Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Did you say we're going shopping? Is there a space mall on the planet below us?" Lance asked excitedly, looking between Allura and Coran from where he sat at the dining room table. They'd been halfway through breakfast when Allura had casually mentioned that they were calling training off for that morning in order to visit the planet below them to restock some supplies.

"No, it's not a space mall," Allura told him. "I am unsure if you have something equivalent to it on Earth but it's more like a gathering of small one-of-a-kind shops in an open area that we can explore," she said, obviously unsure how to describe it.

"It's a space market!" Lance declared, looking excited. He loved markets, especially when he was with his family. He loved searching for all of the unique stalls and finding unusual items and he really enjoyed haggling and observing so many different kinds of people.

"A space market, then," Allura said, giving Lance a warm smile before she turned back to the others. "We will, of course, be prioritising the restocking of the Castle-Ship but once that is completed, Coran will give you some GAC and you will be free to explore the space market at your leisure, so long as it's not too late and we don't have a mission come up," Allura told them.

Shiro chuckled at the excited whoops from the three youngest Paladins before he looked at Allura. "What time do you want us to be ready by?" he asked.

"Oh, if we gather in the main hangar bay in thirty dobashes? We can't take a pod since it's too small for all of us and the items we need to purchase but perhaps you or Hunk would be willing to pilot us to the surface?" Allura asked, looking between the two of them.

Hunk shrugged at Shiro, silently telling him that it was his decision and Shiro nodded. "We can take Black. I'm sure she'll enjoy watching everything," he said. Both he and Lance grinned at the purr they could hear in their minds that told them exactly what Black thought about it.

"Wonderful," Allura said before she focused back on her half-full breakfast plate. "What will you all be searching for when we've finished buying everything for the Castle-Ship?" she asked curiously as they all took her cue and continued eating their breakfast.

"I'm gonna look for the weirdest stuff I can get my hands on for Veronica and Luis," Lance said immediately, excitement shining in his eyes. "I might see if I can find some different kinds of hair clips or ties for the little she-demons that are my youngest sisters. Maybe I'll be able to find some toys or games for my niece and nephew. Hopefully they haven't grown out of the things I remember them liking," he said, eyes turning sad for a moment before he forced himself to bury that feeling and move on. "I don't know about my parents though. I'll have to see what I can find," Lance said, the touch of sadness now evident in his voice but it was mostly buried by his elation about being able to go shopping for more than just supplies.

"I'm going straight for the tech," Pidge told them predictably, pushing her glasses further up onto the bridge of her nose. "I want to see what kind of technology this planet has and see if I can use it to either find Dad and Matt or bolster the Lions or the Castle somehow. Maybe we'll get lucky and there'll be more games for our gaming console," Pidge said, sharing a smirk with Lance.

"I think I'm going to look at their spices. It'd be nice to have some more variety in the kitchen and maybe they'll have something close to cinnamon!" Hunk said, looking excited about the idea. "Plus, I want to see if I can find some trinkets for my mums," he added.

"Do you wanna look together?" Lance asked him. "You know my parents almost as well as I do! You can help me choose things for them!" Lance said, sounding very excited about this idea.

Hunk visibly perked up. "Dude, yes! You know how hard it is to shop for my mums! I'll need your help as well!" he said, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to face this impossible task by himself now.

"I'm not sure what I'll buy yet. I think I'll leave it to be a surprise," Shiro told them before he took another bite of his breakfast.

"Same," Keith said. Out of all of them, he was the least enthusiastic about shopping, whether it be at a space mall or space market.

"I wouldn't mind looking for some new jewelry to wear to banquets or celebrations that we attend. I think it would be a subtle but nice way for me to show my support for planets who are part of our coalition," Allura said thoughtfully. "Of course, I wouldn't mind simply just browsing the wares. I don't recall being able to attend many markets on Altea," she told them.

"How come?" Pidge asked curiously.

Coran was the one to answer. "Unfortunately, no member of the Royal Family was able to attend very many markets during King Alfor's reign. Though Altea was peaceful and no citizen would have dared to harm any of them simply because there was no reason for them to do so, King Alfor, Queen Melenor and Princess Allura were all too busy in the royal court and attending to their duties. Why, I think I can only recall three separate occasions where a member of the Royal Family had a couple of varga spare to simply enjoy the vast offerings the markets offered after Allura was born!"

Allura nodded in agreement. "I can only remember exploring the Altean markets twice in my life, though they were held every phoebe," she told them. "They always seemed so magical to me. All those stalls from different planets with all of their products displayed, it was almost like a different world," she said, a slightly wistful note in her voice as her eyes glazed slightly as she focused more on the memories she was recalling.

"What was your favourite thing about them?" Hunk asked Allura, breaking her out of her memories with his curious question. "Earth's markets – or the ones I've been to, anyways – were almost always interesting because you got to see so many different cultures represented by the stalls. And the food!" Hunk exclaimed, eyes glimmering with fond memories. "There were so many different types of food, especially at the bigger markets," Hunk said, almost drooling as he recalled a few of his favourite market foods.

Lance noticed Allura's mood immediately brighten, which in turn brightened the atmosphere in the room, and silently congratulated his best friend for achieving what he'd obviously intended to do with his question. Allura's smile was far more fond than saddened as she hummed in thought, trying to pick what memory to share first, oblivious to the way Coran grinned at Hunk. "Oh!" the Altean princess exclaimed as she finally chose her favourite memory. "There was a stall that attended every second or third market Altea hosted run by an opthel, native to the planet Opthelium. It had the most beautiful trinkets," Allura recalled. "They worked with a material similar to glass but it was far stronger than anything else that resembled glass. I remember the opthel showing me her wares the first time and I had been hesitant to purchase anything from her," she divulged.

"How come?" Pidge asked, brow creasing in confusion and curiousity as she took another bite of her breakfast.

"Well, I had no idea about the strength of their glass so when I saw these beautifully intricate but fragile-looking trinkets, all I could think was that it'd break the moment someone accidentally touched it too hard," Allura explained. "The markets were held near the Castle-Ship but not close enough that I could be sure anything I bought from that stall would survive being carried that far. However, once the opthel realised what my concerns were, she pulled out this thin sheet of the same glass and brought it down sharply on the table! I thought she had gone mad but the glass didn't break, even though she'd hit the table with it hard enough to make the table shudder!" Allura told them, obviously still as in awe of what she'd witnessed all those years ago as she was today.

Pidge wasn't the only human to look astonished. "How thin was it?" Hunk asked curiously.

Allura held her thumb and index finger only a couple of millimeters apart. "It wouldn't have been any thicker than this," she told them before lowering her hand. "Of course, once I was sure anything I bought would survive being bumped, I purchased two beautiful sculptures that I still have on display in my room," Allura said. "The glass is coloured but not deeply enough that it blocks the light shining through the sculptures so whenever we pass a sun or very bright star, they sometimes catch the sculptures and my room is lit up in the most spectacular way," she told them. "That is my favourite memory, not only because it was the first time I was allowed out of the Castle-Ship without my parents or dozens of guards looking over my shoulder but because it was the first time someone had either not recognised me as the princess or didn't care enough to stop them from doing something that could've been seen as an act of aggression towards myself. She just saw a potential customer who didn't believe in the strength of her wares and decided to use the quickest and most effective method to soothe my worries so I would buy from her," Allura explained, a small grin on her lips.

Coran shook his head. "I remember that," he said, giving Allura a wry look. "Your father almost had a heart attack when word reached him about what had happened! Your mother, however, had given your father the flattest look I'd ever seen on Queen Melenor's face before she asked how he expected the opthel to show you the durability of her products quick enough that she wouldn't lose not only you as a customer but other potential customers who didn't want to linger to hear the likely lengthy explanation she would've had to otherwise give you," Coran told Allura, who laughed lightly.

"Truly Mother always was the one to worry least about my safety. She at the very least didn't believe every little thing was a danger to me," Allura said, a touch of melancholy in her voice before she shook her head and focused on the Paladins. "What are your markets like? I would love to hear some of your favourite memories of them," Allura said, eyes shining with her curiousity.

Both Shiro and Keith immediately paid just a bit more attention to their food, silently showing their unwillingness to go first so Allura focused more on the Garrison Trio. The three youngest Paladins looked at one another before both Pidge and Lance gestured for Hunk to go ahead, since their friend had already half answered Allura's questions earlier. Hunk took the invitation readily. "Okay, so, firstly, there are a lot of different kinds of street markets on Earth – or in America, at least – but my favourite one was held every month – er, phoebe to you," Hunk said, correcting himself so Allura and Coran would understand a bit easier.

Lance hid his grin at the way Allura and Coran leant forward like curious children as Hunk spoke behind the next bite of his breakfast. Right now, Lance couldn't think of a morning that had started out better on the Castle-Ship and he just hoped the rest of the day continued in the same fashion.

Though it had taken them nearly four hours to find the supplies they needed for the Castle-Ship, haggle the prices, load it all into Black then unload it all into the Castle-Ship in the appropriate places since, as Allura had pointed out, it would save them having to do so after the day of shopping, Lance was still looking forward to getting back down to the small planet. Mada was a planet that had no local inhabitants but rather homed hundreds of various alien species, all of whom ran at least one stall in the permanent space market that was set up on the surface.

As Allura had explained on the flight down in Black for the resupplying mission, there were several dozen aliens who had always called Mada home but they were all natives of a different planet. Mada just happened to have the ability to support life but didn't have any kind of intelligent life, other than the odd animalistic species, to speak of. It was the perfect planet to set up as a space market since there were dozens of planets within a couple of hours from it and it was close to a section of space that saw a lot of traffic or, as Lance had immediately dubbed it, a 'space highway'.

Coran finished handing over the last of the small pouches that held the GAC they'd been given to spend over the next few hours. Once Hunk had accepted the last one, the coins clinking gently as he placed them in a pocket, Coran grinned. "Make sure you spend this money wisely! If you need any advice on how to haggle someone, come and find me! Why, once I managed to –" Coran said, starting to get into what would likely be a lengthy and very detailed recount of that particular memory. However, they were saved by an announcement from the pilot's seat.

"Half a dobash until we land," Shiro announced, seemingly cutting Coran off accidentally.

"Thank you, Shiro," Allura said. Lance narrowed his eyes at the two suspiciously. Allura seemed a little too grateful for Lance to believe it had been a complete accident. Allura addressed all of them before Lance could say or do anything to try and confirm his suspicions. "As I already said, you may split up to explore the markets. Please do not turn off or lose your communication devices," Allura instructed, fiddling with her silver earring that matched an earring sitting on each Paladins ear. Coran had one but everyone knew he was likely going to stick with Allura since he hadn't been awfully happy with the idea of Allura exploring the markets by herself. "I would like to propose that we meet back up in two vargas? Perhaps to find something to eat and discuss whether more time to explore is needed?" she suggested.

"I think that's a good idea, Princess," Shiro said as he brought Black down on a landing pad softly. "I know that Black is still covered by the illusion cloak Pidge installed on the Lions," he gave the Green Paladin a proud smile, "but perhaps it's a good idea to not risk being on this planet for more than a couple more hours," he said. Everyone nodded in agreement, though Lance and Hunk did so with a bit more reluctance than the others, not that Shiro could really fault them. It was rare that they came across a space mall or market while the Castle-Ship was low on supplies that they couldn't get from an ally in the coalition and they didn't have any missions or recent reports of Galrans in the area. Still, they couldn't afford to relax completely because Shiro just knew that the moment they did, the Galra would figure out they were there and strike.

"Is everyone in agreement?" Allura asked and once again, everyone nodded. "Wonderful. Enjoy yourselves and please remember not to announce that you're a Paladin of Voltron," Allura reminded them. It had been something discussed while Allura was convincing Coran to let her explore the markets as well. In the end, they'd dressed in their civilian clothes but kept their bayards on their person so they weren't completely unarmed and agreed that they wouldn't mention anything about what their species was or who they were. Even Coran and Allura were going to morph their features slightly to disguise their Altean marks. Once everyone had nodded to show they'd remember and Black had lowered her ramp, Allura gave them a smile. "Go on and enjoy whatever the Mada markets have to offer!"

"Lance, Hunk, we'll meet you both at the food stall run by the Avioids," Allura said over their comms suddenly, making Lance jump minutely and earning himself five chuckles in his mind.

"Sure thing, Princess," Lance said quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself as he hid behind Hunk to further cover what he was doing. No one had commented to them about anything Voltron related but Lance didn't want to take the risk that someone would think he or Hunk looked familiar and pair it together with his use of Allura's title and figure it out. "We'll see you soon," he said, ending the conversation and rounding Hunk completely, trying to pass off his movements as him wanting a closer look at something on Hunk's other side. "Think Luis would like this?" Lance asked as he held up the first object he saw.

Hunk looked at the bauble and scrunched up his nose slightly. "I don't think it's his thing," he told Lance, who huffed as though annoyed before he placed it back on the table. "Are you hungry yet? I'm starved!" Hunk exclaimed, causing Lance to chuckle.

"Yeah, let's go and get some food. Hopefully the Avioids are here and cooking today," Lance said, preparing to lead Hunk away from the stall run by the winged alien watching them closely.

"They're set up two lanes away, halfway up the laneway on your right," the alien chirped, its clear, insect-like wings flittering slightly as it moved towards Lance's left and pointed in the direction it meant.

Lance was a little surprised by the instructions but gave the alien a wide smile. "Thank you very much," he said, bowing slightly to the stall-runner.

"You're welcome," it chittered before turning its attention to someone whose attention was caught by its wares and was more likely to purchase something than Hunk and Lance were now that they had lunch plans.

Following the helpful alien's instructions, Hunk and Lance headed for the stall Allura had told them to meet the others at. Considering neither of them knew what an Avioid looked like nor what their stall would look like, both were keeping their eyes peeled for their friends. It took them several minutes to get to where Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Coran and Allura were waiting, mainly due to how crowded the markets were and how far the food stall was from where Hunk and Lance had been. However, the time it took them to cover the distance was also drawn out by their attention being caught by stalls they passed by. More than once Lance found himself either pulled away by or pulling away Hunk when a stall looked too interesting for one of them to simply walk by without looking at it.

"Hey!" Hunk called, waving when he caught sight of Allura's long, white hair and Keith's red jacket. They were quick to spot Coran, Pidge and Shiro standing nearby as well.

"Hey, you two," Shiro greeted as they drew near. "Have fun?" he asked, eyes twinkling at the numerous bags the two of them held.

"There were so many stalls!" Lance exclaimed as he sat himself in the first spare chair he found, settling his bags next to him. Hunk mimicked his actions, feeling his post-shopping exhaustion creep up now that they weren't walking around. "But I think we've found something for everyone," Lance said, looking at Hunk, who nodded.

"I don't need to look for anyone else," he told them. "I wouldn't mind looking around a bit more but if we don't have the time, it's fine," he added.

Allura and Keith chose that moment to appear at the table, two big trays filled with food that Lance decided he didn't need to know the origins of. "I believe Pidge, Keith and Shiro have also found everything they wanted," Allura said, a slight questioning tone in her voice. "Coran and I have also seen everything we wish to see," she added when the three other Paladins nodded in answer to her previous statement.

Lance smiled in thanks for the food Allura handed to him. Ignoring the fact that it was green, Lance took a bite out of the first piece of food he picked up. Not totally disgusted by the apple flavour but banana texture of the food, Lance continued eating it. "So are we heading back to the ship after this?" he asked.

Allura looked at everyone before nodding. "I think it's a good idea. I believe we have pushed our luck long enough and if there's no reason for us to linger, we shouldn't," Allura said.

Lance couldn't help the disappointment he felt and not being able to explore the rest of the market and spend the remaining GAC he still had in his pouch but he didn't do anything more than nod. The lunch conversation turned from that to discussion about what everyone had bought, a topic that managed to last for the entirety of the near varga they spent at the table. Everyone bar Hunk and Lance had already deposited their purchases in Black since she was parked close by to the Avioids' food stall. Lance had repacked his and Hunk's purchases so they weren't carrying dozens of small bags but one large bag each while they were eating, something that his fingers and Hunk had thanked him for.

"Ready to leave?" Allura asked once the trays were cleared of food, leaving only the rubbish remaining. Coran was quick to dispose of the rubbish and return the trays before Lance could do so himself.

Hunk and Pidge had gotten caught up in a conversation around the tech that Pidge had found while everyone was finishing up their lunch and Lance chuckled slightly when Hunk went to leave without his bag. Scooping it up, Lance shook his head at his best friend while he carted both bags, having turned down Shiro's offer to take one. Between the five of them not caught in the conversation, they managed to herd Pidge and Hunk towards Black and weave through the crowd without disrupting their conversation.

Lance found himself lagging behind slightly, weighed down by the bags and his attention being drawn to stalls he hadn't managed to visit while with Hunk. Spotting a stall whose tables glittered with jewelry, Lance glanced over at the group who was now several metres ahead of him before he looked back at the jewelry. There was a bracelet that was exquisitely made, resting on the dark stone that helped the silver stand out but the thing that had grabbed Lance's attention was that it was set with delicate stones that were the exact shade of purple his mother loved most. Unable and unwilling to leave it there, Lance diverted to the stall and started haggling with the alien manning it until they reached a price that wouldn't leave Lance with absolutely nothing left in his coin pouch.

"Thank you for your business!" the alien said as it handed the wrapped bracelet over to Lance, having taken and counted the coins Lance had given it already.

"Thank you," Lance said as he tucked the wrapped bracelet carefully into his already full bag before he hurried up the laneway after the others, already going through the apology he'd have to offer them for falling so far behind once he was back at Black.

He barely made it to the halfway point to Black when he found himself overwhelmed by panic, fear, anger and disbelief that didn't belong to him. It was so strong and so sudden that Lance had gasped and stumbled slightly, accidentally bumping into a large alien the size of a grizzly bear, though covered in lizard-like skin rather than fur. "Sorry," Lance gasped as he righted himself and fought against the nausea that had built from the mix of feelings that weren't his own. "What's going on?!" Lance demanded mentally, even as he quickened his pace towards Black.

"Lance! A group of aliens just kidnapped everyone!" Yellow told him, nearly wailing in her worry and fear for her Paladin and Lance's heart thudded into his throat.

"What?" he asked, stunned at what he'd just been told. He'd only lost sight of them for maybe five minutes! "Where are they?" he asked before any of the Lions could repeat what Yellow had said.

"They're still being moved towards wherever their kidnappers want to hold them," Black told him. Lance could hear how much she was forcing herself to remain calm. "Come back to me and I'll be able to show you where I sense Shiro is," she instructed.

Lance wasted no time in doing as she told him to. At a flat run, it still took him ten minutes to get to Black, still disguised as a non-descript ship and he cursed himself for being so slow. Black didn't hesitate to bring her shield down or open her ramp up for Lance. He barely paused to place the two bags he still carried with the rest of the bags the others had obviously left before they'd found the stall where Hunk and Lance had joined them for lunch before he moved into the cockpit. He stopped in front of her console and gazed through her eyes as though he might be able to see his missing friends. "Have they stopped?" Lance asked as he watched the aliens below going about their business, completely unaware of the fact that most of Voltron had just been kidnapped.

"Shiro told me that they've been taken into an underground facility," Black told him quickly. "They've not stopped as yet but Shiro promised he'd tell me when they have. I can sense the direction they're going and I can direct you to them," Black said.

Lance nodded quickly. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes since they were taken and it made sense to Lance that the kidnappers would be moving them as far away from the busy market area as quickly as possible. "Did they search them? Have they found their bayards?" Lance asked.

"Yes. They knew who they were. Allura's communication earring has been confiscated as well and I'm sure it won't be long until they realise everyone else is wearing one," Black told him.

Lance frowned at that information. "Are they Galran? Is that how they knew who they were and to look for their bayards and Allura's earring?" Lance asked, musing more to himself than actually asking but Black had an answer anyway.

"They aren't Galran but they are sympathetic to the Galra," Black told him, a note of disgust in her voice that was echoed throughout the Lions in Lance's mind. "The leader surmised correctly that the Paladins wouldn't be in the market unarmed and he somehow knew about the communication device because he didn't even question which earring it was before he ordered Allura to remove it," Black revealed.

"I wonder if the Galra have released detailed descriptions about us and our weapons and technology to anyone who they know is on their side," Lance mused out loud. "Does Shiro know what their plan is?" he asked Black.

"The leader has been gloating about capturing them and has hinted that they would be turning them over to the Galra in exchange for a monetary reward," Black told him, her voice nearly a hiss as she repeated the words and Lance couldn't blame her.

"Okay, which way are they going?" Lance asked, checking his jacket's pockets and ensuring his bayard was still there. "I'm going after them."

Pride from the Lions filled him with warmth but Lance could also feel their fear, not only for their Paladin or their creator's daughter and his closest friend but for Lance himself as well. "You have to be careful, Blue's Cub," Black told him seriously. "If they haven't noticed you're not there, they soon will and there will be a search party sent out to hunt you down," she warned.

Lance patted the closest part of her wall he could reach. "I know and I will be careful. I have the five of you watching out for me," Lance said, giving them all a mental smile as he let them feel the faith he had that they would keep him safe and up to date on everything happening with their pilots.

"Yes you do and we will make sure nothing happens to you if we can help it," Red growled, a touch of protectiveness in her voice that Lance only ever heard when the Lion was telling him about Keith overworking himself in the training room or taking on too many enemies by himself. The tone had Lance's cheeks flushing a deep red.

"Do you see that large, orange building?" Black asked, taking pity on Lance and diverting his attention from Red's words. Lance was quickly able to spot it. "Head for it. They're in that direction but underground. I'll be able to give you more specific directions once you're closer to where Shiro is," she told him.

Lance nodded as he headed back for her ramp. "I'll get them back as quickly as I can," Lance promised the four Lions who were missing their pilots, "and I'll be as safe as I possibly can be," he said, trying to reassure an anxious Blue.

"I know you will be," Blue said though her worry was barely soothed by Lance's words.

"If you can't get them out without risking yourself, come back to me. We'll figure out another way to get to them," Black instructed.

Though he made sure none of them could sense his thoughts on how he'd make sure they'd get out, even if meant his own safety, Lance did make sure they felt his conviction about getting them back. "I'll stay in contact with you," Lance promised as Black lowered her ramp. Lance eyed up the orange building once more before he headed straight for it, walking briskly so he would get to his friends quickly but wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to himself. "I'll have them back before you know it," he swore, feeling his nerves and fear fade as he slipped into his mission-ready attitude, knowing he couldn't risk something happening because this rescue mission was for his friends.

"We know you will," Yellow said with zero doubt in her tone. Lance allowed the warmth he felt at Yellow's and the four other Lions' confidence in him to linger as he headed in the direction his space family was being held hostage.

It took almost half an hour of careful tracking on each Lions part before Lance was approaching a rather poorly kept building that Black, Yellow, Green and Red agreed was where their pilots and the Alteans were being kept hostage. Pidge had allowed Green to view the route they'd been led down once they were escorted into the building through her eyes which meant Green was the Lion Lance was primarily talking with as he followed her instructions. His bayard was in its rifle form and he held it in front of him, ready to fire at a moment's notice but Lance was hoping he wouldn't have to use it before he found his team. The sound of his laser shots would draw the attention of everyone in this building and he had no clue how many enemies were in here so he didn't want to risk it.

"Turn left here then turn right. There'll be a series of cells along that hallway. They're being held in the end one," Green instructed as Lance headed further down in the building. The lack of natural light and increasingly cold air told Lance that this part of the building was buried within the surrounding dirt. The corridor he was walking down looked more like cave tunnel in how it was rounder in shape and lower in height than any corridor in the parts of the building that were above ground, however the builder had decided to slather cement – or whatever the space equivalent was – on the walls, floors and ceilings to give it extra strength. Lance felt a spike of adrenaline at the thought of being so close to his team but bit it down as he turned left. "Right here," Green repeated, her desire to get her pilot back before something happened to her overriding her patience.

Lance didn't comment as he took the turn, hiding himself on the corner until he'd cleared the hallway. Thankfully, there seemed to be no guards – something Lance thought was particularly stupid on the kidnappers' part but since it was working in his favour, he didn't bother thinking more on it. The thirty seconds it took for him to cross from one end of the corridor to the other were filled with tension. On his left was nothing but solid wall however the right side was lined with cells. Lance's heartbeat thudded in his ears as he approached the cell Green said everyone was being held in, sure that someone would appear behind him before he got there. However, he managed to make it to the cell with no one appearing and was delighted and relieved to find his six missing team members looking back at him with varying degrees of shock.

"Are any of you hurt?" Lance asked immediately, voice hushed as he lowered his rifle, holding it in his right hand but so the barrel of the gun was pointing to the ground.

"No, we are unharmed," Allura told him, speaking as lowly as he had, looking relieved and worried to see him. "How did you find us so quickly?" she asked.

Lance tapped the side of his head with his free hand. "The Lions tracked their pilots while Blue tracked me. They helped guide me here," Lance told her.

Now that he knew none of them were hurt, Lance's focus was on how he could get them out. The cell they were in looked like one of the dungeon cells Lance had seen in medieval era movies mixed with a cave. Though rounded rather than square, the cell's floor, walls and ceiling was covered in the same material as the rest of the building so Lance knew there was no way he could somehow dig them out. The bars that blocked the front of the cell looked like they would be a challenge to get through, though. At least as thick as Lance's forearm, they didn't even allow enough of a gap for Pidge to poke her arm all the way through. The lock on the door looked brand new, which meant Lance would likely have a harder time shooting it out, even if that had been his plan. However, Lance noted that the lock looked like it needed an old-fashioned key to open it and that gave him an idea.

"I'm gonna –" Lance started to say before a scuffling noise at the other end of the corridor caught his attention. Bringing his rifle back up, Lance sighted down the barrel as he waited to for someone to appear. If it was one person, Lance could drop them before they could raise the alarm and hide them in one of the cells easily enough. However… "Shit," Lance swore softly as his ears picked up the sound of multiple footsteps approaching them.

Allura, Coran and Keith all obviously heard what he had, judging from the worried looks on their faces. "Hide," Allura ordered, looking at Lance. "You won't be able to get any of us out of here if they find you and we have no allies in the immediate vicinity who we could call on, even if we could contact them," she told him firmly, cutting off Lance's protests.

Sagging slightly as the truth of her words sunk in, Lance quickly pulled himself together and looked around the immediate area for somewhere he could keep an eye on them while being out of sight of anyone out of the cell. It didn't take him long to spot an alcove – perhaps used as a storage shelf at some point – sitting carved into the wall opposite the cell the team was held in. He'd be within sight of his team and he'd have a clear view of the cell they were held in but – so long as no one turned around – he would be hidden from the kidnappers. With the sound of the footsteps growing louder by the second, Lance switched his bayard into its neutral form before he pointed out the alcove he'd spotted to his team so they knew where he was.

Once they'd nodded, Lance headed for it, using the handholds the wall unwittingly provided him to be able to climb up it without too much trouble. He swung himself in and felt the top of the alcove scrape his shirt and jacket up as they caught on the rough surface. He felt the jagged roof of the alcove dig into his exposed skin as he shifted himself further into it but he ignored the stinging pain. Since he could still hear the footsteps echoing, he knew the kidnappers were still outside the corridor so Lance shifted his bayard back into his rifle since there wasn't enough distance between him and the cell for him to be able to utilise his sniper rifle properly.

Hunk gave him a nervous look that Lance answered with what he hoped was a confident smile as the footsteps stopped echoing as whoever they belonged to turned into the corridor. Hunk's eyes left Lance as he and the others pretended he wasn't there in an effort to keep him safe. Hunk and Coran were watching the direction the kidnappers were approaching from while Pidge and Keith looked like they were ready to squeeze through the cell bars to attack whoever first appeared. Shiro and Allura held themselves in a defiant manner, giving off the impression that nothing these people could do or say to them would make them bow to their demands.

To Lance's dismay, over a dozen aliens pooled in front of the cell that held the team and he was positive there were more out of his sight, likely standing guard along the corridor and in the entrance. They looked to be of the same species, from what Lance could tell, and none of them looked nervous or worried about the fact that they had most of Voltron in a cell in front of them. Humanoid in build, Lance spotted the way the minimal light in the corridor provided by some kind of bulb along the ceiling glinted off their skin, telling him they were scaled, like a fish, which could mean his laser bullets wouldn't be as effective against them. However, that conclusion was changed when one of the alien's turned to his companion to say something and Lance spotted the gnarled scar running along his cheek. Lance couldn't see a single hair on any of them nor did he think they had eyelids since he hadn't seen them blink. What they did have was at least two weapons each and Lance's dismay deepened. The biggest of the group stepped forward, effectively quieting those around him and drawing the attention of the captured humans and Alteans. Lance noted the coiled whip hanging on his belt and felt disgust grow at the sight of it since he knew it wasn't hanging there as a fashion statement.

"Where is the fifth Paladin?" the alien asked. Lance winced at the screechy tone of his voice. It was literally like someone dragging their nails down a chalkboard. "Your Blue Paladin?" he asked and it took all of Lance's self-control to not cover his ears and give away his position.

Not a single Paladin or Altean so much as glimpsed in Lance's direction, which he was thankful for since that would've been a dead giveaway if some clue-y alien had spotted that sign. Allura took a small step forward, chin held high as she met the leader's gaze unhesitatingly. "I am the Blue Paladin," she told him, obviously hoping her lie would be bought so that they would leave and Lance could get them out.

Lance saw the sneer and caught sight of the sharp, shark-like teeth in the alien's jaw. "No, you're the princess of a dead planet," he said, lips curling cruelly as Allura couldn't hold back her flinch at the reminder of her people's fate. A snap of his fingers had one of his underlings hand him a tablet and Lance watched as he manipulated the holographic viewer. "Where is your Blue Paladin?" he asked once more shifting slightly, giving Lance an unobstructed view of the photo he'd pulled up. Only months of training had prevented the gasp from escaping as he looked at a photo taken of them as they'd eaten lunch barely an hour ago in the market. It clearly showed Lance sitting between Hunk and Coran as they enjoyed their food.

Allura's eyes widened minutely, the only sign of her shock at having been stalked without realising it before she looked unwaveringly at the leader once more. "He'll have taken our pod back to our ship and contacted any ally close by to help find us," Allura lied smoothly once more.

The leader snorted in disbelief. "Your pod has not left the bay you landed it on," he informed them, "which means he couldn't have taken it back to your ship," he pointed out before his expression turned dangerous. "Tell us where your missing team member is before this conversation turns very painful for you," he snarled, exposing his sharp teeth. Lance's grip on his rifle tightened in response to the threat against his team.

Allura's expression turned stubborn as her eyes darkened in response to the snarled threat. "You'll not get us to betray our team member, no matter what you do to us," she informed him, voice filled with conviction.

A loud bang had Hunk, Pidge and Coran stepping back slightly from surprise as the lead kidnapper's fist hit the bars that separated them from him. "We'll see how you feel after some time with our specially made collars around your necks," he told them, smiling cruelly as he waved for someone out of Lance's sight to approach. "I've not met a species yet who can withstand more electricity running through them than your average Galran ship!" he informed them, a malicious glint in his eyes as they raked over them. "I think we'll start with the little one. I'm sure it won't take long for that one to break," he mused. Though she tried to hide it, Lance could still see the fear in Pidge's eyes as the leader accepted the first collar from the person who brought it to him. Shiro stepped in front of her protectively, an action that made the leader grin widely. "The first one of you to try something while I fit this on your teammate's neck will be killed where they stand," he told them as he pulled a key out of his pocket and placed it in the lock.

The moment the leader of them had the key in the lock, every single one of the kidnappers around him who were armed with them aimed their blasters at the cell, ready to follow through on their boss' threat. That was the moment Lance struck. Three kidnappers went down, chunks of skull and brain splattering everything in front of them before anyone could react. Another four were dispatched before anyone located Lance's snipers hold and fired a retaliatory shot. The laser bullet hit to the left of his head, spraying Lance with dust and debris but he didn't even flinch as he fired another three rounds, taking down two more kidnappers and injuring a third badly enough that Lance knew they wouldn't be getting back up. The leader hadn't been touched by Lance's bullets yet but he certainly didn't look pleased that the Blue Paladin had been under his nose the whole time.

One of the smaller kidnappers had managed to evade Lance's shots and got too close to the wall for him to get a clear shot. A glint told him the alien had unsheathed a knife and that his time in the alcove was now limited. The firefight had drawn the attention of any enemy out of Lance's sight, which allowed him to get a count on the remaining enemies facing him. A total of eight, including the leader, stood before him, making the enemy crawling up the wall number nine.

Lance took down two more quickly as they fired shots back, causing an almost constant sprinkling of dust and dirt to rain down on Lance as each shot missed by inches. The shout of his name a second before a deadly glint appeared in his peripheral vision warned Lance of the knife-wielding enemy's attack and he shifted as much to the side as he could, switching his rifle for his pistol as he did. The knife cut a gash into his left forearm and Lance's bit down a cry of pain as he fired a shot point-blank, sending the lifeless body of the enemy crashing back to the ground.

Glancing back over to where the leader and five remaining enemies still stood, Lance's eyes widened when he saw one of the aliens arm what looked to be a grenade launcher. Wasting no time, Lance scurried out of the alcove, dropping to the ground and rolling in a forward tumble just as the alcove he'd been hiding in exploded into chunks. The moment Lance was on his feet, he lined up the alien with the grenade launcher and fired a single shot, taking him down before he could rearm the weapon. As the only two aliens – aside from their leader – who weren't armed with long-range weapons raced for him, Lance fired two more shots and took down the two aliens with blasters so they wouldn't be able to get a shot in while he was fighting the others.

The move proved to have been a good one as Lance was struck hard enough that he was forced to drop his bayard, the weapon shifting back into its neutral form as it hit the ground to prevent anyone else from trying to use it against him. As Lance defended himself as best he could against two fighters who were as competent as Shiro was in hand-to-hand combat, he noticed Pidge trying to reach through the gap of the bars to get to the key the leader of the kidnappers had left in the lock. Lance ducked under a punch and blocked another thrown by his second opponent and noticed the leader was standing there and smirking at him, his eyes telling Lance that all of this fighting would be for nothing.

Fury roiled through Lance's veins at the fact he was still being underestimated by his enemies. He may not be as good as Shiro and Keith were in close combat, he may not be as smart as Hunk and Pidge were when it came to technology or mechanics and he may not be as smart as Allura and Coran were when it came to diplomacy and battle strategies but he was still a damned good Paladin and it was about time the universe realised that.

"Shall we show him just how good a Paladin you are, my Pilot?" Blue asked, purring proudly in his mind as Lance avoided two more blows from his attackers and hit them both with one of his own, sending them reeling backwards a few steps. In the corner of his eyes, Lance saw another four aliens rushing down the corridor, likely the ones who had been guarding the entryway and had now just realised how badly this fight was going for their side.

Lance didn't bother asking what his Lion meant as he felt her ice power replace the anger simmering in his veins, "Let's do it," Lance said as he allowed himself to embrace the frigid ice that belonged to his Lion. He didn't give the aliens the chance to react to his glowing blue eyes before he struck them with his ice, encasing them inside it within seconds.

"Well, now, that is certainly an interesting ability," the leader of the kidnappers said, the screeching timbre of his voice causing everyone who didn't belong to his species to flinch slightly. Lance stayed still, focusing on keeping Blue's ice under his control so he didn't accidentally hurt his team as he watched the leader unclip the whip Lance had spotted coiled on his hip. The four aliens who had joined the fight looked at the uncoiled whip with a small amount of fear and Lance just knew they'd either found themselves on the other end of the weapon or had witnessed close friends or family being struck by it. "I can't wait to see how it holds up against this," the leader said, grinning as he flicked his wrist and watched Lance's expression as flames licked their way down the length of the whip, leaving only the handled untouched by them.

"Lance." The Blue Paladin heard the scared whisper of his name as he took up a fighting stance. His body ached from the bruising blows that had landed and his left forearm throbbed hotly where the knife had slashed him but he didn't let any of it show. Calling on Blue's power once more, Lance created an ice spear thick enough that his fingers barely touched as they wrapped around the shaft of it.

"Neither can I," Lance snarled. His words only made the alien leader's grin widen as Lance faced him defiantly while the four other aliens held blasters aimed for Lance.

For a moment, no one moved as they eyed one another. Then, without warning, the leader struck, flicking out his whip quickly and causing Lance to dodge to the left to avoid the tail of the whip and the flames on it. At the same time, the four other aliens started firing on Lance, careful not to get in their boss' way as they did so, which helped Lance out immensely as he could focus more on the whip. Still, a laser shot came a little too close for his comfort and Lance was forced to retaliate against the long-range weapon users before their aim got any better.

Lance took one down with the spear in his hand, which would've left him essentially weaponless if it hadn't been for Blue's power, which he used to freeze the three other blasters over, preventing them from being able to be fired. However, in doing so, he neglected to watch the leader's whip as carefully as he should've been and his eyes widened in fear as the flaming whip came straight for him. It seemed like the world moved in slow motion as he took in the horrified looks on his team's faces and the victorious expression on the leader's face as the flaming whip stretched to grab him.

"Blue!" he called urgently for his Lion's power just as he raised his right arm instinctively to protect his face from the weapon. She answered his call just in time and he was quick to utilise a trick he'd learned fighting against Shiro in the secondary training room.

Ice spread rapidly along his skin, forming a thick barrier under his jacket and shirt just as the whip wrapped around his forearm. The shouts of Lance's name were cut off when his team saw the steam billowing out of his sleeve where the flaming whip met the ice armour Lance had formed. He saw the leader of the kidnappers snarl as he realised Lance had managed to defend himself, meaning the fight wasn't won in his favour yet. The three other aliens still alive were trying to either free their hands from the iced blasters or get the ice off the barrel so the weapons could be used.

"Clever," the leader admitted before he smirked, "but not clever enough," he said and Lance watched as the orange flames were devoured by blue ones, a clear indication that he'd turned the temperature of the flames up.

"Keep it up, Blue," Lance said as he felt the flames melt through his ice, getting closer to his unprotected skin than he would've liked while the leader tried to use the grip on his forearm to pull Lance closer to him.

With his focus primarily on trying to stop the fiery whip from melting through his ice armour, Lance was struggling to send ice towards the whip's user in an attempt to stop him permanently. His ice slowly crept towards the leader's feet but it wasn't moving fast enough to prevent him from escaping once Lance had a grip on him and Lance knew it. He hadn't trained with trying to use his ice in two vastly different ways simultaneously and it was showing. Any time he tried to focus more on the ice he was sending towards the kidnapper, Lance could feel the ice shielding his arm from the burning whip weaken and it was the same if he focused more on his ice armour.

"I can see your exhaustion, Blue Paladin," the leader sneered, obviously disgusted at how tired Lance was getting from this fight but Lance paid him no attention as he fought to keep control over Blue's power. He'd never used it like this and he'd never used it for this long and it was taking a toll on him, both physically and mentally.

"I won't let you lose control of my power, Cub. I know you can do this," Blue whispered encouragingly in his mind and Lance felt some strength return to him.

An idea formed suddenly and Lance almost huffed as he imagined the lectures he was going to get from following through on his idea. "On my mark, I need you to send as much of your ice power as you think I can handle," Lance told her, preparing himself for what he was going to do.

Blue didn't seem awfully impressed with his plan but she could feel his armour slipping as the flames on the whip melted through it a little quicker. "On your mark, my pilot," she agreed.

Lance winced as he pulled back Blue's ice power slightly, stopping it from creeping towards the leader and abandoning his efforts to reinforce the ice shield around his arm. He had only moments before the whip melted through what remained of it and the pain would prevent him from following through on his plan. Centering himself, Lance breathed in deep and called for Blue's power. A surge far stronger than he'd ever felt flowed through him as he took a step forward, surprising just about everyone around him as he grabbed on to the fiery whip, ignoring the way his palm and fingers screamed in pain as he did so and sent all of Blue's power coursing through him into the whip.

The leader watched, stunned, as ice devoured his weapon, destroying it as it crept into every crevice along the whip. Lance continued powering the attack, his eyes glowing with his and Blue's power and anger. The leader figured out the full intention of Lance's move moments too late. Even as he dropped the handle of the whip, Lance's ice was already covering his fingers, racing up his arm before choking off any sound he went to make as it finished encasing him, freezing him where he stood. The three surviving members of the kidnapping group watched at their boss was killed in front of them before they fled down the corridor, blasters still frozen uselessly to their hands.

Lance watched them flee before he allowed Blue to slowly recall her power. "Lance?" the call from Hunk captured Lance's attention as he shook the coiled whip off his arm, letting it drop to the ground. Lance looked over at Hunk questioningly. "Are you okay?" Hunk asked, clinging to the bars as he tried to be as close to Lance as he possibly could be.

"Yeah," Lance said immediately, stumbling slightly as Blue finished taking her power back and leaving Lance to be hit with every ounce of exhaustion that came with using her ability. "Okay, maybe 'okay' is too strong of a word," Lance admitted, shaking his head to try and clear some of the tiredness he felt. "Let's get you out of there," Lance said before any of them could say anything.

Skirting around the dead bodies that littered the floor, Lance made his way over to the locked door and was relieved to see the key still in it. His original idea of using Blue's ice to create a makeshift key would've still been on the table but honestly, using her power just that little bit more probably would've made Lance lose consciousness and he did not want that. Unthinkingly, Lance reached for the key with his right hand only to pull it back and cradle it against his chest with a pained hiss. Blinking back the tears that were summoned by the action and ignoring his teammates' worried noises, Lance reached out with his left hand, ignoring the stinging pain from the earlier cut and unlocked the cell door.

Shiro wasted no time in opening the door and grabbing Lance before the Blue Paladin could move, ensuring he wouldn't collapse from exhaustion before Coran managed to look at him. "Coran," Shiro said, the one word being enough of an order for Coran to get into action.

"That was really something, my boy!" Coran said as he carefully grasped Lance's right wrist, causing Lance to stutter out a pained gasp as Coran coaxed him to roll his arm over so his palm faced the ceiling. "It's obvious you and Blue have really been working hard on developing your skills in using her element!" he praised before he winced in sympathy as he tugged Lance's fingers gently so they were stretched out, giving Coran a clear view of the injury.

"Keith, did they take your spare knife?" Shiro asked as he forced himself to look away from the deep, painful looking burn wounds to Lance's palm and fingers. It wasn't the worst injury he'd seen on someone but this injury was caused solely because Lance had come to their aide after they'd gotten themselves kidnapped. If not for them falling into the ambush, Lance wouldn't be choking down pained noises.

"No, they didn't find it," Keith said, pulling it out from where he'd tucked it into his right boot before they'd left Black the second time.

Shiro nodded in answer. "Take Hunk and Pidge and go looking for your bayards," Shiro ordered. Hunk did not look happy about being ordered to leave his best friend but though Shiro gave him an understanding look, there was also a look that told Hunk to get going. "Allura, can you find Lance's bayard, please?" Shiro asked as the trio of younger Paladins headed down the corridor, Hunk and Pidge behind Keith, who had shifted his Mamora blade into a sword.

Allura nodded and started looking around for the missing blue bayard. Satisfied, Shiro shifted his attention back to Lance and Coran, who was clicking his tongue sympathetically as he pulled the burned remains of Lance's jacket and shirt sleeves away from the rest of the injury. Shiro watched as Coran tugged the charred and soaked pieces down Lance's hand, being careful of the deeper injury and was relieved to find that the burns wrapping Lance's forearm looked to be no worse than a severe sunburn. Lance noticed the relieved expression.

"Blue's ice armour held until the last moment," Lance told him, voice ragged with exhaustion. "When I used that last attack, I wasn't focusing on the shield of ice around my arm so the whip managed to melt through it a second before I destroyed the whip. The burns on my arm aren't as severe because the whip wasn't alight for long enough once it got through the shield to do any real damage," he explained, eyes drooping slightly.

Shiro squeezed him tightly as Coran continued removing the ruined pieces of clothing from Lance's arm. "I'm so sorry you got hurt at all," Shiro said, his voice close to a whisper. Lance shook his head, silently protesting the apology but didn't get to say anything as Allura interrupted them.

"I found it," the Altean princess announced as she held out the deactivated blue bayard. Her eyes glistened with concern as she saw the injury to Lance's palm and fingers for the first time. "Oh, Lance," she murmured softly. Only Coran's quick reflexes stopped Lance from curling his fingers into his palm to hide his injury from her eyes.

"It's alright, Allura," Lance told her, giving her the strongest smile he could manage at that moment, which wasn't as strong as he'd hoped for. "It'll heal up with no problems," he assured her. The wound was deep but since he could move all of his fingers and feel the pain, Lance was certain it meant no major nerves or important muscles had been burned through, which was a good sign for a full recovery.

"We need to get him back to the Castle-Ship as soon as possible," Coran said as he finished what he was doing with Lance's right arm and focusing on his left. Thankfully, the gash wasn't that deep so Coran settled for using part of his shirt as a bandage to stem the bleeding since they didn't have access to a first-aid kit. "He needs to go into a cryopod as soon as possible so that that injury does heal completely," he said, giving Lance a reassuring smile before he pinned Shiro and Allura with a serious look.

Shiro nodded before Allura or Lance could say anything. "Let's move then. We have no idea how far from Black we are," Shiro said, helping Lance turn and walk since it was obvious the fight and using Blue's powers had really taken a lot out of him.

"It took me thirty minutes – uh, dobashes, sorry, Allura and Coran – to get to you guys once I left Black but I needed to be careful since the Lions and I didn't know if they were already looking for me. We're probably only fifteen, maybe twenty dobashes from her," Lance told him, not bothering to protest against the help Shiro was giving him, a telltale sign of how exhausted he really was.

"Looks like we have a fair hike ahead of us!" Coran said, his voice his usual level of cheerfulness though Shiro knew it was more an attempt to keep Lance relaxed than a true reflection of the orange-haired Altean's feelings.

"Maybe Black will be nice and fly herself closer," Lance murmured, blinking slowly as he focused on trying to put one foot in front of the other and stay upright.

Shiro could feel Black's desire to do so but since her Paladin wasn't in life-threatening danger, she couldn't and Blue wouldn't be able to fly herself to come to Lance's aide since his life wasn't in danger either and she wasn't close enough. "Maybe," Shiro said in agreement, despite knowing that Black couldn't. He had a feeling that Lance wouldn't be able to stay awake long enough to know whether Black did or not.

The four of them rounded the end of the corridor the cells were situated in to find Hunk, Keith and Pidge jogging back towards them. A glance at their hands told Shiro that their search had been successful. "Is he alright?" Hunk immediately asked, looking three seconds away from taking Lance from Shiro so he could fret over him.

"He'll be fine. We just need to get him to a pod," Shiro told Hunk when it was apparent that Lance wasn't going to answer Hunk's question himself, likely too tired to do so.

Hunk relaxed a little but it was obvious he was still extremely worried about his best friend. Shiro didn't comment on the way Hunk lingered on Lance's other side, all but shoving Allura out of the way as they started their trek out of the building. "We didn't see anyone else while we were looking for our bayards," Hunk said, his anxiousness apparently deciding to show itself verbally.

"Well, we know at least three of them survived Lance's attack," Shiro said, recalling the three aliens who'd been unfortunate enough to have their blasters iced to their hands. "We'll need to keep our eyes open for them," he instructed. "You three will lead us out. Bayards at the ready," he ordered. Hunk didn't put up a fight, though he didn't look happy to be asked to leave Lance's side once more and soon he, Keith, and Pidge were leading the way.

"Shiro?" Lance called softly after a couple of moments. Shiro looked down to see Lance's brow furrowed slightly in confusion as he blinked rapidly.

"What's the matter?" the Black Paladin asked concernedly.

"I don't feel well," Lance admitted. "I don't think I can stay awake," he told him and Shiro barely managed to hold back his sigh of relief.

"You were pushed hard today, Lance," Shiro told him as they continued the slow walk out of the building. Both Allura and Coran shot Shiro a concerned look but he shook his head at them, telling them silently that he didn't need their help right now.

Lance stayed quiet for a couple of moments as he fought against the sleepy fog that was seeping into his brain. "Can you -?" Lance started to ask before he cut himself off. Shiro was worried that Lance was falling back onto his old habit of not asking for help when he needed it only to see that Lance was trying to stifle a yawn. "Can you help me back to the Castle?" Lance asked, making an aborted move to rub his eyes, only stopping when his burns quickly reminded him they were still there and untreated.

"Of course I can, Lance," Shiro told him immediately, heart swelling slightly that Lance had decided to ask rather than give into the exhaustion pulling at him, which would've saved him from admitting to something he would've seen as a weakness only a few weeks ago.

"Thanks," Lance said, slurring the word slightly. Shiro barely broke his stride as he scooped Lance up into a bridal carry, taking care with his injuries as he did so. Lance either didn't notice the worried looks the others were giving him or he didn't care as he rested his head against Shiro's shoulder. "Night," Lance murmured, falling asleep before the word really finished leaving his lips and causing Shiro to chuckle slightly.

"He's fine," Shiro said, reassuring his team the moment Lance was asleep. "He's just exhausted from using Blue's power and fighting," he told them.

"We'd best hurry and get him back to the Castle-Ship," Allura said, a concerned frowning marring her features as she looked at Lance. "I want to make sure his quintessence wasn't affected too badly by what he did," she said.

It was a concern that she'd raised a few times since they'd discovered Lance's ability. Allura had noted the slight drop in Lance's internal quintessence shortly after his return from Tra'Crolle and realised what it had meant when he gave them the report of what had happened. Since then, she'd been keeping an eye on his quintessence levels almost every time he used Blue's ice powers to try and gauge how much was too much and whether his quintessence drain was decreasing the more he practiced with Blue's ice. Shiro knew Allura would be wanting to run her tests as soon as she could but there was no way they could risk her doing so in a building that might still be crawling with enemies.

"Right," Shiro said, shifting Lance slightly in his arms. "Let's get out of here."

Once again, Lance found himself waking up to an unfortunately familiar hiss and the feeling of falling forwards. He was caught by a familiar set of arms and reached up to hug Hunk back before blinking his eyes open and finding himself surrounded by everyone else watching him anxiously. "Morning?" he asked, earning a relieved chuckle from Hunk and some smiles from most of those in the room.

"Afternoon, actually," Hunk corrected before he pulled himself away from Lance so he could look at him properly. That move gave Pidge the chance she needed to get in close enough to hug Lance briefly but tightly around the waist before she let go. "How are you feeling, dude?" Hunk asked, eyes flicking over Lance's form as though he could tell for himself. Pidge was silent but her glare was daring Lance to try and lie to them.

Lance frowned as he fought off the last of the fogginess that came from cryo-sleep so he could remember what had happened to him this time. He almost choked on a breath as he remembered what he'd done to win the fight against the large alien kidnapper and looked down quickly at his right arm. Raising it so he could see it closer, Lance noted the slight scarring on his palm and fingers before he turned his arm over, checking for more signs of the injury but found none. "I'm alright," Lance said, curling his hand into a fist and uncurling it, feeling relieved when there wasn't any sign of nerve damage or lingering issues. Pidge and Hunk seemed mollified by his answer but it was soon apparent not everyone was.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked, unable to help himself. He'd seen the burns to Lance's hand and even though he'd been reassured by Coran several times while Lance was in the pod, he couldn't help but ask.

Lance clenched and unclenched his fist a couple of times before nodding. "I'm sure," he said, giving Shiro an honest smile that saw the Black Paladin relax slightly.

Coran stepped forward so he was on Lance's other side. "All of you can clear out so I can check Lance's scans and so he can get dressed out of the cryosuit," Coran ordered, making shooing motions at everyone, including Allura.

"I want to check his quintessence levels again," Allura told Coran, refusing to move.

Lance looked worried. "Were they okay? Did I use too much?" he asked, knowing what the risks were of draining his quintessence levels too quickly. Both Keith and Shiro looked concerned but a look from Coran had them silently clapping Lance on the shoulder or back before they headed out the room, likely reminding themselves they'd hear Allura's report on Lance's quintessence levels later on.

Allura replaced Hunk, once a determined Pidge managed to get him to move by telling Hunk that he'd be able to fuss over Lance later – something that made Lance almost flush –, and patted Lance's arm soothingly. "No, you didn't but I'd still like to check them and talk to you," Allura told him. Lance didn't look awfully placated by her words but he nodded.

"You may wait outside while Lance gets changed, Princess," Coran told her. Allura gave a nod as she squeezed Lance's arm gently before she headed out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Let's get you scanned first, my boy," Coran said, leading Lance over to the closest bed and gesturing for him to sit on it. "Right arm first, I think," the Altean said as he grabbed his portable scanner and faced Lance once more.

Lance dutifully held out his right arm for Coran to scan and let him do so in silence. It didn't take Coran more than a minute to scan him entirely and let Lance relax slightly as he checked the results. "All good?" Lance asked as he tried to subtly peer over Coran's side to view the tablet the scanner's reading were sent to.

"You're completely fine, my boy! Just as you said you were," Coran told him, pinning him with a beaming smile. "There's no lingering nerve damage from the burns so I can positively say that you've made a full recovery," he said.

"That's good," Lance said, sighing a little. His right hand was his trigger hand. If it had been hurt any worse and the cryopod hadn't been able to heal it completely, he would've had to either switch to left-hand shooting, which would've likely resulted in subpar shooting on his part or he would've had to go through months of rehabilitation exercises to try and get his hand back to full strength. "How long was I out for this time?" he asked curiously as Coran handed him a clean set of clothing provided by the Castle-Ship. Lance mourned the loss of his olive-green jacket but knew there would've been no saving it from the damage it suffered. He was lucky the ice shield had soaked his sleeves enough they hadn't caught fire.

Coran turned purposefully away from Lance, giving him some privacy so he could slip into the comfortable pair of loose slacks and t-shirt. "Only a quintet this time," Coran told him cheerfully.

Lance was a little surprised. "Really? I thought my hand would've taken longer to heal. It was a pretty nasty burn," he commented idly as he pulled off the cryosuit and tugged on his pants quickly.

"No, I believe your injury simply looked worse than it actually was," Coran said, turning around just as Lance finished pulling on his shirt. "Are you ready for Allura to run her scans?" he asked and Lance nodded as he picked up the cryosuit off the floor. Coran took it from him and sent it down the laundry chute on his way to let Allura into the cryo-wing. "Lance is dressed now," Coran told the waiting princess, who wasted no time in coming back into the room.

"How are you feeling, Lance?" Allura asked as soon as she was standing in front of the Cuban teenager.

"Tired," Lance admitted. "I think it's a little more than the usual tiredness I feel after being in the cryopod," he said. Allura didn't seem surprised by the news but raised her hands before silently asking for Lance's permission, which he gave with a nod. An array appeared in front of Allura's hands as she used it to take an internal scan of Lance's quintessence. "What's the verdict, princess?" Lance asked once the pink light had died down.

"Your levels are holding steady though you did suffer a massive drain," Allura told him. Coran was pretending to be busy as he tried to give them some semblance of privacy. "Your levels have risen thanks to being in the cryopod but they're not back up to full capacity," she said. "I would like for you to limit your use of Blue's power to missions in the next four quintets and only if you absolutely have to use them," she requested.

As much as Lance didn't want to, he agreed. Allura hadn't sugarcoated what could happen to him if he used too much of his quintessence too quickly. The best-case scenario in that situation would see Lance in a coma until his levels were back up to an acceptable level. Though his constant training with Shiro and his ice powers meant that Lance was getting better at controlling how much of his quintessence was used with each attack, he still had a long way to go before he could use Blue's power for longer than a minute without a substantial drain to his levels. "Blue and I will stop training until you say otherwise," Lance promised. His reluctance at agreeing to her request lessened when he saw how much she relaxed with his words.

"Thank you, Lance," she said before straightening up slightly. "Do you feel up to joining us for a meal? I believe Hunk has been cooking ever since Coran told us when you would be released from the pod," she told him.

Lance grinned. "Yeah, I think eating would be a good idea," he told her as he slid off the bed, grimacing when his bare feet hit the cold ground. "I'll probably sleep better with a full stomach and you did say that eating will help me recover my quintessence faster," Lance said, stretching his stiff muscles as he spoke.

"Yes, eating will help you recover quicker," Allura agreed. "Coran, will you be joining us?" she asked her advisor, who stopped his unnecessary cleaning to focus on her.

"Yes, I will," Coran told her, smiling at both of them as he joined them. "Shall we?" he asked, getting ready to lead them both out since he knew Allura would stay next to Lance, just in case.

Lance's stomach growled before he could verbally respond, causing the Alteans to chuckle while his cheeks pinked slightly. "Let's go," Lance said with a laugh as he allowed Allura to loop her arm around his and lead him forward.

"Lance!" Hunk greeted his best friend the moment he saw him enter the dining room with Allura and Coran. "Was everything alright your scans? What about your quintessence? Are you hungry? Do you want some food?" Hunk asked rapidly, unintentionally stopping anyone else from saying anything to any of the three new arrivals.

"Relax, hermano, and let me answer," Lance laughed as he tugged his arm from Allura's grip and sat down next to his worried best friend. "I'm fine. The scans said I am completely healed and don't have anything to worry about. Allura doesn't want me using Blue's power for the next four days unless it's life or death and, yes, I am hungry and would really like some food," Lance told him.

"Good 'cuz you had me really worried!" Hunk told him, using Lance's closeness to him to grab him in a tight one-armed hug and pull him into his side. Lance was released almost as quickly so that Hunk could pile his plate high with a little bit of everything in front of them. "I made space spaghetti – since we managed to figure out how to make pasta with what we have – and space meatballs. There's also space garlic bread and the closest thing I could get to cheesy potatoes, though they're a bit crunchy instead of soft," Hunk explained as he dished himself a bit of everything too, gesturing for the others to do the same.

"Thanks, Hunky! It looks and smells freaking amazing!" Lance praised, mouth watering slightly as he inhaled the scent of the food in front of him. His stomach growled lowly once more in response to the scent coming from the food and it took all of his self-control to wait for everyone else to get something on their plate before he dug in. "Dude, you are a fricking culinary genius and I will fight anyone who says otherwise," Lance told him after he swallowed his first bite.

"Thanks, Lance," Hunk said, a pleased flush on his cheeks that only darkened when everyone else praised his cooking after they'd managed to take their first bites.

"Are you well, my cub?" Blue asked as Lance continued to eat. He'd felt her react when he first woke up but knew she'd been holding back from asking until he'd gotten a bit of food in his system. He could sense the four other Lions on the edge of his mind but it was obvious they were holding back out of respect for Blue for the moment.

"I am," he promised her. "I'll come and see you once I'm finished dinner. I think I'll camp in my little alcove, if you won't mind the company?" he asked and felt her scoff at him.

"I would never turn down your company," she told him, sounding a little scandalized by the thought of it.

"Awesome," he said in response, grinning a little at her tone. "Are you okay? Me using that much of your powers didn't hurt you in some way, did it?" he asked worriedly.

Blue purred in his mind, touched by his concern. "I am fine, my little one," she assured him.

The sound of his name being called got Lance's attention and, after apologising hastily to Blue, he looked up from his plate to find the others watching him with various degrees of worry and concern on their faces. "Sorry, I was talking to Blue," Lance told them. "What's up?" he asked.

"You kind of paused while you were eating and we were curious about why," Pidge told him.

Lance chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, Blue was checking up on me," he repeated. "Sorry to worry you," he said but the apology was waved off by everyone.

"It's fine. I'm surprised she waited this long to check on you," Shiro admitted.

"Yeah, she wanted to wait until I'd gotten some food into me first," Lance told him. "I told her I'd go and see her after we've eaten so she can see I'm okay with her own eyes," he said, taking another bite of his food. "How are you guys?" Lance asked, feeling a little guilty that he hadn't done so to start with.

"We're fine," Shiro said, backed up by nods from everyone else. "None of us were hurt beyond a couple of bruises and small grazes. You got to us before anything worse could happen," Shiro said, giving Lance a proud smile.

"Yes, you did exceptionally well to find us so quickly," Allura said, "and you handled yourself well when you had to fight," she praised.

Lance shrugged a shoulder subconsciously. "The Lions helped me a lot in finding you. I don't think I would've been able to get to you guys as quickly as I had if they hadn't helped," Lance said, "and I wouldn't have won that fight without Blue's help either," he added, unable to help but deflect the praise and attention from himself.

"Yes, you mentioned that the Lions helped track us and lead you to us and we have thanked the five of them for doing so," Allura said and Lance heard the agreeing hums in his mind from the Lions, telling him the princess was telling the truth, "but they wouldn't have been able to do that if they hadn't bonded with you all those phoebes ago when they saw your potential. Blue certainly wouldn't have been able share her power with you if she didn't believe in and care for you as her Paladin as much as she does," Allura said, refusing to let Lance just dismiss his own importance in the role he'd played in finding them and helping them escape from their kidnappers' clutches.

"How come you weren't with us when we were ambushed?" Keith asked suddenly, surprising just about everyone with the unexpected question. "Did something happen to you?" he asked. If this had happened a few weeks ago and Keith had asked the same questions, Lance would've puffed up in anger since he would've assumed Keith was accusing him of slacking off or doing whatever he wanted but Lance now knew that the Red Paladin was asking because he was curious and worried.

"Ha, actually, funny story," Lance said, preparing himself for the lecture he knew he'd receive. "I was distracted by a jewelry stall while we were heading to Black after lunch. There was a really nice bracelet I knew my mother would love and I couldn't leave it there," he admitted.

"Thank goodness for that," Shiro said while Keith almost sagged in relief. Lance was sure his eyebrows merged with his hairline in surprise. "Who knows what would've happened if you'd been with us when we were ambushed. I don't know how we would've gotten out of that without our sharpshooter backing us up," Shiro said, unable to fully hide his grin at the way Lance's cheeks flushed darkly at his words.

"Yeah, dude!" Pidge said enthusiastically. "You were a total badass! I knew Green was leading you to us but I didn't think you'd get there so quickly and you totally owned those guys!" she told him.

"I can't believe how well you were able to adapt to everything thrown at you," Allura said, shaking her lightly. "You've certainly improved tremendously in your close combat fighting and you did exceptionally well in identifying which targets you needed to take down first," she told him. "However, I did notice you were struggling with the alien in charge of the whole kidnapping before you used that last attack against him. Was there a reason for that and is there some way we can help make sure you aren't in a situation like that where you have to choose between obtaining a possibly debilitating injury to win the fight or losing again?" she asked.

Lance noted that the glare Hunk had pinned Allura with when she mentioned Lance's struggles was gone by the end of her question and he patted his friend's arm, silently thanking him for the slightly unnecessary protectiveness he'd shown. "I couldn't use the two moves I was trying to use at the same time. I couldn't split my focus between trying to protect my arm and freeze him from the feet up evenly and I knew that even if I was able to hold Blue's power for as long as I needed to, he would've been able to avoid the ice because I didn't have the ability to make that attack go faster while trying to protect my arm with ice like I was," he told her. "I never thought to practice using two completely different moves at one time during training. For some reason, I never thought I'd have to attack someone and defend myself with Blue's element at the same time," he admitted, a touch of shame in his voice.

"I don't think any of us thought there would be a time where you would be by yourself against enemies like that and have no back-up coming to help," Shiro told him. "Don't beat yourself up for not thinking about that when no one else did either," he instructed Lance gently.

"I think this whole incident has shown us that there are still some things we need to train for," Allura announced. "Once Lance has fully recovered his quintessence, we will see about incorporating this kind of training into your sessions. We can't be caught out like that and rely on one person being able to save us again," she said firmly.

Shiro nodded in agreement. "I think it would be a good idea to set up something like that and possibly some training sessions where we've all been 'captured' and need to get ourselves out without relying on our weapons," he said.

Allura nodded so enthusiastically that Lance was actually worried about how she would go about setting up these scenarios and a glance at Hunk and Pidge told him they were as well. Keith's own wariness wasn't as well hidden as he thought it was but Lance decided to tease him about it later. Instead, Lance scooped the last of his meal into his mouth and stood once he finished eating. "Thanks for the meal, bro," he said, nudging Hunk on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go and visit my favourite girl before she tears the Castle-Ship into pieces from her impatience," he said, chuckling slightly when Blue petulantly pouted that she wouldn't have done that just yet.

His comment caused a few chuckles and smiles as the team imagined Blue's impatience in action. "That's probably a good idea," Allura said, a fond smile on her face as she felt Blue's reaction to the teasing.

"Will you be alright getting to her hangar by yourself?" Hunk asked, worry in his voice. It wasn't exactly unfounded since Lance hadn't been the only one to underestimate how tired they were after a stint in the cryopod and overexerted themselves.

Lance gave him a warm but reassuring smile. "I'll be fine," he said honestly and Hunk nodded, satisfied he wasn't trying to pretend he was feeling better than he was. "I'll probably nap in her for a bit so don't panic if you can't find me," Lance told everyone. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened after Tra'Crolle where he'd come out of the cryopod a bit early and had slept in Blue only to be woken up by her growling when everyone had come into the main hangar bay to find him and Keith had started yelling at her.

Hunk batted Lance's hands away when he tried to gather his dirty plates. "Nope, go and see your Lion. I'll take these into the kitchen," Hunk told him.

Lance opened his mouth to argue since Hunk had been the one to cook but the glare from his best friend had him raising his hands in surrender. "Alright," Lance said, backing away slightly, much to the amusement of everyone else. Hunk just looked pleased that Lance had listened to him. "Thank you for the delicious food, Hunk," Lance said once more. "See you guys later," he said to everyone else, pairing it with a wave that was returned with either nods or waves as well.

Deciding it was best to not linger and risk Blue's wrath because someone held him up a little longer, Lance headed out of the dining room to start the trek to Blue's hangar bay. Though no one had corrected him when he said that that was where he was going, Lance still checked with his Lion that she was actually in her hangar and hadn't somehow been moved to the main hangar bay or somewhere else. Blue confirmed that she was so Lance had thanked her and continued heading that way, even though Lance hadn't fully appreciated the amusement in her voice at his question.

He made it most of the way to Blue's hangar when a call of his name had Lance turning around to find Shiro jogging in order to catch up with him. "Hey, man, what's up?" Lance asked curiously since he'd only just left the dining room a few minutes ago and Shiro hadn't indicated that there was something pressing on his mind during the meal. A glance behind the approaching Paladin showed that no one else was following him and this ramped up Lance's curiousity further.

"I realised that I hadn't thanked you for finding us so quickly while you were in the dining room. I'm sure Black told you what the kidnappers had planned for us," Shiro said and Lance nodded, wincing slightly at the reminder that the kidnappers had planned on selling his space family to the Galra. "I also wanted to apologise to you," Shiro told him.

Lance's brows creased in a frown. "Why?" he asked, perplexed. As far as he knew, Shiro hadn't done anything that he'd need to apologise to Lance for.

"I wasn't paying attention while we were heading back for Black and I missed the signs that we were walking into a trap. You wouldn't have had to find us or get that badly hurt in order to save us if I had been paying attention," Shiro told him.

Lance's confusion quickly turned into shock. "Shiro, you don't have to apologise for that!" Lance told him. "No one was expecting us to be attacked while returning to Black. Allura and Coran didn't notice anything amiss either and they're trained to read crowds better than we are," Lance pointed out. "Plus, it wasn't you who decided I'd use that kind of move and end up with those burns. That was on me and I'd do it again if it meant keeping you guys safe," Lance informed him.

"You shouldn't have gotten hurt because of us though. We should've fought back at least," Shiro said but Lance shook his head.

"You couldn't have fought back without risking the civilian aliens in the marketplace," Lance told him. "I don't know how they managed to kidnap all six of you without causing a panic but they did which meant they were very good. You probably had no idea how many there were and what would happen if you fought back and I'm glad you didn't," Lance admitted. "It would've been virtually impossible for me to find you guys as quickly as I did if the marketplace was on high alert and you guys probably would've gotten hurt if you fought back," he said.

Shiro didn't look happy but Lance knew it was because he couldn't come up with a good counter argument, which meant he was going to have to admit Lance was right and that he wasn't to blame for Lance getting hurt. However, that didn't mean Shiro was going to stop blaming himself. "Still…" Shiro said but stopped when Lance tutted at him.

"Uh-uh, nope. There was nothing you could've done to stop the ambush and I refuse to let you blame yourself for my injuries. I know you guys would've done the same for me if I had been the one taken," Lance told him.

"Yeah we would have," Shiro said, his shoulders slumping slightly from the guilt he still felt. "I'm still sorry though," Shiro told him and Lance barely managed to hold back his sigh.

"I don't blame you – or anyone else, for that matter – for my injuries," Lance told him, "but you're completely forgiven so please try not to beat yourself up for what happened," Lance said. "If I can't blame myself for not thinking of training myself to use an offensive and defensive attack with Blue's ice simultaneously than you can't blame yourself for not seeing an ambush we had no inkling would happen coming," Lance said, using Shiro's own words against him. The look he got from Shiro told him the Black Paladin wasn't awfully happy at Lance's tactics but Lance couldn't find it in himself to care when Shiro finally nodded.

"I'll do my best," Shiro said, rolling his eyes when Lance let out a victorious whoop, however there was an amused grin pulling at his lips. "I should stop holding you up and let you go and see your Lion," Shiro said. Both of them felt the impatient growl reverberate along the floor they were standing on and Lance grinned as he nodded, silently teasing his Lion about having patience.

"That would be for the best," Lance laughed in agreement. "I'll see you later and don't beat yourself up anymore because Black will tell me and I won't be very impressed," Lance warned him.

Shiro wasn't sure whether he was happy or annoyed that his Lion hummed in agreement in his mind at Lance's threat. "I'll do my best so long as you do yours to not blame yourself about not thinking of using Blue's ice two different ways at the same time," Shiro said, a brow raised pointedly.

Lance nodded in agreement. "Deal," he said, offering his hand for Shiro to shake on it, causing the Black Paladin to laugh and use the hand to pull Lance in for a hug that Lance readily and happily returned.

"Deal," Shiro echoed before he pulled away. "Try and get some rest. I know you're still tired," Shiro said and Lance nodded.

"That's the plan," Lance told him cheerily. He was looking forward to curling up in the soft blanket nest-slash-bed he had in Blue. He was just hoping his spare slippers were still in there so he wouldn't have to walk barefooted back to his room or wherever he went after he woke up next. "See you later," Lance said as he walked backwards a couple of steps, feeling Blue's impatience growing ever so slightly.

There was a sparkle in Shiro's eyes that told Lance he knew what Blue was likely thinking as he shooed Lance in the direction of Blue's hangar. "I'll see you later," he said, returning Lance's wave before he watched the teen disappear around the corner he needed to turn to get to his Lion's hangar.

Shiro didn't move for a couple of seconds but eventually turned in the other direction and headed back towards the part of the Castle-Ship where everyone else was likely close to. Though he wanted to sit down with Allura and Coran to start planning the new training sessions, Shiro knew he needed to find Hunk first and talk him into leaving Lance alone to nap until at least dinner time. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to do this but he still found himself creating arguments in his mind to use in the talk to convince the Yellow Paladin to stay away from Blue's hangar. He couldn't blame Hunk for wanting to constantly check on Lance – Shiro had to fight the urge to do so any time one of the Paladins came out of the cryopod – and he knew Hunk knew why it was important to give Lance time to recover by sleeping but that didn't stop Hunk from being upset at the reminder. Sighing, Shiro elected to ignore Black's amusement at his plight as he walked towards the kitchen to find Hunk and have this conversation once more.

"Hello, beautiful," Lance greeted as he walked into his Lion's hangar and smiled up at her where she sat regally in the middle of it.

"Hello, my cub," Blue purred as she lowered her head and ramp so Lance could get inside. "I thought you never going to be able to make it down here before the end of the day cycle," she teased slightly as Lance headed for his blanket nest and snuggled into it.

"You're hilarious," Lance said flatly, even as he grinned. "You know why Shiro stopped me on my way here," he told her and Blue mentally nodded through his bond.

"Yes, I know," she admitted. "I am glad he decided to come and find you immediately to apologise so you could talk to him and help rid him of the misplaced guilt he felt instead of him allowing it to fester," Blue divulged and Lance hummed in agreement.

"Me too. He had no reason to feel guilty though," Lance said as he pulled another blanket over himself. "It's not like he and the team got kidnapped on purpose."

"You know my pilot felt guilty over being indirectly responsible for you being hurt," Black said, nudging herself into the conversation. "I tried to tell him that you didn't blame him but I think he needed to hear it from you," she told him. "I'm certainly glad you're alright and I wanted to thank you for finding Shiro so quickly. I shudder to think what would've happened if you hadn't been able to get there before they found you," Black said.

"As do I," Red said. "Thank you for finding Keith and helping them all escape. I know he certainly appreciates it," she told him.

"So does my cub," Green told Lance. "I wish I had been there when that bastard had threatened my pilot. I would've squished him under my paw," she growled, causing Lance to laugh slightly.

"I'm sure no one would've tried to threaten Pidge again if you'd done that," Lance told her, a touch of amusement in his voice.

"No one would've tried threatening any of you if we had been there," Yellow said. "I certainly wouldn't have let them take my pilot and I know my sisters would've protected theirs just as fiercely," she said and Lance heard four agreeing growls reverberate in his mind. "However, what you managed to do by yourself will likely make plenty of our enemies think twice about risking your wrath. Those three who survived will tell others about how the Blue Paladin took down dozens of his enemies after they'd dared threaten his family. They will warn others about how you wielded ice as easily as you breathed and defeated their boss' fiery weapon. You'll never be underestimated again once that tale has made its way around the galaxy and into the next. No one will doubt your role as Blue's pilot ever again," Yellow told him warmly, each word making Lance's cheeks flame once more.

"My sister is absolutely right," Blue purred comfortingly. "You are my pilot and there will no longer be any doubt in our enemies minds after yesterday," she said confidently.

Lance could feel Black's, Red's and Green's agreement and felt the urge to bury himself in the bedding he was laying on. "Thank you," Lance said quietly through his bond with them. "All of you. I wouldn't have been able to help everyone as much as I did if you guys hadn't seen something in me and decided to establish a bond with me," Lance told them, voice drenched in emotion.

"We saw what Blue saw in you. You are everything Alfor had in mind when he designed Blue and more," Black told him, her voice nothing but honest. "Blue couldn't have found herself a better pilot after Blaytz if she tried," Black said.

"You are everything I wanted in a pilot and I have never regretted choosing you as mine," Blue told him, her voice drenched in pride and so much love that Lance felt himself nearly suffocating in it.

Green, Red and Yellow all made sure Lance felt their agreement with their sisters' words. "Thank you," was all Lance managed to say as he felt happy tears slowly track their way down his cheeks. He wanted to say more but he knew that he would likely start bawling from the emotion he felt so he settled for flooding his bonds with the Lions with his own love for them. For the first time, Lance felt no doubts about whether he was worthy of being Blue's pilot.

"Get some rest, my Paladin," Blue purred warmly in Lance's mind.

Lance curled a little more in his blankets and closed his eyes. Feeling the affection from the five Lions in his mind, Lance allowed himself to drift off into a deep sleep, comforted by the knowledge that his space family was safe and that he could finally admit to himself that he – self-perceived failings and undesirable traits included – was a valued and important member of the team and that he finally felt like he was a true Paladin of Voltron.