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“Father! No!”
“I have no choice, son.”
“NO!”
The darkness descends in the form of sweeping cold, and Lance begins his 10,000 year sleep.
~~~
Keith.
The doors sucks in air, opening. Lance stumbles out, looking wildly around him. There’d been attacks and lasers and-
His gaze comes to rest on three aliens with strangely round ears. He’s shaking, Allura resting a gentle hand on his arm.
“How long?”
His voice is quiet, breaking.
“10,000 years.”
All he can hear is his keening wail.
~~~
They only have three lions. Three lions against the entire Galra universe. Any morality they once had 10,000 years ago is gone.
But that doesn't mean he stops searching.
~~~
He isn’t sure how much longer he can last, Galra blood is slicking the floor with pools of blood. His laser fires again, but hes all alone. He got the others out, its okay, at least he did that-
“Stand down.”
Lance freezes at the sound of that voice, because it can’t be. His gun falls to the floor and he whirls around, staring at Keith. Keith. Still alive, after all these years-
He takes half a step forward before the clicks of guns sound, trained on his every move.
“So the blue paladin tries to sacrifice himself. Admirable, but it’s too late.”
The others. But he can’t bring himself to care, even if Keith’s voice- it’s so cold. Hardened by years of war and strife beneath Zarkon’s domain.
Tears are sliding down his cheeks as he slowly sheaths his bayard.
Then theres blasting, the walls are crushing in and the yellow lion is there. Hunk’s screaming for him to come. Lance casts a look back at the Keith, heart breaking. It’s been ten thousand years- he probably doesn’t love Lance anymore.
“ I’m sorry.”
He’s leaping into the yellow lion, grabbing onto the chair as the lion jerks backward. But he still gets half a second to see the look on Keith’s face.
Shock. Anger.
Betrayal.
~~~
They have the black lion now, but they still don’t have a red paladin.
Lance doesn’t give them any warning before he plugs into the feeds and calls up a familiar number.
“Who’s this?”
The sound of his voice brings tears to his eyes, and he’s sobbing.
“ Keith.”
There’s a beat of silence. “Look, I don’t know who you are but I do not find this amusing.”
Lance knows he’s about to hang up and he panics. “Wait! Please, I just- I…” Breathe. You can breathe. “Are you okay?”
“I’m hearing ghosts of a past I’d rather not remember, so no, I’m not.”
The words catch him in the chest, he can’t muffle the next sob. “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,”
“For the last time, who is this?”
Lance opens his mouth and closes it, a gaping fish. “T-the blue paladin.”
“How did you get this number?”
“...I remembered it.”
“Do not fuck with me, I’m quickly losing my patience.”
“Do you still hate your father the way you did before? Have you forgotten what you used to look like w-when you would shift so you could talk with me? Did you-” He was gasping, too afraid to take the plunge but finding the words spilling from his lips anyways. “Forget me?”
The silence is long. “Yes.”
The call ends and Lance just stares at the phone, sobbing.
It’s how Allura finds him five hours later.
~~~
“We have a strange signature showing up on the reading. It- it looks like the red lion, but that wouldn’t make sen- AAH!”
A laser cuts into the shield, taking everyone by surprised. The red lion darts back, and Lance recognizes the motion.
In an instant hes running for blue, yelling back to the others. “ Stay back, I’ve got this!”
“Lance-”
“Don’t come out, okay!?”
Seconds later hes bursting out of the hangar, chasing Red. A message pops up on the screen, shortly followed by Keith.
“Blue paladin.”
“Keith.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“It’s your name.”
“Not anymore. That galra doesn’t exist.”
Blue dodges the laser, quickly sending one back. “He does, I can see him in you.”
“ He’s gone ”
Lance senses the change and freezes. The red lion sags, suddenly not fighting. “He’s gone , so whoever you are fuck off .”
Lance sits for a second before quietly speaking. “Do you remember that new technology Coran thought would change the world?”
“Don-”
“It was a cryopod. Capable of healing any injury, capable of sending anyone into stasis. For forever.”
There’s a silence and Lance dares a look at the screen. Keith is crying, tears tracing tacks in the purple fur.
Blue hums, inching closer. Lance takes a deep breath, then removes his helmet. Keith stares at him in silence, both aliens silently staring at one another.
“It’s really me. I tri- I tried to stop Alfor. But he pushed me inside and it was so cold . And then- ten thousand years, and the whole universe is at war. Against Zarkon. It wasn’t until I got shot that I actually believed it.”
The lions are right next to each other now, almost touching.
“I thought you were dead. You have no idea- the rage I went into shook the planet. And… it never ended. That rage , Lance” He shudders as Keith finally says his name. “It never went away.”
He’s unbuckling, floating out of his cockpit and banging on Red’s mouth. It parts, allowing him inside and Lance stares, shaking. It’s barely been a month and Keith had to deal with this for ten thousand years .
The helmet comes off, and Lance is kneeling, hands cupping those furred cheeks.
The purple fades until just a boy sits there, a type of alien he can now name. Human. He’s half human.
The purple condenses into his eyes, wide and vulnerable.
Lance reaches forward, pulling him into a hug. “I’m here.” A choked sob. “I’m here now.”