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It had taken far too many months to track down Lance. Shiro had lost count of the days since his teammate had willingly surrendered himself to Galran Prince Lotor in order to save the others. The Blade of Marmora had been reluctant to offer help until Allura helpfully pointed out that they couldn’t form Voltron with a Paladin missing.
It made Shiro a little sick to think about it. The look on Lotor’s face as he had wrapped his arms possessively around the Blue Paladin and petted his hair -- Shiro couldn’t get the image of that predatory smile out of his head. It awakened from his fitful sleep and drove him harder when it seemed like their leads were about to dry up.
Through Galran spies in the empire, they had learned that Lance had been kept in royal company but was going to be transferred to a prison colony. The Voltron Force made their plan; it was their best chance to rescue their teammate.
Shiro couldn’t sleep the night before their mission, and he doubted anyone else in the Castle could either. They were all up early, rubbing tired eyes as they got their armor on.
“Okay, team. This is it. Stick to the plan. Let’s go get him.”
~~~
Their plan worked surprisingly well. Pidge snuck up on the ship in the cloaked Green Lion, supported by Shiro in a cloaked pod. Once the attack began and Galra fighters flew out to defend, Keith and Hunk swooped in with their Lions to turn the tide. They had been as careful as they could to aim for the bridge and weapons and not the prison cells.
“Keep ‘em busy,” Shiro ordered as he guided the pod into the launch bay. “I’m going in.” He barely waited for his vessel to stop moving before he jumped out and took down two guards with a laser pistol. He raced down the halls, following the directions Pidge had given him to the only human life sign on board. He blasted the door to the cell open. “Lance?”
There was a figured curled into the corner of the room. Shiro holstered his gun and slowly approached.
“Lance? Buddy? It’s Shiro.”
There was no response.
Shiro knelt down next to him. “It’s okay. I’m here to rescue you.”
Lance’s face was drawn, bruised, and scarred. He was staring unseeing at the wall.
Shiro gently placed his human hand on Lance’s shoulder.
Lance flinched and whimpered, but Shiro didn’t let go.
“It’s okay; it’s me. Look at me, Lance.”
Finally, Lance turned his head and met Shiro’s eyes. “Sh-Shiro?”
Shiro forced a smile. “Hey, buddy. How about we get you out of here?”
Lance started to shake. Shiro carefully pulled him close, trying to ignore Lance’s pained whimpers as he did so.
“Shh, I’ve got you. They’re not gonna hurt you anymore. It’s okay.” He could feel Lance’s chest heaving as he started to sob. “I’m so sorry, Lance. I’m sorry. This never should have happened.” He rocked back and forth gently. “It’s over now, kiddo. C’mon, we need to get you out of here. Can you walk?”
Lance couldn’t even manage to get an answer out.
“Okay, I’ve got you,” Shiro soothed. “I’ve got you.” He got his Galra arm behind Lance’s knees and pushed himself to stand. He checked the hallway quickly before carrying Lance out of the cell and back to the pod.
“Shiro? Do you have him?” Keith demanded.
“Yes. How’s it going out there?”
“Their defenses are down, and the fighters have been destroyed,” Pidge answered. “Looks like we can win this.”
“Good. I’m taking Lance back to the Castle. You guys take the ship and free the rest of the prisoners. But be careful. Not everyone is friendly, even if you just rescued them.”
“We’re on it, boss,” Hunk replied. “Just take care of my friend.”
“You’ve got it.” Shiro set Lance down into a seat carefully before finding several blankets to wrap him in. His clothes were in shreds. He knelt in front of his friend, raising a hand slowly to wipe the tears from his face. “Hey, almost there, buddy. We’ll get you healed up.”
Lance nodded jerkily, tears still steadily leaking from his blue eyes.
Shiro tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. “I’ll take you home, kiddo. Not just the Castle. I’ll take you back home to Earth, I swear.”
Lance looked up at him in surprise.
Shiro nodded. “I promise.”
~~~
Lance’s legs still couldn’t hold him by the time they made it back to the Castle. Shiro picked him up, letting the Blue Paladin bury his head against his shoulder. He was still shivering, despite the blankets wrapped around him. His breath came in hitching gasps.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s over now,” Shiro murmured as he walked down the ramp.
Coran and Allura came running towards them.
“Lance!” Allura cried. She and Coran both skidded to stop.
Shiro couldn’t manage to hold back his tears at the looks of horror on their faces. He impatiently wiped his face on his shoulder.
Allura slowly stepped closer, tears forming in her eyes. “Oh, Lance.” She lightly rested a hand on his trembling side. “My brave, brave Paladin. You’re safe now. Everything will be all right.”
“Come, let’s get him to the healing pods,” Coran said gently.
Shiro nodded and followed the Altean. Allura stayed at his side, speaking soft, comforting words to Lance. Coran made a beeline to one of the pods and began pressing commands into the control panel.
Lance stirred as the pod hissed open. His eyes widened, and he jolted, trying to jump out of Shiro’s arms.
“Lance! Whoa, calm down!” Shiro carefully lowered them to the floor and kept hold of his friend. “It’s okay!”
Lance’s terrified gaze was fixed on the pod. He started shaking his head. “No! No no no no no, not that!”
Shiro looked over his shoulder at the pod and then back. “Lance, you need to heal. It’s going to make you better.”
Lance was still trying to pull away with all his remaining strength. He focused frantic eyes on Shiro. “Please … please don’t make me. I can’t! I can’t … they … I can’t.”
Shiro felt the pieces click into place. “Okay. Okay, we won’t use it. It’s okay.” He drew Lance carefully back into his arms. “I’ve got you. It’s all right.”
“Shiro,” Allura began.
“No,” Shiro cut her off. “He can’t do it. God only knows what they did to him, but I’m not going to make it worse. Find another way.”
The room was silent except for Lance’s quiet sobs for a moment.
“We have an older, open bed which might work,” Coran said slowly. “But it will take time to calibrate. It hadn’t been used in ages.”
Shiro nodded. “That’s fine. Get Slav to help you. He’s not in mortal danger. We can wait.”
“I will get him something for the pain,” Allura announced.
“Shiro,” Lance whispered.
“Yeah, buddy.”
“You promise? I can go home?”
“Yes. I swear I will take you home.” He pressed a kiss to Lance’s temple. “I’m so sorry. I will make this right.”
~~~
By the time Lance was settled in the healing bed and finally sleeping, the other Paladins were back. Shiro had to head them off before they rushed into the medical wing.
“Guys--”
“Is he okay? Oh God, he’s not. He’s not okay,” Hunk cried.
“Hunk, take a breath. He’s okay. He’s being healed right now, and he’s sleeping. It’s just that … he was definitely tortured, and he’s not in good shape.”
Pidge’s eyes welled up with tears, and she jabbed at them with her sleeve.
Keith’s hands curled to fists. “Those bastards …”
“Believe me, I’d like nothing more than to find anyone who hurt him and tear their arms off. But we can’t focus on that right now. What’s the status of the prisoners?”
“They’re cooperating well with each other and have commandeered the ship. They said thanks and flew off to cause mischief,” Hunk replied. “Though I think they’ll drop anyone who doesn’t want to fight off on the nearest base or planet.”
Shiro gave a small smile. “Good. All right, then all I can tell you is that we need to give Lance whatever space he needs to get better. Don’t pressure him; don’t expect him to be his old self. It may be a while before that happens. And …” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m going to ask Allura and Coran how we can get Lance home.”
Keith just blinked at him. “He … is home?”
“Earth, Keith. He’s …” Shiro stopped and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t know what they did, but it was bad. And none of you asked for any of this. I can’t ask more of him. I can’t. And he may need to go home to fully recover. If … he ever will.” He cursed himself as his voice broke.
Pidge threw her arms around his waist and held on for life. A second later, Hunk joined the embrace.
Shiro wasn’t surprised to hear Keith storming off the other direction.
“If either of you want to go home, too, I’ll understand,” Shiro said hoarsely.
“I’m not going anywhere until I find my family,” Pidge replied.
“I can’t make any decisions right now,” Hunk answered. “I just want my friend to be okay.”
“He will be,” Shiro said with more confidence than he felt. “He will be.”
~~~
Shiro awoke in the middle of the night with a gasp. He fumbled for the bedside lamp and sat gasping and shivering. The nightmare had been about Lance, as usual. He took a few deep breaths and then got out of bed, heading for the infirmary.
Lance was still lying in the healing bed, its glowing blue arm moving back and forth over him with a soft hum. He wasn’t alone.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Allura asked softly.
Shiro shook his head and sat down in the chair next to her. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Bad dreams won’t stop, just because we got him back.”
“I didn’t see Keith all evening.”
Shiro was quiet for a long moment. “He’s mad, because he doesn’t want Lance to leave.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that this poor kid needs to go home, Princess. To Earth.”
Allura’s lovely features turned down into a frown. “Shiro …”
“I understand what I’m asking. What we’d be sacrificing. I’ve lived it, too. Not as long as you. I haven’t lost as much as you. But think about what the child lying in that bed has lost. He never signed up for this, never asked to be taken and tortured and fucking broken. And I cannot, in good conscience, ask anything else of him. He’s suffered and sacrificed for a war that’s not even his, and he never questioned it, not once. Not when he was homesick. Not even after he nearly died saving Coran. He did what needed to be done. And now we need to do the same. We need to make this work and let him go home to heal.”
Allura couldn’t hold his gaze and looked away towards Lance. “We can’t form Voltron.”
“We’ll find another Paladin. You saw him, Allura. Tell me how you can look in those eyes and order him to strap in for more battles. Because I can’t.”
“You understand that if we don’t stop him, Zarkon will come for your world. Think about what you would do then, Shiro. What you would be willing to do.”
Shiro stood, hands curling to fists. “I still wouldn’t order a traumatized child to the front lines! I’d tell him to watch my back, protect others. Not go face to face with the monster that tortured him!”
Allura got to her feet. “He’s not a child. He’s a Paladin of Voltron.”
“Don’t argue semantics with me, Princess. He was a child when this started. None of those kids had any idea what they signed up for. Really, I should send them all home. They wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me.”
“I understand that you’re upset --”
“Upset!?”
They both froze as Lance groaned and shifted.
Shiro went to his side and took his hand. “Lance?”
Lance’s eyes flitted open briefly and shut again. “Shi-ro?”
“Shhh, get some more sleep, buddy. You’re safe.”
“Gal-ra?”
“Far away, kid. It’s okay. We won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Lance opened his heavy eyes again, and they quickly filled with tears. “Sorry I let the team down.”
Shiro swallowed hard and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Don’t talk like that. You didn’t let anyone down.”
“But I wanna go home …”
Shiro stroked his hair. “It’s okay. No one can ask anymore of you, kiddo.”
Allura stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the bed. Her face was streaked with tears. “He’s right, Lance. You have done all you could. You deserve to be home with your family. What’s it like? Do you have a big family? Where do you live?”
Lance managed a watery smile. “On the ocean. S’why Blue and I get along so well. Both love the water. And yeah, big family.”
Allura reached down and squeezed his hand gently. “They must miss you so much. You will see them soon. As soon as you’re well enough, we’ll get you home.”
“But Voltron --”
“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro told him. “We’ll find a way. Now just close your eyes and dream of home. You’ll be there soon. Sun, sand, water, waves. Everything.”
The tension drained from Lance’s body as his eyes dropped closed again.
Allura shook with silent sobs, pressing a kiss to Lance’s hand before releasing it and leaving the room.
Shiro pulled a chair next to the healing bed. He wasn’t alone for long.
Keith poked his head into the room.
Shiro smiled at him. “Come on in. Quietly.”
Keith crossed his arms and silently walked to where Allura had been standing.
“He’s gonna be okay.”
“And you’re sending him home.”
“Yeah.”
Keith scowled some more. “What if the Galra track him? Find Earth?”
“We’ll find a way. Wormhole nearby and take a shuttle the rest of the way. Something like that.”
Keith bit his lip. “Okay. I trust you.”
“Thank you. Couldn’t sleep?”
Keith shook his head. “What did they do?”
“I don’t know, Keith. I don’t know that I want to. He was just … staring at the wall when I found him. I didn’t think he was even going to recognize me. But he’s a strong kid. I think he can come back from this. I just think he needs to be home for it to happen.”
Keith nodded. “Okay.”
Shiro looked around the room and saw pillows and blankets on the other beds. He stood and gathered as many as he could carry. He set them down on the floor and spread them out to make a nest of sorts. He looked up at Keith. “Come on. You’re exhausted.”
Keith just stood there a minute before finally moving towards the pile. He sat down and took off boots. Shiro was about to lie down when two more heads poked into the room.
He smiled again. “Hey, guys. Come on over here.”
Pidge cautiously crossed the room, looking at Lance anxiously. Finally, she sat down on the blankets with a quiet thump.
Hunk went more slowly, pausing to rest a hand on Lance’s leg. Then he joined his fellow Paladins on the floor.
“Everyone lie down,” Shiro said softly. “We’re all exhausted.”
The four of them slowly stretched out, moving this way and that, trying to get comfortable.
Hunk rolled his eyes and moved to the center of the pile. “Never seen people so shy about cuddling before. This is ridiculous.” He flopped down, and Pidge immediately lay down next to him, molding against his side. Shiro chuckled a little before lying down on his other side.
“Thanks, big guy.”
“You make a good pillow,” Pidge mumbled sleepily as Keith threw blankets over them. Her eyes closed.
Shiro tugged Keith’s arm gently until he finally lay down next to him, tentatively resting his arm over Shiro’s waist.
“Voltron sleep pile: activate,” Shiro whispered, eliciting giggles from Hunk and Keith. Pidge was already asleep. “Get some rest, guys. See you in the morning.” He closed his eyes and listened to Hunk’s breathing even out before he started to snore lightly.
Keith took longer, but his exhaustion got the better of him before long. Only then did
Shiro allow himself to sleep.
~~~