Lance Alone

Part 11 (Keith)

The Blue Lion finally slowed to a stop around Alatoch, the transit station they visited not long ago. They landed on the planet, looking around for Lance, but the station was as crowded as ever.

"He could be anywhere by now," Keith kicked a rock on the ground, sending it skittering across the station, "I knew this was a dead end! I KNEW it!"

"Keith," Hunk laid his hand on Keith's shoulder, but Keith just batted him away, "it's alright.""No, it's not! We lost him! He's gone and never coming back. And it's my fault." Wow, wouldn't Lance love to hear that.Coran left to grab some food, and by the time he came back, Keith's rant was over. The team sat along one of the benches, people-watching and eating noodles. Keith's rampage toned down to a light simmer, and of course, what bad mood can't be cured by a hot meal? "We shouldn't hang around here for too long. Too many Galra sniffing around," Keith stood back up, "We'll have more space and time to think up a new plan back in the Castle." Pidge looked up from her bowl, a noodle still hanging out of her mouth, but it stopped mid-slurp. She stood up, forgetting her food behind her, and started walking towards the center of the station. Then, she started running. "Where's she headed off to?" Hunk wondered aloud. "Probably another cool robot or... something..." Keith saw it too, how the crowd seemed to part for her as she made a beeline across the floor. But she wasn't just running towards something, she was running towards someone. And that someone was running towards her. Instinctively, the other paladins grabbed their bayards, ready for a hostile attack, but Pidge just collided with the figure and wrapped her arms around him. Taller than her, with the same wild fluffy hair, the stranger wrapped his arms around Pidge. "Matt!" she gasped, "I can't believe it--I found you!"

Crying and sobbing ensued. Lots of crying, Matt attempting to scold Pidge for putting herself in danger but always stopping halfway through because he knew that there was no one in the world he wanted to see. When they finally composed themselves, Matt was brought over to the bench, and he wouldn't let go of his sister. He didn't look much like Pidge's photo of him anymore, with locks that were even more untamed than before. He also didn't have his glasses, and kept squinting at them while they talked, like he was trying to sort out their faces.

"When I ran into that chatty fellow here, he kept talking about this mystical Voltron that was supposed to save the universe," Matt explained, "And I didn't believe him at first, but I got this feeling I should stick around. And boy, am I glad I did!"
"Ha!" Hunk elbowed Keith, "See? Lance WAS here. Do you know which way he was headed?"
Matt only shrugged. "He didn't say, only that he was leaving. He looked pretty miserable, though. The guy looked like he could use a hot bath and a good night's rest in his own bed."
"And... how long ago was this?"
"Just yesterday."
So Lance still had a whole day's lead on them. And there were no more clues. Well, not exactly clues... but something that Matt said flipped a switch in Keith's mind. A good night's rest in his own bed... why didn't he think of it before? Lance was headed home--home to Earth! How he was planning to make it all the way there, Keith wasn't sure. But he got this far.

Pidge dragged Matt with her, back up to the Castle, and insisted upon giving him an intricate guided tour. Her brother had a similar eye for machines like her, and they both oohed and ahhed over the guidance system and the lions themselves. Coran beamed, excited to see them take such pride in his grandfather's workmanship, and tagged along for the tour. Even though they just ate, Hunk decided that Matt needed a Welcome Home cake, and set about in the kitchen immediately. Keith could have tagged along in the festivities, NOTHING was better than seeing everyone happy again. But now was also the perfect time to act on his quickly-forming plan.

It was his fault Lance left, and if he wanted to be a good leader, he needed to fix his mistakes. He needed to get Lance on his own. And now that he knew where to find him, he had to strike while the iron was hot.

Until then, Voltron was going to have to deal with being short another member.