Allura struggled to keep herself alert. She had been up since Keith's abduction and that had been nearly twenty hours ago. Around her, the chaos that had spun circles around her had finally disappeared, but not the gnawing feeling in her chest. Although Keith was vital to the Voltron Force, she also knew she needed him around as...she didn't know what, but she knew that she needed him. They had to get him back. She thought they had a hope with Lotor as a bargaining chip, but that hope was put out when Zarkon refused with a laugh. She wasn't surprised. She doubted that a bond with either of the two would result in something relatively close to caring.

She rubbed her eyes and stood. Lance was in the brig, trying to wring as much information as possible about Castle Doom from Lotor. Hunk and Pidge were with him, to make sure he would not be hurt as well. Sven was in the infirmary, and to their relief, he was not seriously injured. He just had a skull-splitting headache and no memory of what had happened to his friend and leader. Doctor Gorma had insisted he stay for the night for observation, and he agreed on the grounds that they wait for him before leaving for Doom. He stubbornly argued that it was his fault that Keith was gone, and he owed it to the commander to go. Allura had agreed, knowing that Lance, Hunk, and Pidge could not do it alone. She would not be going. Coran was adamant about it and she had to back down.

She entered the brig and was met by Hunk. He looked exhausted, but still stood up straight. Pidge, on the other hand, was fast asleep on a chair.

"Have you gotten anything good?" she asked.

"Lotor wants to come along," Hunk replied.

"What?!?"

Hunk gestured towards the viewing screen. She watched the proceedings as Lotor insisted he would be a great help if he came because he knew the castle inside out. He knew now that his father wanted nothing to do with him and he wanted nothing more than to cause trouble for him. He wanted revenge. Allura's lips pursed thoughtfully.

"What does Lance say about this?"

"He thinks it's a bunch of crap."

"He might actually help," she had to concede. "The map we have to Castle Doom is fuzzy and probably out-of-date. He can get you through the high security areas as well because I'm sure they don't have Keith chained to the outer doors."

Lance came out of the cell just in time to hear Allura speak and Pidge raised his head slightly, hearing that last part of the conversation through his half-sleep. They eyed the Princess with trepidation.

"I don't know about that," Pidge said. "I wouldn't trust Lotor that much. He'd probably lead us to the pit of skulls."

"Do you want Keith back or not?" she demanded fiercely. "We don't have a lot of options here."

They looked surprised at her change of tone. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"We are wasting time standing here talking about it," she explained slowly, her expression intense. "Keith is in Zarkon's hands as we speak and Riaru only knows what they're doing to him. We have to act now."

They looked at her then at each other. Lance looked to the screen that showed Lotor sitting in his cell. He knew that the Prince would never lead them through Castle Doom without another plan in his head, but Allura was right. They needed him.

"I suppose it'll give us a chance to see how fast Lotor can move with C-4 strapped to his back," he said lightly.

Allura threw him a puzzled glance, but he only smiled cryptically and led them out into the corridors towards Castle Control.

"Pidge, Hunk, I want you to make a bomb that can be strapped on with a remote detonator. I'm going to slap it on Lotor to keep him behaved," he explained. "Make sure it's stable because we're going to be running all over the place."

"Whatever you say, Lance," Hunk said. "You're taking to this leader thing pretty good."

"Thanks."

Pidge and Hunk headed off in another corridor towards their workshop. Lance and Allura reached Castle Control to find Sven already there, standing with Coran in front of their map of Castle Doom. Sven was fully recovered and ready to go after his friend.

"Are ve ready to go?" he asked eagerly.

"Not yet," Lance replied. "We have a new development."

Lance explained what they had talked about and watched as Coran's and Sven's expressions turned from hopeful to doubtful before he was finished.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sven asked, putting a hand on Lance's forehead.

"Fit as a fiddle," Lance replied, slapping his hand away. "Look, this is the best we've got. Better than walking around Zarkon's front yard and getting lost. Take it or leave it."

"It looks like we've got a plan," Coran said with a sigh. "I agree though this is most unusual."

Lance shrugged. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to see Lotor move around with his new designer vest on."

Two hours later, as planned, the four pilots and Lotor were on their way to Planet Doom. Lotor fidgeted nervously. The vest he wore felt like a thousand pounds. He was told that he could blow up if Lance pushed the button on the remote or if he moved more than ten feet away from it. If he pulled off the bomb itself, nothing would happen aside from the four of them opening fire on him. The last thing he wanted was to die without having felt the touch of Princess Allura.

"So, Lotor. How'd your father get started in the evil game?" Lance asked conversationally. "Was he beaten as a child? Did he have a premonition? I'm just curious as to how one person could come up with this kind of treachery."

There was no answer. Lance chuckled.

"Don't worry. It won't blow up if you talk. It's not that sensitive. But walking around could be a problem."

"You would be blown up as well," Lotor reminded him between clenched teeth.

"Don't you worry about us," Pidge said. "We'll make it out, but you sure won't."

They grew silent as the black sphere of Planet Doom loomed on the viewscreen. Lance and Sven piloted their small stealth ship carefully to evade Doom's defenses. Lotor had given them a route that they could take without being detected. They landed near the castle, in a patch of twisted, dead trees. They turned on the ship's cloaking device keep it hidden and got out when everything was secure.

"Ready?" Sven asked.

"Sure," Pidge said, craning his neck to look up at the castle's spires.

Dressed all in black, including Lotor, they moved towards Castle Doom.