Hunk was distraught. According to Keith, they had not found Lance's body yet.
Which meant that somewhere in this town, a two day old corpse was lying around and nobody even noticed what happened.
The sheer agony, disappeared however, when he lead both Lance's ghost and Keith towards the IT-club where he promised to meet up with Pidge. Rolo, like a kicked puppy, followed close behind.

When Pidge saw him, she hesitated to say anything at first. Until she noticed Hunk had been crying, so she hugged him immediately. Nyma sat there awkwardly and tried to be invisible. Only that she was not a ghost, so that Rolo noticed her just as much as Keith did.

"What are those – holy crap Keith, what happened to your eye?", she rose to her feet, forgetting her earlier desire to be ignored. She was too distraught to live up to her usual bitchy personality. Right now she was just scared.
Keith touched his eye, as though he had not noticed the giant swelling.

"Oh that. Forget about it. We have a corpse to find."
Nyma winced at the sentence, Pidge flinched, but Hunk did not waver.
"We don't even know if he's dead. I located his phone. It's at the police station. We could either go there and find out some clues that may be on it, or we're going with Nyma's idea and search at the old school yard."

Hunk stood there, silent for a second. As if he did know something that Pidge was yet unaware of.

"Lance? If you're still here, can you touch Pidge's shoulder for a second?", he said, without looking around. What would be the point. He could not see Lance anyway.
Pidge opened her mouth to say something, while Keith looked at Lance and nodded as a sign for him to proceed.
He heard him sigh, then Lance stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Pidge screamed.
"Holy fuck, what the- how?", she stumbled back, almost tripping over her own project as Nyma caught her mid-fall.

Nyma looked even more concerned. "What happened?"
"That was like ice touching my shoulder. What the hell was that?"
Keith shook his head, while Rolo skeptically crossed his arms.
"That's Lance.", Keith explained.
"Yeah, no shit, asshole! You told me poltergeists were rare and needed years of training to move objects. How can he touch me then? Huh? What kind of trick is this? Please tell me you're messing with me.", she sounded desperate. Defensively trying to protect herself with words. But even Pidge realized that it was pointless to try and explain this with science.

Keith wanted to say something and decidedly ignored Pidge's inability to apologize for the events the day before.
She was in shock and her outburst had been reasonable too.

"I – honestly, I have no idea. I've never met a ghost like him. I told you that. All I can think of is what Allura told me. That the better of a person you were in your life, the higher your chances are of moving objects.", Keith slowly said. Up until now, the knowledge hat never hit him like it did now. Getting to know Lance made it kind of, understandable, real. He saw Lance judging him. Of course, Lance would doubt it. But in a way, Lance had proven that he was a good person. He had shown Keith that he was trustworthy, even though Lance never demanded to be trusted at all.

"What? I'm just as confused as you are.", he lied.
Hunk nudged his shoulder with a sad grin. "I believe it. Lance is the best human being anyone could ever be lucky enough to meet."
Lance coughed in embarrassment and bumped Hunk into the side.
"What?! It's true!" Despite his joking exclamation, Hunk was a bit startled at the sudden contact with Lance. But maybe he had expected something like this. He knew Lance best, after all.

"What? You mean, Lance, the ghost Lance, can interact with us?", Nyma asked disbelievingly, but was interrupted by Lance who made himself known to her.
He hesitated, but only Keith noticed, of course. Before he put his palm on her shoulder, avoiding her unseeing eyes, he visibly fought with himself, whether or not this was a good idea.

Nyma froze on the spot, puffy eyes swelling with tears. Had she been crying before?
"So- it's true then. He's dead?"

Everyone had known this. And yet, a heaviness settled over them that was yet unrivaled.
They looked at Keith, as though waiting for an answer. Though it was obvious.
Keith tried, but failed not to feel guilty (for no reason) under their gaze.
"Yes, I think so."

"Why haven't you reported this to the police?", Nyma's face turned sour, as she stomped towards him. "Why haven't you told them where he is? Why-"

"I wanted to, I really did.", Keith did not let her finish. His shoulder sagged as he threw arms up in a wild gesture.
"I tried to tell you guys what happened, but as you know, nobody believes me.
Lance told me, he didn't remember where or how he died. So I don't know where his body is. I have asked everyone in town where they last saw him. But nobody seems to know. And when I asked you, you had nothing better to do than insult me. I didn't know that he could touch people then.
So, sorry, but I cannot exactly go to the police, tell them a random guy I barely spoke to is missing, when nobody missed him, without knowing where the corpse is. What did you expect me to do? Even Coran could not have done anything for me."

Nyma was taken aback by this, much like the rest of the small group.
Even Rolo, who was the only one who had not tried talking to Lance. He was also the only one who Lance had not touched yet, so he was left in the dark. His judgmental glare hanging heavily over them.

"Who is Coran?", Hunk asked confused. "Allura's uncle.", Keith responded. At the lack of response and intensified confusion, he added: "an old medium who died ten years ago and forces me to help ghosts move to the after life.
It's not important. Now, we need to find his body. What are you guys waiting for?"

The silence stretched.
"I still don't believe anything you just said. But i'll go with you. Lance may be an idiot, but he WAS my friend. I owe him as much.", Rolo finally spoke up. Sighing, as he still rubbed the part of his chest, were Keith had punched him earlier.

The rest just looked at each other as they decided, collectively with a nod, that it was time to follow him.
Only Lance looked as though he rather wanted to stay. Keith was about to ask him what was wrong, but decided against it. Otherwise, they may never find his body.
And then - then Lance could never move on.
The mere thought hit him like a brick wall. So – there was no way around it anymore, was there?
Lance was bound to this earth by the finding of his body. Keith tried to ignore this fact, but it would haunt him for the whole way that they were approaching from now on.

They moved through the schools corridors like warriors on a mission. The bell rang, minutes after, but they ignored it.
No teacher came to stop them. A real testimony to their school system, really.

Pidge looked skeptical and tired and high on coffee, but she did not say anything.
In fact, none of them did.
Hunk and Rolo were leading the way. Keith and Lance were the ones behind.
Lance looked sad. Ashamed even. Keith tapped on his shoulder, as he could not handle the guilty twist in his gut.
"Lance? Is everything alright?" At this point, he did not care that his actions caused the other people in the group to shiver.

"I'm. Just.", Lance started, unsure what to say.
"It's okay, Lance. You can say it.", Keith assure him, worried. Lance would not lie to him. Not now. Not, when they were so close. "I'm sorry, Keith. I have something to confess."
"Confess?"

"I- I lied. I know exactly how I died and where my corpse is."
Keith's mouth opened in surprise, but he did not respond.

"I just- I didn't want to worry anyone. I thought it would be fine, if they just found me on their own. But then, nobody came searching for me. And I thought – I don't know what I thought. I wanted them to find me? But I also didn't. I just didn't want someone, who is practically a stranger to find me, because I told him where to search. I just-", he stopped, getting confused in his own explanation.
Keith nodded, but bit his lip.
"It doesn't matter now. I don't know what is going on inside of your head, but I understand it's important and you had your reasons. No need to worry, ok?!"

Lance chuckled at that and Keith managed to smile.
"What did he say?", Hunk asked from the front. He was twitching in his movements, as soon as they reached the woods behind the massive school building.
"Nothing important. Just that he remembers where his body his.", Keith lied and earned a surprised look from Lance.

"And why only now?", Rolo crossed his arms in front of him, looking suspicious.
"I'd say, the surroundings may trigger some kind of memory?", Keith guessed wildly. Almost convincing even Lance. Which was a ridiculous thought in itself.

Hunk turned around. "Where? Let him lead the way."
Keith nodded and looked at Lance expectantly. Lance sighed and sped up. "After me", Keith said and followed Lance on his heels.

.....

The further they moved into the woods, the darker it seemed to get. Of course, it was merely the trees that were blocking all of the light from the sun. Still, the sudden cold caught most of them off guard.

But Lance did not stop walking. In fact, the farther they went in, the faster he became.
"Keith, slow down. Please.", Pidge huffed, forgetting that Keith was not their leader today.
"Lance, wait, please..", Keith gasped for Lance, as he started jumping forward.
"I- sorry, I -"

Suddenly the bushes disappeared and in front of them was the old school yard. Abandoned, rusty objects that reminded you more of art than the promise of adventures for children were scattered over the whole area.
But neither of them had time to look around.

It was the swing set, that kept all of them occupied.
"That's-", Hunk started. He did not move. Neither did the rest of them.
"I'll, I'll call the police...", Rolo whispered and turned around, phone already in hand.

Keith stepped forward. Lance's ghost was blocking his way, but Keith could see it anyway.
Someone had broken the chains of the swing set. It was wrapped tightly around the metal pipe that the tires were supposed to hang off from.
The other side was tied to a knot. Hanging from that was the body of a teenage boy. Eyes pale, lips blue from the lack of oxygen, eyes turned inside it's holes, the limp body of Lance McClain looked weak and tired. And very – very dead.
And finally, the dark shadow on Lance's neck made sense. They were bruises. From the struggle of hanging loose. Of trying to get out of there.

"Holy shit - Lance.", Hunk sobbed behind them. Tears falling freely towards the ground."Lance?",
Keith was the first to recover. After all, this was not his first corpse. They usually barely mattered in his cases anyway.
But suicide?

He looked at Nyma, who was frozen in shock, until she stumbled back in fear. "This is my fault.", she whispered, not knowing how wrong she was.
Lance spared her but a single glance, as he turned to Keith, eyes firm.

Keith stared at him, eyes wide, disbelief flooding through his veins dancing with his blood. The tingling sensation causing a tingling sensation in his gut.

" you killed yourself?"

Lance closed his eyes.

-----------------------

Saturday

It was barely three am, when Lance woke up.
And no, this was not the usual time he woke up. No matter the circumstances. Well, almost no matter. Only that this time, he would have preferred sleep anyway.

Ever since he broke up with Nyma, he had been feeling numb and empty inside.
But his mom had woken him up anyway. Well, to her defense, she did bot know about their relationship.
"Lance! The hospital just called." The panic in her voice was all he needed to hear to instantly come to his senses. And rise to his feet.

It had been like this for the past three years or so. In a couple of months, the state of his sister had gone from 'she's probably going to wake up soon' to 'We're surprised she's still alive'.
Whenever either of that happened, his mom got a call. She would be distraught for at least two month's after. Not eating, not drinking, taking on another part time job and so on.
This time, however, Lance knew it was worse. Three month ago, it almost seemed like she would be fine. But about a week ago, things had changed.

That was around the same time, Lance's Mom let that awful Sendak guy into their life's. Whenever he saw his mother worried over Veronica, Sendak convinced her to stay at home.
'Her daughter needed a mom who could stay calm', he'd say.

Veronica's current condition was sudden. And Lance could not help but blame Sendak for it. Lance was convinced Veronica needed love to wake up, because he was a romantic like that. At least she needed her mom.

However, as stated already, it was three am. Sendak was out cold and Lance's mother could not think of anything but Veronica right now. She did not bother to wake him. Thankfully.

Since she did not have a driver's license and they basically lived next to the hospital, both of them took their stuff and ran all the way over.

Of course, his siblings were with them. Except for the youngest one.
Marco was a little older than two and a half. When the accident occurred, Lance's mom had been pregnant.
Because destiny is a bitch.
But he was too young to understand what was going on or why he shared his father's name. It would have been too much to carry him. Sendak would have to take care of him. No matter, if Lance like the idea or not.

The other McClains, however, Nadia and Claus, were old enough to come with them.
And the hospital was expecting them already.
Veronica's stats had dropped again. But by the looks of the doctor, it managed to be even worse than usual.
"How bad is it?", his mom asked. Because it was all she could ask.

"I'm – I'm sorry, Mrs. McClain. She's getting worse."
The doctor was in a hurry himself. He was not the only one. Lance could already hear the frantic beeping sound of the ECG that displayed Veronica's heartbeat, all the way back to this floor.
He was no medical examiner but Lance knew, that a heart rate like could not be good. It was fast, stumbling over itself and in no way as steady as a heartbeat should be.

Soon they were alone again, as the doctor trusted, that they knew where to go. While the doctor himself had to get ready for surgery.
Right next to the surgery room, which happened to be only one or two rooms next to Veronica's, on the cold, blue painted corridor, was a room observation. To supervise what happens to the patient through a window.
Usually medicine students or doctors (for second opinions) were allowed in there. But Mrs. McClain had insisted that they could watch them.
Her pleading had only come to an end, when Sendak had talked and most likely bribed the hospital to let her do as she pleases.

A nurse was already waiting for them. Calm and collected as a nurse should be, but also empathetic to their situation, while Veronica was moved into the room on the other side of that cursed window.

"She's hyperventilating, Mrs. McClain. Her brain has started bleeding again.", the nurse explained, leaving Mrs. McClain no time to scream at her. Like first time, when the doctor made the mistake not to tell her anything.
Privacy of the patient be damned.

Lance stared through the tainted window (they were tainted on one side, so the doctors wouldn't see them. To prevent any kind of disturbances, the room was also sound proof). His sister looked as though she was already dead.
Perhaps she was, or would be soon. The car accident had caused a fatal brain injury that caused her brain to swell. And that was as much information as Lance understood.
To him, it sounded like she was brain-dead.

It was hectic and dramatic to just stand there and wait for anything to happen. Absurd, really, watching your sister or relative die. And even worse, Lance was so used to this, he barely felt anything. Perhaps he was already used to the thought of loosing her.
Maybe he just wanted it to be over. So his sister would be free and his mom could finally move on. Or his heart was not ready to accept the facts yet. Then again, the day of the accident, he had been crying all night.
Even if Veronica were to wake up, she would be unable to do or say anything.

Lance hated to say it, but perhaps Sendak was right and they should cut off the life support.
However, that was his mom's decision to make. And he was glad it was not his.

It was still quiet in the room, as Mrs. McClain was unable to contain her tears. She tried to force herself anyway. Unable to talk.
Lance shared a look with his siblings. They were feeling like he was, he knew it. Their mom was the one hurting the most. And they had to be there for her, no matter what.

Time moved forward and the anticipation kept the adrenaline high.
Still, Nadia and Clause both fell asleep eventually. Lance was stressed, so was his mother, but he could not join them. Usually stress would tire him out to the point, where he would fall asleep, even if he was exercising at the moment.

Standing here, he had all the time in the world to think about what happened with Nyma. And no matter how bad he felt for the fact that his brain went to that place at all, he kind of came to the conclusion to his feelings.

Beside visions of his sister dying in front of him, he remembered how paranoid and afraid Nyma had been. And he knew that it was not completely her fault. Not completely, it still hurt and was absolutely unfair to him.

But, and that was the scary thing, he was not angry at her. He was angry at Lotor, of course. But he knew he had forgiven Nyma the moment he had opened that door. Already expecting what awaited him. He knew Nyma. For some reason that made it worse.

Lance hated himself for that. For forgiving her. And confused, because he was also glad their relationship was over. Relieved, even.
Perhaps all the depression, the forced happiness had gotten him down. Next to the stress he had from hiding his families condition in school. There was no one he could talk to about this anyhow. He did not even know anyone whose parents died, even one of them. Or their siblings. Divorces were the maximum he ever encountered. Perhaps that was why he felt so drawn to Nyma in the first place?
The thought disgusted Lance. He felt his heart turn an twist at the regret that settled in him. Was he himself just using her? If so, he had not noticed.

Lance's vision focused on his sister again. And, he felt bad. Because he should not be distracted right now. He should think on his pain and fear of loosing her. But here he was, waiting and failing for his concentration to stay in the room. His mind focusing in and out, while he tried to make sense of himself and feeling selfish for doing so.

"Lance? Honey. You look tired. Can you take your brother and sister and go home?", his mom interrupted his thoughts.
Lance looked up. He was, in fact, tired. The clock said it was 7 am. They had been waiting for four hours now. The doctors still rushing around the living corpse that was his sister.
Still. His mom was sending them home earlier than expected.

"Are you sure?", Lance asked, still worried for his mom. She had calmed down a little, even though her eyes were still fixed on her dying daughter.
"Yes.", she said, voice hoarse and Lance nodded. "And Lance.", finally she turned around. Lance stopped in his position.

"Tell Harold not to wait for me."
Lance sighed, a little disappointed. Despite not knowing why. "How long do you plan on staying?"
"Until they're done messing with her.", she whispered. Lance nodded.
He woke up his siblings and told them it was time to leave.

And as before, it did not take long for them to get home. Lance put on some hot cocoa, and made sandwiches for them.
Which, of course, nobody touched.
Except for Sendak, who walked down the stairs about an hour later.
Of course, he was a morning person. The McClains never were. He almost chirped, as he bit into the tuna sandwich, Lance had made especially for Nadia. It was her favorite.

Sendak stopped in front of them. It took only a minute or so, for him to draw the connection behind their sleep deprived states and the lack of greeting.
"Your mother is at the hospital again, right?", he asked, voice more annoyed than concerned.

"Yes.", Lance answered for his siblings.
"Alright. Since when are you up?"
"3 am.", he shortly replied.

"Kay- I suppose, you guys should go to bed then.", Sendak sighed and shushed Lance and his siblings into their rooms.
Hesitant and void of emotion, they followed his request in silence.

Sendak shut the door behind Lance last. But it did not keep him in there for long. Mostly because he heard another door shutting down stairs.
Curious, unable to sleep and still wary of his mom's boyfriend, Lance went back to the kitchen.

A second later, he saw the car driving off their front yard through the window. Was Sendak going after his mom? Right, Lance should have told him not to wait for her, as she had asked him to.
But then, he noticed the car was driving past the road it'd usually take, if you went to the hospital. Who'd even use the car for a five minute walk, anyway?

Where was he going then? He followed him outside, watching the car turning at the next crossroad.
That was, when he recognized the local Newspaper on their doorstep. It was obvious that someone had picked it up, only to open it, grab it way too tightly and toss it back on the steps. At least that was what Lance imagined by the condition the paper was in.

Could Sendak not have taken it inside? Then he saw the article on the front page. "Owner and wife of the local pub "Galra", found dead."
Lance froze. Were that not Lotor's parents? And were the two of them not friends with Sendak? He started reading the article, suspicion growing with his hectic mind.

The popular and famous owner of the local pub, Zarkon G. Daibazal and his wife Haggar were found dead by their son.
According to an anonymous witness, they supposedly killed each other about a private affair. -

Lance stopped reading. Zarkon. The Galra pub. Sendak mentioned them sometime, did he not?
So this is where he went!

Lance took a deep breath. He considered, should he follow him?
After all, his mother wanted him home, where she knew he'd be safe. But then again, Sendak should be there for her too. On the other hand, Lance was curious. And he really needed a change of mind right now. His mom would not even notice until she herself returned. Which could take a while. She'd probably sleep in the hospital again. Like she used to do sometimes, when she felt particularly afraid for Veronica.
And Sendak was the one who should be taking care of her right now!

The bar was not far from here, Lance decided, as he took his bike.
Yet again, he took a deep breath, before he followed in the very same direction, he had tried to escape from two days prior.

While he drove, a thought occurred to him. Should he consult Rolo about this? He used to be friends with Lotor, right?
Lance decided against it. Something told him that it would be weird for him to call Rolo over this.

So he navigate his way past the small mountains that lead downtown. It may be exhausting, especially according to the lack of sleep he had on his record and the hurry was in. He was, in fact, following a car, after all. But his curiosity beat the tiredness.
When he finally arrived, he was instantly reminded of something.
Already in prepare, were people dressed up in rainbow colors and different flags. Coloring up their houses in support for pride month, while next to them, opposing idiots were trying to take them down.
Lance smiled painfully at the sight. Knowing fully well that it was difficult for anyone to show their faces in these marches tonight. With all those homophobes and transphobes and what not around.

Not many people attended those marches. At least not here. And those who did wore masks. And went home in small groups afterwards. Only two years ago, one or two people had died because they wore pink eyeliner. It was far too frightening to go home alone.
This event was dangerous. And Lance far too scared to attend. Even though he'd like to someday.
The police was doing their best, but as so often, it was not enough. He shook his head, this was not the time.

Even though, Sendak was one of the opposing party. And he was not exactly kind. Lance felt uncomfortable around him, every time he mentioned the parade. Only, however, when his mom was not around.
Lance's mom was probably his only support. He knew she would be on his side, if he ever came out. Sometimes she acted as though she already knew. Perhaps she did. Or suspected it. After all, his family was spread all across the country. And tolerance was the least he was afraid of, if it came to them. Only that he did not like the attention.

He'd prefer if people stopped assuming.

His internal monologue was soon interrupted as Lance reached the Galra pub.
A few police cars were still there. Blue and green cars, with sirens. In giant, white letters, stood POLICE on their door. Did people not know what a police car was? Did they have to write it on the cars? If the thought this would help people who could not read or were blind, then newsflash, that's rubbish.

Anyhow, they found the corpses yesterday. What was the police still doing here?
Perhaps they were not quite done with the investigation? Would Sendak interrupt them? Lance had a feeling, that if Sendak knew about the police cars, he would not be here. Then again, his car was also parked on the front lawn of the pub.
As he turned around the corner, his suspicions were proven correct, as he heard something.

When Lance saw Sendak, right next to Lotor and a few other people who clearly belonged to the police, something inside his stomach turned. Lotor, was a tall man around the age of twenty. His dark skin contrasted the whiteness of his long hair that hang loosely around his, admittedly handsome face. He was a man of style and wealth. At his young age, he wore leather jackets with chains attached to them. It explained, why he used to be friends with Keith Kogane. They were equally emo.

"I assure you, Lotor has nothing to do with their death. Now, let him alone to grief, please."

Lance hurried to get his bike away from the road, as he hid himself in the corner behind a container that was conveniently placed right next to him.
Why he's hiding? Simply, because the police officers excused themselves and came his way. Also, he didn't think he'd ever heard Sendak being protective. He did not trust it. It would be better if he stayed unseen.

He held his breath. Praying, not to be discovered.
If god does exist, he listened to Lance. And heard him thank him after the police walked straight passed him. Lance exhaled the deep breath he'd been holding and leaned forward, to look behind the corner.

"What were you thinking?", Sendak slapped Lotor lightly on his head. Just like a scolding father would. For a second, Lance wondered why. Lotor, however seemed to know what Sendak (who managed to be even taller than Lotor, I mean, how?) was playing at.
"What the hell, man. I did NOT kill them. Even that weirdo from school agreed."

"Well, you're lucky he did. He could have said whatever he wanted and that stupid Coran idiot would have believed him.
Seeing ghosts. We should charge that officer for his poor judgement."

"Well, you could. But that would mean you'd have the other police officers on to you. Besides, it's not like anything Keith said was wrong.", Lotor crossed his arms with a pout. Lance blinked. Keith? Keith Kogane? Was working with the police? Lance agreed with Sendak. That did sound ridiculous. Keith was a teenager for god's sake.

"My parents did hate each other enough to murder each other. And the reasoning sounded plausible as well. Their arguments have been the same ever since that Lance guy walked in on me with his girlfriend. Stupid girl. If she had a boyfriend ready to help her, she should have rejected me.", Lance opened his mouth to say something, until he remembered that he was currently in hiding. And should probably refrain from doing so.

Sendak rolled his eyes.
"It doesn't matter. But now, you cannot draw any attention to yourself. I told you I don't care what you do in your private life before, but-"

"You're right, Harold. It does not matter, because it is my private life. And since my mom and dad died, there is nothing I need you to hide from them."

Sendak smirked, while the confusion in Lance grew. Lance leaned forward again, to make sure he understand anything they whispered. Because Sendek bowed over Lotor, making sure to keep eye contact. Lotor did not flinch, but stood upright, facing him with as much dignity as a guy like him could mutter. (Meaning, a lot.)

"Not from them. But all those girls, you're "convincing" to get with you may be a bit – let's say, disappointed by what you put into those drinks."

Lotor growled. Which was probably a good thing, since Lance gasped, not exactly quiet, as he almost tripped and revealed himself. Almost.
Sirens ringed in his head, alarming him to do something. Anything. It clearly sounded, like both of them were down to some shady business.
He took out his phone. May it be morally wrong, but if Lance was about to get proof for whatever those two did, then damn hell, he'd take it. So he started recording.

"So, you're resolving to blackmail me again. Very smart, Sendak. Just that I don't put anything in anyone'd drinks. I may have taken drugs once or twice. That doesn't indicate I do that to women, you know."

"Oh I know. But who would believe you?", Sendak's smirk grew.

"I mean. Your parents mysteriously killed each other for a ridiculous reason.
I have proof, you've hidden drugs from them.
And then, that incident on Thursday with your little hook up. Who – let's say, happened to be drunk. You don't have friends, Lotor. You've betrayed too many of them before." Lotor lowered his head and bit his lip, while Sendak shamelessly continued.

"You know fully well that is not -", but Lotor's defense was interrupted.
"The weird kid, Keith may be on your side, for all I've heard from the police, but that guy has hallucinations. He's crazy. His credibility in shreds. People may start to believe you've drugged him as well. Just saying. There is a reason why they call him an anonymous witness."

"What do you want from me?!", Lotor said through gritted teeth.

"I want you keep running the pub. And I want the profit to land on my bank account."
"And how would I explain that to my lawyer or any sane person?"
"Oh, you'll figure something out. If worse comes to worst, I'll even sign adoption papers, if I so have to."

Lotor scoffed. Almost spat at Sendak. "You. My father? No thanks, I just got freed from the last piece of garbage that called himself that!
You can have the money, I'll make an excuse or whatever. But leave me alone with family business."

"Can't argue with that. Just make a good excuse and you won't have to worry about that.", Sendak smiled. God how he hated that smile.

"You could just buy the bar, you know? I don't want it either way.", Lotor murmured, perhaps more to himself than Sendak. But he answered anyway.
"And having to run it completely by myself? Giving you money? No way. Besides, it would look a bit odd, if I were to buy a bar, right after their owner's died. Murder is not exactly helping any kind of business."

"More like you'd need money to buy it. What happened to that great business you have?", Lotor looked up, anger still lingering in his eyes. Sendak's eyes narrowed, his grin turning into an evil frown.
"Oh, the business is fine. It does not concern you. You're gonna take my offer, or what?"

Lotor sighed. "Offer? Really? That's what you call it?
Whatever. Just send me the paperwork, as soon as you can. So much to selling this rat hole."

"Good, now if you excuse me, I have a hospital to visit."

With that, Sendak turned away, while Lance hurried to disappear into the container. At the same time he made sure to save the video.
The problem was, the movement was loud. And unplanned. So, Lance was 90 % sure, Sendak must have at least noticed him. Or someone must have, according to the yelp he made. Why was he even jumping into the container? He could have just done the same thing he did with the police officers. Only that the container stood next to Sendak's car. Lance would have been seen, no matter where he hid. The only side he would have been save from him, would have been the one that stood far too close to the next brick wall.

Five minutes of silence, except for the rapid beating of his heart. And a car, one which he recognized as Sendaks, sped up, only to disappear into distance. For barely a second, Lance felt safe.
However, as Lance jumped out the pile of trash, his earlier suspicion was proven correct.
Someone did notice his escape attempt. Lotor stared at him, when he stumbled out of the container. He seemed, hopefull? Until he recognized the person in front of him.

"You!", Lotor paled as recognition dawned in his eyes.
And Lance? For a beautiful moment he had forgotten that Lotor was not just a victim. He was the guy Nyma cheated on him with.

Lance's mood turned sour.
Lotor looked like he wanted to throw his whole life away, at this point. "Fuck. Of course it's you.", he considered for a moment, waiting for his brain to come up with an appropriate solution.
So he offered Lance the first one that came to mind.

"What do you want for that video? You're not going to delete it because of – you know, right?", Lotor, fidgety and scared, truly was a sight to behold.
"So, you noticed me filming you?", Lance said, unsure of how to proceed. He could, indeed, ask Lotor for any kind of favor, if he wanted to. And he considered. He really did.

"Yeah, anyone would have. Except for Sendak, of course. Man I hate him.
You could have exploded a bomb and he would not have noticed."
Lotor sighed, stopping himself. As though he was punishing himself mentally for everything that had put him in this mess.

Lance, however, had made his decision, the moment Lotor had opened his mouth.
"Give me your phone.", Lance said. Certainty painting his voice.

Lotor opened his mouth to respond. "Huh?", he asked surprised.

"You want the video, right? I'll send it to you."

Lotor blinked. Suspicion growing with the shadows under his eyes. "You want my number? Wait – what's the catch? What do you get?"
Lance sighed. "Do you want the video or not?"
"Of course, I do. You basically have proof to him blackmailing me on there. Still, you have no reason to help me out. You obviously want something! What is it?"

Lance sighed. "For one, I'm not actually mad at you." Lotor's entire face squinted in disbelieve at him.
"Ok. Scratch that, I totally am. And I blame you. For all that went down with Nyma. But, this is not about me or Nyma. This is about Sendak and the chance to finally let my mom see sense about him. He's a criminal and he needs to be charged for his crimes. Also, I doubt that my word alone would be enough to go after my mom's boyfriend."

Lotor visibly paled at the last words. As though he had heard something like this before.
"Let me guess, he ignores all of you except your mom and uses her to never pay rent? While his company makes millions and he uses the money for lottery and bets?", he carefully asked.

"How do you know that? Wait, what was the last part? Bets?", Lance asked surprised.
"Yeah, shocking, am I right? The guy is an addict. Anyway, the Galra bar is the place he usually places his bets. That's why he has it out on me. He owes me money."

"Alright then... Wait a second. People were telling me, he's rich? I've never heard of those debts.", Lance wondered out loud, as Lotor handed him his phone, so Lance could give him his number.
"He is. Well – kind of rich. He steals small amounts of money of other peoples bank accounts, when he gets access to it. And he's not exactly bragging about his financial problems."

"But, he's paying for my sister's hospital visit?", Lance whispered, more to himself than Lotor, who raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I'd be careful then. I don't know about your sister, but better get her out soon. And I mean, as soon as possible. He probably took on a credit on your moms name. I heard his last girlfriend is still fighting bankruptcy because he bought her a car from her own money."

Lance kept silent for a bit.
"I clearly doubt that's possible.", he said. Lotor laughed. "Well, you better believe me. There are many ways to fake a signature. And people change their signs all the time. It's not like anyone checks it anyway."

"No, I know. I mean, it's not possible to get my sister out of the hospital." Lance stopped himself as he saw Lotor's confused frown.
"Well, not now. She's been on life support for almost three years. She's dying, we cannot bring her home.", Lance already regretted talking about this. It was too much information for a guy like Lotor.
Lotor's expression did not change as he answered. "She's important to you, I guess?"

Lance nodded. And for the first time, he saw a change of light in Lotor's eyes. Some kind of empathy, probably nobody had ever seen on him. It made Lance feel weirdly special. But also impossibly uncomfortable.

"I see." Lance gave him back his phone. In silence, they exchanged numbers and Lance send the video feat.

"You should definitely send this to the police.", Lance murmured, while Lotor watched the video in silence.

"I'd love to. The thing is, Sendak may expect something like this to happen. He may find a way to hack my phone and edit it. Then the proof would be tainted. Also, he has a lot of stuff on me. This may not be enough to take him down.
Can't like – you do it? I don't know how well your mom is with your paper work at home, but if you look up the transactions he's made... Maybe you'll get even more proof. That would help the both of us."

"It's worth a shot, I suppose. But I doubt we'll get anywhere, if you don't testify.", Lance said, still concerned.

"Oh, I will.", Lotor nodded at him. He seemed relieved. Though doubting Lance's initiative in this matter. So he chose his next words carefully.
"And, I guess, I still owe you an apology for your girlfriend. I'm really sorry.", he was about to go on, but Lance knew what he was about to say.
,If I had known her boyfriend was so chill' or ,if I had known she had a boyfriend', were just not going to cut it. Lotor practically forced her into prostituting herself. There was no excuse for that. So he stopped Lotor instead.

"Just, don't mention it anymore, alright? Better even, don't ever do it again."

It worked. Lotor stopped. "Good, ehm. I'll go back inside. You do whatever you're gonna do. The police is still here, so Sendak is going to feel safe for a while. Taking, he doesn't know you're here."
Lotor looked at him questioningly. Almost with a warning that said, ,don't tell him' and ,don't get caught' at the same time.

Lance shook his head. "He doesn't. I'll go see if I find more proof. You're right. It would be better to get as much as we can. I'll text you as soon as possible. Don't raise suspicion to yourself until I do.", Lance said slowly, as he thought about what action was best to take now.

"Same to you, be careful.", Lotor said and waved as he went back inside."I don't know how far he'd dare to go."
Lance nodded, more to himself than his odd partner in crime. A moment later he grabbed his bike and drove all the way back where he came from. The look he send Lotor was their last exchange. But at this point, neither of them knew.

Though one thing stuck with him – something that didn't fit into the entire puzzle he was trying to solve. It was a small thing. That probably barely mattered. But it remained on his mind anyway. What had Keith Kogane to do with anything? Where did he play into this story?
Was this a sign? An omen? If so, he did not know what to make of it.

--------------------------------------------------------

Lance did not answer. Did he kill himself? Was that a serious question? Though he understood where it came from.

"Guys? The police will be here soon.", Rolo reminded them from behind.

"Lance? Please, can you explain what happened? ", Hunk whined. Desperate to get an answer. To finally lift this mysterious cloud that hang over them.

Lance sighed, while Keith waited for his answer.

"Now, I did not.", Lance confessed.