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As Color Fades Away
Chapter Sixty-Two
"Oh, blessed be. Oh. Oh," sobbed the alien on the other end of the transmission. "Th-thank you. Thank you thank you thank you."
Lance felt the lead in his chest releasing at the sheer sound of relief emitting from the speaker. Someone was in need of help. And if they'd ignored her…
"How might we assist you?" Allura repeated, not identifying herself as was custom. She would assist but precautions were still vital.
"My son. Please, help my son. He is… he is…" There was the sound of that odd plinking again, like marbles clunking into one another. "He is hurt," she gasped out. "There is blood… so much blood…"
"How was he wounded?" Allura kept her voice even. For these aliens were in a Galra battle cruiser and that was not something one just wandered into.
"In the escape. We… we were miners for the Galra. My son, oh, my son…"
"Are you able to connect to a visual feed?" Allura asked. "My doctor can attempt to assess the damage from here."
"D-doctor? Yes! Yes. Just let me…" Shuffling sounded then and a muttering too low for the comms to pick up.
"She doesn't seem familiar with the ship," Hunk said quietly. Lending proof to the idea of some idea of an escape and a commandeered ship. He felt himself relax more fully too.
"Ah!" A second later a small beep sounded and Allura nodded at Coran, making sure that only the two Alteans were in the frame and the humans were off to the side.
The alien that looked back at them seemed to be covered in red gemstones that covered a rounded head that was nearly oval in shape. Black eyes with a pinprick of red blinked up at them and as the watched a small red stone seemed to drip away and clink its way down her jeweled face. That explained the noise at least.
"A Tloán!" Coran gasped in actual surprise.
"Please," she pleaded. "Please. Help my son." She gestured behind her where a figure lie on the ground, head propped up on what looked like a toolbox and a stained red blanket covering his chest and more shimmering dark red liquid on the ground around him.
Lance had to look away from the sight, pressing his face against Hunk's shoulder and the Yellow Paladin brought an arm up with a soothing murmur.
"We shall help you," Allura nodded and the Tloán let out another sob of relief, "but first I must know how your son was injured."
"We stole a cruiser during a mine inspection," the alien rambled. "My son, he has been planning it for pylons. We just wanted to go home," her voice broke on the last word. "We have been slaves to the Galra for decofebes. But he… he…" she turned away from the camera to look at the still form before turning back to the camera. "Please! Please help him. He will not live much longer."
"May I see the wound?" Allura inquired. "My doctor," Coran raised a hand in a hello, "will need to see it before we can move him."
"Yes, yes, of course." She scurried over and with tender care pulled the bloodstained blanket back, revealing a mass of shattered red stones that revealed black skin beneath. It stretched, based on the missing gems, from his navel and cut up through his long torso and into his chest.
Allura was honestly surprised he was not dead given how long they must have travelled already, but she supposed that was the strength of Tloáns, known for their brute force. Coran caught her eye and gave a small nod. They could likely still save him if they got him into a pod quick enough.
"What is your name?" she asked then.
"Amalia," the alien said, replacing the blanket over the wound and murmuring something to her unconscious child. Allura's heart clenched. She would not allow for another parent and child to be ripped apart by the Galra.
"Amalia, we will help you," the Tloán pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "Please, halt your ship and I shall send a team to retrieve you and your son. Keep the transmission open until we arrive, but please, tend to your son now."
"Thank you. Oh, thank you."
Allura shrunk the screen down to a small section of the console and turned to the Paladins. "We have a rescue to commence."
"I'll go," Shiro volunteered, but Allura shook her head.
"No. I need you to remain here." If this was indeed a lure, not that she thought it was, she could not afford to have Shiro stranded outside the castle as he was their best chance against at least stalling Haggar. "Pidge, Keith, you two will go. Amalia should easily be able to lift her son so size will not be an issue."
"The Lions are out of commission," Pidge reminded Allura, who pursed her lips.
"Take the supply pod," she finally said.
"That thing has no weapons at all," Keith bristled. "It's a sitting duck."
Allura cocked her head at the phrase but did not ask for an explanation, sensing from his tone that the swordsman was not pleased. "It is all we have right now. And there are no other ships in the area."
"They could attack," Keith gestured at the screen where Amalia was kneeling over her son. He wanted to help people, he did. But something about this was screaming wrong to him and he'd always trusted his instincts before. This didn't feel right but he couldn't explain why and Allura wasn't going to take "a feeling" as a good enough answer.
"Coran, can we do an infrared scan from this distance?" Pidge asked. "Make sure there's no one else aboard. Then we just make sure no one touches any controls while we're heading over."
"On it," Coran said. "Number Five, could you reconfigure the output please? Number Two, I could use your assistance as well."
"You okay?" Hunk asked Lance quietly, receiving a nod against his arm before Lance pulled back. Hunk gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before he clambered to his feet and went to assist.
Keith joined him then instead as Shiro volunteered to prep the pod and Allura maintained a watchful eye on the screen. "I don't like this," Keith muttered, slumping into a sit although his eyes belied his relaxed posture.
"They need our help, Keith," Lance said quietly, holding the mug of still warm tea in his hands and letting the heat sooth the trembling in his right. "We can't turn our back on them."
"This doesn't feel off to you?" Keith asked, turning a heated glare on Lance that the other boy had to look away from. "I don't believe in coincidences."
"If… if I was Haggar," Lance winced. "I'd… I'd have done everything to cut any ties to Galra. The fact they're in one of their ships makes me feel better, actually."
"And what if that's what she wanted us to think? She's manipulated us all before. Whose even to say those are real Toes, or whatever Coran called them?"
Lance brought his eyes back up, face solemn. "You… you really think so?"
"I don't know," Keith growled, tugging at his hair in frustration. "They look real. I just… I don't know, Lance. I have a bad feeling but I can't say why. I just do."
"Infrared scanner is running now," Coran called out. A moment later he added, "There are three heat sources aboard the ship" – Keith stiffened – "Two from our Tloáns and one from where I imagine the engine to be and the crystal powering it. No signs of anyone else aboard."
"I guess that's that then," Keith rose to his feet.
"Keith?" Lance hated that his voice came out almost a waver but it turned a bright purple gaze back to him. "Be careful."
"I thought I had nothing to worry about," Keith tried for a smirk.
"Please?" Lance asked quietly, face still serious. "If… if you feel something off…"
Keith's expression softened. "I'll be careful. Promise."
Pidge came over to them then, helmet tucked under her arm. "Ready?"
Keith looked at Lance and at Pidge. "Yeah. Let's go."
He walked away then but Pidge stayed and gave Lance a small smile as she tucked her glasses away and pulled her helmet on. "See you soon, tailor."
"Pidge—"
"I know, I know, be careful. We're just transporting two aliens back in a supply pod of a distance less than a mile, which you know is pretty short in space, with all signs checking out. It's going to be fine. Besides," she tapped her wrist, "this is something my WWWL bracelet tells me I should do."
He felt pink dust his cheeks at the reminder and the "Pidge" he mumbled then had lost its worry. She was right. There was nothing to be apprehensive of. Keith's uneasiness was just getting to him.
"Keith and I have got this," she promised. "It's going to be a piece of cake."
She had already turned away by then so she missed the sudden paling of Lance's face. He'd said that exact thing before everything blew up in his face.
He shook his head, regretting it as his headache reflared, and then took a deep breath instead. It was nothing. Just silly words that had landed him in trouble once. He'd uttered it how many times about missions? Dozens. And nothing really bad had ever happened before.
But then why did he still have such a foreboding feeling?
xxx
"Docking sequence complete," Pidge breathed, hands shaking for reasons she couldn't quite identify. Things had gone nothing but smoothly and as she'd told Lance, everything was adding up and was going to be fine.
She blamed Keith, who had sat the entire short journey in the pod with his bayard drawn and posture tense. It was like he expected to be open fired on at any moment, but Allura had assured them multiple times over their comms that Amalia was sitting with her son on the floor and no one was reaching for any controls while Coran reported still no other proximity alarms had been dinged before he'd excused himself to go prep the healing pod.
"Let's get this over with," Keith grumbled, still not putting his bayard away as Pidge keyed in the sequence to open the door on the pod and then began to hack open the Galra ship door, as Amalia explained they had dashed in while the door was open and she did not know the code.
"We're helping people, Keith," Pidge said quietly, fingers pausing. "And her son? That could be Lance. It was Lance."
He sighed, going to run his hand through his hair and clunking it instead on his helmet. Pidge's observations made him feel guilty, but it still didn't make the feeling of wrong go away.
"Let's just get them back to the castle," he sighed. "Where we're all safe."
Pidge nodded and a second later the door to the Galra cruiser opened with a hiss. Despite all of their time of fighting the Galra they had never yet been inside any of their battle ships and as they'd anticipated from the feed everything was lit purple. There was a hallway of maybe four of Keith's steps before they entered the main cockpit, which was decently roomy given the size of the ship and where they found Amalia and her son.
Her black eyes seemed to grow large as they stepped in and a new patter of gems clattered to the floor. "We are saved," she whispered.
"Hi," Pidge smiled, lifting a hand in greeting while Keith remained stoic next to her, still holding onto his formed bayard. "I'm Pidge and this is Keith. We're here to escort you to our main ship. We'll just need you to carry your son."
Amalia nodded but made no indication to move quite yet, instead turning her gaze back to the unconscious figure, the blanket even darker then when they'd last seen on screen. Pidge knew he likely didn't have much time.
"We are saved," she repeated, tracing a thick hand on her son's face. "We are going to go home."
Pidge felt tears sting her own eyes. She wanted this for herself. She wanted to find her family, to save them. To go home to where her mom must be gray with worry but would be so, so happy when her family was reunited.
But she couldn't have that right now though. She still had to find her brother and father and even then she wasn't sure she could turn away from her role as a Paladin. Not when the rest of her space family was still out here, fighting. She had tried that once already and she regretted it, even though she hadn't gotten far at all. She would never leave them again.
What she could do though was make this a reality for these two aliens.
"We are saved," Amalia murmured, pressing a kiss to her son's head. "She will heal you now."
"She?" Pidge repeated, slight frown marring her features while next to her Keith inhaled sharply. "Coran is—"
A loud blast of heat and sound cut off the rest of her words. Pidge dimly heard Keith scream her name at the same time something slammed into her and knocked what little breath she had away before the world exploded in dizzying whirl of orange and reds and screams and pain.
And then everything went dark.
xxx
"No!" screamed Allura, lunging forward so fast that her knees created dents in the console. "No!" The live feed of the interior of the Galra cruiser had flared red and then black while the outside shot of the ship hovering in space now displayed a giant burning mess of fire and scorched metal. Her ears were still ringing from the concussive blast that had echoed across the expanse but it had nothing on the horror flooding through her.
How? How had this happened? They had checked and double checked and accounted for every detail. How? How? This could not be happening. It could not. She blinked as though the scene might change but the image of the husk of the battlecruiser remained wreathed in flames.
Behind her she heard Lance moan long and loud and Hunk's broken sob match it. Shiro, who had been standing next to her, was shaking, eyes wide on the dual screen. A second later he reached across her and slammed his prosthetic down on the call button.
"Keith!" he demanded, voice cracking. "Keith! Pidge! Answer me!"
Only static crackled across the feed.
"No," Allura whispered, tears falling unchecked. "No..."
"Damnit Keith, answer!"
"Princess?" Coran's voice crackled across the in-castle intercom. "I heard an… explosion? Is everything all right?"
"No," she choked out as Shiro continued to scream and plead into the unresponsive communications. "No. It is not. The ship… the ship…" She drew in a deep breath. Composure. Breathe. Focus. "It exploded."
"…I'll be right up," Coran replied, voice deceptively neutral.
Allura turned then to Shiro, who was still desperately trying to get a response.
"Shiro." She place a slender hand atop his metal one, halting him from pressing the button and shook her head ever so slightly.
He looked at her and she sucked in a harsh breath at how broken he appeared in that instant. "They can't be," he whispered, eyes flicking from hers to the screen of the burning ship. "They can't."
"Shiro…"
"They can't be dead!" he burst out, yanking his hand out from underneath her's. "No!"
"This is my fault," came a whisper and Allura whirled to see Lance, huddled in Hunk's arms and looking so, so small. "I did this."
"Lance, no," Allura crossed the expanse in a matter of seconds, dropping heavily to her knees and wrapping her arms about Hunk to sandwich Lance between them. "No. This…" she swallowed thickly. "This is Haggar's doing. She—"
Allura broke off as ice filled her stomach. Haggar. This had been a trap, a diversion. Which meant that this nightmare was still not yet over.
"I'm going out there," Shiro announced, already grabbing his helmet. "I'll find them. I'll…"His prosthetic creaked dangerously.
"You cannot," Allura commanded as Shiro made to leave. "This was a trap," she continued as angry, grieving charcoal eyes turned on her. "Haggar—"
"I don't care!" Shiro screamed and in her arms Allura felt Lance recoil. "Keith is—"
"Shiro!" she barked back, feeling the tears begin anew. "Stop! Look!"
She saw the moment Shiro was able to see past his all-encompassing rage and grief and took in the trembling form of Lance and the visible tear-streaked face of Hunk, who was trying his best to hiccup back his own sobs. She knew how important Keith and Pidge were to Shiro. She knew how angry and desperate and lost he felt in this moment.
But he was hurting Lance with his words.
Not only that, but Shiro was not the only one who had just lost family. Allura blinked back more tears, and hid her face against Lance's back to try and muffle the grief swimming up her throat.
They all had. They had all just lost people precious to them on a mission she had authorized. Guilt threatened to choke her but she couldn't. Not now. Now they were at war and this was not the time to grieve.
But… she could allow them a few moments. She had to because she was not capable yet of returning to her role of Princess. Right now she was just a girl who had lost her family a second time.
"Oh," Shiro whispered, face falling from anger to a mixture of guilt and sadness, and a few ticks later he was joining their huddled pile, wrapping his own arms about Hunk and Allura from the other side. "Oh, Lance. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's… this isn't your fault."
Lance sniffled, face still buried against Hunk. "But…"
"No," Shiro corrected gently, trying to speak around his own tears. "No. It's not."
"This was a diversion," Allura forcing herself to sound stronger than she felt. She still had the rest of her family to protect. She couldn't… she couldn't lose any more. She had to focus on that right now. "We must—"
The ground rocked beneath them and a loud blast whited out their hearing for a second time. Alarms began blaring the next instant and the main screen flashed that there had been a breach on the second floor in the third quadrant of the castle.
Allura felt her breath leave her as the cameras adjusted according to reveal a hooded figure stepping through the broken wall and wave a hand to seal the hole with a flare of purple magic. Yellow eyes looked up directly at the camera before a burst of light sped off her fingers and the visual went dark.
"Haggar," she barely breathed the word aloud, as if it might summon the Druid to them.
She was on the ship. She was on the ship.
Lance shuddered again and Allura gave what she hoped was a soothing murmur, before she stood abruptly, expression hardening. Shiro joined her.
"Hunk," she commanded. "You and Lance go to the main hall. See if you can get any of the Lions to come back. And then… then you must leave."
Lance pulled his face free, revealing stained cheeks and still blurred eyes. "What?"
"The castle has been breached," Allura said, yanking on the skirt of her nightgown and ripping it down the side while shrugging off her shawl. "It is not safe. Get to the Lions."
"You c-can't," Lance stuttered. "Allura, Shiro, no. You… you can't fight her." He couldn't lose them too and if they engaged Haggar… they would die. He could feel it. They could not beat her.
"I'm not fighting her," Shiro snarled, sadness giving way to burning anger and revenge, "I'm killing her." There was a dark promise in those words and any hesitation Shiro might have felt about taking a life – even one as poisoned as Haggar's – was gone. She had kil— she'd hurt Keith and Pidge. She was not getting away alive.
Despite the evidence, despite logic, Shiro still clung to the hope that they both still lived. He couldn't – wouldn't – believe the other. Not Keith. Not Pidge. And right now he could not afford to let himself be distracted by what had happened. There was nothing he could do, for as much as he wanted to board the other supply pod and race out there he knew he couldn't. Not with Haggar here.
No. He had to stay here, protect the family he still had le– no, protect the family that was aboard the castle. Not left. They were all still here. Keith and Pidge, somehow, somehow weren't dead. He had to believe that right now. He'd heard Keith yell Pidge's name. Keith had reacted in some way before the explosion. Shiro wasn't sure what could be done at that point but if there was a way Keith would have found it.
He had to have found it.
"Coran," Allura called down to the infirmary, but the advisor did not respond. Likely already en route back to the bridge. Which would… place him in Haggar's path. Allura could trace it as the witch steadily moved through the ship, a series of dead cameras in her wake.
"We must hurry," she said, ripping off the bottom skirt now to give her even more movement.
"Allura, you can't," Lance pleaded.
Her eyes softened as she met his. "I must." But she did not promise anything of more comfort. She could not offer that. Not when she truly had no idea how they were going to defeat a Druid.
Still, she pulled down a pair of nearly identical staffs, one capped in gold and the other in silver, from where she had stored them yesterday after Shiro's request to remain armed at all times. The staff wasn't quite as easy to carry around as the bayards so she had placed both hers and Coran's on the bridge, assuming that was where they would be when things went wrong.
"Hunk, now," she ordered as both younger Paladins continued to sit, securing the gold one in her right hand holding Coran's silver version in her left.
He met her gaze and while she could see the grief and fear she also saw the determination that had been rising steadily closer to the surface since this entire ordeal began and he gave her a slow nod. He would protect Lance and despite the circumstances Allura could not stop the swell of pride in her Yellow Paladin. He was hurting and scared, but he was no longer able to give into such things as a child might. He had grown. He had grown so, so much.
"Come on, hermano," Hunk murmured, rising to his feet and pulling Lance up along with him, the lanky boy stumbling slightly with vertigo and he winced at the movement. Allura frowned; his headache had not much improved it seemed.
"Allura, Shiro," Lance tried again, trembling even as Hunk wrapped an arm about thin shoulders. He couldn't let them do this, but he couldn't stop them either.
"Go," Allura said gently. "We will… we will contact you when it is safe."
His lip trembled in response and another bright tear slid down his face. Allura knew they did not have the time, but if this were to be the end… She crossed back to Lance and pulled him and Hunk into a tight hug, burying her own face against Hunk's shoulder.
Shiro was there a moment later, a sob reverberating through his chest as he joined in the hug, pressing a kiss to the top of Hunk's head and hand squeezing Lance's shoulder. "You're going to be okay," he murmured. "Both of you. Do as Allura says. Get to the Lions."
A new alarm sounded then, a piercing wail that indicated one of the emergency doors had just been opened. Haggar was moving closer and closer.
"Go," Allura repeated, stepping out of the embrace with great reluctance, but they had no more time. She turned to Shiro and he nodded back at her, also releasing his hold with one last squeeze to each boy's shoulder.
"Be safe," Hunk whispered to them.
It was just the two of them then a moment later, the alarm still screeching in the background. Another camera screen on the display went dark and Hunk gulped.
"Come on," he said, pivoting and turning Lance. "We have to go."
"We can't just leave," Lance weakly protested even as he allowed Hunk to steer him. "We can't, Hunk. She's here for me. Because of me, Pidge and Keith are… are…"
A sob swallowed his words. Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.
Keith had been right. He should have listened. They all should have. Lance had been so sure that they were doing a good thing. Helping out a mom and her son, saving them from Galra's cruelty.
But all he'd done was get his family killed. It was his fault. All of this was his fault.
They should never have saved him.
He should have killed himself the first time. If he had then… then Keith and Pidge would still be alive.
They were dead because he'd lived.
It was his fault.
He became aware that Hunk was talking to him, voice pitched low and he tuned back in."—it's not, I swear it, but Lance we have to go. Lance, come on. Por favor."
Lance came out of the trance and took a stumbling step, knowing Hunk was right. Haggar was here and they had to go. He couldn't let Hunk die too. He had to try. For Hunk.
They'd already fallen into her trap after all. She'd successfully lured two Paladins away and – he skipped over their fate because he could not let fall back down that hole again lest he find himself back on the floor sobbing like he really wanted to because he'd killed Keith and Pidge – and left only two behind, plus whatever fighting force the Alteans had. And now they'd split up again so– he froze then, feet planted so firm that when Hunk took a step forward he nearly toppled him over.
"Lance!" Hunk exclaimed, his hand tightening on Lance's shoulder. "We have to go!"
"We split up," Lance gasped, heart leaping into his throat. Two teams inside the castle. One going to confront Haggar and the other, which would for sure include him, moving in an opposite direction.
But as he'd already thought, Haggar wasn't coming here alone. Theodek would have come with her too. He had sworn revenge and Lance had seen that unbridled rage firsthand. He would be here to take it.
And if Haggar was at that end of the castle then… Then it stood to reason Theodek was at the other.
"Theodek," he choked out, eyes darting about the hallway as though the Galran could appear at any moment.
Hunk paled beneath his tan. "What?"
"Haggar. She's another diversion," Lance said, nearly tripping over his words. "He's h-here Hunk. I know he is."
And while on some fronts the Galran would be easier to fight – he wouldn't be like Haggar using magic and teleportation to move about the field – it was still terrifying. Shiro hadn't been able to best Sendak on his own (although Lance still wondered if he hadn't been taken hostage if that fight could have ended differently) and Shiro was their best fighter.
Him and Hunk? They had no chance.
Zero.
"Lions, now," Hunk said, voice clipped.
"They're not online though," Lance argued even as he stumbled alongside Hunk with a new sense of urgency. He could tell that based on the lack of pressure on his mind. He could feel their faint presences still, a pulsing that still flared if he thought too hard on it, but they were not there.
How would Red and Green react when they found out their Paladins were gone? If they hadn't made the barrier in his mind would they have been able to save Keith and Pidge?
Would they still be alive?
His fault. It was always his fault.
He should have just died.
"Can you wake them up?" Hunk asked, cutting back into his thoughts and Lance realized they'd somehow made it all the way down the corridor without his knowing.
"Wake them up?" Lance repeated dubiously, tongue feeling thick.
"Blue came back when she felt you," Hunk said, turning them into a side corridor that led to the stairwell they needed. "Maybe you can do it again."
It wasn't a maybe, Lance realized. He had to do it again. Somehow. He focused on the sensation of the Lions presence, groaning as the headache expanded, pleading for one of them to wake up.
Nothing.
He was alone in his head.
'Por favor,' he begged silently, projecting the thought. 'Blue, por favor, te necesitamos. Red, Keith te necesita. Por favor. Please. Please.'
Still nothing.
They had just stepped onto the staircase when another explosion sounded – and sounded close –and only Hunk's quick reflexes stopped Lance from falling down the curving structure although the resulting echo of the blast left his vision going in and out as the headache struck with full force.
"On, get on," Hunk knelt down as the ground gave another shudder and Lance stumbled against the broad back.
Lance wanted to protest – if Hunk was carrying him then he couldn't use his bayard – but Lance doubted he could walk a straight line right now and time was of the essence. He was holding them back with his slowness.
He was going to get Hunk killed too.
He awkwardly maneuvered himself onto Hunk's back, the jetpack and armor making his hold precarious, but Hunk grabbed his legs with bruising force and Lance hung on for dear life as Hunk started bounding down the steps.
"Almost there, almost there," Hunk chanted under his breath. Another blast sounded, even closer, and Hunk stumbled as the ground below them shook.
With a yelp he fell forward and Lance catapulted over his him, barely managing to tuck his arms up to protect his head before he slammed into the metal stairs and rolled, bouncing down the steps.
He couldn't contain the cry as while his elbows and knees took the brunt of the fall his forehead was dashed against the ground and he collapsed on his side when he reached the base, ears ringing anew and black spots dancing in front of his eyes.
"Lance!" Hunk's shout made him moan in distress as it aggravated the ache in his head. Hands descended, cold and impersonal in gloves, on his shoulders and pulled him to sitting although Lance slumped forward almost immediately as the new lower level corridor spun in a dizzying circle and he felt his stomach roll to match it.
"Lance, come on," Hunk sounded panicked and Lance wished he could tell him he was okay, but acid was tickling the back of his throat now and he closed his eyes, hoping it would help everything to settle.
"Okay, okay, I'm going to carry you, okay?" Hands were sliding beneath his knees now and Lance moaned again as pain flared up and he dully wondered if he'd broken something in the fall.
"I've got you, it's okay," Hunk murmured. "Up we go." Lance pressed his forehead against Hunk's chestplate as everything shifted and he swallowed thickly praying he wasn't going to puke. "Estás bien. I've got you." There was a teary quality to Hunk's voice now and Lance whimpered against the armor in both pain and guilt.
Hunk had taken barely two steps when there was a terrible screeching of metal and concussive blast that drove Hunk to his knees and Lance's brain rattled in his skull at the newest impact.
He could feel the bitter sting of smoke and he wrenched his eyes open, blinking against the dark gray cloud billowing out of what had once been an interior wall.
Lance coughed as unlike Hunk he had no helmet to filter out the smoke, but he had a terrible, terrible sinking feeling that smoke inhalation was the least of his worries.
A dark shadow was emerging from the cloud now, silhouette turning from black to purple with a pair of sharp yellow eyes that glowed with a predatory gleam.
"Well, well," Theodek stepped fully into the corridor, huge blaster at his side. "What do we have here?"
xxx
Author's Notes:
So. This was a hard chapter to write. A lot of emotions from a lot of people because yup, I just blew up Keith and Pidge. Before y'all start screaming please note there are no major character death warnings on chapter one. Breathe, everyone. Breathe. That said, hehe, yay! Let the fun begin! We've got a Haggar confrontation between likely the Alteans and Shiro and Hunk and Lance are facing down Theodek.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this chapter went. Like I said, it was hard to write. This was easily the one I came back to the most of any previous chapter to make it feel right. Please let me know how you liked it! Thanks much! And thank you to all of those who left a review last chapter. I really appreciate it!