The team had made it onto the castle ship without being noticed.
"Guys I think it's best if we split up," Keith instructed.
"That way we can cover more ground, and either way if anybody finds him we can communicate through the comms in our helmets,"
The rest nodded heading in seperate directions.
Half an hour went by and no one had spoken a word.
"Hey, has anyone found anything?" Keith spoke.
"No," Hunk replied.
"Not yet," Allura whispered.
"Nope," Pidge sighed
"Ugh," Keith groaned as he kept searching around, trying not to get noticed by the guards.
An hour went by, still nothing.
"Guys, please tell me you've found something," Keith pleaded.
"I'm sorry Keith, we haven't found anything or else we would've said something..." Allura trailed off.
"Wait! Has anybody gone where the prisoners are kept?" She exclaimed.
"I haven't" Keith, Pidge, and Hunk replied.
"But why would he be there? They must want something from him," Keith whispered.
"We have to check everywhere Keith,"
"You're right, I'll go there, and the rest of you can go down to seperate floors, keep searching there..." Keith's sighed.
—-
Lance was back at his cell. At times he was himself, at other the liquid would take him again, making him uncontrollable.
He felt powerful, unstoppable, but when he was Lance, he felt fear, pain, unstableness. He was helpless.
—
Keith walked down the prisoner hallways, shuddering at how some of them looked. He wondered at times what Lance would look like. He pictured a beat up puppy, lost in the streets. Keith pushed the thought away and kept searching.
He heard quiet sobbing echoing through the hallway.
"Lance?" He whispered.
Keith started to lightly jog to the further cells where the sobbing grew louder.
"Lance?"
A muffled shriek came from the corner of one cell.
Back turned, tied with ropes and chains, a muzzle across a dark, tan face.
Lance.
"Guys I found him!" Keith spoke through the comms of his helmet.
"What?"
"really?!"
"Keith where is he?" Allura spoke.
"Um, the cell number is 289" Keith whispered.
"Okay we'll meet up with you there,"
"Don't worry Lance, we're gonna get you out of here,"
"Mmmmm!" He shook his head, eyes widened with fear.
Keith opened the cell by busting out his bayard and slicing the lock off.
He undid the muzzle of off Lance's face. Keith noticed how dirty and tear streaked his face was.
"I warned you Keith," Lance growled.
"Guys something's wrong with Lance!" Keith exclaimed over the comms.
"What?" Pidge asked.
"Just Hurry!"
The whites of Lance's eyes flushed out as a vibrant yellow replaced them. His bright, blue eyes faded away leaving a blood red iris in place.
A hand yanked from the ropes, placing it on Keith's neck, the same way he had done with the guard.
"Lance... this isn't y-you..." Keith choked out the words, gasping for air. He noticed the hatred in Lance's eyes, but he also saw the other Lance dancing behind the eyes. Trying to rise beyond his Galran self.
Keith placed his hands on Lance's arm, the one trying to choke him at the very second.
"Lance... I'm- I'm sorry..." He choked out again, face turning purple. Keith's vision began to fade black at the edges, until he heard the team's footsteps behind him.
Pidge swung her bayard around Lance, tazing him lightly enough to drop Keith. Keith stumbled quickly towards Lance, punching him right on the side of the jaw, knocking him out again.
Keith's vision slowly returned, as he still gasped for air.
"Keith, you okay?" Hunk asked.
"Well I almost got killed, but I'm still alive so yeah, I guess I'm okay" he talked as he scooped and threw Lance over his shoulder.
"Lemme put these around him just in case," Pidge took out a set of cuffs, neon green glowing cuffs.
"These will postpone his 'galran strength' until we get to the castle, but I hope he stays knocked out for long enough," Pidge breathed in deeply.
Pidge put the cuffs on Lance who winced during his unconciousness. Keith yelped at times too, the team staring at him like if he was crazy.
"Meet up with you later," Keith spoke as he left silently toward his lion.
—
Keith placed Lance softly on the ground as he situated himself to take off. Keith struggled to think straight as the cuffs were several feet away from him.
"Uh Pidge," Keith began.
"Yeah Keith?" her voice spoke through the comms.
"Whatever's in those cuffs is, is giving me a headache," Keith brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose, pinching them.
"Oh, darn I forgot, sorry. Just make it back and Hunk and I will take care of it alright?"
"Y-yeah, that's good,"
—
Luckily, Lance had stayed unconcious for the whole ride. Keith stayed in his seat for a few minutes as he opened the Lion's exit tunnel. Pidge and Hunk came in taking Lance away to the cortex.
"Keith, you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I just, uh, need to get my thoughts straight,"
He struggled to get out of his seat as he swayed from side to side, trying to maintain his balance. The effect had worn off after ten minutes, he still had a faint headache.
Everyone had been called down to the cortex to keep an eye on Lance. Keith was extremely vigilant since he had almost gotten killed. Who knew how long these effects were going to last?