Light Years Away | A Voltron Fanfiction (On Hiatus, sorry, I'm trash)

5

Keith sat in Lance's abandoned room, hugging the red paladin's cold duvet to his chest in an attempt to comfort himself. Why was he so worried? Why did he want to cry all the time? At least when Shiro went missing he could fool himself into thinking he had just been teleported far away, to a sunny planet somewhere. Obviously that wasn't the case but the hard truth didn't hit them until Shiro was back at the castle, safe with them. But Lance... Lance was either with Lotor or dead and depending on what Lotor was doing Lance might be better off dead. But Keith was selfish, he needed Lance to live, no matter the cost.
"Hey" greeted Shiro softly when he walked into the dark room, only pausing for a second before he sat next to Keith on Lance's bed.
"You've been hiding out around the castle for the last four days, we're really worried about you. I'm really worried about you" comforted the older man, placing his left hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith barely registered the motion. He'd been avoiding the others because he couldn't face them, not with the guilt of lashing out and this feeling of uselessness. Lance had been gone a week now and Keith hadn't managed to be helpful at all, he couldn't track ships and he could only fight if he had an opponent. And honestly the place felt hollow without Lance and being with his team just emphasized that fact, like the heart of the group was missing.
"I'm sorry about... Yelling.... And worrying you" muttered Keith, still not looking into his leader's eyes. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Shiro waiting for Keith to add to what he said. No reply came.
"We're close to finishing the Lotor-Tracker, when we, or should I say Pidge and Hunk, finish we'll be able to find where Lotor is and where he has been recently" Keith perked up at Shiro's words, immediately turning towards the older man, eager for more information.
"We're close?" Whispered Keith, utterly astounded. And so, so, so guilty. In the time he'd been a selfish baby the rest of team Voltron had managed to make leaps and bounds in finding their enemy. The thought was... Sobering.
"Yes, Pidge is just waiting for the final data to configure and then we should get the ship's past and current coordinates." Smiled Shiro reassuringly, squeezing Keith's shoulder before getting up. His body language made it obvious he wanted Keith to follow.
"Uhm...." Stuttered the Black Paladin, before mentally deciding to get over himself and at least try to be a good leader.
__

"Is it done yet?" Asked Allura impatiently, her mice perched on her shoulders with anticipation.
"Just a few more ticks" replied Pidge, her eyes glued to the screen. Hunk was positioned similarly, only he had his finger and on top of a small yellow button.
"What will happen when you press it?" Questioned Coran, noticing the button as he typed hurriedly on a control panel from across the room.
"It will instantly upload the information to the castle, so we can find Lance more efficiently." Answered Hunk, turning to the ginger man as he said it.
"But that will only a save a couple extra ticks" pointed out Allura from her place in the middle of the room.
"Then we'll find Lance a couple of ticks sooner" said Hunk solemnly, bringing his attention back to the screen. For a few minutes the only sound that filled the room was Pidge's frantic typing.

"What did I miss?" Asked Keith as he and Shiro walked into the control deck, only Coran acknowledged their arrival- then he went back to typing.
"Uhm... Sor- sorry" muttered Keith, bowing his head and averting his eyes from what he was sure to be angry glances.
"It's... It's okay. We're all under a lot of stress, we weren't working hard enough. We get it" sighed Pidge, looking up from her computer with tears in her eyes. No way was Keith gonna let her feel like this.
"No. You were all trying your best, better even. I was just so fucking frustrated with myself for being so unhelpful that I had to blame you and I yelled so stulifly. I'm sorry." This time he apologized more thoughtfully, clearly. He looked Pidge right in her tear filled eyes as he said it. She nodded with a smile.

Beep

"What was that!?" Called Shiro as he ran towards Pidge and Hunk's equipment, Hunk pressed the button.
"We've got Lotor's coordinates, present and past" explained Hunk quickly as he motioned for Allura to start up the castle.
"Why do we need to know where he is and already has been!? Why not just where he is?!" Said Keith, rushing to Coran's side to help switch a particularly large lever.
"Because Lotor probably isn't keeping Lance on his personal ship, it's too small. But he probably keeps visiting wherever he's keeping Lance." Explained Pidge, her hands darting across her keyboard at light speed.
"Got something!" Yelled Hunk excitedly.
"What?" Asked Allura, her words sharp and fast but not insulting.
"Lotor keeps going to the same place, it's a large prisoner ship in the North Polydemeac system. And I mean large. Lotor isn't there now but it's the most likely place he'd be keeping Lance."

"Let's go then." Ordered Keith, determination painted across his features like a second skin.