Shiro called the other lions back and told Coran to wormhole again. Lance was still in Red's cockpit, tugging on the controls and sobbing uncontrollably. The others heard every word.

"... Lance. Come out."

"No! I've got this! Red's just having a bad day that's all!"

"That's an order."

Lance was quiet then, staring down at the places where holographic controls would appear. Instead there was just darkness.

... Red... disconnected with him.

That meant, Red no longer thought he was right to pilot the red lion.

That meant... oh god... that meant...

He was no longer part of Voltron.

He stood up, waking out, slowly. He tried to dry his tears but the polymer armour wasn't waterproof at all.

"... I.... I'm sure he'll be fine tomorrow..." he whispered as he came into view of the others.

"Perhaps, but right now, we need to find out how we are being tracked." Shiro stated, "Pidge, any ideas?"

"Well, if a tracker was placed on any of our crafts, it would most likely be one of the lions. The castle hasn't been in close contact with anything recently."

"You heard her. Scan your lions."

The paladins took off in separate directions, scanning their crafts from top to bottom.

Lance, when searching Red's left flank, found a small, round, flashing object, clinging onto the metal with three claw-like prongs.

"... I-I found it. It was on R-Red." He announced, the echoing of the bay carrying his voice to everyone else.

Pidge ran forward and took a screwdriver to it, levering it off Red and smashing it against the floor. The flashing stopped in an instant.

Lance's mind was going haywire. Everything was going wrong.

Shiro ran over, staring at the broken tracker and then up at Lance, who sported the face of a child expecting a brutal telling-off.

"... S-Shiro, I-I-"

Shiro didn't even address Lance. He looked at the rest of the team, and spoke.

"... Someone set up a contact with Keith. We need him to pilot the red lion."

Lance's blood ran cold. Of course, it was what he expected, but... hearing it... made him want to curl up and die in a corner.

He couldn't think of a single thing to say. Nothing witty, nothing realistic. Nothing at all.

"... Shiro-"

"We need the lion operational. If it isn't connecting to you, we need a new pilot."

He was silent for a few seconds, before he was able to call his voice to just the occasional wobble.

"... P-Please... can I try, one more time?"

"... ok."

Turning from his team, for the third time that day, entered his Lion.

But, it might not be his for long.