"Lance? What are you doing here?" was the first question thrown at Lance when he landed on the planet where all of his friends were hiding out. He raised his fists to his eyes and rubbed them, hoping to dispose of any evidence he'd been crying whilst also checking that the people in front of him were real. "Is everything okay?" Shiro stepped towards Lance, raising his arm- and a new prosthetic- to pull Lance into a hug.

Lance couldn't help it as he jolted back with a sob. As soon as the others saw, they backed up to give Lance the space they thought he needed. He appreciated it to an extent but it didn't stop the fear and confusion from swirling inside the pit of his stomach. For a moment, Lance wondered if he was going to throw up over himself.

"I don't..." He started but found himself unable to finish. It was difficult- nearly impossible, even- for his brain to comprehend that his friends were standing there, on an alien planet. He was either dreaming and his brain was making it all up or... or his gut was right. Voltron was real. He actually went to space. "Is this real?" Lance held both of his hands up into the air as he began to back away, shaking his head out of disorientation.

"What do you mean? Of course it's real." Shiro spoke in a soft voice like a parent comforting their child would. Lance let out a cry as Shiro stepped closer so he ended up taking even more steps back.

"This is a dream and- and I'm going to wake up in my bed at any moment," Lance's breath hitched. He let his hand hover over his heart as his breaths spiraled even further out of control. "Just wait for it. It- It's weird that you're all here but, I get it, my brain's fucked up."

Every single one of Lance's friends exchanged identical concerned look that Lance had grown accustomed to over time. That urge to puke rose in his throat again. Somehow, Lance was able to feel the green tinge as it spread across his face in time with the nausea. "Lance, this is real and we need you."

Lance covered his ears with his hands and hunched over, mumbling, "I know, I know. Keith is the one who usually says it but- but-"

"Lance, all of this is real," Lance slowly lowered his hands so he could hear what Shiro was saying with the hope that his soft voice would help calm him down. Stuck on the precipice of a panic attack, all Lance wanted was a spark of hope to cling onto and stop him from falling. "The rebels are loose on Alkafa and we think they plan on infiltrating the ball tonight." Shiro held out his hand and raised his eyebrows as a silent plea for Lance to take it. He didn't.

"Why is Voltron so important? Surely you can hold them off without me."

"The Alkafans are very technologically advanced. Their weaponry is unlike anything we can imagine so it's best we all go."

"I'm sorry but I can't..." Lance stared holes into his shoes as he felt everyone's gazes focus on him. "I- I need to wake up."

"No, you don't. You're awake now, alright?"

Lance shook his head with so much strength that his hair flew in all different directions around him. "I'm at home. In bed. I'll wake up any second," Lance clenched his hands into fists and hit them against his forehead with enough strength to tint his skin a deep red. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

"Look," Keith started, stepping forward. Despite Lance feeling like he had known Keith the entire duration of his escapade in space, Lance didn't think he knew him at all anymore. He knew Keith, the red paladin who was socially awkward but would protect the ones he loved by all means. He knew the guy who couldn't formulate a simple Voltron chant and who he shared a bonding moment with but proceeded to 'forget' it to hide the potential feelings that were hidden beneath the surface. Lance didn't know the guy who had stalked him and drew doodles of him when he wasn't looking. He didn't know Keith Kogane, the wanted murderer who had probably stabbed a Garrison teacher to death and then hid the evidence.

Lance stumbled back at such a speed that his disconcert might as well have been a flashing neon sign being held in all of their faces. Keith looked more hurt than anything as he dejectedly dropped his shoulders and his face fell. "Lance, people are in danger." His voice was as smooth as the softest fabric in the world but, still, all Lance could see in him was a murderer.

"I know... because you put them in it. I know exactly what's going on."

Keith raised his head to look at Shiro so Lance moved to get in the way of their exchange, using his own head to block Keith's. "What's going on then?" The way Keith's voice cracked made it sound like it was laced with guilt. The guilt of someone who had killed a man in cold blood.

"Voltron doesn't exist. Do you know what really happened that year we all disappeared?" Lance let silence wash over the room before letting out a soft sigh. Despite the nerves that were trying to eat him alive, he was standing his ground because he was sure he would wake up and everything would be fine again. "Keith and Shiro kidnapped us," He alternated his direct eye contact between Hunk and Pidge who both had similar sets of tears trailing down their cheeks. "My scars aren't from battles, they're from them," He jut his hand out to point in between Shiro and Keith. "They must have abused us or something."

"Lance... you're not making any sense..." Keith whispered, attempting to reach out for Lance but pulling back once Lance lashed out.

"Shut up! You're a murderer! I know it! I saw all the proof!"

"You don't know-" Shiro started. He had known Keith longer than anyone in the room and that was why it made so much sense that he would have tried to protect Keith all the time; even if he had committed a crime as horrifying as murder.

"There's evidence! Keith- Keith killed Mr Griffin!"

No one dated say a word. Hunk and Pidge had, at some point, pulled each other into a hug and were crying into each other's chests. Keith stared at Lance through round, wide eyes that were almost comedic but weren't quite, given the circumstances. After a few seconds of processing Lance's words, Keith collapsed onto his knees and buried his head into his hands. He let cries embrace his entire body. Shiro stepped forward to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, a lone tear trickling down his own face.

Lance stumbled back and shook his head, swallowing thickly. "So it's true..." Keith might as well have stepped forward and screamed I killed Henry Griffin with how obvious it was from both his and Shiro's distraught reactions.

"You- You don't know what that man did," Surprisingly, it was Shiro who spoke in a hushed tone. "He hurt people, Lance. Ever wondered why he was the least liked teacher at the Garrison? It was because he abused some of the kids."

"He... He what?" Lance's confident demeanour faltered for a moment before he pulled it back up: Lance knew Griffin had shouted incessantly at innocent kids but abusing them seemed like a step too far.

"He physically and mentally abused his son and, sometimes, in classes, he'd hit kids. He threw all sorts of things at them like rulers and pens... I think he once tried to throw a chair at a kid. Keith saw him hit James- his son- after class one day. He had gone back because he had forgotten his water bottle but seeing James getting hurt by his own dad, it hurt Keith a lot."

Keith reached into his backpack in search of his water bottle but wasn't met with anything besides books and folders. In the end, he decided he must have left it in his last class- mathematics. He pushed back through the crowds of students; a difficult task when they were all moving in the opposite direction. Once he made it to the door of M14- his class- he raised his hand and twisted the doorknob, pushing it open and poking his head through the gap. He hoped to just rush in, grab his bottle and flee without having to talk to anyone.

He didn't do that. He met eyes with James, a nerd that had never been the nicest to Keith, standing behind the teacher. It was common knowledge that Mr Griffin was James's dad but they never seemed to see each other outside of class time. James's eyes were wide and full of an emotion that could only be described as intense terror. In fact, there wasn't a single word in the dictionary that gave his dread justice. Keith was about to open his mouth and question it but then he saw something that he most certainly wasn't supposed to see. Mr Griffin raised his hand and slapped James harsh enough for him to stumble backwards.

Only after the hit did Keith break eye contact. He slowly shut the door before backing up in shock. He stepped back until his back was pressed against the lockers opposite the door, eyebrows furrowed in confusion- did Mr Griffin abuse his son?

A few moments later, James stormed out of the room and snapped his neck around enough to spot Keith within seconds. He instantaneously shoved him into the lockers with a tight enough grip on Keith's arm for bruises to blossom. Keith couldn't help but wonder how many times James had been rendered vulnerable in that same position but with his dad holding onto him. "I swear, if you tell anyone what you've just seen, I will find you and hurt you, alright?" The way James's eyes were glistening with tears heavily contrasted his threatening actions. It was as if the boy himself was an oxymoron.

"James... does he hurt you a lot?" Keith's voice came out as a whisper but, no, he wasn't scared, He had been to handfuls of different schools after being moved between homes so he had experienced his fair share of bullying. He knew better than most people how to defend himself.

"No... he loves me, okay? Just shut up and don't mention it again!"

"You need to tell someone. He can't do that to you..." James's threatening demeanour dropped to the ground as his shoulders slouched and he broke the eye contact between him and Keith. A tear slipped from his eyes but he was quick to raise his hand and wipe it away. It was too late though: Keith had already seen it. "James, I've seen abuse before. In my last home, the father hit his kid and... and he almost killed him. I had to call the police on them."

"Just fuck off, Kogane!" James grit his teeth as he yelled, a sign that he was holding back sobs. Keith had never been the best at reading people but, somehow, he just knew. He had been in the same class as James since they were little kids and, even if they had never got along, it wasn't the most difficult thing to pick up on his mannerisms.

"James, I-"

"You don't understand! You will never understand." James's voice cracked which, again, gave away his urge to sob. It was just milliseconds later that his mouth flew open and a sob shook through the empty hallways of the school. James was lucky that most people had gone home on the Friday afternoon and not stuck around or he would most certainly have an audience.

"I do, trust me. You can't get through this on your own. You need to speak to someone."

"I'm fine, Keith..." James swallowed and dropped his gaze to his feet. That still didn't prevent Keith from seeing the way a few tears dribbled down his cheeks. "Please promise not to tell anyone." That crying, broken James highly contrasted the boy that had, for some reason, something against Keith. He didn't even loosely represent the nerd that always competed with Keith in exams and simulations with so much confidence behind his features. He was fragile and scared.

Keith nodded and forced a smile. "I promise... but if it gets worse, you need to tell someone."

"James made him promise not to tell anyone and he didn't... for a while... James and Keith did become good friends though... The abuse continued and, each day, James would come into school with new bruises and injuries from his dad. One day, it became too much."

"Stop." Keith all but wheezed. Not once in his entire year with Keith did Lance ever see him so torn up and broken. He looked like the small child he had once been, thrown from foster home to foster home without any sense of security or love. At that moment, Lance wished he could read his friend's mind. What was he thinking?

"He needs to know, Keith. They all do."

"Shiro, you can't-" Keith cut himself off with his own sob. Lance could tell- even from a few metres away- that Keith was beginning to hyperventilate in a way that appeared to be like a panic attack. Shiro bent down beside him and began rubbing circles on his back but neither Hunk nor Pidge dared move from their positions beside each other. Pidge was watching the exchange through wide eyes whilst Hunk appeared like he was on the verge of vomiting.

"James tried to kill himself."

"Stop it, Shiro. You said you wouldn't tell anyone. Stop, stop, stop..." Sobbing erratically and breathing similarly to Hunk on his most anxious days, Keith didn't look like someone capable of murder. He looked fragile... like he would be scared to even wield a knife. Lance knew that wasn't true because of his Blade of Mamora but, still, the thought was there.

"I'm sorry. Keith found James in his room... he had tried to overdose. Keith had to call an ambulance for him and the paramedics told him that James wasn't... He wasn't found soon enough. Keith thought he was going to die."

"James?" Keith called out when the boy didn't answer his door straight away. After a long moment of silence, worry began to swirl in the pit of Keith's stomach. He pushed the door open himself and desperately called out his friend's name a second time. He repeated it over and over again until it wasn't anything more than a sob. Eventually, he made it to James's ensuite bathroom. He was one of the few students that were able to have one since his dad worked for the school.

Heart pounding so loudly that it was beginning to give him a headache, Keith pushed the bathroom door open. He let out a loud sob as his eyes laid upon his limp friend. Tears streaked down his face, making it even more difficult to type in the three digit emergency number than he needed it to be.

"It's my friend!" He practically shouted down the line. His eyes diverted to an empty box of pills laying by James's side whilst one of his hands desperately searched for a pulse. "He overdosed! Please, you have to help him! I can't find a pulse!"

"They- They told me. I didn't want to lose someone else." Keith wailed, voice muffled by his hands. Shiro let out a light sigh. He continued to rub Keith's back in the most soothing way possible, wishing he was able to take away all of his friend's pain. "I was angry," Finally, Keith looked up and revealed his glossed-over eyes. "I went to Mr Griffin and I screamed and screamed at him about how it was his fault."

"That doesn't excuse..." Lance trailed off when Shiro held up his hand to stop him from saying anything else.

"He... He tried to attack me. He hit me so many times and told me that James- that he... deserved to die. He was wrong. James didn't deserve to die. He was my best friend." His voice cracked on the words 'best friend' and it very nearly shattered Lance's heart into a million pieces. "I don't know why he had a knife but he did. He lunged for me and," Keith reached for the bottom of his t-shirt before pulling it up to reveal a few short gashes in his side. They had long since scarred over, rendering them thin, pink lines. "He could only scratch me really. I thank the karate lessons the Garrison made me take for my anger issues. I tried to run, I swear."

Shiro leaned forward and whispered, "We know you did..." into Keith's messy hair.

"This is all your fault!" Keith screamed, shoving his teacher backwards with as much strength as he could muster in such a distraught state. He wasn't thinking straight at all, mind clouded with the colour red. The image of James, curled up on the bathroom floor, covered in a whole rainbow's worth of bruises but face still at peace was etched into his head. It was glued into position and didn't have any plans to leave any time soon. It was fuelling the fire in his stomach and egging him on. "You killed your son! You killed him!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You're not making any sense boy." The way James's dad was just standing there so nonchalantly was only adding to the fire spreading inside his chest. He didn't even seem remotely concerned that someone was telling him that his son was dead. Did he not care at all?

"James overdosed!"

"He... what?" Mr Griffin seemed shocked: his eyebrows furrowed and a frown spread across his face. Finally, he was showing an emotion that wasn't that disgusting stuck-up I'm-better-than-you cockiness.

"I know what you did to him! You pushed him over the edge!"

"You better be careful with what you say. You don't know anything."

"I know enough!" Keith was screaming so much that his throat was growing sore but, still, he didn't stop. He kept going and going... "You hit him and degraded him every night! He'd come to me sobbing because of everything you-" Keith was cut off as Mr Griffin shoved him against the wall. The entire room seemed to shake around them but Mr Griffin didn't seem at all phased by it. Keith was breathing heavily and his hands were trying to clench into fists but were shaking too much to actually form anything useful. "What are you going to do to me? I'll tell Iverson and you'll get fired like you deserve!"

"You won't tell anybody if you know what's good for you. You don't know what I'm capable of..." Keith let out a painful huff when Mr Griffin drove a punch towards his stomach. "James deserved to die! He was worthless and useless! He was a failure!"

"You can't-" Keith couldn't finish as he was punched again. Again. Again. He tried to dodge as much as he could but, regardless, the teacher was able to land a fair amount of hits. Keith could only watched as Mr Griffin reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a short switchblade. He swung and just about grazed the side of Keith's shirt. It tore apart the fabric and blood began to bubble at the surface of the cut. Keith managed to dodge a couple more swings but it wasn't long before he was hit again.

"I can do whatever I want. The teachers will always believe my word over yours. I can turn this all around on you. I can say that you lunged for me and it was all self defence. You were going to kill me. I had to stop you."

"You're fucking insane." Keith heethed, just about managing to dive out of the way of another hit. Before he could race to the door and flee, Mr Griffin had blocked it. He snarled like some sort of animal, raising an eyebrow to dare Keith to come closer again. Keith's gaze moved to the window and he made a break for it before Mr Griffin could realise what was happening. He leaped out of the window and began racing over the field. The playground was barren as everyone had already gone back to their dorms after their last class, considering everyone was always eager to get out of the school at the end of the day.

Luckily, Keith had never lived on campus. He had never been able to afford the expensive dorms so had lived in a small shack on the edge of the desert. It wasn't something he was particularly proud of; only James knew. He was running so fast that his legs were rendered blurs beneath him but he didn't stop until he was outside of his shack.

"He followed me until I couldn't run anymore. I think I just about made it to my shack but, before I could lock the door and- and get back to safety... he shoved me against the wall. I somehow managed to knock the knife from his hand. I grabbed it and, without even thinking, I stabbed him. Then I stabbed him again. I didn't stop until my hands were covered in his blood."

"Oh my God..." Lance backed up, blinking away tears. Deep down, he knew Keith wouldn't murder with malicious intent; he should have looked harder for some logic. He shouldn't have jumped to conclusions with the police without full context. A heavy, guilt-ridden sob shook him as he realised his mistake. Whilst he was complaining about his family not trusting him, he had been just as bad by not trusting one of his best friends.

"I didn't mean to. It was self defence. I was too scared to tell anyone so I- I uh... I burnt the body and- and buried the knife. If I could go back and stop myself from doing it... I would."

"We know..." Shiro's words were attempts at calming the red paladin down but they weren't sufficient. Keith had pulled his legs towards his chest so he could hug them and bury his face between them.

"I never went back to the Garrison after that. I went to the hospital to see James once. He was in a medically induced coma. I cried to him and apologised but I don't know whether he heard me or not. They said he'd survive at the hospital but... I never saw him again because I was scared and I didn't want him to hate me."

"You killed someone. You're a murderer. They were right." Lance thinned his eyes as he stumbled back, heart pounding. He didn't dare break his gaze from Keith who was still crying in a way that had the potential to dehydrate him.

"It wasn't his fault. He would have died. Henry Griffin was a bad person and he was the reason his own son attempted suicide."

"That-" Lance's bottom lip was trembling so much that it made it difficult for him to speak. "That still doesn't make murder right!"

"I know it doesn't but Keith had no choice."

"I need to wake up," Lance whispered, dropping his gaze to the floor and clenching his hands into fists. His entire body was trembling as he tempted himself to go back to the real world. "Come on, Lance, wake up."

"You are awake!" Pidge yelled out, speaking up for the first time. She pushed Hunk away so she was able to move closer to Lance. "Why don't you believe us? You're awake and here, on Alkafa, with all of us."

"I- I-"

"We don't know what they were trying to tell you on Earth but Voltron exists. Keith isn't a bad person and neither is Shiro. At the moment, the only bad people around are the Alkafan rebels and we need to stop them. Will you please help us?"

Lance locked eyes with Pidge before letting them fall down to where she had held her hand out. When he nodded and clapped their hands together, the rest of the team let out a huge sigh of relief. Keith even wiped away the dregs of tears and forced a smile at Lance.