15

                                    

                                          
Keith's POV
                          
It's too dark. Where am I? A sense of dread overwhelms me. 
                          
The ship starts to shake. 
                          
A spot light flashes on. I look up, almost blinded by the light. 
                          
Another rumble. 
                          
I turn around and come face-to-face with a mirror. My heart stops. I'm completely purple and a realization dawns on me. I look like a Galra.
                          
"Wait! What about Keith?"
                          
My eyes go wide. I press my hands against my ears and wince. The ears press against my head when I force myself to pull my hands away. 
                          
"Don't worry! I got 'em!"
                          
I take a deep breath as I start tearing up. 
                          
"Come on buddy," someone mumbles as they catch me from falling out of the healing pod. "You're alright. You'll be fine."
                          
I look up. "Lance?"
                          
"Yeah?"
                          
"What's happening? What's going on?"
                          
"Right now I'm cradling you in my arms. Seem familiar doesn't it?" 
                          
"You-you remember?"
                          
"Of course. Now as to why-" the castle starts shaking and cuts him off. "Why that happening, Zarkon's fleet is attacking. Someone snuck into the castle which caused the alarms to go off. Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge are fighting and me, Allura, and Coran are looking for the intruder. Welcome to the search and rescue team," he smirks that stupidly cute smirk. Can we forget I said that? 
                          
I stand up straight even though every muscle in my body is about to give out from hunger. Why am I so hungry? That pod did something to me, I swear. "Are we splitting up?"
                          
"Yeah, Allura and Coran are taking the deeper parts of the castle. I'm taking left of the med bay door and you're taking right."
                          
"Got it," I mumble and walk to the door, my entire body feeling stiff. 
                          
"Are you sure you're okay? We could team up," Lance offers. 
                          
"I'm fine Lance." I walk out and down the hallway. I open doors and glance around the rooms they're blocking off before inspecting the rooms further. Nothing down this hallway. I take a right and freeze in my tracks. 
                          
Someone's watching me. 
                          
I look around, up, and down. Nothing. I'm just paranoid. I keep walking and searching. A hand rests itself on my shoulder. 
                          
"I told you Lance, I'm fine," I turn to come face to face with the intruder. I pat myself down for my bayard when I realize I just came out of a pod. I don't have my bayard. Looks like it's hand against gun. 
                          
The intruder starts shooting and I start dodging. He–I'm assuming it's a guy because of the stance and build–chases after me as I run down the hallway to alert someone. I turn a corner and hide behind a jutting wall. The intruder walks past and I run and jump on him, completely unaware of the sound of footsteps running up behind me. Whoever was running behind me grabs me and pulled me off of his back. They pull my hands behind me as I fight against them. I feel the familiar feeling of cuffs on my wrists. The previous intruder aims his gun at me. The person that handcuffed me picks me up as I thrash and starts running down the hallway, to the exit. 
                          
"SOMEONE HELP, I NEED H-"
                          
"Shut it," the intruder with the gun pushes his gun against my cheek, pushing up so it looks chubby and my mouth is slanted upward. I probably look really stupid. 
                          
They load me onto a small ship and take off towards a larger ship in the center of the fleet. 
                          
I look down, thinking of the possibility of even more torture. 
                          
Lance's POV
                          
My side is clear. I guess I could help Keith with his. I run down the halls for a while before hearing rapid footsteps. The sound of thrashing follows shortly after. The worst part was hearing, "SOMEONE HELP, I NEED H-"
                          
My heart stops. That was Keith. I pick up my pace. I turn the corner. 
                          
No one's there 
                          
I keep running, wandering around until I've went down every hallway in the castle. My lungs are burning. I slide down against the wall and curl up, longing for a break, longing for rest. I place my head on my knees and begin to cry. The tears well up slowly at first, eventually pouring down my face at a rapid pace. 
                          
I hear footsteps come around the corner but don't move. The person grabs my shoulders and shakes me. I look up. 
                          
Hunk. 
                          
I throw my arms around him and bawl into his shoulder. He pats my back and waits for me to calm down. When I finally do, we get up and walk to the dining hall with the others. 
                          
"Are my eyes puffy?"
                          
"It's fine to cry Lance, the team won't mind. It's normal to expect, especially after a teammate gets taken."
                          
"How did y-"
                          
"We watched the castle feeds. Pidge is already working on tracking Keith."
                          
"It's stupid to be crying over this. I mean, come on. It's expected that someone would go missing," I mumble, rubbing at my eyes. 
                          
Hunk stops and grabs my shoulders. "You're emotions are not stupid. They're what make you human. They're not frowned upon and don't make you weak. You're allowed to be sad that our friend and teammate is missing. You're allowed to be sad," he says with a soft glare, never breaking eye contact. 
                          
"Thanks Hunk," I smile. He pats my back and we start walking again. 
                          
I'll find you Keith, I promise.