Lance let his shoulders sag only after Shiro and Allura led Lotor away — to be locked up in some special cell room within the castle. He didn't even know the castle had cells, but he was glad to hear they had some secure place to keep Lotor and his shiny hair contained.
The main lounge was currently crowded with resistance fighters and Marmoran soldiers, all participating in various degrees of celebrations and serious discussions. He spotted Hunk and Pidge in the midst of a laughing group and smiled a bit at the sight of such happiness on his friends. He scanned the room for a particularly short Blade member, but turned away disappointed when he didn't see a head of messy black hair in the crowd. He was halfway out of the room, determined to get out of his armor and into a shower, when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Can I talk to you?"
Compared to most of the happy faces in the room, Matt's somber look was a stark contrast, and Lance had the distinct feeling that his very long day was nowhere near over yet.
"Sure." Lance nodded out towards the quieter hallway, and even managed a smile.
A smile that, for some reason, only resulted in Matt looking even more upset.
And a few doboshes later, after listening to Matt's retelling of what Keith had tried to do after Voltron's narrow escape from Naxzela, Lance knew exactly why Matt had looked so upset.
"He did what?"
Matt's natural reaction was to be sad.
Lance?
Lance was pissed.
No, forget pissed. He was livid. He was going to kill Keith.
"Lance, wait! Where are you going?"
He'd spun on his booted heel and marched right back into the lounge and directly to Kolivan.
"Where is he?" he demanded of the Blade leader.
"Lance?" Shiro asked upon reentering the room with the princess.
Lance ignored him and continued to glare up at Kolivan. He was vaguely aware that the rest of the room had gone quiet, the victory celebrations stalling at the sight of the current Red Paladin's distress.
"Who are you asking for?" Kolivan asked.
Lance visibly bristled. Who else would he be asking Kolivan about? "Keith. Where is Keith?"
If it wasn't for how utterly upset Lance looked at the moment, Hunk may have released a laugh when he saw some of the other resistance fighters glance curiously over at Allura. Most knew that the princess was not Keith, but those that had only seen the Voltron Show, and had not interacted with Allura directly, were likely confused right now.
Kolivan hesitated, and even glanced over to Shiro and Allura for a moment, but when no one interjected again to stop Lance's line of questioning, he spoke. "He stole a Galra ship after completing his part of the mission."
"Yes," Lance fumed, tone hard and words icy. "I know that part."
"He has not checked in again since the battle."
Shiro came to stand beside Lance. "Then where is he?"
"How can you just stand here when you don't know where he is?" Lance demanded.
"He is responsible for himself. He knows what to do." Kolivan straightened his spine as he spoke, clearly offended by their demands.
"Responsible for himself?" Lance asked incredulously as he pictured Keith — alone — trying to pilot his ship into Haggar's shields.
