Hi, I'm really sorry updates are so spread out these days. I haven't even been reading them over to check for mistakes before I upload. I just can't be bothered and it's not because I hate writing- I don't- I'm just having a hard time at the moment. Please feel free to point out any mistakes and I'll fix them as soon as I can, I promise. I hope you're doing well. If you're not, just remember that things are going to get better :)

"Where's Lance?" Adam questioned with thin eyes. "I thought you had a meeting?"

"We do..." Shiro murmured before pulling himself up harshly enough that his chair scraped against the floor. "We have to check on him." The words rushed out of Shiro's mouth in a way that was full of panic. Adam had to take a moment to cock his head to the side as he debated how on earth Shiro's mood had done a 180 so quickly. One moment, they had been having a casual discussion about the future of Voltron and, the next, Shiro was panicking as if the Galra had returned to Earth.

"Maybe he forgot?" Adam tried to provide Shiro with a lifeline; a hint of hope, but Shiro's face only continued to pale. It looked like his heart had been stolen from his chest and crushed into a million pieces as anxiety overwhelmed his body.

"Can you get me my bayard?" Adam nodded, knowing Shiro wouldn't want him to waste time arguing. He rushed out of the room to Shiro's office where he knew the weapon was hidden in his desk. Meanwhile, Shiro began speed-walking down the stairs to the basement of the Garrison. The stairs seemed endless until he was outside the door Lance was meant to be guarding. Adam had caught up with him and handed his bayard over a couple of floors down. They exchanged a concerned look before pushing the door open. It wasn't locked, as it was meant to be.

Adam was first to notice Lance on the ground, eyes still closed, and he backed up with a gasp. Shiro shoved him out of the way and raced towards Lance, using his shaky fingers to press against Lance's wrist. Thump. Thump. Thump. "He's got a pulse. He should be alright. Lance?" Shiro leaned closer to the paladin, eyebrows raised in hope. "Can you hear me?"

"Fuck," Lance groaned, pulling himself up and pressing a hand against his head. "What happened?" He glanced around the small room through bleary eyes, blinking as he tried to focus on the people around him. Shiro was close enough to be recognisable but Lance was struggling to focus on the other figure in the doorway.

"We don't know. Can't you remember?"

Wincing at the sharp pain in his skull, Lance mumbled, "Lotor. I think... I think he got out."

"Yeah, we gathered," The figure, who Lance had come to realise was Adam, murmured, stepping deeper into the room so he could examine Lance's head. "Shiro, can you get me the first aid kit? There should be one just down the hall." Shiro nodded before rushing out of the door.

"Adam, I- I'm fine. We have to get Lotor... Don't let him escape..."

"Don't worry about him for the moment, okay? We need to check whether you have a concussion and how serious it may be."

"Serious..?"

"Thank you," Adam mumbled before taking the first aid kit Shiro had brought him. He sifted through it until he found a small flashlight. He raised it into the air and flicked it on so that it illuminated Lance's unusually pale face. "Follow the light for me, alright?" When Lance was able to follow the light just fine and Adam had examined his pupils to ensure they were both the same size, he nodded and put the flashlight away. "Do you feel dizzy at all?"

Lance swallowed as the room took an ironic moment to balance itself around him. "A little, I guess."

"Do you have a headache? Do you feel nauseated?"

"Yes and no."

"Tired?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I think he might have a mild concussion but that can be treated with ibuprofen. The headache should go away in a few days if you get plenty of rest, alright?"

Lance nodded his head, letting out a soft sigh that seemed to be full of dismay. "I'm sorry I let him go. It was my one job and I fail-"

"Don't apologise," Shiro commanded: he knew it was his fault, if anyone's. Lance had tried to warn him but he had ignored him. "Let's just get you back to your dorm. We'll watch the CCTV over to see where he may have gone. You focus on looking after yourself and I'll get someone to look after you."

-

"I don't need you two to watch me, you know? I just want to sleep," Lance mumbled as James and Keith stepped into his dorm and began to wave at him. "I know Shiro wanted you to baby me but I've taken meds and all I'm going to do is sleep. You really don't need to be here."

"Well, we're here now so we might as well stay," Keith said, smiling softly as he sat down on the end of Lance's bed. James seemed lost before he dragged Lance's desk chair towards the bed and plopped down onto it. He felt incredibly out of place when in the presence of the pair, like a black sheep amongst a field of white sheep, and that much was apparent in his awkward posture. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"I'm fine. I feel like someone slammed my head into the wall though... oh wait, they did." Lance winced at the sound of his own voice: even that seemed much too loud against the ringing in his ears. They lapsed into silence as Keith's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen, reading the text message aloud as he did so.

"Shiro said they watched the CCTV. Apparently, after knocking you out, Lotor was able to go full on chameleon and change his appearance so he looked like he belonged in the Garrison. He literally just got up and walked out."

"What the fuck," The words slipped out of Lance's mouth but he instantaneously regretted them as his head started to swim again. "I didn't know Lotor could camouflage."

"He is part Altean."

"What?" James mumbled, screwing up his face in what could only be confusion. "He has superpowers? And I thought the Alteans were dead?"

"Lotor's dad was Galran and his mum was Altean so he's a crossbreed like Keith. It makes sense that he would have retained some of the Altean abilities."

Burying his head into his hands, James let out a prolonged groan. "I'm so lost."

"It's alright. It's all just stuff that happened whilst we were in space."

"Of course it was..." James grumbled under his breath. He hung his head to glare at his feet, feeling isolated all over again. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he begged time to reverse so Keith would have never left for space. That would have prevented James from being left out from all of the inside jokes and, most importantly, it would have prevented Keith from ever getting closer to Lance. James could cope with Keith liking Lance from afar but, each time he watched them interact, jealousy spread through his veins at a higher volume than blood. It was bad and he hated it but he couldn't help it.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Shiro said he wants to speak to you when you're feeling better by the way."

It was Lance's turn to groan. "Right now, all I want to do is sleep."

"Sleep then. Forget me and James are even here."

Lance scowled, looking like he was on the verge of arguing but soon deciding against it. He laid his head against his pillow and pulled his covers up to his chin. He was too tired to do anything but sleep so there wasn't much of a chance that he would waste his precious rest time arguing.

-

"It was my fault that Lance got hurt and Lotor escaped..." Shiro murmured, staring up at the ceiling. He had been laying in bed for what felt like hours, blame circling his head as an eagle would circle its prey. He couldn't not voice his thoughts when they were practically screaming at him; on the verge of giving him a migraine.

"Takashi..." Adam mumbled from where his head was buried in Shiro's chest. His eyes had been growing heavy but he refused to let sleep take him whilst his boyfriend was beating himself up over something that wasn't even his fault.

"Don't deny it. Lance came to me and told me he was worried. I didn't even listen to him."

"What were you supposed to do? There wasn't anyone available to help. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't have done anything. It's not even that big a deal: Lance is only concussed. It could've been so much worse but it wasn't. It's okay. Lance is okay."

"But now the son of the most evil man in the universe has escaped and is out there somewhere and it's all my fault, Adam. I can't even call myself a defender of the universe when I-"

Adam shifted so he was face-to-face with Shiro, forcing them to meet eyes by cupping Shiro's chin.. He hushed Shiro as he leant forward and gently pressed their lips together. When they pulled back, he whispered, "You're the best defender of the universe."

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm not. Keith's stronger than me, Lance is funnier than me, Hunk is kinder than me, Pidge is smarter than-"

"Takashi, you of all people should know that everyone has their own strengths," Adam used his index finger to draw circles on Shiro's bare chest. "You're an amazing leader. That's your thing. Voltron works because you all have your own skills that make you unstoppable when you put them together."

"But I didn't protect them like I should have... I see them as my younger siblings so all I want is for them to be safe... then Lance gets hurt, Keith is stressed out and- and James is fighting a drug addiction. Some big brother I am..."

"You've adopted James as your little brother too? It's hard to keep up when you keep taking people in as family."

"I can't help it. I just want to help everyone I can."

"I get it. That's what makes you such an amazing person." As soon as Shiro broke their eye contact, Adam knew exactly what he was about to say. That meant he was able to cut Shiro off at such a pace that it may have been a new world record for the pair.

"I'm not-"

"Don't deny it," Adam shifted again, wrapping his arm around Shiro's torso and burying his head into his neck. "Tomorrow, we can speak to Lance. I know he doesn't blame you but maybe you need to hear it from him." Shiro buried his face into Adam's hair, blinking away the uncharacteristic amount of tears glistening in his eyes. He was falling apart... Voltron was falling apart.

-

"It's not your fault," Lance whispered, fiddling with the corner of his duvet cover. Shiro was sat on the edge of his bed that time whilst Adam was perched on the desk chair. "Adam's right. You couldn't have done anything that could have prevented this from happening."

Shiro still didn't look particularly convinced but he didn't want to push it. He wasn't going to talk about it if he didn't have to. "Did Lotor say anything to you before he knocked you out? Anything that might've been a hint as to where he was running off to?"

"Well... the other day he threatened me and my family... but yesterday he said that, if I didn't scream, he would leave Earth alone. He said he would disappear or something." Lance rubbed his temples with his index fingers as the migraine from hitting his head still lingered.

"Did..." Shiro blinked a couple of times before swallowing to compose himself. "Did you scream?" Lance shook his head as he ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Okay... do you think he was serious? Do you think he's going to come back?"

"No... I bet he was just trying to keep me quiet."

"Probably but I think we can fight him when- if he does return. Pidge has been working like crazy on defence systems so we're stronger than we have ever been before."

"I'm sorry I let him out," Lance mumbled, letting out a soft sigh. He buried his head into his hands as his shoulders slumped forward in dejection. "This is my fault... not yours."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known that he was going to knock you out."

"I'm still sorry. I should have been more alert."

"It is neither of your faults, okay? Now, both of you, come here." Adam opened up his arms and pulled both Lance and Shiro into a group hug. Neither of them wanted to admit it but it was exactly what they needed to put their frantic minds at ease.