Not much to say this go round except thanks to all of you who are still following along. I hope it stays interesting. Enjoy! Don't forget to Review. It helps keep me on track. :)

Allura stirred and blinked several times as she struggled to work her way out of the anxiety-ridden sleep to which she had fallen prey. She winced as she sat up straight, peeling her face from the top of the desk in her quarters. Aside from the desk, the only other furniture in the sparsely decorated room was a full sized bed and a small chest of drawers by the door. She sighed as she rubbed her cheek to alleviate the numbness that had settle there. How long had she been asleep? The last thing she remembered was thumbing through the schematics of the tunnels that ran just underneath the Castle of Lions before exhaustion overtook her. With Keith in sick bay, Lance MIA, and Voltron completely unavailable, Allura felt lost. She had no idea how she was going to defeat Lotor and take back her castle.

She glanced at the clock on the desk. Keith had finally come to nearly four hours earlier, but she had yet to see him. It seemed that Keith had asked Dr. Gorma not to allow any visitors to his room, but offered no explanation. Even Hunk and Pidge had been denied entrance. Allura couldn't help but wonder what his reasoning could be. Was he angry with her for being caught by Lotor? Perhaps he blamed her for Deirdre's still unknown fate. She sighed and stood up, still feeling the effects of falling asleep hunched over the desk ripple through her body. She needed to speak with him.

She walked into the washroom and splashed some water on her face. Glancing up at the mirror above the sink, she almost didn't recognize the woman staring back at her. She had gathered her tangled hair into a loose knot on top of her head. The hot water had brought a bit of color to her face, but her eyes looked as tired and worn as she felt. At least she had been able to bathe and change clothes. Even the ugly brown tunic belted over matching pants was a welcome change from the blood stained medical garments that she had arrived in.

A knock at the door gave her attention glorious relief.

"Come in." she called.

Pidge stuck his head in the door. "Princess, I thought you'd want to know that Lance is back. He's in the medical bay."

Without a sound, she sprinted past him and down the corridor. She found Lance, Sven, Romelle, and Richie waiting anxiously in the corridor just outside of sickbay. She stopped short, shocked by the presence of the others.

"A story for another time, Allura." Lance remarked before she could question them.

All the princess could so was nod. "And Deirdre?"

Lance rubbed his eyes, and Allura decided that he looked just as worn as she did. She listened intently as Lance relayed the story about Deirdre's brainwashing, their escape from the Inferno, and the incident with Green Lion. "Dr. Gorma is running some tests on her now." He watched her closely for a moment. "What about Keith?" he asked, struck by the sudden sadness that fell across her face.

He was also surprised when Hunk stepped forward to answer. "He's been awake for a few hours, but he won't see anyone." He paused briefly. "He's totally shut down, Lance."

Lance silently looked at each of them in turn, and while he generally made no bones about sharing what he was thinking, at that moment Allura found it nearly impossible to read his thoughts. She was even more confounded when he turned suddenly and marched through the main entrance doors of sickbay and disappeared down the corridor that led to Keith's room.

Two hundred and thirteen tiles covered the ceiling in Keith's room. He had counted them twice. Of course, being bedridden with a barrage of tubes and wires covering most of his body, he had little to do but stare at the ceiling. The first hour after he had finally woken up had consisted of a battery of physical exams and psychological questions administered by Dr. Gorma. He had surprised the good doctor by acing each one. In fact, once the grogginess wore off, he had felt just fine. It was the second hour of being awake, however, that allowed reality to settle into his consciousness. It was at that time that memories of recent events began to crowd his thoughts, and the self-loathing threatened to swallow his sanity whole.

He actually remembered very little, if anything, about getting off of the Inferno. Dr. Gorma had filled in what gaps that he had been made privy to. Hunk had evacuated both Keith and Allura before the ship had been blown to bits, and they had somehow made it back to the bunkers underneath the castle. According to Dr. Gorma, the last Hunk and Allura had seen of Lance was when he had left them to find Deirdre. Their whereabouts were still unknown. His team had done their jobs. And done them well. It was his own actions that he began to scrutinize as he lay helpless in bed.

Because of his reckless behavior, his team had been splintered and forced to correct his mistakes. And they had suffered for it. And while he still had no idea of the fates of Lance and Dierdre, he had witnessed firsthand how Allura had suffered at the hands of Lotor. That image kept pushing itself to the forefront of his thoughts. Whether he squeezed his eyes shut or stared ahead until they watered, the image was there, and every time it crossed his memory, he cringed to the point that it caused physical pain.

After another hour and a half or so of battling the relentless visuals in his head, he decided that the only way to keep himself from completely cracking was to keep his mind occupied. Meditation had helped to a degree, but soon he found himself lost in counting the tiles on the ceiling. It was a mundane task, but it allowed his brain to work on something tangible rather than focusing on thoughts of which he had no control.

He had just started counting again when the door opened with a bang and Lance strolled in as if he was reporting for his next patrol shift. He stopped just at the foot of the bed. The two men stared at each other for a moment, and Keith was at a loss for anything to say to him.

"Well?" Lance asked impatiently. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

"You're back." was all that Keith could manage.

Lance snorted. "That's it? Jesus, Keith, I would think that I would warrant a better homecoming than that."

"Yeah, well, in case you hadn't noticed, I've kinda been out of it." He winced as he slowly moved himself to a seated position. He truly was relieved that his second in command had made it back in one piece, but he was not really in the mood to stroke Lance's insatiable ego. "Dierdre? Hunk said that you went back for her."

The expression that Lance gave him told him that things had not gone according to plan. Of course, nothing had done so since they had left Arus not so long ago with Lotor still in custody. But the look in his eyes told Keith that it was bad. He sighed. Just one more thing to add to his list of recent failures. "What happened?" he finally asked softly.

Unfortunately for Keith, Lance was not in the mood to tell the story again at that moment. Instead, he frowned deeply and crossed his arms. "Don't worry about Deirdre right now. Hunk and Allura said that you gave Gorma orders that you would not be see anyone. What's up with that?"

Completely out of character, Keith broke his eye contact with Lance and looked away. How could he possibly explain? "I just needed some time alone." Then suddenly he looked up again, indignant. "Is that too much to ask from people?"

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Of the people who care about you the most? I would say, yes, it is. Listen to me, Keith, I know that you've been through a lot the past couple of days..."

"You have no idea..." Keith began, but Lance plowed ahead.

"We've all been through some tough shit lately, Keith, but we need you now. We need you to step up and be our leader..."

Keith shook his head. "I can't."

"The hell you can't!" Lance was visibly angry now. "You..."

"You didn't see what he did to her, Lance!" Keith finally exploded.

Lance immediately fell silent as he watched Keith crumbling in front of him, and he begin to get the feeling that there was more to what happened on the Inferno that he was led to believe. "What are you talking about?"

Keith dropped his gaze to this hands in front of him. "Allura."

Lance cocked his head to the side. He had just left Allura, and she had seemed fine to him. Other than a couple of bumps and bruises, she was no worse for wear. "Keith, I know that things got a little hairy up there. But come on, bro, we all made it back alive." He suddenly felt a great deal of empathy for his commander. He knew first hand how much the command role could take out of a person. His tone softened a bit. "Listen, I know you've been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe I can help. Tell me what's bothering you."

They sat in silence for a moment, and Lance knew that Keith was contemplating the request. The commander was a normally reserved about his own problems except in the case of extreme circumstances, in which cases Lance was usually the one that he confided in. "They made me watch." Keith never met his gaze.

"Watch what?"

"Lotor...and Allura." Keith finally admitted. It was the first time he had spoken about it since the actual event had occurred.

"What?" Lance's blood ran cold. Keith didn't really need to elaborate for Lance to get his meaning. The thought of their Allura in the hands of Lotor made him feel ill.

Keith swallowed. "I watched the bastard...tear off her clothes...force her to the bed...howling her name like a fucking dog in heat..." his voice trailed off as the lump in his throat tighten so much that he found it difficult to speak. "Allura." was all he could manage to whisper.

Allura found herself walking very slowly down the corridor towards Keith's med quarters. It had only been minutes since Lance had gone to see him, but the princess decided that she could no longer sit idly by and watch everyone else taking care of her team. She had to speak with Keith. They sorely needed to clear the air so that they could get back to business as usual – that is, kicking Lotor out of her castle and off of Arus for good. Whether he wanted to see her or not meant very little to her at the moment. He would talk to her. She would make sure of that.

Voices coming from within the room made her slow to a stop just outside. She wondered if it would be more inappropriate to barge in on them or to stand outside and eavesdrop until a proper pause in the conversation presented itself.

"They made me watch." Keith was saying.

"Watch what?"

Allura listened in horror as Keith recounted what had happened during his time on the Inferno. They had made him watch as Lotor had his way with Deirdre. Tears pricked her eyes as he spoke. But nothing could have prepared her for what she heard next.

"...howling her name like a fucking dog in heat...Allura."

She suddenly felt very ill as realization settled in her stomach like she had swallowed a handful of nails. He thought it had been her. Keith had watched and the whole time he had been convinced that it had been Allura with Lotor. Without any hesitation, she burst through the door, ignoring the shocked faces of Keith and Lance.

"Keith." she breathed, finding it very difficult to speak. She breezed past Lance as though he were not even there to take a seat in the chair next to Keith's bed. She was convinced that her heart was breaking as he turned away from her, unable to even look her in the eye. But she would not be deterred. He had to know the truth. She wanted to reach out to him, grab him and tell him that she was alright. "Keith, please look at me."

When he finally met her gaze, she saw nothing but sorrow and regret in his black eyes. And while he kept his expression stoic, she could tell that he had been crying.

"I'm sorry, Allura." he finally said. "I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise to protect you."

Allura brushed a piece of hair from his forehead before taking his face gently in her hands. "Oh Keith, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"But Lotor..."

"Keith, I'm fine. Lotor never touched me."

He blinked several times, obviously trying to understand what she was telling him. "But I saw..."

Allura did nothing to conceal the tears that fell freely. "It wasn't me, Keith."

"But who?"

Suddenly Allura was unsure how to proceed. How could she possibly tell them...? She took a deep breath, then looked away from Keith to meet the gaze of Red Lion's pilot. She swallowed hard. "Deirdre. She convinced Lotor to take her instead of me."

The air seemed to be sucked out of his lungs like he had been punched in the gut as Lance stood, unmoving, staring at the princess. The horrible truth began to form in his mind as the pieces finally fell into place. The blond hair...the blue eyes...Lotor had used magic to give Deirdre the appearance of the princess so that he could do with her as he pleased. The walls felt as if they were closing in on him. He had to get out. Without a word, he turned on his heel and retreated into the corridor.

"Lance!" Allura tried to follow him, but was stopped when Keith took her hand in his own. "I have to..."

"Let him go, Allura." Keith said softly.

"But he needs..."

"He needs to process everything."

The princess slumped back into the chair. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "He blames me, doesn't he?"

Keith found himself leaning closer to her. Keeping his hand on hers, he reached with the other to wipe a tear from her cheek. "He's not blaming anyone right now. He has to come to terms with what has happened. Of course he is happy that you were not hurt by Lotor, but Deirdre... well, he's going to have to figure out a way to cope with the fact that she was the one who was violated in your place. Trust me, it's not something that is easily reconciled. He's going to be blaming a lot of people. Lotor, probably me a little bit, himself, but I doubt that you are going to be at the top of that list."

Silence fell around them. Allura watched him for a moment, then she noticed that he still held her hand in his own. It was a small gesture, but one that somehow made her heart a little lighter. But his expression held such a deep sadness that made her acutely aware that, like Lance, he had not fully processed the recent events. Deirdre was his friend, and at one time been more than that. Of course he was hurting for her, even as he was pleased that it had not been Allura.

The princess felt a sudden surge of guilt as she looked at his ashen face. His dark eyes seemed incredibly tired and the purple circles beneath them only accentuated the point. After everything that he had been through, how could she possibly burden him with her own troubles. And yet, here he sat giving her the encouragement that she sorely needed. "I'm sorry, Keith." said as she reluctantly disengaged herself from his hand. "You need your rest. And I need to come up with a plan to kick Lotor's butt out of my castle."

Despite his exhaustion, Keith treated her to a small smile. "That's the princess that I know. I don't know how much help I'll be while I'm laid up, but I'll be here if you need me."

Those words made her heart soar. After all of the misgivings and disagreements recently, knowing that he would be there for her no matter what gave her the confidence to carry on...no matter what. She returned his smile with her own and nodded. "Thank you, Keith. Now, get some rest. We're going to need you at your best when we get Voltron back up and running."

"Yes, ma'am." he said, giving her a snappy salute before realizing that his shoulder still had a big hole in it courtesy of Lotor.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Allura turned and left the commander alone.

Lance stood over Deirdre's still body listening to the steady blips and beeps of the machines that kept watch over her like a mechanical sentinel keeping records of the vital signs. Allura's confession to Keith had washed over him like a scalding pot of water had been tossed in his face. He reached out to finger a swatch of blond hair splayed across the pillow. How could he not have realized? The blond hair. The blue eyes. Hagar had used her damnable magic to make Deirdre look like Allura for Lotor's amusement. He felt the rage bubbling up, turning his insides into a flaming hot inferno. This was absolutely the final straw. There would not be a person alive who could keep him from destroying Lotor when Lance finally got his hands on him.

He was jerked from his musings when the door opened and Dr. Gorma, followed by Allura, Hunk, and Pidge walked in looking less than optimistic.

"Lieutenant," the doctor began.

Lance swallowed hard, almost afraid to hear what the doctor had to say.

Gorma continued, "I have run an extensive battery of tests, and I have found little to tell me what is wrong with your friend. Her vitals are normal and I can find nothing physically wrong with her. Honestly, I cannot find any reason why she should still be unconscious." He paused and glanced around the group to make sure everyone was following along. "However, the internal scans did pick up an anomaly."

When Lance declined to respond, Allura stepped forward. "What kind of anomaly, Dr. Gorma?"

The doctor produced a small pad from his pocket. It responded when he pushed a few buttons and revealed Deirdre's skeletal structure on its screen. "There," he said pointing to the place just below her neck.

Hunk moved closer to get a better look. "What is it?"

Gorma shrugged. "It appears to be a parasite that has attached itself to her brain stem at the base of her neck. It's pumping some sort of substance directly into her brain. But I have never seen anything like it before, so I could only hazard to guess what it might be."

The news that they were making progress on diagnosing Deirdre snapped Lance out of his stupor somewhat. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is there a possibility that the substance might make her susceptible to mind control?"

Gorma nodded. "It's possible. But no way to know for sure without more tests."

"Is there anyway to remove the parasite?" Allura asked.

"The only way would be to surgically remove it. That would be highly dangerous. There would be a more than overwhelming chance that she would suffer some sort of brain damage with forcible removal."

"So, what the hell are we suppose to do?" Lance ground through his teeth. Allura placed a hand on his arm to calm him. "We either leave her under Lotor's control, or we make her a vegetable."

Gorma nodded grimly.

Pidge, who had been leaning quietly against the wall by the door, suddenly spoke. "There may another option." He took a deep breath and Lance could tell that he was reluctant to even continue. Pidge pushed himself away from the wall and walked to Dr. Gorma. "What if we could get the parasite to disengage on its own?"

Dr. Gorma was thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "It would eliminate the need for evasive surgery which would drop raise the risk."

"And how the hell are you going to get it leave on its own? Pack it a lunch and ask it nicely to hit the road?" Lance's frustration was beginning to surface more and more.

Pidge and Gorma exchange a strange glance that made Lance furrow his brow. The doctor ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "There may be a way. Parasites by nature depend on their host to survive. It's likely that it will leave if its source is cut off."

"How?" Allura ask in a shaky voice.

Pidge took another deep breath. "By stopping Deirdre's brain function."

Silence hung heavy in the air. No one wanted to move the conversation any further. They simply stood, looking at each other, hoping that someone would say something.

Finally, Hunk broke the silence. "I'm not a doctor, but doesn't that mean that she would be..."

Dr. Gorma nodded. "Yes, for all intents and purposes, Deirdre would be deceased."

"NO! NO WAY!" Lance boomed when he finally found his voice.

"Now hold on, Lieutenant," Gorma continued, "in a controlled setting such as our medical bay, we could stop her heart and brain function for a few moments and still bring her back with minimal side effects to her physically."

Hunk breathed heavy, trying to absorb all the information. "You're serious about this shit. You really think that is the only way to get this thing out of her."

"There may be other ways," the doctor said, "but that would mean extensive research on this particular organism. We don't know what kind of damage it's done already. To wait might be detrimental to Deirdre." He turned suddenly to look at Lance. "You're in command now, Lieutenant. It's your call."

Lance's head was spinning. How the hell was he suppose to make that call? Desperately, he focused on Allura standing next to him. She was use to making these kinds of life and death decisions.

But his disappointment, she shook her head. "You know her better than anyone, Lance. What do you think she would want?"

His mouth suddenly went dry and he had the overwhelming urge to bolt from the room. They were all watching him, waiting for him to make a decision. "I...um...I need to think." was all he could manage at that moment.

Gorma gazed at him sympathetically. "I know that this is a difficult decision, son. But time is of the essence. So I'll need an answer soon." With that, he turned softly and left the room.

When the silence became unbearable, Hunk finally spoke. "What are you going to do, Lance?"

Feeling his head spinning, Lance turned from his friends, unable to look them in the eye. "I don't know, Hunk. I just don't know."