Don't Ask About My Demons

I'll Listen

Lance wished he could say that he stopped Haggar in her tracks. He wanted to tell the others that he had everything under control, to prove that he could be useful. He didn't want to admit it, but Hagger's words stung and they dug deep into his heart. It made his chest ache just thinking about it. He had her and she still managed to slip through his fingers. Lance flopped over on his bed and screamed his frustration into his pillow. Why couldn't he get anything right? He shouldn't have looked to the others. He blamed himself for not keeping his eyes glued to the master of illusions because, all at once, she vanished in the blink of an eye.

Of course she wouldn't leave a trace of ever being there. She was skilled at covering her tracks, Lance knew that much. She left the same way she arrived. Her dishes were somehow magically washed and put in their rightful place. Torn fabric was removed from the hangar. Even the faint scent of sage, which seemed to waft around her and everything she touched, began to dissipate. To top it all off, there was the faint suspicion among the team that a cloaked figure once lived among them although they couldn't quite pinpoint exactly who or when that was. Any knowledge of this cloaked being was quickly fading from their mind. Even now, Lance held fast to slipping memories, scribbling his thoughts down on his arm before he lost them entirely.

"Quiznak!" He threw the pen aside as the last of his memory drained from his thoughts. He looked down at his arm, squinting at his work. Normally, his handwriting was more legible than this but he was pressed for time. He sat up and blew on his arm to dry the ink.

"Lance!" There was a knock at the door. "Are you okay in there?"

"Give me a minute, Hunk! I'll be right out!" Lance tripped over his blanket in his haste to get out of bed to find a notebook.

"What was that?"

"It was me. I fell."

He tossed his belongings this way and that before finding a crumpled page and smoothed it out against the floor. He reached for the pen.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm FINE, Hunk. Just wait a minute!"

Lance glanced down at his arm for a moment before copying it down. He wasn't great at keeping his thoughts organized but he tried his best with a few quick bullet points.

1. Hagne is Haggar in disguise
2. Her illusions can only fool those who can't face the truth
3. She wants Keith.
4.

"LANCE!"

He dropped the pen and skimmed his work one last time before folding it up to place in his back pocket and rolling down his sleeve. He would finish the rest later.

The door slid open. "Yes?"

"The others are going to check on Keith." He said urgently.

"Yeah?"

Hunk shot Lance an exasperated look. "So what do we do when they realize  he isn't there?"

"I..." Lance bit his lip nervously.

"They'll know you had something to do with it."

"That's fine by me." Lance tried to sound nonchalant.

"I don't think you understand. Things are getting tense now. Allura is losing all her trust in Keith. Matt is afraid and so am I. Pidge doesn't know what to think. Coran's trying to keep the peace while Shiro's trying to keep the team together. This Galra business is tearing us apart."

Lance took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay."

"Okay? Just okay?" Hunk demanded.

"What else do you want me to say? You agreed to help me. You thought it was the right thing to do!"

"Yes! But I thought wrong, okay?"

Lance was taken aback by the sharp tone in his friend's voice. "Hunk? I think you're forgetting that we did it for Voltron. You don't know this, but I think we would have been a lot worse off if we did nothing at all."

Hunk's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying? I thought you supported Keith's--"

"--Listen to me!" Lance hissed, pulling up his sleeve.

Hunk's gaze darted to Lance's arm and gestured to the marks. "What's all of this?"

"Something that you guys seem to be forgetting."

Hunk took Lance's arm to get a better look at the slightly smudged writing. "Haggar? But what does she want with Keith? Doesn't Zarkon want all of the lions?"

"I don't know." Lance pulled his arm away after Hunk was finished reading. "I didn't get the chance to finish writing before I lost my train of thought."

"Do you think it has something to do with his Galra side?" Hunk asked.

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Lance pulled his sleeve over the pen marks once again and pondered for a moment. "How are the repairs to the Red lion coming along?"

"Keith was about halfway done before he left... wait. Why do you ask?" Hunk said with growing concern.

"I have a feeling that there's a storm coming our way, Hunk. We need all five lions--"

"--but without Keith-"

"--We'll figure something out!" Lance snapped.

Hunk's eyes widened in shock.

Lance's eyes softened. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, buddy. It's just... I think we're all scared at this point. Our bond is breaking, the Red lion is broken, and Keith is out there somewhere drifting in the vastness of space. Absolutely none of this is looking good for us!"

Hunk looked as though he was on the verge of having a panic attack. He inhaled a series of short breaths before speaking. "I know that. I just want to say that I trust your judgement, Lance. Even if you got us into trouble before, everything always worked out in the end. Tell me what you're planning. I'll listen."

Lance smiled. "It all begins with the Red lion."