NOT MY ART

Lance sighed again and twitched the escape pod controller to the right. He was aiming for earth but the map was old, outdated, and useless. He gave up. Then tried again. His plants were lined up on his sleeping bag in the back, and his books lay next to him, untouched. He set the pod to Arus and turned on Autopilot, then began flipping through his pictures from the tablet Coran supplied them with. Pictures with aliens, lots of selfies with the team, a series of photos of Keith, taken when he wasn't looking,  screenshots of important Altean dates to celebrate with Allura or mourn with Coran, and a downloaded file of his family portrait. He looked through again and again, trying to decide if Shiro was telling the truth. Did Keith hate him? He didn't think so, but couldn't take the chance. Only the Alteans, Shiro and Pidge knew. The Alteans knew from the cryopod scans. Trans people were uncommon on Altea, but heard of. Shiro figured it out on his own, and Pidge, well, they had had a long talk after her "coming out" speech. The Garrison didn't know. He was sorted under Cis Boy, just a plain, heteronormative child. His uncle was the nurse, and pulled a few strings.

"Allies of Voltron, come in!" Allura's voice broadcasted from the speaker in the wall. "Our team member, good friend, and paladin of the blue lion has disappeared for unspecified reasons. It is believed he left under his own free will. Please aid him in his journey, should you come across him, but advise him to return. We need him dearly, and will pay handsomely for any information leading to his safe return. Lance, we love you. Please, come home."

He found himself choking back tears, and turned the pod around, attempting to locate the castle's signal. The pod suddenly jerked upward, and froze. Lance furrowed his eyebrows and hit the gas, again and again, with no response. He drifted upward, and as he peered out the windshield, saw a huge galra cruiser parked above him, pulling him in. His breath caught in his chest and he hit the transmit button on the dashboard.

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"Allura I need help! I'm sorry I left! Please! I'm trying to come home but they found me, Allura they found me and I--" His voice cut off and the paladins heard grunts and gasps from the other end of the speaker.

"Hello, Princess Allura. This is Commander Gandek of the Galran Empire, third in command and leader of the  Information Extraction crew. Your paladin has been captured. You will be hearing from us shortly." The line cut off, and Pidge sobbed into Hunk's arms.

"No! Why? Why did he run away?"

"This is all my fault." Hunk muttered. "He was so freaked out- I'm so sorry." He turned to Shiro, eyes brimming with tears. "This is all my fault"

Allura, however, was all business. "Pidge, can you trace the signal?"

"Already on it, " She said. "23-42-89-30, Caopotian System."

Allura copied the coordanites into the jump system and ordered the paladins to their stations to prepare a jump.

Upon arrival, there was no cruiser in sight. However the escape pod was hovering near a planet. Coran beamed it in, and they rushed to the airlock to check it. No one expected Lance to be there, but they were all disappointed anyway. Pidge checked the video feed. "There was a bit of a scuffle, but they knocked him out with what seems like chloroform. So don't go in." She re-winded the clip and saw something. Lance, upon noticing the ship, had hit a button on the dashboard, and she covered her face with her shirt, dashed through the pod and pushed it twice. the audio accompanying the video played through. She lined it up and played both together.

"Allura I need help! I'm sorry I left! Please! I'm trying to come home but they found me," Three garlra stormed in. "Allura they found me and I--" The largest covered Lance's mouth and nose with a cloth. He kicked and struggled but fell limp. The officer holding him spoke into the link.

"Hello, Princess Allura. This is Commander Gandek of the Galran Empire, third in command and leader of the Information Extraction crew. Your paladin has been captured. You will be hearing from us shortly." He cut the link, and the two smaller soldiers carried Lance out and into the ship. Gandek kicked the plants on the sleeping bag, but picked up the tablet. He shifted through it and tossed it under the pilot seat. He left the pod and a moment later the larger ship retreated. They saw a name and number on the ship, but it blurred as they sped away.

Pidge rewound and paused at the part where the name and number was clear. Andromeda 126758-E. She jotted it down and pulled Lance's tablet from beneath the seat. Hunk gathered the books and plants, and they paraded to the lounge.

Pidge and Allura and Coran all pulled up screens to do various research and hacking and stuff. Hunk, Shiro, and Keith set the things down on the table. Hunk read the names off the plants.

"Shirpo" He said, picking up a purple one and passing it to Shiro. "Podge, Kite, and Luna" He passed the green one to Pidge, the pinkish red to Keith, and the Blue-pink one to Allura. "Corn." He gave the yellow to Coran, and looked at the last, an orange and pink tinted one.

Keith picked it up for him. In a choked voice he said, "Hank." and gave Hunk the succulent. "Where'd he get all these anyway?" He asked. Hunk shrugged, and began to sob again. Shiro picked up the tablet. He swished through the photos, showing each team member the selfies Lance took with them He stumbled upon the collection of Keith, he gave the tablet to the red paladin and watched as he turned deeper and deeper red, matching his jacket within seconds.

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"Who operates the Castle of Lions?"

"I don't know, asshat. I'm always in my lion during the fights."

Gandek slapped him again and pummeled his stomach. "I cannot leave lasting damage to you until the witch arrives, but I have permission to torture you any other way I see fit. Think carefully about your words, weak one. Now, who supplies your team with food?" He punched Lance none to gently as a warning, and as a response, the blue paladin vomited all over the commander's face, neck and suit. The galran only laughed and stepped away from the boy. "You will be seeing me soon, boy."

The cell door slid shut and Lance went limp against his chains. His hands were cuffed T-Pose style and his legs together against the wall. He had chains on his ankles and across the tops of his boots, so he could not move his feet at all. He wretched again. His chestplate had been removed before he woke up, but he was otherwise fitted out like a paladin.

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