The New Paladin

27: Betrayed

"A paladin never betrays their lion or their team." Allura snapped angrily. "You did both in one fell swoop!"

Lance was silent where he stood in the middle of the control room.

His head was lowered, a solemn look on his face. He looked almost pale.

Keith had gotten Lance and he had brought him to the half wrecked ship where he then piloted the blue lion back to her hangar.

They left Rolo and Nyma on the moon's surface, with parts for them to fix their ship themselves.

But now, here on board the castle which was making its way towards the Balmera, a heavy atmosphere had settled.

"Allura." Shiro said carefully knowing how she could get sometimes. "I think Lance understands that."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Allura huffed crossing her arms. "He still went ahead and put himself and his lion in that position."

The control room was silent for a moment before Coran stepped forwards placing a hand on Allura shoulder. "Perhaps we should discuss this later?"

The offer settled into the silent room.

"Very well." Allura said sharply as she walked across the room, she then paused next to Lance with a heavy frown. "And we will talk more."

Then she was gone.

Shiro waited a moment more watching Lance, he hadn't moved, it was as if he hadn't heard the princess at all, or maybe he wasn't as scared of her as the others were.

He went to speak when Lance lifted his head, he took a deep breath. "I'm going to my room." He stated before he turned, walking away.

"I thought she was going to bite his head off." Keith admitted with a frown. "Do you think she'll cool down?"

"I don't know." Coran sighed. "But I will speak to her."

"Lance is new to this, I feel like maybe he needs some space." Pidge said with a shrug. "He knows he did wrong, I don't think we need to remind him."

"I agree." Shiro nodded. "Blue hasn't rejected him and he did fly her back here, so I'm assuming their bond is still there."

"That is a good point, I will remind Allura of it." Coran decided. "Right, now all of you go and relax for a while, we have a difficult day ahead."

Shiro nodded but he didn't know if he would be able to sleep. Not after the look in Lance's eyes.

It was almost haunted, as if Allura's ranting had reminded of something in his past, something he had yet to tell the others.

Shiro realised with a sickening thought that they hardly knew Lance, he was distant, secretive and yet there was an openness to him.

He was complicated, but they expected that.

Lance had literay fallen into their lives, he had unexpectedly filled a gap they hadn't even realised existed.

But it worked for the best.

Or at least it did on the surface.

It appeared to work.

But if this team was going to become strong, they needed to be more open, not just with eachother but with themselves.

Shiro needed to talk to Lance.

~~~

Upon arriving in his room Lance locked the door impatiently. He was angry when he kicked his shoes off, he struggled with his left one before he threw it at the wall.

He heaved out a heavy breath, eyes burning.

"You set yourself up for that one didn't you." He muttered darkly squeezing his eyes shut. "Stupid idiot."

Why would he think Rolo and Nyma would take him back? They hated him. They made it obvious after they rescued him that they would quite happily abandon him at any point.

The issue was that Lance was useful. He had learned the hard way that his attempts at being useful were never enough, he was only good for so long.

And here he was, already messing up another opportunity to be something better.

The tightness in his chest was growing. The pulsing headache was thundering in his head.

He couldn't just sit here.

He needed to run.

So he forced his tired feet into his shoes once more he he took off in a sprint. He didn't know where he was going but he had to get away.

He came to a stop to find himself in the blue lions hangar.

He stared up at the lion who purred in the back of his mind.

"What do you want from me?!" He asked sharply. "Hey?! What do I offer you? Why did you save me?!"

The silence was what nearly killed him. The lion was silent in his mind too.

Shaking his head Lance backed away before he ran again.

It was the only thing he was good at.

~~~

"Where is he?" Allura asked sharply as she looked at her tablet. "He's late."

"Maybe he's scared to come." Hunk offered anxiously.

"And he should be." Allura glared.

"Allura, he made a mistake." Pidge said sharply as he met her gaze. "Remember when we made mistakes."

"You weren't in a galactic war." She frowned.

"Cut him some slack." Shiro encouraged trying to calm the tension. "This is new to him."

Allura sighed. "Fine, I will try and approach him in a calmer manner later."

"Should one of us go and get him?" Hunk asked looking towards Shiro.

"No, let him come when he's ready." Shiro decided shaking his head.

"While you guys are waiting I'm gonna train, I want to be ready for the battle on the Balmera." Keith decided with a shrug.

"That's what you all are going to be doing." Allura decided shaking her head. "Coran."

Coran nodded sharply and fiddled with the controls before 4 bots rose from the ground.

"This is going to be fun." Shiro sighed. He hadn't wanted to do this, but there was only so much he could argue for without being attacked himself.

He didn't like to make Allura angry. He had seen her lose it a few times and it honestly scared him. So he did his best to keep it calm when he could. So mind melding training would have to wait.

They would have to wait for Lance.