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As Color Fades Away
Chapter Three
"Blue!" Lance screamed, head pounding with pain that had nothing on the agony he could tell his Lion was in. "Blue!" The systems all around him flashed before going dark and he was left in pitch blackness save for the faint teal glow from his armor, the pain cutting off abruptly and Lance panicked as with it went the gentle presence he had become accustomed to feeling in the back of his mind when around his Lion. "Blue!" he shouted again, pushing on her thruster as though that could bring her back.
Nothing.
She had completely lost power from whatever that thing had done to her.
It had hurt her.
Something had hurt his Lion.
A few lights were starting to blink again on her console and Lance pressed them all to no avail. One in particular was shining a sort of purple he didn't recall seeing before and he frowned at it, the color reminiscent of the light that had burst from the item.
That sick Galra purple.
Had it infected Blue?
He placed a trembling hand on the console, whispering her name again.
He needed to get her help.
That meant he needed to calm down as panicking wasn't going to help anyone.
Anyone.
The rest of the team.
His hand went to his helmet, Shiro's name on his lips.
Only static greeted him.
"Shiro?" he repeated, voice small. "Shiro? Can you hear me?"
No one answered.
The darkness of the cockpit seemed to be growing and Lance shuddered, wrapping his arms about himself in a hug that did not comfort him.
It was so dark. And quiet.
"Okay, okay, don't panic," Lance told himself, his own voice too loud for the space but he kept it up as it was still better than the oppressive silence. "Blue will come back in a few ticks. You've got air. You're fine. Everything is fine. Está bien. Estás bien."
But ticks turned into dobashes and Blue's systems did not light up with a comforting glow and the comms continued to only broadcast static whenever Lance tried.
His voice had petered out as he focused on breathing in only the smallest amounts of air of the cockpit. He'd retracted the bottom panel of his visor as depending on what happened he was getting the sinking (oh Dios, he was already losing it) feeling he may have to swim for the surface and he would need all the air his suit had.
He didn't know if that would still be enough.
They had gone so so deep.
Could the team even find him down here?
"Blue? Lance whispered. "Blue, pl-please... I...I really need you."
She remained silent both in mind and body.
Lance whimpered and was glad there was no one here to hear him. But, he decided, he didn't care who heard him or if they teased him for being scared of the dark and deep. He just wanted to get out.
Just as he was trying to decide if Blue's cockpit was actually shrinking even though he he told himself logically that was impossible and all of this was in his head and he needed to get it together he heard the dull sound of metal on metal.
Someone was cutting into the Blue Lion.
"Oh gracias a Dios," Lance prayed. The team must have come for him, somehow. Maybe Yellow had sank with her bulk? Lance didn't know how and he didn't care right now. All he cared was that they were here.
Unfortunately none of Blue's controls were responding and he had no way of opening up the hold. The screeching sound of some type of saw echoed now through the Lion and Lance winced. "I'm so sorry, Blue," he said, patting the console. "I'll make it up to you after this. Promise. Hunk'll fix you up better than new."
He heard two sets of boots clatter into the hole that had been carved into the loading hold and Lance hurried towards it, only his familiarity with his Lion letting him get through without bumping into anything. He vaguely wondered how the space hadn't filled with water and chalked it up to some cool tech Pidge and Hunk had created. Maybe sort of water repellent shield? His friends were pretty awesome.
"Shiro is that you?" he called, making a mental note that they should get some type of flashlight made and installed in the Lions. For emergencies just like this. Not that he ever planned on this happening again though. "Hunk?"
Blinding purple light filled his vision and Lance realized in an instant that whoever had boarded was most definitely not any of his team. The two figures who boarded...
They were Galran.
This had been a trap. Somehow this had been a trap.
And he was caught right in the middle of it.
"Oh heck no!" he yelled, reaching for his bayard as instincts kicked in, training scenarios flashing like lighting. Fight. He needed to fight.
But the lead Galran brandished his own blaster first and shot several consecutive shots, forcing Lance to divert his attention to his shield although it only caught the last two shots and not the first barrage that smashed against his armored chest with bruising force even as the armor held.
The second one physically charged then, brandishing what appeared to a short sword and Lance yelped and backpedaled. A sword? The Galran had a quiznacking sword?
Oh Dios. He was in trouble.
Lance crashed into the pilot's chair and managed to just block with his shield as the knife descended for his chest, the blade skittering off the surface in a way that was much much too close for comfort. He didn't even have a second to breathe though as the other Galran let loose another round of gunfire from the side and Lance couldn't move the shield to intercept it as he strained to hold it against the knife.
The shots slammed against his side and he felt one break through the armor. A choked scream was yanked from his throat as laser met flesh.
The one with the knife lifted the blade and the sudden release of pressure nearly had Lance falling sideways before it was back and he desperately blocked with his shield again, bayard inoperable and back in its holster as both hands went to supporting the shield as his body screamed at him as the gunshot wound was stretched at the angle.
"Shiro!" he screamed, hoping, praying, that it would somehow cut through the static. "Shiro, please!"
He needed help.
Another round of gunfire sounded and Lance curled to the side, trying to intercept the shots against his back armor plates. Another got through and he cried out.
He was going to die.
He was actually going to die.
Lance swore he felt his heart stop.
He didn't want to die.
He...
What would Shiro do?
The thought came above his panic as an image of his leader, his hero, swam to mind.
What would Shiro do?
Shiro was strong. Shiro would fight.
Fight!
The knife wielder pulled back, no doubt to smash down the blade again, and Lance moved. He shoved upwards with the shield, digging it against the Galran's middle and while it wouldn't injure the alien at all it did have enough force to send him stumbling back. Lance dissolved it within a tick and rolled forward as he'd seen Pidge do countless times and pop up with a clenched fist that he aimed for the Galran's chin. To his surprise it actually worked and the Galran's head snapped back with a shout, but the victory was short lived as the second assailant was quick once more with the gun and energy blasts tore across his side and back.
Gritting his teeth, Lance formed his bayard and swung it in a wide circle, mimicking Hunk now and hoping he had some inkling of luck with it. The weapon smashed into the Galran with a gun and sent him stumbling back several feet.
Lance wasted no time. He didn't know if he could make it all the way to the surface with his current air supply, but his chances were a heck of a lot better out there.
He'd made it just two steps to the doorway when there was movement to his side and he whirled to face it, bayard raising—
And then agony and he let out a strangled scream as the sword plunged through his ribcage and out his back just below where the armor covered. The Galran grabbed his shoulder with his other hand and yanked, dragging Lance flush to the hilt of the blade and he let out another terrible sounding noise as he felt blood gush and his insides seize around the thing that was impaling him.
"Do not kill him," he heard the other Galran say, barely audible over the pounding in his head and the breathless, choking sounds coming up his throat as pain pain pain thrummed through him. "Haggar needs him alive."
The sword was pulled free with a terrible sounding squelch and a new sort of scream found its way out as his blood flew through the air, splattering the Galran soldier in front of him and the cockpit around him. And although the blade was no longer in him the fire it left behind continued to burn and tear through him and Lance collapsed to his knees, metal ringing and sending his head spinning even more.
"What a weak human," the Galran muttered, disgust clear, flicking his sword to the side and sending more blood splatter across the floor.
Lance saw the foot before he felt it.
It smashed into his side, directly on the wound.
Lance faintly thought he may have screamed, he couldn't quite tell over the shrieking sounds echoing in his mind and making his skull near vibrate as he fell fully onto the ground, body no longer capable of supporting him.
But he heard the words of the Galran, said with even more distaste than the previous ones.
"This is a Paladin of Voltron? Pathetic."
His companion snorted a laugh.
Lance hated how even now he felt a burst of shame that only made the fire burn hotter in his chest. He groaned, curling up around it, and the Galran stepped away to join the other one at Blue's console.
What were they doing?
What was all of this? Why had they done this?
What did they want?
Lance took in a shuddering breath, forcing himself to think past the pain. He was fine. He was fine.
He...
He was not fine.
The Galrans had said... they'd said Haggar. She was the one who had...to Shiro...
And she wanted him alive?
That... That could not be good.
He had to stop them.
He had to stop them now.
But...
But Lance knew he could not run away (or swim in this case). His chances had been slim before, they were nonexistent now with the way he could feel his body growing heavier, his breaths harsher.
He didn't have much time.
There were two of them, one of him. They clearly had some craft capable of piloting in the water and if they got him aboard it then it was all over.
He had to stop them.
He had to stop both of them. And he had to do it in such a way that neither of them could regain consciousness and continue what they started because he knew that he was not getting out of this without help. Unless Blue powered back on and shot them to the surface right now then they would retrieve him and although he had no idea why they were targeting him he did know that somehow it would not end well for the universe.
And that meant...
That meant he had to... had to...
He squeezed his eyes shut, stomach heaving and not from the pain.
His bayard rematerliazed in his hand, the Galrans clearly not understanding how the weapons worked and had not removed it from his holster where it had returned.
It would be their last mistake.
Now he just...
Just had to do it.
He could regret it later.
Lance braced his shaking left hand beneath his body and pushed up, swallowing back the groan the movement caused and he swore he felt a gush of something wash over his stomach.
Blood, his mind supplied.
Don't think about it the other part of his mind added.
He listened to that part of it.
He managed to somehow rise onto his elbows, entire body shaking, and eyes glazed with pain looked in the direction of the front console where the Galrans were standing.
No.
Not just standing.
They both had bladed weapons now and were hacking away at Blue's dashboard.
They were hurting Blue.
He let anger and despair fuel him as he pushed himself to his knees, choking back the cry that tried to escape, but he was not entirely successful as both Galrans turned as one to face him.
Lance did not allow himself to hesitate as he shouldered his bayard.
Protect Blue. Protect the Universe.
He pulled on the trigger and as all his shots did, it flew straight and true...
Right through the sword-wielding Galran's head.
He tried not to look.
Not to think.
Next shot.
He wasn't fast enough.
The other Galran was upon him just as he pressed down on the trigger and while the blast connected it was through the raised armored arm.
It didn't stop him.
A dagger, clenched in the Galran's other hand, swung down and it cut against Lance's wrist. The arm brace saved him from losing the hand but the strength and shock of the hit was too much and Lance found his hand releasing its grip on his bayard.
He let out a scream — pain and fear and horror all rolled into one — as it clattered to the floor and there wasn't enough time to summon it back to him and—
The sword flashed again in his vision and Lance had only a second to catch a glimpse of his eyes, scared and pinpricked with terror, in the reflection of the metal before he saw no more.
xxx
"Lance, come in," Shiro called for what seemed like the hundredth time, floating above the planet below him and hating the unease taking up residence in his stomach. Just as Lance had been about to secure the item their comms had cut out and no matter how many times they tried to reboot the signal there was only static.
"I cannot obtain a reading on the Blue Lion," Allura said, the sound of rapid-fire typing entering their headsets. "She seems to have gone offline, somehow."
"An electrical pulse, maybe?" Pidge suggested, voice more calm than she felt. Logic was her friend here and she took comfort in it rather than the bursts of painful static that belonged to Lance's headset. "It would explain why the comms cut out. The item though is still there, at least according to my scanner." And that was another comfort, she told herself. If the item was still there then Lance was still there. He was probably just stuck, waiting for the Blue Lion to reboot.
It had been nearly twenty minutes now since the transmission had cut out and Shiro had cautioned them all to remain topside while they tried to reestablish communication as none of their Lions were made for the thick water. They knew from the Yellow and Blue Lions foray following the bad wormhole jump about a month ago that the other Lions could traverse water but still not well and as Lance had relayed earlier, the location of item and therefore where he and the Blue Lion would be was very, very deep. If one of their Lions went down and got stuck they'd be in even a worse situation.
"Give them a few more minutes," Shiro said. "Otherwise we'll go back to the Castle and I'll go down in a supply pods tethered to one of the Lions."
"That's going to be a lot of cable," Hunk muttered, stomach clenching with worry. "Do we even have enough? I mean, the distance from—"
"I'll start looking into it, Number Two, don't you worry," Coran said, cheerful tone a comfort. "We'll have Number Three back up here in a jiffy."
They gave it about ten more minutes, nearly a half hour now since they had lost communication, when Shiro made the decision to return to the castle and attempt the supply pod, of which Coran was still gathering cable for and requested their assistance. Hunk was right. They needed a lot of it.
Just before Coran began the process of dismantling one of the large tapestries in the receiving hall for its support cords, Allura sounded out over the intercom system of the castle.
"The Blue Lion is back online!" she called. "She is headed for the castle." She paused and Shiro hated how the flicker of relief at her words went out. "However I am afraid I still cannot reach the Blue Paladin."
"Blue's got him though," Hunk said, feeling a huge weight drop from his chest. He'd had this fear that someone had gone wrong, but if Blue was back in action there was nothing to worry about.
"The Blue Lion is not going for her hangar," Allura said, confusion in her voice. "She is headed for the main hall. I am opening the door now."
"Guess that's our cue," Pidge said, jumping down from where Coran had boosted her to unhook part of the tapestry.
"Oh, I do hope he isn't hurt," Coran fretted, although he could think of no other reason as to why a Lion would not go to their hangar first. "He does so hate the cryo-pods."
"Really?" Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow as she hurried after her taller companions. "I mean, I know it can't be pleasant to keep going in them all the time but... hate?"
"Oh, Number Three is slightly, what's the human word, clusterphobic? He's not overly fond of small spaces."
That brought Shiro to a halt and sent Pidge smashing against his back with a low ow as he sent a surprised look at the adviser. "Lance is claustrophobic?"
"No he's not," Hunk frowned. "He used to get into tight spaces all the time as a kid and back in the Garrison. Figuratively and literally." Pidge let out a soft laugh of agreement.
But Coran shook his head although he appeared puzzled. "Perhaps I misspoke."
But as they hurried towards the Blue Lion, Shiro could not shake the niggling feeling that Coran had never been wrong before and he was a very astute observer. There must be some truth to that, but he himself had never observed it. For being such a loud, open individual, Lance certainly did carry some secrets. He glanced over to Hunk who was frowning too, hands wringing inside themselves, and clearly distraught by this piece of news.
They all beat Allura to the grand entrance, conveinently just down the hall from their former location, where they found the Blue Lion pacing anxiously with her tail swishing in obvious distress behind her and claw marks already gouged into the floor.
"Hey Blue," Hunk greeted, not sure if the Lion would understand him as he wasn't her Paladin, but he had to try. "We're here to help Lance now."
But the Lion did not stop moving, continuing her pacing and a low growl was torn from her throat.
She... she sounded like she was in pain.
Hunk's earlier nerves came back full force and he hated that he was not the only one who seemed to sense it as Shiro raised his voice and called for Lance to come out.
Pidge's sharp inhale had everyone turning to her and she shook her head, eyes wide. A small, shaking finger was raised and they followed it...
To spot a hole, perhaps about Lance's height, carved into the side of the Lion above her cargo hold, that at first glance had just appeared to be a darker patch of metal but now was obvious to anyone that something had punctured the near impenetrable surface of the Lion.
"That's not good," Keith muttered, beginning to feel the first stirrings of unease that had been plaguing his teammates. He knew Lance could buckle down (mostly) when it came to a mission, but when his fellow Paladin had gone off and clearly been playing in the water with his Lion upon diving into the planet Keith had silently growled and shaken his head at the fact Lance just couldn't ever be fully serious. The static was worrying, sure, but since the item was there then it meant Lance was too and Keith had chalked it up to Lance taking his sweet time in getting back to enjoy the planet. But Lance would never hurt his Lion and she most definitely had not gone to Xinsthes like that.
"Blue, calm down," Hunk pleaded. "We want to help Lance, okay?"
She let out a roar that shook the very ground around them. But it wasn't the joyful sound they'd come to associate with Lance's very friendly Lion. It was full of anguish and longing.
"Blue, por favor," Hunk tried and to his complete shock the Lion came to an immediate standstill.
"Spanish?" Pidge quirked an eyebrow. "The Lions understand Spanish?"
"Lance talks to her sometimes in it," Hunk said, although his gaze was not on Pidge but angled up towards the magical Lion. "I don't know if she understands but..." But Hunk knew how comforting Lance found his native tongue and no doubt that sense of peace behind the words would have come down the bond he shared with the Blue Lion. "Blue, por favor. Queremos ayudar a Lance."
"You speak Spanish?" Shiro asked. He was learning a lot about his teammates recently it seemed.
"A little," Hunk said, "enough to—"
He ceased speaking as the Blue Lion sank to the ground with a metallic creak, ground shuddering, and opened her mouth to allow them inside.
As soon as they stepped in, Shiro leading the way, they could all feel the sense of wrong emanating, and that was just as worrying as the feeling as this was not their Lion and they should not be able to connect like that.
"The Blue Lion is projecting," Coran said, voice low and filled with a mixture of awe and a tremble of fear as they moved towards the cockpit. "I... I have never seen this before."
He didn't say it but he didn't need to. That probably was not a good sign.
And they hated that they were proven right as they reached the cockpit and it took all Hunk had to swallow back the bile that raced up his throat.
Controls were slashed all about the space, some sparking and others dull, indicating why the Blue Lion may have not been able to fly for a while. But it was the dark blood splattered throughout, made even more eerie by the flashing blue backup lights that illuminated the compartment, that really made the feeling of wrong flare.
Hunk did lose his breakfast when they found the body of a clearly dead Galran, a giant hole blown through his head and collapsed by the pilot's chair. He somehow knew without a doubt that despite the kill shot — had Lance ever killed anyone before? Had he? — that Lance had done it.
What had happened?
He trembled on the spot, unable to take another step into this horror-filled cockpit. Pidge came to his side and he clung to her, blinking rapidly and waiting to wake up.
He didn't wake up.
"Guys," Keith said, his face pale even in the dim lighting. "Over here."
Hunk couldn't move but Shiro and Coran did, legs mechanically bringing them to the younger Paladin's side, who gestured at an incredibly large pool of blood behind the pilot's chair and a familiar helmet next to it.
A helmet that was shattered.
"Paladins, what has happened?" Allura sounded, her footsteps echoing up the ramp. "Is the Blue Paladin all ri—?" she cut off though as she entered the blood stained cockpit. What has happened?" she repeated, weakly.
"Wh-where is Lance?" Hunk managed, wiping at his chin. "Bl-Blue? Where is Lance?"
And just like with the feeling of wrong that even now continued to assault them, the Blue Lion responded. Feelings of pain and fear and confusion and scarily for the genteel Lion anger swept through the cabin.
And then...
Recording. The word echoed not just in their minds but outside the Lion.
The Blue Lion was talking.
"I didn't know the Lions could talk," Keith gasped, feeling unsteady already from the feelings forced upon him and now this. Shiro put out a hand to steady him and Keith tried not to lean too much into it.
"I have not heard it before myself," Allura admitted quietly. "But I have heard told that some Paladins and Lions are so closely bonded that they can attain such a feat, although..." She shook her head. "For a Lion to adopt physical speech in the Paladin's tongue? Never."
The bond between the Blue Lion and her Paladin were much, much stronger than Allura could have ever imagined. A query for another day, she pushed aside. For now she would do as the Lion had asked for behind the word Allura could sense the exhaustion and pain. It was taking all the Blue Lion had to reach out to them and such a thing meant the situation was dire indeed.
She made her way to the control board of the ship, frowning as the recording light was glowing a purple. She sensed the magic as soon as her hand neared it and she withdrew it with a sharp gasp.
Druids.
This was more than a simple attack.
She forced herself to press forward as it was the only piece of information they had, wincing as her hand descended on the play switch. The purple light flared and then disappeared, dissovling back to the steady blue it should have always been. And as soon as had returned to normal...
Shouting filled the cabin.
Lance.
He was crying out for Blue to respond, the sound of controls being yanked and beaten upon, although he could never have done the damage they saw now.
He sounded scared.
Shiro was reminded of Coran's comment about claustrophobia and the way Lance had eerily quieted down (for him) as he and the Blue Lion had gone deeper and deeper.
Lance went quiet and about a minute later they heard him try and contact Shiro, voice barely audible on the recording over the buzz of familiar static.
"His comms were out too," Pidge muttered, confusion on her face. "The whole Lion sounds like she went down so... so why is this," she gestured at the recorder, "still working?"
"There is magic here," Allura said quietly. "Druid magic."
Shiro's stomach bottomed out.
Druid?
Haggar. He shook his head, forcing away the image of yellow eyes and slender purple hands. Not now. Preferably not ever.
"Why did they want us to hear this?" Hunk whispered as Lance rattled off into commands to himself not to panic, that there was air here and he was going to be fine.
The terror in his voice was palatable and around them Blue groaned in shared distress.
No one answered Hunk. No one wanted to know why because when they did...
All went quiet again for several minutes before Lance started talking again, pleading for Blue to wake up, and a soft whimper echoed.
"Oh, Lance," Hunk whispered. "Hermano..."
Lance's breathy distress cut off abruptly as he must have heard something that was not yet present in the cockpit.
When he spoke next his voice was calm, steady. "Oh gracias a Dios. I'm so sorry, Blue. I'll make it up to you after this. Promise. Hunk'll fix you up better than new."
They heard Lance get up from the chair and Shiro frowned, growing larger as Lance called out first for Shiro and then Hunk. "He thought it was us."
They all knew it absolutely wasn't.
There was a quick gasp of breath and a startled, "Oh heck no!" and then the terrible sound of rapid fire gunfire. Hunk actually jumped aloud at the sound as it echoed about the room like it was happening now. They heard Lance yelp with pain and then a crash, as if he'd fallen down.
There were just heavy breaths then before gunfire punctured the air once more and Lance gave a short scream. "Shiro! Shiro, please!" A grunt and the sound of an object hitting solid flesh. "Shiro!" he screamed again, voice panicked as more gunfire sounded in the small space.
"Oh my God," Hunk whimpered, legs giving way beneath him and he took both himself and Pidge to the floor in a hard sit. Lance was... Lance was...
There were more sounds then – screams and shouts and thunks and oh God they were hurting Lance – and then, just when Hunk didn't think it could get worse there was a choked, ragged scream. And if Lance's cries had been hard to hear before this one was ear-shattering agony.
Following it was a series of heavy, pained breaths and gasps and noises Lance should not ever be making.
Oh God.
An unknown, gravelly voice echoed then above Lance's distress. "Do not kill him. Haggar needs him alive."
"Haggar?" Shiro repeated, blood running cold.
She was a part of this?
There was a terrible squelching noise that nearly had Hunk vomiting again.
"What a weak human," said a second voice and the sound of a body crashing into the floor. It was followed by another thunk and a short scream from Lance. Pidge was trembling in Hunk's arms at this point, eyes pinpricked at the torture they were hearing. There was a chuckle then. "This is a Paladin of Voltron?" and the other Galran laughed too.
"Monsters," Allura hissed, fists clenching at her sides and horror etched into her face. She knew the Galra were cruel and ruthless and she had seen the crueleties they had done to the universe in ten thousand years. But they were torturing her Paladin and they were laughing.
Worst yet, if Zarkon's head witch was somehow involved...
She feared for Lance.
The recording went quieter then, only the sounds of metal on metal – the ruined machinery no doubt that the Galrans were destroying – and Lance's pained wheezes and gasps.
"Get up," Pidge whispered, trembling, even though she knew all of this had already happened. "Get up, Lance."
Lance did just that.
They heard his breaths increase in pace and a low grunt as he no doubt pushed himself some how up. He let out a soft cry then, clearly not intended, and the sound of the dashboard destruction stopped.
A whine sounded, Lance's blaster.
And while they all knew what was about to happen, the proof in the body lying still inert on the floor, it was still unexpected to hear the blaster go off and the sound of it connecting a tick later.
They barely heard the sound of the body thumping to the floor over the shout of the second Galran and while there was another blaster shot going off it was followed by a dull clang and then it was Lance screaming before he cut off with a sickening silence.
A thunk sounded then – Lance's body this time striking the floor – and the tinkling of glass. Lance's helmet.
All was quiet then, save for the ragged breaths the still conscious enemy. After a much too long, too tense pause, the figure spoke. "Paladins of Voltron, this is a message from Emperor Zarkon. Surrender the Black Lion if you ever wish to see the Blue Paladin alive again. Further instructions will follow."
And the transmission ended with a silence that seemed much too sudden.
Shiro was the first one to shake off his stupor and as he shifted on his feet it seemed to be the cue for the others, Hunk shakily rising and Pidge clinging to him. Keith had yet to let go of the back of the pilot's chair and Allura was leaning heavily on Coran.
"What do we do?" Pidge whispered.
"The only thing we can do," Shiro said, voice stronger than he felt.
There was only one solution to this after all. He placed his flesh hand against the Blue Lion's console. "I promise you," he said quietly but with conviction, "that we will bring your Paladin back. We will bring Lance home."
And the Blue Lion let out a roar of pain-filled hope.
\
Author's Notes:
I very much wanted to write this story only from limited third-person with Lance as my narrator, but given how this fic is evolving from where I pictured it, I'm having no choice but to branch out to other characters. I kind of like it though, as we're going to get a chance to dive into a few other heads and root around. And although this story is going to be a lot of physical whump, there'll be plenty of mental which is my personal favorite to write :)
Thank you so much for the wonderful comments and response last chapter! I am blown away by how many of you are enjoying the story thus far! Special thanks to all those who took the time to drop a review. Those lovely individuals are: StrawberryFever3, Guest, LishaChan, VickyVicarious, Cats and violin, MoonlitFudge, Guest, L Will Come Back , Guest, FanaticFangirl2602, wingedflower, PaintedWings45, Guest, Purplehood, The-Angst-Chronicles, and Guest.
I would really love to hear your comments on the new chapter. Favorite part, what you think might happen, what you hope will happen, etc. I will say that I've already made a few changes to the plot based on comments I've read, so your comment might be more influential than you think! Every review feeds the muse and keeps me inspired to keep going, so if you've got a moment please do click that button down below. Thanks so much! See you in about 1-2 weeks!