Lance realized, as he placed his shaking hands on the controls of the Red Lion, that he had no clue how he was going to do this. The Lions only respond to their pilots, how was he going to do anything? A small drop of sweat ran down the side of his face as his anxiously reached his mind out to Red. There was no response. The confused and worried Blue Paladin raised a hand to his helmet and tuned into the communication line of his leader.

"Shiro? Are you there?" Lance asked, while trying to keep the stress out of his voice. He spoke with a whispered undertone so that Keith couldn't hear him, but he doubted that Keith was focusing on what he was saying anyways.

There was a moment of static before the Black Paladin responded," Lance, I'm here. What's the matter?" Shiro's voice was rough and tired, Keith wasn't the only one who had his lion hit directly by the beam, and it certainly was taking its toll on the older man.

Lance sighed in relief when he heard Shiro, and his body slightly relaxed as he leaned against the control panel of the Red Lion," I-I don't know what to do. Shiro… what if I can't do anything? I'm-I'm scared." His voice broke as he spoke the last phrase, and he felt tears prickling at his eyes. Self-doubt was radiating through his aching body and he felt incredibly useless standing still while his friend was hurt. A tiny voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he was useless, the seventh wheel, that he was no help to the team. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Keith's tied down body, he could see that his friend's face a mask of barely concealed pain, and it further fueled the idea that he couldn't do anything helpful.

"Lance. Whatever you are telling yourself, it's not true. You are the only one who can help Keith right now, and we need you to focus. You are important and you are needed. More than that, you are loved. Now, get your head into the game and think only about connecting with the Red Lion. I believe in you, and so does everyone else." The sound of Shiro's strong voice brought him back from the crippling pit of worry. After he heard Shiro speak, Lance was left speechless, but the fire in his spirit was returning. He smiled softly and turned his head to look at Keith with a determined gleam in his eyes.

The fallen Red Paladin's eyes widened and became more alert when he saw Lance looking at him, but there was still a layer of cloudy pain covering them," What made you so happy? You know what, don't answer that. Just… get us out of here, please."

"You got it." With a swift spin, Lance turned back to face the lion's controls with the intention to successfully pilot it fresh in his mind. He wasn't surprised that Keith didn't try to argue, Lance was sure that the pain of his wounds was sapping his energy. With a sigh, Lance reached out with his mind to wherever the Red Lion was.

Okay, um, Red Lion? It's Lance, the Blue Paladin. I really need your help right now and so does Keith.

Silence.

…Red Lion? Red? Come on, wake up. Keith's hurt and needs you to wake up so I can pilot you.

More silence.

"Keith," Lance twisted his head around to look at his friend for help, he regretted asking anything of hurt friend, but he was grasping for options," Can you try and say something to Red and see if you can wake her up. She's not-"He stopped short as he saw Keith's body limp against the floor with his eyes closed.

Adrenaline mixed with fear coursed into Lance's body and he rushed to Keith's side with his heart racing," Keith! No, no, no, don't sleep. Please, I can't do this alone…" His voice was laced with desperation as he put a hand on Keith's neck, checking for a pulse. He found it. The steady beating was weak, but it gave Lance reassurance that Keith was alive.

Lance remembered what Pidge had said about head injuries and how Keith should stay awake, so he lowered his hand and shook Keith's body in an attempt to wake him up. There was no response, not even the slightest movement to show that the fallen boy registered that he was being disturbed. A sob threatened to escape from his chest and he gritted his teeth tightly together to keep it down.

Blue Paladin.

"Red!" The startled young man shouted out loud when he heard the deep, growling voice in his head. He wasn't used to hearing any other voice besides Blue's lighter tone, so this was new. Relief swept through his body like a storm and he drew his hand back from Keith's still body as he heard the Red Lion speak again.

What state is my pilot in? I do not feel his presence.

A small smile formed crept onto Lance's face when he heard the Red Lion's concern for Keith. Before becoming a Paladin of Voltron, Lance never would have believed that a giant metal cat could ever experience any kind of emotion. But now, he knows that they can, and he knows that the Lions are capable of so much more.

"Keith, he is-"Lance remembered that he could communicate with his mind and stopped speaking out loud, feeling foolish. He continued speaking to Red, but this time by projecting his voice from his head.

He's unconscious right now, that's probably why you can't sense him. You remember being attacked, right? Well, the beam forced us all to separate, and all of our Lions to shut down. You included. I managed to wake Blue up (somehow) and got over to you and Keith.

Lance stood up and walked back over to the controls, his legs shaking uncontrollably as he did so. The adrenaline was wearing off and it was replaced by his fear and the sluggish feeling of being tired. He waited for the Red Lion's response patiently, and gazed out of the window into the starry abyss of space.

I remember being forced apart, but from then on: nothing. Now that I'm revived, wake up my paladin so that we may fly back to the castle.

The Blue Paladin hesitated before cautiously responding.

I can't wake him up… he's hurt and probably has some kind of head trauma.

There was a tense moment of silence and then an enraged growl filled the shaking pilot's cabin. Lance gripped the panel of controls tightly and stumbled backwards into the piloting seat. As soon as he made contact with the chair he felt a connection in his mind and he reached for the joy stick that controlled the Lion.

His body was moving on its own accord and he immediately felt the same feelings of determination and rage as the Red Lion. He felt the same surge of protectiveness toward Keith as the Lion did. Lance's mind and body was suddenly hyper aware of every shake and every detail in the cabin, and he was filled with energy. Gone was the feeling of tired and hopelessness, he was piloting the Red Lion.

A humming noise filled his ears as the lights around him turned on, and Lance wrapped his long fingers around the controls of the Lion. His communication line clicked on and he heard the voices of his teammates chattering in his helmet. Before he started flying, he opened his mouth to speak with his friends.

"Guys." Lance murmured with a tone of awe in his voice. He gazed out of the window and could make out the still forms of the other lions in the distance. Blue was the closest, but she was still limp in the grasps of space as she floated near Red, and he could tell from the dark eyes that all the lions were still inactive.

Immediately after hearing Lance's voice, Shiro responded with a tone of worry and confusion," Lance! What's happening? The Red Lion looks alive now, are you doing that?"

Lance waited for Hunk and Pidge's shouts to quiet down before speaking again," I-I'm piloting Red, I did it!" He cheered happily as he waved frantically to the other Lions. He knew that it was impossible for them to see his small body in comparison to the Red Lion's, but he still did so. His cheeks were already sore from the huge smile that was splitting his face, but it didn't matter. All he was focusing on was the knowledge that he had actually done it.

"What?! That's awesome!" Pidge crowed as soon as Lance stopped speaking and the curiosity in her voice was obvious. Lance had no doubt that she was going to want to find out how he was able to pilot a Lion that wasn't his.

Hunk's voice, glowing with happiness broke into the conversation with a hearty shout," You did it, bro!" Lance could hear that both Hunk and Pidge were smiling, it was infectious.

"Thanks, guys. But, I still need to find the castle of Lions and get Keith into a healing pod. Then we need to find out how to wake up your Lions. Shiro, do you have any ideas on how we can do that?"

A growl interrupted Lance's conversation, and he felt the Red Lion pressing at his mind.

What's the matter?

Stop conversing with the other Paladins, get my pilot home.

The voice was fierce and stern, and Lance remembered that Allura described the Red Lion as a hot head (not unlike its pilot). His hands tightened on the controls as he listened to Shiro's calm response.

"Okay, Lance. The first priority is getting Keith to safety; we don't want permanent damage done to his body. We'll worry about getting our Lions active after he's safe and healing." The older man's voice was weary, but he spoke with steely determination.

"Got it." There was no more time to be spent on extra words now, all other distractions were gone. It was just him and Red.

A sickly cough suddenly reminded Lance that it wasn't just him and Red. There was also Keith. An injured Keith.

Lance clicked off of his communication line and turned his head around to see an unfortunate sight. Keith's face was a scary shade of white, and his eyes were clenched shut. Lance swallowed anxiously, but turned back to the controls of the Red Lion. He silently messaged to Red, signaling that it was go time. He pushed the control lever in his right hand forward, to start up Red, letting the Lion take over. Red growled and spoke in her normal way of speaking, telling Lance how to direct her and which buttons to press. He easily caught the hang of it when he realized that piloting Red wasn't much different than piloting his Lion.

With his eyes glued forward, Lance moved the Red Lion further into space. He looked down at a glowing screen that had the Castle's position on it and selected the icon, he knew where to go.

It was only a matter of time until Keith was home and safe.

So, what did you guys think? Sorry if they seem kinda OOC, I'm still new at writing for these awesome characters. Also, did you guys see that Josh Keaton (the voice actor for Shiro) dyed his hair grey to look more like Shiro? I think that's awesome! Anyways, if you're having a spring break like I am, I hope you're enjoying the time off like me! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, if you did, feel free to leave a review or maybe even drop a favourite or something! (P.S I have a poll up on my account page for all the people that follow my story "Carnival" check it out) Bye! :)