The group returns to the castle in tense silence.

Lance has been captured, however willingly he left, and they could do nothing to prevent it. As a leader, Shiro feels as if he failed. He's seen what the Galra can do to a person, and yet, he let Lance go. He wonders if fighting back would have accomplished anything; they were very much outnumbered, and overpowered. As a tactical move, letting Lance go was the only option that let all of them live. It doesn't mean that he agrees with it.

Pidge knows that her weakness is in her physical strength. Fighting was never her forte; so she focused instead on what she was good at: computers. If she had've tried harder in training, put in more effort like Keith did, maybe Lance wouldn't have had to accept the deal. As Allura and Coran flittered about, setting the cryo-pods to heal their injuries, Keith paces the room, almost running into them more than once. His arm still bleeds from the gash on his shoulder, creating a trail of blood where he walks. She wonders how much he blames himself; while Lance is her best friend, he's Keith's everything.

Hunk is more sore than injured really. Okay, sure, he has cuts and bruises like the best of them, but that pales in comparison to the injuries that Pidge, Keith and Shiro have sustained. They actually need the cryo-pod. Hunk is only gonna use one because he'll be more useful not sore. He hopes that they heal fast; it could take up to a week potentially, but Lance shouldn't have to even spend a day in Prince Lotor's grasp. He decides not to think about what Lotor is doing to him now. He decides to not think about Lance with a robotic leg or arm of head. He decides not to think at all.

Keith wants to hit something. Hard. He wants to break something into a million pieces, but he can't, not here. It's not like the thing he wants to hit is here anyways. Prince Lotor. How had they not expected Zarkon to have a successor? It was almost painful to think of how stupid they'd been. A prison ship, completely uncloaked and close to their last known location? What the hell could it be other than a trap? Keith does another lap around the room, only to almost run into the open door of Pidge's pod.

Allura frowns. "Enough." She rests a hand on her shoulder, in a deceptively gentle way; She could break his shoulder if she wanted to, and she knows that he knows it. "You need to heal too. Pacing isn't going to get him back any sooner."

Keith almost growls. "Wasting time in a damn pod isn't gonna save him either." He stares at his hands, scratched and marred with burns. "I couldn't save him."

Allura is quiet when she speaks, her tone softer. "Lance knew what he was doing. Give him some credit; he cared about you enough to willingly walk into the arms of the enemy." She leads him to a pod. The others are already inside theirs, and seem almost peaceful, as if they are asleep and not in a medically induced coma. "Now heal up, so that you can get Lance back."

Keith is too tired to argue anymore. His adrenaline rush is finally leaving him, and the weariness of battles lost seeps into his bones. He's wants to stay awake, to find Lance all on his own, but Allura doesn't even give him the chance to respond. She pushes him into the pod and closes the door. The last thing he sees before succumbing to sleep is her face, sad and unnoticing of his stare.

I'll get you back Lance. I promise.

OoOoOoOoO

Lance's neck burns at the touch of his collar. It's a pretty gold thing, deceptive in its opulence. Every Time Lotor yanks at it, his neck chafes, and he's sure it'll start to bleed if the yanking continues.

"Dance with me." The Galran Prince commands, a hand outstretched in invitation.

Lance shakes his head. "No thanks. I'm good."

He pulls on the chain, forcing Lance to stumble closer to him. "Dance with me." He repeats, more forcefully. Lance doesn't have a choice, so he crosses the distance between them and drops his hand into Lotor's. The prince smiles, and Lance holds back a shudder.

Music plays from a speaker out of sight, and they dance.

OoOoOoO

Pidge is the last to heal.

Keith paces nervously, anxiously as they wait for the last few ticks to pass by. Shiro and Allura are still talking battle tactics, and while he knows that it would be more helpful to listen in, to provide insight, he instead chooses to pace. He paces because it's better than sitting there, doing nothing while Pidge heals and Lance waits, somewhere deep in the grasp of the Galra.

"We may have found him." Allura says, turning to face him. Her face still looks tired, with dark circles under her eyes and her eye markings a dimmer shade of blue. "But we can't be sure unless you actually check." She turned to the console, and pressed a few buttons causing a hologram to expand around them. Mixed in the swirl of lights were several clusters of purple, each one surrounding a darkening purple light. "Lotor knew that you'd try to get Lance back as soon as possible, so he set up several decoys, each one hosting either him or a general, with a cluster of fighter ships guarding them. There are four that he'd be likely to go to." She points at one of the cluster's the closest to the decoy prison ship's location. "Here," she turns and points to one in the opposite direction, close to a blue sun. "Here," She moves the holo-map to the left, and points out another. "Here, and…" She scrolls to the opposite side of the map and points at the final coordinates, "Here."

Shiro crosses his arms. "He was smart. The only way we'll be able to search without giving away our location, is to split up. We have to attack simultaneously, so that they won't be able to warn the others about the incoming attack." Shiro sighed. "Which also lessens our defenses. One lion per sector, is our only choice."

Behind them, Pidge stumbles out of her healing pod into Hunk's arms. "Geez." She wobbles. "That felt weird."

Hunk helps her out of the room, presumingly to the kitchen.

Keith stops his pacing. "After Pidge eats, we can finally start looking." The horrible heaviness he's felt since they returned without Lance finally lifts; they can get him back soon. He'll finally come home.

Shiro shakes his head. "Not until we have a better grasp on their defenses. The last time we rushed in their half-assed and got overwhelmed. This time, we're each going out on our own; if we aren't prepared, someone could end up dead."

As much as Keith wants to ignore him, go to his lion and fly to the nearest coordinates, he knows Shiro is right. If they all rushed out their half-assed, someone else could get captured or worse, and then they'd be right back to where they started: missing a paladin.

"I hope he's okay out there." Keith says, staring at the holo-map. He could be anywhere, he thinks, but Keith will find him anyways, no matter what it takes.