Not So Human

Chapter Fifteen

"Has an - dy been ab - to cont - t - th?"

Lance couldn't focus on the words being spoken around him. His head felt too fuzzy. He tried to listen to his captors anyway.

"He's - miss -"

This voice didn't sound anything like any of the people he'd been around lately. The realization made Lance even more confused. Did the Galra switch leaders? Was he finally allowed to die? The torture and fighting he'd been forced through was beginning to take its toll.

" - movi -! L - ce!"

The voices were getting way too loud, and he couldn't even make out a few of the lower nurmers at his side. He groaned audibly and covered his ears. He wanted to tell everyone to shut up, but the words would just add to the noise.

"Lance...?"

The young Altean frowned weakly. The entire room had gone silent except for one. This person hadn't been on the prisoner ship with him. He reluctantly opened his eyes. He slowly uncovered his ears as he stared at his friends.

Allura and Coran were sitting the farthest away from him, making it obvious that they were trying to give him space. Hunk, Pidge,a nd Shiro stood beside him. The one person he found himself missing the most wasn't there.

"Why are you guys here?" Lance whimpered. "Is Keith going to save us?"

"We're back in the Castle," Shiro soothingly touched the scared boy's arm. "Keith is with the Blade of Marmora."

"Can we get him and go home?" He stared up at the older man.

"You are home -"

"Earth is my home," Lance interrupted Allura with a weak glare. "There is nothing you can do to change that."

Allura sank back in her chair, and Lance was relieved that she was letting go. He looked back up at Shiro. They stared at one another until the black paladin spoke.

"We don't know where he is. The Blade isn't answering any of our attempts to contact them."

The blue paladin blinked slowly. He wanted to ignore the panic rising in his mind. What if Keith wasn't okay?

It took Lance a moment to notice the worried expressions on Hunk and Pidge's faces. As soon as he did, though, it became more obvious that he was struggling to breathe properly. Shiro gently touched his arm before leaving the room.

"I'm sure Keith is okay, Lance," Pidge tried. "They mentioned going on a mission..."

The idea of Keith working against the Galra without the other pilots didn't make him feel better, but he didn't say it out loud. The group of people around him were already worried about him. He made a move to sit up.

"What did I miss?" Lance glanced at the doorway as Shiro returned to the room. "As much as I miss Earth, I know stuff happened here while I was gone."

"The Galra attacks lessened everywhere that wasn't near their main base," he explained. "We followed their army that direction and had Pidge hack into their comms. We've been focused on finding you."

"They've wanted to watch me fight," Lance sighed. "They still had a job to do, but they wanted to be near the arena. That was all I managed to overhear."

"That's alright, Lance," Hunk promised. "We know that you were focused on surviving."

Lance nodded slightly. If the others weren't as focused on him as they were, he would have let a guilty expression cross his face. He hadn't even considered listening to their enemies' words while he was imprisoned on their ship.

He just wished they wouldn't have caught on to his thoughts. Hunk and Pidge apparently knew him too well, though. The stronger of the two teenagers gripped him in a tight hug.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Lance, but you don't have to worry about it," Shiro said as Hunk took the blue paladin's breath away with his embrace.

As Lance attempted to pull away, if only to allow air into his lungs, he simply stared at the previous black paladin. Shiro gave him a reassuring smile. The others had matching expressions.

"I'm sorry. He said quietly, starting to speak again before they could interrupt him. "You've got to give me time to get used to being free.

The paladin glanced up just in time to see an understanding look appear on Shiro's face. He gently rested a hand on his shoulder. He quietly whispered "would you like to be alone?" before allowing Lance to answer. When the boy gave a small nod, he ushered everyone out of the room. He shut the door behind him and allowed Lance to get more rest.

***

"Do you want to talk to Lance?" Allura asked, her voice muffled by the bedroom door.

"I will," Shiro's voice carried into the room. "We all need to give him some space, though. If he tells me to get out, I'll listen."

Lance, who'd woken up to the sound of two people speaking in the hallway, braced himself for someone to enter the room. It had taken hinn a while to wake up enough to process Shiro and Allura's words, but he was glad he had caught on before the older man banged on his door.

He didn't, though. His knocking was gentle, and it took Lance a second to remember that Shiro had gone through the same thing he had. He knew that the Galra were violent and tended to knock as loudly as they could before barging into their prisoners' cells. Lance was thankful that SHiro was waiting for his permission to come in.

A few seconds after Lance gave the okay, Shiro poked his head into the room.

"We've got news on where Keith is located."

9/6/19