"Lance, I see you're finally awake." Lance could recognise that voice from anywhere: Gort. His entire body went rigid as he forced his head upwards to look into Gort's oh-so-familiar eyes. "You've been out for quintants... I see Haggar's spell did its job."

"W-What do you mean?" Lance choked out, trying his hardest to struggle but failing. His wrists and ankles were restrained with chains that were rubbing them raw. Tears collected in his eyes as he realised he was rendered completely helpless.

"You thought you had been rescued, did you? That's adorable, sweetheart." Lance flinched away as Gort rubbed the tip of his thumb over Lance's soft cheek. "It was all a dream. You're actually stuck here with me for eternity. The other paladins don't care about you anymore and you were replaced. You weren't anything but a burden when you were with them anyway. They were happy to watch you go."

Letting out a heavy sob, Lance began to thrash about as well as he could when being restrained. "N-No-" He stammered out, voice full of anxiety. He wanted to at least pretend to be confident but that was impossible in such a situation. "They wouldn't replace me. They love me. I know they do."

"The fact that you're still hopeful is precious. You're never going to escape." Gort reached for his knife, his purple hands wrapping the handle in a very familiar way. Lance let out the loudest scream possible, struggling against the restraints in a pathetic attempt to get away as the knife was pressed into his left arm.

-

When Lance started to thrash around in bed, Keith didn't know how to react. Lance had shoved him off of the bed, blind with panic. The red paladin groaned as his body hit the floor. Lance was whining in his sleep, tears trailing down his cheeks as he struggled away from invisible restraints. "Lance," Keith whispered in a shaky voice. He had no idea how to deal with a nightmare. Ever since they had started to sleep together, Lance's bad dreams had subsided. "Lance, come on, you need to wake up."

Keith pulled himself up onto his feet, examining Lance as closely as he could. He tentatively poked Lance's arm once he realised he words weren't getting him anywhere. Lance jolted up, thrusting out a fist in Keith's general direction. it clocked him in the nose and was harsh enough to draw blood. Lance was looking at him but, at the same time, he wasn't. The expression he wore was blank. That was when it dawned on Keith: Lance didn't recognise him. The blood on Keith's face was enough for him to be seen as an enemy.

Keith backed up as Lance curled in on himself so he was as small as possible. Then, Keith raced out of the room and called for Shiro. Within a single dobosh, the black paladin came racing out of his room, wearing only his pyjamas and a pair of black lion slippers. "It's Lance," Keith cried, moving one hand upwards to cover his bleeding nose. He didn't want to leave a trail of blood from his room to Shiro's for all the other occupants of the ship to see. "He had a nightmare and I woke him up. I don't think he recognised me..."

"It's okay. We need to ground him." Shiro murmured as he opened the door to Keith's bedroom. Lance was in the exact same position that Keith had left him in and his sobs were ringing through the air. Shiro shuffled over to the blue paladin whilst Keith lingered in the doorway, watching with wide, tear-filled eyes. After multiple dobashes of Shiro's calm words, Lance seemed to be more aware of his surroundings but he didn't make any effort to move closer to Shiro's touch.

"S-S-S-" Lance tried but stumbled on the consonant, looking very frustrated with himself as he did so. He still wasn't breathing at a regular pace so Shiro prompted him with the breathing exercises.

"How are you feeling, Lance? You don't need to speak. Just nod your head if you're feeling better." Shiro said and Lance nodded his head but tears still lingered.

"I- I thought I was- was better..." Lance cried, his words sounding so hopeless and lost compared to his old, energetic self. "I- I haven't had a nightmare since-"

"Lance, nightmares won't just go away. You're probably going to have them for a long time." Shiro turned and took a seat on the bed. He tried to keep a few centimetres between them but that failed as soon as Lance pressed his head into Shiro's shoulder. "I still have them about Kerberos every once in a while and I- I still get panic attacks."

"B-But it's been so long since..."

"Kerberos? Yeah, I know. PTSD just isn't something you can cure easily. I'm sorry that you've had to experience it too because it's... well... horrifying really."

"Am I never going to get better?" Shiro lifted his hand to wipe away the tears on Lance's cheek, his thumb brushing over the soft skin. Lance instantaneously jolted backwards with a yelp, almost falling off of the bed in the process. "P-Please-" Lance's breathing was back to its erratic, irregular state. "I- I-"

"Lance, Lance... Everything's okay. I'm sorry for touching you. I didn't mean to trigger you. I want you to be happy and safe, okay? You're in the Castle of Lions and everyone here wants to protect you not hurt you." Lance hunched over as sobs wracked his body once again.

"I-It's okay. I'm... I'm calm." Lance said after a few moments, despite the fact that his hands were still shaking. "G-Gort used to do that."

"Oh... I'm really sorry, Lance." Lance shook his head because it wasn't Shiro's fault he got captured. It was his own for trying to run away. "Did he ever..."

"What?"

Shiro shook his head, assuming it was a negative if Lance hadn't picked up on his insinuation right away.

"Where did Keith go?" Shiro turned his head around as Lance spoke to find that the red paladin was no longer in the doorway.