Keith dragged Matt and helped Pidge to the med bay while Allura worked on moving Coran. Coran's injuries were the worst, by far, so they had to be careful not to make them even worse while moving him.
Keith's nose was dripping blood from where the fake Shiro had hit him. He didn't want to waste time in a healing pod, especially when he knew that somewhere out in space Lance was waiting for the Castle to find him.
It had been more than a week that Lance had been on his own. Every day that ticked by made searching for him more difficult. They were sorely lacking in clues.
After ensuring that all of his friends were safely in healing pods Allura looked expectantly at Keith.
"I'm just, going to stay out for now." Keith said to her look.
"Keith…" She frowned. Her voice was stern.
"No, it's just I'm not that badly hurt. I don't really need a pod."
"And I don't need a paladin who will bleed all over the ship."
Keith could tell he wasn't about to get out of it easily. "What if Zarkon attacks while you're the only person out?"
"Then I'll release you. But you, Hunk, and Pidge will probably only be in there for a few hours, so I shouldn't have a problem steering the castle out of the way for that long."
"But-"
"Your nose looks broken, is that really the look you want to have when we rescue Lance?"
Damn. Allura had got him.
"Besides," she continued, "You might have a mild concussion. You really do need a healing pod."
"Okay, okay. I'll go in the healing pod. Can you…" Keith swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat. "Can you look for him while I'm out?"
"Of course." Allura tilted her head at him. "Get some rest."
Keith nodded before stepping into the healing pod. He settled in while Allura turned it on. The sensation was pleasant. He felt a glowing warmth surround him as the pod activated. It was incredibly soothing.
It only felt like it lasted a few seconds before he felt the warmth start to leave his limbs. He could move his fingers and toes again. He wiggled them candidly for a moment before opening his eyes.
Hunk, Pidge and Allura were standing around in what looked like deep discussion. Keith stepped out of the pod and walked towards them. He felt better than he had in years. He stretched his arms across his chest as he approached.
"What have we figured out?" Keith said. His voice startled all three of them, who hadn't realized Keith's pod had disengaged. Hunk jumped a full foot into the air.
It was Pidge who spoke first. "It's not looking good."
"What do you mean?"
Allura spoke this time. "Normally we'd be able to communicate with the ship directly, but Lance's communications are either off, very far out of range, or damaged in some way."
"So what's the plan?" Keith tried to ignore the feeling of tightness coming from his stomach.
Pidge patted him on the shoulder. "Well, I figured I'd start by working on strengthening our communication systems to reach farther into the universe. It might be a long shot though."
Hunk piped up too. "I'm going to help however I can, but we just don't have a lot of ideas right now."
Allura nodded, frowning. "Without anything to go off of, it could be impossible to track Lance down."
Keith's expression froze. "What are you getting at?"
"Well…" Allura looked suddenly uncomfortable, she was shifting her weight from foot to foot ever so slightly. "I just mean...it may be better to focus on other things until we get some information."
"What things?" Keith could feel his blood start to boil under his skin. "What's more important than finding Lance right now? We can't form Voltron without five paladins. We need Lance to do that."
"I know, but Keith, you're forgetting-"
"Forgetting what?!"
Allura started again, her voice softer this time. "If we find Shiro we'll have five paladins again, too."
Keith breathed out, realizing his mistake. In his panic about Lance, he'd completely forgotten about Shiro. Shiro, who was his oldest friend and mentor. Shiro, who was probably in the Galra's hands again being tortured and whatever else. Keith's feelings for Lance had completely eclipsed everything else. The realization shocked Keith. He hadn't known how deep his feelings had gone. "I...uh…"
"We actually might have a lead on Shiro. At the very least we know he's likely in the Galra's hands. And we wanted to wait for you before...before questioning the clone."
Keith looked back at the healing pod with Shiro's body inside. He forced a nod. He knew logically it made sense to look for Shiro first. Shiro was Shiro. He was strong and independent. He was a survivor.
But Lance was Lance.
Keith didn't want to think about the dread welling up in his stomach. He turned his head back toward Allura. "We're not going to stop looking for Lance."
"Of course not." She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Every additional moment we have we can spend looking for him. We'll definitely find him."
It took a while for them to get prepared. To question the fake Shiro they needed to have everything ready. He had infiltrated their ranks for several weeks without being caught, not to mention had all of the real Shiro's strength. If any of them got caught off guard it could mean disaster.
"Ready?" Allura asked.
Everyone nodded.
She pressed the button to release him from the pod. Hunk and Keith immediately placed the shackles on his wrists. It definitely wasn't the perfect solution, but they didn't have a lot of other options.
Shiro's head rolled back for a moment before snapping to attention. He blinked, looking around at the paladins around him.
"Uh...f-fake Shiro…" Allura tried to start speaking, but sounded nervous.
Shiro ignored her, taking the time to test out the strength of the shackles.
"Shiro!" Keith almost yelled it. He was already irritated, and they'd only just begun.
Shiro glanced at him.
Allura flashed Keith a look of thanks at the same time. It seemed to calm her nerves. "We have some questions for you."
Shiro turned his head to look into her eyes, sounding bored. "Not interested."
Allura tried to pretend it didn't bother her, but Keith noticed her stiffen a bit before she continued. "We want to know where the real Shiro is. We want to know the full scope of project Kuron. We also want to know what else Lotor is planning."
Shiro chuckled under his breath. "And why, exactly do you think I would know ANY of that information?"
Allura frowned. "You've been working with Lotor this entire time. You know something."
"Why don't you ask him?"
Allura stiffened more.
Shiro smirked. "Ah...I see...Lotor escaped, didn't he? You don't have any other leads other than me."
Allura tried not to react, but her face showed it all.
He chuckled again. "Well here's what I know. Voltron will fall. You will be defeated. As for your friends, they cut Shiro apart to gather enough DNA to make me. You could hear his screams throughout the station."
Allura shuddered.
"And what? Not concerned about that other Paladin at all? What was his name? Lance? Is that boy so easily cut from your team? How long do you think he can last floating in the emptiness of space all alone. One week? Maybe a few if his ship was stocked? They'll both be dead soon if they're not already-"
Keith launched himself at Shiro, grabbing a fistfull of his shirt before the others could stop him. He raised his fist to strike, but Hunk caught him before he could finish the blow.
"Keith! Stop!" Allura yelled.
Shiro's face broke into a sneer looking into Keith's eyes. "What? Did I upset you? Did hearing that your precious leader is in Galra hands make you mad? Or was it the bit about your beloved Lance that got you to snap?"
Keith threw all of his power into the fist that Hunk was holding. It was just enough to break free from his grasp. Keith felt with satisfaction as his knuckles connected with the side of Shiro's jaw.
Shiro's head snapped to the side.
"Keith!" The others yelled.
Hunk wrestled Keith away from Shiro, pinning his arms to the side.
"Keith! Go wait outside!" Allura yelled. "You're making things worse!"
Hunk shuffled towards the door, still gripping tightly to Keith's shoulders. But there was no use, Keith wasn't fighting him. He pulled out of Hunk's grasp and walked the last few feet out of the door himself. He glanced back at the fake Shiro one last time before leaving.
Shiro was smirking again. Half of his face was red from the punch, parts of it already turning darker.
It was infuriating. Keith turned away, storming out of the room. He didn't like how much of an effect hearing about Lance's potential death had on him. It made him even more angry that the clone was right.
How long could Lance last on his own? Keith had only found evidence that Lance had escaped near death and that his ship had been damaged to some extent. There was nothing to suggest the condition Lance was in. He could be severely injured or have wormholed somewhere completely uninhabited with no way to call for help.
Even best case scenario Lance wasn't made to be on his own.
Shiro was hardy, and space tested. He could endure just about anything. Keith worried about him, and hoped he was alive, but if anyone was a survivor it was Shiro.
Lance though?
Lance was bubbly, and embodied the energy of the people around him. He was charismatic and funny. Sure, he was also inventive, and could be clever if he put his mind to it. But in a harsh and unknown part of the universe without his friends to rely on?
Keith wasn't sure about his chances. Or maybe that's just what I'm telling myself.
The fake Shiro knew this. He had taken one look at Keith and knew all of the fears that were running around inside of his head. Had even called Lance, 'beloved'.
Keith didn't muse too long on that.
He'd talked about Lance being easy to cut from the team. It might not have meant much to any of the other Paladins, but Keith remembered vividly the conversation he had had with Lance only a few months before. Lance had been about to give up his role as Paladin to make it easier on everyone.
Lance had such little belief in himself that he was meant to be on team Voltron. With the way everyone else acted, it almost seemed like they agreed.
Keith knew differently though. He saw how important Voltron was for Lance, and he saw how important Lance was to Voltron. Lance was the center of it. He'd once called Allura the heart, but he was wrong. Lance was the piece that made Voltron work. Without him, even the castle seemed a bit darker.
If they found Shiro first, Lance would come back to a team with no need for him. He wasn't sure if Lance would accept Keith's resignation a second time.
So even if the team had agreed to look for Shiro first, it didn't sit well with Keith.
Allura found Keith by the main computer.
He was searching, looking for any clues. He was calling out to Lance in any way that he knew how. Somewhere in the universe Lance had to be calling back.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Keith's jaw was set. He didn't even glance away from the screen.
"Listen. We're all here if you want to talk about anything."
Keith nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement.
"Pidge and Matt are currently working on any clues to their whereabouts they can find. I'll let you know the moment we find something."
He nodded again.
"Please...just don't go overboard. We need you in the best shape possible. When we find one of them we might have a big fight on our hands."
Keith didn't say anything for a moment. Allura sighed and turned to leave.
"Allura?" He said it softly, and saw her turn around in the corner of his eye. "I know that you want to look for Shiro first, and you're probably right about having a better chance at finding him. But I'm not going to stop looking for Lance. Maybe it's just what the clone said, but I can't shake the feeling he's the right person to search for."
Allura sighed quietly, but seemed resigned. "Okay, Keith. Just please take care of yourself."
A/N: I'm back!
So sorry for my far too long unexplained accidental absence. I've just had a hard time getting back into the rhythm of writing everyday, and all it takes is one day to completely throw everything off.
I've made sure to plan everything out plot wise for this story, so I know exactly what's going to happen when. All that's left is for me to write it.
Happy holidays! Glad to be back!
