Chapter 4

Lance jerked violently in a tangle of limbs and blankets on the floor, terror spurring him to scramble ineffectually to extricate himself from his restraints. Suffocating panic clogged his throat. He struggled for breath, pants turning into ragged gasps as his mindless thrashing only made him more helplessly entangled. A swirling cesspool in his gut sent any remotely coherent thought scattering, his stomach heaving in protest.

It was only after he'd worked himself up so much that he banged his head against a leg of his nightstand that he was snapped into the reality of his situation. He blinked blearily around him, still breathing heavily, lump in his throat. He took on the plush carpeting and high tech accoutrements, and realized he wasn't on at the GBI Training facility on Iara. It was another moment before he remembered he was at his old apartment back home.

Vague, disorienting snatches of his recent dream flash behind his eyes and he shuddered. A nightmare, then, nothing more. He clung to that thought, his body still trembling pathetically at the residual fear of his dream and unpleasant memories. It was years ago, he reminded himself. He was safe now. He was grown and nowhere near as helpless.

Lance jumped and scrambled to a seated position at a knock on his door.

"Mr. McClain? Is everything okay?" Lance groaned inwardly. Kevin. How the hell had this guy even heard him? He'd thought the sound buffer between their rooms would've given him enough privacy to make living with a stranger more bearable. Evidently Kevin was equipped with super hearing.

"Everything's fine!" Lance shouted to be heard through the door, his confusion and fear temporarily dissipating in a hot rush of irritation and embarrassment, "Just trying to take a piss and tripped, so you can cool your jets, Mr. Leadfoot."

"O-kay…" Kevin said, and Lance wasn't sure if that was awkwardness or hesitation in his voice. "If you're sure."

"Pretty fucking sure," Lance said, "Now can I sleep in peace? Or are you going to hover outside my door for the rest of the night?"

"Good night, then, Mr. McClain," Kevin said, his voice now clipped.

Lance sighed in relief when he heard the man's retreating footsteps and slumped against his nightstand. From there, he only managed to curl in on himself, body trembling. He hugged his midsection with shaking arms, struggling to pull himself together, unable to shake the sense of parasitic anxiety lodged under his skin. He was just glad he only had a vague recollection of his nightmare now. Living through their cause had been more than enough.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, shivering and trying to just focus on his breathing. After a time, though, his shudders subsided, and he forced tight muscles to relax, his bones creaking and stiff after the prolonged pressure. As he did so, he became aware of the way his satin, lion print pajamas clung to his sweat-soaked skin and the strap of his night mask hung from one ear.

All over again, he felt his stomach roil, but this time at the realization that he hadn't even spent one day back home and already he was falling apart. He tried to remind himself that there was nothing to be ashamed of - as his mom had assured him countless times before. It was easier said than done, though, and was made harder by the fact that he was an adult now. He was supposed to be over this. At these thoughts, he was struck with a sudden and aching need to speak to his mom. He felt instinctively that it couldn't wait till morning.

He twisted to reach for his com device, but his fingers found nothing. He felt his heart speed up irrationally as a cursory search of the floor brought up nothing. He came creakily to his feet, peering around his room until his eyes found what his was looking for and his heart sank.

He had no recollection of it, but he must've knocked down his com device when he'd fallen out of bed. It had landed at just the right angle to shatter its screen, rendering it useless. He reigned in his new anxiety at this loss of his connection to his loved ones, reminding himself that he'd come too far to let something like this send him spiralling.

First things first, he reminded himself, he needed to calm his nerves. He stumbled blearily to the bathroom, then pulled up the faucet controls on the wall panel beside the bathtub, preparing a shower and retrieving bottles of his favorite skincare products. It'd been years since he'd experienced a nightmare this intense, but the anxiety over his brother coupled with his disrupted sleep routine must've been enough to set his brain off.

If there was nothing else he'd learned over the years, though, it was that there was little a prolonged skincare session, shower, and a proper night's rest couldn't assuage.

Lance jerked upright after what could only be - at most - a few minutes since he'd laid down. He blinked unhappily at his waking, not sure what had prompted it, but he was glad this one was much more manageable than his first rude awakening this night. The medication and self care had worked their magic, at least, even if he didn't feel quite as rested as he'd like. He started again at an insistent knock at his door. At the voice that accompanied it, he felt irritation quickly override any lingering affects from the night before.

There was no question what, or rather, who had woken him up now.

"Mr. McClain," Kevin said, his voice muffled but in no way as contrite as it should've been. "If you don't at least make it through the door today, I'll lose my job."

Lance scoffed. For someone who said they were worried about keeping their job, he was being awfully irritable toward his employer. Employer's son, Lance amended inwardly, the thought souring his mood further.

"Mr. McClain?" Kevin knocked again, and Lance groaned. "Are you in there?"

"Could you wait a second?!" Lance shouted through the door, "I'll be out in a second. Just give me a chance to wake up. Jeez." He muttered the last under his breath.

Groggily, he fiddled with the controls at this bedside, and the soothing nighttime sky display of his wall shut off to reveal his floor-to-ceiling window. Immediately he was assaulted by glaring mid-morning sunlight. "Agh!" Lance yelped, squinting and frantically adjusting his controls to add some shade. When he'd managed to lower the lighting to a bearable level, a sinking realization sending a jolt of adrenaline through him.

He reached for his com unit on his nightstand, only to remember he'd wrecked it the night before. "Awe, damnit!" Lance groaned. He was so used to relying on his comm unit to wake him, he'd neglected to set a new alarm on his bed panel before he'd gone back to bed. He pulled up the clock display on his bedside panel and groaned again. He was late. Very late. And on his first day back, too. He should've been at work an hour ago, and he wasn't even out of bed yet.

He scrambled out of bed, thankful for the recorded presets from the night before for his shower controls. He stepped out of his lion slippers and robe, then proceeded to take the fastest shower of his life. He rushed some steps to his routine, wincing inwardly at the damage control he'd have to do later. While meticulous, he was speedy with his ministrations, and was already placing the finishing touches to his suit in under an hour. Record time.

There was another knock on his door. It almost sounded resigned now. "Are you done, yet?" came Kevin's aggravated growl.

Lance made one last adjustment to his his hair, then opened his door. "Yes," He brushed past Kevin, who looked just as messy-haired and tired as the day before. Lance was starting to wonder if this was the guy's every day look and not just the product of a long day. Kevin had paused, mid-breath, apparently about to say something, but caught off guard by Lance's sudden appearance.

"Well?" Lance prompted when Kevin didn't immediately follow. What was this guy's deal? One second he couldn't wait to get out the door, the next he was standing there, looking wide-eyed and - Lance stopped. Was he blushing? Oh.

Oh.

So the duty-driven bodyguard was human. Lance felt a grin spreading across his face. "I do clean up nicely, don't I?"

Kevin's mouth, which had been slightly open, clamped shut, and he resumed his customary look of distant judgement. "It's just surprising to see you taking dress code seriously," he said stiffly, "Let's go." He stomped past Lance, ignoring the knowing look he shot his way.

That, apparently, was the end of that.

The ride to work was surprisingly enjoyable after that, even with Lance's nagging worry about what the end of the ride would mean.

"So," Lance said, side-eying Keith who sat ramrod straight in the passenger seat beside him, "How long have you been with the company?"

There was an uncomfortably long silence where Lance thought Kevin was going to ignore yet another of his questions when, finally, he answered, "This will be my second day."

Lance started. It wasn't like his dad to assign new bodyguards to him, not after what'd happened when he was a kid at least. "You...must be good at what you do." He probed carefully.

"I was top ranked," he said, "You have nothing to worry about."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I'm not worried about that. I can handle myself. Just curious."

The expression on his face made it clear what he thought of that, but he didn't say anything. Lance sighed and glanced at Kevin after another long stretch of silence. "You're gonna love the McClain HQ. I don't mean to brag or anything, but I've always been pretty popular there."

A muscle in Kevin's hand twitched, "Just watch the road."

"Geez, are you always this cranky in the morning?" Lance asked. Maybe this ride wasn't so fun after all. "It's fine. I drive all the time. Still here, see?" Lance gestured to himself.

"It's impossible not to." Kevin said.

Lance grinned. "I have that effect on a lot of people," He said, ignoring the intended insult just to annoy Kevin more, "My point still stands."

Kevin just continued staring straight ahead and hummed noncommittally.

The rest of ride to work was uncomfortably quiet, marked by only one terse request for him to slow down, which Lance ignored, and they arrived in better time than he could've hoped for. Although, that hadn't been accounting for the fact that the usual stream of morning traffic on their way to work had largely made it to said destination this late in the morning.

They entered the parking garage that was nestled under the looming figure of the McClain HQ tower. The building's Stellar Glass exterior gleamed, a shadow of the bright beacon it would be at night as it absorbed the energy from countless distant stars to power it for the next day.

Lance's neck muscles were already tensing despite himself, even as he fell into his practiced exterior of calm confidence.

Lance didn't even complain when Kevin told him to stay inside again for his little safety walk around that car. Anything to put this ordeal for at least a moment longer. He'd been dreading this even before he knew he was going to show up late, and his tardiness would only add fuel to the very hungry fire.

After Kevin signaled it was safe to step out, Lance followed the guard's lead reluctantly, trying his best to convince himself he was just allowing Kevin to cut a path for him. He blinked and they were at the sliding glass doorway to the main lobby. Had they already walked that far? He hardly remembered the path from the parking garage to the front of the building. There was no way they'd already made it here.

Kevin seemed oblivious to the momentousness of the occasion, heading single-mindedly to the keypad to swipe his shiny new badge for entry. He didn't even stop to take in the tourist-friendly and - if Lance was feeling agreeable - impressive facade. He just turned expectantly toward Lance, who realized belatedly that Kevin was waiting for him and managed to force uncooperative limbs forward.

He was a fraud and he knew it, parachuting in from his father's lofty perch to this elevated position in the company. He was sure everyone would see it the moment he set foot in this place. He gritted his teeth and shook his head at his own melodrama. Even if all that was true, like hell he'd let that stop him from proving every last one of them wrong. Or at least, not failing horribly while trying to find out what was going on with his brother.

He turned to Kevin, feeling buoyed by his internal pep talk, "Let's show these people how Lance McClain runs a company."

Kevin raised that annoying eyebrow of his. "How does 'Lance McClain' plan on doing that as the Division Head?"

"I mean, Division," Lance said, "How I run a Division. But still. You know what I mean. I'm going to show them how it's done."

Turning back toward the doorway to forestal any further comment, Lance now took decisive steps forward. Only to stop short halfway through the front door at the unwelcome sight of the Galra man before him.

"Well, well, well," said the white haired man, a superior grin curving his thin lips. "The prodigal son finally returns. It only took him," he paused to make an exaggerated show of glancing down at this halo watch, "Three extra hours to get here. But I guess even that's an improvement, isn't it?"

"You're wasting your time if you think you'll get a contract through me," Lance said, glowering. The insufferable man had spent years unsuccessfully trying to worm his way into a lucrative contract with McClain Industries. "And it was only two and a half hours." He sounded petulant even to himself.

"Oh, come on, Lancelot, aren't you going to say hi to your old friend?" The man's yellow eyes gleamed with malice, and Lance groaned inwardly. Of all the people to see first.

"It's Lance. And you and I have very different definitions of the word 'friend,' Lotor." he said, "Anyway, I'd love to stay and have an idle chat, but some of us have actual work to do."

Lotor's smile widened, his purple complexion practically glowing, and Lance felt his heart sink at the sight. "Not to worry, Lancelot, your dad sent me here to show you around the place since there've been so many changes."

"He sent you? Why?" Lance asked.

"I know the building's layout pretty well, you see, I had a large part in the redesign of this tower. Or rather, I was in charge of it." Lotor said.

Redesign? What was Lotor talking about? And how the hell had he finally scored the contract Lance's brother had sworn he'd never grant?

"That can't be true," Lance said, wondering why his brother had never said anything about this. Something that big usually came up in their frequent conversations. "My dad hates your dad. Why would he put

Lotor's eyes narrowed briefly, but his lips stayed curved. "I impressed him with my performance. Not all of us make our way in this world solely on the coattails of our parents' accomplishments."

Lance gritted his teeth at that, struggling for composure, then he managed to wave his hand dismissively. This was already taking up more time than it should have, and the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could get rid of Lotor. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go then."

He strode toward turnstile, glancing at the security guard at the front desk to buzz him through. Instead, the forked-tongued alien gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid I'll need to see some ID," he said, his consonants as sharp as his uniform.

Lance flashed the man a smile. "You won't need one for me. It's me, Lance McClain."

The man looked slightly uncomfortable, glancing over at Lotor before saying, "I'm sorry, sir, but it's required for everyone."

"I'm Lance McClain," Lance huffed, astonished, "You know, the name on the building. I don't need a badge." He never had before.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it's a requirement per, ah, new Facilities management." The reptilian man's eyes flickered to Lotor again, and Lance had a sneaking suspicion he knew where the new policy had come from, "No exceptions."

Lance wanted to protest further, but managed to clamp his mouth shut. A small part of him knew it made sense, but an even larger part of him wanted to bully his way through just to spite Lotor. Still, he knew that kind of reaction would play right into Lotor's long-fingered spider hands. He glanced at Kevin, who looked just as bewildered as Lance was and shrugged.

Lance turned to Lotor. No matter what, learning more about his brother would mean getting into the building, and Lotor was apparently his only option in at this point. A lot had apparently changed since Lance had been away. The Galran man had managed to set himself up as Lance's literal gatekeeper. "Well, Mr. Facilities Management, how do I get my badge?" Lance asked. There. That was polite.

Lotor returned his question with a sudden look of insincere chagrin. "Oh, hah. Silly me. So irresponsible. I'm sure you can relate," Lotor gave Lance a conspiratorial smile as though they shared some inside joke, "I have your badge ready for you here." He pulled a lanyard with Lance's badge from his back pocket and held it out to him.

Lance reached for it, half expecting the man to yank his hand back at the last second, and took the lanyard to hang from his neck.

"Okay," said Kevin, surprising both Lance and Lotor, "Now that that's taken care of, let's go." Lance glanced at Kevin ignoring Lotor for the moment, and was impressed to see Kevin flicking his usual annoyed expression at Lotor. Apparently he was just as unamused as Lance was with Lotor's games. For the first time since they'd met, Lance felt a brief glimmer of appreciation for his bodyguard.

Lotor spent a moment studying Kevin before he turned back to address Lance, as though Kevin was beneath wasting his breath on, "Very well. Let's."