Lance's PoV.:

Panic was not a feeling he could control very well. He could just tone it down enough for people not to notice how bad it was, yet let enough through so that they believed he was serious.

Haggar was fast.

Lance was faster, due to his powers. But she was faster than Voltron would be. He'd told the others he would warn the Garrison, but what could they do? With their earth technology and no idea what they were dealing with. What could they do to protect the person who'd put them in this position? Lance's panic made it harder for him to focus. He could vaguely feel where Haggar was, spreading her venom through the universe and fighting the planets that Lance was trying to heal. He could feel her slowing down the process. Could feel her searching for him. The more he panicked, the faster she seemed.

Lance was struggling to keep himself together. When he tried to find a more objective position to find her, he'd panic and immediately drop down to that specific position on the first assumption to find her. He was missing her every time. Wasn't he a sharpshooter?

Lance closed his eyes and tried to breathe. She was after his family, he knew that. She was NOT after that burning bright light inside of him that kept calling his name. Rationally and emotionally, Lance knew that he was wasting his time. That this was NOT how you fought your own fears. He tried to focus on the bright light to calm himself. He took a moment, tried to gather his senses. As dark as the venom was, as bright was his light. He could do this!

Haggar seemed to stop. Irritated, but changing direction. The poison stopped flowing through Lance's system, signaling him that she was staying in one position. Then... she seemed to slowly edge closer to the light.

"I won't let you." Waves of his words echoed through the universe.

"She said the same thing." At first, the whisper was a response, an echo through the universe, but it grew louder with each wave. "She loved her planet. She loved her parents too. Look where that has gotten her. Where it had gotten Torat."

Torat, Karak'nirir's home planet.

"You will not take earth." Lance stormed. Not liked you took her planet. You will not take my light, you won't take anything!

"You're vulnerable, Lance. Your planet is so unprotected, so unprepared. They will not accept you. They never have."

"Be quiet." Lance said, trying to calm himself. "I will not let you hurt them."

Laughter echoed through the universe, infectious like a bad cough. "Earth is just the beginning, Lance." Her voice told him. "Your heart is the final step. And we both know where it resides."

Lance's eyes travelled to the light inside of him. He didn't answer. Didn't know what he would give away if he did. He was scared, he realized. Scared of her. He knew how to deal with most of the pain, but whatever she was, it was big. It was too much. He could feel the toxins sizzling against him, like acid burning in his veins. She was dangerous and he was frozen and terrified. He should be accepting her, taking her in, as he had everything else. But this was too much. He didn't dare come any closer than this.

"How about you worry less about your little home planet... and more about your team?"

"What do you mean?" The universe felt so dark. Lance couldn't focus on any of the colors around him. In the end, Lance didn't know what rose the anger in his mind or what finally convinced him that he could stop her at all, but one second, he was waiting for her answer, the next, he was grabbing her by the throat, threatening her with it. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN!" The sound of the universe echoed through her bright purple eyes. Her grin was wide, as if she did not care for her own life at all.

"My my. Isn't the universe supposed to be fair to all?" Fueled by Lance's desperation, she grabbed him by the arm instead and knocked him down on a planet. He'd underestimated her strength by far, because he hit the planet with a powerful crack to his spine. Lance knew its name, like he knew every part of himself. Queniv, a sand planet. A huge population, more than just their humanoid species. Animals, insects, plants, they all lived and breathed his name. As Lance's face hit the surace, it echoed through the universe. An explosion, a sandstorm, followed in its wake, nearly knocking the breath out of him. Lance didn't get to see the consequences of his landing, as Haggar stood in front of him, poisonous shadows growing from her feet. "Everything you touch. DIES!" This time, it were the shadows that reached him by the neck, throttling him and throwing him back on the ground. Her toxic arms invaded his mind, his very being, infecting the ground he was touching and turning the sand purple, while he was gasping for air.
"You're just like her. Pathetic and cruel." Haggar said, eyes meeting his right on. "Think you're so high and mighty, think kindness is enough to save the universe. It is not."

Lance blinked up at her through bleary eyes. He didn't need air. What she was taking was a metaphorical equivalent.

"I will infect you. I will infect ALL OF YOU!"

Lance lost that fight, his temporary body exploding as the toxins took over to eat at his brain. And he lost that planet. When he came to, Queniv and it's entire solar system was destroyed. And Haggar was miles away.

----------

Lotor's PoV.:

Allura held her word. After he'd managed to bond with Blue, she gathered everyone else to usher them into a bonding exercise. "Listen, everyone. I know you're all on edge -"

Keith and Shiro looked specifically worn out. Hunk had taken to pouting and crying and Pidge had been complaining to Matt ALL day. Lotor felt really guilty for forcing them here.

"But Voltron is down one paladin. And Lotor hasn't really had a chance to take over for Lance. So it would be best -"

"How come we've mind melded so often and none of us could tell how Lance was suffering?" Pidge asked, interrupting the princess. Allura sighed, openly annoyed at the green paladin.

"Pidge, didn't we already have this conversation?"

"I don't care!" Pidge finally said, voice loud and annoyed. "What do these exercises even mean when it keeps ending the same way? Lance's problems should come first right now! He's the reason Haggar is about to kill our families!"

"Pidge." Allura said, this time much more quiet. The green paladin did sound quite insensitive, Lotor thought, but there was so much genuine worry in it, that he couldn't even blame her for it. "I know this is hard. We're doing our best to get to Earth in time. But that won't help us if none of you are able to fight. And you all need to trust Lotor right now. You need to form a bond through a mind connection. Otherwise you won't be able to form Voltron."

Pidge let out a frustrated sound, arms crossed, but breathing deeply. "Fine."

Lotor tried not to let it show how much the situation weighted him down. This team was supposed to be tight, glued together. It almost seemed like something was missing. Or rather, someone. And Lotor knew exactly that it was supposed to be his job to reconnect them. Do whatever Lance had done to bridge the tension between them. He sighed. This was a big responsibility. This was a lot more work than he'd initially signed up for.

Allura was now handing out small devices that they were supposed to put on their heads. It took a while for them all to settle, while it took Lotor even longer to figure out how it worked, since he was seeing the old Altean technology for the first time. Eventually, however, they were all ready and meditating.

"For Lotor's sake, I shall reexplain how this works. When you form Voltron, you must all concentrate on one and the same goal together." As she spoke, the other paladins seemed to create a holographic image of their own lions in front of them. Lotor could feel all their minds brushing against his, trying to invade. He couldn't really see their emotions, he could just feel them. They were all so wildly different. The red paladin's mind was filled with conflict and anxiety. The black one with disappointment and exhaustion. The green paladin was sleep deprived and restless, the yellow one simply sad. "When you focus on forming Voltron, you must let go and let everyone else in. Voltron is your highest priority. So you must focus on forming your lion in your head -"

The voice eventually drowned out, overshadowed with all those other thoughts and feelings.

"Lotor, you're not supposed to rummage through in our minds, you're supposed to open up too."

Lotor was trying, he really was.

"Lotor!" That was Keith's annoyed voice. "Open up!"

"It is harder than it looks, red paladin."

"What you don't say." He sounded annoyed and his inner emotions reflected that perfectly.

Lotor felt strangely small. "Just -" Lotor tried to breathe. He tried to focus, but there was so much on his mind. So much more than simply forming Voltron. He had ten thousand years of history in his mind. How was he supposed to share it all? His mind flickered to that moment with Lance's mind. It was too much. Too many thoughts. So much fear and pain and -

"What is that?" Keith asked, prodding against him. He was no longer focusing on forming Voltron and neither were the others. Their holographic lions had disappeared. They were looking at him, all scraping at his inner walls.

"I apologise." Lotor tried. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Show us." Keith said curiously. "That's Lance, isn't it?"

Lotor was reminded of Lance who told him that this was not a secret. "Alright. Fine." He took a deep breath - and then, as reluctant as ever, he let them in.

What followed was a blur of emotions, neatly put together and stored away for ten thousand years. Pictures of his toxic upbringing. Failure's, punished with torture. Accomplishments never acknowledged, ignored, and stolen for someone else's glory. Haggar's laughter echoed in his mind, always, neverending like a song that had gotten stuck there. Lotor remembered battlefields, lost to his mistakes. He'd been ten years old when he'd lest his first battle to ruin. He remembered ageing, felt his first accomplishments be taken away, thinking this was a good thing. A reward.
As he got older, he was celebrated as prince. And he'd thought that being a prince meant having to suffer for his people. Until the day Zarkon announced that their leader would never die. That day, Lotor's purpose vanished without a trace, along with himself. His reason to live. He was cast out, send out into space to work as a normal Galra officer, without rank or name.

He had to work himself up. And so he did. With violence, as he'd been taught.

And he saw the mines his father sucked the life force from. He saw his people suffering, clutching to the belief that it was all necessary.

There was a planet, kind and inviting. Colorful, beautiful. Al-Qerak. It had been his job to attack, to slave away the people, to mine the planet for the powerful Crystals that they had. But the people had been so - kind. They sang him praises of Karak'nirir, the goddess of creation. Invited him to dance and eat. A children story lived as religion, letting them florish. Making them happy and rich. Sharing their kindness with him too. Lotor had gotten swept up in it, his mission forgotten.

"I can't make slaves of them!" Lotor could hear himself repeating in his own mind as the memory slipped into the future. Over and over again, in that cell they'd put him for his disobedience. For offering a child to eat.
Lotor had watched his people be tortured and killed while their planet got exploited. He'd sat in a dungeon, hands holding tightly onto the metal bars that kept him at bay. And he'd watched. And watched, until the image of suffering was burned into his mind. Until he'd decided that Zarkon would have to pay for this. That Haggar would have to die for this. Lotor had felt his heart constricting that day. Tightening, hardening, into something like stone. Something made of pure toxins. He hadn't cried once since that day. But he'd seen that same suffering, over and over and over -
Until - that feeling. The feeling of the Blue lion, of the blue paladin's reminder. 'You're selfless. You're kind, you're deserving.' Even now, he couldn't help but feel the sting in his eyes.

As he tried to look at the others, the paladins who had been judging him from day one, he saw silence. Wide eyes and surprise written in their expressions. Lotor angrily wiped off the stray tear from his eye. "I beg your pardon," he said dryly. "I know you wanted to see your friend, but -"

"Stop that." Keith said, eyes wide. "That's enough."

Lotor pulled back, put off the altean mindmeld device. "I believe you're right. I was asking for too much -"

"I said stop that." Keith's brows furrowed lower, a quiver to his voice. Lotor felt strangely seen. Exposed in a way he had never felt before. "Stop apologizing." His face did something conflicted and painful, then he ripped his own device from his head and took a deep breath, while Lotor watched him with utter confusion. "I'm sorry." He finally said, head lowered.

"What are you apologizing for?" Lotor felt very irritated right now. Why were they all looking at him like that.

"Remember when we said that we would treat Lance more seriously?" Keith randomly began, addressing the others. "We keep doing the same thing. We keep prioritizing our own issues. And we keep making assumptions." He rubbed his face with a groan. "Do you guys realize that since Lotor is here, we've treated him exactly like we used to treat Lance? Which we agreed was wrong?"

The others didn't speak, as if the same thing had been on their mind.

Lotor was growing more and more confused. "What do you mean? You have every reason to assume I'm an enemy -"

"But we didn't give you a chance." That was Shiro. "Lance actually tested you. He watched you, and ended up asking us to trust you. He couldn't read your mind, but he still somehow ... saw you. Like he saw all of us."

"Your blue paladin is incredibly perceptive-"

"He's not the blue paladin anymore." Pidge declared loudly. "He stepped back because he knew it wouldn't work anymore. You are our blue paladin now. Blue chose you too. We should have -"

"We're sorry." Hunk said, strangely sober, yet not as emotional as Lotor had seen him before. "We should have given you a chance."

Lotor stared at them, overwhelmed by those words. He knew they were sincere. He knew they meant it, but he didn't know how to feel. No one had ever cared enough about him to apologize. Galra usually didn't. Least of all to him. "I believe you misunderstand." He said slowly. "You all carry the burdens of the universe. It is absolutely reasonable that you would struggle from time to time, especially when your friend has gone, and your families are in danger. You're not at fault for mistrusting me, if I have never given you a reason to trust me -"

"Maybe." Hunk interrupted him. "That doesn't change the fact that we were wrong about you. We will keep making mistakes like that, but we have to own up to them, otherwise we will repeat them."

"But you are repeating them." Lotor blinked, struggling to understand the reason.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a glance, then the former replied. "Yes, we do. But we do it less. And we're trying, we really are."

Lotor was about to respond to that, to say something, when a wild echo ripped through the universe, reaching them right where they sat. The power of it, the threat of it, had them jumping to their feet, all of them in fighting stance, when something formed in the middle of the room. It was, without a doubt, Lance. He was heaving loudly, sounding beyond terrified.

Lance looked like he wasn't entirely conscious, his body was only a rough shape, rather than sturdy and human. Before they knew what he was doing, before he even noticed any of them, Lance was stumbling forward to the controls.

"Lance?" Allura asked and Keith was up in no time as well.

Lance didn't answer as he reached his arms right into the console of the altean castle ship. It looked like he was melting with it, or reaching into a puddle of water. Then the the ship began to glow from the inside, power overflowing, rising within each of them as well.

"What the-" Someone yelled, but it was too late at that point.

When they opened their eyes, they had reached the milkyway, earth already visible through their scanners. Lance was breathing loudly, still, sounding unstable and terrified. "We have three days." He said, not looking at anyone. "We better make it count."

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

Keith's PoV:

Lance was avoiding them. As soon as he'd randomly teleported them home, he'd gone and locked himself in his room, as if he couldn't bear to look at them. At any of them. Like he'd come back from a battlefield, rather than home. In fact, for half a second, Keith was afraid that earth was already gone and destroyed. But it looked peaceful from above.

"Maybe one of us should talk to -" Keith tried, but Allura shook her head.

"He doesn't look like he wants to talk." Lotor agreed quietly. "He may be hard to read, but he just gave you a very clear sign. He needs time for himself."

"Lance never needs time for himself." Keith muttered, worry etched into his voice. "He always feels better in company."

"Not right now." Lotor didn't know why he suddenly felt so anxious. "That wave of power we just felt - I've felt that before. I think I know what's wrong."

"You have?" The other's turned to look at him.

"When Torat, Karak'nirir's home planet was destroyed, it felt very similar. If I didn't know better -" Lotor took a deep breath. "I would say your paladin just had a fight with Haggar herself. And lost."

Keith stared at him with wide eyes. "He wouldn't -"

"Sorry, Keith, but Lance absolutely would." Hunk interrupted him. "He's always been a rebel and doesn't do what he's told. Back at the Garrison, he did stuff like that all the time." Hunk bit his lip. "Are we sure we should leave him alone?"

"Maybe for an hour or so." Shiro said. "Give him some time to calm down." He paused, waiting for everyone to nod in hesitant agreement. "Let's get in contact with the Garrison, then."

Outsider PoV.: James

Being the best fighter pilot at the Garrison didn't feel quite as rewarding when he knew that the actual best fighter pilot had flunked out before they had had the chance to challenge each other. Not that James hadn't challenged others like a thousand times. But Keith Kogane had never truly acknowledged him.

Why he was even thinking of his old rivalry? Well... James blamed Iversion.

Iversion had changed lately. He wasn't saying much, wasn't as ruthless, and much more openly distressed than before. Most of their questions recently had been answered with 'this information is classified.' James was tired of the whole 'access denied' protocol, but he stuck to the rules. Always. Still. He really wanted to know how Iversion's eye had healed over night.

"Listen, cadets."

James and his fighter pilot friends straightened up. It was pure habit by now, obeying to command.

"A couple days ago I have discovered this." He held up a sheet of paper. James knew that paper by now. They had all read it, trying to decipher the paper that somehow wasn't paper but pure energy. It had appeared on Iversion's desk one morning, unsigned, but with a warning attached. One of the students who'd been sent to his office had sent pictures in the group chat, so technically they weren't supposed to know.

Iversion,

I apologize but I could not hold my promise. I failed.
The world has much more problems than I'm ready to face on my own. The roots of these issues lie on Earth and that is my fault. I have no choice but to drag all of you into this war. I must ask you to make preparations to defend earth against a monster named Haggar. She is able to destroy the entire universe with her toxins. My toxins. I will try to hold her off for as long as I can to give you some time. But I can make no promises. You won't have to fight alone. Voltron, the defender of the universe, will come to your aid. I'm sorry it had to come to this.

There was no signature, no explanation. Now it seemed, Iversion was ready to give them answers. "The writer of this letter is no other than ..." His voice failed him. "God."

James sputtered in his position. "GOD?" He mouthed to Nadia who stood to his right. Iversion was an atheist. He didn't believe in faith, or god, or religion. Most people these days didn't, except for a select few. Nadia just glanced at him, urging him to keep quiet.

Iversion gave him a warning but stern glance and James went back in his original position. "Not the god you think of, although there are similarities. This god is the successor of a goddess named Karak'nirir. He visited me not too long ago, asking for my help in facing the problems of the universe in an attempt to save it. Apparently, that didn't work as well as he'd thought.
This team Voltron he speaks of, is coming soon. I need you all on your best behavior. Voltron too, is a legendary figure among the universe. It consists of five individual lions that combine into a giant fighter. The paladins should arrive shortly and I want you to take care of them."

"How do we know to trust them?" Nadia's voice interrupted him. She shoved up her glasses, face stern, as if that could cover up the fact that she'd just raised her voice unasked.

Iversion sighed deeply. "We all know them." He said sternly, not even commenting. He sounded tired and conflicted. "You might recognize our missing cadets. Takashi Shirogane, Hunk Garret, Pidge Gunderson, Keith Kogane and Lance McClain."

James mouth dropped unbidden and he could feel the other fighter pilots straightening beside him. Internally, he knew they were all freaking out. All of them had become legends at the Garrison. The rebels, the rule breakers, who had gotten abducted by aliens, or so were the rumors. Others had said that they had been caught by Iversion and been experimented on, or locked away for disobedience. To hear they were alive, to hear that the most outlandish conspiracy theory was true - James didn't even know what to think, let alone say.

...

Team Voltron didn't land as a hoard of lions, as Iversion had let them assume, but in a giant alien castle. The landing itself was so spectacular and impossible to keep secret, that they could have watched it on TV had they not all been present outside. And there they were, readied in color coded armor, Team Voltron.

Their leader, Takashi Shirogane, was covered from head to toe in white amor with black accents. Next to him stood no other than James' long time rival (and maybe sort of crush) Keith Kogane, then Hunk Garret in yellow and Pidge in green.... The blue paladin, however, did not sport a familiar face. James nearly sputtered as he saw the purple skinned, white haired, definitely alien man in blue armor fall in step with the other paladins. Behind the five paladins walked, a little out of sync and conflicting moods, another white haired, but humanoid looking woman with elven ears, along with Matt and Samuel Holt! And beside them, sick and strangely enough, ashamed looking: Lance McClain.

James tore his face away from Lance. A bit of empathy pulled at the strings of schadenfreude he was experiencing. Imagine you were five people who'd gone out in space, and you're the only one who was not chosen to be a hero. Lance McClain, who had always bragged and caught attention but absolutely failing the flying simulator every time... James couldn't help but feel it was somewhat deserved. Especially after Lance had dumped him. On the other hand, it must truly suck to stay behind like that, watching his friends ascend to greatness.
Iversion had given them the gist of what Voltron was, and James couldn't help but see the five paladins out front, fighting for the universe, while Lance had to remain behind, doing clean up work or something.

Still, when Keith walked past him, not even acknowledging him, James felt crushed too. They all looked so ... burdened, somehow. It must be hard, being a hero. Maybe Lance's fate wasn't the worst after all.

When James turned back around, Lance was gone. Both from the view and from his mind.

...

Team Voltron was not at all what James had expected, was what he thought when Iversion led them to dinner with the other cadets. They seemed heroic, and the PTSD vibes were certainly fitting... But he'd expected them to be ... happier, somehow.

The blue paladin seemed to be the most reluctant or them all, as if he didn't quite fit in. Was it because he was an alien? Keith was brooding and scowling more than usual. The other paladins were talking about something that James couldn't catch from afar.

"Who is the one with the black hair?" James heard one of their younger classmates mutter. They were sitting in the cafeteria, away from the main guests, but close enough to get a good look. Iversion was sitting with them, talking about something they couldn't hear, but not making too much of a secret of it.

"That one? Oh come on! Shirogane is much hotter! He's also a legend! THE legend from the Kerberos mission!" It was hardly surprising to hear people gushing about them.

"I heard Garret makes really good alien food! I heard the Holts talking about it!"

James had heard these conversations a thousand times before. Especially about Shiro and Keith and he knew that they had to get louder once they had returned as heroes. The fascination with Hunk was new, though. The random gushing about him and the alien blue paladin wasn't surprising, however.

"Have you seen the other guy?"

"What guy?"

"The one with the brown hair and brown jacket? What was his name? Is he also a paladin?"

"You mean Lance McClain?"

"Didn't they call him 'the Tailor', because of how he threads the needle?" Someone laughed, another one joined in. "He's that popular flirt who couldn't ever finish a flying simulation."

"He was really kind though."

"All of them are kind."

James was about to make his own comment, caught up in his own amusement and jealousy, as someone sat down right in front of him and the conversations grew silent. "Hello, James."

James looked up, eyes widening as he found Lance McClain himself staring at him. The man had brought nothing but water with him, which was understandable if he was used to Hunk's rumoured legendary food and had forsaken regular cafeteria food. It was a bit arrogant though, in James' opinion.

"Lance." James said and tried not to think of the one time he had made out with Lance... Before he'd been dumped of course. Or well, perhaps dumping was a hard word. James hadn't considered them a couple, but Lance had certainly sounded like he'd wanted them to be. At least for a while. In all honesty, James knew he had been cruel. Lance had always been so outgoing and kind, his hopes and dreams always at the tip of his tongue, and James had only flirted with him because Keith Kogane had been watching. And only then, when James would be so direct in front of him, had Keith looked his way with a frown on his face like he didn't like what he was seeing. When James had kissed Lance, however, Keith didn't seem to have taken notice at all. "Not with the paladins?"

Lance gave him a quick glance over, then sipped on his water. "Bitter." He muttered distractedly. "That's not good."

"What?"

"Nothing." Lance didn't answer any of his questions and looked over his shoulder in the direction of team Voltron, who was trying to explain something to the blue paladin. Eventually, he sighed and put down his water, while James tried not to draw attention to the pitying glances everyone was throwing Lance's way. "I just - I wanted to apologize."

James blinked. "Apolo- what? Why?"

"I knew you liked Keith." Lance said out of the blue. It had James squeezing his juice a tad bit too tightly, but Lance ignored him. "When we made out, I knew you were doing it to make him jealous. And I have to admit, it was the same for me. I used you to get his attention."

"What?" Now James was wide awake. Hold on, Lance McClain had - why was he even talking about - Oh god. Lance had these moments sometimes where he seemed so incredibly psychic. Blushing deeply, James turned his head back to the paladins, to find Keith frowning at the two of them once more. But since when had Lance had feelings for Keith Kogane? And since when did he care enough to apologize? And why-

"I shouldn't have used you like that. I'm sorry." Lance got up, but James grabbed for his sleeve.

"Hold on, wait a second. Why on earth are you saying that? Even if it's true, we'd be even! This isn't -"

Lance blinked. "I just felt like I needed to." With that, he was very suddenly gone. Keith's frown lingered on James for another minute and James remembered that one day he'd actually gotten Keith's attention enough to be kissed by him. It had him flushing beyond reason, as he buried himself in drinking his juice. As he dared to look up again, Keith was confronting Lance about something, but the brunette just shook his head and left, leaving a frustrated Keith behind.

James paused, watching Keith frowning and scowling in the doorframe. He had his arms crossed, his shoulders hunched.

This Keith was definitely not unaware of Lance's existence like he used to be.

"Didn't Lance look strange to you?" One of the younger classmates said quietly. "He seemed so serious."

"It might be the war." Another said.

"Maybe."

James blinked, still not turning around. But he knew they were right. Lance McClain did seem different. Very different. There had been no preamble, no attempt to flirt with James, no joke and not a single attempt to fight with Keith Kogane.
Perhaps he really had changed.