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As Color Fades Away

Chapter Thirty

Coran had served the Altean royal family and the Paladins for as long as he could recall. It was a role he had gladly taken on when Alfor had approached him, back when the two were still just young men and Alfor a prince, and asked for his help when he became king to lead Altea to an era of peace and prosperity.

He had taken on the task with a determination few could hope to match, learning all he could on every subject so he could be the most knowledgeable advisor Altea had ever seen. He traveled in his youth, joining diplomatic parties all across the universe to learn about foreign customs and planets. He studied medicine to assist the Paladins with any injuries they sustained in missions and technology and engineering to upkeep the Lions and the castle that his grandfather had constructed.

When Allura came into the world he learned all he could to best take care of the young princess and had become her caretaker when her parents were tasked with diplomatic matters that took them away from their child.

Over his many years of life he had faced countless injuries of Paladins of the past, seen truly horrific deeds done by warring races as Voltron worked to spread peace throughout the galaxy. He had battled at the injustices done to innocents, cried for those lost to tragedies and rejoiced in the good the world showed him it still had to offer.

He considered himself a well-learned man and had believed that whatever the universe could throw at him he could overcome. He closed his eyes then in memory, willing it away, for now was not the time to get lost in that grief, even as his hand found its way to press above the necklace hanging over his heart. Even when Alfor had asked – begged – for Coran to enter a cryo-pod and remain with his daughter as the world crumbled around them, he had done so without hesitation and with the knowledge that whatever happened he would protect Allura and all would somehow turn out okay.

And yet none of the cruelties and pain he had witnessed could even come close to the agony he felt right now as he gazed upon the human boy he had come to view as a son and what he had suffered.

The Galrans were monsters. There was no other word to describe their race. And Haggar. His normally genteel eyes flashed steel. He would kill her if she ever dared show herself in his presence. She would not leave his sight alive.

He and Number Two had moved as quickly and as carefully as they could to clean the blood and filth from Lance, going through nearly all of the cleaning cloths the castle had and even then they had not been able to fully clear all of it away as wounds continued to sluggishly leak.

After Hunk had quietly explained his theory of drowning, Coran was loathe to put Lance's face anywhere near the water, but he still did his best to wash the normally immaculate hair and gently dab at the few spots of blood that decorated Lance's forehead and cheek.

Between the two of them they'd been able to switch out Lance's shorts for a new pair Coran had had the foresight to grab from Lance's room before the Lions landed, and had settled him now in Allura's large bed with a few layers of sheets beneath him until they could fully wrap all of the injuries. The pajamas he had retrieved were set atop the dresser as Coran knew given the constant upkeep to the bandages they would only provide a hindrance.

Coran had been beyond relieved that other than the gunshot wounds that started on the front of each upper thigh and exited out the back, there had been no other injury or damage hidden by Lance's last shred of clothing. The Galrans, despite all of their atrocities, were not normally ones to commit violence of that nature, but he could not say the same for the Druids and given the nearly lustful gleam in Haggar's eye when she spoke Coran had worried. But that at least was one horror he could put away.

Lance had remained nearly unconscious during the entire process, just soft little whimpers or moans when Coran hit a particularly grisly wound, but the sedative did its job and kept him otherwise oblivious. He wished he could continue to administer it, but as it was the drug wasn't supposed to be for humans – they still had no idea if prolonged use had side effects – and combining it with the large quantity of saliidda could result in complications.

He and Hunk were now wrapping up the injuries as best they could with long swathes of bandages, but it was a temporary solution. And that was just for the smaller injuries of blaster wounds and stabs and cuts. It didn't even take into account the sliced open flesh of Lance's feet nor the lumps of tissue that were his hands and wrists; so abused that Coran prayed they could be saved. Hunk had lost the battle with his stomach once Lance had been carefully deposited in the bed at the sight and Coran felt even his steel innards doing a flip.

He wanted to pop the boy into a cryo-pod immediately, but of course he could not. Even had the pods been available he would be hesitant to do so as there was the component of Druid magic afoot and it could wreak haywire on the Altean magic and technology. It would be a last resort to put Lance into a pod with his eyes still darkened, but if it came down to it Coran would take that bet.

He would prefer though very much to lift the spell.

What little he did know of spells was that they could be undone. Whether it was from some word or phrase or even the partaking of a certain concoction they could be broken. Their only chance was that Lance was aware of what had been placed upon his eyes and they could scour all of their resources to find an answer.

And if there was none, they may have to take their chances with the pod. But not until they determined if Lance was suffering some sickness. Because if he was and it could turn deadly that would need to be treated first. Before… Coran glanced at the damaged hands, resting on a small pile of towels and bandaged, hiding the damage beneath. Already though the cloth was becoming stained.

He hated to even think it, but if it came between saving Lance's life then Coran would sacrifice the boy's hands. They could make something to replace them, he was certain. But they were not able to replace their Blue Paladin.

There was no one who ever could.

"He's going to need stitches," Hunk said quietly, jolting Coran from his thoughts. "He can't keep losing blood like this and I don't think he can wait for the pods to be ready either. Probably needs a transfusion too."

"Stitches?" Coran repeated, sounding out the word. The only reference he had to such a thing was the art of clothing making and tapestry weaving.

Hunk nodded, keeping his eyes downcast as he placed a piece of tape over one of the bandages covering a gunshot wound on lance's chest. "Yeah. Needle and thread to hold the wound together until we can get him in the cryo-pod."

Coran sucked in his breath in horror, drawing Hunk's attention. "You… mean to sew his skin?"

"...yes," Hunk said after a moment, brow furrowing. "It's what they do in hospitals."

"Humans do this to one another?" Coran was aghast.

"It's a common medical practice," Hunk said. "The stitches sometimes dissolve into the skin, otherwise they get cut out once the injury heals."

"That is…barbaric."

"What do Alteans do with a wound like this then?" Hunk asked.

"Cryo-pod," he responded promptly.

"And if no cryo-pod is available?"

And now Coran was stumped. Such a situation had never come up before. They had bandages, of course, and various salves and medicines to relieve various pains and ailments, but for any serious type of wound it was always straight to a cryo-pod.

"I see," he said after a moment. "My apologies, Number Two. I did not mean to insinuate that your kinds' medical practices are… heinous. There is still much we have to learn about humans, I am afraid."

"It's nothing," Hunk said, waving it away.

"However, if I may," Coran said. "Although Lance may require these 'stitches' it would be best to wait until the saliidda is entirely clear of his system. I imagine it would be a very painful process normally and with the saliidda it would be even more so."

Sewing the skin. Coran shuddered again. Barbaric.

"I don't know how to sew either," Hunk admitted, feeling despair well inside him. "I don't even know his blood type, Coran." His own hands shook. "What if… what if…"

What if all of this was for nothing? What if they rescued Lance only to lose him to infection? Or blood loss? Or pneumonia? He was definitely running a fever, made more obvious now that he was out of the water and the flush of his face had not abated at all even though he was much, much too pale underneath the pink cheeks. Breathing was still a challenge too, if the little gasps and coughs were anything to go by and Hunk had begun fearing when it took a few extra seconds for the next shaky exhale to sound.

What if, despite all that they did, it was not enough? A tear ran down Hunk's cheek then and he swallowed back the loud sob. He couldn't lose Lance. He couldn't. Not his best friend. His brother.

Lance couldn't have gone through all of that pain and suffering and torture and then die here. No. It just couldn't happen.

But as he gazed down through watery eyes, he knew it was a reality he had to face. Despite all that they'd done, Lance was nowhere near close to healed. He didn't know enough – and he didn't think any of the team did either – to combat any severe illnesses and Coran's knowledge of the human body was limited.

He could lose Lance. Here. Now. And there was little he could do about it.

"There, there," Coran comforted appearing at Hunk's side and placing a comforting hand on the broad back. "It's going to be all right."

Hunk just gave a shaky nod and hiccupped another sob.

They remained in silence for a few moments, Coran continuing to rub gentle circles while Hunk struggled to pull himself back together. Hunk was certain that once everything was more stable he was going to have a good, long cry. But right now he had to hold it together. For Lance. He sucked in a breath. He had to get it together.

"I'm okay now," he told Coran softly once he was certain he wasn't going to start crying, although his voice was still tight.

Coran hummed and gave his back one last pat before rising. "In that case, I am going to rendezvous with the princess and provide an update. I'd estimate Lance will still be under for at least another twenty dobashes. Are you all right to watch over him?"

"Yeah. We'll be good." He patted his helmet sitting on the foot of the bed. "The comms in here still work, right? I'll radio the others if anything happens."

Coran nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I shouldn't be long, my boy. Hold tight."

He left quickly and Hunk turned his attention back to the much-too-still figure of his best friend. His hands fisted in one of the sheets, knuckles whitening and treacherous tears swam in his vision despite his best attempts.

But it was just him and Lance now. And he had a little while before anyone would come back. He didn't have to be strong quite yet.

"I missed you," he whispered after a few moments, voice cracking. "I… I really missed you, hermano. We all did." There was no reaction save for another harsh inhalation.

"You're going to be okay," he continued, fighting his instinct to just cuddle Lance to him. Hugs had always made everything better before, but he knew it wasn't so simple anymore. "We're all going to help you get better."

He bowed his head, no longer fighting the tears or the breathy quality his own voice had taken on. "And I know you… you're going to blame yourself. And you won't believe me when I tell you, but none of this… none of it's your fault. Okay? You have to believe that. Please? Por favor?"

A tear dripped down Hunk's cheek to land on his hand followed by another. "It's all going to be okay," he repeated. "I promise. So please… come back to us. Come back to me. Please."

Another sob wrenched up his throat. "Please."

xxx

Coran nearly crashed into Allura as he rounded the end of the hall at a quick clip and only both of their startled jumps backward saved them from a collision.

"How is Lance?" Allura asked before Coran could speak. She peered over his shoulder as though looking towards her chambers could provide answers, worry etched on her face.

Coran shook his head, moustache drooping. "It is not good, Princess."

He was unable to say more as Shiro came rushing around the corner, bangs dripping water down his face as Keith had pointed out to him he'd managed to stain them red with blood. A quick trip to the bathroom had been all that paused him before he'd gone to head for Allura's quarters. "How's Lance?" he panted, skidding to a stop.

A tick later Pidge also barreled around a different corner and just missed hitting Coran, a rough bandage taped to her chin. "How's Lance?" she gasped.

"Perhaps we should make this a single briefing?" Allura suggested looking at the assembled group. "Where is Keith?"

"In the lounge," Shiro answered. Sensing Allura's next question he quickly said, "He'll be okay. It's… it's not good but it's..." Not as bad as Lance. He met Allura's eyes and she understood, giving a nod.

"Let us continue our discussion there," Allura decided. She looked to Coran. "Will—?"

"Number Two is with him. He's in good hands for now."

She nodded. "All right then." They made a silent consensus to not discuss anything until they reached Keith, but Allura could not hide the frown at Pidge's bandage, which appeared at second glance to be a wadded scrap of towel. "I believe I told you to report to the med bay."

Pidge shrugged. "It would take too long. This is fine." Besides, she'd been delayed in the bathroom and a half-container of soap had paid the price. But she was near one hundred percent sure that she had finally gotten all of Lance's blood off her and her scrubbed raw hands attested to the effort that went into it.

They made it to the main room of the castle, where Keith was lying stretched out on his stomach on one of the couches with his hands pillowed beneath his head.

"Are you all right?" Allura asked, seating herself on one of the chairs near Keith's head.

"Fine."

She turned to Shiro for confirmation, as she had not missed the tense pain on the boy's face when they had entered and the way he had almost forcibly tried to smooth the worst of it away.

"He's got some really bad burns all over his back. He needs a pod, but for now—"

"I'm fine," Keith growled. His injuries were insignificant. There were much more pressing matters right now. "How's Lance?"

All heads swiveled to Coran, who had remained standing but was leaning against one of the couches.

"As I told the Princess, it is not good," he began. "The short version? He is suffering from burns and wounds on a good percentage of his body, which seem to be from a mixture of blunt force, blades and laser blasts. Some do appear semi-healed some but they seem to carry signs of infection based on the color. He may be suffering from a human illness – Number Two could explain more – that involves water in the lungs and he is under some type of spell from the Druids—"

"Spell?" Shiro interrupted, the back of his neck tingling in unease at the same time Pidge gasped out "pneumonia?"

Coran inclined his head towards Shiro. "He does not seem able to see us," he said, drawing sharp inhales from Allura and Shiro, "and given the color of his eyes I believe it is related to Druid magic. As such even were the cryo-pods working right now he would not be able to enter one.

"In addition to those, his hands and feet…" Coran trailed off, bowing his head. "I do not know if we can save them. The damage done to them is beyond brutality."

"What?" Pidge whispered, clutching the armrest for support. Lose his hands and feet? Her gaze flickered to Shiro's prosthetic. No. No.

Absolutely not. Not Lance.

"He is also losing a lot of blood," Coran continued. "Several of his injuries appear to have been healed at some point, but many show signs of being reopened or are new altogether. Number Two suggested a transfusion as well as… stitches. But he said he was not familiar with Lance's blood type, although I admit I do not know what that means, or the process of making these stitches. But it is imperative we stop the bleeding." He thought back to the pile of bloody cloths and the stained sheets and knew that time was imperative.

"He's a B negative," Pidge replied. She had hacked the files of both her teammates at the Garrison and recalled that fact easily because it was the second rarest blood type humans had. She glanced around the group, trying to ignore the growing pit in her stomach. "Only two percent of the human population has his type. If we mix the wrong blood…"

"What is so vital about this type?" Allura asked, brow furrowed. "All Alteans share the same blood."

"You can die if you're given the wrong one," Pidge said gravely. And they only had four others to draw from. "The human body… it can't just take anything." She felt despair welling up. "I'm an A positive and Hunk is an O positive. Not compatible. Keith?"

"A positive."

Shiro though was smiling, a small thing, but it was there. "I'm O negative," he said quietly.

A universal donor.

"Shiro, I could kiss you right now," Pidge said, stomach righting itself. "You can donate!"

"But not yet," Coran cautioned. "Lance still has saliidda in his system. It would make the transfusion rather painful. Number Two described this stitches process as well and it does not sound pleasant." He looked around the group. "I also admit I know little in terms of how to sew. Do any of you…?"

"Don't look at me," Pidge said, holding her hands up. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I do stuff like that. I can thread wires and ports but sewing with a needle?" Through flesh, her mind reminded her. Through Lance. She shook her head fervently.

"I can," Keith said quietly although he looked slightly green at the thought. "If… if there's no other way."

"Very good," Coran said, relieved to have at least that settled for now. "But I regret there is more I must tell."

"More?" Shiro asked. What more could have been done? What more did Lance suffer from?

"The collar around his neck," Coran said quietly. "It still needs to be removed, but I fear we may need to inflict some measure of pain to free him from it. It has burned into his flesh and upon my inspection there is no latch. The sooner we can get that off of him the easier he may find it to breathe and I think it would go a ways to making him more comfortable."

"It is burned into his neck?" Allura repeated, recalling all too clearly the memory of Lance thrashing on the ground as it activated. Just… how many times had it been used to warrant such an injury? Her hand went to her own neck, feeling the high collar of her battle uniform. She had the sudden urge to change into her loose robes and remove the constricting material.

"In addition to the collar he still has manacles attached to both wrists and ankles. They are fortunately not so deeply embedded as they seem relatively new and were not subject to the same shock feature. Still, they will need to be removed as well." The ankle ones were not quite so bad, as no injuries were really prominent at that point on Lance's leg, but the wrist ones were interfering with bandaging the beyond severe ones on his hands and forearms and would need to go as soon as they safely could.

"Lance also had a very negative reaction to water," Coran continued softly. "He was unable to drink it upon regaining consciousness as well. Number Two and I agree that such a response, along with the damage to his lungs, indicates he was likely drowned. Repeatedly."

It was though a bucket of icy water had been dumped over all of them and Pidge echoed the word, voice small. "Drowned?"

Coran nodded. "Yes. He also has an aversion to any and all touch, although I warrant that may be a combination of his lack of sight and the action of the saliidda. The immense pain he is in is also likely the reason for his confusion and only Number Two's knowledge of Lance's other language was able to calm him. He has spoken in nothing else since awakening and I regret that our language sensors are not familiar with this dialect."

"Spanish," Pidge said numbly. "He… he spoke it to me too in the hall."

"What were you doing there anyway?" Shiro asked. "What happened with the exchange?"

What followed was a quick recap by all parties of the events that lead up to this point, the explanation darting in and out of chronological order as they interrupted one another in their haste to know that each other was all right.

Pidge explained that she and Green had exited the firefight, looking meekly in Allura's direction and receiving a soft, gentle smile, and had gone in search of Shiro and Keith since communications were being blocked and they needed to be informed of the trap and the subsequent battle. In her mission she'd found Lance and Keith, who had left to assist Shiro, and had discovered a way to dismantle the shock collar and tracker. She hadn't gone into detail about the how, trying not to remember Lance's screams, but mentioned Spanish had calmed him down and he had said her name, once, before he'd blacked out.

Keith and Shiro hadn't returned at that point and she had gone in search of them and found Haggar instead. Pidge had gone even quieter then, hunching almost protectively over herself and merely stating she had incapacitated Haggar and then they had all retreated. Shiro made a mental note to his growing list to talk to her more about those circumstances; while Pidge was not as boastful as Lance, she did enjoy talking about her battle accomplishments. And while given the circumstances he understood why they weren't receiving a play-by-play, but she didn't even mention how she'd done it. Allura met his eyes over the auburn head and he nodded. Later.

Allura then shared how she, Hunk and the Black Lion had been near overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and Zarkon's entry into the fight. She skipped over her own fears at facing death and the entire experience itself, merely stating that they had been able to hold off Zarkon long enough to make a retreat. She felt Pidge's eyes on her then and she internally sighed. It looked like they all had a few secrets they weren't quite ready to share yet.

Shiro gave a brief version on how they had been assisted by a sympathetic Galran – the sharpshooter lieutenant from the Kri Za Kri – and with his help had made it to where Lance was being held and into the cell. He explained that he and Keith had been forced to separate as they were overwhelmed by soldiers and how Haggar had later involved herself. Shiro felt like it was a growing trend as he skipped over their exchange, feeling the worried eyes on him now, and instead quietly thanked Pidge for her help.

Keith shook his head when asked if he had anything to add to either account. His didn't want to talk about, to remember, any of the pain, the horror, he had witnessed.

Allura updated that they had now wormholed twice thanks to Pidge and Hunk's efforts and were anchored off an uninhabited planet in the Nevarra system without incident. No Galran ships had followed them into the wormhole and the castle had not picked up any sense of them now.

All castle systems were still in back-up mode with the one exception being Allura's quarters where Coran had streamlined power so they had good visibility to assist Lance. Coran had already pulled the new crystals they would need and was going to head straight to the generator to install them following the debrief. He estimated it would take at least four varga for the castle to come fully back online. In that time they needed to stabilize Lance and hopefully figure out how to disable the Druids' magic so he could go right into a cryo-pod when they became available.

"All right," Shiro said softly as Coran finished. "It looks like we've got a lot we need to do in a short timeframe."

While they were all exhausted, hurt and on their last legs as well. But they would do whatever was asked of them, Shiro knew, if it could in any way help Lance.

"I want to see Lance," both Pidge and Keith chorused in tandem. They could almost hear an exuberant "jinx" echoing in the silence that followed and Pidge had to blink back the sudden tears.

Shiro looked to the closest thing they had to a doctor. "Coran? What do you think?"

"Given his condition I feel it would be best not to crowd him," the Altean admitted. "Yet at the same time being in the presence of his friends may go a ways to assuring him he is indeed safe. I believe if everyone remained quiet and kept their distance visitation would be permissible."

Keith let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and Pidge tucked trembling hands up against her with a nod.

"However," Coran said, holding up a finger, "should I ask you to leave you will do so without question or complaint. Understood?" Because in the chance Lance's condition worsened... he did not wish for them to see the end.

"Of course," Shiro nodded. He looked at the two younger Paladins, who gave jerky nods.

"But first we need to gather supplies," Coran said. He looked around the gathered assembly, noting injuries and exhaustion and who at this point would be capable of doing what.

"Number Five, could you retrieve some more vein valves and empty supply packs from the infirmary for this transfusion? Also, another pack of the human fluids; it is stored in the cooling unit under the sink. Number One, I require your assistance in positioning the crystals. It will hopefully not take too long so we can then begin withdrawing your blood for Lance. Number Four, you and the Princess will proceed to the Princess' quarters."

"Understood," Allura said, rising gracefully to her feet. "I have my embroidery supplies there as well. Will that be sufficient for these stitches?"

"I think so," Shiro said slowly. "Probably the best we're going to find on such short notice in any case."

"Then we will see you shortly," she said, assisting Keith to his feet as the boy was unable to hide the wince while returning to a seated position. She turned to Keith, taking in the paler than normal skin tone. "Are you all right to walk on your own? I am happy to carry you if—"

"I can walk," Keith cut in, a slight blush overtaking the white hues.

"Slowly," Shiro cautioned as he and Coran made their exit. "Pidge, you be careful too." She gave a nod and scampered away, sock-clad feet slipping on the floor and Shiro uttered a silent prayer that she didn't careen into a wall and knock herself out.

"Let us go then," Allura said, remaining steadfastly at Keith's side, but not encroaching on his personal space as the room cleared out. Her voice sounded clear, but there was an undercurrent of urgency and her eyes were flickering between him and the hallway. Keith realized within a tick that unlike the rest of them she had yet to actually see Lance and assure herself that he was… well, not all right, but safe now.

"You can go ahead," Keith said quietly. "I'll just slow you down." Every step was a struggle and he hadn't realized how much of his weight Shiro had still been holding as they went to the lounge. He wouldn't ask Allura for assistance though. He didn't need it.

She shook her head. "No, I shall not leave when you are in such a state of injury. Come, we will go together." A half-smile tugged up her face. "As quickly as we can though."

Allura's quarters were fortunately not too far; only a few minutes walk on a normal night. By the time they reached Allura's room though Keith was shaking with exertion and pain and Allura had one of his arms draped over her neck, nearly carrying him anyways from her sheer strength by just the limb.

The door slid open with a hiss and both squinted at the bright light after the dimness of the rest of the castle. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but once they had Allura all but dragged Keith forward.

Still though, she took the time to carefully seat Keith on one of the plush chairs that Coran had preemptively brought over to the side of the bed before she was hurrying even closer.

"Lance," she breathed, sinking down on the floor near his head opposite Hunk.

She had been prepared given Coran's count of his injuries. But even that was not enough in the end. Her jeweled eyes traced him from head to toe, taking in the shivering and harsh gasps of breath, the high flush of fever and the crease of pain still evident on his face even as his eyes were closed in sedative induced sleep.

Her eyes trailed over bandages, already stained red, and mottled, burned skin and dark bruises. They tracked to the collar, looking just as terrible as Coran had described. "Oh, Lance," she whispered, reaching out a shaking hand and only just managing to retract it, burying it into the sheets and blankets spread out beneath him.

And to her horror Allura could feel the sadness giving way to rage, her hands fisting out of sight. She swallowed heavily, trying to force that acid burn to retreat for now. This was not a place to anger, this was a place to heal.

Anger and hate would come later. She would not let this pass without recompense. No one, no one, harmed one of her Paladins, her family, and got away with it. She would make them pay. Her eyes narrowed. She would make them bleed.

"Allura," Hunk called gently, his voice a tremble of what it normally was, and that snapped her back to the here and now, the fury bleeding from her eyes as she met Hunk's tear-lined ones.

She mustered up a smile although she was well aware it probably looked more like a grimace. Hunk understood though and he tried one of his own, but his gaze drifted back to Lance shortly thereafter. His own fingers were tightly gripping the bedsheets, knuckles white against his dark skin.

Allura took the moment to look over the larger boy, noting that he was still damp and as a result was shivering slightly, his bandana tails drooping like the rest of him. Like Pidge he'd stripped off his outer armor but had remained in his undersuit, which was also still wet from his trip to the bath. Yet she knew it was pointless to mention as nothing would be prying Hunk from Lance's side for the time it would take to change.

Rising gracefully to her feet, Allura went around the bed to one of her wardrobes and pulled down several additional blankets and pillows that Coran had not yet commandeered for Lance.

She stopped first at Keith, who was hunched over his knees, exhaustion clear, but his gaze was steady on Lance. "Here," she said softly, draping a light silken blanket that would not stifle his burns across his shoulders. He looked up in surprise, having not even noticed her while his hand instinctively clutched the blanket to him. Such a sight made Allura's heart clench.

He was so young.

"Thank you," he murmured, ducking his head.

She smiled and made her way to Hunk, wrapping a thicker blanket about him and smoothing out his bandana tails over it. He didn't say anything nor look at her, but he brought up one hand to clutch onto hers and she squeezed it back, feeling her own eyes misting.

"He is going to be all right," she said, as much for her own assurance as what Hunk needed to hear. "He will be."

Hunk gave a jerky nod and some of his tension seemed to slip away at her words.

Allura prayed she was right. She had to be. Because if she was wrong...

If she was wrong and Lance, their heart and light, remained broken… then Team Voltron would be no more. Their family would fall apart.

And then the universe would soon follow.

Author's Notes:

Thank you all for the patience with this chapter (I know, a whole week now feels like forever!). Like most authors I tend to thrive on feedback and quite a few lovely faces were absent compared to the last few chapters and I just wasn't feeling as inspired (that plus some real life sadness that I won't bore you with). I'm thinking some of you aren't as big of fans as all the jumping around to other character lines? I know it's a Lance-centric fic, but we will be spending a chunk of time with the other characters too. Hope you enjoy it though!

This chapter was sort of Lance-centric without him really being an active part of it :p But unlike us, the characters have no idea what's been happening so a fill in was necessary. Plus, Coran going down the list one by one really puts all of that into perspective, huh? And on Coran; I love him and prepare for more of our gorgeous man.

Huge thanks as always to the amazing reviewers who keep me going: Sirrius The Moonblade, Wolf of the Demise, Alexa, Skiewrites 2.0, dragoscilvio, Guest, Jadegem02, vickydd, DoctorMerlinReid, Finnesotan, Rookblonkorules, wingedflower, Justanangryfangirl, Guest, JustADamFrenchFry, IceAurora, sally3015, StrawberryFever3, Shadow Gray (darling, whatever you feel comfortable writing is more than enough (I just appreciate you leaving a comment at all!), but if you ever want to feel free to just go crazy!), Adrianna Agray, imagine forevermore, luminoslight1313, geekyglamour413, LishaChan, Lasagna, 0WolfFaerie0, PaintedWings45, Guest, Shadows Demons, Guest, Merlin's Knight, Torheit, Lanceylangst, Spacenerd7, ShiroHichi891 and Guest!

I can't say for certain if I'm going to get a chapter out for Tuesday, as I'll be at RamenCon (South Bend, Indiana, come say hello if you're attending! and hence why this update is at the ungodly hour of 0430) all weekend, which is my writing time. Depending on what I can do though on Monday and as always your lovely responses shall determine next week's update schedule. I do promise we are finally getting back to Lance though and oooh, I can't wait till you all see what I have planned!

Thank you all and I'd love to hear from you! Hit that comment button thing below!