Chapter Text
"I can't take waiting around like this. I'm going find Shiro and Pidge." Keith said, standing up and walking out of the room.
"Keith!" Lance yelled out after him. "You can't just go off on your own!" Lance's words fell on deaf ears. Groaning, he got to his feet and muttered curses under his breath, following Keith out the door.
"Where are you going?" Hunk asked.
"Going stop my boyfriend from doing something 'Keith like'." Lance said, leaving the room and going in the direction he thinks Keith went. However, he didn't see Keith. Mullet head's a fast walker and Lance already lost him in a few short moments. He was about to take a chance in going left down the hallway, when he noticed a door to the main control room home. Strange, and a little sketchy, Lance decided to go against his better judgement and take a peak in. Mullet head wasn't anywhere in sight. Someone else, however, was. Standing behind the control panels, his back to Lance, was no other than Thace, one of the Galrans under the command of Prorok.
"Well, if it isn't the blue Paladin of Voltron standing before me." Thace said, turning around to look at Lance. "Welcome."
Lance raised his Bayard at the Galran. "What do you want?"
"You're the one who waltzed inside."
"The door was open. Pretty sketchy invitation to take a peak inside if you ask me."
Thace took a step back from the control panel and walked around the room, his bright yellow eyes never leaving Lance's face. "I want to help you." Thace said, no hint of malicious intent in his voice. "I want to help all of you."
"Why should I believe you?" Lance asked, taking a cautious step back.
"How do you think you escaped from here the first time, Paladin?" Thace asked. "I was the one to lower the particle barrier to allow you all to escape."
The revelation shocked Lance. A small part of him knew that someone had to lower it, there was no other plausible way for Voltron to escape, but he never would've expected that a Galran, especially one like Thace, to be the one to allow them to escape. "That was you?" Lance asked, lowering his Bayard slightly. "Why?"
"Not all of us Galrans are bloody thirsty and evil, Paladin. A small portion of us hate Zarkon as much as you all do. If you want to take down Zarkon, you're going to need insider help, someone who knows exactly what's going on inside headquarters at all times. He's too powerful, you can't take him out on your own."
"How do I know if I can trust you?" Lance asked. "How do I know you won't kill us all?"
"If I wanted you dead Paladin I would've done so already. You and your friends would've been captured already. I told you, I'm here to offer you help."
Lance raised an eyebrow, lowering his Bayard. "What kind of help?"
Thace walked over to the control screen and pulled up the currently recording security footage. "All of you won't be able to escape out of here yet again. Zarkon won't allow it to happen. He has guards surrounding all areas of escape." Thace showed Lance all the camera's locations and escape routes. Lance swallowed the lump in his throat at noticing how heavily guarded all the exits are. "This mission you're on is a trap to obtain all of you. Your only hope for escape is a distraction. One of you is going to have to stay behind and sacrifice themselves, allowing the rest to escape."
"What?.." Lance felt his throat close up, double and triple checking all the exits to look for any sort of weakness in the guards forces, looking for another exit that wasn't heavily guarded. He unfortunately came up empty-handed. "There has to be another way.." But there wasn't and Lance could see that very clearly on the camera but that didn't stop him for studying the footage for a fourth time. Yet again, seeing no flaws in the trap. The Galran was right, someone was going to have to sacrifice themselves to allow everyone else to escape.
"I'll make you a deal, Paladin." Lance looked away from the camera and over at Thace. "You make sure Keith isn't the one to get captured and I promise to help whoever is left behind, escape. Whether or not they're unharmed when they're freed isn't a guarantee. I can't promise their safety once they're captured but they will escape."
"So I'm just supposed to choose which one of my friends gets left behind and experimented on?" Lance snapped.
"It's not the ideal plan, but it's the only one you have. It's either one of you is captured or you all are."
Lance hated to admit it, but Thace was right. His mind was already made up. Shiro was already held captive by Galra before and is still suffering from PTSD because of it. He's an immediate 'hell no'. Pidge's brother and father are still missing and possibly dead because of Galra. There's no way in hell Lance is going to allow Pidge to go through the same thing. Hunk is his best friend, practically his brother, there's no way in hell Lance would ever allow Hunk to suffer. And then there's Keith. Even if Thace hadn't mentioned him, Lance wouldn't allow it. He'd rather walk through hell and back if it meant Keith was safe. Lance loved him and he wasn't going to allow Keith to sacrifice himself to save the rest of them. That was Lance's job.
The way he sees it, he's nothing special, doesn't have anything to offer to the team. He's the weakest link, the most annoying one and the only replaceable member of Voltron. What is Lance good for? Cracking inappropriate jokes at the worst of times? Being the self-proclaimed ladies man who flirts with anything that moves? Allura didn't even tell him what Blue's traits were. So the way he sees it, he's replaceable. Anyone can pilot Blue. Keith is the best pilot they have and the only one capable of flying red, Pidge is tech savy, Hunk is the leg; the glue that holds them all together and Shiro is their leader. That being the exact reason Shiro would give them as to why he should be the one left behind and that's why Lance has decided to keep this information to himself. Lance knew he was going behind everyone's backs and what he was about to do was completely wrong, but it has to be done. Everyone will hate him for it, especially Keith, but he doesn't see any other way. He'd do anything in his power to ensure his new family's safety, even if that means turning himself over to the Galra and never seeing his friends again. Never holding or kissing Keith again. The thought of never being able to be with Keith again almost makes him want to tell the other's about his plan. Almost. But the safety of his new family comes before his own selfishness.
Besides, Thace promised to help whoever is left behind escape. Does Lance really believe that? He's not entirely sure. Thace did, however, show him all the possible escape routes so maybe he was on their side. "I'll do it," Lance spoke up. "What do I need to do?"
Thace zoomed in on one of the exits, "Your best option is the exit over here. It's not as guarded as the others, but there will be more guards hiding around the area if anyone is to escape. The escape aircraft will need a few ticks to activate and descend into space. A few ticks you won't have. Even if you're able to outrun the guards, there's no escape for all of you. Someone is going to have to stay behind to close the aircraft doors allowing everyone else to escape. A sacrifice to save your friends."
"If I do this," Lance took a deep breath. "Do you promise to help me escape out of this place?"
"You have my word, Paladin."
///
"There's the exit! C'mon faster!"
Lance knew it was only a matter of time before the guards caught up to them, that there was no way they were all going to escape. He needed to act and he needed to act now. The escape aircraft only needed a few seconds to activate and that was seconds they didn't have. The moment the aircraft would be ready to leave Galra headquarters, the guards would have caught up to them and captured them. "Guys," Hunk said. "We're not going to make it."
Apparently the others started to notice as they all boarded the aircraft. All of them except Lance. "Of course you guys are, Hunk." Lance said, "It was great fighting next to all of you. Take care guys."
"Lance, what are you talking about?" Shiro asked, "What are you doing? Get in the aircraft."
"I want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you guys. I love you so much and I'm so sorry it had to come to this. I'm sorry."
"Lance! What are you talking about?! Get in the damn aircraft you idiot!" Keith's voice was getting desperate. "What are you waiting for! Get in!"
"You're going to hate me but you need to let me go and let me do this. You need to stay out of the way and don't intervene. I promised you I wouldn't let you get hurt, I promised I'd keep you safe no matter what and I intend to keep that promise. Now let me go and do this." Lance said, swallowing the lump in his throat and slammed the button on the aircraft closed.
"Lance!" Keith yelled out at him, banging his hands on the glass. "Lance, what are you going to do?"
"I'm giving myself over to Galra." Lance said, giving them all a tearful smile. "Bye guys."
"Lance.." Keith's voice broke Lance's heart, a few tears running down his cheeks. "No. No! Lance don't you dare! Open this door. Lance! Open the door!"
"Goodbye, Keith. I love you."
"Lance!" Keith yelled, slamming his hands down on the aircraft window, screaming out his name. "LANCE! LANCE!" The look on Keith's face crushed Lance's heart, but this is how it's supposed to go. The rest of the team screamed out for him as the Galra guards finally caught up to Lance, grabbing his arms and dragging him away as the aircraft took off into space. Lance gave them all a tearful smile as he watched his friends escape.
///
Keith was still banging on the aircraft windshield with tears sliding down his cheeks, muttering out Lance's name when they got back to the castle. Shiro had to forcibly grab Keith and drag him out of the aircraft and onto the ship. "Let me go! Shiro! We need to go back! We need to save Lance!"
"Paladins!" Allura said, her voice full of worry when she didn't see Lance. "Where's Lance?"
"They got him." Keith said, his voice cracking. "They got Lance."
"What?.."
"It was a trap, Princess. He sacrificed himself to save us." Shiro said regretfully. "He knew someone had to stay behind to allow everyone else to escape."
"We have to go back."
"Keith-"
"No!" Keith interrupted Shiro. "I'm going back for him."
"Keith," Allura grabbed his wrist. "We're going to save Lance. But we need to come up with a plan first. Lance sacrificed himself to save all of you, Zarkon will be expecting us to go back for him. If we go back right now he'll just capture all of us and Lance's sacrifice would be in vain."
Keith yanked his wrist back. "We can't just let him stay there and let them torture him!" Keith snapped. "We have to go back."
"Keith, I know. We're going to rescue him. I promise. But right now we need a plan."
"And what's your plan, Princess?" Keith crossed his arms over his chest. He could sense Red in his head trying to console him. "Wait around for the next meteor shower?"
"Keith." Shiro said indignantly. "Remember who you're speaking to."
"Shiro-"
"Keith." Shiro interrupted him, clenching his jaw. He was growing even more frustrated by the second. He took a deep breath and spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to tell you again. Remember who you're speaking to."
Keith wanted to say something but he figured making Shiro even more angrier than he already was, wasn't going to further help the situation at hand. So he kept his mouth shut and went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Is our..friend," the Galran guard smiled deviously at Haggar. "cooperating yet?"
"I'm not telling you assholes anything!" Lance shouted defiantly. Haggar just tightened Lance's restraints, giving a little evil laugh as she did so. "Not yet, but he will. He'll be more than happy to assist us."
"Not likely." Lance hissed as the restraints cut into his arms. "I'll never spea-" He was silenced when the witch put a mouthpiece in his mouth, connecting several wires to his head, collar bone, chest and arms. "This might sting a bit." The gleam in the witch's eyes told Lance that whatever she was planning, was going to hurt more than a little sting. Then she turned on the machine, causing electric currents to run through his body.
His body jolted, twitching hard and involuntarily. He could feel his muscles contracting and it felt like Shiro and Hunk were taking turns stomping on his chest with steel toe boots. Searing white hot pain went down his spine and through out his body. He didn't want to give the Galrans the satisfaction of seeing how it affected him, but a scream tore his throat without his permission. The mouthpiece, however, muffled it. Every single nerve in his body felt like it was on fire, his insides felt like they were cooking, his blood boiling and it felt like his brain was melting. If Lance had to guess what being struck by lightning felt like, he guesses it would feel something sorta like this. He doesn't know how long it lasted for, felt like hours, but the electricity eventually stopped but he was still feeling the aftermath of it. His hearing was a bit off but he swears he could hear the damn witch and the Galra guard laughing at his current state in glee. Being an Arusian and being sacrificed in a pit of fire, slowly roasting, to appease the princess, felt more favorable and a lot less painful than being subdued to this form of torture.
Unlike earth's modern version, the Galra's version of electroconvulsive therapy isn't given while the victim is unconscious nor given with their consent or with any form of short-acting anesthetic or muscle relaxant prior to going through electroshock. It's also a lot more painful than what Lance imagines patients in psych wards during the 1940s went through for 'medical' treatments without proper administration. They say going through labor is the most painful experience, but Lance would beg to differ at this point. He doesn't doubt for a second that labor is painful, he has a few siblings and a niece and nephew back home to know better, but he's starting to think it comes in a close second to being electrocuted.
Lance laid there on the exam table, breathing heavy and feeling like death took him out on a date. His throat was raw and he could barely manage to make a single sound through the mouthpiece. His thoughts were all jumbled up but only one thing mattered to him at the moment: it wasn't Keith, the rest of Voltron, Allura or even Coran on the examine table being tortured for information, they were safe back at the castle. His sacrifice wasn't in vain after all. He'd go through this fucked up electroconvulsive form of torture all over again, and again, and again, if it meant that everyone he cared about was safe. Lance barely registered Haggar's voice asking if he was ready to cooperate with them yet. The answer was of course no, but he couldn't mutter up enough strength to even answer her. She apparently took his silence as a 'fuck you. I'm not cooperating with you assholes' because she just laughed again and restarted the 'treatment' and Lance was feeling paralyzing pain all over again.
///
Lance doesn't know how much time has passed, lost track of how many times Haggar administrated the electroshock, all he knows is that he felt like dying. Every muscle in his body was on fire, his chest felt like blue crushed it, every breath he took hurt his lungs, and his brain felt like it was fried. How was he not dead yet? Lance wasn't really a very religious person, he stopped going to church and praying when he started at the Garrison, but now he's praying to whatever God or gods that existed in this fucked up world, that the sweet release of death would come and take him soon. He wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. But unfortunately for him, Haggar had other ideas.
She held up a needle, filled with something Lance didn't even want to think about, and walked closer to him, a sinister smile on her face. He wanted to fight back but in his current state, he couldn't even move his pinky finger without wanting to scream out in pain. All he could do was lay there and allow the witch to remove the mouthpiece and stick the needle in his neck, injecting whatever form of alien drugs they had in stock, into his blood stream. At first nothing happened. Lance hoped it was some sort of slow working alien pain medication, did aliens even need pain medication? A few moments later, however, his vision started to become blurry and the room was spinning, Lance knew it wasn't pain medicine. He wasn't exactly sure what it was for, but he figured if it wasn't putting a stop to his pain, it wasn't doing him any good. Lance swore that once he got out of here and he was fixed up, he was going to kill the witch.
Then he saw something that made his breathing hitch; Keith walked into the room, his once violet eyes bright yellow and accompanied by a sinister smirk. He almost cried out in relief and in anguish at seeing Keith. Mullet head was supposed to be back at the castle with the other safe and sound, what the quiznak is he doing here saving his ass? And why is he in his regular clothes and not his Paladin armor? And his eyes? And that smirk? What the quiznak? "K-Keith.."
"Lance." Keith cooed, grasping his face in one of his gloved hands, looking down at him with bright yellow eyes and a malicious smile.
"Keith." Lance choked out, tears sliding down already tear stained cheeks, grasping Keith's hand like a life line. "W-What are y-you doing here?"
"To tell you how pathetic you are." Keith snickered at the look of hurt and betrayal on Lance's face. "You're absoutely pathetic, Lance McClain. How could I ever love you? The worst pilot in Paladin history. You're not worthy of being Blue's pilot. The only reason you're here was to deliver the champion and the rest of Voltron to the Castle of Lions."
Lance felt his heart shatter. No, this isn't real. Lance told himself. Keith would never say that to me. But he would. The voice in his head told him. Lance tried to shake his head but immediately stopped when it only caused more pain. "N-No..you don't mean that.."
There was that malicious smile again. "Of course I mean it, Lance."
More tears ran down his cheeks. "K-Keith."
"Look at you, McClain." Keith said, letting go of his face and pulling back from him. "Look at how pitiful you look right now. What kind of Paladin of Voltron screws up this bad? How can you not get yourself out of this? Shiro could. He did. And you can't even break through a flimsy restraint." Keith tsked him. "Pathetic. So replaceable. Voltron is so much better without you. You were only holding us back. We don't need you Lance, we've already replaced you with Allura. She's a lot better at your job than you could ever hope to manage." Keith just smirked at him. "Now do us, your family, all a favor and go to sleep and never wake up. We don't need you. I don't need you."
Lance's eyes burned from crying so much and he felt his chest tighten as he watched Keith slowly disappear from sight. No no no. This couldn't be happening. Keith wouldn't leave him like this, wouldn't leave anyone like this. Especially not at the hands of the Galra. No no no. He didn't know what was hurting his chest more, the aftermath of the electroshock, or Keith's words. He wanted to scream out for Keith but Haggar silenced him with another needle to the neck, this one knocking him unconscious instantly.
///
It's a weird feeling, seeing yourself from a third person point of view. But that's not the most confusing thing. The most confusing thing is how different everything was. Lance doesn't remember his team, former team, being this harsh and cold towards him. He will admit, he can be an annoying, loud pain in the ass to deal with, but he doesn't ever remember noticing Shiro's 'annoyed dad' glare whenever he cracks a joke. Doesn't recall Pidge snapping at him to shut his trap whenever he opened his mouth to speak. Or Hunk rolling his eyes whenever Lance even attempts to speak to him. It's pretty normal for Keith to tell him to shut up or roll his eyes, but it's usually playful or accompanied with a fond smile nowadays. He's not used to Keith glaring harshly at him like they were rivals again and snapping at him to grow up. Allura usually makes a smart remark or two but it's never to be taken too harshly. The princess loves each and every one of her Paladins like family. However, this Allura, she's not so loving towards Lance and it's so painfully obvious that she hates his whole existence. If throwing Lance to the Galrans and leaving him to suffer at their hands means she could save the rest of her team, she would in a heartbeat. The blue lion could always find a new pilot, Lance wasn't anything special. Hell, even Coran, their sorta weird Space Uncle, is giving him dirty looks as if he's contemplating throwing Lance to the Galrans himself.
Ouch. That one hurt. If Lance can speak to one person on the ship about home and missing his family, it's Coran. Coran understands what Lance is going through. He too lost a lot: his home, family, friends, etc. Lance still has a home and family back on earth, but with the need to be on their toes at all times in case Galra attacks, and the possibility that he, or anyone, could die while going on these missions, Lance feels like they're never going to return home and see their families again. Hug each of them, hear their voices again, be surrounded by them again. It's all too much at times and Coran is always there to comfort him. Whenever homesickness is unbearable, Coran will pull him into the control room and they'd look at the stars and different galaxies, swapping stories of their home planets, families, traditions, etc. It's a great distraction.
Now, it hurts to see Coran looking at him like he's a bug under his shoe. It hurts to see everyone looking at him like this. Is Lance really that blind to their feelings towards him? It's so painstakingly obvious to see how much they all hate him with a burning passion that Lance doesn't understand why it's taken him so long to see it. Or why Keith is even dating him. Keith said it himself (at least Lance thinks it was him), he doesn't love Lance. So why is he just stringing Lance along? The answer is right there in front of his face and Lance doesn't want to acknowledge it. Keith is using him and that hurts more than anything, even Haggar's electroconvulsive therapy.
Now, Lance is watching himself walk out of the hanger with the other Paladins trailing behind him, all of them looking angry. "Lance!" Shiro yelled. "What the hell were you thinking?! You went strictly against my orders."
"I can tell you what he was thinking Shiro." Keith said, glaring at Lance. "Nothing! He doesn't think! He does all of this stupid shit and puts not only his own ass on the line, but all of ours."
"Why don't you shut your quiznak Keith?" Lance snapped back.
"You're not even using the word correctly!"
"Shut up, Keith."
"Why don't you make me Cargo Pilot?"
Ouch, that was low blow. Lance stopped walking and turned around to face Keith. "What's your problem mullet?"
Keith took a step closer to Lance, clenching his fists at his side. "My problem is you, McClain. You're my problem. You're a pathetic, poor excuse of a pilot and you don't belong here. You don't even belong at the Garrison, I'm surprised you even got in. Voltron would be so much better if you weren't here. Literally anyone would make a better pilot than you, but unfortunately, we got stuck with you."
Lance looked to Shiro, expecting him to scold Keith for speaking to him that way but surprisingly, Shiro looked to be agreeing with Keith. Okay, ouch, that one definitely hurt. Usually when tensions are high on the castle, tempers are rising, and arguments are ensuing, Shiro is usually the one to put an end to all the arguments. Even if Shiro agrees with the accusations being yelled out at someone else, Shiro still scolds them for being harsh towards one another and hurting each other's feelings. But not this time, Shiro was giving Lance the evil eye.
Lance turned his attention to Hunk and Pidge, expecting at least one of them to be on his side but nope. Both of them seemed to be agreeing with Keith. Okay that one really hurt. Hunk is his best friend, his brother, it was bad enough that Keith even spoke that way towards him, but he can't believe Hunk was actually siding with Keith. Lance felt tears welding up in his eyes so be forced himself to turn back around and head back to his room.
"Where are you going, McClain?" Keith called out after him. "No smart-ass reply? What, Lion got your tongue?" Lance ignored Keith trying to rile him up even more. He punched in the code to his room and fell face down onto his bed, allowing his tears to finally fall. Oh, how much he missed home.
"Keith?" Shiro asked, knocking hesitantly on Lance's open door, poking his head in. Keith didn't even pick up his head to acknowledge Shiro's presence. "Keith, buddy, you need to eat something."
"What are they doing to him, Shiro?" Keith asked, his voice coming out raspy from lack of use, he's barely spoken a word since Lance was taken nearly a week ago. Over the course of nearly a week, he's spent maybe five minutes with another person. Instead of talking about what he's feeling with his friends and teammates, he opted to lose himself in training. It's not healthy but it's his coping mechanism. Keith is isolating himself just like before when was Shiro was taken and presumed dead.
Before Shiro was taken, Keith got to hug Shiro goodbye with a promise to see him again soon. When Shiro was presumed dead Keith didn't know what horrors Shiro was enduring. He was supposed to believe Shiro was dead due to pilot error and move on. He didn't believe any of that 'pilot error' bullshit of course, Shiro was the top of his class, but he didn't know what was going on with his best friend, his brother or where he was. But he knew Shiro was alive. This time is different, it was Lance's choice to be taken, to save everyone of course, but he still left and Keith didn't even get a proper goodbye. This time Keith knows exactly who has Lance. He has a sorta idea, due to Shiro's Galra arm, what kind of horrors Lance might undergo. But the worst part, Keith doesn't know if Lance is even alive.
When Keith finally picked up his head to look at Shiro, Shiro got to see just how badly Keith is coping with it all. Red swollen eyes from crying and deep purple bags underneath red swollen eyes from lack of sleep, most likely due to nightmares. Keith looks like utter shit and if Lance were here he'd scold Keith for not taking better care of himself because of course good skin care is the most important thing mullet head. How does Lance manage to have such flawless skin in space without all of his moisturizers and shit Shiro will never know. But if Lance were here, he'd also scold Shiro too for not making Keith take better care of himself. "Dammit, Shiro, you're our dad, make your space son take better care of himself. Good skin care is important. Am I the only one who understands this?" Lance would also crack several jokes to try and lighten the mood around the castle. Making people feel better is one of Lance's favorite things and something he's great at. And right now, no one is smiling, they were all saddened at Lance's capture. Even Blue was taking it hard, creating a particle barrier and refusing to open up to allow anyone inside. She's mourning the loss of her pilot and even Red can't console her.
Shiro moved from his spot outside the doorway to sit next down next to Keith on the bed, pulling the red Paladin into his arms. Keith wrapped his arms tightly around Shiro, burying his face in the black Paladin's shoulder. Sobs wracked Keith's body as Shiro held him tighter. "Shh..he's going to be okay. We're going to save him, Keith."
"What if we don't get to him in time?" Keith asked in a small voice, "What if they kill him before we get a chance to save him? What if-"
"Keith," Shiro interrupts Keith before he gives himself a panic attack. "We're going to save Lance, we're going to bring him back."
"How do you know?"
"I-I don't.."
"Exactly." Keith said, panicking again. "They could kill him at any given moment Shiro!"
"We have to have faith, Keith." Shiro gripped Keith's shoulder and looked into Keith's eyes. His voice, despite being scared himself, was firm. "We're going to save him. I know we will. I believe in us."
Keith looked into Shiro's eyes and seen the deep set of pain in the Black Paladin's eyes. After being captured by the Galra and tortured for over a year, he was going to sneak back into the same place of horrors he escaped from yet again, to save his fellow teammate and friend. Keith knows a part of Shiro blames himself for Lance's capture, thinks it should be him in Lance's place, suffering at the hands of the Galra instead because he's their leader.
Shiro tries to keep it together for everyone, tries to be strong for the team, but Keith knows just how badly Lance's capture is taking it's toll on their leader. He sees it in the way Shiro stops by Lance's room after dinner on the way to his own room for bed, the way he stands outside of Lance's door raising his fist to knock but stops himself when he remembers Lance isn't there. He sees it in the way Shiro stares longingly at the unoccupied space on Hunk's right, Lance's spot, at the dinner table. But most importantly, Keith can see it in the way Shiro stands outside of Blue's particle barrier after training and dinner, before heading off to bed when he thinks everyone is sleeping. Keith sees it in the way Shiro's shoulders slump, his head down while trying to catch his breath before a panic attack sets in, his grey eyes glazed over and down casted, brows knitted in a frown, and how his lips set in a grim line. He hears the underlying sadness in the way Shiro quietly and softly murmurs to the blue lion, promising to bring her pilot and 'cub' back home.
Even now, Keith sees it when Shiro's restraint breaks and he can no longer keep it together. Feels it in the way Shiro gives him a bone-crushing hug, his face burying itself in Keith's neck. Feels it in the tears soaking his neck and in the way Shiro's body shakes with every quiet sob. Keith finds himself breaking down right along with him and soon enough the two are a sobbing, grieving mess on Lance's bed. That makes the two's pain even worse.
After a few minutes, the two eventually calm down, pulling away from one another and wipe the tears from their eyes. After breaking down in Keith's arms for a few minutes, Shiro seems to be a little less tense and a little less on edge. "You okay?" Keith asked. "You feel better now?"
Shiro tried for a small laugh. "Yeah, Hunk always says there's nothing like a good cry to make someone feel better."
"Yeah, well." Keith said, wiping his eyes. "I've been doing nothing but crying when I'm not training and I still feel like shit."
Shiro gave him a sad smile and clapped his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "We're all here for you, Keith. We're all worried about you. Why don't you come to dinner with us? Maybe being around other people will help you feel better. We can all comfort each other."
Keith may have spent five minutes at max with his friends in the past week, but he's not blind to their feelings in the moments he does spend with them. Allura tries to keep a brave face, but Keith notices how her face falls slightly, her eyes landing on Lance's unoccupied spot on Hunk's right during dinner. He notices how crestfallen she looks when she looks at Blue. He sees it in the way Coran stands by himself on the observant deck, looking at the the stars like he does all the time with Lance. How he finds Earth and looks to his side, expecting Lance to be there, and dropping his head when he realizes he's not. Keith sees the sullen look on Coran's face when he leaves the observant deck and quietly heads off into the direction of the control room.
Pidge isn't really one for showing their emotions nor talking about them, but Keith knows Pidge is just as sad as the rest of them, Lance was like a brother to them after all. For starters, Pidge is starting to resemble a zombie. There's bags starting to appear under their eyes from lack of sleep and their hands are jittery from too much caffeine. (Keith knows they're not sleeping and surviving on coffee because his room is the next room over from their's and he can hear music playing softly from their room at night and hears them sneaking out of their room for more coffee.) Pidge's blood is practically space coffee at this point, and the only thing keeping them from completely crashing to the floor from exhaustion since they refuse to sleep. Keith knows that because he overhead a conversation between their Space Dad™ and Pidge on the importance of sleep and why too much space caffeine is bad for a Paladin. (But does Pidge listen to that scolding? Nope, because Keith hears them sneaking into the kitchen for more coffee once Shiro heads off to sleep.) Pidge's argument was that they'll sleep when they're dead and they have more pressing matters like saving Lance than worrying about getting enough sleep. Then Shiro fired back that they won't be of much help in saving Lance if they look like they're gonna drop dead at any moment's notice.
Keith doesn't know how the rest of that conversation went because they lowered their voices, but he suspects Shiro got through to Pidge about the importance of sleep because they don't look nearly as bad. Pidge still sneaks into the kitchen for more coffee and they still look like a zombie, but at least Pidge is getting some sleep to the point where they won't drop dead from exhaustion.
Keith notices it in the way Hunk's smile doesn't quite meet his eyes when someone says something funny. Sees it in the way Hunk looks to his right as a knee jerk reaction as if he's looking to see Lance's reaction, whenever someone says something that's reminds him of an inside joke between he and Lance, until he realizes Lance isn't there. Keith sees it in the way Hunk's face falls when he remembers 'oh right, Lance was captured.' But Keith also sees it in Hunk's cooking. Hunk has a knack for cooking and that's why he was unofficially voted as the cook in the castle (Coran was not so secretly jealous). None of the Paladins are particularly fond of space goo, but somehow, Hunk makes it taste a million times better which is a near impossible feat. Whenever someone is feeling down in the dumps, Hunk comes to the rescue with all sorts of snacks. If Allura is doubting herself and her ability to lead, Hunk is at her side in an instant with a plate of space cookies, listening to her worries, and reassures her that she's a great leader and she would've made an amazing queen on Altea.
When Pidge is doubting that they'll ever be able to save their family, Hunk is there with space brownies and listening to them tell stories of their life back home on earth, listens to them ramble on about how much they miss their mom and how utterly lost and worried she must be right now. When Coran is feeling particularly useless or missing his home planet, Hunk is at his side in a heartbeat, reassures Coran that's he's just as important as everyone else and that he's part of their family just as much as Allura is. Then they cook together, swap family recipes from their home planets, and dish out cooking pointers.
When Shiro finds himself struggling to keep his head afloat with all the new responsibilities as team leader, struggles with nightmares and PTSD, he finds himself in the kitchen with Hunk, a steaming hot cup of tea in front of him, and a plate of Daifuku. Or whatever the space equivalent to one of Shiro's favorite Japanese desserts was. Hunk sits across from him and listens to Shiro talk about whatever is on his mind for hours. Whenever Lance is feeling homesick and missing his family, Hunk is there with cookies and cuddles. They sit in Lance's room for hours at a time, talking about their lives at the Garrison, laughing at all the pranks Lance did to their teachers, telling stories of their childhood, and laughing at one another's embarrassing antics as children. (Hunk still can't get over the fact that Lance got himself stuck up a tree and couldn't find a way down when he was eleven.)
And whenever Keith is feeling down, well, they just sit there in silence together, quietly snacking on space brownies Hunk made because Keith usually isn't one for seeking comfort in others and talking about his feelings and Hunk doesn't want to force Keith into speaking. So they sit together in silence, Keith appreciating Hunk's efforts in trying to be there for him.
When Hunk is feeling down, Keith sees it in his cooking and this time is no exception. Some people eat when they're depressed, Hunk completely loses himself in cooking when he's depressed. It keeps him busy and keeps his mind occupied. Keith doesn't think he's even seen Hunk leave the kitchen lately. He's pretty sure the kitchen is a mess and Shiro probably had to force Hunk to sleep. But whenever breakfast, lunch, and dinner roll around, there's practically a buffet of delicious food on the table.
Keith nodded his head, maybe spending time with his friends and family would help. "Alright, fine. I'm starving anyway." Shiro gave him a smile and the two headed off to dinner together.
"Are you ready to cooperate with us yet, Paladin?" Haggar asked, giving Lance a wolffish grin.
"Never." Lance spat. "I won't ever help you."
"You will." Haggar's voice gave Lance chills. "Once you realize I'm telling you the truth and that I'm trying to help you. They're the ones who sacrificed you, who left you here to die. Is that the kind of friends you want to help?"
"They didn't leave me here!"
"No?" Haggar asked tauntingly. "Where are they now? They're not here saving you. They didn't come back to rescue you. No, that's because they planned for you to get captured. They wanted you gone."
"No!" Lance's voice sounded confident but he was doubting himself. That dream felt pretty real and he's been here for God knows how long, and yet, no one has come to save him. 'No.' He shook his head. 'They wouldn't sacrifice me. I sacrificed myself.'
"Fine." Haggar said, grabbing a needle similar to the one before and walking over to Lance. "I guess I have to show you more memories to prove that I'm telling the truth."
"No. N-" Haggar silenced him as she injected him again with more space drugs.
///
Lance opened his eyes and groaned slightly at the bright lights of the castle. Wait? Lance sat up on the sofa he was laying on and rubbed the sleepiness out his eyes. Castle? He's back at the castle? How? He was just being electroshocked by Haggar, or was that a dream? Was it a dream? Or is this a dream? He doesn't know, but this feels pretty real. He pinched his arm and ouch that hurt. Yup, this is definitely real. Was being electroshocked by Haggar a dream then? Because that definitely felt pretty damn real.
'Allura'. Lance told himself. 'Allura will be able to tell me what's real and what's not real.' So Lance got up off the sofa and made his way to the control room, nothing everyone else already there talking. Were they having a meeting without him? If it's important, they should've woken him up. Nobody seemed to sense Lance's presence in the room. "Hey, what's going on?" Nobody even turned to look at him or show any indication that they knew he was there. What the quiznak?
"A truce?" Keith scoffed. "What kind've truce is Zarkon offering?"
"Each planet provides a sacrifice. If they do, that planet will have its peace and freedom from the Galra. No more trying to take over that planet. If they refuse, well, it will end in their destruction. If we offer up a Paladin of Voltron to be sacrificed, we'll be spared." Allura explained.
"And if we don't," Shiro finished. "He'll kill us all."
"Precisely." Allura said.
"I say we sacrifice Lance." Keith said, making Lance's blood run cold. 'No..This isn't real..'
"I agree with Keith," Pidge said. "I say we give him Lance. He's replaceable and he sucks at his job anyway."
"The worst pilot in existence." Shiro said in agreement. "I haven't seen someone screw up so much more than Lance."
"He's a terrible friend." Hunk counted on his fingers. "Always crying, always putting himself and us in danger on missions, got himself handcuffed to a tree because he couldn't keep it in his pants. And, almost costed us Blue because he was thinking with his dick and wanted to flirt with an alien girl instead of using his brain."
"All true statements," Keith grumbled. "He also cries during sex." That is a lie and Keith knows it! Lance does not cry during sex, never did. Okay..maybe once..But that was one time! And that was only because he was feeling all sorts of emotions that day and Keith wasn't being his usual asshole self, he was actually being really sweet, cute, and loving and Lance couldn't handle it.
Shiro looked really uncomfortable. Pidge raised an eyebrow at Keith. "And why are you dating him again?"
Keith shrugged. "He's not so bad on the eyes once he shuts his trap."
"So," Allura changed the subject. "How are we going to sacrifice Lance without him knowing?"
"We can't just throw him over to the Galra?" Hunk asked. "Seems easy enough."
"No," Coran spoke up. "We can't let the other planets know we're accepting Zarkon's truce. If we willingly give up our Paladin, that'll make us look bad. That's why only the leaders of each planet knows about the truce. If everyone knows, total chaos. That's why we have to make it seem like Lance's capture was a trap, unplanned, and the most painful experience we've ever dealt with."
"Easy. We accept Zarkon's truce, sneak into Galra headquarters, tell Lance it's for information on Pidge's brother and father, and then we make him believe someone needs to stay behind and sacrifice themselves to save the rest of us." Keith explained his plan. "He'll buy it." Everyone else agreed.
Lance couldn't believe it. They were planning his capture and giving him over to the Galra. This couldn't be real. No. No, this isn't real. It's not real. Lance wanted to wake up from this horrible dream. He wanted to wake up in his bed and see his mom again. Oh god, he misses his mom so much, what he wouldn't do for one of her hugs right now. Blue is good at consoling him, like a mother lion would do to their cub, but no one was better at making Lance feel better than his own mother.
Oh god, he had to wake up. Please let him wake up.
"Guys, I don't like this." Pidge said, keeping their voice low, but loud enough for the others to hear them. "This is almost too easy."
"I agree with Pidge." Hunk replies from his spot next to Keith, looking out for Galra guards. "I don't like this either."
"Paladins, what's going on? Are you inside?" Allura's voice comes through their connections.
"Yes, Princess, we're inside," Shiro's voice is cautious, looking around him. "But something's off." Part of him is glad the rescue mission is going smoothly so far. He's glad the team hasn't come across any trouble sneaking into Galra headquarters, glad they haven't been spotted and taken captive themselves before they can even get a location on Lance. But the whole thing is sketchy. This is Galra for Heaven's sake, where's all the guards? Sneaking into the enemy's territory shouldn't be this easy, especially not with someone as evil and powerful as the Galra. The other part of Shiro wishes someone or something would just pop out already to make the nagging feeling in his gut that this whole thing is just another trap go away.
"Off?" Allura asks worriedly. "What do you mean?"
"It's too easy, Princess." Pidge says. "We were able to sneak in without any trouble. And we haven't seen any guards yet. It's going smoothly, too smoothly. It feels like another trap."
Allura's silent over connections for a moment. "That's very worrying, especially with Galra. Don't get too comfortable, knowing Zarkon, he has something up his sleeve. And with how things are sounding, it won't be good. Be careful Paladins."
"Alright team," Shiro said, looking at each of them. "Hunk. Pidge, you two take the control room. Try to get as much information as you can. Maybe you can find out where they're holding Lance, Matt, and Mr. Holt hostage. Keith and I will search for Lance. Move out."
"Paladin of Voltron."
Lance opened his eyes to find one of the Galrans, Thrace, standing over him. "Time for you to be reunited with your friends." Lance didn't say anything as the Galran undone his restraints and helped him up off the exam table. Lance took his Bayard from Thrace's outstretched hand and stared at him. "Go on, Paladin." Lance didn't say anything, just walked out of the room.
Lance was not in the holding cells like they expected, nor was he in the 'exam room' or Haggar's torture chamber, which only caused more dread to run through Keith and Shiro. If he wasn't in the holding cells or Haggar's torture chamber, where in the bloody hell was he? Shiro hoped to God he wasn't in the arena or with Zarkon. 'Please don't let him be in the arena or with Zarkon.' Shiro prayed, 'Please don't let him be there.' They searched all around the headquarters, avoiding Galra guards, and they still hadn't found Lance.
They went back to the control room and met up with Pidge and Hunk, the two's faces falling when they noticed Lance wasn't with them. "He's not here?"
Shiro shook his head sadly. "We searched. He's not here. They must've known we were coming for him and moved him."
"You think Zarkon has him?" Pidge asked, worry in her voice.
Shiro looked sorrowful, his voice regretful. "I hope not."
"He has to be here," Keith said. "I'm not giving up. I know he's here." Keith ran out the room and down the hall. They came here to rescue Lance and Keith isn't leaving without him. He doesn't care if he gets captured by the Galra in the process, he's not leaving without Lance, not again. He could hear the others behind him but he kept going. Lance was here, he just knew it. He turned down another hall.
And that's when he seen him.
"Lance!" Keith cried out in relief at noticing his boyfriend. Lance stopped walking and turned around to stare at Keith. A smile made its way onto Keith's face, he was so worried the Galra would have killed him but here he was. Lance looks like he's been dragged through hell and back, but he's alive and that's all that matters at this point. Keith's heart dropped slightly when Lance didn't crack a smile nor show any sort of emotion at noticing Keith, but Keith ignored it. "Oh thank god, I was so worried. I thought you were dead."
Lance's silence was worrying but it's his facial expression that's putting Keith on edge. Lance isn't ever this quiet or emotionless. "Why are you looking at me like that? C'mon, we have to get out of here. Lance." Keith said again, noticing Lance wasn't making an effort to move. "C'mon, I love you, y'know that. Now c'mon we have to leave!" Keith took a step forward to grab Lance's hand and drag him along but stopped immediately when Lance raised his Bayard, pointing it at him.
There were several gasps from the other Paladins a few yards behind him but Keith's gaze didn't leave Lance's Bayard. "Lance, why are you pointing your Bayard at me? Put it..put it down nice and gently. I love you, please don't do this. Please put it down." Lance didn't make a move to lower his weapon, instead he kept his emotionless eyes on Keith.
It all suddenly became clear to Keith what was happening. Galra had control over him. How? He wasn't exactly sure but one thing was for certain, he wasn't coming out of this unharmed. "Lance!" Shiro shouted a few yards away. "LANCE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lance didn't even bat an eye at Shiro or the other Paladins making their way over to save their friend. Instead, Lance kept his eyes on his target, his boyfriend.
"Babe please," Keith tried to reason with him. "You're not in your right mind, they're controlling you." Keith tried to keep his voice steady, but it's hard to stay calm when your boyfriend is pointing his weapon at you, ready to kill you at any given moment. Keith's pleas turned desperate. "Please don't kill me. I love you. Come on, please put it down. You're scaring me. This isn't you! You're under mind control! Lance please!"
"Lance!" Allura's voice rang out through their connections, apparently his helmet stayed in tact during his capture. "Lower your weapon. Lance!"
Lance ignored Allura's command and spoke directly at Keith making Keith's blood run cold. "You tricked me into sacrificing myself for the good of Voltron and left me for dead. You all did. Now it's time to return the favor."
"Please! Lance!" Keith begged. "That's not true! I love you! Lance ple-" Keith dropped to the ground, grasping his side as Lance struck him.
"Keith!"
The last thing Keith remembers before letting the darkness pull him under, is his name being called in several directions and white bangs tackling Lance to the ground.
Keith opened his eyes as the healing pod door opened, wincing at the bright lights. What happened? There's still a dull ache in his skull and his side feels sorta bruised but other than that he seems to be fine. All talking stopped as soon as he stepped, more like tripped, out of the healing pod and he was immediately pulled into Hunk's strong embrace.
"Keith!"
"Hunk." Keith said through a mouth full of t-shirt.
"You're okay!" Hunk let him go, giving him a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.
Keith looked around the room at the others to notice they were all avoiding his eyes. For a guy who just woke up from the healing pod, he was sure feeling the love. Pidge was fiddling with their tablet. Coran was stuffing his face with space goo. Hunk opted to stare at his shoes. Even Allura was pretending to have a conversation with Pidge. Keith didn't see Lance anywhere. Oh god, they didn't save him. The Galra might still have him. Keith felt like he was going to throw up. Shiro walked over to him and gave him a sad smile, clasping his shoulder. "It's good to see you're all heal-"
"Where's Lance?" Keith asked, interrupting Shiro. Everyone in the room froze and said nothing. Keith felt his heart drop to his stomach and his throat close up. They didn't save Lance, the Galra still had him. His loud, tall, broad shouldered, ADHD boyfriend was still in the Galra's possession. "Where's Lance? Where is he?"
"Keith, before you see him, you sho-" Before he could finish warning Keith, Shiro was interrupted by the sounds of Lance's screams of bloody murder echoing through out the castle. Keith didn't even give Shiro a second look before he took off in the direction of Lance's room before Shiro could finish warning him. The closer Keith got to Lance's room, the louder and more heartbreaking the screams became.
Keith opened the door to Lance's room, nearly collapsing onto the floor and sobbing at the sight of the blue Paladin. Lance, who used to be tall and broad shouldered, was bone skinny and lanky. Once flawless skin with gorgeous dark blue eyes, now wore deep purple bags. Ugly bruises and scars littered his body, and to shatter his once perfect complexion, a black and blue bruise lay on the side of his head from when Shiro tackled him to the ground. Honestly, it looks like Haggar sucked the life out of him. If only Lance could see himself right now, he would have a heart attack.
He was currently laying down on his bed, yelling obscenities at the ceiling while tears fell down his cheeks. "Lance?" And at that moment, Keith decided to make his presence known. Lance looked up at his boyfriend, mixed feelings of anger, sadness, happiness, and confusion were directed at the red Paladin, overwhelming his thoughts. Mainly burning hatred and happiness, those were the two stronger emotions.
Why did Lance want to simultaneously bash Keith's mullet head into the wall and hug the teen while he cried his heart out? Hell if he knew. All Lance knew was that he missed and loathed the teen standing in front of him. Is it even possible to love and hate someone with every fiber of your being at the same time? He wasn't sure but he was definitely having mixed feelings.
Lance watched as Keith took a hesitant step towards him. Keith locked eyes with him, letting out a breath of relief. "I-" Before Keith even had time to react, Lance pounced on him and grabbed Keith by the throat, slamming him into the wall. Keith stared at him in horror, trying to shove Lance off of him. "Lance. Lance, it's me. It's your boyfriend, Keith."
That statement only seemed to make Lance even angrier and gave him even more reason to want to kill him. "Ex-boyfriend. You left me to die."
"L-Lance, n-no! You got it wrong I-"
"That's bullshit!" Lance screamed. "You wanted me dead."
"No!" Keith's voice was getting desperate. "Don't let Haggar's magic confuse you, Lance. I love you! You know that."
"You're a liar!" More tears sprang from Lance's eyes. "Haggar showed me the truth, you were all just using me."
"Lance no!"
"Stop lying to me!"
"I'm not lying, Lance." Tears fell from Keith's cheeks. "Haggar is trying to turn you against us. Don't let her."
Lance let Keith go, taking a step back from him.
"I-I don't know what's real or what the witch implanted into my head." His voice started to crack. "We're supposed to be friends Keith and all I want to do is take your head and bash it into the wall." More tears fell from Keith's eyes but Lance kept rambling. "I don't know if Haggar was telling me truth about all of you hating me and sacrificing me to the Galra or it's just her magic trying to turn me against all of you. I don't know if I love you or if I want to kill you for sacrificing me."
"Lance-"
"And when I look at you," Lance gritted his teeth, raising his head to look up at Keith. "I get so many different mixed emotions."
"What do you want to do to me?" Keith asked, his voice trembling.
"Killing you is my immediate reaction." Lance answered. "Hugging you and crying on your shoulder while Shiro tells me it's going to be okay and we'll think of a plan to help me is my second reaction. Then I get confused because I don't know if you're my friend or my enemy. Then I remember all the time we spent together. Then I get depressed thinking about it when I learned you were part of the plan to give me up to Zarkon. Then I get angry and then I feel like I want to kill you."
"Lance," Keith reached out to stroke his face but Lance grabbed his wrist tightly, for a bone thin guy, he was scarily strong.
"Lance." Shiro said hesitantly from the doorway in front of everyone else. "Let Keith go." Lance didn't let him go, instead kept his eyes locked on Keith's face. "Lance," Shiro said again, slowly walking into Lance's room, softly grabbing his shoulders. "You're bruising his wrist."
"I don't want to feel like this, Shiro." Lance said, his voice brittle.
"Feeling like what buddy?"
"Killing all of you. Starting with Keith. I-I love him but he sacrificed me."
"He didn't sacrifice you, Lance. That's Haggar's magic. Don't let her twist your memories."
Lance let go of Keith wrist, turning to Allura. "Haggar showed me that you have a truce with Zarkon. You sacrifice one of us to save everyone else." Then he turned to look at Hunk, Pidge, and Keith. "And you offered me up." Lance's voice started to tremble. "Because I'm the most annoying and replaceable member of Voltron. And a terrible best friend, the worst pilot in history, and I screw up too much."
"Lance, that's not true. We love you." Hunk said softy. "You know I care about you. You're my best friend, platonic soul mate, my other half, the one person I know I could never live without." He placed his hands on Lance's shoulders, tears falling down his own cheeks. "Remember six grade, our first day meeting? A group of older kids tried to pick on me for my size but then you stood up to them for me, yelling some very unkindly words at them. After they left, you turned to me and told me 'don't worry dude, I got your back.' It was at that moment that I knew, we were going to be best friends. We went through middle and high school together as the unbreakable duo. Decided to apply at the Garrison together, opened our acceptance letters together, irresponsibly got drunk the night before our first day of school and had to suffer through a hangover all through out our morning classes. But it was worth it because I got videos of you doing drunk karaoke back home."
Lance shook his head, his hands trembling. "S-Stop.."
"We don't have a truce with Zarkon and we didn't sacrifice you. We didn't willingly leave you at the hands of the Galra, we went back for you and rescued you because we love you and your our family."
"N-No.."
"Hunk's right, Lance." Shiro said, turning Lance around to face him. "You're not the worst pilot in history, you don't screw up all the time, you're not annoying, you're not a terrible best friend. And you're as hell not replaceable. You're important to this team, Lance. You mean so much to each and everyone of us. To Blue. Ever since you've been captured she's had a particle barrier up surrounding her. Blue agrees with us when we say we don't want anyone else being the Blue Paladin. You're apart of our family and no one can replace you."
"We're going to fix you, Lance." Allura said. "We're going to find a way to stop Haggar's magic."
Lance shook his head. "That can take months, I can't form Voltron like this. Allura, you need to be Blue's pilot."
"Lance no!"
"She has to. The longer I'm around all of you, the stronger the urge to kill all of you grows. I'm a ticking time bomb, ready to snap. I don't want to snap and hurt one of you. Allura please," Lance begged. "You need to take over the blue lion."
"Lance," tears gathered in Allura's eyes. "We can still fix you."
"We don't have that kind've time, Princess. Put me in the Cryopod for the meantime."
"No!" Keith protested. "We won't do it."
Lance looked at Keith, wiping away the tears from Keith's face. "I'm a danger to everyone here. It's the only to contain me until Allura can figure out a way to fix me."
"I just got you back, Lance. I'm not losing you again." Keith took Lance's hands in his.
Lance smiles sadly. "This isn't me. This is the Lance that wants to kill you. He's still in here, but I'm not the Lance you knew, Keith. He'll come back to you."
More tears fell from Keith's eyes. "I love you, Cargo Pilot."
"I love you, too."
"C'mon, Lance." Allura kept her voice low and spoke slowly to relay a sense of steadiness, trying to keep the sob that desperately wanted to come out at bay. Lance let go of Keith's hands and let Allura take him to the Cryopod. Allura opened the pod door and motioned Lance inside.
Lance turned towards Shiro who looked sorrowfully and defeated. "Take care of that asshole for me, make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
"I will." Shiro said regretfully.
Lance turned to Allura before stepping into the Cyropod. "Take good care of Blue and tell her I'm sorry."
Allura's voice quavered. "I will. I'll make sure she knows how much you care for her." Lance stepped into the Cryopod, allowing the door to close behind him, darkness pulling him into a deep slumber.
As the Cryopod door closed with Lance inside, Keith vowed to himself that he will be the one to end Haggar. Even if he dies in the process, he's bringing Haggar, Zarkon, and the whole goddamn Galra army down with him.