Down Memory Lane - Voltron

Chapter 6 - Lance, Part 1

/* Thanks for reading!  Still more chapters to come.  TW: Bullying, death */

Lance's POV

Lance walks behind everyone, scared to be the next victim of this cruel game. Despite his best efforts to stay with everyone, he is pushed forward by a strong force. He stumbles alone in the middle of the room. He sends a scared look at his friends, who stare back at him. Keith is mouthing something at him.

Bot piss? Oh, Got this. Keith is encouraging him. Lance shoots a feeble smile at his friend and leader, ignoring the ping bouncing around his heart. He likes Allura, not Keith, so he roots his gaze onto Allura. She locks eyes with him, and gives him a thumbs up, like he gave to her.

A bright light flashes in his face, causing him to blink and break eye contact with Allura. He blinks several times, trying to rid himself of the sparks in his vision. His friends are gone, and they are replaced with school?

Lance is standing in the middle of a hallway at the Garrison. Crowds of students pass him hurrying to their next class. He stands there silently, confused as to how he got there. Lance had been staring at his friends. They probably went to class, so Lance turns and hurries away. What's his next class? Right, science.

He's holding a textbook to his chest and a backpack hangs off his back. As he rushes by, a guy grabs the handle of his backpack, dragging Lance to a stop. The guy shoves him into a locker. It's James. The bell rings, signaling the start of class. The hall is now empty except for him and James.

"Hey, idiot. I heard you flirted with one of my friends. I'm here to tell you to piss off. She is not interested in you and never will be. Know why? 'Cause you're an annoying loser. I don't want my friend to be stuck with a wimp like you," James sneers. Lance's heart drops, and despite his best efforts, tears form in his eyes.

"W-What are you talking about?" Lance stutters. He hates himself for handling the situation so pitifully, but he doesn't know what to do. No one has ever spoken to him like this before.

"You heard me, stupid. Leave my friend alone," James says. He shoves Lance into the locker roughly before backing away and heading to class. Unbidden tears drop down his face. He can't face school right now, so he runs.

He isn't paying attention to where he is going and accidentally bowls over Keith in the hall.

"Watch where you're going!" Keith growls, standing and dusting himself off. He frowns angrily at Lance who doesn't bother getting up.

"S-Sorry, Keith. I d-didn't mean to run into you," Lance whimpers. Keith offers him a hand up which Lance takes, but before he can thank him, Keith storms off. Typical Keith. Not caring about anyone except himself. That guy is constantly one-upping him which is incredibly annoying.

Lance sniffles, watching Keith's back as he stomps off. Lance turns towards the door and heads into the simulation room. He hops in the pilot seat, wanting to fly away his worries and stress.

The simulator is already on, so someone must have just played. The screen cycles to the leaderboard. The top ten players are listed with their scores. Lance had held two of those scores: Second and Fourth place. Not anymore, apparently. Looks like Keith had just been on, because Keith holds the top five scores. Lance has been bumped to Sixth and Eighth.

He doesn't even bother starting a sim, he's too depressed. Keith always beats him, no matter what. Keith will always be better and smarter.

Wiping away a few tears, Lance gets out of the simulator and runs outside. He wants to go back to the dorm. Hunk will know how to cheer him up, and maybe he can call his Mama.

He sprints through the doors, and onto an alien planet. The sky is dark, but there is a tranquil lake sitting on his left. A solitary tree looms ahead of him. He walks up to the tree, leaning his tired body against it. He can catch his breath.

Lance's not alone. Nyma, the pretty alien with blonde hair pulled into pigtails, is standing next to him and giggling. He gazes at her. She must be giggling at some witty thing he just said because he feels his flirty smirk grace his lips. His helmet sits in the sand by his feet, forgotten for the moment.

She leans in close to him, and his gaze flickers to her full lips. Is she going to kiss him? He closes his eyes, ready to feel her warm lips on his. But they never come, instead he feels ice cold manacles lock his wrists to the tree. Lance snaps his eyes open, startled.

"What are you doing?" he asks. "Is this a game?"

"Haha. You really are cute. And gullible," Nyma tells him. She speaks into a microphone on her wrist. "I got him and the Blue Lion. I'll meet you and Beezer."

She betrayed him. She throws a wink at Lance, who begs her to untie him.

"Stop! My friends are going to stop you," Lance vows.

"You sure about that? They don't know where you are, and you don't have your helmet. By the time they find you, we'll be long gone," she replies. Lance's insides twist.

He scooches down to the ground, trying to reach his helmet. It's just out of reach. What are his friends going to think when they find him anyways? Keith and Pidge are going to make fun of him for being so stupid and gullible. Shiro and Hunk will be sympathetic, but pity might be worse than teasing. Allura is going to be angry that he let his lion be captured.

He manages to shove his feet close enough to the helmet to grasp it.

"Guys, I need your help! They're lying. Nyma stole Blue! You gotta stop them," he says into the comms.

"Copy that, Lance. We'll get your Lion back then come find you. Come on, let's go," Shiro answers. Thank God someone heard him. Lance listens as Shiro orders Keith into the asteroid field to stop the thieves. Jesus, Mullet is never gonna let Lance live this down. He tries to shove the uncomfortable feeling swirling in his gut.

Not long later, the paladins are there and untying him from the tree. Lance thanks them sheepishly, and they all retire to the Castle.