groaned in pain and pulled himself gingerly off the table as the alarm continued across the space ship. When one of the Galra scooted back from him and reached for their weapon, Lance picked up his right knee and slammed his foot into their head. As they went down, he grabbed their weapon and fired two shots. One into each of the soldiers' heads.
"Sorry about that date," he said breathlessly and wiped his brow with his spare hand, "We might have to reschedule." Lance walked past the bodies as smoke sizzled up from the gaping holes in their helmets. He recharged his confiscated weapon and then looted the second gun and two twelve inch knives. As he searched for a shield or a communication device voices shouted outside the doors. By the time the Galra had unsealed the doors, the paladin positioned himself in a dark corner on the left entrance. When the first soldier came through Lance adjusted his gun and whispered, "Show time."
When the electricity charged it fired directly into the alien's head and their body collapsed like a puppet with broken strings. Blood spray from the headshot littered the wall and Lance's upper torso. Unfazed, he fired again when the next person walked in.
"That's four," he said and lowered the smoking weapon. Walking over the bodies, Lance looked in both directions down the hall before he began making his descent towards his destination.
I'm coming Blue. Just hold on.
His focus sharpened in on his immediate surroundings as the training from Shiro and the Garrison kicked in automatically. He counted the footsteps approaching and mentally calculated five soldiers.
Okay Lance. You can do this.
Lance readied his weapon seconds before something large slammed into his face. It clattered to the floor as lights exploded at the back of his skull.
"Paladin! Stand down! I repeat: stand down!"
He quickly grabbed his stolen knife and jammed it through the alien's torso as it glided all the way through the armor. The blood spray barely had time to settle before Lance grabbed the limp body and used it as a shield to block the oncoming assaults. The remaining four Galra fired their guns as they tried to maintain their distance from the prisoner.
"Stand down now!"
The seventeen year old exhaled slowly as he eyeballed their movements. One. Two-
He snatched the gun from the dead man in his arms and fired three kill shots. As the fourth soldier dropped to the floor, Lance tossed his alien shield and dodged an electric blast that exploded the metal wall behind him. He was only on the ground for less than a tick before he rose up to meet his opponent and jammed a gleaming knife through their leg and the other knife up through their stomach. The blood splashed across the pair as the Galra swayed and then collapsed after a few ticks. The wounds squelched as he drew back the knives quickly and rose to his feet. Lance didn't give the soldier another glance as he snuck past the next two hallway corners and waited for the next group to pass. He turned the corner and he instinctively kicked his opponents knee in and then pierced the blade through the helmet.
"That's...shit, eight? Nine? I can't keep track honestly," Lance said and struggled to catch his breath. He wiped a grimy layer of sweat and blood off his face with a forearm and clenched both knives tightly. Right then. Where are you, Blue? The paladin had only seconds to close his eyes and mentally seek out the mystical blue aurora of the metal lion.
"..."
Gotcha.
His eyes opened with purpose when he was forced to jerk back from an oncoming blast.
"Shit! Shit shit shit," he swore and tumbled back behind the corner. The second blast struck its intended target and began eating away at the charred, oozing flesh. Lance's legs collapsed beneath him as his back slid down the cold metal wall. He cried out as red stained fingers drew back from the stomach wound trembling, "God damn it." Lance's face twisted in pain as beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. Footsteps grew closer. A shot fired behind the hallway corner and a body thudded heavily to the floor. Lance frowned in confusion and scrambled for the blade a couple feet away. He swung it swiftly at the approaching form on his right. The form clad in red armor jerked back quickly, "What the-what? Lance!"
Lance frowned and stared at the person standing in front him. He squawked, "Keith?"
Keith's eyes widened as he swiftly assessed the other boy's condition and glanced over his shoulders before drawing closer, "What happened to you? We've been looking everywhere for you!"
The other boy grimaced, his voice strained and sarcastic as he said, "Nothing much. The Galra and I hit it off so they threw me a party and we all sang kumbaya."
Keith leaned to his knees as he ghosted fingers over the injury and then traveled to his blood spattered face to check for further injuries. He said nonchalantly, "Sounds like fun. Can you stand?"
"What do you think?"
Keith noted that there was more alien blood covering the paladin than not and said, "Let me rephrase that: can you fight?" The concern in his face sharpened with the gravity of their situation.
Lance's hand clamped over the sizzling bullet wound on his right side and smiled with bravado, "Always. You?"
Kieth couldn't help but smile back and gave a hand to his teammate, "Wouldn't have it any other way." The latter latched onto it and groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. Lance panted painfully through clenched teeth and said, "We need to find Blue. I sensed her a few moments ago. She can't be too far from here."
The red paladin nodded and activated the comms on his helmet as he surveyed their surroundings, "Shiro? Pidge? Does anyone copy? I have Lance. I repeat, I found Lance. Do we have eyes on the Blue Lion?"
Shiro's voice came through the helmet, "Nice job Keith! Is Lance okay?"
Keith surveyed the other boy quickly and said, "He could use a shower and a trip in the healing pod but he's unfortunately he's still Lance."
Pidge's voice came through next, "That's terrible."
Before Lance could make a noise of protest, Shiro spoke again, "Alright, Pidge, can you get eyes on Blue? Hunk and I are holding off a small fleet of Galra so we'll all need to work quickly."
"On it," Pidge said. Then they added after a tick, "I am hacking into their database so you will have five minutes to get to the northeast hangar before the door closes."
Keith said, "Understood. Can you s-"
"-Sending a 4D map of the ship now."
Keith and Lance saw the interactive blue hologram flicker to life on the former's plated wrist. They zoomed in and found the location of the blinking dot.
"Got it. Lance and I are headed there now."
"Thanks Pidge!" Lance wasn't sure if they heard him before the comms were cut off. He didn't have time to question it before he and Keith were booking it to the northeast hanger. The adrenaline pumping through his veins dulled some of the pain but Lance found that it was more difficult to concentrate after a minute of running through the hallway passages. Sweat dripped under his prison robes as he followed Keith and put all of his energy into focusing on the task in front of them. They finally reached their destination when eight Galra soldiers decorated the outside of the hull. The two paladins stopped, one slightly out of breath and the other angry.
"Hault!" the Galra pointed their weapons directly at the pair and the electricity filled the air as they charged to full power.
Lance counted the ticks. He said to Keith quickly, "Shield! Trust me!"
Keith looked at him like he had lost his goddamn mind but nodded and activated his shield. Lance barely had time to put his back to the other paladin as the eight aliens began to fire. It took three complete ticks for those things to charge. Maybe they should consider upgrading. Lance held two in each hand as the electricity built and Keith slowly started to edge backwards from the multiple shots.
"Lance!"
"I'll be fine. Just turn when I say," he said self-assuredly.
"Are you out of your mind?" Keith shouted angrily and let his red broadsword form into a gun.
"Probably, do we have another choice?"
The soldiers began to move around to the side of the two men and Lance fired a kill shot into their helmet. That's seven. Six, if you count the one that Keith dropped. They both turned with Lance to the wall and the shield out in front as they began to edge towards the door. Lance grimaced at the tight space while they undertook heavy fire. There were more coming this way, he could hear the shouts in the distance. Five.
They were growing closer to them steadily and Keith had seemingly split his focus on protecting Lance and fighting their attackers. He knew this wasn't working. It had been a spur of the moment decision. Lance breathed to himself and briefly closed his eyes; however, this plan was probably riskier if not borderline suicidal. The air around them seemed to drop in temperature as the lights flickered. He waited for a moment as the two hand guns came to life with electricity. One tick. Lance shot out quickly from behind Kieth and aimed the two barrels at the oncoming soldiers.
"Lance!"
Two ticks.
The aliens pulled the triggers on their own weapons as Lance moved towards them.
Three.
He dropped to the floor and slid a few feet before killing two of the soldiers. Three left. Keith fired his weapon and then had to use his shield as a blunt instrument as he fought the other two aliens in close quarters. Lance spun around to face the last remaining Galra before he was hit by a proverbial sledge hammer. The blast melted through his abdomen and he screamed.
"Lance!"
The soldier's helmet shielded its cool expression as they kicked him in the head, which sent his weapons scattering across the floor. He didn't see Keith furiously fighting the other Galra in attempts to come to his aid. All he could see was a blurry mess as he resisted against a pull of darkness. Lance pushed his feverish forehead to the cool metal floor and grasped his freshly bleeding stomach wound. Great. Now both his sides could match. He grit his teeth as he growled in pain and pushed his body to face his attacker.
They just stared at him for a brief moment and the lights flickered again. Lance and the soldier both looked up to see the source of the strange phenomenon when they saw ice furling and cementing through the ship's infrastructure.
When they made eye contact, Lance exhaled visibly as the air crystallized. He frowned in confusion and looked around the room. Keith was bloody and had apparently lost his gun as he fought the other two soldiers in hand to shield combat. Lance looked back at the Galra in front of him. They pointed their weapon at him and made another move to kick him in the head. Lance swiftly grabbed his knife and sent it through their leg. They screamed and fired their weapon inches from the downed paladin's face. Lance didn't have time to think, he instinctively grabbed the opening of the barrel with his bare hand. Whatever ice that had coated the vents and the wiring now pooled into the weapon. The pair stared at the other in stunned confusion. Before either of them could act, a bullet burned a hole in their helmet. They dropped limply to the ground when Lance looked over to where the bullet had come from. Keith panted as he mopped the blood and sweat off his forehead and said, "That was the dumbest plan I have ever seen."
Lance squawked offensively from his position on the floor and his eyes snapped to the dead bodies around them, "Are you serious? What took you so long?"
Keith frowned and said, "Me? You literally had one guy."
"After I killed several of them with one shot! Team sharp shooter, thank you very much."
Keith looked down the hall with concern and said, "We need to go. I'll see if I can get Pidge to hold the doors open, can you pilot Blue?"
Lance didn't answer as he rose to his feet unsteadily and he clamped a hand over his abdomen to staunch the bleeding.
"Lance."
"I got it!" He snapped, "Lets go."
Lance took one last look at the vents and the frozen weapon and then followed the other paladin to the hangers. When the doors opened to expose Blue, all his troubles seemed forgotten. The pair's eyes both lit up with blue quintessence and the metal counterpart let out a roar. The quintessence faded from his eyes and Lance smiled, "Let's go home."