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The photo flashed on the wall like a giant, blue warning sign. It told the entire compound that the man in question was a dangerous individual. Number One on the Garrison’s watchlist, to be brought back alive. Looking up at the photo, Keith thought that Lance McClain didn’t look so terrible. The man was smirking, and shooting finger guns at the camera. Stupid, sure. But not dangerous, and certainly not an evil criminal.
But Keith had also learned that looks can be deceiving. Lance McClain *was* dangerous, and he *was* a criminal- but did that make him evil? He wasn’t sure what to think. He only knew that Lance was a very big blot on the Garrison’s otherwise spotless record. And if there was one thing that the Garrison hated, it was blots.
It was Keith’s job, as a hero, to ‘bring Lance to justice’ (as the higher-up’s put it) while also training new recruits how to do their job. It was a dangerous one, and it was kind of a big honor to be one of Keith’s proteges (or so they claimed). Regardless of what they thought about him or his teachings, it was up to them to fight bad guys.
Keith was fairly good at his job. He managed to bring in villains nearly every day, despite the fact that more of them kept popping up like weeds, and his students got a pretty good idea of what it took to survive in this business. It was a win-win in his eyes. All, of course, except for one man.
Lance McClain was the villain that nobody could catch. They spied on him and tracked his movements around the city. Despite the fact that they had a pretty good idea of where his hideout was, they never found him there. (Keith was pretty sure that meant that they had no idea where he was at all, but he knew better than to say that.) And sure, heroes saw him every day, fought him almost every day, but they still couldn’t bring him into custody.
Therefore, it was Keith’s job to take down the villain that no one else could- he was always getting the ones that nobody else could get. He wasn’t quite sure whether it was an honor or a punishment. And, like most days, he was told to find Lance McClain. Which.. was actually easier than the rest of the heroes made it seem.
Keith didn’t know if it was because Lance wanted to be found, or if his students were just unnaturally good at this whole spying business. His group of students had five kids- the youngest of which was 10. Keith personally felt like that was way too young an age to be off at the Garrison, but he couldn’t control what the kid’s parents decided to do. It was just his job to keep the kids safe, while also teaching them.
It was a job that he took very seriously. The Garrison prided itself on being the best place for young superheroes to get their education, but the rest of the Garrison tended to take a more… practical approach. They send out their students to fight heroes on their own. The success rate might have been high, and all of them had been trained that way themselves, but the truth of the matter was that students died too, because villains were ruthless and had no qualms about killing children.
Keith did not follow the Garrison’s approach. He fought all of his battles himself, and after they were over, he taught his students and told them what he did wrong so they wouldn’t make the same mistake. It was a much safer approach, and nobody died. It was just what he always did.
Except when it came to Lance McClain. Keith knew that he was dangerous- the guy was a good fighter, an excellent shot, and he had powers just like the rest of them- but hundreds of students had been sent to bring him in, and every single one of them came back alive. A little scratched up, sure, and maybe a broken bone here or there, but alive .
The simple truth was that Lance didn’t hurt the kids, at least not badly, and so Keith felt comfortable with sending them off to find him. His students could handle themselves, and with an adversary that wasn’t willing to hurt them, they would be fine. And if they really needed his help, they knew how to contact him, and he’d get there in an instant.
That day was just like any other- Keith got his mission, he told the kids to get prepared, (although they would be fighting a much less dangerous villain) and then he sent them off with his usual instructions that boiled down to: “don’t do anything dumb and call me for help if you need it.” He was feeling good about this. And, besides, even if the kids weren’t happy with not being in the action, at least it was good experience.
///////
That Friday morning was particularly dreary. A thick blanket of grey clouds covered the sky, and rain fell in steady sheets. For most, it was a good day to stay inside, maybe work on the house, or read a good book.
For Lance McClain, rain meant freedom.
Ever since he had been a child himself, all those years ago now, and his powers had begrudgingly started to bloom, he had loved the rain. Every chance he got, he would race outside (often forgetting his jacket, which drove his mama wild) and stomp around in puddles for hours on end. Even now, in his mid 20’s, Lance still loved to play in the rain.
A lot of things had changed in his life since those innocent early days, but the one thing that never did was the rain. Altea City was settled in a valley, and it had a consistent rainy season in the summer, and moderate snowfall in the winter. It was wonderful for Lance. That sweet, soothing symphony of rain bouncing off the tin roof that covered his home was enough to calm him after a particularly rough day.
Rain offered a memory of better times. When it was early morning and the slow moving blankets of fog and mist made their way through the city streets, it reminded Lance of his childhood. Of the time when he hadn’t known that the world was twisted, and all that mattered was helping the worms get back home.
Lance was of the firm belief that children all ought to have those experiences. But he knew that in Altea, there was a sickness spreading. A sickness that snatched away those happy years from so many children. It was a deceptive disease, one that parents sent their children to willingly. It was monstrous, and it needed to be stopped.
If no one else was going to do it, then Lance would. Even if that meant slowly gathering an army, one by one.
///////
The first person to join Lance’s ranks was actually a complete accident, stemming from a misunderstanding that was rather amusing, looking back on it. It had all started with a computer problem.
Lance’s house was on the outskirts of town, and it was an old, probably not up to code farmhouse. Despite being in the family for generations, it had been neglected for years, and as Lance was the only McClain family member still left in town, he took up the task of repairing it.
It was a large job to take on, but it was the sort of thing that Lance could do on the weekends. Although the farmhouse was still in some disrepair (the guest bedrooms hadn’t been touched in years), it was at least livable now. The only problem was that the wiring around the house was faulty, and there was no internet. He got it set up, because what kind of man would he be if he didn’t have at least one supercomputer in the house?
Unfortunately, computers baffled Lance, and after about a week of frustration, he ended up taking his computer to the store. Lance was somewhat good at disguises, as nobody in Altea truly noticed him unless he was up to something nefarious, so going to the computer store was no problem. The walk from his house to the store was a short one, and as he stepped inside, he was greeted by a short boy with shaggy brown hair, glasses, and a shiny name tag that read ‘MATT’ in all caps.
The boy barely spared him a glance as he grabbed a small tablet and offered him a (very fake) smile. “Hi, welcome to Galra Tech, what can I help you with today?”
Lance was slightly distracted by all the phones on display in the room, but he quickly snapped out of it. “Uh- hi. I’m having some trouble with my computer-“
“Oh, well what seems to be the problem?” Matt seemed a lot more excited now that he saw the computer hefted under Lance’s arm. Lance quietly handed it over, slightly amused.
“Well… I plugged it in and everything, but it wouldn’t turn on.” Lance scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
Matt looked at him. “You pressed the power button, right?”
Lance scowled. “Of course I pressed the power button, I’m not an idiot.”
“I didn’t say that you were. I’m just saying that a lot of people don’t think of that before they come in here.”
“I think it’s the wiring in my house. Or maybe I’m just hooking it up wrong, I don’t know.”
“Well, we can schedule an appointment to see what’s wrong-”
“Oh, no thank you,” Lance said quickly. “I’d really rather somebody just told me how to fix it myself.”
Matt looked at him as if he was perhaps speaking to a toddler. “I can’t tell you how to fix the problem if I don’t know what the problem is, sir,” he said slowly.
Lance simply scowled at him again. “Look, I just don’t want anybody at my house, okay? It’s fine, whatever. I’ll figure out the problem myself.” He went to snatch the computer out of Matt’s hands, but the boy simply held it tighter. He was looking at him suspiciously.
“Why, what do you have at your house?”
“A little thing called privacy, *Matthew*. Men like me tend to like it,” Lance could feel that he was steadily starting to lose his temper. “Not that you kids these days would understand that.”
Matt was looking at him, almost strangely, with his eyes narrowed slightly and a thoughtful furrow in his brow. Suddenly, almost startling Lance, he typed something out on his tablet with agile fingers and flipped it over to show Lance. A news article was pulled up, one from a few months ago, detailing some crime or another of his.
(Lance maintained that he *hadn’t* let that flock of robotic murder pigeons loose on the city, and he hadn’t! But he had given the lady who was selling them directions to the city, which was probably just as bad. Innocent until proven guilty, though.)
Lance’s mouth dropped open and his gaze flicked from the tablet to Matt’s triumphant (and slightly smug) grin. “I knew I recognized you from somewhere.Your face is everywhere in this city.”
This told Lance two things. Number one, he wasn’t as good at disguises as he had previously thought. And number two, a few people in the store were looking at them strangely. “Okay, first of all, you need to be quiet,” Lance hissed, grabbing Matt’s arm and dragging him over to the corner. “People can hear. Fine, you got me. But look, you cannot tell anybody about me being here.”
“Why, afraid your computer troubles will ruin your image?”
“Shut up. It could lead people to my house and I can’t have that.”
“What if I go and I promise not to tell?”
Lance couldn’t help but chuckle dryly. “Not in your dreams, kid.”
“Hey, first of all, I am *not* a kid. And secondly, I’m your only hope. After all, if I can tell that you’re, well… you, then anybody else in the store can too. And… if you leave, I’m going to call the heroes on you.”
Lance gave him a quick once over, glaring all the while. After a moment, he groaned quietly, but gave a reluctant agreement. “Fine, whatever. You’re coming with me, though.”
“Fair enough,” Matt said. He looked far too excited about the prospect of leaving his work with a particularly dangerous individual that could definitely kill him than one ought to be, but Lance didn’t care, so long as the kid stuck to his promise. “Let me grab my coat.” He was gone before Lance could grumble anything. A few minutes later, they were both bundled up and in Lance’s beat up, old, blue pickup truck. Matt gingerly held the computer in his lap as they drove along the bumpy road, Lance grumbling all the while.
The drive to his house was a short one, and when they arrived, Matt got out. He wrinkled his nose slightly as he stared at the beat up old farmhouse. “You live *here*?”
“Yes,” Lance said, unlocking the front door. It led into the kitchen first. The house, although only two floors, looked comfortably lived in. “What’s wrong with here?”
“I don’t know, but I expected your lair to be more, I dunno… extravagant?”
“That’s because this isn’t my lair, this is my house. And I don’t have a lair. No villain actually has a lair.”
“Oh.” This realization made Matt frown, as if he was receiving horrible news. Which he probably was. The media, controlled by the heroes, was known for painting villains like Lance in an absolutely awful light. “So,” Matt continued. “Where are we setting this up at?”
“In here.” Lance let Matt down into the basement. It wasn’t as creepy as Matt had expected it to be- heck, the man had it carpeted. Matt quickly got to work fiddling with the wires and the computer itself to see if he could figure out the problem.
(It was actually a fairly simple problem with an easy fix, but Matt wasn’t about to tell the evil supervillain that. He messed with the thing a bit longer than necessary before actually fixing it and hoped that Lance wasn’t observant enough to notice.)
After he was done, Matt sat back up and gathered his tools. “Well… I’m done here, so… I guess I’ll leave,” he said, looking at Lance expectantly.
“What? I already paid you.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me to join you?” Matt sounded exasperated.
“No. Why would I?”
“Uh, because you need me?”
“What could I possibly need you for?”
“Computer help. Plus, if… if you don’t, I’ll go straight to the heroes and give them your address,” he said, almost a little proudly.
Lance’s scowl only deepened. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes I *would*. Look, I wanna join you! My baby sister wants nothing more than to be a hero, even though I’ve told her time and time again that it’s too dangerous. I just want to help her.”
Lance pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. Finally, though, he gave in. They had similar goals, after all- Lance’s was just more widespread. “Fine, you can join me. But you have to do *exactly* as I say, and if you breathe a word of this to anyone, you’re in big trouble.”
“I got it!” Matt sounded way too excited, and it honestly made Lance feel tired. “Oh man, I gotta run back home and get some stuff.”
“Whatever. Scram, get your stuff.”
“Yessir! I’ll be back!”
Lance just grumbled as he watched Matt leave his house. Although he had a feeling that the kid might be a handful, perhaps it would be nice to have a sidekick. Just one more person that Lance could ensure was safe. That was all he really wanted.
////////////
Keith’s students were unnaturally quiet today. He noticed it immediately when he stepped into their barracks. Normally, the 10 year old was all smiles and the 13 year old would groan pitifully at his jokes. But today, all five of them were silent. “Okay, what’s wrong with you guys?” Keith asked.
The 10 year old, Tommy, looked up at him. “Captain Shirogane said we had a mission today.”
“Oh?” Captain Shirogane was a veteran hero and de facto leader of Altea City’s heroes. He was also Keith’s older brother. “I was not made aware of this. What’s the mission?”
“Same as always. Lance McClain.”
Keith sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I’ll talk to him, okay? Don’t worry.” He turned around and left to go find his brother. He knew that the kids could handle Lance McClain, they’d be safe. But they were *scared*, and he hated it. He never wanted them to be scared, that’s why he was a hero. It was only a short walk through the compound to find the main information hub, because that’s where Shiro always was. Shiro (his real name was Takashi Shirogane, but that was such a mouthful that nobody ever called him that) was a veteran hero, and the de facto leader of Altea City’s heroes. A lot of the students looked up to him for guidance, although he wasn’t a mentor himself. “Shiro,” Keith greeted, as he stood next to his brother.
Shiro was staring up at several big screens in front of him, an increasingly deeper frown forming on his face. “Keith,” he said, and it was more of an acknowledgement than anything else. He didn’t speak again, but Keith didn’t expect him to.
“I heard that you gave my students an assignment today.”
“Yes.”
“I thought that was my job.”
“It is. And you will continue doing it.”
“Why are they going after him, Shiro?”
“They’re the only group here that has come closest to finding him. They’re bright kids, Keith. You’ve trained them well.”
“They’re scared. Let me go instead.”
“Too dangerous,” Shiro said flippantly, waving his hand slightly as if to dismiss all of Keith’s concerns.
Keith frowned at him. “It is too dangerous for them, you’re right. Only one of them has developed powers, and the others haven’t even started practicing yet.”
Shiro sighed heavily, one deep breath through his nose. “Then monitor them if you wish, Keith. But they must go.”
Silently, Keith rubbed the back of his neck. He looked back up at the screens before him. As he did, he was sure that Lance’s photo had never looked so sinister before.
/////////////
The first stop, the kids had determined, after much deliberation, was the courthouse. After all, even if Lance was evil, he was still a citizen of Altea City, and had been all his life. And all citizens had some kind of documents, and all documents were stored at the courthouse. Of course, being that they were still children, they couldn’t go in there by themselves. So Keith went with them. He was unsure of what their plan was, but he followed along with it nonetheless. They ushered him up to the county clerk’s desk, and he smiled sheepishly at the lady behind the desk. “Can I help you?” she asked.
Keith cleared his throat. “Uh- yes. My name is Keith Kogane, and I’m-”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh my. I remember you, you saved my sister’s life!”
“Oh. Uh, well, yes, that’s what I do, ma’am. Now… we need to look at a file, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, of course, anything for you, honey. What do you need?”
“Any and all files that you have on Lance McClain.”
She looked at him sternly over the edge of her glasses. “And what do you need those for?”
“Well, I- my students are going to find him.”
Scoffing lightly, she typed something into her computer. “Good luck with that. I’ll be right back with those.” She stood, and went to the back room, where they could see an almost endless amount of stacks filled with papers, and even more towers of precariously stacked boxes. She returned with an almost comically small stack. “Here you are. Sign here and you can look at them for as long as you need.” Keith scribbled out his signature, took the file, and promptly handed it over to the kids, who scrambled out the office door to find a table where they could sit. Keith followed, with a small smile on his face.
The first folder consisted of basic information such as his name, age, date of birth, and a photo. There was an address line, but it was blank. “Well, there goes that plan,” the 14 year old, her name was Emma, said. She closed the file and seemed all too ready to start a different plan.
“Now hold on a second,” Keith said. ‘I thought you guys wanted to do detective work? Why don’t you try searching the other addresses in the other files? You might be able to get a lead there.”
“Oh.” Emma frowned a little bit. “That makes sense, I guess.”
Keith smiled gently. “You’ll get the hang of this eventually.”
The five kids crowded closer around each other. Tommy forced his way under Harry’s (the 13 year old’s) arm to see better. Emma flipped to the next file. It was a case report of one of the crimes he ever committed. “He robbed a bank?? Jeez, how unoriginal can you get…”
“But look,” Tommy said, pointing to something on the page. “It says that he ran into a house on Elm Street.”
“I’ve seen that house, I think,” Harry said. “My mom said it’s been abandoned for years.”
“I wonder who owns it…” Emma mused. “That might give us some clues. That’s it, we can ask!”
Keith smiled proudly. “That’s a good idea, guys. You can ask at the county clerk’s office.” The five of them impatiently pulled him along until they reached the office. After a short conversation with the man behind the desk, they got copies of the deeds to the house. “Will you look at that… the house formerly belong to the McClain’s.”
“That’s his family, then!”
“Yes, Emma, it is. This is good work, guys. Really good work.”
“We should go there and check it out.”
Keith hesitated a moment. “Why don’t you guys let me check it out first? It could be dangerous-”
“Oh, Keith, please, let us prove ourselves!”
“You don’t need to prove yourselves, at least not to me. But… if you really want to go, I can’t stop you.”
They thanked him profusely and gathered up the files. He walked with them to the nearest bus stop that would take them to the edge of the city. They made him promise to stay behind. It made him feel slightly nervous, but he agreed, because he knew how much this meant to them. He watched the bus leave, he could see Tommy’s face pressed happily against the window.
(His brain helpfully flashed back to the surprisingly sinister picture of Lance from that afternoon, and he had to force himself to stay back and head to the compound. It was one of the hardest decisions of his life.)
The bus trip took maybe 10 minutes, and the kids anxiously awaited their destination the whole time. Even Tommy was quiet. But they soon arrived, and could delay the inevitable no longer. They got off the bus and made their way to the front door, quietly, as if the house could hear them. They pushed each other around until Emma confidently (she was terrified, but tried to put on a brave face for the others) walked up to the door and knocked.
They could hear somebody moving around inside the house, and the door opened. There he was, Lance McClain, in all his glory. He looked down at the kids. Both groups were silent for a moment, and then he spoke. “Sorry, we don’t need any cookies.” He went to shut the door, but luckily, Emma was able to jam her foot in front of the door jamb, so he couldn’t. Lance sighed, already feeling irritated. “Okay, what do you guys want?”
“We’re here to stop whatever… nefarious schemes you have planned!”
“Nefarious schemes?” Lance scoffed slightly. “Alright, look kids, I don’t have any ‘nefarious schemes’ or whatever, but you need to go. Don’t you have school or something?”
“Don’t you have a job?” Emma retorted. Lance scowled at her, and it might have been frightening if he wasn’t just annoyed.
“Look, scram, kid. I don’t have time for this.” He tried to shut the door again, but Emma was too quick and pushed her way past him and into the house. Lance only had time to sputter indignantly before the other four kids followed her, and there were *children* in his house. They looked around for a quick moment before running off. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, as this had never happened before. But they were still only children, so they probably couldn’t do much harm.
Of course, right as he thought that, there was a crash from the basement and Matt yelling indistinctly. Lance groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, and went downstairs. One of the younger kids was standing next to a shattered computer computer monitor, while Matt looked terribly distressed about another thing he’d have to repair. The kid looked up and met Lance’s eyes- Lance noticed that he looked vaguely terrified. “What happened here?” he finally asked.
Matt looked up, bottom lip wobbling slightly. “Your dumb enemy broke my computer monitor,” he said. It was more like a whine than anything else.
“Matt, he’s *not* my enemy. Look, kid- what’s your name?”
The kid sniffed, gently wiping his sleeve across his nose. “Tommy,” he said, voice quiet. “I’m.. I’m sorry I broke your computer.”
Emma groaned from across the room. “Tommy, you don’t apologize to the bad guys!”
Lance shot her a glare and she quieted down- once satisfied that he’d get no further outbursts from her, he turned back to Tommy.. “It’s okay, Tommy. I’m not mad.”
“You’re… you’re not?”
“Nope,” Lance grinned. “Besides, I got Matt here to fix it. That is what henchmen are for, after all.”
“Hey, I am not your henchman. I’m your *sidekick*, and there’s a big difference.”
Lance waved his hand a little. “Fine, Matt, whatever. Just- clean it up, okay?” Matt grumbled a little, but started to do as he was told. Lance smiled a little and reached out to ruffle Tommy’s hair- as if to say that they were cool, no harm done.
It was going so well, and looking back on it, Lance wasn’t sure what exactly had happened.
One moment, he was telling the kids that they really ought to leave now (including an, admittedly, playful warning that he’d get Matt to chase them off if he didn’t), when an earth shatteringly loud boom came from somewhere outside. The heroes had arrived. “Shit,” Lance said, as eloquently as only he could be. He turned to the five children, a sternness on his face that wasn’t there before. “You five really need to go- now.”
“Why?” Emma asked, and she sounded afraid.
“Because your heroes are up there, and you could get hurt.”
“They’d never hurt us,” she said, confidently, and it made Lance’s heart crack in his chest. She had no idea, and it simultaneously made him both depressed and livid. “We can go out there and stop them.”
To their surprise, Lance shook his head. “Out of the question, they’d never listen to you. They hate me, and I’m not about to let you five get hurt on my watch.” There was another boom outside. Lance looked up and back at them with renewed urgency. “Please, there isn’t much time to waste. You can use the tunnels, they lead right through the city’s sewer system. Go!”
For a split second, the kids didn’t move, but then there was another boom, and they all scrambled off. With the exception of one. Tommy was latched onto Lance’s leg, looking as terrified as ever. At the tunnels, they did a quick head count. “Tommy!” Emma shrieked, but there was no time.
“I’ve got him,” Lance yelled, over the booms outside that were getting much more insistent and closer. “You four go. Go!” They needed no more urging, and he watched them leave, heart pounding in his chest. Finally, he looked down, gently prying Tommy off of him. “Tommy, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay? I need you to stay down here with Matt.”
“But-”
“No buts. I’ll be right back, I promise.” Lance didn’t wait for an answer, and instead hurriedly raced upstairs. He was sure he looked silly in his ratty Marmora Institute t-shirt and sweatpants, but he hadn’t been expecting all this commotion. He wrenched open the front door and came face-to-face with a group of heroes pointing a variety of weapons and sharp objects at him. Out on the street, there were a variety of machines that look vaguely like lions. He didn’t have much time to worry about that, though. He tried (probably in vain) to look nonchalant. “Can I help you?”
In the front of the group was none other than Takashi Shirogane himself. Lance knew him well after years of beating each other up. “McClain,” he said, his voice uncharastically icy.
“Shiro,” Lance replied, with a small smirk, but only because he knew that ‘his nickname was only to be used by friends and family’ and Lance decidedly *not* a friend of Shiro’s. As expected, Shiro scowled furiously at him. “What are you doing here, couldn’t get enough of me after our last encounter?”
“Shut it, McClain. I’m here to arrest you.”
“For what? And please, call me Lance.”
Shiro ignored his last comment. “For various crimes.”
Lance raised an eyebrow. “But I haven’t done anything,” he said innocently, even though they both knew that he had a rap sheet a mile long. Of course, he had been arrested before, when he was younger and hadn’t really gotten a hold of the whole villain thing yet. But he had escaped, and he would now, if Shiro was really intent on arresting him. Better yet, though, was not letting them catch him. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. “But it’s sweet of you to try. Look at you, you even managed to find me at my house. Congratulations. This has been a nice chat, but if you don’t mind, I’ve got some garlic knots in the oven, and-”
“We can do this the easy way, McClain, or we can do this the hard way,” Shiro cut him off, clearly getting very annoyed.
Lance surveyed the crowd in front of him, their weapons, and their lions. Even on his best day, he was severely outnumbered here. If he couldn’t fight them off, he’d have to switch tactics, then. “You’re never bringing me into prison, Shirogane. At least not alive.”
Shiro smiled thinly. “That can be arranged, I’m sure.”
They stared at each other for a few minutes, and Lance wondered how they got here, he could remember all those years ago…. But he quickly shook himself from those thoughts- it wasn’t a good time to get caught up in the past. “Well, when you’ve got the arrangements made, you know where to find me.”
And quickly, because Lance was, quite frankly, a little shit, he stepped back and swiftly slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. He could hear voices outside. Shiro’s voice came first, he sounded pissed. Lance took that as a small victory.
“Keith, I want you to take your lion and blow the place.”
Another voice spoke, then- one that Lance hadn’t heard before. “But, Shiro, my students are in there.”
“Well then I hope they have the common sense to leave. Now, do it.”
“But-”
“*Now*, Keith! Or I’ll do it myself.”
Lance didn’t hear this Keith guy’s reply, but he figured that he was going to do what Shiro said anyway, so he didn’t have much time. He skidded down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and landing with a thump below. “Matt, Tommy, we have to go, now.”
“What, why? What are they doing?”
“They’re going to blow the place, Matt, that’s what. We don’t have time, we have to go,” he said, urging the two in the direction of the tunnels. Matt trusted him well enough, so he went. But Tommy was rooted to the spot, staring at Lance with wide eyes. They didn’t have time for this.
“They’re… what?” Tommy sounded confused, scared, and heartbroken all at once.
“Tommy…” It was suddenly very quiet outside, which Lance knew was a bad sign. “C’mon, let’s go.” When Tommy didn’t move, Lance huffed and suddenly picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder. Tommy shrieked indignantly, but Lance really didn’t have the capability to care about that when his house was about to be set on fire. He sprinted to the tunnels, and they made it just in time to hear the unmistakable crackle of flames.
Lance wasn’t sure if he should have been depressed or pissed off about the turn of events.
The three of them stood in the tunnel and listened to the flames. Lance decided to be pissed off.
//////
Keith had never hated himself more than he did in that moment. He wasn’t usually one to dwell too much on what he had to do, but as he stared at the burning farmhouse, he felt sick. Shiro had given him an order, and Keith knew he should have been stronger, that he should have said no, but years of training had made him into what could only be called a robot. He hated himself for it.
He had held off for as long as he could, but Shiro kept yelling at him, and eventually boarded the lion himself, and Keith knew that he had no choice. So he pushed the ‘fire’ button, despite ever nerve, cell, and atom in his body screaming for him to not do it.
No children ran out of the house. His five students were dead. He had killed his own students. And Shiro had given the order. God, how did they even live with themselves?
Shiro seemed pleased, and after they watched the house be reduced to nothing more than ash and roofing tiles, he declared that they could all go home. Keith was numb, but he followed anyway and parked his lion in the hangar bay. The sick feeling had never really left, but now that he was back in the compound, he felt it all come back full force.
Keith prided himself on being a strong person, but as the realization of what he had just done dawned on him, he broke down. But after a few minutes of this, he forced himself to get it together. He would need to tell their families, get their stuff packed to send back. He didn’t have to, but he wanted to. He felt obligated- he had killed them, after all. It was almost out of habit, but he found himself swinging by their barracks anyway. He didn’t stop himself- it might be a coping mechanism.
He was very surprised when he opened the door to find them all sitting on their beds.
He was so shocked that he didn’t say anything, but they all jumped up and started babbling incoherently. Keith didn’t answer, but he pulled them all into a bone crushing hug. He was so relieved, that it took him a whole minute to figure out that one of his students was missing. “Where’s- where’s Tommy?”
“He’s at Lance’s house. He told us to leave after all the heroes arrived, but Tommy hung back cause he was scared. Lance promised to take care of him, though.”
And just like that, Keith’s heart dropped into his toes. “Oh no…”
“Why, what happened? Are they okay??”
“I- I don’t know. No, probably not. We… *I* had to destroy his house.” Keith didn’t know what else to say, he couldn’t look them in the eye. Emma let out a quiet sob.
Keith hated himself even more now, if that was at all possible.
/////
After a week, and everybody had more or less come to terms with their grief, a letter arrived at the compound. It was addressed to Keith, in simple, average handwriting. He had no idea what it could be, he hadn’t been expecting a letter anyway. But he opened it, once he was safely tucked away in his own little ‘office.’
(It was more of a glorified linen closet, really, and it wasn’t an office. He just went there when he needed some peace and quiet. It was his spot, ever since he was a young recruit here himself.)
The letter was short and written in a messy handwriting that Keith immediately recognized. It made tears well up in his eyes.
Keith,
I’m okay! Lance, Matt, and I are safe from the fire. It’s lucky that nobody was hurt. Lance said that it was you who did it, but I’m not mad at you. You gotta do what you gotta do. Lance says that it’s about time I come home, so he’s going to drop me off at Union Station, Tuesday at 2:00. He’d like you to come too.
I can’t wait to see you guys again, I’ve got so much to tell!
Tommy
Keith had an extreme mix of emotions after reading the letter- it was really more a note than anything else, but that didn’t matter. Keith knew that he’d cherish it for the rest of his life. Tuesday was tomorrow, so he had time to prepare. He decided to tell his students that Tommy was okay, but not Shiro. The man might try to arrest Lance at the park, and Keith couldn’t have that.
Despite all of the bad, terrible things that Lance had done, he still managed to save the lives of 6 innocent people, and Keith couldn’t have been more grateful.
That Tuesday, Keith got up bright and early, and impatiently waited for 2:00 to come. At 1:30, he walked to the park. It was crowded with families of all shapes and sizes, ice cream vendors, and people walking their dogs. It was lovely. Keith parked himself on a bench, and waited. He wasn’t sure what it was, but luckily, he wasn’t bothered. At least, until 2:00, when he heard a familiar voice yell out, “Keith!”
Keith jumped up, and ran. He embraced Tommy happily, almost shedding tears of his own. “I’m so glad that you’re okay, Tommy.”
“Me too, Keith. But I wasn’t worried about it for a second, I had Lance to protect me.”
“Where is he?” Keith asked, and Tommy pointed to a lone figure in a hat, sunglasses, and a jacket. Keith smiled. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
“Okay. I’m gonna play on the swings!”
Before Keith could say anything else, Tommy had already ran off. It made him chuckle fondly, but he still made his way towards Lance. This area of the park was less populated, although not quite deserted. Keith stood next to him, and neither said anything for quite some time.
“Why did you do it?” Lance finally asked, staring resolutely at Tommy playing on the swingset.
“Following an order,” he said, and Lance snorted.
“Those children could have been killed.”
“I know. I regret it.”
“I doubt that. You all always do this.”
“Hang on a minute- we don’t *always* burn the houses of villains down.”
“No. But how many times have children been sent to fight me, to fight others? They aren’t as powerful as you or me, or as strong. I’ve seen kids plowed down faster than I can blink.”
Keith was a little surprised by the venom in Lance’s voice as he spoke. But then again, he shouldn’t have been. He hated it too. “We don’t have a choice.”
Lance laughed, but it was humorless, bitter sound. “Because Shirogane tells you to?”
“Something like that.”
“You can’t tell me that you’re okay with this.”
“I’m not, of course I’m not.”
“Then why do you let it continue?”
Keith felt helpless with his own inadequacy. “I don’t- I can’t.”
“You can’t, or you won’t because you don’t want to see your precious brother lose power?”
“It’s not about Shiro. It’s just how we’ve always done things.”
(Keith felt sick again, because he was defending this.)
(Lance felt tired. He wasn’t sure how he could make these people see the truth behind their actions.)
“Well, whatever it is,” Lance said, “it needs to be stopped. I’ve been trying to stop this practice for years and I got cast out and branded as a villain because of it. And I decided that if that was what it would take to make a change, then that’s what I would be. But I can’t topple the system by myself, Keith. I need help.”
“What are you asking me to do?” Keith asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“I need you to help me. Look, Tommy’s told me stories about you. I know how much you care for these kids. So help me protect them. Please.”
Keith finally turned, and he found that Lance was already looking at him, his sunglasses nestled on top of his hat. He had the most striking blue eyes, the photos he had seen didn’t really do it justice. Keith was so conflicted- did he continue doing his job, helping people like he loved to do. Or did he go against everything he had been trained for to work with *Lance freaking McClain* on an inside job?
The answer was as clear as the sky above them.
“Okay,” he said, and he smiled.
“Thanks,” Lance said, smiling as well, and Keith could tell that he meant it. “Remind me to introduce you to my other associate, Matt. You’d like him.”
Keith chuckled. “I’m sure that I will.”