Rating Explicit, no explicit sexual content
Tags Graphic violence, gore, blood, possession, murder, attempted suicide, mental illness, PTSD, past child abuse, angst, eventual happy ending,
Summary
Losing Lance nearly destroyed them. So when they found out that maybe he wasn't quite as dead as imagined, they wouldn't let anything stand on their way of getting him back.
Except nothing in Lance was even slightly familiar.
Excerpt
Suddenly the lights dimmed and the quintessence began to bubble. Lance immediately went to the centre of the room, holding his bayard and frantically speaking: “Pidge, something has happened.”
The terror in Pidge’s voice made him nearly freeze: “Oh no, get out of there, I activated the self-destruct, GET OUT!”
Lance did not stop for more, running towards the door, but it had closed behind him and now he couldn’t get it open himself. He slammed his fist against it, but it was of no use.
“I need you to open the door”, his voice was wobbling and his mouth was dry, but his eyes were wet. Lance tried to not to think about the irony of that.
“I am trying, it’s not, it’s not –“
She was scared. She was so young and small and scared and Lance tried to keep his voice calm: “You can do it, I know you.” The quintessence was starting to shine, and the bubbling was so heavy that he thought they would burst any minute now.
“It’s not working! I can’t stop it! I need to stop it to open the door!”
Everything went sharp and paradoxically calm. The knowledge that she wouldn’t be quick enough to do it filled him and made him stand still.
“Pidge, Pidge, It’s not your fault.” The words rushed out of his mouth and he could only hope that she could hear them over her and Hunk’s panicked yelling. The glow was getting bright enough to hurt his eyes and whatever little skin he was showing, and he feebly raised his arms, trying to protect his face. Shiro and Allura and Coran were yelling something, but he couldn’t make out what. “Hunk –“
Then there was a sudden heat and Lance was gone.
***
Keith walked in to the Communications Centre. He had been feeling odd for several vargas and could not point out why. It felt like an endless emptiness had come inside him and it made him sick and angry. He had been trying to get rid of it by fighting some other Blade members in the training room, but that hadn’t helped at all. When he had received Kolivan’s call to come here, he had almost ignored it.
Several screens were on, showing endless updates of the Empire’s movements. Kolivan was standing in front of one of the smaller ones and he could see Shiro there. He looked like he had come from a big fight, with a still slightly bleeding nose, split lips and multiple beginnings of bruises. An edge of… something slithered in. It felt like dread. He had talked with Shiro and rest of the team after leaving the castle, but they had only ever used his own personal communications screen, not one of these.
And Shiro looked… odd. Even beyond the bruises.
“Thank you Kolivan. I am sorry, but I would really prefer to give these news to Keith in private.”
It was definitely dread that flooded him, especially when Kolivan only nodded and left the room.
He stood in front of the screen, feeling vaguely sick. Shiro was looking unsteady, staring somewhere past him and a horrified suspicion started to overwhelm Keith’s mind.
Shiro cleared his throat: “There is no easy way to say this, but… Lance is dead”
All of the sneaking fears grew, crushing every thought in his mind. He couldn’t speak, could barely think.
“H-how?”
Shiro explained haltingly what had happened, but nothing made sense.
“I - we need you – “
Keith could hardly believe it. Lance was dead and he was only worrying about Voltron?
“You mean, you need Voltron”, he could taste iron on his tongue when he spat out those words.
“NO!”
Keith flinched in surprise. Shiro rarely yelled, and he had never looked as strange as now. ‘Broken’ a voice whispered in his head.
“We- I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you too…” Shiro was crying. Keith couldn’t remember the last time he had seen him cry. And it wasn’t just a few tears, but wracking, heavy sobs and snot. He was raising his hand, covering his face and just shaking.
Keith didn’t know what to do. Lance was dead and Shiro was crying.
“I can’t – not you too – you are my brother...”
Any other time those words would have filled him with warmth, but right now he couldn’t even figure out what to say to the most important person in his life. He could feel tears slide down his cheeks. He had gotten used to death with the Blades but this was… too close. Too important, no matter how cruel that thought was towards the various Blade members who had sacrificed their lives.
“I – I will come back. I will tell Kolivan.”
Shiro let out a last sob and nodded. His face looked like a mess when he logged out, leaving Keith stare at the blank screen.
Notes