"Because I Care About Her" A Plance Fanfic

Chapter 10

"Ezor was going to grab Pidge and hurt her," Krolia repeated. They were back in the room, with Lance strapped in the chair, standing next to the machine. Pidge was also there, waiting in suspense to see if her hunch was correct.

"That's right," Lance said as the memories came flashing back.

"You," Zethrid hissed out as she looked at Pidge. "I bet half my fleet this group of heroes has a soft spot for the small one."

"They were going to hurt Pidge," Lance recalled.

"You did everything you could?" Krolia asked.

"Yes," Lance said.

"Don't you touch her!" he said, as he lashed out at Ezor. She had flung him down to the ground, where he was left helpless, unable to protect Pidge.

"You couldn't save her?" Krolia said.

"No," Lance admitted after a silent second of sorrow. Everyone was watching, waiting to see what the results of the test would be.

"But you could've saved yourself from getting hurt," Krolia pressed.

"I guess," Lance admitted.

"What happened next?"

"I tried to get back up...but I couldn't. I wanted to save Pidge, but I couldn't."

Pidge's heart started to ache when she heard that. She never would've guessed how much he cared for her.

"What were you feeling?" Krolia asked.

"Like someone who was in a lot of pain," Lance remarked.

Pidge glanced nervously down at the test results. "Lance..."

This was it. The moment of truth. It was time to find out if he was a Zatarc or not. Pidge looked at him, pleading with all her heart that he wasn't. That they weren't. She looked at him with a look of longing, and he stared back at her.

The memories come flashing back. How terrified he had been at the thought of anyone hurting Pidge, of a world without Pidge. No one would be there to hack their way into any place in the world, no one to come up with cool new things to invent. No one to tease him, or make jokes. No one to remind him why he was fighting so hard for.

"I didn't let Ezor hurt her...because I'd have rather been tortured myself than lose Pidge."

Pidge took a deep breath and closed, then reopened her eyes.

"Why?" Krolia asked.

"Because I care about her," Lance said. "A lot more than I thought."

Despite herself, Pidge's heart skipped a beat. He wasn't lying. He wasn't a Zatarc. He was telling the truth. She couldn't explain how, but she just knew it. 

"You are not a Zatarc," Krolia told Lance. He smiled, so relieved to hear that. Lance looked at Pidge as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered. She kept his gaze for a moment, then turned away and looked at Krolia.

"Now retest me."