Chapter Text
Red finished a perfect looping, and Lance cheered as the stadium erupted with applause. He had struggled to adapt to Red at first, but now they were a great team! That's what Keith didn't get about the Voltron shows. It wasn't just about success and celebrity—even if Lance sure didn't mind them! It was also a great exercise in teamwork and coordination. And recruiting allies, of course.
As they converged to execute the main event—forming Voltron— a constellation of warnings appeared on Red's dash. Before Lance could react, Red left the formation, ignoring Lance's input.
"Woah, guys, is anyone else having warnings popping up?" Lance asked over the comms, unsettled as the Lion continued to ignore his commands.
"No. What kind of warnings? And where are you going?!" Shiro replied immediately.
"I'm not doing anything! Red refuses to listen to me!" Lance screamed, tearing at the sticks with no effect. "Hey, Red, what's going on?"
"Lance, come back immediately! The show isn't done!" Coran screeched over the comms. Jeez, Coran had gotten quite tyrannical lately.
"I can't! I think Red has picked up a distress signal or something!"
"I—I don't know why, but it seems Black wants to go in the same direction," Shiro said. "I'm still in control. But she's pushing hard to follow Red."
"If that is the case, I think we should trust the Lions," Allura pointed out. "If it is a distress signal, it's our duty to help."
"Lance, we're coming with you. This might be important," Shiro declared. "Coran, please explain to the Elians that we have an emergency."
Lance winced at Coran's furious swearing and muted him. The royal adviser had become so engrossed with organizing the Voltron show that Lance didn't know how to react, sometimes. He missed the older, kinder Coran.
Blue was already leaving the planet's atmo, and Lance was relieved that the other paladins were coming too.
"What if it's a trap?!" Hunk blurted out. "Wouldn't be the first time!"
"If so, then Lance won't have to face it alone," Allura replied.
The travel continued for over a varga. By then, Lance was leaning back in the pilot seat, hands behind his head. They were making small talk to pass the time.
Lance was explaining the complicated plot of the last episode of the Bi-Bo-Bii romance show he was watching when he noticed that Red's radar was picking up on a lot of objects. Asteroids and debris?
As they came closer, he realized with a start that it was some kind of battlefield. A Galra Empire base had been partly destroyed by several explosions. What Lance had first thought of as asteroids were parts of the station and wrecked drones drifting away from the base.
"I don't like that," Hunk said, his voice shaking a little.
Lance grimaced. A swarm of drones was flying close around the station, busy with repairs. They hadn't noticed them, but it wouldn't last long, considering that Red was still flying towards the station without slowing down even a little.
"Could they have found a way to control Red from a distance?" Pidge wondered.
"I don't know, Pidge, it doesn't look like they were expecting us," Hunk said
"Come on, Red, what are you doing?" Lance tried again. He had barely finished his sentence when his Lion opened her muzzle and swallowed two black shapes.
"Wait, wait, Red found something!" Lance exclaimed, "—or someone." The video feed showed him two humanoid figures lying on the metallic floor, in the Lion's mouth. "This was a rescue mission after all."
Lance zoomed in to take a closer look at the new passengers. They were both wearing some dark space suit… and they weren't moving.
"They're Blades!" Lance exclaimed, recognizing the armor. His throat tightened as he noticed how one of them was much smaller than the other. This one looked familiar. It would also make a lot of sense for Red to go rogue to save him.
"Blades?" Shiro repeated, and Lance could tell he was guessing the same thing. Lance didn't answer. No need to distress Shiro before being sure. And he worried that if he tried to talk, he might throw up.
On the screen, the smaller one moved, trying to push themselves up, without success. The bigger one turned their head slightly towards them, perhaps talking to them.
"They're alive!" Lance exclaimed, finally breathing again.
"Wait, Lance—" Shiro started.
"I'll go check on them," Lance interrupted. He hurried to the Lion's mouth.
"Could you identify them?" Lance could hear the panic hiding beneath Shiro's attempt at a professional tone.
"Not sure," Lance answered. There was no need to freak Shiro out even more when he hadn't confirmed his suspicions.
As soon as the hatch opened, he ran to the two Blades still curled up on the ground.
"Lance?"
He recognized that voice and that mop of dark hair immediately. He sat down beside Keith and brought up the wrist holoscreen to launch the health app.
"It's Keith and Kolivan," Lance told the others. "They're conscious. I'm assessing their injuries."