Title: Friendship
Author: KawaiiChica
E-mail: KawaiiChica@hotmail.com
Rating: R - For adult situations and language - not reccomended for kids under 17.
Disclaimer: Not mine - just borrowed for the fic.
" " Speaking
[ ] Thoughts
+++ Flashbacks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey guys," Lance shuffled up the stairs and flopped down into one of the sofa, "What´s up?"
"Nothing much, besides the fact that neither you, nor Allura came home last night," Keith answered pointedly, "Might I ask where you´ve been?"
"She didn´t come home?" Lance covered his eyes for a second before unexpectedly jumping to his feet with a curse. "Damnit!"
"And to think I was feeling guilty! Just because..." He ignored the others and stomped into his room, taking out a bag from the closet and throwing clothes into it.
The others followed, confused expressions on their faces. Keith interrupted his angry ranting, "I take it that you didn´t spend the night with her?"
"NO!" Lance glared, "It just so happens that I made a very surprising discovery about the dear little princess and haven´t seen her since I left that old house."
"What old house?" Pidge asked.
"The one she goes to when she sleeps with Mick!" Lance slammed the bag shut, roughly closing the zipper.
Keith frowned, "What are you talking about? Allura can´t stand that guy."
Lance huffed, "Don´t be so sure of that, I happened to have found them getting quite friendly."
"You must have mis-understood," Hunk began.
"I understood just fine Hunk, there´s no way she could´ve ended up half-naked in another guys arms unless she did it willingly." Lance turned and went into the closet, calling over his shoulder, "And to THINK I felt guilty about sleeping with Cassie this morning, but I should have known she´d stay all night with that creep!"
"You slept with Cassie?" Pidge stared, wide-eyed as Lance stormed out with another bag.
"Don´t think I´d planned on it, things just happened, we both had quite a bit to drink and got a bit carried away." he set down the bag and kneeled to pick up his shoes from under the bed. "After all, its not everyday that one finds out their ideal woman is nothing but a two-bit skank."
"Hey watch it!" Keith yelled, interrrupted by a small voice from behind them.
"Its all right"
Allura stepped into the room and gave him a tired smile. Looking her over, the guys could see she´d had a rough night, with her hair askew and slight bags under her teary eyes. She leaned against the doorway slightly and sighed.
"Leave him be Keith, its not worth fighting over," she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a set of clothes. Making her way into the bathroom, she picked up the phone and closed the door behind her.
Lance huffed and grabbed his bags, "I´ll see you guys later."
"Where are you going to stay?" Hunk asked, following him out of the room.
"I don´t know yet," Lance shrugged, stopping as Allura came out of the closet and yelled his name.
She came out of the room and made her way down the stairs. She´d changed from her white nursing outfit to a long black skirt and a black shirt, with a pair of black pumps and some simple jewelery, a necklace and her watch. Her hair was up in a bun and her ears held small diamonds.
"You don´t have to go anywhere, I´ve got to leave anyways," she picked up her small purse from a nearby table and took out her keys. "Here Keith, you hold on to these ok?"
"But princess where are..." Keith began.
"I have other accomodations already," Allura re-assured him.
"I bet you do," Lance mumbled.
Allura suddenly frowned and turned towards him, "I bet you feel like a total fool don´t you? After all you´re sure I´ve done to you... well, guess what? You´re right, you ARE a fool and I pity you for that."
She glared angrily, "I pity the fact that you don´t trust anyone, not even enough to listen to what they have to say when its important. I´m sorry about the guilt you felt this morning after you slept with Cassie, but why would you feel guilt if you knew that the person you supposedly ´loved´ was betraying you?"
She chuckled and shook her head, "But you know what´s worse? What I hate the most out of all of this?"
Lance shrugged and she continued, "The fact that I actually hoped you´d let me explain this morning."
"I honestly prayed that you´d let me explain and help you understand everything you´ve been wondering about these past few months." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, a sad smile coming onto her face again, "You see, I had hoped that you´d really meant what you said the other night."
"Even if you cheated on me? You expect me to love you after that?" Lance cut in.
Allura shook her head, "That´s the proof that you never really loved me."
Lance dropped his bags, "Oh didn´t I?"
"No," Allura whispered, "If you´d really loved me you wouldn´t believe that."
"I SAW YOU! How do you expect me not to believe what I see?!" he yelled.
"Easy," Allura sniffed and walked past him, "You trust in the other person, at least enough to let them explain."
"Screw that," Lance turned and headed upstairs.
Allura also turned and left, waving a quick good-bye to the others explaining over her shoulder. "I´ll be back at the hospital if I´m needed."
************
"Can you guys believe what just happened?" Pidge asked after they´d heard both doors close.
Hunk shook his head, "No."
"I wonder what happened, they were all mushy and happy just yesterday morning," Keith sighed, "Allura looked exhausted."
"Didn´t she say she´d be ´back´ at the hospital? Do you think she stayed there last night?" Hunk replied.
"It could be, she did stay overnight before when that little girl was sick and asked her to," Pidge remembered, "But then it does seem a bit strange after what Lance said about how he´d found her."
Keith frowned, "I don´t believe that, Allura would never cheat on anyone and much less with someone she seems to despise as much as she does Mick."
"How naive can you get? Allura doesn´t despise him, it was all just an act." Lance joined them. "But its over now so who cares anymore? Allura´s gone and probably back to that idiot."
"Lance you´re just jealous," Pidge mumbled before his eyes lit up, " And wait a minute, you´re one to talk about fidelity, sleeping with one of her best friends!"
"That was AFTER we caught her and Mick together," Lance argued and turned away, "Anyways I´m going out, see you later."
"Hey wait!" Pidge ran after him, "How did you know where to find her? Did you know the place?"
"No," Lance frowned, "Now that I think about it, I just got this call saying I needed to go to that address to help out a friend and I met Cassie outside."
"So you both got a mysterious call? That doesn´t sound too good," Pidge fidgeted with a nearby phone.
"I´m sure it wasn´t," Tony answered as he entered the apartment, "Just coming for one of Allura´s jackets, she´s going to need it at the cementary."
"Where?" Keith asked
"The cementary, you know, where people are buried." Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes, "We spent all night with her but the doctors couldn´t do anything."
Lance frowned, "About who?"
"Padme"
"She died?" Lance asked, "Why? how?"
"There was an accident off the road, one of the nurses called Allura yesterday and asked her to come in. When she arrived she was taken down to the morgue and asked if she recognized the people there," Tony sighed, "They were Maru and Oma."
"Shit," Lance said, biting his lip, "And Allura had to verify that for them? She saw their dead bodies?"
"Poor thing," Hunk whispered.
"Not to mention that she gave blood to help Padme and spent the night watching over the little one. The poor thing didn´t sleep a wink last night, and then coming back to problems like whatever she had with you doesn´t help." Tony brushed past them upstairs. Coming down a few minutes later with one of Allura´s warmer jackets and a pair of gloves, he stopped beside Lance. "Look, I don´t know what happened yesterday, she hasn´t told any of us but I´m sure that whatever it was couldn´t have been that serious."
"It was," Lance interrupted.
Tony frowned, "Yeah well, she´s kept it to herself for now and is going to be staying with me and Liz."
"Great," Keith managed to smile, "I was worried about where she might go."
Tony nodded, "I thought as much, just wanted to let you know she´d be ok." He turned and made his way to the door, stopping for a moment before he left. "I know you´re really angry for whatever happened yesterday Lance, but I know Allura and she´s going to need some help dealing with these losses."
"She has you guys and the rest of the team," Lance replied crossly.
"Of course, but none of us mean as much to her as you do so if you could get past yesterday..." Tony shrugged, "At least think about it."
"Yeah sure," Lance rubbed his eyes and headed upstairs, "I´m not home if anyone calls guys, I need to rest."
Tony waved good-bye and left, closing the door behind him quietly. The others shared a look and then split up, each going to their rooms.
************
"Are you sure you´re ok?"
Ken took Allura´s jacket and watched her with worried eyes as she nodded and dragged her feet over to the sofa. Sitting down, she yawned and rubbed her stinging eyes. "I´m fine."
"Sure you are, and those tears in your are for?" Ken came over and sat down beside her.
"I just lost my best friend! What do you expect? Should I be jumping for joy?" Allura shivered and leaned against the armrest tiredly. "I wish I could just go to sleep and not wake up."
"You don´t really mean that," Ken said with a frown, "You´re just tired, go and get some rest. Tony and Liz won´t mind if you take a nap on their bed."
"I think I will," Allura smiled, "Ken-ii, would you do me a favor?"
"Of course," he smiled back.
"Make me a cup of tea? Something soft and sweet," Allura stood and stretched, "It´ll help me fall asleep faster."
"Sure thing you just get into bed and I´ll be right there." He stood also and went into the kitchen.
Allura was going into the bedroom when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Allura?"
Allura inwardly sighed as she recognized Cassie´s voice, "Hey."
"I need to talk to you, could you come over to my apartment?"
"Sure, I´ll be right over," Allura hung up and went to the door, putting on her jacket as she called out. "Ken-ii forget the tea, I need to go talk to someone!"
"Who?" Ken came out of the kitchen with a few tea leaves in hand.
"Just a friend, its important so I have to go now," Allura stepped out of the apartment, "I´ll be back later!"
"Leave your phone on! Where are you going?" Ken watched her go and sighed, turning to put away the things he´d taken out.
Allura hurried down to the parking lot and grabbed her car, quickly driving over to Cassie´s apartment, which was only a few blocks away. Making her way up the stairs, she stopped at her door and rang the bell. After getting no answer, she knocked a few times, surprised when the door opened slightly.
"Hello? Cassie?" she stepped inside slowly, looking around for her friend, "Cass- umph!"
************
*24 hours later*
"Have any of you seen Allura? Has she called?" Ken panted at the top of the stairs. "She was supposed to go see a friend but she hasn´t been back."
"Since when?" Keith asked as they all stood.
"Yesterday after the funeral." Ken sighed and took a deep breath, "We´ve been looking all night but we can´t find her anywhere."
"And you didn´t think to call us before?!" Keith grabbed his jacket and followed him downstairs. "Where have you looked?"
"Cassie´s house, we called the castle, the hospital..." Ken waited for them to join him in the elevator, surprised to see Lance join them. "I thought..."
"Just because I´m mad at her doesn´t mean I want anything bad to happen," Lance snapped, wondering where she could have gone.
They spent the next hours looking for her, driving around the city desperately. They stopped to rest at a small café, talking over options about where she might be while their coffee was served.
"You looked at the hospital? They might have covered for her if she asked them to," Pidge asked.
"Of course," Tony replied, "Liz is staying there just in case."
"Right, and what about..." Lance was interrupted by his phone ringing, "Hello?"
"You´re looking for the princess?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
"What do you know?" Lance moved away from the others with a frown, "Have you seen her?"
"Its strange how both she and her so-called ´lover´ dissapeared don´t you think?" the man asked, "Feel like a trip to the beach?"
"OF COURSE!" Lance ran his hand through his hair, "She ran off with that..."
"No she didn´t, you need to get that idea out of your head and get to that beach as soon as possible." The man corrected him sternly.
Lance shook his head, "You´re saying she didn´t go with him? Then why would she be there with him?"
"Will you stop arguing with me and go already? She´s not there because she wants to be, she probably doesn´t even know where she is." The final word was followed by a click and then a dial tone.
"I know where she is," Lance turned and walked out, followed by Tony, Keith and Ken.
"Where to?" Tony asked, hopping into the driver´s seat.
"Mick´s beach house," Lance sat beside him and gave directions while Keith and Ken called the others and told them what was happening.
Tony drove as quickly as possible and they arrived at about half past eight. To their relief, the light downstairs was on, indicating that someone was home. An older woman opened the door and quietly came out to greet them.
"I´m so glad you came again!" she smiled at Tony and Ken, "They´ve been upstairs all day, the poor thing!"
"Don´t worry about it, she´ll be fine this time." Tony said somberly, following them inside. He was stopped by the old woman´s voice as they reached the stairs.
"He made me cook again,"
"Shit!" Ken ran upstairs followed closely by Tony and the others. They stepped into the room and Keith and Lance froze at the sight that greeted them.
Mick lay on top of Allura, both unconcious, naked, and with a large bottle of some kind of spilled liquid beside them. The bed was a mess, but most shocking were the straps tying Allura down and the alcohol bottles around them.
************
*48 hours later*
"How is she?"
Lance peeked inside the room as Nanny stepped out. She just shook her head and walked away, wiping at her eyes as a soft sob escaped her throat.
They´d been back at the castle for two days and Allura had shown no sign of improvement. After they´d found her, Ken had pulled Mick away while Tony untied her, wrapped her in a blanket, and carried her out of the house. After kicking Mick in the side and yelling at him, Ken had bent down to check on him and was surprised to discover he had no pulse.
Being closer to the castle than the city, they´d called ahead and made their way as fast as possible, praying Allura would make it. Her stomach had been pumped and they were just waiting for her to react.
Entering the room, Lance flinched as he saw her paleness and sat beside her opposite Ken. Tony had gone back to the city for Liz, the others had come back, Zeke and Devon had both shown up, and Ken hadn´t left her side since she´d been set up in her room. There was an awkward silence between them for a while before Ken spoke up.
"I failed her"
"How?" Lance asked.
"I promised he´d never touch her again," Ken sighed deeply and lifted a hand to her cheek, "The poor thing was so happy this past month and a half. She really fell for you."
Lance gulped and said nothing, guilt washing over him as he thought over what he´d done just a few days earlier. "I can´t believe the things I thought about her and everything I said."
"Its understandable, in a way," Ken took hold of her hand and smiled. "You know what we had, but you don´t know why."
Lance looked up towards him, "Why?"
Ken nodded, "She was fourteen, I was eighteen, and I was taken by my best friends to a whore house out of town. Its still there, that old house, ruined and dirty. Its where we met."
He made himself comfortable and began to explain, "Four years ago on the planet Bjiour, the king was in deep trouble with his people. He´d spent all the money for improvements on foolish extravagancies, his people were starving and protesting more everyday. He finally got to the point where he needed money urgently, to fix things and calm down his people."
"Coming to Arus where his daughter had married, he asked her for the money he needed. When she refused, he became desperate, then he saw a way out." Ken frowned and kept his eyes on Allura. "His fourteen year old granddaughter, whom he´d hardly ever paid attention to, came home from a trip to her other grandfather´s kingdom."
"Seeing her for the first time in years, he was surprised with how mature she looked. For her age she was quite a beauty." He reached out and pushed a set of bangs from her eyes, "Feeling desperate for money, he figured out a plan. After inviting her to spend a month with him in the nearby city of Spretz, he arranged for an accident to occur on the road and had her taken to a low-budget whore house he´d visited in the forest once."
Lance stiffened, staring wide-eyed at Ken, "You´re not saying..."
"He rented her out," Ken nodded, "They set up a room and made a whole campaign with her -
´A night with your very own princess´ - the public loved it."
"Holy shit, you´re telling me..."
"She was raped, she spent a month and a half there, how much do you think could have been done to her in that time?" Ken asked, "She got lucky one night, usually they drugged her before a ´client´ entered the room, the stuff would make her delirious and highly sensitive to the touch. It was also highly addictive. But one night they forgot, and I happened to be that client. When I entered the room, instead of the delirious fake princess, I got a real princess and a plea for help. My best friend Tony and I got her out."
"Christ," Lance looked down as Allura finally moved.
She slowly crossed her arms around her chest beneath the blanket, trying to twist onto her side. Hearing Ken call her name, she blinked slowly, finally focusing on him after a few moments.
"Ken-ii?" she whispered hoarsely, seeing him nod, she suddenly gasped and closed her eyes, tears slowly slipping from the corners, "Ken-ii help me, please."
She sobbed softly and flinched suddenly, opening her eyes and pleading desperately, "Don´t make me go through this again, please don´t make me..."
Ken gulped and lifted her so she could sit up, her face burrowed into his shoulder while he held her against him. Her voice was soft and weak as she begged, "Please don´t make me go through this again! Please!... I can´t... please not again."
He pulled her tighter to him and tried not to let his voice waver as he tried to soothe her. "Shh... you´ll be ok... it´ll be over soon..."
"No please!" Allura opened her eyes and weakly pulled away, laying back in bed and hugging a pillow to herself as she curled on her side. She tried to talk but suddenly let out a whimper and buried her face into the pillow to muffle a slight scream. "Make it stop, please please!"
"What´s happening to her?!" Lance asked concerned.
"She´s finally going into withdrawal," Ken explained as he lay down beside her and pulled her to him, trying to soothe her. "I told you the drugs were highly addictive, this time won´t be nearly as bad as last."
He seemed to decide that was enough of explaining, focusing on the trembling girl in his arms. "You´ll be ok Allie... I promise..."
Allura sobbed and shook her head, "I´m too tired for this, I want to go with Maru!"
Lance gulped, watching with tears in his eyes as she whimpered and tried to move closer to Ken, who tightened his hold on her and tried to soothe her by humming and kissing the top of her head.
"You´ll be ok Allie... it´ll all be ok..." Ken whispered, a tear slipping from own eye as another of her cries was muffled by his chest.
************
*Sigh*
FINALLY! You know what REALLY happened to her!
Sorry for the incredibly long wait, I moved, found a job, and have been working from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the last two months, writing when I could get the energy to do so. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though. Make sure to let me know what you think ok?
- See you next chapter!
~ K.C. ~
Author: KawaiiChica
E-mail: KawaiiChica@hotmail.com
Rating: R - For adult situations and language - not reccomended for kids under 17.
Disclaimer: Not mine - just borrowed for the fic.
" " Speaking
[ ] Thoughts
+++ Flashbacks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey guys," Lance shuffled up the stairs and flopped down into one of the sofa, "What´s up?"
"Nothing much, besides the fact that neither you, nor Allura came home last night," Keith answered pointedly, "Might I ask where you´ve been?"
"She didn´t come home?" Lance covered his eyes for a second before unexpectedly jumping to his feet with a curse. "Damnit!"
"And to think I was feeling guilty! Just because..." He ignored the others and stomped into his room, taking out a bag from the closet and throwing clothes into it.
The others followed, confused expressions on their faces. Keith interrupted his angry ranting, "I take it that you didn´t spend the night with her?"
"NO!" Lance glared, "It just so happens that I made a very surprising discovery about the dear little princess and haven´t seen her since I left that old house."
"What old house?" Pidge asked.
"The one she goes to when she sleeps with Mick!" Lance slammed the bag shut, roughly closing the zipper.
Keith frowned, "What are you talking about? Allura can´t stand that guy."
Lance huffed, "Don´t be so sure of that, I happened to have found them getting quite friendly."
"You must have mis-understood," Hunk began.
"I understood just fine Hunk, there´s no way she could´ve ended up half-naked in another guys arms unless she did it willingly." Lance turned and went into the closet, calling over his shoulder, "And to THINK I felt guilty about sleeping with Cassie this morning, but I should have known she´d stay all night with that creep!"
"You slept with Cassie?" Pidge stared, wide-eyed as Lance stormed out with another bag.
"Don´t think I´d planned on it, things just happened, we both had quite a bit to drink and got a bit carried away." he set down the bag and kneeled to pick up his shoes from under the bed. "After all, its not everyday that one finds out their ideal woman is nothing but a two-bit skank."
"Hey watch it!" Keith yelled, interrrupted by a small voice from behind them.
"Its all right"
Allura stepped into the room and gave him a tired smile. Looking her over, the guys could see she´d had a rough night, with her hair askew and slight bags under her teary eyes. She leaned against the doorway slightly and sighed.
"Leave him be Keith, its not worth fighting over," she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a set of clothes. Making her way into the bathroom, she picked up the phone and closed the door behind her.
Lance huffed and grabbed his bags, "I´ll see you guys later."
"Where are you going to stay?" Hunk asked, following him out of the room.
"I don´t know yet," Lance shrugged, stopping as Allura came out of the closet and yelled his name.
She came out of the room and made her way down the stairs. She´d changed from her white nursing outfit to a long black skirt and a black shirt, with a pair of black pumps and some simple jewelery, a necklace and her watch. Her hair was up in a bun and her ears held small diamonds.
"You don´t have to go anywhere, I´ve got to leave anyways," she picked up her small purse from a nearby table and took out her keys. "Here Keith, you hold on to these ok?"
"But princess where are..." Keith began.
"I have other accomodations already," Allura re-assured him.
"I bet you do," Lance mumbled.
Allura suddenly frowned and turned towards him, "I bet you feel like a total fool don´t you? After all you´re sure I´ve done to you... well, guess what? You´re right, you ARE a fool and I pity you for that."
She glared angrily, "I pity the fact that you don´t trust anyone, not even enough to listen to what they have to say when its important. I´m sorry about the guilt you felt this morning after you slept with Cassie, but why would you feel guilt if you knew that the person you supposedly ´loved´ was betraying you?"
She chuckled and shook her head, "But you know what´s worse? What I hate the most out of all of this?"
Lance shrugged and she continued, "The fact that I actually hoped you´d let me explain this morning."
"I honestly prayed that you´d let me explain and help you understand everything you´ve been wondering about these past few months." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, a sad smile coming onto her face again, "You see, I had hoped that you´d really meant what you said the other night."
"Even if you cheated on me? You expect me to love you after that?" Lance cut in.
Allura shook her head, "That´s the proof that you never really loved me."
Lance dropped his bags, "Oh didn´t I?"
"No," Allura whispered, "If you´d really loved me you wouldn´t believe that."
"I SAW YOU! How do you expect me not to believe what I see?!" he yelled.
"Easy," Allura sniffed and walked past him, "You trust in the other person, at least enough to let them explain."
"Screw that," Lance turned and headed upstairs.
Allura also turned and left, waving a quick good-bye to the others explaining over her shoulder. "I´ll be back at the hospital if I´m needed."
************
"Can you guys believe what just happened?" Pidge asked after they´d heard both doors close.
Hunk shook his head, "No."
"I wonder what happened, they were all mushy and happy just yesterday morning," Keith sighed, "Allura looked exhausted."
"Didn´t she say she´d be ´back´ at the hospital? Do you think she stayed there last night?" Hunk replied.
"It could be, she did stay overnight before when that little girl was sick and asked her to," Pidge remembered, "But then it does seem a bit strange after what Lance said about how he´d found her."
Keith frowned, "I don´t believe that, Allura would never cheat on anyone and much less with someone she seems to despise as much as she does Mick."
"How naive can you get? Allura doesn´t despise him, it was all just an act." Lance joined them. "But its over now so who cares anymore? Allura´s gone and probably back to that idiot."
"Lance you´re just jealous," Pidge mumbled before his eyes lit up, " And wait a minute, you´re one to talk about fidelity, sleeping with one of her best friends!"
"That was AFTER we caught her and Mick together," Lance argued and turned away, "Anyways I´m going out, see you later."
"Hey wait!" Pidge ran after him, "How did you know where to find her? Did you know the place?"
"No," Lance frowned, "Now that I think about it, I just got this call saying I needed to go to that address to help out a friend and I met Cassie outside."
"So you both got a mysterious call? That doesn´t sound too good," Pidge fidgeted with a nearby phone.
"I´m sure it wasn´t," Tony answered as he entered the apartment, "Just coming for one of Allura´s jackets, she´s going to need it at the cementary."
"Where?" Keith asked
"The cementary, you know, where people are buried." Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes, "We spent all night with her but the doctors couldn´t do anything."
Lance frowned, "About who?"
"Padme"
"She died?" Lance asked, "Why? how?"
"There was an accident off the road, one of the nurses called Allura yesterday and asked her to come in. When she arrived she was taken down to the morgue and asked if she recognized the people there," Tony sighed, "They were Maru and Oma."
"Shit," Lance said, biting his lip, "And Allura had to verify that for them? She saw their dead bodies?"
"Poor thing," Hunk whispered.
"Not to mention that she gave blood to help Padme and spent the night watching over the little one. The poor thing didn´t sleep a wink last night, and then coming back to problems like whatever she had with you doesn´t help." Tony brushed past them upstairs. Coming down a few minutes later with one of Allura´s warmer jackets and a pair of gloves, he stopped beside Lance. "Look, I don´t know what happened yesterday, she hasn´t told any of us but I´m sure that whatever it was couldn´t have been that serious."
"It was," Lance interrupted.
Tony frowned, "Yeah well, she´s kept it to herself for now and is going to be staying with me and Liz."
"Great," Keith managed to smile, "I was worried about where she might go."
Tony nodded, "I thought as much, just wanted to let you know she´d be ok." He turned and made his way to the door, stopping for a moment before he left. "I know you´re really angry for whatever happened yesterday Lance, but I know Allura and she´s going to need some help dealing with these losses."
"She has you guys and the rest of the team," Lance replied crossly.
"Of course, but none of us mean as much to her as you do so if you could get past yesterday..." Tony shrugged, "At least think about it."
"Yeah sure," Lance rubbed his eyes and headed upstairs, "I´m not home if anyone calls guys, I need to rest."
Tony waved good-bye and left, closing the door behind him quietly. The others shared a look and then split up, each going to their rooms.
************
"Are you sure you´re ok?"
Ken took Allura´s jacket and watched her with worried eyes as she nodded and dragged her feet over to the sofa. Sitting down, she yawned and rubbed her stinging eyes. "I´m fine."
"Sure you are, and those tears in your are for?" Ken came over and sat down beside her.
"I just lost my best friend! What do you expect? Should I be jumping for joy?" Allura shivered and leaned against the armrest tiredly. "I wish I could just go to sleep and not wake up."
"You don´t really mean that," Ken said with a frown, "You´re just tired, go and get some rest. Tony and Liz won´t mind if you take a nap on their bed."
"I think I will," Allura smiled, "Ken-ii, would you do me a favor?"
"Of course," he smiled back.
"Make me a cup of tea? Something soft and sweet," Allura stood and stretched, "It´ll help me fall asleep faster."
"Sure thing you just get into bed and I´ll be right there." He stood also and went into the kitchen.
Allura was going into the bedroom when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Allura?"
Allura inwardly sighed as she recognized Cassie´s voice, "Hey."
"I need to talk to you, could you come over to my apartment?"
"Sure, I´ll be right over," Allura hung up and went to the door, putting on her jacket as she called out. "Ken-ii forget the tea, I need to go talk to someone!"
"Who?" Ken came out of the kitchen with a few tea leaves in hand.
"Just a friend, its important so I have to go now," Allura stepped out of the apartment, "I´ll be back later!"
"Leave your phone on! Where are you going?" Ken watched her go and sighed, turning to put away the things he´d taken out.
Allura hurried down to the parking lot and grabbed her car, quickly driving over to Cassie´s apartment, which was only a few blocks away. Making her way up the stairs, she stopped at her door and rang the bell. After getting no answer, she knocked a few times, surprised when the door opened slightly.
"Hello? Cassie?" she stepped inside slowly, looking around for her friend, "Cass- umph!"
************
*24 hours later*
"Have any of you seen Allura? Has she called?" Ken panted at the top of the stairs. "She was supposed to go see a friend but she hasn´t been back."
"Since when?" Keith asked as they all stood.
"Yesterday after the funeral." Ken sighed and took a deep breath, "We´ve been looking all night but we can´t find her anywhere."
"And you didn´t think to call us before?!" Keith grabbed his jacket and followed him downstairs. "Where have you looked?"
"Cassie´s house, we called the castle, the hospital..." Ken waited for them to join him in the elevator, surprised to see Lance join them. "I thought..."
"Just because I´m mad at her doesn´t mean I want anything bad to happen," Lance snapped, wondering where she could have gone.
They spent the next hours looking for her, driving around the city desperately. They stopped to rest at a small café, talking over options about where she might be while their coffee was served.
"You looked at the hospital? They might have covered for her if she asked them to," Pidge asked.
"Of course," Tony replied, "Liz is staying there just in case."
"Right, and what about..." Lance was interrupted by his phone ringing, "Hello?"
"You´re looking for the princess?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
"What do you know?" Lance moved away from the others with a frown, "Have you seen her?"
"Its strange how both she and her so-called ´lover´ dissapeared don´t you think?" the man asked, "Feel like a trip to the beach?"
"OF COURSE!" Lance ran his hand through his hair, "She ran off with that..."
"No she didn´t, you need to get that idea out of your head and get to that beach as soon as possible." The man corrected him sternly.
Lance shook his head, "You´re saying she didn´t go with him? Then why would she be there with him?"
"Will you stop arguing with me and go already? She´s not there because she wants to be, she probably doesn´t even know where she is." The final word was followed by a click and then a dial tone.
"I know where she is," Lance turned and walked out, followed by Tony, Keith and Ken.
"Where to?" Tony asked, hopping into the driver´s seat.
"Mick´s beach house," Lance sat beside him and gave directions while Keith and Ken called the others and told them what was happening.
Tony drove as quickly as possible and they arrived at about half past eight. To their relief, the light downstairs was on, indicating that someone was home. An older woman opened the door and quietly came out to greet them.
"I´m so glad you came again!" she smiled at Tony and Ken, "They´ve been upstairs all day, the poor thing!"
"Don´t worry about it, she´ll be fine this time." Tony said somberly, following them inside. He was stopped by the old woman´s voice as they reached the stairs.
"He made me cook again,"
"Shit!" Ken ran upstairs followed closely by Tony and the others. They stepped into the room and Keith and Lance froze at the sight that greeted them.
Mick lay on top of Allura, both unconcious, naked, and with a large bottle of some kind of spilled liquid beside them. The bed was a mess, but most shocking were the straps tying Allura down and the alcohol bottles around them.
************
*48 hours later*
"How is she?"
Lance peeked inside the room as Nanny stepped out. She just shook her head and walked away, wiping at her eyes as a soft sob escaped her throat.
They´d been back at the castle for two days and Allura had shown no sign of improvement. After they´d found her, Ken had pulled Mick away while Tony untied her, wrapped her in a blanket, and carried her out of the house. After kicking Mick in the side and yelling at him, Ken had bent down to check on him and was surprised to discover he had no pulse.
Being closer to the castle than the city, they´d called ahead and made their way as fast as possible, praying Allura would make it. Her stomach had been pumped and they were just waiting for her to react.
Entering the room, Lance flinched as he saw her paleness and sat beside her opposite Ken. Tony had gone back to the city for Liz, the others had come back, Zeke and Devon had both shown up, and Ken hadn´t left her side since she´d been set up in her room. There was an awkward silence between them for a while before Ken spoke up.
"I failed her"
"How?" Lance asked.
"I promised he´d never touch her again," Ken sighed deeply and lifted a hand to her cheek, "The poor thing was so happy this past month and a half. She really fell for you."
Lance gulped and said nothing, guilt washing over him as he thought over what he´d done just a few days earlier. "I can´t believe the things I thought about her and everything I said."
"Its understandable, in a way," Ken took hold of her hand and smiled. "You know what we had, but you don´t know why."
Lance looked up towards him, "Why?"
Ken nodded, "She was fourteen, I was eighteen, and I was taken by my best friends to a whore house out of town. Its still there, that old house, ruined and dirty. Its where we met."
He made himself comfortable and began to explain, "Four years ago on the planet Bjiour, the king was in deep trouble with his people. He´d spent all the money for improvements on foolish extravagancies, his people were starving and protesting more everyday. He finally got to the point where he needed money urgently, to fix things and calm down his people."
"Coming to Arus where his daughter had married, he asked her for the money he needed. When she refused, he became desperate, then he saw a way out." Ken frowned and kept his eyes on Allura. "His fourteen year old granddaughter, whom he´d hardly ever paid attention to, came home from a trip to her other grandfather´s kingdom."
"Seeing her for the first time in years, he was surprised with how mature she looked. For her age she was quite a beauty." He reached out and pushed a set of bangs from her eyes, "Feeling desperate for money, he figured out a plan. After inviting her to spend a month with him in the nearby city of Spretz, he arranged for an accident to occur on the road and had her taken to a low-budget whore house he´d visited in the forest once."
Lance stiffened, staring wide-eyed at Ken, "You´re not saying..."
"He rented her out," Ken nodded, "They set up a room and made a whole campaign with her -
´A night with your very own princess´ - the public loved it."
"Holy shit, you´re telling me..."
"She was raped, she spent a month and a half there, how much do you think could have been done to her in that time?" Ken asked, "She got lucky one night, usually they drugged her before a ´client´ entered the room, the stuff would make her delirious and highly sensitive to the touch. It was also highly addictive. But one night they forgot, and I happened to be that client. When I entered the room, instead of the delirious fake princess, I got a real princess and a plea for help. My best friend Tony and I got her out."
"Christ," Lance looked down as Allura finally moved.
She slowly crossed her arms around her chest beneath the blanket, trying to twist onto her side. Hearing Ken call her name, she blinked slowly, finally focusing on him after a few moments.
"Ken-ii?" she whispered hoarsely, seeing him nod, she suddenly gasped and closed her eyes, tears slowly slipping from the corners, "Ken-ii help me, please."
She sobbed softly and flinched suddenly, opening her eyes and pleading desperately, "Don´t make me go through this again, please don´t make me..."
Ken gulped and lifted her so she could sit up, her face burrowed into his shoulder while he held her against him. Her voice was soft and weak as she begged, "Please don´t make me go through this again! Please!... I can´t... please not again."
He pulled her tighter to him and tried not to let his voice waver as he tried to soothe her. "Shh... you´ll be ok... it´ll be over soon..."
"No please!" Allura opened her eyes and weakly pulled away, laying back in bed and hugging a pillow to herself as she curled on her side. She tried to talk but suddenly let out a whimper and buried her face into the pillow to muffle a slight scream. "Make it stop, please please!"
"What´s happening to her?!" Lance asked concerned.
"She´s finally going into withdrawal," Ken explained as he lay down beside her and pulled her to him, trying to soothe her. "I told you the drugs were highly addictive, this time won´t be nearly as bad as last."
He seemed to decide that was enough of explaining, focusing on the trembling girl in his arms. "You´ll be ok Allie... I promise..."
Allura sobbed and shook her head, "I´m too tired for this, I want to go with Maru!"
Lance gulped, watching with tears in his eyes as she whimpered and tried to move closer to Ken, who tightened his hold on her and tried to soothe her by humming and kissing the top of her head.
"You´ll be ok Allie... it´ll all be ok..." Ken whispered, a tear slipping from own eye as another of her cries was muffled by his chest.
************
*Sigh*
FINALLY! You know what REALLY happened to her!
Sorry for the incredibly long wait, I moved, found a job, and have been working from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the last two months, writing when I could get the energy to do so. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though. Make sure to let me know what you think ok?
- See you next chapter!
~ K.C. ~