Marked For Death | klangst

Six.

Lance followed McClain for quite awhile, not many words exchanged between the two. It was only when Lance couldn't bear the silence any longer that he tried to strike up a conversation.

"So-o-o..." he started awkwardly, stretching his arms above his head and clasping his hands at the base of his hairline. "Where exactly are we going?"

McClain glanced at him. "A friend's place. She's always looking to help people in any way she can. She'll be honored to have you," he replied, his voice light and airy.

"Oh, okay," Lance said, shrugging to himself before a wide smirk grew on his face. "What's her name?"

His double visibly paled, which put Lance in a state of confusion. "Umm..." McClain gulped down his growing anxiety before continuing. "Her name's Striatha."

Lance's eyes widened. "Striatha..." he repeated, memorizing the way the woman's name rolled off of his tongue. "She sounds intriguing."

McClain coughed. "Yes, she is, I suppose."

Cocking his head to one side and knitting his eyebrows together, Lance frowned. It was starting to dawn on him that something wasn't quite right with his doppelganger. He decided to follow his instincts and ask. "Dude, are you okay? You seem a bit... off."

His twin nodded exhaustedly. "Just peachy," he answered, his shoulders collapsing onto the rest of his body.

But Lance was wary now. He knew he shouldn't have ventured off on his own. He should have... Wait, what was he doing here? His mind was drawing a complete blank. Not a single memory of his provided the answers he desperately seeked.

"Uh, McClain... Can I ask you a question?" the Blue Paladin timidly spoke up, fear in his voice.

"You just did," the doppelganger stated bluntly.

Lance glared at him. "Can I ask another one?"

"You just did," McClain chose the same reply in the same voice.

Groaning in frustration and running a hand through his short hair, Lance said one final time, "Can I ask you another question after the question I'm asking now?"

McClain shrugged nonchalantly. "You've already asked three. I don't see the harm in asking a fourth one." He looked at Lance with dull eyes. "Go on ahead if you want. I couldn't care less."

Lance took a deep breath to calm his rising irritation. "What am I doing here -- on this planet, I mean?" he asked slowly, unable to find the right words. "I've been trying to remember... but I just can't."

In an instant, McClain's demeanor changed, morphing into one of curiosity and mischief instead of gloominess and ambivalence. He peered at Lance with immense interest, his blue eyes darting to Lance's own eyes, around his head, and eventually landing on his chest. "You don't remember... anything?" he asked just to be certain, his voice rushed and brimming with eagerness.

Lance nodded tentatively, his own eyes narrowing. "Why do you sound so enthusiastic about it?"

McClain blinked profusely. "I-I'm not... It's just that situations like this never cross paths with Striatha. She'll be keen with ambition to help regain your memories as soon as possible."

However, Lance wasn't quite sold on his story. He stopped walking and folded his arms across his chest in suspicion. "Forgive me if I think that that story sounds a bit ad-libbed," he told his double in an accusatory tone.

"I don't have a reason to lie to you, Lance," McClain promised, not missing a beat.

Lance frowned slightly. "I feel compelled to trust you McClain, because -- you know -- you're me. But when my gut tries to tell me something, it's usually correct, and right now, it's telling me to walk away."

As he was trusting his gut and began to turn away, McClain whisked in front of him, which -- under normal circumstances -- wouldn't have been humanly possible. Yet, these weren't normal circumstances. Lance knew that they weren't. He was aware that the situation he had landed himself in was twisted and mangled, and that there was little chance of escaping.

***

Keith and Allura followed Lance's tracks on their jetpacks, the time ticking down in their minds. Allura was worried that Keith may get trapped in a hallucination she may not be able to pull him from, so she stayed close to him -- only an arm's length away -- just in case he decided to venture off on his own.

"Lance!" the Red Paladin kept calling, not willing to accept the fact that his attempts were in vain. "Sharpshooter! Cuban! Beauty-Obsessed Idiot! Come on, anything! Just answer!"

The Altean princess looked confusedly at him. "You seem awfully adamant about finding Lance," she remarked, some of the hair tucked in her helmet falling around her face.

Keith looked at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the stretch of land in front of the two. "Am I supposed be careless and nonchalant about this whole thing?"

"No, no, of course not," Allura responded quickly. "I only meant to say that I am a tad surprised that it's you who seems to be concerned the most. I would've expected Hunk or Pidge, but you two have a rivalry, don't you? I would've assumed that you would've been glad for a bit of peace, for once."

Keith sighed, already tired of hearing of their so-called "rivalry." He wanted nothing to do with that anymore. That was then, and this was now. They had grown a lot since they both met, and he wouldn't have changed a single moment of it. "Allura, just because he annoys the quiznak out of me, that doesn't mean I don't care about him. He's my friend, and like any friend that disappears on a deadly planet, I'm worried. I just want to find him so we can get away from this place for good."

Allura nodded in understanding, but she had more to say on the subject. "It's more than that, isn't it?" Keith looked at her, perplexity brimming in his deep brown eyes. "I've seen you worried before... You were worried when the Castle of Lions was under siege; you were worried when Shiro was injured and then vanished; you were worried about Voltron's battle against Zarkon. Yet, this is more than that -- it's more than just worry."

"Allura," Keith interrupted before she could sneak another word in, his voice filled with warning, "please, just let it go. That's not what matters right now."

The princess swallowed the rest of her words. "Understood, Paladin..." she said softly, her voice lost in the drone of the wind.

Suddenly, Keith slowed, his eyes widening fervidly. "Lance?" he asked almost inaudibly, his voice chocked full with emotion. "You... You're alright!" And he jetted towards...

Allura saw nothing except the dust and the murderous mist. As soon as she comprehended that Keith was being sucked into a hallucination, she shouted, "Keith, please! There's nothing there!" She trailed after him, hot on his tail.

"Lance, I was so worried..." Keith confessed to the empty air, his eyes filling with tears. "I-I don't know what I would've done if you weren't okay..."

Though she felt like she was intruding on a private conversation, she jetted up beside him and grabbed his arm. "Keith," she whispered timidly, careful not to receive the brunt of his escalating emotions.

He jerked his head around with wild eyes that were overflowing with tears. "What? We found Lance! Why are you so unhappy looking?" He turned back to Lance and gasped. "No! Wait, where are you going? Lance, come back! LANCE!" he screamed into the wind, clawing at Allura's grasp to remove it. But she had a firm grip on his arm and had no intention of letting go any time soon.

"Keith, we're going to back to the castle, alright? I am going to take you there," she said soothingly in attempt to calm him.

He was unconsciously crying now, his feeble attempts to be free growing weaker. "But Lance..."

"Lance is going to meet us at the castle, okay?" the princess asked him, a sad smile covering part of her face.

Keith merely nodded instead of answering. Reluctantly, he started his jetpack a fraction of a second after Allura and followed her into the sky, his gaze sadly fixated on the spot where the Lance that he saw vanished for the second time that day.

"See you soon Lance," Keith glumly promised before focusing on the path in front of him.