smashcon | Something Worthwhile

Title: Something Worthwhile
Prompt; Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.
Rating: PG
Words: 1000
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).
Summary: Lance comes to the brink of death trying to help the team to save prisoners from the Galra.

Something Worthwhile

He just wanted to do, to be something worthwhile.

It was a simple mission, get into the Galra Prison, get the files that would contain the where-a-bouts of Pidge’s Brother, free the prisoners and get out. They had done so many missions like this before. But this one was infinitely more important. Pidge would finally be reunited with her brother after almost two years.

The Prison was big. Bigger than any ship they had taken on yet. It had at least five distinct layers, each containing a new and even harder challenge for them to face. Knowing the Galra, they would probably have higher and higher security going through the levels. But they could do it. They had to do it.

Everyone had a job. Pidge (being the smartest and smallest) would gather info and get the files which were being held on the innermost level of the complex. Keith and Lance would get as many prisoners as they could either into their lions or to escape pods to be transferred into the castle. Shiro and Hunk would hold off the oncoming fleets of fighter ships and try to take out as many of their defenses as possible.

All was going well, Shiro and Hunk had taken down at least half of the ships fleets and Pidge was getting ever closer to the central command room where the files that they came on this mission for were stored.

“Pidge, where are you?” Keith asked whilst herding alien prisoners through the halls, all of them giving him endlessly grateful looks with all their endlessly different faces. “I’ve nearly gotten all of my prisoners out, I don’t know about Lance though, he might be flirting with some.”

However, Lance was in no place to make a witty come back or snarky retort. He was trying desperately to get the remaining prisoners in his sector back to his lion, as well as protecting them from the onslaught of enemy fire being blasted at them by the Galra sentries that were swiftly coming towards them. Frantically, Lance shot them down one by one like tin soldiers using his blaster.

Guess all that extra training in the simulator really does pay off. He thought, remembering the countless nights he had snuck out after everyone was asleep to sharpen his skills. The hall was empty in a matter of seconds.

Keith would be proud.

But of course, Keith could never know why he was so good, he was the reason after all. One day during training Shiro had told everyone to focus on honing their skills as an individual. Keith had done just the same training as everyone. Nonetheless, afterwards the only one being praised was him. No-one else had taken it seriously, but Lance had tried so hard. He took down his sentries at least three seconds before Keith.

But of course, no-one took any notice of that. They all thought of him as the joker, the prankster, the flirt. Yet he had tried so hard and still, all the focus was never on him. He was always out-shone by Keith.

He just wanted to do, to be something worthwhile.

Lance was jolted back to reality when a laser narrowly missed taking his head off. The Galra had sent extra reinforcements to help recapture their prisoners. Thankfully, though he was getting closer and closer to the hanger in which Blue was set down.

“I’m in the control room downloading the info on the whereabouts of my family,” Pidge’s voice crackled over the mic. There was a pause as the final pieces of information were downloaded straight to the castle’s database.

“OK, it’s been downloaded, I’m heading back to the castle now, you guys should too.”

“You got it.”

“Thank god, I was about to puke.”

“Hunk, you always puke.”

“Yeah but—

“Now is not the time to be bickering!”

“Yes Shiro.”

“Sorry.”

“Lance, are you ok? You didn't respond.”

“Yeah, just about there,” Lance said, holding back an entire squadron of sentries. They were now coming on thick and fast. “I’ll be there in about a minute.”

The open hangar door loomed in front of him. He could see the prisoners hurriedly scuttling into Blue’s giant open jaws and into the belly of the beast.

More and more sentries were beginning to fill up the space behind him. Lance knew that there was no way that he could hold them off completely by himself. The only thing that he could do now was retreat.

He turned around and rushed towards Blue. His focus was now to get to those big, embracing jaws and pilot her back to the castle. And that was his one weakness.

He was just about to enter the cockpit when the laser punctured the skin between his neck and shoulder. It passed through his collar bone and up into the side of his neck, just narrowly missing his throat. On the other end near his shoulder the bullet had made its way straight through part of the joint. His arm was barely hang onto the rest of his body. The pain was so sudden and searing that it sent him straight to the ground in the middle of the cockpit. Blood went everywhere.

The breath was instantly knocked out of Lance as the laser passed through his body. He tried to get up, but that only sent another excruciating bolt of pain through his body. So, he stayed there. Lying in a pool of his blood, bleeding out at an alarming rate.

Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom in his helmet. It was Keith

“Lance, hurry up, you’re holding us back now.” He grumbled.

“Sorry.” Lance somehow managed to mutter through the blood coming through his mouth. “You Guys deserved better.”

He just wanted to do, to be something worthwhile.

And with that last hope, dark spots appeared across his vision, the frantic voices telling him to hurry back in his helmet blurred and became incomprehensible. Finally, Lance blacked out.

Review