I've been doing some beta'ing for some folks, so my own work was falling behind, but I did get this together amid this crazy baseball/softball season. Enjoy!
I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.
"Got it!" Pidge cried triumphantly as he ran into Control a week later. "We've reverse engineered it. The cure is safe to use."
Allura and Duvessa looked at each other. "Have you talked to Doctor Gorma?" Allura asked, looking back to Pidge.
Pidge nodded. "He's double checking, but I know he's not going to find anything wrong with my findings. I'm sure he'll be back with us within a few days."
"And his memories?" Duvessa asked softly.
Pidge grimaced, his cheerful mood evaporating quickly. "That is the only mystery left, Vessa. No one knows if his memory will have been affected, and if it was, how much. We won't know that until he's awake."
She nodded. "Then, let's hope for the best, yes?"
Pidge nodded back. "Yes."
"Good. I can't wait to have our fearless leader back with us. No offense, Vessa," Lance stated.
She grinned. "I know. I'm not Keith, just a fair substitute."
"More than fair, in my opinion," Hunk stated, looking over from a schematic of his most recent Lion upgrade.
"Well, don't get me wrong, I enjoy flying Black, but…he's Keith's Lion now and he needs to be flying him again," Duvessa confessed. "I'm a little…too old to be flying him."
The team laughed. "Vessa, you may be over 500 years old, but really, you're only about the age you were when you were put into stasis," Pidge assured her with a smile.
"That may be, but with so much having changed over the years, I feel those years," she answered.
"All right. Pidge, about how long until Doc Gorma finishes looking over your work?" Lance quizzed.
"Probably an hour or two," Pidge replied. "Three at the most. Then, he'll send the codes to unthaw Keith and he will have a med team down here ready to move him to MedTech soon after that."
"Great. Hurry up and wait," Lance murmured. "Why I love this job."
Allura smacked his arm gently. "You love your job for more than hurry up and wait."
Lance just grinned at her.
An hour or so later, a medical team led by Doctor Gorma entered the Control Room.
The team stood as the medical personnel walked over to the cryostasis unit and Gorma paused by the Force.
"I'm sure that Pidge has told you all the good news," Gorma stated. "It will take about ten minutes for Keith to emerge from the ice, but he most likely won't regain consciousness until sometime tomorrow."
Allura nodded as Lance slid his arm across her shoulders. "This is such good news, Doctor."
"I'm just glad that Keith will survive," Gorma stated. "Though, as I'm sure you all recall, there is still concern about his memory. The virus was aggressive and may have damaged bits of his short term and long term memory."
"Which is why we had him record as much as we could onto his Voltcom," Lance agreed with a nod.
"Yes," Gorma agreed with a nod. "I'm hoping that it isn't too extensive. I'll be able to tell how much damage was done once I get him to MedTech and run some scans."
Duvessa stood near Allura and Lance, her arms crossed over her chest, listening intently, but still able to see the medical team standing around, waiting for Keith to emerge.
"He will need all of your support if his memory has been affected," Gorma was saying.
"Oh, he'll get it. Lots of it," Lance assured him with a grin.
Gorma smiled at that. "I figured as much. Now, if you will excuse me," he murmured and made his way over to his staff.
The Force watched in silence as Keith finally emerged.
Duvessa gasped softly seeing him lifted onto the gurney. "He's so pale," she whispered.
Allura stepped out of Lance's embrace and walked to her aunt, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He'll be all right. You'll see."
"I know," Duvessa whispered, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I just…Gods, I've missed seeing him."
Lance moved over to them. "I just hope he doesn't kill us all for what we had to do to get the cure for him," Lance murmured as the medical team hooked up various instruments, checking his vitals.
"He won't. He'll be thankful we were able to save his life," Allura stated.
"All right. Let's get him down to MedTech," Gorma ordered and the medical team wheeled him out of the Control Room.
Hunk and Pidge were whispering with the cadets near the main computer. They all nodded in agreement and turned as one to face Lance, Allura and Duvessa. "Hey, uh, we volunteer to man radar and patrols tonight," Hunk stated. "We'll do that and you three can go sit with Keith."
"Are you sure?" Lance asked.
"Yes, Lance. Just when he wakes up, let him know we're all glad that he's back with us," Pidge stated.
"Thank you. All of you," Duvessa murmured.
Pidge nodded, then turned back to the cadets, giving them their patrol or radar duty assignments as Lance, Allura and Duvessa followed the medical team down to MedTech.
Gorma walked into the waiting room where Lance, Allura and Duvessa sat. "Princesses. Commander."
The three stood as Gorma stopped before them.
"The good news is, he is fully cured. We gave the injection and as we were scanning him, was able to watch the virus be destroyed. He will survive."
Lance smiled. "Always good to hear."
Gorma nodded. "Yes. However, the virus did quite a bit of damage to the area of his brain that controls memory functions. I'm not sure exactly how much, but it is going to be difficult for him when he first wakes. You will probably want to be with him when he wakes."
"We were planning on that, Doctor," Allura agreed.
"Yes. I must urge you all to be careful and take it easy on him when he first wakes. He will most likely be extremely disoriented and will need a few minutes to get his bearings back," Gorma instructed. "I am recommending that he not be on flight status until we determine exactly how much memory has been lost."
Duvessa sighed, but nodded. "I guess I won't be turning Black over to him right away, then."
Gorma shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend it, Princess. I'm thinking at least two weeks of being grounded. And if he can resume flight status after that, it be supervised."
Lance grimaced, but nodded. "All right. Can we see him?"
Gorma nodded and led them back to Keith's room. "I've already had the staff bring in recliners so you can rest in the room with him. If you need blankets or anything, just ask," he stated as he waved into the room.
"Thank you for everything, Doctor," Allura murmured with a warm smile.
Gorma nodded, then moved off to the nurses' station to do some charting.
The three entered the room and stood silently around Keith's bed, watching him.
"We're here, buddy," Lance whispered. "I hope you remember something about all of us."
Keith moaned softly before his blue eyes fluttered open. The room was dark and he could smell the antiseptic. "MedTech," he whispered.
Lance turned and faced the bed, a smile on his face. "Hey, buddy," he whispered softly. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel like shit, Lance," Keith murmured. "How hard did I hit the ground after taking that robeast's head off? Pretty hard since I'm in MedTech, right?"
Lance blinked, his smile faltering a bit. "Taking the robeast's head off…" He nodded. "Oh, yeah. That one. Keith, that was about a year ago now. Do you remember anything else?"
Keith blinked, confused. "I just got back to Arus with Black. Black was completely drained of power. You broke your arm?" He reached up, touched the back of his head. "I apparently got a haircut…"
Lance sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, Doc Gorma was worried that you'd have some memory loss. And if you can't remember anything after that…Damn." He ran his left hand through his hair, causing his wedding ring to sparkle.
Keith caught the sparkle off his hand. "You're married?"
Lance looked at his ring, chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. You were my best man."
"Who did you…"
"Allura," Lance answered.
Keith sat there, staring in shock.
Lance grimaced. "Look, you were cool with it. But, that's all missing now from your head." He waved towards Keith's Voltcom, which was sitting on a charger beside him. "You recorded some memories and Pidge loaded them into that. If you're up to it, you can start looking at them while I go let Gorma know you're awake." And I'll forewarn Allura and Vessa that he's lost a year of his memory. This isn't good.
Keith nodded and picked up his Voltcom, slipping it onto his wrist. He flipped it over and saw the empty key slot. "Where's Black's key?" he asked, looking up at Lance.
"It's safe, Keith. You turned it over to…well, you wouldn't remember her, either. But, trust me, Black's key is safe and in good wrists," Lance assured him. He waved at his Voltcom. "Start watching your letters to yourself. I'll be right back." He stepped out of the room.
Keith stared at the empty doorway for a few moments, then activated his Voltcom and started watching his messages to himself, which included a video of him turning Black's key and control of the team over to a beautiful woman wearing a crown. "I don't remember any of this," he whispered. "What happened to me?"
Duvessa sprinted to MedTech, Allura beside her. They both felt refreshed after their showers and Lance had paged them, wanting to talk to them in the waiting room. She was hoping for good news.
Lance was pacing in the waiting room, which brought Duvessa to a quick stop, especially the worried look on his face.
Allura saw it, too. "How much of his memory is gone?" she asked softly.
Lance looked over at them as he stopped pacing. "He remembers bringing Black back from Wade. Remembers me breaking my arm during that robeast fight and getting a haircut, but after that? Nothing."
Duvessa's eyes closed, pain lancing her heart. "He has no memory of me at all, then."
Lance frowned and nodded. "I'm afraid so, Vessa."
She swallowed hard, but nodded. "It's all right. We all knew it was a risk," she whispered.
Allura moved to her, hugging her. "No, it's not all right, Vessa. If Maahox and Lotor hadn't given him that virus, the two of you would be making plans for your wedding," she whispered.
Duvessa nodded, tears in her eyes. "I know. Just…it hurts. I hope this is only a minor setback," she agreed.
Allura pulled back from her, tears in her emerald eyes. She nodded. "I hope that, too. Shall we go see him?"
Duvessa looked towards the waiting nurse. "You two go in first. I'll wait in the doorway. If he doesn't recognize me, I'll go."
"It shouldn't be like that," Lance stated.
"Shouldn't, but I don't want to make things uncomfortable for him," she answered.
Lance frowned as he looked to Allura.
Allura nodded slowly. "Putting him into distress without his memory would be bad for all of us," she agreed. "While, I will admit, I don't like the idea, it could be for the best. At least until he gets some of his memory back."
Lance nodded back. "All right. I don't like it, but…yeah. Come on, Doc Gorma should be done looking him over by now," he stated and led them towards the nurse and Keith's room.
Duvessa and Allura followed.
