The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[5] I'm sorry, Keith

"Keith, come in!"

"Allura!" Keith sighed in relief, letting his shoulders drop from their tensed form. "It's good to hear you! Have you found anyone else yet?"

"Not yet, but we have coordinates for Hunk and Pidge."

Keith was cheered up by the thought that they were slowly coming back together after what had happened, but he hesitated at the mention of only two other paladins. "What about Shiro?" He asked "I thought the wormhole would've shot us out close to each other, but I'm not picking up his signal."

"I'm sorry, Keith." Allura's voice was full of sympathy. "We've got nothing. Maybe his lion was damaged."

Keith stared up at the ceiling of his cockpit, taking note of the damage. Shiro had been the one to carry him into the castle just before the wormhole tore them out again. If he hadn't been stupid and gone after Zarkon, they would have probably gotten away in one piece.

He looked down at the controls again, realising he still had the open comms with the castle. Staring out, he could just see it in the distance, a white haze in stark contrast with the black surrounding it.

"... I've got visuals on the castle," Keith said, hands gripping Red's controls. "I'm coming in." He frowned slightly, glancing down to the radar. The white dot of the castle was drawing closer as he urged Red onward, and he could see the yellow and green right on the edge, only just within range. The Black lion was nowhere to be found, and the twist in his gut tightened.

He had already lost Shiro once before now.

There was something nagging at the back of Keith's mind- this was his fault. He had been the one to attack Zarkon. Coran had warned him- they all had- and he had muted them. Blocked them out. He had been focused on destroying the Galra Empire for good. Wiping out the evil that had plagued the universe for centuries, ruining the lives of so many.

Keith had been the one to run ahead, the one to nearly ruin the entire operation.

With that hanging above his head, Keith was unable to shake the blame. Voltron was a team. He couldn't go in alone anymore. It's what got him kicked out of the Garrison. 'Disciplinary issues' meant his refusal to work with a team.

Something else flickered over the radar. Was that the Blue lion? Keith focused more, trying to catch it again. Blue flashed twice, on two completely different sides of the map.

"Come on, don't break on me now!" he growled.

"Keith?"

He looked up, startled at the sudden sound of Allura's voice. He was close enough in range for visuals to turn up, and Allura's eyes were flecked with concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah..." he frowned again, looking at the radar once more. The mysterious flashes had reminded him of the final paladin. "Do you have anything on Lance?"

"I'm sorry. I cannot locate him at all."

"I thought I just saw..."

The blue light flickered, showing up in two different spots at once. Impossible, of course. Keith restrained himself from whacking the monitor as he'd do back on Earth. Red was a living being- well, he wasn't sure of the living part- and she wouldn't take to kindly to him hitting her.

"Saw what?"

"Are you sure you can't see Lance at all?"

Allura hesitated, biting her lip. "Well..." she said, trailing off. "It is more of I cannot get a clear view. I've tried, but his signal keeps jumping between systems."