Chapter One

Allura stared at the white metal walls, wondering if she could burn a hole in it if she stared at it long enough. She had finished being angry, then enraged, and with her energy spent, she had nothing left to do but sit on the cot provided for her. Other than that, her "room" had a bathroom and not much else. After she had been taken aboard Niloc's ship, she had seen neither hide nor hair of him. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd left Arus, but it felt like days.

Weeks even, she mused.

Her head suddenly felt too heavy to hold up. She touched her hair and felt loose strands falling. She began taking the pins out and her long blonde locks fell down her back. Her eyes widened when she felt something move on her head as she reached up to remove the last pin. She raised a tentative hand to see what it was and it closed upon a furry little body. Sighing, she picked it up and held it before her face. The little blue mouse chittered, its tiny arms waving.

"Why didn't you let me know you were in there?" she asked.

Cheddar chattered.

"I didn't know I put my hair up too tight. It was smart of you to hide up there. They never would have guessed," Allura said. "I'm glad you came along. I think that if they leave me alone here for much longer, I'm going to lose it."

Cheddar expressed his own relief that he had come along and hugged Allura's hand. She smiled sadly and patted his head with a gentle hand.

"I hope that they'll come and get me soon," she whispered.

Lance stood behind Doctor Gorma as he ran a skin grafter over Keith's bleeding hand. For his part, the commander didn't appear to be feeling any pain. Then again, after his outburst in the conference room, he hadn't said a word nor shown any sign of emotion. But his dark eyes spoke volumes as they flickered.

"You're lucky you didn't slice open an artery in your wrist," Gorma said, looking into Keith's face as he wrapped the hand up. "I suggest you not hit anything else for a while, or you'll risk severe nerve damage. You can take the bandage off at the end of the week. It should be fully healed by then."

Keith nodded and slid off the examination table. Lance stopped him with a raised hand. Doctor Gorma left the room.

"Are you going to tell them?" Lance asked when the doors had slid shut.

"Why would I have to?" Keith murmured.

"Maybe because he has the Princess or have you forgotten?"

Keith pinned Lance with a world-weary look. "How could I possibly forget? She was my responsibility. I was her bodyguard. I was supposed to protect her. The one time she really needed me, I wasn't there."

"Are you going to take responsibility for the war too?" Lance said, his arms waving around to emphasize his words. "You had a job to do, Keith. If you want to blame someone, blame him."

"Don't worry," Keith said bitterly. "I have that covered." He held his injured hand in the other, wincing as a sharp stab of pain climbed up his arm.

"That was a dumb move," Lance said.

"I know...I think I'm losing it."

"Well, I know you are," Lance led him out. "You need to get some rest. After your little viewscreen punching routine, now isn't a good time to be showing your face around Castle Control. They'll have too many questions while we have someone else to worry about."

Keith looked as if he was going to argue.

Lance narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to hear it," he said. "Do you want me to get Doctor Gorma to give you a sedative? As it was, I had a hard time getting him not to sic the psychiatrist on you."

"I'll go," Keith said, sounding defeated. "Just promise me you'll wake me up in two hours." He looked down. "With Pidge in ICU, we can't afford to be another man short."

"I'll wake you," Lance said stealthily.

When Lance reappeared in the conference room, the shards of glass from the broken viewscreen were gone, but the questions weren't. The others didn't say a word, but he knew what they were thinking. He suddenly felt like he was in the spotlight and they were expecting him to perform. All, that is, except Sven. His friend was sitting calmly, his jumpsuit still splattered with Keith's blood. He had been the first to rush ahead to his profusely bleeding friend and it had taken some doing on Lance's part to get him to stay in the room with the others while he took Keith to the medical ward. Lance met Sven's eyes and saw that he was not angry about being left out of Keith's confidence. He was only very concerned.

"Iz he alright?" Sven asked.

"He'll be fine," Lance replied. "He's resting now. Now, where were we?"

"Over who will take over Allura's position while she is gone," Gwen said. "I say Romelle, at the least as a figurehead while we work in the background. The Arusians need a leader figure now of all times and they've already bonded with her."

"Are you alright with that, Romelle?" Lance inquired.

"Yes," Romelle answered. "I want to speak with them as soon as possible. In the meantime, shouldn't we be talking about rescuing her?"

Sven shook his head. "Dat isn't a goot idea until Niloc contacts us. Who knows vat he'll do to her if ve try anyting."

"Why don't we make contact with him?" Gwen asked.

Lance checked his watch. "It's been an hour since she's left, correct?"

"Yes," his sister answered.

"Dat's too soon," Sven said. "For once, time iz our ally. Ve shouldn't contact him too soon because it vill show our veakness. Men like Niloc vant people to grovel at der feet. Ve von't give him dat. Ve vill take dis time to build up our defenses."

"What if they do something to her?" Romelle demanded. "What if we wait too long."

"We know Niloc isn't going to kill her," Lance said, walking around the room, his hands behind his back. "He wants her as a bargaining chip."

"What else could he possibly want?" Coran thought aloud.

"Voltron," Lance and Sven said in unison. Or Keith, Lance added silently.

"We have nothing else to give him," Gwen said with a small shrug.

"Here's what we do," Lance said. He opened a link to the repair bay. "Hunk, stop all repairs on Green Lion."

"What?" Hunk cried. "Are you nuts? What if they come back?"

"They won't be back," Lance said. "If anything, break it up again. I'll fill you in later."

"Alright," Hunk said, not sounding sure at all. "Whatever you say, Lance."

"So, vy are you stopping repairs on Green Lion again?" Sven prompted.

"As long as Green Lion is still damaged, Niloc won't get Voltron," Gwen answered for Lance.

Lance nodded. "Precisely. Has anyone contacted the senate?"

"No," Coran replied.

"We should tell them what's going on in case Niloc gets in touch with them with the Allura cash card. We don't want them to say anything that'll tick them off," Lance said.

Coran nodded. "I will get right on it."

"Is that it?" Lance asked.

"There is one more matter," Romelle began haltingly.

"Vat iz it?" Sven said.

"Will Keith be able to take up his usual leadership role?" she asked. "He was clearly Allura's second-in-command, but after that..." she gestured to the shattered viewscreen, "I don't know if he can handle it."

Sven and Lance exchanged a look. Gwen caught it and frowned suspiciously.

"We'll deal with that when he gets up," she said before they could answer. "He hasn't looked like himself since they got back from Galaxy Garrison. Can't blame the guy for blowing his top. To a man like Keith, losing something important to him is devastating. Since this someone is also his responsibility, it's a double blow."

Lance silently thanked his sister, but she clearly wanted answers.

Of all the times to have a personal crisis, it had to be now. Hang on, he thought to his absent friend.