Everyone took turns guarding Lotor.

Lance hadn't been sure what to expect from Lotor when it was his first turn to watch him. They were in the room that Lotor had been assigned as his bedroom. Lance took the duty from Pidge, who immediately ran off to find their brother and Hunk.

"Hey wait!"

"No time...gotta science!" Pidge ran off down the hall. It was true that Lance probably had a lot less to do on the ship than Pidge did. He couldn't blame them for wanting to get back to it.

Shiro hadn't been giving Lance a lot of responsibilities lately. He had never trusted Lance all that much with anything major, but Lance figured it had just been because Shiro knew Keith better than him.

Without Keith, Lance thought a lot of that burden would fall to him, but instead Shiro seemed to default to Matt or Allura. Even Pidge and Hunk were given more duties aboard the castle. Not that I mind, though, it just means more video games for me. Lance's throat felt dry at the thought of playing video games for hours in the dark by himself. He swallowed to get rid of it and shook his head.

Lance liked playing video games. It was a source of enjoyment for him. So why-

Lotor was sitting on a chair brushing his hair. He didn't even glance up as Lance entered, but as though he could read Lance's mind he said. "So, I presume you have nothing better to do than watch me this evening? What, you don't have something better to be doing? No girlfriend to-"

Lance felt his face flush. "You know that's not how this works." He had to keep calm, if Lotor got him mad it would be easier for something to go wrong. He was not going to give Lotor the benefit of seeing his bubbly personality either, just out of spite. He muttered under his breath. "I'd rather be doing something else."

"Oh, don't get upset, darling, I'm only teasing."

Lance's face was hot. He leaned against the wall, watching Lotor intently. Lance knew that Lotor would just keep at it if he gave him any sort of reaction, so he planned to stay silent. Channel Keith.

Lotor chattered on, pausing on occasion, waiting for a reaction from Lance with his words. "That other paladin...Pidge, was it...they rushed out of here in a hurry...do you think they were more excited to get away from me or you?"

Be quiet and brooding, just like Keith.

"You know, out of all the paladins I've met you strike me as the odd one out. Pidge is obviously talented with science, Hunk is a strong engineer, Shiro and Allura are born leaders, plus she's magical. Even that one called Matt is intelligent and trustworthy. but what about you? What's your strong suit?"

Okay, that would probably piss Keith off enough to start a fist fight. Be like Shiro? He was losing it, but that was fine as long as Lotor didn't see.

"Seems to me that the Paladin of the red lion should be the best pilot since she's the fastest. Do you think that role fits you? From what I've seen it seems to me Red's piloting got worse a couple months ago."

Don't punch him in the face...don't punch him in the face. Silence wasn't working, Lance needed to do something else or he wasn't going to last much longer.

"You know who struck me as someone who'd be an excellent pilot? Who could do wonders as a paladin for the red lion? That other fellow who left for the Blade...Keith I think his name was?"

He had to say something. He needed to come up with some words that would shock Lotor enough to stop trying to torment him. As the words formed in his mind Lance almost shocked himself. "Keith's an excellent pilot."

"Ah...you have a soft spot for the boy? I thought I sensed something between you two."

"Quit it." Lance's voice came out as a growl.

"What, no jokes today? You had plenty yesterday when you made a fool of yourself."

Calm. Peace. Serenity. Your siblings used to nag you all the time like this. You can do this, think of home. He closed his eyes, trying to return his breathing to normal.

"We had men just like you working for the Galra. We called them court jesters."

What, is he trained in how to insult me? Did he take lessons from my little sister? Lance was fuming, close to his breaking point.

"I wonder how long it'll be before Matt takes over the red lion from you. Do you want to make a bet-"

Screw it. Siblings fist fight all the time.

Lance jumped at Lotor, sending a punch flying directly at his face. Lotor's eyes locked onto Lance's. There was no surprise in them.

When the punch connected there were two things Lance knew for certain: 1. Lotor could have easily dodged his punch and probably could have taken him down if he wanted to. 2. Lance was in very big trouble.


"Honestly Lance, what has gotten into you?" Shiro was shaking his head and using his disappointed dad voice.

Lance looked studiously at the floor.

"I don't even think Keith would have punched Lotor regardless of what he said. Just explain this to me...explain to me what happened?"

"I told you...he said some things that got under my skin. He was trying to provoke me. He wanted me to attack him." Lance's voice was pleading, begging Shiro to understand.

"But he didn't even fight back. What could he have possibly said that would make you disobey an order so important?"

"It wasn't...he just...it was personal…"

"We need him, Lance, he has some of the best insights into the Galra empire we've ever had. You could have jeopardized all of that. Do you really think that a few insults are worth the countless lives we can save with Lotor on our side?" Shiro was stern, commanding, all the traits of a good leader.

"He's not...he's not a good guy. I think he's up to something-"

"No. He's not. No one else has had any problems with him. They all have been getting along with him just fine."

"They haven't noticed what I have." Lance looked up to meet Shiro's eyes, the dissapointment was evident.

"Really? You think that the most calculating person on our team, Pidge, would miss something? Or that Allura, who has an understandable distrust of the Galra, wouldn't pick up on it? Do you doubt your team so much?"

Lance took a sharp intake of breath. "No! I just...Lotor's the problem. He's driving a wedge or something. You have to listen to me!"

Lance could feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He pulled them back. He was not going to let Shiro see him cry.

"Lotor's not the problem here, Lance! You are."


A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading so far!

No Keith in this chapter makes me want to cry a little. No worries though, he'll be back soon.