Chapter Text
“Hey, guys?” Lance fidgeted, wringing his hands together. “Have you noticed Shiro acting more stressed lately?”
Pidge looked up from where she was typing. “So, he’s just dealing with a lot of stuff. Getting captured by the Galra twice tends to screw up your mind a bit.” Her tone sounded accusing.
“Yea, no, no!” Lance flapped his hands. “I wasn’t trying to say that it was Shiro’s fault or anything!”
“Then what are you trying to say Lance? We are busy if you haven’t noticed.” Allura said irritably.
“Um, never mind.” Lance quickly speed walked out the door. His mind was whirling. Something was up with Shiro. He knew his hero! Shiro had been getting angrier at everybody, snapping during training and not taking any of Lance’s suggestions on missions. And if something did go wrong, he found a way to pin the blame on Lance!
But maybe it was your fault. Are you really going to blame Shiro for your own stupidity?
No! Lance shook his head. He knew something was up, he just didn’t know what it was.
--
“Lance!”
Lance turned around from where he was training to see Shiro approaching him. “Hey Shiro, what do you need?”
A strange expression stole over Shiro’s face, before settling back into a pleasant expression. “Allura wants us to go down and investigate the planet below us. She thinks that the Galra might be threatening the inhabitants, holding them against their will.”
“Ok, I’ll meet the rest of the team at the hangar.” Lance turned to walk out, but was stopped by Shiro’s arm.
“Actually, it’s just going to be the two of us. Allura wanted it to be a stealth mission.”
Immediately, warning bells began blaring in Lance’s head. Why would Allura want him on a stealth mission?
“Are you sure I’m the best fit for this mission? Wouldn’t Pidge be better, since her lion has a cloaking mechanism?”
The arm on his shoulder tightened imperceptibly. “Maybe, but I want my sharpshooter watching my back.”
Lance couldn’t help but swell at Shiro’s words. It had been a long time since he had gotten any type of appreciation.
“Alright, Sharpshooter Lance is on it!” He saluted Shiro and went to his room to suit up. As he turned around, he could have sworn that Shiro’s eyes had flashed purple.
--
Lance got ready, and raced down to the hangars. Shiro stood there, decked out in black armor. “I forgot to mention it to you Lance, but we will only be taking the Black Lion on this mission. The less lions, the better.”
Lance felt a niggling suspicion in the back of his mind, but pushed it away. This was Shiro, his hero! He would never do anything to hurt him. “Roger that!”
Lance climbed into the Black Lion after Shiro, and sat behind him. Shiro took over the controls, and smoothly guided them into a shrouded area, filled with bushes and trees. “We’ll start here, and go to the nearest village to do some scouting.” Shiro ordered, climbing out of the pilot’s seat and walking out.
Lance clambered out after him. “OK, how far is the nearest village?”
Shiro glanced back at him. “About a mile or so, why don’t you go a little ahead, and I’ll cover your back?”
Lance felt a zing of uneasiness. “Shouldn’t I cover you, since I’m the sniper?”
“Lance, just do as your told!”
Great going Lance, you already managed to screw up and it hasn’t even been 5 minutes yet.
“Right, sorry Shiro.” Without looking back, Lance ran ahead of Shiro and started pushing through the tree branches. His thoughts were whirling. Why did Shiro ask him to scout ahead? It made no sense, the whole reason Shiro had wanted him to come along was because he wanted Lance to watch his back. So, what changed his mind?
He wants to attack you when your back is turned.
Whoa! Lance rapidly shook his head, as if to shake away the intrusive thought. The idea of Shiro harming him seemed ridiculous. Yet at the same time, Lance remembered how Shiro seemed to snap at him, and how for a second, Lance had seen his eyes flash purple.
Did the Galra do something to Shiro?
Nah, it was just stress. Besides, Lance knew that Shiro suffered from PTSD. He was just dealing with a lot at the moment. After walking for a while, Lance came upon a grassy clearing.
That’s weird. Didn’t Shiro say that there should be a village around here?
“Uh, Shiro? Did I go the wrong way? I don’t see anybody here.” Silence followed his call. With a growing sense of unease, Lance turned around and was about to make his way back to Shiro, when he saw a flash of metal.
“Shiro? Is that you?”
Shiro stepped out of the bushes, his eyes full own glowing purple. “Hey Lance, did you fail the mission already?”
“W-What are you talking about Shiro? There’s no village!”
Shiro smiled cruelly. “Finally caught on did you? You know, if you weren’t in the way, Voltron would be so much better. You hold us back Lance, and deep in your mind, you know it.”
“What are you talking about Shiro? That’s not true!” Lance blinked away the tears in his eyes. This felt like his worst nightmare. His hero, the one person he admired most in the universe, was calling him a failure.
Well, it’s true isn’t it? You can’t do anything right. Nobody wants you around. Pidge thinks you’re too stupid to do anything, Hunk doesn’t need you holding him back, Allura just finds your dumb flirting and jokes annoying, and you’re the reason Keith left the team. If you had just kept your big mouth shut, Keith would still be here, and Shiro would be happy.
Shiro watched him, sensing the internal struggle he was having. “That's right Lance, you know the truth. Why don’t you just leave already? Or do you need some convincing?” A whine filled the air as Shiro’s Galra arm powered up.
Lance took a step back. “Shiro, this isn’t you. It’s me, your teammate! I’m not your enemy!”
“Your right Lance, this isn’t me.” All of a sudden, Shiro’s voice changed.
Where have I heard that voice before?
“Haggar!” Lance’s drew his bayard. “What the hell have you done to Shiro?”
“Finally figured it out boy? You know, everybody in the Galra empire calls you the slow one, but you’re the only one who figured it out. If it weren’t for you, I would have already killed Voltron. It’s almost a shame I have to get rid of you. Almost.” With that, Shiro charged at Lance, his arm swiping at where Lance had just been standing a second ago.
Lance immediately transformed his bayard into a blaster, and shot at Shiro. “Shiro, I know you’re in there! Please, fight it!”
Shiro dodged the blast. “Shiro’s gone little boy. And soon, you will be to.” He landed a powerful kick to Lance’s ribs.
“Argh!” Lance screamed, feeling his ribs crunch as he fell to the ground. As soon as he was down, Shiro pressed his advantage. He began raining blows down on Lance. All he could feel was pain. Lance glanced over to his side to where his bayard lay. Closing his eyes, he summoned up the energy. With a roar, Lance surged up, knocking Shiro off his feet and grabbing his bayard. He shot Shiro, and his aim was true. Shiro sailed backwards, and crashed into the bushes.
“You’re going to regret that.”
Lance looked up, blinking through the blood to see Shiro charge at him. Instinctively, Lance held his bayard out, and it changed forms to a sword.
“CLANG!”
His sword connected with Shiro’s arm. As they parried back and forth, Shiro grunted. “So, you got a sword now. Still trying to be like Keith I see. Don’t know why you bother, Keith is 100 times the paladin you will ever be.” With those final words, Shiro overpowered him, and grabbed his sword.
“You know, I think I’ll almost miss you.”
“Shiro, please!” Lance cried. “Don’t do this to me! I have family, I don’t want to die here.”
For a heart stopping moment, Shiro faltered, his eyes clearing.
“Lance?”
But just as Lance felt hope, Shiro’s eyes went purple again. He watched as Shiro brought his sword up, and stabbed him in the stomach.
Pain burst throughout Lance’s body, as he wept. Through the pain, Lance heard voices.
“I heard somebody screaming, I’m not lying. I think somebody is in trouble!”
“Well, looks like somebody is coming along just in time to watch you die.” Shiro remarked. “Better make this quick, can’t have the Black Paladin seen murdering one of his beloved teammates.”
Shiro raised the sword again, this time angling higher. “I guess you won’t be a sharpshooter anymore.” With that, Shiro brought the sword down on Lance’s right eye.
Belatedly, Lance heard screaming in the background, and the last thing he saw was Shiro fleeing the clearing, and everything went dark.