A/N:

I'm so sorry that this took so long to update! I had intense writer's block for this chapter, and I ended up re-writing it a couple times. I also may or may not have been listening to Twenty One Pilots' new album instead of writing buuut...I mean, I've been waiting years for that. Also, Voltron season 8 trailer and release date! Who's excited and scared at the same time? I know I am. For now though, I think I'll go watch the new episode of Attack On Titan.

And in case no one has told you this today, you're amazing and so, so important.

Have a great rest of the day!

Lance!

Someone was calling him. A dim recognition lighted in the backdrop of his mind, but Lance couldn't figure out why. Everything was still muffled in the gloom of unconsciousness.

He looks…

Snap out of it Hunk, we don't have enough time.

He knew that name. Hunk...wait.

"Hunk?!" Lance's eyes popped open so fast that his eyelids felt sore. Or maybe that was just his exhaustion creating strange sensations.

"Lance!" Hunk's voice embraced Lance's ears like a warm hug, and even though Lance knew that this had to be a hallucination, he wanted it to be real.

Hunk stood to his left, working hurriedly to unstrap Lance's restrains. Lance felt instantly safer, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from his armor clad friend.

"Don't worry, Lance. We're gonna get you out of here," Hunk comforted, pulling off a strap that had weighed on Lance's chest for what felt like eternity.

Lance didn't know he could feel relief and suspicion at the same time until that moment.

"Hold still, this might hurt," another voice said to his right. It was a voice Lance had heard too many times not to recognize. Keith. Lance's eyes flicked to where Keith stood next to him, reaching for the wires that connected to his temple.

Gulping and clutching the sides of his operation table, Lance braced himself for their removal. Keith was mercifully quick, and though it stung, the wires departed from his skin with less agony than he expected.

"Alright, let's get you out of here," Keith grunted, sliding his arm under Lance's shoulders and propping him into a sitting position.

With precise movements, Keith grabbed Lance's hand with his right hand and draped Lance's arm across his shoulders. Pulling Lance off the table steadily, Keith supported Lance's body weight as Lance stood straight. Hunk hurried around to the other side and together, the two of them basically carried Lance out of the room.

"Are you guys real?" Lance asked from the corner of his mouth, fighting the pain that erupted throughout his body from the jostling of their pace.

"What are you talking about? Of course we are," Keith grunted, leading them down a dark purple hallway.

"That's what you always say," Lance commented idly, not expecting them to react.

However, Hunk did cast him a concerned look.

Hunk and Keith must have received a warning from Pidge on their comms, because when they reached a corner they both moved in perfect unison and pushed themselves against the wall. Two Galran guards turned into the corridor on their patrols, and before they could even react, Keith slashed both of their heads off. Without missing another beat, the trio rushed down another pair of halls, the purple and black of the ship's interior blurring together into a never ending wall of bruises. They hurried into a lift, and Lance realized that he was breathing heavily.

"How did you find me?" Lance asked distantly, determined not to fall stupidly for another illusion.

"The Red Lion sent us a signal," Hunk told him, another worried expression clouding his brow.

That was new. Hallucinations demanded that the Red Lion be activated, not tell him that it already had been.

"Where are we?" Lance continued, wanting details.

"In the center of a Galra Warship in an enormous fleet," Keith told him vaguely, obviously not in the mood to dive deeper.

"How long?" Lance rasped. He needed to know. The question weighed on him with the pressure of the deepest trench of any ocean, and he didn't know how he would react to the answer.

Keith and Hunk exchanged looks before returning their attention to Lance.

"A month and a half," Keith finally admitted, letting the knowledge settle on Lance's shoulders.

A month and a half. More like an eternity and a half.

"Let's just get out of here," Lance decided, shoving down the bile that had begun to climb his throat.

"We don't have much further," Keith informed him, shifting slightly under Lance's weight.

Lance didn't believe him. Maybe it was the exposure to false realities for an extended amount of time. Or maybe it was all the crippling moments of disappointment. Either way, he felt a sense of surrealment as they exited the lift and hurried down several more halls. Would he really be leaving? Most of Lance didn't believe that this was real, much less that he'd actually be able to leave. As they hustled down corridors, specks of black flickered across Lance's vision, and his heavy panting was probably audible to every Galra on the ship.

"Hang in there, Lance," Hunk murmured, his eyes roving from down the hall to Lance's face.

Lance said nothing, seeing as he couldn't really breathe normally.

Suddenly, Hunk and Keith propped Lance against a corner, their hands both reaching for their bayards.

"Wait here, Lance," Keith instructed, while Hunk shoved Lance's bayard into his hand.

"Use this if you need it," He ordered, before the both of them rounded the corner, ready for a fight.

Clutching his sides, Lance gripped his bayard with the strength of an invalid and angled his head to watch the action unfolding. Keith and Hunk openly attacked a squad of five soldiers, the two of them ripping through the group in a matter of seconds, with Keith slashing, dodging, and sliding, and Hunk blasting away. They returned to Lance quickly and carried him along in uneasy silence until the screeching of an alarm began to split their ears.

"This is not good," Hunk moaned.

The shrill noise ignited Lance's ever lurking migraine, and everything became excessively confusing. Lance's vision became unfocused, he could only hear the continuous shrieking of the siren, and it seemed as if he missed whole minutes at a time. Colors flashed by, purple and black, then red and white. Disoriented and nauseous, Lance knew he vomited more than actually felt himself in the action. Something connected with his thigh, and a searing pain ripped through his skin and dragged him back to reality. His vision clearing and his hearing slowly restored to him, Lance blinked up at Hunk, not remembering when he'd fallen to the floor.

"Wha-?" Lance noticed the sound of laser blasts flying behind him and frowned, more confused than ever.

"Lance! Thank goodness! You passed out, and we didn't know what to do with you!" Hunk exclaimed urgently, casting glances at the battle over Lance's shoulder.

"I need to help Keith, but I won't be far. If you need help, just yell," Hunk told him, pushing Lance's bayard at him before rushing off to join the chaos of battle. Lance didn't remember giving the bayard back to Hunk, but he dismissed the thought with the rationalization that he must've dropped it when he fainted. The noise of the battlefield was loud enough to prevent Lance from clearing his head completely, and he didn't know if it was altogether smart for them to have left him alone at the moment. Pushing against the floor with all the measly strength that he possessed, the Red Paladin of Voltron managed to sit up, his back supported by the interior of a console desk. A sharp jolt of intense pain rocketed from his thigh to his torso, and Lance bit back a curse. The limp trousers that the Galra had given him were scorched and torn at the source of his pain, and Lance knew that at some point during his unconsciousness, he'd been shot. Biting his lip to keep from crying out, Lance gently pulled the fabric from the wound, and surveyed the black skin beneath it. There was nothing he could do to treat the wound at the moment, and he knew instantly that the wound would leave a scar. Before he could examine the injury too closely, however, the clank of footsteps alerted Lance to the presence of a Galra soldier. Jerking his head up and morphing his bayard into a blaster, Lance slid his finger gently over the trigger and held the blaster to his eyes, years of combat training acting for him. The soldier rounded the console and before he even knew what hit him, Lance shot his thigh. The soldier crumpled to the ground, and before he could do anything more, Lance shot him again in the head. Releasing a relieved sigh, Lance knew he didn't have time to waste. This wasn't a hallucination, he knew that with certainty, and if there was one thing he wanted to do, it was get out of that ship quickly. Scooting forward, Lance maneuvered himself so that he could use the edge of the console that had jutted above his head as a way to pull himself to his knees. After a moment of struggle, he managed to sit high enough so that he could see his surroundings. With narrowed eyes, he gaged the fight before him. They were in the Red Lion's expansive hangar, the Lion herself sitting as stoic and detached as ever. A squad of about thirty Galra were attacking Keith and Hunk, and effectively blocking their path to the Lion. While at first the two of them seemed to be holding their own, it quickly became apparent to Lance that Keith was wounded and Hunk was struggling with close combat. Analyzing quickly, Lance realized that his friends had roughly a minute before something catastrophic happened. He knew that he had to do something in order to help them, and instantly surveyed the console before him and started typing on a nearby screen. With shaking fingers, Lance deactivated the shield around the outside of bay's door that kept the oxygen within the bay and glanced at his friends. Positioning his body so that the console would prevent him from flying out of the hangar, Lance yelled, "Keith, Hunk, hold on to something!"

Without pausing to see if they heard him, he ordered the door to open. The pressure sucked anything not secured into the void of space, and Lance watched as crates, weapons, and unsuspecting Galra shot out of the bay. Keith clung to a rivet in the floor, and Hunk hugged a crate that was tied down. Fighting against the aggressive pull of space, Lance managed to reactivate the shields. After the current of air ceased, Lance's knees buckled, and his body slammed onto the floor. As a grunt escaped his lips, Lance blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to dismiss the black splotches that flickered across his vision. Sitting in a dazed state, Lance felt a strong arm wrap around his shoulders and hoist him to his feet. Keith's voice yelled at him through a pool of murky water, and for a brief moment, Lance felt lost under an opaque sea. Then, without any effort from him, Lance's vision and hearing reverted to normal, and he found himself staring at Keith, who looked concerned, anxious, and irritated at the same time.

"C'mon, Lance, let's get to the Red Lion," Keith urged, practically carrying Lance's weight.

Lance nodded, his head pounding and his heart racing. Just a few more steps. Freedom was so close.

"Where's Hunk?" Lance asked, noticing the absence of his reassuring friend.

"He took Cosmo and they teleported to the Yellow Lion," Keith told him, eyes focused on the Red Lion looming over them.

"Cosmo was here?" Lance asked, as sweat fell from his forehead.

"Yeah, you didn't notice?" Keith wondered, scrutinizing Lance.

"No," Lance admitted, just before another, pressing question popped into his head.

"Why didn't you just teleport me out of here?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "You don't think we thought about that? We need someone to pilot the Red Lion, and I don't even know if she'll accept me. It had to be you, idiot."

"This is a rescue mission. Aren't you supposed to be more nice?" Lance complained, eliciting a wry grin from Keith.

"Good to have you back, Lance."

"Good to be back," Lance smiled back.

And in that moment, in that one moment, they were careless. In an instant, a blast hit Keith square on the knee, bringing them both to the ground with a solid thump.

"Keith!" Lance yelped, fumbling for his bayard. He morphed it into a blaster, and, only managing to assume a crouching position through sheer survival instincts and adrenaline, held its scope to his eye. Trying to shield Keith from another shot, Lance traced the direction of the shot to a balcony to their left. Scarface himself stood on the metal balcony, his eyes glittering with disgusting excitement. The Galran jumped easily from the balustrade and landed almost a hundred feet from Lance. Gritting his teeth, Lance didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. However, Scarface easily and quickly avoided the blast, all the while running for Lance at top speed.

"So the little weakling finally decided to fight back?" Scarface laughed as he evaded Lance's shots.

Lance refused to indulge in Scarface's taunt, and continued to shoot at the monster. C'mon Lance, this is what you're good at! Lance screamed at himself as he continued to miss the Galran. Scarface lunged at Lance and pinned him against the floor, fangs glittering viciously. A burning claustrophobic feeling erupted in Lance as Scarface held him down, instigating a desperate struggle on Lance's part, which included the flailing of appendages and the increasing of blood pressure. The fact that his tormentor's gnarled and horrifying face hung less than five inches from his own spiked Lance's sense of terror to new heights, and the eerie smile that rested on Scarface's lips only added to his fear. The chilling stare of the Galran's eyes transfixed Lance into an almost dream-like paralysis, with his mind ordering his body to run, but his body resisting movement. Twisting his smile into a snarl, Scarface slashed at Lance's face with his sharp claws, igniting a flood of blood that splashed from the Cuban's skin. A howl jumped from Lance's vocal chords, and Scarface moved to repeat the previous motion. Just before his claws touched Lance again, Keith collided with Scarface's side and pushed him off Lance. The two tumbled several feet away, all the while growling and attacking each other. Keith used his blade to slash at Scarface, while Scarface relied on his claws and brute strength. Locked in a fatal wrestling match, the full Galran and the half-blood struggled with each other, both inflicting wounds upon their opponent. After a glint of silver and a rapid motion, Keith chopped off Scarface's remaining ear, prompting a fountain of rage to rip out of Scarface's lips. Fury fueling his movements, Scarface managed to wrestle on top of Keith and trapped the Black Paladin under his hulking mass. Lance, with red blinding his vision and falling into his mouth, wriggled hastily to his bayard, which had been knocked several feet away when Scarface had tackled him. Clutching it and spinning around, Lance shot Scarface in a second of blind panic, effectively surprising the large Galra. His blast connected with Scarface's armor and knocked him off of Keith, but didn't kill him. Biting his lip and ignoring the multiple and rather serious health issues that were vying for his attention, Lance dragged himself closer, in order to get a better angle to shoot his tormentor. Pushing himself up on one knee, Lance unsteadily aimed at Scarface's face, wanting to be rid of his demons forever.

To Lance's astonishment, Scarface met his eyes, and with a completely calm voice hissed, "You can escape, but you'll never leave."

Lance's pulse rioted under his skin, and without thinking, he squeezed the trigger. The blast hit his tormentor square in the face, marring him beyond recognition and killing him instantly. Instead of feeling triumph, or even relief, Lance felt empty. And repulsed. A venomous snake curled in his stomach and sent waves of nausea through him, but before he could truly dwell on the emotions that hurtled through him, Keith coughed. After a moment of exhausted struggle, the two pushed themselves to their feet, using each other as support. Covered in fresh blood and stubborn injuries, the two Paladins limped to the Red Lion, who after all this time and strife, finally decided to cooperate. She lowered her head and allowed them into her cockpit, where Lance collapsed on the pilot's chair, and Keith slumped against the wall.

"Alright, girl, let's get out of this hellhole," Lance announced, then piloted the ship out of the bay. They entered a fray of warships blasting at one another, and Lance was forced to initiate a spinning dive in order to avoid several canon shots.

"Hold on," He called back to Keith, "This is gonna be rough."

"When isn't it?" a voice crackled from the Lion's communications system, and Lance's face lit up behind the layer of blood.

"Pidge!"

"Hey Lance!" She replied, joy filling her voice.

"Good to have you back, Lance," Shiro's voice said at the same time as everyone else began to talk.

Lance didn't really know what they were saying, since his headache was raging stronger than ever, and he barely managed to hear them order a retreat. The Lions pulled away from the fight, fleeing to safety, but danger still followed them. Elite fighter planes chased them, but after several ingenious maneuvers from them all, they managed to beat their attackers and escape their clutches at last. Lance piloted his Lion with them in formation, hardly able to understand his surroundings, and after they landed in a deserted location on a remote planet, he couldn't resist sagging in relief.

"That was something else," He commented to Keith, then promptly passed out.