They gathered in sick-bay to wait.
Hunk stood with his arm protectively around Sereti and Gil. The baby cooed and smiled, then settled down in his mother's arms and fell asleep.
Jeff, Crick, Ginger, and Cinda stood talking quietly together. Crick's forehead was creased in a frown, indicating he was 'talking' with some one.
Kim was in with Cliff, but poked her head out once in a while for news.
The doctors had tried to convince Troi to go to bed, but instead, he, Hans, and Dreana had taken charge of the smaller children, and had them down in the Rec-Room, playing.
Cassandra sat with Annie, the younger woman holding her hand and smiling encouragingly, though Annie's eyes were red rimmed with unshed tears. Cass kept looking up at Lance, then shifted to Dorma, then back to the doors where the doctors had taken Keith.
Hazar and Admiral Harrison were still in the Control Room after sending Coran to bed.
Allura, pale and quiet, stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring out the window at nothing.
Lance watched her from across the room. He stood leaning casually against the wall, his broken arm in a sling. He noticed Cass glancing over at him, then looking quickly away.
Dorma squeezed his good hand and smiled up at him, her violet eyes betraying her concern. "You have a headache." It was not a question.
Lance shrugged and winced. "Yeah, a bit. Two concussions in a week tend to do that to you." He moved over to a couch and sat down, leaning forward, closing his eyes. Dorma ran her hand across the back of his neck and sent a brief burst of healing through him. He looked up at her. "I love you Babe." She smiled and kissed him softly on the forehead.
Lance's eyes caught Cass's again. He tried to smile but she once more turned away. Lance shifted his gaze to Allura. "Go to her Svavaliadeelin. She needs you." Dorma whispered.
"Thanks Babe." He got up and walked over to Allura. "Hey."
"Hey."
They stood there quietly for a few minutes before Lance spoke up. "I'm sorry."
She looked up at him in surprise. "For what?"
"I should have believed you when you said he was alive. I had given up on him. If it hadn't been for you and Dorma, he'd be attacking us right now." Lance said quietly.
Allura took Lance's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Deep down, you knew we would find him."
"Maybe I did." Lance closed his eyes and pulled her against him. He could feel her trembling with pent up emotion. "Easy Allura. He'll be all right."
The sick-bay doors opened and everyone looked up as Dr. Gorma and Brenda walked into the room.
"How's Keith?" Allura asked fearfully.
Dr. Gorma smiled. "He's resting comfortably." There was a universal sigh of relief.
"I want to see him." Allura started to march past Dr. Gorma, but he grabbed her arm and shook his head.
"Not now you're not. You all need to get some rest yourselves. Keith is in good hands trust me."
"I'm going to see him." Allura persisted.
"No, you're not."
Lance felt a prickling of fear down his spine. "What is it? What's wrong with him?" He asked hoarsely.
Brenda stepped over and took Cassandra's hand. "He's fine, really. We're pumping fluids into him intravenously, and have him heavily sedated to guarantee he'll stay put for a while. There were no major injuries, he's mostly just dehydrated and exhausted."
"They didn't…hurt him?" Cassandra asked.
Gorma shook his head. "No. Knowing Keith, he put up some kind of fight when they caught him. It looks like they worked him over a bit, probably to settle him down. But there were no major injuries. Our main concern was the poison." He smiled over at Dorma. "Thanks to you and the Commander, that is no longer a problem."
"I want to see him." Allura said again.
Gorma shook his head. "Majesty, he is resting. You can see him later."
She shook her head and tried to push past him. "No."
Gorma tried again. "Allura wait—"
"I want to see my husband!" She yelled, her voice on the edge of tears.
Brenda grabbed Allura by the shoulders. "Listen Allura, you don't want to see him now."
Lance again felt a chill run down his spine. "Mom, what aren't you telling us?" He demanded. The room grew still.
Brenda looked up at Dr. Gorma, who sighed and nodded. "First, let me assure you that Keith will be fine. In time." Gorma told them.
"The poison he was given was a particularly nasty one. It started to break down his body on a cellular level. The first dose of antidote temporarily halted that process." Brenda added.
"What do you mean, 'temporarily'?" Lance asked.
"There was not enough to cure him so to speak." Everyone looked up at Dorma in surprise.
Lance narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you know about this?"
Dorma met his gaze fearlessly. "Hazar has been working with Pidge to create a weapon to use against Robeasts. Both felt it was only a matter of time before some one in the Empire regrouped enough to attack the planet."
"How does this weapon work?" Jeff asked.
"And what does this have to do with Keith?" Allura insisted.
"Pidge had a theory that if he could adapt a missile with Robeast antidote, and fire it at the creature, it could be changed or destroyed with a minimum of bloodshed." Dorma's expression saddened. "Unfortunately, he was killed before he was able to complete the project."
Annie choked back a sob.
"So that's why Hazar had the antidote on him." Cinda mused. Dorma nodded.
"Thank-God for small miracles." Jeff said quietly.
"That still doesn't explain why I can't see him." Allura's blue eyes flashed in anger.
Brenda looked to Dorma. "You want to tell her?"
Dorma nodded. "Keith's body is breaking down. As you were told before, the antidote I gave him was temporary. The cells must be reconstructed or he will continue the change into a Robeast." There was a universal gasp around the room.
Dr. Gorma continued. "This is an extremely painful process. Half the time, he's screaming in agony, and the other half he is convinced he's still being held captive. During the brief times he is lucid, he is struggling to get out of bed, trying to re-join the battle. We have him heavily sedated and even that isn't working as well as we want it to." Gorma faced Allura. "He will recover in time, but right now the best thing you could do for him is to let him heal."
"There was blood on his back." Allura's hands shook at the memory. "He got shot trying to escape."
"Luckily, the shirt he was wearing is made of some sort of light armor. All the blast did was open the scratches on his back. Trust me Majesty, he'll be fine."
Lance shook his head. "I don't understand. Why didn't they beat him? I mean c'mon, this was Haltor's big chance for revenge. Why not beat the shi—crap out of him, then turn him loose on us?"
Gorma shook his head. "Frankly, that puzzled us as well. Except for some minor bruising, and the scratches, he's in pretty good shape."
"The poison." Dorma spoke quietly. Everyone turned to look at her. "Robeast poison is very powerful. It works by augmenting the subject's strengths, but it also does the same with any weaknesses. Haltor would not have wanted Keith damaged for those flaws would have come through in the transformation. He would have wanted Keith in the best possible condition."
"What are you saying?" Jeff asked.
"Had we not found Keith, and Haltor succeeded in turning him into a Robeast, all Keith's skill and cunning would have been greatly enhanced. To tell the truth, I do not think we could have defeated him, save killing him." Dorma finished quietly.
Allura shook with barely repressed emotion. Before she could say anything, Cassandra whirled on Dorma. "You knew what they were doing to my son! You knew all the time!"
Dorma shook her head. "No, I—"
"Liar! If you didn't know, why did you bring this antidote with you! We all thought he was dead, yet somehow you managed to find him and bring a cure-all with you!" Tears poured down Cass's cheeks. "You lying, conniving little bi—"
Lance stepped protectively in front of Dorma. "That's enough Aunt Cass." His voice was hard as steel.
"No! She knew! I told you Druhles can't be trusted! Look what they did to us! And now to Keith! They're nothing but a bunch of ruthless, blood-thirsty savages!" Cass broke down sobbing. Brenda wrapped her arms around Cass's shoulders and led her out of the room. Gorma turned back into Keith's room.
Everyone shifted uncomfortably. "Dorma…" Annie began.
Dorma held up her hand. "No apologies are necessary. She is correct. My people are bloodthirsty and ruthless. But then, we say the same of you humans." She tried to smile, but her face was pale with anxiety.
Lance squeezed her shoulders comfortably and Allura took her hand. "Thank-you Dorma. Without you, I wouldn't have him back." She placed a soft kiss on Dorma's cheek.
Brenda came back into the room. "I gave her a sedative. She's exhausted. Dorma honey, she didn't mean it. She's distraught over Edward and thought she had lost Keith as well."
"I do understand. I am sorry my people have caused her so much pain." Dorma refused to look at them.
"Hey Babe, none of that." Lance tilted her head up. "Love ya."
Jeff pretended to gag. It worked, the tension in the room broke and everyone laughed.
"All right people, get yourselves to your quarters and rest." Brenda ordered. And you three." She leveled her gaze at Crick, Cinda, and Dorma. "If I catch any of you healing anyone, you'll be brought up on insubordination charges so fast, that the only healing you'll be doing is on the cockroaches down in the brig. Is that understood?" Her tone booked no argument. They nodded in reply. "Good, now get out of here. I have work to do." She turned on her heel, and left the room.
They all looked at each other in silence. "Lance, tell me how after all these years, your mom still manages to scare the hell out of me." Jeff asked.
"She's been doing it to me all my life." Lance replied with a laugh.
"All the same, I think we'd better get out of here while we still can!" Crick added.
They all laughed, and spirits lifted, left for their rooms to finally get some well deserved rest.
Allura stayed behind, staring at the doors to Keith's room. Lance looked back at her. "Coming Allura?"
She started. "I need to see him Lance. I need to know he's all right."
Lance grabbed her by the arm. "Allura, Mom told you he was fine. Leave him be. You can see him later."
"No! Dammit Lance, let go of me! I'm going in there!" She struggled to break free.
Lance gripped her tighter. "Look Allura, right now there's nothing any of us can do for Keith. You however have responsibilities to your people and your planet."
"What are you talking about? My responsibility is to him!"
"No it's not!" He forced her to look up at him. "Right now, your planet is in chaos. Your people have been attacked and killed by an unknown enemy and they have no idea that the battle is over. What's more, they've been hearing rumors that half the Voltron Force is dead, including the Prince-Consort. You need to get up there and make some sort of statement before everyone starts to panic."
Allura shook her head, her blue eyes filled with tears. "I just want to see him!"
"Your wants aren't important at the moment! Now get your ass up there and do your duty!" He looked down at her, his green eyes bright. "You know Keith would be doing the same if the situation were reversed." He told her coldly.
Allura went pale. "I thought you cared about him." She said quietly.
"I do care, and that's why I'm doing this. Allura your people need you. They need to see for themselves that you're alive and hear from your lips that everything will be all right." He released his grip on her arm. "You can't help Keith now, but you can help your planet."
She stared at him for a moment, then looked back at the doors to sick-bay. Then, taking a shuddering breath, she turned on her heels and marched down the hallway towards the Control Room.
Lance slumped back against the wall. "Svavaliadeelin?"
"That sucked Dorma. She's gonna hate me." Lance said wearily.
"No, she will not. Once she calms down, she will see that you were correct."
He sighed. "I hope so." He pushed himself up and started down the hall.
"Where do you think you are going? You need to rest." Dorma frowned at her husband.
Lance shook his head and instantly regretted it. "I will Babe. First I need to check in with Dad. Make sure everything is all right." He smiled thinly at her. "Besides, I probably shouldn't sleep for a while yet anyway."
"Lance…"
"One hour Babe, I promise."
Dorma leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on his lips. "See that you keep that promise." She started off in the opposite direction, then turned and smiled at him. "Besides, I can think of better ways to keep you awake."