Chapter Text
For Lance, the first few days without her were the worst. At every turn he expected her to show up again, or for the whole thing to fade and he would end up back there. At least there, he had been expecting what he got. Here, he couldn’t predict anything.
He remembered Allura ordering for them to attack him, remembered Hunk being the one to do it while Lance was still restrained. The way they approached him, like they were friends, only made everything worse. How could they still act like they were best friends after everything that had happened?
“Hey, Lance?” The sudden voice jerked Lance out of his thoughts, looking up quickly like he had gotten used to doing. Keith’s face made Lance take an involuntary step back, watching him cautiously.
Lance didn’t speak, although that was expected. He had barely said a word since he had been rescued, worried that if he said the wrong thing then they’d turn against him again. He had been brought from the ship to this castle, which was strange - Haggar’s tricks never went this far. Maybe that was what she wanted him to think, so that he’d gain hope and then he would be even worse off.
“You feeling any better?” Keith asked, trying not to seem uneasy. Allura and Coran had told them to make sure that they didn't make Lance feel threatened in any way, in case he reacted badly. Since they didn't know what had happened (and Lance was unwilling to explain), they just had to guess that Lance had been hurt several times over the seven months that he'd been in Haggar’s captivity.
Lance was quiet, as per usual, and Keith sighed quietly. “Come on, Lance… no response, no nothing?”
Lance shook his head, opening his mouth to speak but then going silent.
"Lance, we just want to help you," Keith tried. "We're a team, remember? I know that you need your space, and I don't blame you for that, but we don't know how to help you because you haven't said anything."
Lance just shook his head, refusing to share any of it. He couldn't tell them, he couldn't.
“Alright,” Keith murmured. “Thanks for talking to me, Lance. Do you want to get something to eat?”
Lance shook his head again, as he always did - ever since he had gotten back, he'd refused to eat, in case the food was drugged (a common trick, as he knew from experience), and he refused to sleep in case one of the paladins came in to kill him while he was defenseless.
It wouldn't be the first for either, nor was it the first time that he’d been lied to. Despite everything the others were saying, Lance could see that they had underlying emotions - anger, probably directed at him, and worry, probably that they didn't know what to do now that he was still alive.
“Hey, I've got an idea,” Keith tried. “Do you wanna go on a flight with Blue? I'll go with you so that you don't get taken again, but I'll leave you alone.”
Lance looked up at him, slightly surprised. Ever since he had gotten back, the others had tried to stop him from leaving, but now Keith was giving him a chance to leave this place… He nodded slowly.
Keith smiled slightly and held his hand out, close enough to himself so that Lance wouldn't freak out. “Come on, then.”
Lance didn't take his hand, but stared at it as if it was a foreign object to him. Then, he headed for the hangar rather than the zipline, and Keith followed behind him.
Lance climbed inside of Blue and Keith into Red, the two of them taking off. While Keith didn't say anything to Lance, he was always next to him. Lance felt slightly annoyed, knowing that Keith would bring him back if he tried to not return. Despite that, he felt the familiar controls and smiled; Blue hadn't changed at all. “I missed you, girl,” he rasped out, his voice hoarse from a lack of use, and smiled at her response - she had missed him, too. If the paladins didn't think he was important, or that he needed to die for Blue to have a new paladin, at least Blue still liked him.
“Alright!” Lance sped up, barely registering Keith catching up to him. Lance let out a laugh, more out of relief. He grinned as he did crazy maneuvers, just glad to be back in the air with Blue.
Keith, who could hear Lance, smiled. He knew how much Lance loved Blue, and that he was probably getting more frustrated being stuck inside the castle with people that he thought were (as Lance had said earlier) going to use him.
Allura’s face popped up on a screen in front of Keith. “Keith, is everything alright? Your lions are far from the castle.”
“We’re fine,” he responded. “I brought Lance out here, and right now he's the happiest I've heard him since we got him out.”
She gave a relieved smile. “I'm glad. Just make sure that you two come back safely.”
“Of course, Princess,” Keith responded, one of Lance's cheers traveling over the communication line so that Allura could hear it.
Allura smiled, before the connection was ended. They flew around for a while before heading back to the castle, although Lance was reluctant to follow Keith.
Lance's mood had been ecstatic while they were outside, but now that they were back his mood had mellowed out. “How are you feeling now, Lance?” Keith asked.
“I-” Lance quickly stopped himself, and Keith looked hopeful for a moment before he sighed. He knew that it would take time, but they didn't know anything that would help them help Lance.
The team all tried to be patient with him, but they were quickly getting frustrated. Coran, however, was the one who usually calmed things down when they got crazy like that.
Keith thought back to the rescue mission, when they had broken into the Galra ship and saved Lance. He should've realized then that everything had changed.