halo 'n horns [klance au]

19. Allies & Enemies pt.1

https://pm1.narvii.com/6554/3b3b27f3de9ba6217e48aff92b4c05f338b49bec_hq.jpg

Keith

"I'm-"

I glanced down at my walkie-talkie, frowning. Lance? Or just static?

"Lance?" I spoke into the black box.

No reply. I backpedaled down the hallway, eyes still alert, until I reached the elevator. Slamming my fist into the elevator button by the door, I waited anxiously. I had been sure that that had been Lance's voice on the walkie, but he wouldn't just blurt something like that.

The elevators opened with a ding, and I was surprised to see Pidge already standing inside, her arms crossed over her chest, tranquilizer slung over her back.

I stepped inside quickly as the doors shut. "What's going on?" I asked, noticing Rover's absence.

"We're going up. Rover already took the stairs down to secure us some more time. I'd been tuned into Lance's heart rate- it jumped very quickly right after he called to us. Either he's being a little shit and messing around, or the Generals and Lotor are up on that top floor."

I nodded tersely. Just hours earlier, it felt like Lance had been the one saving me. But now, as the elevator whooshed up a level, I felt like I was going to have to be the one saving him. Or, it was what Pidge had said, and the idiot was just caught off guard by something useless.

As I tried to listen in too, hoping that I might catch a hint of Lance's heartbeat, the classical music that played over the speakers in the elevator kept catching me off guard. Pidge seemed to be having a similar problem. I gritted my teeth as the fast-paced cello notes invaded my head.

With a ping, the elevator stopped. Pidge sunk into a crouch, and I followed in suit. As the doors slid open, I kept my finger on the trigger, eyes squinted. But, to my surprise, no one was waiting for us on the other side of the doors. Pidge stayed still for a few moments before rising, still on guard. She exited first.

I realized that the classical music was now playing in the hallway too, and it kept me from being able to use my heightened senses. "Shit, can Bach calm down a little?" I grumbled.

Pidge made a strangled attempt at a chuckle.

The hallway we slowly walked down was unnaturally lavish. On my floor below it, the ground had been rough, scratched wooden boards and pale walls. Up here, though, I felt like I was back at one of the fancy hotels Lance and I had stayed in.

The hallway wasn't very long, with a total of ten doors, five on each side. I glanced at one of the plaques on the door closest to me. 'Conference Room 2'. So these were where the deals were made, I guessed. Rover never told us how large the company had extended, but if it had this kind of grandeur for the meetings, it had to be pretty large.

I almost felt clumsy with the gun in my hands- I was fine with combat, but, especially since Lance kicking my ass in laser tag, I realized that I should probably stick with one-on-one contact fighting.

Pidge signaled for us to keep moving and I saw her eyes focused on the last door on the left in the hallway. It was open just a crack, unlike every other door. I had a feeling that, if the Generals and Lotor were really in here, they'd be in that one.

Pidge flattened herself against the left side of the hallway, so I pressed my back against the right side. Together, we moved forward.

With every step we took, it seemed like the classical music got louder and louder. My head began to throb to the pulse of the beat and I shook my head wildly, as if to dislodge the migraine. I had to stay sharp.