The Castle Ship blasted a hole in the atmosphere, and the Lions sped through. Their movements were powered by adrenaline, desperation, and fear. The black lion had an extra suit and hemet set in it for Lance. Hunk and Shiro would be getting him. Hunk and Allura would cover from the sky, in the yellow lion and castleship, and Keith would be attracting fire from the sentries, letting Pidge and Shiro get in.

"Taking heavy fire!" Keith called through he coms.

"Just a second..." Hunk responded. One of the guard towers imploded, crushing thousands of sentries and leaving Shiro and Pidge an opportunity to slip inside. As soon as they were, Hunk, Keith, and the castleship retreated. Green and Black followed, under specific instructions from their paladins. The Galra relaxed and settled back to rhythm, under the illusion that Voltron had backed off.

However, Pidge and Shiro sped down hallways, following Allura's instructions.

=============================================================================

When the first blast echoed, Lance had been jostled around in his restraints. Gandek's assistant had let Lance out . He had fallen to the floor. The Galran fled before Lance could attack him. Lance curled around himself again. He pulled at his muzzle, but when he touched the lock, a wave of intense electricity flooded his body, and he gasped and pulled his hand away, convulsing violently. The blue paladin looked up at the door. He thought he heard voices. He hoped it was his team. He closed his eyes. Do I? He thought. Do I want them to see me like this? No. But do I want out of this hellhole? Yes. He tried to stand, leaning against the wall. He stepped forward, but his torso ached so much he couldn't bear to move his legs. He sunk down again, his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around him. Those were definitely voices, and not Galran.

===================================================================================

"Left, right, straight, and take the left fork!" Allura's voice buzzed through the coms and the green and black paladins did, left, a right, straight, oh watch out there's a galra, Shiro take out that sentry, left.

"Now what?" Pidge yelled hysterically. "There's nothing here!"

"Pidge, calm down." Shiro put his human arm on her arm. "Remember, there's the secret door." He checked the spot against the floorboards and ran his arm along it, caught the switch, and activated his arm. The wall moved aside, revealing a pitch-black corridor. He held out his arm, shining the light onto the dark walls. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all black, adding to the feeling of solitude. Pidge grasped at Shiro's human arm.

"What now Allura?" She asked.

"Walk about twenty steps, turn right, then he's in the fourth door from the end." She said.

"Are there any Galra here?" Shiro asked.

"No, but you don't want to be too loud, or one of the prisoners might hear you." A taunting voice said from a few doors ahead. "Who are you? Friend or foe?" The voice asked.

"We are the paladins of Voltron. We come to help." Shiro responded. "Who are you?"

"I am Honkata. Who are you here for? Or are you freeing everyone?"

"Well we-"

"SHIRO!" Allura said. "What are you doing?"

"Come on." Shiro told the voice. "We're getting you all out of here."

"Well there's only two of us..." Honkata said. "The other is down the corridor."

"Okay, Pidge, get her out, I'll keep watch, and we'll get Lance together."

She shorted the electrical lock and a tall, Jar-Jar Binks resembling creature stepped out. "Thank you, but I know my way from here." She said, and hurried down the hallway. "You have a blessing from the Whares." She called over her shoulder.

Pidge and Shiro continued down the way, and they reached the wall. It was also pitch black, and Pidge banged her helmet into it. They counted four cell doors back and Pidge shocked it open.

=================================================================================

A light lit the doorway, very faint and far away. Lance could hear the other prisoner speaking to someone. Then footsteps toward him, and then past him. He wanted to cry. They passed him. They'd never find him. Then they came back. Two people, he thought. Not Galra. The door slid open and  Pidge's bayard lit up the dark cell with a bright green light. Lance sobbed, and reached up to them. He did not try to stand again, nor did he reveal his chest or bruised midsection.

"LANCE! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" Pidge ran to him and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, but when Shiro held out his hand to help Lance up, he shrunk back.

"What's wrong? Oh my god, you still have that thing on!" Pidge said, and reached to pull it off. Lance let her try. When she gave up and stepped away, Shiro handed him a helmet with a bundle in it.

"Here, Lance, we brought you some clothes. Well, really it's a suit, for space, but you get it. we'll wait outside while you put it on." Lance nodded. As he pulled the shirt over his head, it snagged on his muzzle. He untangled it impatiently, and tugged on the pants. He tried to call out that he was decent, but couldn't. He couldn't walk to them either. He slapped at the ground.

"All set?" Shiro came in and reached out to help him up again. Lance grasped his hand and tried to support his weight. He tumbled down again. "Here, put your arm around my shoulders,"Shiro said, and took on the Cuban boy's weight for him. "We need to go. I'm really sorry, but can we take that off at the castle?" He gestured to Lance's face. He nodded, a bit disappointed, but still relieved to be free at last. Basically.

"Okay Allura, we're all set." Pidge said, and led the way down the corridor and back to the entrance. There were no Galra around, and they slipped out undetected, putting their helmets on. They saw the Black and Green Lions swooping down, and Pidge turned to see a parade of Galrans storming toward them. Shiro noticed them too, and he scooped Lance up and ran to the Black lion. Pidge took off into the air, shooting at the crowd, providing cover. Shiro set Lance down behind the pilot seat, on a bench, and sped off toward the sky. The castle ship had returned, and a wormhole opened. Black and Green darted through, the ship right behind them. It closed, and they steered the lions into their hangers.

"Hunk, Allura, Keith, and Coran are waiting in the med bay. We'll meet Pidge there, okay?"

Lance nodded, and tears leaked down his cheeks. Shiro pulled him into a hug, but remembering Lance's bruises, kept it gentle and comforting. "They all accept you. We're glad to have our sharpshooter back." They walked slowly to the med bay, Lance leaning entirely on Shiro.

Everyone was there, even the Mice. Hunk pulled him into a tight Hunk Hug, but let go when he felt Lance's breath hitch oddly. "What's wrong?" He asked. Lance pointed at his stomach. "ohhhh noooo I'm so sorry I didn't realize..." He trailed off as Lance hugged him back.  Then Keith approached and gave an awkward attempt at a side hug. Shiro thought that Keith was ging to take him, and he released Lance's weight. He toppled onto Keith, who barely caught him. "Wow I thought you'd be way heavier!" Keith exclaimed. "We missed you man. Glad to have you back." Allura hugged him gently, then Coran.

"Now let's get you into a pod. You look awfully beat up." the Altean man said. 

Lance mimed pulling at the muzzle. "Ah! Of course! Yes, most certainly. Is there a latch, or anything you know about that will help us get it off?"

Lance pointed to the lock on his right side, just under his ear. Pidge stood on tip-toe, trying to see. Keith helped Lance sit on a couch. Pidge leaned in close, inspecting it. "Looks like there's a code. Any idea on what it is?" She asked. Lance nodded. Coran scrambled around and got a pen and paper. Lance took them, his hand trembling. He slowly wrote S H E  IS and stopped, wiping tears from his eyes. W E A K. He wrote, and hid his face in Hunk's shoulder. Pidge looked at it and gasped. "No!" She cried.

"What? What is it?" Keith questioned. Pidge looked questioningly at Lance, who nodded. Pidge showed them the paper. Allura scowled, Shiro and Coran exchanged glances, Hunk rubbed Lance's back soothingly, and Keith tore up the paper. "No!" He yelled. "You are not! You are not weak, and you are not a she!" He hollered at Lance. The blue paladin looked up at Keith's glower and shrunk away.

"Okay, well, let's get that off, yes?" Coran said. He reached toward it but Lance flinched away again. "It's alright m'boy. I won't hurt you." Lance nodded but pushed him away anyway. pidge tried to approach him. He was perfectly still until she touched his cheek. He scrambled away and fell off the couch, banging  his shoulder onto the ground. His eyes welled with tears and Hunk helped him back onto the couch. He rubbed his hand in a circle around his heart.

"Are you okay?" Hunk asked. He nodded and repeated the action. His right hand in a fist, clockwise, right above his heart.

"Oh! It's sign language!" Pidge exclaimed. "Don't be, it's okay. You, well, you went through a lot. It's okay now. You're home now."

He  nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to tell them. There was no paper, they just had to learn what it did. He didn't want to be shocked again though. Pidge leaned in close and touched the lock. He was hit by an intense current, worse by far than when he had tried it. He shook violently and Pidge pulled away in horror. "Oh my gods, Oh my gods, Oh my, I'm so sorry I didn't realized, I didn't know. Oh my--" She started crying. Someone lifted him up and placed him into the pod, he didn't know who he didn't care, he just wanted to sleep. All concienceness faded from him and he was inveloped in a tingling, cold sensation.

DAYUM BOIS I HIT 1700 WORDS OF PAIN