(Warning. Self Harm Ahead.)

"PIDGE, COVER ME!" Keith yelled, sending Red rocketing towards the largest ship in the attacking fleet.

"On it!"

She flew in as well, taking down three fighters that were on Keith's tail and making sure that no others managed to.

He shoved his bayard into it's slot and yanked it around, summoning the sword in the lion's mouth and shredding auto-canons with it as he whizzed past them.

Leaving the BoM was hard, and hurting Lance so much was hard, but it really was nice to be back in a lion. Especially Red, with his high speed and agility.

"Nice work Keith!" Allura congratulated, sending fighters scattering with Blue's ice beam.

"That's enough, everyone! Get back to the castle!" Shiro ordered, and all the lions obliged, circling around and heading back.

The lions entered their chambers and the Paladins ran to the bridge as Coran set the castle to wormhole.

"Let's hope they can't find us again." Pidge almost joked. They were all even more exhausted. Another attack would probably cripple their stamina for quite a while.

"What on earth is happening?" Allura questioned. "This situation is ridiculous. They keep finding us, somehow, with a tracking mechanism if some sort. They have to be."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, but Shiro did the opposite.

"There is no way that they could be tracking us."

"So, what? The same fleet finds us three times, by accident?"

He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Yeah, Shiro. The galaxy is massive. You can't physically look for people, it would take forever."

They were backing him into a corner, and was relieved when Coran changed the subject.

"The particle barrier is damaged. It's going to need some intense repairs."

"How bad is it?"

"Another attack, and we're toast."

"Then we need to make sure that the Galra can't track us anymore, however they're doing it." Pidge stated.

"For the last time, they can't be tracking us!"

A small argument pent up between Paladins, and as it cooled down, Hunk sighed and let out a small 'I wish Lance was here'.

"... Is this really the time, Hunk?" Shiro asked, clearly irritated.

"Yes, actually. It's been the time for a while." Keith interrupted, crossing his arms and glaring, "Every time I've asked you what we should do about Lance, you've dodged the question."

"Yes, Shiro. Lance has been acting strange recently. We should make sure that he's ok."

He looked away.

"I'm not going to do anything about him, because he doesn't need anything done."

Keith felt a vein pop in his forehead.

"He's hardly been eating, he's lost his usual talkativeness and he had bloody bandages on his floor when I went to see him a few days ago. He needs something done because he isn't ok. If you can't see that then you're going blind."

---

Lance waited for the door to his room to open, and smiled at the sound. It should have opened straight away, but, it jammed.

He scowled at the metal, kicking it to see if that would dislodge it, but it did nothing.

A door jam, at this moment in time? Karma wasn't being fair today.

He dug his fingers into the tiny gap between wall and door and pulled, managing to make it screech open, metal grinding on metal creating an awful shrieking sound.

But he was free, and he hurried towards the bridge.

---

Shiro took in a deep breath and let it out, calming down.

"Look, Keith. Lance hardly matters at this moment. What matters is-"

"Yes he does! He's part of our team! He will always matter!"

"... Keith, I'm warning you."

"Screw the Galra. I'm worried about Lance! And so are Hunk and Allura!"

Hunk's face clearly said 'don't bring me into this'.

"This is not the time!"

"Yes it is!"

"Haven't you noticed that it's been pretty chilled around here since he left?"

Keith was speechless for a second. He never imagined that he'd be arguing with Shiro like this.

"No, it hasn't been. It's been tense, and awkward, and way too quiet. And what do you mean 'left'? He's still part of the team!"

"... Since he stopped being a Paladin, he stopped being part of the team."

"So I guess Coran isn't part of the team either!"

"Coran flies the castle. Lance just sits in his room all day every day doing nothing. He's little more than a passenger!"

Allura stepped in.

"Don't you think that's a bit too far? Lance is still our friend."

"Hardly. He doesn't bother to talk to us anymore." Pidge joined in.

"Thankyou Pidge." Shiro gestured, massaging his temples. "Listen, Keith. The long and short of it is that Lance doesn't matter anymore. Voltron and the Coalition are what matters. The current situation is what matters."

Keith looked down and bit the inside of his cheek, almost drawing blood.

---

As Lance approached the bridge, he heard loud, heated voices coming from it.

"Look, Keith. Lance hardly matters at this moment. What matters is-"

"Yes he does! He's part of our team! He will always matter!"

He stopped still, not knowing what to think.

"... Keith, I'm warning you."

"Screw the Galra. I'm worried about Lance! And so are Hunk and Allura!"

He crept closer, till he was stood at the edge of the doorway, peeking in, but nobody could see him.

"This is not the time!"

"Yes it is!"

"Haven't you noticed that it's been pretty chilled around here since he left?"

... Ouch. That hurt. That really hurt. Lance felt each breath get harder and harder to take.

"No, it hasn't been. It's been tense, and awkward, and way too quiet. And what do you mean 'left'? He's still part of the team!"

"... Since he stopped being a Paladin, he stopped being part of the team."

It got worse. He had always looked up to Shiro, and now... Shiro was looking down on him. Not part of the team anymore... it hurt so much.

"So I guess Coran isn't part of the team either!"

"Coran flies the castle. Lance just sits in his room all day every day doing nothing. He's little more than a passenger!"

Tears threatened to stream out the ducts but Lance tried to deny them, trying to focus on how Keith was standing up for him.

"Don't you think that's a bit too far? Lance is still our friend."

"Hardly. He doesn't bother to talk to us anymore."

There were Allura and Pidge. One on his side and one not. His mind was screaming for a blade.

"Thankyou Pidge. Listen, Keith. The long and short of it is that Lance doesn't matter anymore. Voltron and the Coalition are what matters. The current situation is what matters."

'Lance doesn't matter anymore.'

It was like a bullet through the heart. The tears fell.

What was worse, was that nobody defended him this time. They just accepted it.

Oh god... they were all adopting Shiro's views, weren't they.

His mind was taking things and distorting them out of proportion. They weren't all accepting Shiro's views but he had convinced himself that they were.

Oh no...

His train of thought had been completely lost and he no longer cared about what he originally came to the bridge for.

He only cared about going back to his room and retrieving his knife.

So he did, turning around and walking - defeated - to his starting point.

The tears formed two wet patches on his t-shirt, still coming strong.

Getting back to his room, he hardly noticed that the door had managed to unjam itself and was now operating normally. He hardly cared about anyone bursting into his room and seeing, as he took the knife and pressed down hard. Harder than ever. Vertical? Horizontal? It didn't matter to him.

Blood flowed freely.

He was a failure. He messed up all his chances, Shiro said he didn't matter. Shiro said he was annoying and loud. Pidge agreed.

Lance agreed.

And he pressed down again.

It hurt, it stung like a million insect stings but it didn't come close to the damage wreaked by Shiro's words.

Those had carved a wound so deep, that the scar would last forever.