A/N: I do not own Voltron, its characters or settings. Anything new is mine.
Lance kicked the Red Lion into high gear, every swear word he knew flying out of his mouth in frustration as the Black Lion loomed in his sights like a death knell. He didn't know if he could outrun his captain, but he knew he had to try. If he didn't reach Lissa now, she might be lost to him forever. He couldn't lose her again.
Keith watched as the Red Lion surged forward, and his eyes narrowed in anger. His thoughts were focused solely on overtaking his cohort, his mind deliberately refusing to think about the kiss he'd given Princess Allura.
Hunk was flying in his direction at a leisurely pace, and Keith's anger grew. The pilot of the Yellow Lion had allowed Lance to pass, when Keith had given everyone explicit orders to stall the Red Lion if they encountered it.
"Just what was that about, Hunk? You disobeyed a direct order," Keith snapped as he drew near the Yellow Lion.
"Sorry, sir. Perhaps if you'd informed me of the whole situation, I would have performed my duties with more conviction," Hunk said in one of his eerie moments of intellectual insight, his voice definitely chiding.
Keith blinked in surprise. And then his brow furrowed and he barked, "Don't get smart with me. That's borderline insubordination, and I already have one pilot who's trying to throw a mutiny."
"Lance is just going after the woman he loves," Hunk calmly countered. "As you have in the past, if memory serves me."
That brought Keith up short. It was true he had run into danger several times to rescue Allura, but that was hardly the same thing! After all, it was his duty to protect the princess…
But not at the risk of the team, he concluded. Which, he had done in the past. He decided to remain quiet.
He slowed the Black Lion for a moment to allow the Yellow Lion to pass by, the silence between the two pilots strained and ringing with words unsaid.
When had his life grown so complicated Keith wondered.
As soon as Hunk was clear, he launched the Black Lion forward again.
Lance had watched the exchange between his teammates, surprised and grateful when Hunk seemed to slow Keith down. But the reprieve was a brief one, and all too soon the Black Lion was moving after him again.
Lance had always secretly believed the Black Lion was superior to all the others, though Keith had never said as much and Voltron was so ancient no one alive knew if that might be the case. But Lance had always had a hunch it was. After all, a leader was a leader because he surpassed his compatriots, when it came down to it.
As he fled the Black Lion, his Red Lion at maximum speed, his suspicions were confirmed. Little by little the Black Lion was overtaking him, and he knew his chances of reaching Lissa were slim with Keith hot on his heels.
In desperation, he radioed the Black Lion and said, "Captain, I know you're pissed that I've taken the Red Lion, but I need to talk to Lissa, and there's no ship faster then the Lions."
Keith was surprised Lance had contacted him, but not enough to forgive him his recent transgressions. "Negative, pilot. I order you to turn your Lion around and return to Arus."
Lance slammed his palm down on the arm of his seat. "Damn it, Keith, I can't do that! I have to go after her now, or she'll be gone forever. Don't you understand?"
Keith closed his eyes for a brief instant, caught between conscience and duty, his whole world askew at the moment. Allura was kissing him, Hunk was reprimanding him, and Lance had lost his mind. Despite the fact that he could sympathize with Lance's feelings for Lissa, he still couldn't justify allowing the pilot to leave.
"I do understand, but that's not the point. Perhaps if you hadn't been acting so erratically I might allow it, but since Lissa showed up you have been unstable and unpredictable. What if you talk to her and decide to follow her to the ends of the Universe? What then? Would you bring the Red Lion back, or just go after her for the umpteenth time?"
Lance stiffened, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell kind of statement is that? You know I'd bring the Red Lion back."
"I used to know that Lance, but not anymore," Keith corrected him. "You are completely unreliable when it comes to this woman. Your emotions for her are too volatile for me to believe you'd use your head in a logical manner rather then be guided by your instincts."
Lance gritted his teeth. "You can be such a prick, you know that? How dare you sit there and chew me out when you've chased after Allura more times then I can count, without consulting the rest of the team."
That was the second time one of his subordinates had brought up his own shortcomings, and while it was true, it still irritated Keith. "That's enough, Lance. I am the Captain of the Voltron Force, my decisions are law for the team, and if I make a decision without consulting the rest of you, that's my affair and not yours."
"Some team mentality," Lance shot back sarcastically.
"Don't talk to me about team mentality. You just stole the Red Lion and ran off without telling anyone and earlier you broke team formation to rush to the rescue of your beloved Lissa, putting the people of Arus at risk and getting you captured by her dragon," Keith barked.
"You're right about my breaking formation, Keith. For that, I apologize. I just couldn't help myself when I saw Lissa taking on that Roe Beast," Lance whispered, the memory of his mindless panic returning to him full force. "I do tend to react before thinking where she's concerned, but she won't be on Arus any longer, and I'd just like to make peace with her while I can. As for stealing the Red Lion, there you're wrong. Allura knew exactly what I was doing, and where I was going."
"You leave her out of this," Keith warned.
"Why? You say that Lissa makes me act unpredictably and that's true," Lance admitted. "But I've already said I'm aware of the fact. However, Allura makes you feel just as out of control, so I bring her up to point out to you the similarities between how I act and how you act."
Keith paused, the weight of Lance's words ringing in his head. Everything Lance said was true, but damn it, duty had to come first!
He was just about to tell him as much when something rammed into the Black Lion's hindquarters, sending him into a wild spin.
Lance had the Red Lion turn to face the Black Lion, wondering if they were being attacked by Doom again. What he saw stunned him.
The Blue Lion was floating in the sky where the Black Lion had been moments before; its back to the Red Lion as it watched the Black Lion spinning wildly in the air.
"Allura, what are you doing?" Lance demanded.
The Blue Lion glanced back at him. "Buying you some time, lover boy. Now move it, I won't be able to hold him back for long if he's not inclined to be delayed."
Lance hesitated. "Are you sure you want to do this, Allura? He's going to be pissed."
"He already is," she answered him, her voice calm and level. "Besides, there are some things I need to discuss with him, and he seems to have a tendency to run from things like your Lissa does."
Lance grinned. "Are you finally going to stop acting like juvenile lovesick teenagers and deal with your feelings for each other?"
"I'm going to try and get him to do just that," she laughed. "Although you are hardly one to call someone juvenile, Romeo. Now get going. Please tell Lissa I'll miss her, and she's welcome on Arus anytime."
"I will," Lance promised, wheeling the Red Lion around and resuming his course for Tanor.
Irrationally, now that he had a chance at escaping Keith, part of him felt as if he should stay behind and try to reason with his captain, or at least offer Allura his support. The Voltron Force was important to him, they were like a second family, and he did care for them deeply. Even the annoyingly high and mighty Keith. It pained him to be at true odds with any of them, but his life had been so empty without Lissa, as if she had taken a part of him with her when she left so many years ago. He couldn't leave things unresolved between them, at least not on his side.
With a sigh of exasperation, he firmly squelched any thoughts of turning back and began to recite what he was going to say to Lissa in his mind.
The ram attack caught Keith off guard, so the Black Lion was sent spinning through the air for several turns before he was able to gain his bearings and bring the robot under control. His first thought was that they might be under attack from Doom.
"Lance! Watch out, we're under attack," he yelled, instinctively concerned for his fellow pilot, their earlier argument forgotten for the moment.
To his astonishment, it was Allura who answered him, not Lance. "Sorry Captain. The only one who's in danger here is you."
Keith stiffened upon hearing her voice. He had the Black Lion scan the horizon despite her words and found no sign of foreign ships or life. In fact, the only thing nearby was the Blue Lion. He could see the faint outline of the Red Lion in the distance as Lance's robot hurtled further and further away from him with each passing moment.
"If we're not under attack, then what the hell happened?"
"You're a smart man, Keith. Figure it out," she replied.
Keith stared at the Blue Lion for a moment, noticing how it hovered between him and the retreating form of the Red Lion. His voice was grim when he said, "It was you. You rammed the Black Lion with the Blue Lion."
"Very good, Captain," she affirmed when there was no need for her to do so.
Keith was tired of his cohorts and their various forms of insubordination. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"Yes. I've helped a friend."
He felt like hitting something, an unusual urge for a man normally ruled by logic. "Admirable as that might seem, you've done more then that. You've allowed a fellow pilot to turn rogue and steal the equipment necessary for keeping your people and your planet safe."
"Do not think to lecture me about the safety of my people," she curtly snapped her voice imperious, a tone of command to it that she had never used with him before. "There have been times in the past when the Voltron Force had to defend Arus with a fraction of the team."
"Yes, but those were times when the missing team members were imprisoned or in danger," Keith growled.
"There are more dangers to a human then physical ones," her rejoinder was calm compared to his impassioned words.
Keith closed his eyes and leaned his head back against his seat. "I know that…What would you have me do, Allura? Act as if I don't know he's taking the Red Lion to the far reaches of space?"
"Tanor is hardly the far reaches of space," she countered him.
"That's not the point. You know it's wrong of him to endanger others for his own selfish wants," Keith tiredly commented, the last thing he wanted to do was fight with her.
"At this juncture I'd say it's no longer just a want, Keith. It's a need. He can't deny his feelings any more," Allura sighed. "And neither can I."