The Monster in the Sky. Klance AU

Chapter 39: Don't Scream

"Come here," Lotor spoke in his usual monotonous voice. Lance lifted up his head and raised a single eyebrow. "Lance, trust me." Lance didn't want to admit that Lotor's voice was calming and really nice to listen to because he was the enemy (but it was true). It reminded him of one of the lullabies his mother used to sing to him that never failed to make him fall asleep. His voice was the epitome of a teddy bear and soft ocean waves beneath a sunset mixed together.

"Why on earth would I trust you, of all people? You attacked my home planet." Lance kept his voice harsh, despite his mind warning him that he was being so nasty that it went against his morals.

"What's the worst that I could do? I have a cuff around my foot so can't go far, even if I was able to knock you out with my bare fists."

Lance, mainly because he was too tired to continue arguing, decided to stalk up to Lotor but he still kept a metre of space between them for his own reassurance. "What do you want? I'm here to watch and interrogate you, not to make friends."

"Get closer."

"No, why would-" Lance was cut off by his own grunt as Lotor grabbed a fistful of his shirt and forced him forward. Their faces were just millimetres apart; so close that Lance could feel Lotor's warm breath against his cheek.

"They're going to come for me and then you'll regret ever being my captor. I'm going to find your family and give them the slowest, most gruesome deaths possible. Can't you imagine your little niece and nephew as they scream for their uncle to come and save them? But you won't be able to do anything because I'll be the one keeping you captor, forcing you to listen as I kill the people you love." Lotor's voice held more emotion than it had the entire time he had been captured but it was a harsh venom that made Lance feel nauseated.

"You aren't going to get out, Lotor. You're watched 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no chance anyone will be able to get in here to speak to you; let alone break you out."

Lotor didn't say anything but a large, sinful smile that looked like it belonged to the Cheshire Cat spread across his face. He began to stare ahead, seemingly right through Lance as if he had become nothing but a transparent pane of glass.

"Lotor?"

Silence.

It sent a shiver through Lance's spine.

-

"He's going to try and escape. We have to keep watch." Lance explained to Shiro, face paler than snow. He had been standing with Lotor for over an hour by that point and all he had experienced was a murderous silence. Lotor hadn't stopped staring at him with a contemplative expression on his face; it looked like he was plotting Lance's murder.

"He's trying to scare you so he can get your defences down. Don't fall for it." Shiro responded, hardly looking up for longer than a second. For the rest of the time, his gaze was frozen on the table where he a stack of papers were sitting. Lance couldn't have guessed what they were but he could tell by the large stamp on top of them that they must have been important.

"We need more guards down there. Just as a precaution."

"You know we can't do that. I wish we could but most people are having to go through the new training regimes that Pidge and her dad have introduced. Everyone is massively stressed and busy at the moment. There isn't anyone we can risk sparing."

"What about Keith? Hunk? Pidge?"

"You know we can't put Keith out there. He's caring for James. I heard he took a bit of a bad turn a few days ago," The distant, almost sad expression on Shiro's face suggested that he may have done more than just hear about it but Lance didn't push it. Lance stayed silent, staring down at his lap and tapping one finger against the table. His leg was bouncing up and down in restlessness and trepidation; Shiro wasn't exactly helping. "Pidge is busy with her dad. They're continuously testing new technologies that help raise Earth's defence systems. Hunk is still doing his volunteer work in the cafeteria and the staff there have become reliant on him."

"But-"

"Lance," Shiro reached out a laid his hand on Lance's shoulder to calm the paladin. "He's just trying to scare you, yeah? That's all. There's no way he is going to get out of that room. There's so much CCTV and so many different security systems in the Galaxy Garrison that it might as well be the most secure prison in the world. You're safe."

Lance knew better than to argue with his leader. Shiro was the most educated and intelligent of them all so, if he said it was alright, it was alright.

-

It wasn't alright.

Lance had turned up to talk to Lotor as he had been doing since Lotor had first been captured. He started off with a menial greeting, to which Lotor had just grunted and refused to look at him. They stood in silence for an extended period of time before Lotor reached out and pulled Lance towards him again. "They're coming." He mumbled, face so close to Lance's ear that he could feel his breath against his neck. Lance refused to admit that it sent a disturbed shiver up his spine.

"No one is going to rescue you."

"You have no idea, paladin. I have a preposition for you," A smile tugged at Lotor's lip but Lance was too busy glaring down at his feet to notice. "If you let me go, I won't touch your family. I won't even touch Earth again. I'll leave you and your precious Earthlings alone."

"No, you won't. I may be dumb but I'm not dumb enough to trust you."

Lotor let out a malicious chuckle, body shaking as he threw his head back and laughed. "Can't say I didn't try. How about this, if you don't scream, I'll leave Earth alone. I'll disappear to another end of the universe where you won't be able to find me and you won't ever hear from me again."

"If I don't- what-" Lance tried to question but, before he could get the right words out, Lotor had shoved him against the wall. Pain exploded in Lance's head as he opened his mouth to yell but couldn't get the words to cooperate.

Lotor smirked and lifted his foot to kick at Lance's head, ensuring he was going to fall unconscious. "Close your eyes, paladin. This doesn't have to be difficult." Lance's brain was urging him to fight back and stand up but he couldn't. His eyes were too heavy. They felt like weights of lead had been sat on top of them which meant, inevitably, his world drifted in darkness around him.