Work Text:
Tight enclosed spaces had never been Lance’s jam. They weren’t terrible, but they were still a bit unsettling. He didn’t think he would have to deal with that problem now that he lived in a gigantic castle ship with ceilings as tall as a two story building. Of course earlier that day, he didn’t think he would be captured by a pod, see a ghost, and go careening into an exploding sun because of a virus in an infected space crystal.
“Since when did you sleep in it you clean it become a Voltron rule?” Lance grumbled. That was one of his mom’s rules. He always hated it, but at least she had unknowingly prepared him for life on an alien castle ship.
Coran started rambling on about his stories in some kind of cleaning boot camp. Lance didn’t pay all that much attention, but he didn’t mind it either. Background noise from the crazy mustached man was better than the eerie silence of the old castle. Back at his home, there was never any quiet. With twelve people living under one roof, how could there be? Between his grandparents talking about the good old days, his niece and nephew running around playing, his brother and sister playing games, and his parents trying to bring order to all the chaos, there was never a dull moment. Even at night, he could hear the soft snores of everyone in the house and the chirping crickets outside. The silence here was getting to be so unbearable, he was beginning to consider buying a bucket of crickets and setting them loose in the castle. He smiled as he thought about the chaos that would ensue if he did that at home. His mom would probably scold him, his grandparents would ask him to speak louder, and his cousins would try to start catching them. His sister would probably leave the house.
He snapped from his daydream when he heard a mechanical hiss and Coran’s talking get muffled. He turned around to find that the cryo-pod had closed on him. He screamed and pounded on the glass. It remained intact. Coran was so close but didn’t hear. He could save him if he just stopped talking for two seconds. His screams were cut off by a burst of pain. His limbs became rigid and numb instantly. The cold crept its way into his heart and slow its beating. He managed to see tiny white puffs of air escape him through his black spotted vision. The pod was freezing his lungs. His vision completely blacked by the time he heard the pod sink into the floor as Coran’s muffled voice called, “Lance? Lance?”
Coran noticed he was missing. He’d know something was wrong and find him. At least, he hoped Coran would. That thought was better than the alternative. He didn’t want to think about how he might wake up to find 10,000 years passed and everyone he ever loved had died. Or how he’d never see his family again.
Lance’s last conscious thought was, “If Coran didn’t find me, I’ll kill him in the after life.”
Coran did find him eventually, but only because he was checking to see if he had done his cleaning well. That was a very unsettling thought to Lance.
Sure Coran had tried to reassure him that everything was fine, but he didn’t buy it. The ship was 10,000 years old and was trying to kill him. The cryo-pod felt different this time. When he had saved Coran from the explosion and woke up in the pod, he felt sleepy, refreshed, and a little cold. This time, he was wide awake, terrified, and freezing. His entire body was numb and he swore that his skin was blue for a bit. Coran had stayed out of reach throughout his entire explanation and it made him miss Earth even more. If he were with his family, his mom would have held him until he felt better. His little brother and sister would have tackled him and played games until he was ready to talk. He would have been wrapped up tightly in blankets by now at home, but all Coran did was fill the air with empty words and leave. He didn’t even ask if he was okay.
He heard something rumble quietly.
He whimpered, “I’m okay,” over and over to himself. Maybe if he heard it enough, and hugged himself tight enough, it would come true.
The cryo-pod hissed and he ran away screaming.
He ran at a full sprint blindly through the halls. He had to escape. He had to get away from those death traps. Eventually he calmed down enough to slow down and think more rationally. He was probably halfway across the castle by now. But where exactly was he? He kept walking, only to find that he had never been in this section of the castle before. The never ending halls kept winding and splitting. His joints ached from the cold.
“Guess grandpa had good reason to complain.”
He continued on through the maze of the unfamiliar castle. How was anyone supposed to find their way through the place when everything looked the same? Even if he found his room, there was no way he was sleeping tonight.
He was starting to consider giving up the search and sleeping on the floor when the lights began to flicker and go out one by one. The darkness crept towards him until he was engulfed in it. The light down the hall flickered again, but a tall man appeared with every flash, then vanished. He felt the panic build in him again. But maybe he was overreacting. Like Coran said. Or maybe is was a weird prank.
“Coran, is that you? Okay, stop messing with me guys, this isn’t funny.”
Coran’s muffled voice cried for help.
“Help! I’m trapped in the airlock.”
His voice sounded odd, but he ran after him anyway. Anyone would sound weird if they were trapped and scared. Lance ran in, but there was a distinct lack of Coran. As the confusion began to settle in, he heard the hydraulics hiss, and he was trapped in a small confined death trap again.
“Alright, ha ha. You got me.” He was getting really sick of getting trapped. But maybe Alteans had a more twisted sense of humor. An automated voice deadpanned, “The airlock will open in thirty ticks,” and started counting down, he realized it wasn’t a joke. He screamed and pounded at the glass. His throat was getting scratchier as his shouting became more desperate. There was no one around to hear.
The uncaring automated voice counted on.
He was beginning to think that no one would come. The automated voice continued counting down to his demise uncaringly.
“Twelve, eleven, ten, nine…”
Single digits. This was it. This was the end. He would never get to see his family again. He never got to say goodbye to the team. They wouldn’t be able to form Voltron. All because he couldn’t tell that a robot was pretending to be Coran.
Then he saw Keith get kicked into the door by a robot. Thank god.
“Keith!” He screamed with all his might.
“What are you doing in there?”
The robot coming at him with the sword. He pointed, Keith ducked.
“I need help! Because if you don’t get me out of here right now, I’m gonna get sucked into space.”
“Doors opening.”
That awful hiss sounded and the door began opening. He bolted to the side of the room just in time to grab a ridge.
“I’m getting sucked into space!”
He screamed and clung to the wall for dear life. It was either he would lose his grip and get sucked into space and freeze to death, or the room ran out of room and he would suffocate anyway. The air was dissipating fast and he began feeling light headed. His fingers were slipping and his vision was getting darker. The robot fly past him and Keith pulled him back into the hall and just like that, it was over. They collapsed to the ground and tried to catch their breath. Keith sat beside just outside of his reach. Lance ached for comforting words and a hug. He should have prepared himself for the sting of Keith yelling, “What were you doing in there?”
The adrenaline from all his fear and panic morphed into rage. He shot back, “Who was that guy?”
“He was trying to kill me!”
“Well is he that castle? Cuz that’s who’s trying to kill me.”
They simultaneously had the same realization and ran screaming not only to look for Coran but also to get away from the airlock. Everything could be weaponized on the ship, so it was best to try to outrun any traps. They ran down a few halls before Keith asked, “Do you know where Coran would be?”
“When we were cleaning the cryo-pods,” don’t think about it. Don’t think about it, “I think I heard him mention that he was going to the engine room. But I don’t know where that-”
Keith abruptly hooked a right. Lance scrambled to keep up. They kept weaving through the ship. They both heard the distorted sound of Hunk calling for help from the kitchen. Keith nearly went in but Lance grabbed his arm stopping him.
“What are you doing? We have to help him.”
“No Keith, that’s just the ship.”
“How can you be sure that it’s not Hunk getting attacked?
“Because I’ve known him for years. His voice would be a full octave higher if he was scared enough to be yelling for help. He’d be stammering more or his voice would be shaky. Plus, that’s how the ship got me into the airlock. I’m not sure how dangerous the kitchen could be, but it’s better to stick on the safe side and not go in..”
After all, he didn’t think a cryo-pod designed to heal people could try to freeze him to death. Keith stared at him, looked back at the kitchen door and sighed.
“Okay. I trust you.”
They continued running until they got to the engine room. Coran was humming away and tapping at a screen until he noticed them.
“Oh hello you two. Feeling any better Lance?”
“No! The ship just tried to kill both of us!”
Coran hesitated and frowned.
“Are you sure?”
Keith cut in before Lance could start yelling, “Yes we’re sure, but there’s no time. We’ll explain it on the way. We have to find the others.”
They managed to find everyone else and get to the navigation deck. Lance’s heart dropped when he saw the ghost standing right next to Allura. The same ghost that he saw in the hallway. It was real after all.
“I can see it father, I can see Altea.”
But it wasn’t Altea. He was directing her to fly them straight into the exploding sun.
He felt like he was missing something big, but before he could question it, Coran started talking nonsense, Allura was pushed to the ground, and was demanding they go to their lions and slow the descent.
In a blur, they got to their lions, slowed the ship, came back and warped to safety. Lance was shaking the entire walk back to the deck. Allura said some inspiring words about how her father lived on through Voltron, and then it was over.
Then why didn’t he feel like it was?