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As Color Fades Away
Chapter Sixty-Three
"Haggar!" Shiro bellowed, prosthetic already glowing purple at his side as he stalked down the corridor Allura had pointed him to. She had gone a different route hoping that she might be able to sneak up behind the Druid while her attentions were on Shiro. And Shiro was more than happy to play the bait.
He was practically vibrating, too angry to be scared at the idea of facing her. Tears kept trying to blur his vision and he blinked them back as he couldn't wipe them away with his helmet in the way.
It just wasn't possible. There was no way they could be gone. Not Keith; who he'd watch grow from a timid, hesitant boy to the fierce, proud warrior and then to a caring, supportive brother and opening himself to the idea of family at long last. Not Pidge; so young, still innocent despite the horrors they'd seen with a wicked sense of humor and burning passion in everything she did. They were too bright, too young to simply just be… gone.
And he could do nothing.
"Haggar!" he screamed out his rage, smashing his prosthetic through a wall and the hole left behind didn't make him feel any better. "Where are you?"
They could be there, floating in space and still alive, but air leaking out of cracked helmets, hurt so badly that they could be saved if they only got to a cryo-pod in time. They just needed someone to get them.
But they had no one to spare and Shiro gritted his teeth in pure frustration. If the Lions were operational maybe, maybe Red would be inclined to retrieve her Paladin herself as she had done in the past. But she wasn't. Shiro was holding onto the hope that Lance would somehow be able to convince one of the Lions to awaken and then he and Hunk could find Pidge and Keith and they would be okay and this ache threatening to drown him would disappear.
He needed to fight Haggar and beat her - kill her - quickly. Only then when she was eliminated and he guaranteed that the rest of his family was safe could he go on a rescue mission.
But to do that he needed the damn Druid to show herself. She should be somewhere in this corridor based on her trajectory.
And speak of the devil. His eyes narrowed as a strolling robed figure came into view, long purple hand trailing along the wall and sending sparks flying in every direction.
"Shiro," she greeted, thin lips widening into a smile.
He let out a wordless scream and charged her, hand flashing in a purple streak to take off her head. It would have, had she not teleported away as she always did, appearing directly behind him. But Shiro would not be fooled by such an obvious tactic now and he blocked her hit, sending the Druid back but she regained her feet without incident.
"Did you enjoy the show?" she asked amicably, easily sidestepping another wild punch. "I certainly did."
Shiro growled and tried again, coming in low and trying to catch her from below. She merely flickered away with a laugh.
"Two Paladins down, two to go. But…"
She vanished to reappear directly behind Shiro, lips pressed next to his helmet. "I could never part with you, my Shiro."
He whirled around with a roar, but she was already gone and standing several yards away, his arm sliding harmlessly through the air.
She held hers open deceptively unarmed in front of her. "Wouldn't you like that, Shiro? To come back to me? To be my Champion?"
"Fuck you," Shiro swore around the vice squeezing his heart and the anger and grief warring for dominance.
"Perhaps if I were to offer a deal?" she asked, dodging his next attack with a cluck of her tongue. "You and my Lance come with me and I will leave what's left of your team alive. A generous offer, hm?"
"Your words are poison," Shiro snarled.
She chuckled. "I wonder where you might have gotten that idea. Tell me, how is my Lance?" A dark smile formed upon her lips. "I have missed him so."
"You'll never touch him again," Shiro promised, but Haggar merely laughed.
"Because you have done such a good job of protecting your team."
Shiro roared again, charging forward but this time activating the jetpack on his back and closing the distance in a tick. He thought for the briefest moment he might have finally landed a hit as Haggar let out a soft gasp, but with a grin she vanished and then it was hurt turn to gasp as fire seemed to engulf his back and he was sent clattering to the ground with a scream.
"I wonder," Haggar murmured, stalking towards him with a casual grace as he struggled to his knees, "what were the Red and Green Paladins to you, Shiro? Teammates? Friends? Family?" she sneered the last word.
"Shut up!"
"The Green one was quite the nuisance," Haggar smirked, shifting back on the balls of her feet as Shiro surged to his. "Thank you ever so much for offering her up. You have spared me the trouble. Although," she sighed, ducking underneath Shiro's swing and following up with a black ball of energy that sent him smashing through one of the corridor walls and into a large but empty storeroom. "I do regret that I did not get to kill her myself. I would have greatly enjoyed hearing her screams."
Shiro struggled painfully to his feet, breath coming in heavy pants. "Don't… don't you talk about her."
"Then the Red one?" Haggar said, stepping over the new threshold and into the room. "You seemed very protective of him."
Seemed. The word echoed and Shiro bit back the sob at the tense. Seemed. Seemed.
He really was dead.
Keith was dead.
"Touched a nerve, did I?" She shrugged, robe sleeves fluttering. "It matters not what he was, for all he is now is a corpse. If even that."
Shiro swallowed his tears and lifted his head, sparking charcoal eyes meeting luminescent yellow. "I will kill you."
She leered. "I would like to see you try."
Roaring out his challenge, Shiro leapt forward, the pain a distant memory in the back of his head. It had nothing on the agony in his heart and therefore it was not painful at all.
"Come, my Shiro," Haggar whispered as his prosthetic clashed against her purple and black wreathed arm. "Let us dance."
xxx
"Coran!" Allura whisper-shouted his name and to her relief the mustachioed man, still in his sleepwear as well, froze midstep ahead of her.
"Allura!" he called back just as quietly, rushing to her side and hands moving to cup both sides of her face. "You are unhurt?"
She tilted her head for just a moment, drawing comfort from his touch, before her eyes hardened and she nodded. "Yes. Here." She thrust his staff forward and Coran took it into his hands almost reverently.
"Pidge and Keith?" he murmured and she froze, feeling her composure fracture and managed a barest shake of her head, unable to voice it aloud. "Oh," and there was so much grief conveyed in the single syllable that Allura felt tears spring to her eyes.
"Lance?" he asked after a moment, face shuttered now.
"With Hunk," she swallowed thickly. "Heading for the Lions. Shiro is here, engaging Haggar."
As she spoke the ship shook around them and Coran reached out to steady her.
"And what of the Galran commander?"
"The Galran commander?" she repeated. Horror widened her eyes a moment later. "Oh, Alaraan. I… I did not even think…"
"He is with Hunk," Coran said, pressing a firm hand to Allura's shoulder. "We must believe in them. The Druid is our most formidable foe and we must focus on her."
"You are right," Allura nodded. Her eyes narrowed calculatingly. "Haggar will likely be expecting me. She will not be anticipating you. We will use that to whatever advantage we can."
She pursed her lips, steadying herself as the ground pitched again and she heard the dull sound of ripping metal from a corridor over. "I will go first," she decided, "and attempt to engage her with Shiro. When you see an opening…"
Coran nodded and patted his left robe pocket where a blaster rested. He'd picked it up from the emergency weapons vault in the infirmary (there were several in various locations around the ship) after Allura had announced an explosion. "I will take the shot. However, I do not think it will kill her."
"I will take care of that," Allura smiled without any joy. She hoisted her staff more firmly into her hand, the end glowing teal. "You just take the witch down."
Coran bowed. "Yes, Princess."
She turned, loose hair whirling behind her. "Then let us go." Her eyes darkened. "We have a Druid to kill."
xxx
She came to with a barely audible moan hissed out from clenched lips. Everything ached and trying to open her eyes only made the pounding in her skull beat louder.
What had happened?
Pidge tried opening her eyes again and this time kept them open, although there was not much to see. Just a giant, blurry piece of metal and she blinked at it in confusion. The floor? It was blackened in places and as she was becoming more aware it was hot and would have been burning her if she hadn't been… wearing her armor?
She blinked again and cast her eyes up.
Above her was space.
And fire and burning chunks of metal and acid smoke.
She jerked upright, screaming out as her left wrist flared with agony below her and she collapsed back down.
The ship. It had been a trap. Just like Keith had…
"K-Keith," she choked out. "Keith!"
No one answered.
Pidge grit her teeth and using her right arm only pushed herself up… and away as the lack of gravity pulled her from the piece of ship she had been lying on and she found herself floating a tick later in the middle of a wreckage field.
She groaned as every bit of her body flared at the new position, but she was already swiveling her head around, left arm clutched to her stomach. "Keith! Keith! Where are you?"
He had saved her, she realized as her dread grew. He had pushed her down to the floor, covering her body with his own from the explosion.
"Keith!" she screamed again, voice breaking.
She raised a trembling right hand to her helmet, but only static whistled in her ear. She had no doubt if hers was inoperable than Keith's was too.
Assuming it was even still there. Because there was not a hint of white and red armor in the expanse of twisted, burning chunks of ship.
He couldn't have… he couldn't have…
"Keith," she tried again, voice but a whisper.
She activated her jetpack then, but only the right blaster kicked on and she listed dangerously sideways almost into the sharp edge of a piece of debris.
Carefully using the wreckage to push off she turned around, surveying the area even as her stomach threatened to rebel at the dizzying movement. She'd been blasted away from what had once been the Galra cruiser, at least a hundred yards from where what was left of its skeleton continued to smoke.
If… If Keith had been covering her then he would have been sent flying too, right? She completed another turn, looking for any sign of white.
And while she did not see it she did spot the castle, two clouds of smoke rising from opposite ends.
She did taste acid then.
"N-no," she gasped, choking back the bile. "No. Please, no."
Two clouds, two entry points. Haggar and the Galran commander, Theodek. No. No, no no.
She pressed her hand to the transmitter again, but only static burst against her ear. She took a hiccupping breath. They would know, of course. The alarms would have gone off when the castle was breached. They… they would stick together. They'd be okay.
She had to believe they would be okay.
But Keith was not okay.
If he was even alive.
She shook her head at that. No. She had to believe he was. She just had to find him.
Propelling herself once more she scanned every bit of space around her. Her infrared was still working, she noted, but all of the metal was too hot or on fire. It couldn't pick Keith out of that.
She bypassed around a larger piece and felt herself choke as Amalia's body, or, well, the top half of it, drifted by. The red gemstones had been blackened on one side and her mouth was open in a gaping scream.
Only the knowledge that if she puked the vomit would be in her facemask kept Pidge from expelling her stomach, but she turned away, pulling herself into a ball of comfort.
"Keith," she whimpered, eyes shut tight. "Pl-please. Keith…"
She looked in the direction of the cruiser. If… if he wasn't out here, as far as she could see, then it meant that… that he was still somehow aboard the ship. A new spout of fire and small explosion sounded as she watched. She refused to entertain the idea that he was in pieces like the alien. No. Absolutely not.
If he was in there then he didn't have much time. Not if it sounded like there were still combustibles aboard.
"I'm coming," she whispered, making the same promise she had when flying to his aid not even a week ago, awkwardly maneuvering as best she could on her jet pack.
She prayed that just like last time she wasn't too late.
xxx
Lance forgot how to breathe.
Theodek was here.
Behind him he felt Hunk tense and the arm that had been wrapped about his shoulders slid away, reaching for his bayard. Lance knew he should probably do the same but he couldn't move.
Theodek was here.
He thought he'd grown stronger; thought he would be able to face the Galran if he ever saw him again, but… but… He shuddered against Hunk, the action returning his captive breath but doing little else. His right arm was aching in remembered agony and he let out the most pathetic whimper.
Theodek's grin sharpened at the sound. "Hello, child," he nearly purred, delighting in the fear that stole across the human's face.
The Druid's plan had worked better than he had thought. The Paladins had indeed taken the bait and were now down two. Between the Galra technology, Haggar's magic and their small size in comparison to a battleship, the two had easily made it to opposite ends of the Altean ship, any blip they may have made masked by the explosion that rocked the ship.
Haggar had gone in first, knowing that her presence would draw Champion and they would send the Blue Paladin in the opposite direction, likely to escape via one of their Lions. Theodek was to wait three dobashes for Haggar to successfully draw the main force to her and then he was to enter from the other end.
Both were equipped with the results from the Druid's tracking spell and all Theodek had had to do was follow where it grew stronger, crashing through a few floors and then over a couple of corridors until now here he was, steps away from his prize.
His hand tightened on his blaster while his other reached for his preferred weapon, a large battle axe that could cleave through nearly anything, although was not quite as effective at blowing down walls as his cannon gun was.
"Stay back," ordered the larger human clothed in a set of white and yellow armor and now holding a large blaster type gun, although it was not quite pointed at him. Theodek spared him a glance but returned his gaze to his prize. There was no threat yet, if such could even be determined as thus.
"I have missed the sound of your screams," he smirked, receiving a flinch at his words and his smile widened. "I know how we can fix that."
The Yellow Paladin was moving now, carefully extracting himself from the smaller human and rising to stand, blaster in his hands. "I told you to stay back," he near growled, although Theodek could smell his fear as well and the way the hands shook ever so slightly on the cannon.
"What shall it be?" Theodek continued, taking a predatory step forward. "Slicing? Stabbing? Burning?" He chuckled, eyes drawn to the dark ring around the boy's neck. "Perhaps another collar for the Druid's pet?"
He saw the slender neck swallow thickly and the larger human actually snarled at that, the blaster whining to a charge. "One more step and I shoot."
Theodek laughed at that. "Were you going to let me go elsewise? Foolish. I am here for one thing and one thing only." He pointed his axe head at the sitting figure who to his credit did not flinch back this time although his eyes were still wide. "This child's head."
"For your revenge, right? For your brother?"
Theodek blinked in surprise at both the soft tones, no longer hoarse from screams, and the question posed. He frowned at the sudden change, for while there was still fear in those dark blue eyes, there was something else.
Pity?
He scowled at that. "You know my reasons. You took my brother's life and so now I shall take yours."
"For… for what it's worth… I am sorry." The words were quiet but they were sincere and Theodek felt his next step forward falter.
What?
"I didn't want to kill him," the human continued quietly, meeting his yellow gaze head on with a surprising strength.
"And yet he is dead," Theodek growled, finding his voice.
The boy very slightly inclined his head. "And I'm sorry."
And Lance was. He hated what Theodek had done to him, was still scared of what he could do, but that didn't make him any less sorry for the loss of his brother. Family was important, even amongst blood-thirsty Galrans.
He could feel Hunk tense behind him, bayard fully ready to fire, but he knew that they were no match for Theodek and as soon as Hunk tried to call for backup (if any could even come) then Theodek would be upon them.
If there was any chance, any at all, of talking the Galran back, he had to try. His strength was his compassion after all. If he could just get Theodek to see that… then maybe they made it out of this alive.
"I'm sorry," he repeated again, trying to push back the fear that was threatening to drown him as he met the piercing yellow eyes that were ever so slightly widened with confusion. "I… I can't imagine what that feels like, but… but I know it's beyond painful. Beyond…" a scarred hand reached up and lighted upon the ropy burn on his throat.
"Beyond this," Lance continued quietly. "If I could spare you that pain… I would do so," and he heard Hunk suck in a harsh breath. "So please… please, don't put another family through that."
As he held Theodek's gaze he saw the slightest softening around his eyes, the burn scar becoming less harsh on purple skin and he held his breath, not daring to believe that this might work. But the moment passed in a blink and rage hardened the Galran's face once more.
"You think pretty words can bring my brother back?" Theodek snarled, hackles rising.
"No," Lance tried to say but Theodek cut him off.
"Nothing can!" he growled. "Not your words, not your pain, not even your screams. Your death is the only thing I can offer my brother and so I shall have it." He hefted his axe forward as though to charge them. "It is over."
A giant stream of teal light punched through the air instead and Theodek was blasted backwards down the hall with a loud yell.
"Go go go!" Hunk yelled, somehow hefting the large gun to one hand and reaching down and hauling Lance up by under his left arm. Lance wobbled once he was upright, black spots dancing in his vision and a new ache stabbing into him from the tumble down the stairs.
He didn't have a chance to tell Hunk though as he was being pulled in the opposite direction of where Theodek had gone. Which, he realized, was where the Lions were. They were now going the wrong way.
"H-Hunk," he tried to gasp out but Hunk didn't stop and it was taking all he had to keep his feet somewhat underneath him.
"Shiro! Allura, come in!" Hunk was tapping on his helmet, awkwardly holding his bayard over his shoulder. "That Galran is here! Does anyone copy?"
He received no response and resisted the foreign urge to curse. Of course they couldn't respond. They were probably engaged with Haggar and fighting their own battle. Honey eyes narrowed even as nerves swam in his stomach.
He and Lance were going to have to this.
They were going to have to take down Theodek.
He'd had a moment of hope that Lance's sincere compassion – and how Lance managed that after everything Theodek had put him through amazed him beyond anything – would actually get the commander to stand down and forget his quest for revenge, but it was not to be. Still, he was glad in a weird way that Lance had tried.
If Hunk could just get him and Lance out of distance of Theodek they could lose the Galran in the ship's winding corridors and then attempt to doubleback to the Lions. That is, he sent a worried look over his shoulder as he practically dragged Lance along, if Lance could manage that long. The Lions had really done a number on his strength and that fall down the stairs – Hunk winced with hot guilt – had done him no favors.
"Here," he pulled Lance down a side corridor to a bunch of meeting rooms. He knew from his wanderings that the big one was connected to the kitchen. They could go through there and then pop out a whole corridor away from where they'd left Theodek.
"Hunk," Lance panted. "S-stop. Pl-please."
The normally tan skin had an unhealthy pallor to it and Hunk brought himself up short as they entered the conference room, a huge table taking up most of it.
"What is it? What hurts?" he asked worriedly, loathe to put down his bayard and having to settle for running his eyes over Lance.
"Can't br-breathe."
"Okay, okay, it's all right," Hunk tried to reassure them both as Lance trembled in his one-handed grip. "Just breathe, in and out. We've got a few minutes. There's no way he—"
Hunk's words were swallowed by an explosion that opened a gaping hole on the wall just feet from the door as though its creator merely wanted to make a grand entrance.
The hulking Galran stepped through, a wicked smirk on his face. "Run, run little Paladins," he chuckled. "But there's no hiding from me." He tapped his wrist where a gauntlet covered the purple fur and Hunk had a sinking realization that they were being tracked somehow. To top it off a scorch mark covered his chestplate but otherwise he looked no worse for the wear from Hunk's cannon fire.
The larger boy gulped even as he maneuvered himself to stand in front of Lance, who had never looked smaller in just sweats and a jacket and still struggling to breathe.
There would be no running. He had to fight. Make a stand. Hunk could feel his own legs trembling but he steeled himself. He had no idea how he was going to take down this Galran, but he would die before he let him ever lay a hand on Lance again. That resolve might have scared him once upon a time but all it did now was give him strength.
"Excellent," Theodek dropped his own blaster to the ground and put both hands around the axe. "I see one of you is more than just words."
"Lance," Hunk said quietly, never taking his eyes from Theodek's form, "go through that door behind us. Get to the Lions."
Lance's breath hitched that had nothing to do with the lack of air. "Wh-what? No. Hunk, no." A shaking left hand came up to clutch onto the crease of Hunk's elbow. "No. I'm not—"
"I'm not asking."
The words came out harsher than Hunk meant them to be, but they were true. "Go. Por favor. I'll… I'll meet you there." He could not, would not, allow Lance to get hurt. The Lions were their best bet and if any of them could get them back online again he had no doubt it was Lance. Besides, if Haggar was occupied by Shiro and he had Theodek here it meant that Lance had a straight shot there. He could do it.
"Hunk, no. Please." The grip tightened even as Hunk released Lance from his. "No."
Theodek scoffed then. "As though I would let you leave." He turned his gaze to Lance, who met it, but barely. "Watch closely, child, and despair. For your weakness has just killed your friend."
And Theodek charged.
xxx
Author's Notes:
I've gotta tell you, Theodek and Lance's talk did not go as I thought it would (I didn't think there was going to be a chat at all xD). But Lance insisted and I have to hand it to him, despite all the horrors and agony he has suffered by Theodek's hand, at his core Lance is nothing but compassion and love and he feels bad about what happened. I've had a few ask that if Theodek's brother had not been killed would he have been so cruel? I'm going with no. He does strike me as an overall violent individual who likes to hurt others, but to the extent he took with Lance? No. This was personal to him and he's still hurting. I can safely say though that Lance's compassion does not extend to Haggar. *She* has hurt and tortured and scarred him and does not have the luxury of being a grieving sibling. Nope, she's just creepy as all get out :p I mean look at her, taunting Shiro with Pidge and Keith's deaths. What an awful lady.
Since I had mentioned it as a possibility before, I wanted to clarify that unfortunately Color will not be moving to bi-weekly updates. Last week was a test run to see if the fic warranted double updates and unfortunately it was one of the poorer received chapters. I'm still a little confused by that, but it is what it is. Given the fact I know timeframe is finals for a lot of you and then summer break and plans this works out for the best anyways so no one falls too behind.
Also, tiny self promo, back and working on my commission stack. Lots of Lance whump and angst so if you're so inclined go give them a look and please do leave a comment if you enjoyed!
As always, if you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a comment. Talk about your favorite scene, character moment, overall impression, predictions, etc. They mean a lot to an author an I really appreciate them. Thanks everyone!