Ruby and Saphire : Voltron:LD Klance

Twenty-Five

Keith hummed as he shifted awake. He buried himself deeper into the pillows, hugging the blankets tighter around himself.

The red paladin sighed and relaxed, warm and comfortable. He then blinked and sat up.

Lance was gone.

He glanced over to the built-in crib.

Keith yawned, ruffling his own hair. "Lance must have her." He murmured.

He peeked around the bed and into Berrie's den.

She was gone too, which was strange. She was never too far from Keith's side.

"Maybe with Rosie." He shrugged, and got dressed.

Keith hummed as he walked down the hall and to the lounge. He walked in, then halted.

Lance looked up, then grinned and stood. "There you are. I was just about-"

"Where's Rosie?" Keith asked firmly, studying each of them carefully. "Where's Berrie? Are they with Allura?"

The other paladins blinked, glancing to each other.

"Babe." Lance stepped forward and took Keith's hand. "Rosie and Berrie are still in our room."

Keith furrowed his brow, looking up at him. "No they're not. I checked. Twice for Berrie. Stop joking, where are they?"

Lance squeezed Keith's hand. "They were in the room, Keith. Both were sound asleep when I left. Let's go check."

"I already did." Keith ground out, tearing his hand from Lance's. "What kind of mom would I be if I didn't see my own baby in my room? So stop fucking with me and tell me where she is!"

The blue paladin jerked back, then all of them jumped as the doors opened ad Allura ran in, eyes widened and dress disheveled. "The security systems have been hacked! Lotor can get into the castle!"

~

Pidge's fingers flew over her dash, Keith and Lance both panicky.

Shiro cautiously wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulders. Keith leaned on him, but didn't relax.

Lance began to pace as the silence dragged on.

The green paladin suddenly halted. "They've been steadily weakening and breaking down our security system right under our noses..."

The blue paladin stiffened, stopping in his tracks. Keith gently pushed Shiro off and stepped closer. "How?"

"There... There must be some bug or something. I-I can't find it anywhere in the digital system, so it has to be a physical bug. Maybe something latched to the outside of the ship." Pidge's eyes searched the screens as she swiped through.

Keith gulped. "So where the hell is my daughter and my cat?"

Coran and Allura stepped over from his control panel. "Lotor's General snuck on board." The paladins looked up to them, Allura's head low. Coran breathed deeply,for continuing. "I just checked the footage. It seems that during a temporary down of systems, one of his Generals snuck on board and was lead through the ship. Just ticks after Lance left your room, she snuck in and came out ticks later with Rosályn in one arm and a muzzled and chained Berrie in the other."

Keith trembled, staring at Coran in disbelief. He shook heavily as he choked on a sob, hands raising to his face.

"Oh, God... Oh, God- this is my fault..." Lance muttered, expression absolutely mortified.

Matthew pivoted sharply and grabbed Lance's shoulders. "Don't you even think that!" He shouted, eyes wide. "Not even for a second!"

Lance shook, breathing becoming heavy as his skin paled. His head snapped up as Keith cried and fell to his knees. Lance pushed Matthew aside and scrambled to the red paladin. He dropped in front of Keith and gathered him in his arms. 

Keith buried himself into Lance, clutching onto him as he wept.

Shiro clenched his jaw, looking up at Allura. "We need to find that bug, tear it apart, and get Rosie back, right now. Pidge, contact Kolivan. Matthew, contact the freedom fighters. We're getting everyone we can to make sure Rosie is back with us safe as soon as possible. Perferablly within the varga. Sooner."

~

Lance and Keith were forced into their room and the door was locked on the outside. Lance paced as Keith stood by the crib.

"How did not wake up?"

Lance paused.

Keith reached in and grabbed Rosályn's favorite blue blanket. "She wasn't more than five feet away. Berrie wasn't even that far either." His voice broke.

Slowly, Lance stepped closer, then wrapped his arms around Keith. Keith buried his face in Lance's shoulder, biting back more sobs.

"It's my fault... If I had just turned around... I had a bad feeling and I ignored it. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Keith."

Keith shook his head, sucking in a shuddering breath. "I just want them back." He whispered, curling his fingers into Lance's shirt and Rosályn's blanket.

Lance nodded, tangling his fingers into Keith's hair as he pulled back to look him in the eyes. "We'll have her back, Keith."

"Lance... He'll kill her." Keith gripped Lance's wrists, but didn't push him away. "She's barely a month old. She hasn't even smiled yet. She hasn't said her first word, rolled for the first time- she hasn't even taken her first steps."

The blue paladin pet Keith's hair back and kissed his forehead. "We'll get her, Keith. Berrie will protect her until we have her again." Keith hesitated, but slowly nodded. "They made a mistake bringing Berrie with them." He muttered, then paused.

Keith blinked. "Lance?"

A sly smirk built on Lance's face. "A bigger mistake than they'll realize. Berrie's collar has a tracker in it."

-----

903 words

Still short, but damn it, I already hate writing without Rosie there.