Ruby and Saphire : Voltron:LD Klance

Fifty-Three

Keith nuzzled Pike's curly hair, curled up in his chair on the bridge.

"You still awake?" Pidge asked as she shuffled over.

The red paladin looked up at her. "About halfway." He muttered and she smiled, petting Pike's hair. Keith sniffled and sighed. "But I'm not paying attention. What are you guys talking about?"

Pidge hesitated, then cleared her throat. "Trëd."

Keith clenched his jaw and looked away. "Why?"

"Well... The freedom fighters actually have someone on the inside, already. He's a guard in the Galran prison." Pidge started, sitting on the arm of his chair. "He said Kolivan is still in the same cell, barely alive."

Keith looked up. "Lance?" He dared to ask softly, curling his fingers into Pike's blanket.

Pidge bit her lip, glancing up to the person approaching. Keith twisted and looked up at Shiro. "Does he know anything about Lance?"

Shiro crouched down, placing his hand gently on Keith's arm. "They're..." He trailed and looked over to Pidge. "He's alive."

The red paladin slumped and rested his head a top Pike's. "He's alive... Lance is okay..."

~

"Is it really okay to let Keith believe Lance is fine?"

Shiro sighed, looking down. "He needs to keep taking care of Pike and Rosie... You saw what happened last time Keith lost someone."

Pidge looked down, rubbing her arm. "He rejected Rosie and Lance... If he finds out Lance is going to be killed in there, he'll shut out Rosie and Pike."

The black paladin placed a hand on her shoulder. "We have to prolong that as much as we possibly can."

The green paladin pursed her lips, then nodded and turned back to the others.

~

Chest tight, eyes stinging, Lance stumbled and ran through the maze. He choked on sobs and gasps, panting heavily.

Lance cried as a cord shot out from the wall and wrapped around his ankle. It tightened and yanked him to the ground.

He grunted and groaned as he hit the floor. Lance started to push himself up, shaking his head to clear it. He flipped onto his back, eyes wide as he heard footsteps slide around a corner.

"No!" Lance shouted, scrambling to tear the cord off. He hurried to his feet, tossing the cord.

With no weapon to defend himself, Lance was forced to run and scramble through this never-ending maze.

Turning a corner, he spotted a latter. Without a second thought, he hurried up the latter and pulled himself on top of the wall.

He froze, spotting his little girl a top another wall several meters away. Lance quickly pivoted and spotted the exit in another direction.

Lance hesitated, then looked back to Rosályn.

She had tears streaking her red cheeks, clutching Berrie to her chest. "Daddy! Daddy, help!" She cried, and Lance's felt a stab throw his chest.

He clenched his jaw and tightened his fists. She's not real... That's not her... His bottom lip trembled, chest tightening.

Rosályn started to cry louder. Lance flinched, shoulders becoming heavier as he inched closer to the exit rather than to her.

The blue paladin halted as a sentry climbed up onto a wall near Rosályn. His eyes widened, a cold weight dropping in his gut. "No... No, please!" Lance shouted, scrambling over walls and leaping other to get closer. "Please, don't hurt her!" He gasped, wheezing as he slipped and his chest hit the wall.

Rosályn started screaming, Berrie crying out as well.

Lance sobbed, trying to heave himself back up. "Rosie! Rosie, get out of the way!"

The sentry watched him struggle, then aimed his blaster at the toddler.

"No! No- stop!" Lance's heart pounded, breath picking up in panic. He raced a top the walls to get to her. I can't do it again! I can't watch her die again! Tears stung his eyes and cleared dirt from his cheeks as he hurried towards her, everything burning and aching. "Rosie, move!"

Rosályn stayed still, crying and gripping Berrie tighter. "Daddy, help me!"

Lance swore his heart stopped as he heart the blast. The purple light tore through Rosályn's chest and cleared off Berrie's head. Lance screamed, the shock and terror causing him to freeze up and jerk.

His foot slipped, sending him flying off the wall. He gasped, blacking out for less than a second as he collided with the floor.

Agony throbbed through his head and side as he twitched, the figure of a druid approaching him.

"Trial thirty-seven... Failed... Blue paladin, when will you learn?"

Lance's eyes cracked open enough to see Rosályn's and Berrie's bodies glitch and vanish.

He was so close... So close, that time... He could almost touch her...

"Bring him back to the cell. We'll try again next trial."

Trails...

That's how Lance kept a track of time.

He was given a trial, a day to rest, then another trial. One trail means two days. He's been gone for seventy-three days.

Or, quintants if you're in space.

Lance groaned as his arms were grabbed and he was dragged back to his cell across the prison. He was thrown less-than graciously in. A tray of food skidded across the floor and the door slammed shut.

He flinched at the screech and banging of the door, squinting to see in the dim, violet light.

His breathing started to regulate as well as his heart beat. Lance stared at the tray of food he knew he couldn't eat.

However, he crawled over. This is the only food he'll be allowed until after the next trial.

Lance bit into the strangely textured fruit and gagged as it tickled the back of his throat when he tried to swallow. He managed to get most of it down before dragging himself the corner with two blankets. One for a pillow, the other to wrap himself with.

He still couldn't sleep.

-----

975 words

So he's been gone for over two months... Pike turned a year old without his father there.