When they arrived at Hunk's house the weather had taken a turn for the worst. The rain was pounding down heavily on Shiro and Keith's heads as they raced from their car and motorcycle to Hunk's porch. Nearly drenched just from the sprint up the driveway they banged on his door.

It opened a few seconds later, the lovable bartender giving them wide looks. He looked tired, heavy bags under his eyes. Despite this, a twinkle returned to his normal happy demeanor.

"Keith! Shiro! Oh come in, come in." he ushered them inside. "You're both soaked. You especially Keith." he rushed to grab them some towels. The house was small and quaint, perfect for the two who lived within. They had been recently married about a year prior.

Keith could still smell the lavender from the flowers at their wedding. The laughter and joy were so infectious. That was the last real fun he had with Lance before he had buried himself into the work for his business.

Lance had looked stunning that day. Hunk's best man, dressed in a suit and tie.

"Not much cover from rain on a motorcycle." Keith ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry to drop by so suddenly."

"No no, not at all!" Hunk insisted, returning with the towels from the closet. "Shay!" he called to her. "We have guests! Keith and Shiro are here."

Pounding feet echoed a moment later and Shay slid into the room. The moment she saw Keith she was gathering him into her arms.

Her voice cracked when she said, "I heard what happened."

Keith swallowed thickly but didn't pull away. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?" she asked as she pulled away, eyes wide with worry.

"As okay as I can be." he shrugged, "Lance is- well, he is actually the reason we are here."

The young couple looked puzzled.

"Anything we can do to help," they say kindly. The four moved through the house to the living room. Scented candles and picture frames of friends and family surrounded them. The couches were soft but old, giving the air a strange mint sort of smell.

Lance loved coming over to this house. Their own home was closer to the city, heavy traffic not far from their house. Lance had always hoped one day they could move closer to this neighborhood, surrounded by parks and schools. Child-friendly locations where maybe one day, if they wanted, they could start their own family.

That had always been a dream of Lance's, even if Lance himself didn't say it out loud often. Keith could tell though, especially how he looked at families with such a gentle and hopeful smile.

Keith had wanted to give him that dream. But now he may never get that chance.

"Keith…?" Hunk asked softly.

"Lost in thought." he apologized.

"It's okay." Shay had whipped up a few warm drinks for them all as they got down to business.

"If I can help I'd be happy to, but I don't know if I can." Shay nibbled her lower lip, troubled.

"Information is all I need for now," Keith says. "Both of you are close friends with Lance. I realized that I have no idea what was going on with him these last few months, but I was hoping maybe you two did."

"We're thinking that maybe something Lance said or even somewhere he went might give us a clue on who did this." Shiro explained in detail. "Anything would help, no matter how small a detail."

The couple exchanged looks and nodded. Offering Shiro a notepad and pen they began to explain.

"Well, Lance for the past few months has been generally the same as he always has." Hunk explained.

"Even at work." Shay agreed. "He often talked about the business venture you two were attempting. He was so proud of you both."

Keith nods solemnly, despite how his heart ached. "Anything unusual? I heard Lotor had been visiting him at work."

Shay looked startled, then nodded. "So you know about that…"
"I feel I should be surprised that you do too, but considering your work at the Saloon I'm not." Keith frowned. "Why didn't Lance tell me about that? Why didn't you?" he tried not to sound accusing, but his tone went that way anyway.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered sadly. "It wasn't something for me to say. Honestly, I thought Lance would tell you on his own. I think he intended to wait until your business plan had been assured. He knew how important it was to you and didn't want you to worry about him. He insisted that he could handle Lotor. From what I know Lance only saw him at the hair salon anyway."

Forced to accept that, despite how angry it made him feel, Keith nodded. "Very well… Anything else? Did Lance go anywhere he usually didn't? Talk to anyone new or strange?"

"He has his regular customers at the shop. A stranger from time to time, but nothing that would bring any red flags to your attention." Shay admits. "Hunk?"
"Ah, same with me. We hung out a lot while you were busy, but nothing really new. I mean… there were a few new cafes or restaurants we tried I guess, but we didn't really talk to anyone but ourselves there."

Shiro leaned forward, "Did Lance seems different at all before he was taken? Acting strange or nervous? Hiding anything?"

Hunk, in turn, leaned back into his chair to think about it. "Well… I guess he was a little paranoid."

'Paranoid?" Keith frowned.

"Yeah. It wasn't anything major, but I noticed he seemed to look over his shoulder a lot these last two or three weeks. He's the kind of guy to keep eye contact when talking to someone, but he seemed a little distracted. He looked around a lot."

"Like he felt someone was watching him?' Shiro pushed for more information

"I couldn't say. I never really asked him about it. I thought he was just feeling nervous or something with- uh-" he looked at Keith before cutting off.

Keith wasn't about to let that slide. "What were you about to say?" he snapped, jabbing a finger at him. "Hunk, if you know something, then you spill. Don't you dare keep anything from me right now..!"

Hunk jumped, lifting his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry. I wasn't going to. I just- it was important to him."

Shiro put a steadying hand on Keith's shoulders. "What was?"
The lovable Hunk tilted his head a little, his cheeks a little rosy. "The ring," he explained simply. "He got a ring. He was planning to ask Keith to-" he looked at Keith and corrected his sentence. "He was going to ask you to marry him, Keith."

Eyes widening, Keith's hand automatically reached for his pocket. Removing the box within, Shay and Hunk gasped.

"Where did you find that?" Shay pointed to it.

"It was… on the floor the night Lance went missing. I guess he planned to ask me that night…" Keith slouched, feeling his chest torn to pieces once again.

Hunk's voice sounded just a broken as Keith felt, "Oh Keith… He got that ring weeks ago. I think he's been trying to ask you for a while, but something always came up. I don't know quite what was going on in his head during these last few weeks, but I thought he was nervous because he planned to ask you. I knew he was going to but that is all he really talked about."

"Hunk is right. If Lance had doubts or worries or was even lonely, he never talked about it. He only talked about the good parts. That is how Lance is." Shay adds in

Keith buried his head into his hands. "That's always how he has been…" he never wanted anyone to worry. Ever since they first met if something bothered Lance, he'd keep it to himself unless someone confronted him about it.

It was the only way Keith ever learned about how Lotor had treated Lance. If he hadn't asked, Lance would have never told him. But Keith knew for a fact that Lance was upset and lonely.

At least, that's if he believed what Lotor said was true. Lotor had probably asked, pushed for answers like he always did, and convinced Lance to tell him about how their relationship hadn't been the best lately. That he had been canceling on their dates a lot. That is how Lotor knew.

Would Lance tell that to anyone else…?

"Lets… let's focus." he sniffed, brushing his bangs out of his face. "So, he got a ring, but he had been paranoid." he didn't want to linger on details he already knew. The more he knew the more he could keep going. He had to keep his brain moving or else he might just collapse at the thought that Lance might be gone forever..

Hunk looked weary but understood enough to nod, "Yes. He started to act that way after he got the ring. So it was hard to say if he thought someone was watching him or if he was just nervous at the idea of asking you."

"It might have been the first one," Shay adds in, surprising them all. "It wasn't something huge so I didn't really think of it till now, but Lance had been waiting after his shift was done for the others"

"What do you mean?' Shiro inquired.

"He usually finishes cleanup before anyone else at the saloon. He's speedy like that. He always leaves first, rushing home to make dinner or meet up with a friend. Or you." she motions to Keith. "That is how Lance is. Yet lately he's been waiting until everyone else is done before he would leave. He would wait by the door and look outside it constantly. I thought maybe he was just people watching, but maybe he was actually looking for something."

"Or someone." Shiro frowned.

"So every day he'd walk out with the rest of you? Like he was afraid to walk out on his own?" Keith wanted to be clear on this

"I think so." Shay says. "But I can't confirm any of this. It's just what I noticed. It could be nothing…"

"Or it could be something." Shiro jotted it down. "If Lance was being followed, and in turn, Lance was being paranoid, then there was someone around who Lance had seen enough to feel nervous about. Nervous enough to look around a lot and feel uncomfortable walking to his car alone."

"So… like a stalker then?" Hunk paled. "You think Lance had one of those?"

Shiro shrugs, "Lance was a popular guy. I'm not a cop, none of us are, so we can't really know."

"But we do know something was bothering him. Ring or something else, something was." Keith took the pad from Shiro, lifting the pen. "Hunk, can you list where you and Lance went to this last month? Even if it was just once, list every place you can."

"Uh, okay." he clears his throat. "The grocery store down the street, the cafe near your house; Benny's Deli, the Saloon-" he listed a few more places. "Oh, and the ring store," Hunk says. "I went with Lance to help pick out the ring."

"Which store?"

"Garrison's Jewelers."

"Okay." Keith nods, "Thank you, Hunk."

"Are you two really going to go to all of those places?" Shay asked.

Shiro stood up, grabbing his jacket. "Well, with no leads, we don't really have a choice. Until something comes up we'll have to try everywhere."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hunk pleaded. "Maybe even help check out some of those locations?"

Keith tossed on his jacket, "You actually might be able to spot something better than I can." he says, "Considering you were there with Lance. If you wouldn't mind, it would help a lot if you joined us."

"Let's do it then." Shay's eyes beamed, "Hunk can go with you two and I can head back to the Saloon. I know Lance's customers better and can even lookup any past customers he might have had. See if I find anything suspicious."

"Can you even do that?' Shiro pursed his lips. "Go through that information, I mean?"

"Well, more or less…" she cringed. "But this is for Lance."

"Just don't do anything that could get you arrested, okay." Shiro gripped her shoulder. "That wouldn't help anyone."

"Right right. Same goes for you three." her smile didn't falter, eager to get on her feet and help find her friend.

"Then we have a plan." Keith headed for the jacket. Perhaps he was foolish, but having a little team like this gave him some hope. He just prayed that hope wouldn't be in vain and they could actually find Lance with what they were about to do.

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