Meet Me at the Pyre (Langst)

Chapter Two

As soon as Hunk saw the torch being brought out in order to kill his best friend, rage flooded his body. Without hesitation, he whipped around and grabbed the queen by her throat. He lifted her off of the ground and in front of himself to shield himself.

"You let Lance go right now," he hissed at her while she scrabbled at his hands. By now the guards and locals were all watching Hunk in shock.

"Drop the torch!" Shiro yelled at the guard near Lance's body. Immediately he dropped it away from the pyre and lifted his hands in the air in surrender.

"Now untie him," he added. At that, they looked up at the queen hesitantly. Their brows furrowed in frustration and anger as they looked over at the queen.

"Tell them to let him go!" Hunk growled shaking her. She choked and lifted her hand to snap her fingers. Instantly the cuffs came undone and Lance toppled to the ground. Heart-wrenching sobs still coming from his mouth. Hunk didn't let go until Lance was safely in Shiro's arms and clutching to his armour. With a nod from Allura, he dropped her like a sack of potatoes to instead collect Lance's armour and join the group around him.

"How dare you?" The queen rasps as she glares up at the Altean towering over her. Allura only glares back, hatred stirring in her gut.

"How dare I? You had the audacity to place yourself above a paladin of Voltron?" She asked incredulously. It was obvious that she was brainwashing these people in order to seem more powerful. How many people have died at the hand of the queen in order for them to be completely unfazed by their actions? To actually enjoy taking the lives of others?

"We will be leaving, and we will not be coming back," Allura hissed. The queen's eyes widened before she scrambled to latch at Allura's ankle.

"What about our alliance?" She asked in panic. Allura glared down at her with venom and kicked her hands away from her.

"You lost that opportunity when you tried to execute the heart of Voltron," she stomped away to help the paladins carry an inconsolable Lance away. He was trying to stand with the help of Shiro and Hunk but his legs shook so much that he kept collapsing to the ground in a heap of tears. Finally, Hunk passed off the armour to Keith and Pidge and scooped him up in his arms. He settled down after a moment and snuggled his hot face into the crook of Hunk's neck.

"Let's get out of here," Shiro said quietly touching Lance's arm that was wrapped around Hunk's shoulder. They turned and marched out of the crowd of local and like when the queen passed, they parted for them.

"My goodness, what happened?" Coran asked as they passed him to head to the med bay. At the question Lance broke into quiet sobs again, the memories and injuries were still too fresh for him to be calm.

"The queen is an absolute monster, that's what happened," Hunk said as he laid Lance down on one of the beds. He whimpered as the adrenaline started wearing off and his injuries pulsed in pain.

"I will be right back, I have to assist the princess with takeoff, then we will fix Lance up," Coran said. He looked over at the boy in the bed and it was obvious that he didn't want to leave him right now. He had to get him off the planet though, he wouldn't have them hurting him any more than they already have.

They nodded and surrounded the bed, wanting to comfort him but they didn't know where they could possibly start. He whimpered and reached out to grab onto Shiro's arm, the other clutched onto Hunk's hand. At the touch, Hunk started crying again and hunched over, hugging the hand to himself. Keith leaned over Hunk and latched himself around his shoulder in a comforting hug.

"Don't worry bud, we'll get you fixed up," Shiro comforted. He smoothed Lance's hair out of his soaked face. Tears were still rolling down his cheeks, soaking the pillow underneath him but he could tell that he was safe. The terror of this day would never leave him though. He nodded his head shallowly and gave the leader a tiny quivering smile instead of bursting into tears again like he wanted to.

"Thank you for saving me," he whispered. It was quiet but everyone still heard it. They turned to him in awe.

"Lance you don't have to thank us for that, we care about you, of course, we would save you," Pidge said. Lance nodded his head even as his eyes filled up again.

"I-I thought that I was going to die," he admitted after a brief silence. They couldn't even feel shocked, it was obvious that he was close to death. Shiro was the only one of them who had their life flash before their eyes and he didn't remember it. Pidge choked and put her head into her hands and gripped onto Lance's hand that was on Shiro's arm.

"But you didn't Lance, you're here, you're home with us," Keith said looking into Lance's eyes. Lance could only nod, the pure emotion in Keith's voice and eyes shocked him.

"No one deserves to feel that, least of all you," Shiro said in a strangled voice as he looked down at the boy. He huffed and wiped his hand down his face as tears rolled down his cheeks. They held fast to the bed as the Castle jerked and they took off into space again.

"How are you feeling my boy?" Coran asked gently, once he and Allura walked through the door. Lance looked over at him with a smile.

"Not too great Coran," he admitted with a whisper. The paladins stared at him with worry. He must be in a lot of pain if he was admitting to not feeling great. Coran looked like he agreed with the assessment and started prepping a pod for him.

"Have no fear Lance, we'll get you good as new in no time," he said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. He nodded slightly and looked over at Allura.

"What happened with the alliance? Did you get it sorted out?" He asked her, an inquisitive look on his face. He huffed and crossed her arms in front of her.

"We will not be allying ourselves with them," he said with finality. Lance's eyes widened and he shook his hands away from the others to grasp onto her dress.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I didn't mean to lose the alliance for us," he cried looking tearfully into her eyes. She gasped placing a hand on her chest.

"No, Lance. None of this is your fault, you didn't do anything wrong," she insisted, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"We don't need a planet like Tyira in the Voltron alliance," Shiro agreed with a growl.

"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. Everyone else nodded and he relaxed slightly, he still couldn't get rid of the niggling feeling that he did something wrong but he couldn't exactly do anything about it.

"Okay, we're all set," Coran said tapping the last few buttons on the console. Shiro gently lifted Lance up and set him in the pod.

"We'll all be right here when you get out," he said before ruffling his face.

"Okay," Lance said quietly and shut his eyes. Coran started up the pod and they watched as he fell into sleep, his chest rising and lowering slowly.

"I wish we could have destroyed that planet ourselves," Hunk surprisingly said.

"You and me both," Keith said placing his hand on Hunk's shoulder.

"Lance would hate us for it," Shiro said with a frown. He crossed his arms and looked sulkily down at the ground. They all nodded their heads in agreement. However, it didn't stop Pidge from placing a beacon at the coordinates to lead the Galra to it.