Hell Hath No Fury
Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters nor any of its alternate universe personas. So sad, I could become fond of a Lotor with green eyes…
Part 5 of the Chivalry story arc: 1. Chivalry; 2. Lion House Restored (& 2A. LHR – Allura's POV); 3. Doomed Quest; 4. Alternate Choices; and 5. Hell Hath No Fury. While some of the stories can be read as stand alone, this one must be read AFTER Alternate Choices for it to make sense.
Rating/Setting: Rating is T, bordering M. There are some topics that could be triggers for some people; I will try to post warnings for those chapters. However, I'm never graphic or explicit in any of my writing. If you've read Alternate Choices, you should know what the trigger topics are. Setting is DotU in flavor.
Chapter 7
~Day Two in the Mirror-verse~
Lance McClain of the Altean resistance, looked at the landscape around him. He was doing an outside patrol of the castle for a change. Even though he was on alert, he was able to think through things without interruption and having the opportunity to get some fresh air was an added bonus after being hidden underground for so long. The fresh air cleared his mind as he looked around. He definitely had a lot to think about. If Orla was correct, then the Queen of Arus could appear at any time and if she wasn't disguised… well, he knew people would probably shoot first and ask questions later. A thump sounded behind him and he turned with his gun at the ready. Two people had suddenly appeared. Moving closer, he pointed his rifle at the man on the ground.
Lance from Arus looked up into his own eyes as his comment about the trip over was cut off in mid-sentence. They'd have to be careful how they reacted to his alternate or everything could end here and now. Keeping his eyes locked on his alternate's, he said, "Keith didn't tell me that I was just as handsome in the alternate universe."
The mirror-verse Lance looked thoughtfully at his alternate and with a nod, lifted the rifle to his shoulder. Looking from Lance to Allura and back to Lance, he said, "But I'm sure he told you that you're a smart ass in both." Cocking his head to the side, he smiled and said, "I'm not sure if I like us as a blonde."
Lance returned the smile and said, "I don't consider it being a smart ass. I'm usually just telling the truth with flair. As for the hair and eyes, I'm trying not to be recognized." Glancing to Allura and back up at his alternate, he asked, "Is it all right if we stand?"
"You can stand up. We also need to move from this location to Castle Control." The alternate looked around as he continued, "It seems that whatever or whoever sent you here, did a good job. Anyone else but a resistance leader would have shot you on sight; I might have just a day ago." Looking at the pair that stood before him, he said, "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get into one of the hidden passages. We should keep your arrival here a secret for now." Seeing them nod, he motioned for them to go in front of him. He might believe they were here to get Keith back, but he didn't trust them yet.
A short time later, the alternate Lance exited from the hidden passage in the Control Center. He found Orla, Hunk, and Avok there. Giving an order over the com system, he ordered the command area empty except for the three Resistance leaders and himself. He smiled as they moved over to him. "You'll never guess who I ran into while patrolling the inner courtyard." Moving to open the door, he waved the newcomers inside. "May I introduce Lance McClain and Allura Altaire, Queen of Arus."
There was a moment of awkward silence before Orla stepped forward and curtsied to Allura. "My Queen, you honor us with your presence." The rest of the group followed her lead and bowed.
"Allura. Please call me Allura. And I'm guessing by Lance's reaction to our arrival that you know why we're here."
Orla nodded. "As you wish, Allura." Gesturing toward a nearby computer station, she said, "Queen Allura sent out a vid earlier today. After seeing it, I knew you'd be coming." After keying in the correct sequence, she turned sympathetic eyes on Allura and softly said, "This may be a little disturbing, Allura. I just wanted to warn you." Seeing Allura's nod, she started the video.
Doing everything in her power to remain calm and detached, Allura watched the vid with pained eyes and a hurting heart. At some point, she felt Lance's hand slip into hers and she held it tightly. The fact that Keith didn't move indicated that he was either unconscious or just physically unable to do so. Judging by his bruised body, both were possible. It was also hard to miss the fact that he was wearing the bond-mate arm band.
The Resistance leaders watched the pair closely and saw the pained expressions on both their faces as well as the close bond that they seemed to share. Looking at each other, they gave subtle nods indicating that for now, the pair was to be trusted.
When the vid ended, Allura drew a deep breath. "He's only been gone from Arus a little over two hours. How long has he been in this universe? There's no way he could have developed those bruises and injuries in such a short time."
"From what we can gather from our spies on Ormond, the Queen returned with her captive about thirty hours ago."
"Thirty hours," Allura breathed out. Her mind went to the images they had seen. It was obvious that Keith had been tortured for a good portion of that time. And now, what was he going through? Was Allura Alt keeping her promise of not completing the bond-mate ritual? Actually, Keith's obvious injuries might just be helpful in that area. Before she could say anything else, the door hissed open behind her. Her blood ran cold as the voice of the newcomer reached her ears.
"I got the summons from Lance, what-" Lotor's voice broke off as Lance pushed Allura to safety behind him and pulled a lazon sword from a hidden pocket.
Allura put her hand on Lance's shoulder as she heard the Resistance leaders pull blasters from their holsters. "No, Lance. This isn't our Prince Lotor. Remember what Keith said."
Giving one last glare at the green-eyed prince, Lance deactivated his lazon sword. "Sorry." Turning, he saw the pulled blasters and shrugged. He wasn't offended. "You can put those away now. After seeing that video, well, it was something that our own Prince Lotor would have done to Keith. It won't happen again." Looking at his alternate, he continued as if it was a normal thing to be pulling lazon swords and blasters in a command center. "I do think that we need to work on names to avoid confusion if possible." At the nod of heads, he said, "How about it we refer to Keith's Allura as Eleanor." He saw their curious looks and answered the nonverbal question. "Eleanor was Allura's mother's name and she used it on a quest and will answer to it fairly easily. As for me, you can call me Lancelot."
The alternate Lance looked around and said, "It should work."
Looking at the group, Allura said, "Lancelot and I need to tell you what transpired and what Queen Allura told me when she took Keith."
Orla nodded and gestured to a conference room off the control center. "Go ahead into the chamber. I'll call back in the support staff to man the workstations."
Lance and Allura noted that all the Resistance leaders let them walk into the chamber first. They might trust Keith, but they understood that they hadn't earned their trust yet. Hopefully, there would be enough trust to get to Keith before permanent harm was inflicted on him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Allura Alt looked at the unconscious man on her bed. She had had the guards bring him to her chambers after the end of the vid. Thankfully, she had remembered to have them place towels on the bed to protect her linens. With the guards and the medical personnel gone, it was finally just the two of them. She had obtained the medicines and bandages needed to attend to him. A soft smile lit her face as she made her way over to the bed. A bowl of warm water and cloth were on the nightstand. Allura Alt looked forward to removing the remainder of his clothing and bathing him before attending to his wounds. The only question that remained was at what point would he wake up?
Keith felt a warm, wet, soft cloth glide across his back. His eyes felt so heavy and the cloth felt so nice to all his aches and pains; he didn't want to open his eyes. Relaxing in Allura's embrace, he let out a sigh against her shoulder. It was at that moment that it all came back to him; this wasn't his Allura. Tensing, he felt a tingling sensation in his right arm.
"It's okay, Keith, I'm just cleaning you up before bed." She chuckled slightly as he tensed even further at the word 'bed.' "Don't worry, lover, you're too injured right now." Leaning over gently with him so that he was lying back on the bed again, she let her lips hover over his. "I want you at your best for our first time. That means I'll have to give you a few days to heal up. However, you'll be sleeping with me every night. I don't trust you or the traitorous scum you helped on Altea." Her lips completed the distance between them. She wanted it to be a responsive kiss like the one they had once shared, but he did nothing but lay there. Looking at him, she narrowed her eyes., "It would be in your best interests, Keith, to accept your fate. Things can go easy for you, or they can go hard. You have a choice."
Looking into her eyes, he once again tried to find some trace of his Allura in there. Some piece of goodness to hold on to, a piece that he could reason with. There was nothing but anger, malice, and hate. "But I have made my choice, Allura. I made it when I married Allura Altaire, Queen of Arus." He knew that he made her angry, but he didn't care. Well, maybe he cared a little as she took her anger out on him by raking her fingernails against some of his blistered skin.
Allura Alt watched him with narrowed eyes. Surprisingly, she didn't find any satisfaction in his cries of pain. Hating to admit it even to herself, she was jealous. Queen Allura of Altea was jealous of… herself. She had watched the disgusting display of love and friendship on Arus over the course of several days before she had made her move to return to her universe. There had been copious amounts of intergalactic vids on the famous couple detailing their relationship. Keith had given the other Allura everything that she herself wanted. Granted, she would never lower herself to marriage to any man, but she would have given him whatever he wanted. She had offered it to him when she had captured him in her bedchamber, and he had tossed it back at her. No one, and especially no man, EVER did that to the Queen of Altea.
Shaking her head, she got up from the bed and went to get the salve and bandages. She would doctor him up. Three days, that's all that she would give him before consummating their relationship.