“We are indeed the enemy to the Galra Empire,” Coran said. “But we are not your enemy, Lance. We are your friends. Your family. And in your heart you know this.”
A tear dripped down Lance’s cheek.
“The Galra have taken many things from you, Lance,” Coran said quietly. “They have hurt you. Abused you. They have twisted your heart and mind for their own dark purposes. They have stripped you of—”
Coran broke off as Lance made a sudden, jerking motion and was then slipping out from beneath Hunk’s hand and pushing off the exam table to stand up.
Keith tensed next to Shiro and Shiro drew his arm back, ready for any sudden attack as they had seen it happen before with Hunk on Zlato and—
And Lance wasn’t attacking.
Instead his hands were going to the belt part of his armor, pressing down on it and then his hands were sliding beneath a now revealed hem and—
And he was undressing.
No, Shiro realized at the same time Coran let out a horrified gasp.
He was stripping.
Strip.
An unintended command.
“Lance, lad—” Coran tried to reach a hand out to stop Lance but he merely pivoted, eyes not quite looking at anyone or anything in the room, and continued, pulling his armored shirt over his head.
And they probably should have tried to stop him as his hands went then to his pants, but they were all frozen.
Because…
The scars were everywhere.
(technically up to chapter 8 on AO3 and 19 on Patreon, but since I think most folks on AO3 think I killed Coran and quit the story figured I'd show proof of life for the few folks who follow my Tumblr and maybe try to direct some love and engagement back towards the fic xD)
klance wip where Keith is Prince of Marmora and Lance (aka “Blue”) is the assassin sent to kill him but surprise! (gasp) they fall in love and hmm hmm hmm do you feel me? do you? are we on the same brainwave yet?
Oke so hear me out. What if his DnD character choice is due to his insecurities. Ever since the garrison (or maybe longer, who knows) Lance has been compared to others (keith mostly) in the sense that he wasn't good enough. Yet he still took his place and in that sense "stole" it from Keith. Later, after the lion swap and shiro got back, Lance compares himself to the rest of the team and is convinced he isn't good enough and that there isn't a place for him. He tells Keith and soon after Keith leave for BoM ("removes his prensence from the team"), which leaves Lance yet again with the responsibility of filling his shoes on the team (eventhough he is still convinced that it should be Keith flying red). He was actually planning on stepping out of the picture himself, to dissappear. Maybe that's the reason he chose a "thief" like pidge calls it, because he feels like he is taking someones place, or an "assassin" like he calls it, because he actually wants to dissappear? Though he did always fancy the ninja stuff, I know that, but just imagining this made me feel really sad.
Lance is a Cuban immigrant who grew up running on the roofs of the city with his gang “Los mensajeros de xolotl” which give him the ability that every Assassin needs.
(for those who doesn’t know, xolotl is an Aztec god who lead souls to the underworld and who brought the fire of wisdom to humans [like Assassins I guess])
He is the leader of the gang and even though they are in constant fights against the Asian gang, he tries to keep save the civilians and helps them in what he can
The immigrant community, in fact, was related to the Assassins and Lance's mother used to tell him stories of how they use to help a lot, and, in their time, things were peaceful for them.
His gang had a tight relationship with the brotherhood before their defeat and with his return, Lance was more than eager to form part of the mighty Assassins again.
His master was Shiro, he recruited him when in the middle of a patrol the Cuban appeared and challenged him to a race through the city. Of course, Shiro wins but admiring his stamina and dedication he recruited Lance.
He was eager to challenged Shiro because he knew he was THE Master Assassin and wanted to impress a girl by telling her that he was an Assassin and friends with Shiro.
The “Mensajeros de Xolotl” function as the mercenary guild in the game. They will fight and kill for the Assassins … in exchange for a small fee.
Lance McClain- John Wick, lost his s/o, gained a kitten, lost said kitten and his car within a week.
Keith Kogane- John’s wife, died, ordered a kitten for his s/o before he died is the reason Lance left the assassin business.
Red- the kitten that Keith bought for Lance and Lance’s last link to Keith.
Lotor- the prick that killed red and stole lances car
Zarkon- mob boss and father of the shit stain lotor.
Lance was the greatest assassin known to all as The Paladin, if you had a hit placed upon you and The Paladin picked it up, you can be sure that nothing that you do will save your life.
this is me back with another au that I will probably never write.
Fated to kill you but love you with my own free will- Klance Week Day 1
I’m really happy with this one. I wanted to extend it just a bit more but decided not to, but defiantly tell me if I should, I’ve been really tempted. Enjoy.
Free will vs. Fate
Lance snuck out the window of his room. He didn’t want to get caught by the people still inside, plus it was a good excuse to practise stealth. Once he was off the property, he headed down the street, keeping to the shadows as he headed from the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, to the lower. It got easier and easier as less and fewer lights were lit in each Ring and soon he reached the Lower Ring, but he was still cautious. With Ba Sing Se under Fire Nation control, Fire Nation soldiers would be walking the streets and the last thing Lance needed was to get caught. Finally, Lance reached his destination, Firelight Fountain. After being taken control, the lamps weren’t lit, however tonight they were, signalling to Lance that the person he came to meet was there. When he approached the fountain however, he didn’t see anyone.
‘Where is he? He didn’t get caught did he?’ he felt something silently approach him and when it was close enough, he swung his elbow back, catching the assailant in the chest.
“Ow!” Lance spun around to see him, Keith, hunched over in pain from Lance’s attack. “Ah, ouch. I’m sorry I tried to surprise you.”
Lance felt horrible. He was here to see Keith and now look what he did. He could blame it on Allura’s training sessions and the whole reason he was in Ba Sing Se. he had been handpicked by Allura, an airbender, to assassinate the Fire Lord and his heirs. Normally an airbender wouldn’t go to such measures, but anyone who knew anything about energybending couldn’t be found, and every rebellion was being stopped before it could rise. Also her tribe had been killed by the Fire Nation, leaving her the only one alive. The thing was, two of the heirs, where illegitimate sons and honestly, Lance didn’t believe they had to die. No one had even known they existed until Allura told them. Lance just saw it as them not wanting anything to do with their father but Allura say differently. She was the boss and she made the decisions. Nothing Lance could say would change her mind.
In the waiting game for more information to make a solid plan, he met Keith, who worked at the Jasmine Dragon in the Middle Ring with his brother. They had talked a bit, which then turned into flirting, which turned into an invite to come here to the fountain, which turned into meeting and seeing each other more and more and now Lance was pretty sure he was in love. He knew so much about Keith and his life with his mother and the man he thought was his father, to being taken to live with his real father and how he and his brother Shiro depended on each other. How they were able to get away from him to work here but he wouldn’t be surprised if he got dragged back for a few months only to be thrown aside again. Keith sat silent as he listened to Lance tell him about the Northern Lights that shone down on his village, how much he missed his family, the edited stories about what happened at the base in the Upper Ring. They had shared sweet kisses and whispered words and daring escapes from soldiers, but Lance was more than sure that he wanted to stay with Keith. He made him happy, forgetting the job he had. He was sure fate gave him Keith to counteract to horrors he was about to do, soon anyway.
“Oh La, babe, are you ok?”
Keith slowly straightened up still rubbing his sore stomach. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry.”
“No, no. I just reacted. I’m sorry. Are you ok?”
Keith waved it off. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have sneaked up on you like that, especially with soldiers walking around. I just didn’t see you all day.”
Lance couldn’t help but smile at the pout Keith gained. “Aww, missed me that much?”
“Yes.” Keith answered, like it should have been obvious. Maybe it was.
With a shy smile, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck and kissed him, sighing at the feeling of Keith’s lips against his. La, he wanted to do this all day. The kiss got heated rather quickly, but neither minded. Keith rested his hands on Lance’s waist, squeezing, making Lance moan at the pressure. They pulled away, but still stayed close, their foreheads resting against each other.
“I’ve really wanted to do that all day.” Keith said, giving Lance an almost smug smirk as he watched Lance pant slightly.
“You have no idea how much I missed getting that this morning.” Lance said, nuzzling Keith, as he let his arms slid down so he could tangle his fingers through Keith’s hair. Spirts, the style it was in should have been horrible, but Keith made it work and it was so soft and fluffy. Lance didn’t think he ever swooned so hard for someone pulling their hair into a ponytail, but then again, Keith was different in everyway.
The two sat on the edge of the fountain, Lance snuggling up close to Keith to steal his warmth. If Allura just trusted a few firebenders who opposed the Fire Lord, he’d be able to snuggle up to Keith every night. For warmth on their travels of course.
“Anything interesting happen today?” Lance asked
“Other than another set of old ladies flirting with Shiro? Not much.” Keith said, pressing a kiss to Lance’s forehead, making Lance hum happily.
Lance was going to keep the conversation going but the two stilled at the sound of footsteps heading in their direction. Keith pulled them up and down the street, hiding them in a nearby alleyway, small enough to fit them both closely together.
“The lanterns at the fountain were lit again. Remind me why they aren’t kept lit anymore?” a solider asked
“Apparently it’s a sign of hope or something. Besides, anyone seen out past curfew is arrested.” The soldier’s partner explained, the two passing where Keith and Lance were hiding. The soldiers walked off, leaving the two alone and safe for the most part.
“That was too close. If they’re walking around now, it’s not best to stay out here.” Keith said, looking out a bit to make sure the soldiers were gone. He looked back at Lance, who looked crestfallen.
“But I haven’t seen you all day.”
“Come see me tomorrow. Early, so we can have a bit of time together.” Lance still looked upset but nodded anyway. “I can walk you back to house.”
“I’d love that really, but let’s not risk getting the soldiers to catch us. But I will definitely be seeing you tomorrow.” Lance meant only for the kiss to be brief, but he felt Keith wrap his arms around his neck, holding him there for longer, not that he was complaining. “Hmm, I’m getting more of that tomorrow. I’ll see you soon ok?”
Reluctantly Keith let go and let Lance head off. It didn’t take him long to get back up to the Upper Ring and sneak back onto the property. When he closed his window, he let out a scream when he turned to see Allura sitting on his bed, with a knowing look on her face.
“You’re back late.”
“What in the Spirts’ name are you doing in my room?”
“One, I own this house so I can go wherever I want and two, I came to get you for a meeting and Pidge mentioned that you might of snuck off to go see your boyfriend. Is it the same person you go see at the tea shop every day? Coran loves tea and you never see him go as often as you.”
Lance felt mortified. He had been so sure that he had been able to keep it a secret but apparently not. “It-it’s none of your business.”
“Alright,” Allura said, a smirk on her face, “come on, we have an actual meeting. We’ve been waiting for you and this is important.”
“How come?” Lance asked, as he followed the airbender out of the room.
“We’ve finally got information on the sons. We’ve been looking it over and Coran thinks it’s best if you and I go after them. We’re splitting the rest of the group to go after Lotor. Once the sons are dead, we’ll join up and all attack Zarkon.”
An uncomfortable feeling grew in Lance’s stomach, like it was telling him to be careful. He guessed it had to do with the fact that he was actually going to do this; he was going to kill someone. They walked into the living room which doubled as the meeting room. On the table were papers with maps and coded letters. On the very end were two open scrolls. Lance walked over and looked at them, feeling his whole world come to a halt when he saw the sketches.
Not noticing Lance, Allura said, “the oldest is Takashi and his brother is Keith. As far as we know Keith is a firebender and Takashi is a bender, but he hasn’t been seen bending so we’re not sure what kind. So I’ll be going after him and Lance, you’ll take care of Keith.”
Keith, his Keith, his Keith’s face was staring back up at him from its fixed position on the scroll. His Keith, was the Fire Lord’s son? This wasn’t right. This had to be a joke. How? How could this be true?
“Lance?” he looked up to see Pidge looking at him from her spot on the table. He noticed he was sitting on the couch and the room was empty except for him, Pidge and Hunk.
“What?” he noticed he sounded a bit breathless.
“You kinda blanked out when you go here. We thought something was wrong when you kinda collapsed on the couch but you didn’t look like you passed out or anything.”
Hunk, who was crouched on the other side of Lance continued, “I felt your heartbeat and it sounded like you were panicking. Lance, what’s going on, what happened?”
Feeling like he was moving slow, he reached around Pidge and grabbed one of the scrolls that were still sitting on the table. He looked at the open sheet, looking at the familiar face. “This can’t be happening. No, no, no.” dropping the scroll, Lance hid his face in his hands, hoping this was all a really bad dream. This couldn’t be real.
“Lance, I can hear your heart. What’s wrong? Is it your target?”
“He’s not a target Hunk, that’s my boyfriend!”
The room was silent, Lance not even moving from his hands as he felt tears come to his eyes. How? How was this happening? Had Keith been playing with him this entire time? Had all those stories he told him been lies? No, Lance prided himself on noticing when a person was lying and everything Keith told him was true, he knew it. It had to be right?
“Lance? Do you actually know Keith? Like, you’ve met him before?” Hunk asked gently.
“I met him here, at the tea house. I’ve been meeting with him every night and I know everything about him and this can’t be right. He can’t be the son of the Fire Lord.” But, Keith told him that his father was a high class person who controlled their lives whenever he wanted. How he and Shiro would be dragged by his father’s guards back to the Fire Nation. Lance hadn’t even thought that it sounded strange that high class people would have their own guards, but palace guards were something else. They were usually bigger and scarier, making their jobs easier. “How could I have been so stupid?”
“Lance, does he know what you do?” Pidge asked.
Lance shook his head, finally removing his hands from his face, but still not looking at his friends, “I told him I was a butler for Allura’s code name but he knows I’m a waterbender and I’m from the Southern Water Tribe.”
“Lance, I need you to listen to me.” Pidge said, planting her hands on his shoulder. He looked up into Pidge’s tawny brown eyes, which were filled with something, determination maybe? “You said you know everything about him right? Do you think he’s lying to you?”
“I don’t know. What if he is lying but I’m so stupidly in love with him that I can’t tell?”
“Listen,” Pidge said, shaking him, “don’t think about it, just answer. Do you think he’s lying?”
Lance shook his head. “No,” he answered weakly, “I don’t think he is. I really think he doesn’t agree with what the Fire Nation is doing and that he hates how he’s just a thing for his father and not important and…I think that he isn’t using me. That he might actually love me like I do him.”
“You haven’t told him you love him, have you?” Hunk asked, watching Lance shake his head. He rubbed Lance’s back, “if it makes you feel any better, I think he’s telling the truth too. I don’t think him or his brother agree with this.”
“But what am I going to do? Allura said I have to kill Keith. How can I do that?” he felt lighter knowing his two best friends weren’t angry with him that apparently he had been dating the illegitimate son of the Fire Lord for a while.
“Maybe you should tell Allura. Ok hear me out,” Pidge said, seeing the distressed look on Lance’s face, “I don’t agree with killing these two. I mean they have nothing to do with their father and I don’t know how much you were listening to, but apparently because they don’t live in the palace, they’re being picked up to be brought back for this huge ceremony the Fire Lord is having. It’s happening in a few days and it takes like three days by boat to get to the Fire Nation, they’re going to come get Keith and Takashi soon. Maybe if you tell Allura and you explain to her what you and Keith have, maybe she’ll change her tune about how the Fire Nation is. I mean, she can’t get rid of an entire nation, there has to be balance. There’s a reason there’s an Avatar.”
“And if she doesn’t? I thought…I thought that fate brought me to Keith as a way to have something good when I’m supposed to be killing somebody, but instead they brought me Keith so I could kill him even though I love him. And I still don’t even know if he’s telling the truth, even though I feel he is.”
“Well, what are you going to listen to? Fate, that you dealt you the worst hand? Or your own free will, cause I know you Lance. You never wanted to kill him then and you definitely don’t want to now.”
She was right. Pidge always was. Even knowing what he did now, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t kill Keith or Shiro. But, he needed to talk to Keith, before he could make a decision on what to do.
“Hunk, can you come and talk to Keith with me? Hearts don’t lie and, I wanna be sure. I don’t want to regret my decision.”
Hunk nodded, looking at Lance sympathetically. “Of course I will.”
“And I’ll be there for backup.” Pidge promised.
But backup or a human lie detector weren’t needed the next morning because they weren’t there. Keith and Shiro disappeared over night. Except they didn’t disappear as much as they were picked up. A merchant who worked at the store across the street told them that late the night before, Fire Nation soldiers put them in a carriage, but not before Keith ran over and handed the merchant a letter for Lance.
“Dear Lance, I’m so sorry that this had to of happened when I was with you. I’m being pulled into play by my father, who wants to look like the doting father everyone thinks he is. Of course he does this with no warning or even thinking about us. I have no clue when I’ll be back, but please don’t forget about me. I know you told me that Lady Sol was moving soon, so I hope you’re still there by the time I get back, but if not, know that the time we had together was some of the best moments of my life. I won’t forget you and I pray to the spirits that we’ll meet again, because Lance, I love you. I’ve wanted to tell you but it always felt too soon, but now that I’m being pulled away from you so suddenly, I realised that I want you to know this. I hate that I can’t know if you feel the same way but I hope that I can hear you tell me how you feel soon. Yours Keith.”
Lance tightened his grip on the letter. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill him, but how was he going to tell Allura? That he wasn’t going to follow what fate set out for him. Instead he would follow his free will, because he couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t kill Keith. He loved him too much for that.
The other Paladins had been captured, Mistress had sneered and despite the cruelness of the words he could sense they were not lies, and were awaiting his arrival so he could stare into each of their eyes as he pulled the trigger.
He would not miss this time.
She would make certain of it.
And despite his best efforts Lance continued to walk forward, bayard in hand and the stun switch already deactivated.
Champion first, Mistress had purred to him and while she could not access his mind it didn’t stop her from blasting images across it and he’d gotten the violent scene of Shiro, restrained in a pair of sentries holds, bloodied holes all over him and unfamiliar terrified eyes looking up and lips moving in a silent plea as Lance placed his gun point-blank to Shiro’s head and—
Blood had splattered his vision as Shiro’s head exploded and people had screamed and Mistress had laughed and he’d…
He’d just stood there, silent, as blood and gore dripped down his face and moved only to turn his eyes to his next target; the larger figure in white and yellow.
Read it here
(posted up to chapter nine on AO3)
Story Summary:
[Third and final part of the Sniper series] Voltron has rescued Lance but the person with them now is not the same boy they once knew. Even outside the Galrans’ influence Lance believes himself to be Sniper, an assassin to the Galra Empire with his final mission to eliminate Voltron. It's going to be a long, difficult road to prove to Lance that he's safe, that they're his family, and that the horrors he committed as Sniper are not his burden to bear. And that journey is made even more difficult given the fact Lance's Druid handler is still alive and the Empire isn't going to let go of their trained assassin quite so easily...
“Allura, it’s not real,” Shiro’s hands were tight on Allura’s shoulders as she shook in his hold, tears streaming down her face that had crumpled in despair as she stared at the monitor. “It’s not real.”
God, please don’t let it be real.
If, if Coran had just…
God.
It had been so fast.
Shiro had known to expect speed on Lance’s end but that…
That had been…
He still wasn’t even sure what weapon Lance had found to use, but…
But Coran…
Allura’s scream had echoed on the bridge as Lance had drawn it across Coran’s throat, blood flinging itself into the air.
It was fake, Shiro chanted to himself.
It was a trick.
Coran had said he could shift, he could protect himself.
It was a trick.
“He, he promised,” Allura gasped, overbright eyes lifting to meet Shiro’s. “He pr-promised.”
Shiro shifted his arms from her shoulders to wrap around her back, drawing her in close and shielding her from the grisly sight on the camera as Lance pilfered Coran’s pocket for the remote.
He was glad the others were in position and hadn’t seen.
Fake or not…
That had been…
“He promised,” Shiro said quietly, squeezing her tight and trying not to wince as Allura returned the embrace with more force than his ribs could take.
Read it here
(not yet posted on AO3)
Summary: [Third and final part to the Sniper trilogy] Voltron has rescued Lance but the person with them now is not the same boy they once knew. Even outside the Galrans’ influence Lance believes himself to be Sniper, an assassin to the Galra Empire with his final mission to eliminate Voltron. It’s going to be a long, difficult journey that they know won’t end even when Lance does remember them as then he’ll also remember all of the horrors he committed as Sniper and have to come to terms with what he did. But they do know they’ll be there for him every step of the way because Lance was gone, he’s been found and now he’s here, with his space family, to stay.
