Hello,

All relative disclaimers apply.  Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this story, I greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

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            Darcy was lying on her back, wondering why she couldn't feel anything.  She had been shot.  She knew it, but she couldn't feel anything.  She couldn't feel pain or the ground beneath her.

            "Darcy?  Darcy, stay vith me."  Sven knelt beside her.

            "I don't feel anything."  She whispered.

            Sven exchanged looks with Caleb.  "You'll be fine Darcy, de medic is on his vay."

            Darcy felt her eyes start to close.  Everything was covered by a soft haze.  All sounds were muffled.

            "Darcy, come on, stay vith me."  Sven tapped her cheek gently.

            Lance. The thought of him had her fighting to open her eyes. 

            "Sven?"

            "Don't talk, save your strength."  He told her.   

            "No, Sven…listen to me."  It was becoming more difficult for her to breath.

            "Vhat is it?"

            "I love Lance."


            He smiled at her, "I know, he knows."

            "No, you have to tell him I said it."

            "You can tell him vhen you get back to Arus."


            "No, Sven."  A tear fell from her eye and ran back into her hair.  "I love him, tell him I said it."

            "I vill."  He promised.

            "I said it twice, now I only have to say it ninety eight more times."  She murmured.

            Sven looked at Caleb, who shrugged.

            The medic came running over and slid to his knees beside her.  He ripped open her uniform and sucked in his breath. 

            "Get a stretcher over here, we have to get her inside."

*************************************

            Back on Arus, Lance was pacing Castle Control, waiting for word from Pollux.  Allura entered, carrying a mug in her hand.

            "Here, Lance, I brought you some coffee." 

            He looked at her as if she was speaking a different language.

            "Lance, she's strong, she'll be fine."

            "Allura, when Keith was captured by Zarkon and we didn't know where he was or what was happening to him, I kept telling you that.  Did it help?"


            She shook her head.

            "What did?"  He asked.

            Allura set the mug down and wrapped her arms around him.

            "Why haven't we heard anything?"  He asked her.

            "I don't know, Lance, I don't know."

            The communications console beeped.  Allura waved away the guard who went to answer it and walked over to it.

            "Caste Control, Arus."

            "Allura?"  Sven asked.

            "Yes, Sven, how is she?"
            Lance walked over to the monitor and stood beside Allura.

            "She is stable.  Dr. Indermac said she should be ready for travel soon."

            "How is she, really?"  Lance asked.

            Sven looked at his old friend, he looked pale and drawn.  "She's been unconscious for a vhile now.  She's very veak and it did damage to a lung and grazed her heart."


            "Is she going to make it?"  Lance asked, his voice shaking.

            "Ve don't know."  Sven said gently.  "It's bad, Lance."
            Lance took a shaky breath.

            "When do you think she can head home?"  Allura asked.

            "Ve're leaving in an hour.  Ve should be dere about four in de morning.  Have you heard from Romelle?"

            "They're about an hour away.  Paget said she's been sleeping most of the trip."

            "Good, she needs rest.  Allura, can I talk to Lance alone for a moment?"

            "Of course."  Allura squeezed Lance's hand and motioned for the guard on duty to follow her.

            "What is it, Sven?"

            "She told me to tell you that she loves you."  Sven said quietly.

            Lance squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep his composure.

            "She vanted me to tell you she said it and den she said someting about how she said it twice now she only has to say it ninety eight more times." 

            Lance let out a shaky laugh and felt a tear run down his cheek, "Bring her back to me, Sven."

            "I vill do my best."  Sven promised.

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            The M-14 carrying Romelle and Paget arrived just before midnight.  Romelle was brought down on a stretcher and taken straight to the hospital wing.

            Paget, Allura, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge all sat in the waiting room.  Lance was keeping his vigil in Castle Control.

            "How is she?"  Allura asked Dr. Gorma after he finished his examination.

            "She's very weak.  They were successful in stopping her labor, but she is to be on complete bed rest until the baby is born.  I don't want her to take any chances.  I want her to stay here overnight for observation, then we can move her to one of the guest rooms."  He told her. 

            "She and the baby will be alright, though?"  She asked.

            "With proper rest and care, yes, they should be."

            "Can I see her?"

            "For a few minutes, she needs to rest."

            Allura crept into Romelle's room.  "Hi there.  How're you feeling?"

            Romelle smiled, "I'm alright.  Have you heard from Sven?"

            "He's on his way, he'll be here in about four hours."

            "I'm on complete bed rest for the next month and a half."

            "I know, we're going to set up the room in the east wing that you like so much, it looks out over the lake."

            Romelle nodded and looked down at her blanket.

            "What is it, Romelle?"

            "Please don't take this the wrong way Allura.  I love you and all that you have done for me.  But I had hoped my baby would be born on Pollux."

            Allura took her hand, "I understand, Romelle, really I do.  But your hospital was damaged and your and the baby's health are what's important right now."

            "Are they still attacking Pollux?"

            "No, Sven said they left."

            "Do you think they'll come back?"

            "I don't know, but the Garrison is helping patrol the planet in case of attack."

            "What about casualties?"         

            "Don't think about that now, Romelle."

            Romelle nodded and rubbed her hand in circles around her stomach.

            Allura squeezed her hand, "Get some rest.  Sven will come right here as soon as he arrives."

            Romelle nodded, "Thank you Allura."

**************************************

            "Don't you think you should get some rest?"  Keith asked Lance when he entered Castle Control.

            Lance just looked at him.

            "Sitting up here and getting exhausted isn't going to help your attitude when she arrives."

            "Back off Keith."

            "She's a strong person, Lance, she'll pull through this."  Keith pulled a chair over.

            "It kills me that I can't be with her right now.  I don't know if I can take the waiting."

            "I know how you feel."

            "How's Romelle?"

            "She's on complete bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy."

            Lance smirked, "Does Dr. Gorma know he'll have to tie her down to get her to follow those instructions?"

            Keith smiled, "I think Sven will be able to convince her, if not, I think we have rope he can use."


            "They should be here in three hours."  Lance said, glancing at the clock.  "You don't have to wait up."

            "I'm too wound up to sleep.  This has been one hell of a day."

            "Tell me about it."

            "How's your wrist?" Keith asked.

            Lance looked down at the elastic bandage wrapped around his left wrist.  Keith had ordered him to see Dr. Gorma after they had received Sven's message.  He had sprained it when Voltron had been tossed to the ground.  "It's alright."

            They both turned when the door slid open and Jesse walked in.

            "I'm not in the mood to deal with you, McCormick."  Lance said.

            "I'm not here to cause trouble.  I was wondering if you had any more news on Darcy."


            "What do you care?"

            Jesse sighed, "I know you don't believe me, but I care a great deal about her.  She's a wonderful person."

            Anger coursed through Lance.  He stood and faced Jesse.  "Who the hell do you think you are?

            "I just came to see if I could help."

            "Help?  You want to help?  Then just stay away from Darcy.  Don't ever talk to her, look at her, or try to contact her in any way."

            Jesse's eyes flashed with anger, "What makes you think you can tell me what to do?"

            Lance leaned in close to him, "I know what happened in the garden but I promised Darcy that I wouldn't touch you as long as you left her alone.  But right now I am this close to beating you within an inch of your life."

            Jesse shifted his gaze to Keith, "Uh, Captain?"

            Keith shrugged, "I'm off duty and I don't like you any more than Lance does."

            Jesse's eyes widened, "You aren't off duty."

            Keith went to stand next to Lance, "Okay, so I'm still on duty, but you have to understand that Darcy is one of us now and you mess with one of us, you have to deal with the repercussions."


            Lance grabbed the front of Jesse's shirt with his good hand, "I swear to God, McCormick, if I catch you anywhere near her when she gets off that ship, I will kill you."

            Keith put his hand on Lance's arm, "Step down, man.  He's not worth it."

            "The Garrison will hear about this."  Jesse said as he straightened his shirt.  "You have no respect for proper protocol and you are way too over emotional."

            "Yeah, but we're the Voltron Force and we get the job done."  Lance said.

            "Go back to your room, McCormick."  Keith said, tiredly.

            "I was just about to leave."  He gave Lance one last look and turned to leave.

            "You know Lance," Keith said when the door slid shut behind Jesse.  "It really isn't a good idea to threaten the life of a fellow Garrison officer, no matter how big an asshole he is."

            Lance shrugged, "Are you saying he didn't deserve it?"

            "No, he did.  But he's going to go crying to his uncle."

            "Then his uncle can contact my father."

            Keith put his hand on Lance's shoulder, "Try to get some rest, man."

            Lance nodded, "Good night, Keith."

            "Good night."

***********************************

            Lance had dozed off in the chair in front of the Castle Control console.  The guard on duty had been told by Allura to let him stay as long as he wanted.

            He jumped awake when the console began beeping. 

            "Castle Control, Arus."  Lance called into the microphone.

            "Corporal Woodham asking permission to land."

            "Permission granted.  How far out are you?"

            "ETA ten minutes.  We need Dr. Gorma on standby."

            "He'll be there."  Lance assured him.  "Castle Control out."  He then turned to another console and connected with the hospital wing, "We need Dr. Gorma ready for a patient in serious condition.  Can we get a gurney out to the tarmac?"

            "Yes sir," the nurse responded.  "We're on our way."

            After some debate, Lance decided to let Keith know they were coming.  He didn't want to be alone when the ship landed.

            "We'll be down in a few minutes," Keith told him.

            Lance went out to the tarmac and paced, impatiently.  Dr. Gorma arrived with two nurses and a gurney.  Keith and Allura appeared moments later.

            "How're you holding up?"  Allura asked Lance.

            "I'll be a lot better once she is on the ground and stabilized."

            "Prepare yourself, Lance, Sven said she was in bad shape."  Keith said.

            Lance nodded, solemnly.

            They all watched quietly as the ship landed and Dr. Gorma raced to the entrance.  Nothing happened.  The door did not open, no one came out.

            "What's going on?"  Lance asked.

            "I don't know."  Keith muttered.

            Lance took the communicator off his belt and buzzed Caleb.     

            "Marshall here."

            "Caleb, what's going on?"  Lance asked.

            There was some mumbling in the background and Sven's voice was the next they heard.  "Ve can't take her off de ship right now, Lance."

            "Why?"

            "She flatlined, dey have to get her heart started again before ve can move her."

            A rushing sound filled Lance's ears as panic swept over him.

            Keith took the communicator from him, "Do you want Dr. Gorma to come aboard?"

            "Ja, send him in."

            The door opened and Dr. Gorma, followed by his nurses ran aboard.  Lance stepped forward, but Keith grabbed his arm, "No, stay here.  That's an order."

            It was the longest five minutes of Lance's life before two soldiers carried a stretcher with Darcy on it down to the gurney.  A nurse picked up the IV that was lying on Darcy's stomach and hooked it to a stand connected to the gurney.  They ran to the hospital wing with Lance at their heels.

            Keith and Allura arrived with Sven and Caleb to find Lance pacing the waiting room like a caged animal.  Allura pointed to the last room on the right and Sven went to check on Romelle.

            "They won't tell me anything."  Lance told Keith.

            "As soon as they can, they will tell us everything."  He assured him.

            Lance turned to Caleb, "Has she come to at all?"

            Caleb shook his head.

            "Were you there when she was shot?"

            Caleb looked at Keith, who nodded at him.  "Yeah, I was."

            "What happened?"

            "The Doom ships had pulled back. Garrison ships were patrolling the sky, making sure they didn't return.  We were helping to round up prisoners and casualties when a group of about five armed Doom soldiers came out from the woods and starting firing.  We were taken completely by surprise and they got Darcy at close range before we took them down."  Caleb explained.

            "No one else was hit?"

            "I was grazed on the shoulder, but it's nothing and one of Polluxian soldiers was hit in the arm, but it was just a flesh wound.  Darcy was closest to them and the easiest target."

            Lance sat down beside Allura and put his head in his hands.  Allura reached over and put her arm around him, resting her cheek on his shoulder.  They sat in silence, waiting for word from Dr. Gorma.