Out Of Reach

1: Something Else

"So we're going to meet up with the others and then we're going to the beach."

Lance closed his eyes listening to the purr of the engine as the car trundled along the narrow roads. "This is weird."

"What?" Veronica asked from behind him.

"Being in a car like this." Lance admitted.

"How is that weird? It's like the most normal thing on earth." Luis frowned.

"I haven't exactly been on earth for that long have I?" Lance reminded.

"Fair point." Luis nodded.

"And like all of this tech just seems..." Lance gestured vaguely as he opened and closed his window a few times. "I don't know, I guess I'm used to stuff that does a lot more damage."

"You mean you push it and something blows up?"

"Yeah, in Red she can cut through a Galran cruiser in five minutes."

"Which is mind-blowing, those things are huge." Rachel huffed.

"Yeah." Lance mumbled. "Anyway, how does this thing work?"

"What? The car?" Veronica asked.

"How do you drive it?" Lance asked staring at how Luis was operating it. It didn't make sense.

He didn't understand it.

"You pilot a giant lion and you don't understand a simple car?" Luis chuckled.

Lance shrugged. "Just curious."

"How about you try it out for the rest of the way?" Marco offered as he slowed the car down.

Lance's eyes widened. "For real?"

"Yeah." Luis nodded as he pulled over at the side of the road.

Lance hesitated. "Do I need to do anything with my leg?"

"What?" Rachel asked leaning forward.

Lance glanced between his three siblings. "What? What?"

"What do you mean about your leg?" Luis asked sounding cautious.

Lance pressed his fingers into his thigh finding the button to release then tossed his leg back for Veronica and Rachel to scream at it.

"What happened?!" Luis demanded, his eyes wide and fearful.

"Heh." Lance chuckled weakly. "Got caught trying to escape from a mining colony." He shrugged looking away, and followed the flight of a bird just to give himself something to do. "I kinda forget I have it."

"I'm calling mama." Rachel decided and Lance could hear her phone buzzing.

"Why?" Lance frowned.

Luis was staring at Lance concerned and pale looking, he looked unwell. "How old were you then?"

Lance frowned rubbing the back of his neck. "I was 8 when they took me, I... I can't remember, I'll ask Pidge, she documents everything."

"And you lost your leg? That doesn't... How?"

Lance groaned. "They cut it off, okay? I didn't listen."

"Who the Galra?"

"Yeah."

"And you're still- oh hey mama, no we just found out something about Lance... Yeah is pa there? Cool. Lance only has one leg."

The prolonged silence made Lance's insides squirm.

"Okay give me my leg back." Lance demanded managing to pull it from Veronica's grip. He snapped it back into place then opened the car door.

"What are you doing?" Luis asked trying to catch his arm but Lance was already out of the car.

Lance moved around the front of the car and stopped at Luis' door. "I want a go."

"I don't think this is a good idea." Luis admitted. "How much control do you have over your leg?"

"Dad wants details." Rachel added.

"Full control." Lance frowned.

"Alright fine." Luis huffed and got out of the car.

Lance settled into the seat and gripped the wheel. "Now what?"

"You've got to get it into gear and then ease the pedal up, then ease the accelerator it's-"

The car suddenly launched forward.

"What now?!" Lance demanded.

"Shuffle up the gears!" Luis shouted. "You have to-"

"How are you able to get it that quickly?!" Rachel yelled as Lance shifted the gear stick.

"The lions aren't too dissimilar." Lance shrugged.

"Slow down!" Veronica snapped gripping his shoulder.

"Why?"

"You're going nearly double the speed limit!"

"Oh." Lance smirked. "Let's have some fun."

"No!"

~~~

When they finally arrived at the farm Luis had to peel himself out of the chair.

The front door opened and Rosa and André were on the porch in seconds.

"What is going on?!" Rosa demanded.

Lance jumped out of the car and shot them a massive grin. "I can drive a car."

"No, no you cannot." Veronica said shaking her head rapidly. "I think I lost my glasses in there."

"I think I lost my lunch."

"They had better not have mixed together!" Veronica glared.

Lance chuckled. "They're overly dramatic, we were fine."

"I thought we were going to die." Luis breathed.

Rosa cupped Luis face and frowned at the car. "Let's get you all inside now, please."

Lance's shoulders dropped. He closed the car door and followed the others into the house.

"First off, how about we teach you a few rules of the road before you drive again." André offered patting Lance's shoulder. "It's a bit different from flying that giant ship you fly."

"Alright." Lance nodded.

They were now in the living room, all sat in different chairs, Rachel had a glass of water and Veronica had found her glasses remarkably not broken or covered in Rachel's lunch.

"We really need to talk about what you called us about."Rosa explained as she took ahold of André's hand. "Lance?"

Lance sighed. He pressed the button on the dock for his leg and let it come free.

He held his prosthetic leg up and noted the fearful look in his mother's eyes.

"How did you get that?" She breathed.

"The Galra took me to a planet called Thayserix." Lance frowned. "I... I hated it."

"I can bet." His dad shifted forward. "But your leg-"

"It was a punishment." Lance looked away, he gripped his metal leg tightly. This wasn't his favourite subject.

"Lance."

"Can we not do this?" Lance asked, he almost begged really. "I was told we were going to the beach."

"Lance-"

He stood up. "I can't do this. I'm sorry."

"Alright." His father said hurriedly. "We won't push you, just, please don't leave."

Lance held his gaze. He hadn't meant to scare them all into thinking he would run.

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving. I... I wouldn't be able to bring myself too."