Keith looked through each room he came across. Three out of the five were bedrooms none of them looking Lotorfied so it meant they weren't his room, the other two being a bathroom and a music room filled with different musical instruments. He speedily searched his way through each room, making sure his glasses caught everything. He just hoped Lance was doing alright on his side. He hoped he found at least something. They needed evidence. They had a glimpse of the quintessence gem around Lotor's neck but, as Keith said earlier, it was easy to fake. They were so close to getting rid of the man. Keith and Shiro would keep their jobs and Lance would get his revenge on his sister's murderer.
Everything was silent aside from the pounding music from downstairs. It was odd how the sound didn't travel as well to this wing of the mansion. It sounded muffled as if there was a thick wall between him and the party. Keith was looking through the last bedroom, pulling out one of the many drawers in a cupboard only to be met with emptiness. He ran his fingers over the rims of the drawers and the interior of them,just to be sure. He had to thoroughly check. Who knew where Lotor could be hiding things. Drugs, more stolen jewels, unauthorised weapons. Anything of the above could appear. Keith just had to find something.
"Keith." He heard Lance's voice whisper over the comms. His head jerked upwards in attention.
"Yeah? You okay?" He asked quickly. Keith didn't want anything to happen to Lance. If something happened to him... Keith had started to feel all of these soft emotions for the guy, he couldn't lose him now. The one man who Keith felt as though he could open up to without being judged. Sure, there was Shiro, but Keith felt as though he could give Lance his everything. Maybe there had been feelings when Lance had only been a waiter to him. Maybe Shiro was right when he said Keith hadn't wanted Lance to stop flirting. Finding out about the fact Lance was the Blue Paladin had shocked him. He'd been angry. A lot angrier than he would've been if it had been someone else. Maybe it was because he felt betrayed that the one guy he liked wasn't who he thought he was. But all Keith knew was that he refused to lose Lance. Especially when he hadn't taken him on a date yet.
"Peachy." Lance replied, "I found a secret door." Now that got Keith's eyes to widen in surprise. "I don't know where it leads but I'm gonna check it out."
"Wait, no. Don't be an idiot, Lance, wait for me." Keith protested.
"You'll take too long. What if Lotor decides that Allura is boring and wants to take a snooze?"
"He's too close to her right now. I want to punch him." Came Shiro's voice through what sounded like gritted teeth.
"See, it won't happen. I'm coming. Wait for me." Keith said quickly. If there was something down there... A dead body or worse... He wanted to protect Lance from it all. Even if the blue-eyed beauty was capable of looking after himself, Keith wanted nothing more than to block him away from the evils of the world. Do his job as a policeman and save him from crime. But how could he do that when Lance was a part of crime itself? He was a thief. Keith had to remind himself that. Their relationship would never work unless Lance stopped.
Then the promise came to mind. Lance promised to willingly go to jail and confess to his crimes once this was all over. Keith felt his heart crumble at that. That was the right thing to do... Arrest the Blue Paladin. He had to do the right thing. He had to make the right choice. It was his job to stop crime. But why did he want to let Lance continue? Jeez... This is why he should've never allowed himself to help Lance.
"Hurry your ass then, Mr Policeman." Lance replied, breaking Keith from his thoughts. Keith then shut the drawer he was looking in and sped out of the room, trying his best to be light on his feet as he ran through the hallway. However, the sound of a gasp coming over the comms had him skidding to a halt. "Wh-What?" He heard Lance breathe out, "Holy s-shit..."
"Lance? Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asked as he finally set to running again. Once in the east wing, he glanced from side to side to all the doors that lined the hallway. They were all shut. Didn't Lance have the decency to leave the door open? Why did he sound so shocked when he had spoken? Why wasn't he replying? God damn it, Lance!
Chapter Text
Keith looked through each room her came across. Three out of the five were bedrooms none of them looking Lotorfied so it meant they weren't his room, the other two being a bathroom and a music room filled with different musical instruments. He speedily searched his way through each room, making sure his glasses caught everything. He just hoped Lance was doing alright on his side. He hoped he found at least something. They needed evidence. They had a glimpse of the quintessence gem around Lotor's neck but, as Keith said earlier, it was easy to fake. They were so close to getting rid of the man. Keith and Shiro would keep their jobs and Lance would get his revenge on his sister's murderer.
Everything was silent aside from the pounding music from downstairs. It was odd how the sound didn't travel as well to this wing of the mansion. It sounded muffled as if there was a thick wall between him and the party. Keith was looking through the last bedroom, pulling out one of the many drawers in a cupboard only to be met with emptiness. He ran his fingers over the rims of the drawers and the interior of them,just to be sure. He had to thoroughly check. Who knew where Lotor could be hiding things. Drugs, more stolen jewels, unauthorised weapons. Anything of the above could appear. Keith just had to find something.
"Keith." He heard Lance's voice whisper over the comms. His head jerked upwards in attention.
"Yeah? You okay?" He asked quickly. Keith didn't want anything to happen to Lance. If something happened to him... Keith had started to feel all of these soft emotions for the guy, he couldn't lose him now. The one man who Keith felt as though he could open up to without being judged. Sure, there was Shiro, but Keith felt as though he could give Lance his everything. Maybe there had been feelings when Lance had only been a waiter to him. Maybe Shiro was right when he said Keith hadn't wanted Lance to stop flirting. Finding out about the fact Lance was the Blue Paladin had shocked him. He'd been angry. A lot angrier than he would've been if it had been someone else. Maybe it was because he felt betrayed that the one guy he liked wasn't who he thought he was. But all Keith knew was that he refused to lose Lance. Especially when he hadn't taken him on a date yet.
"Peachy." Lance replied, "I found a secret door." Now that got Keith's eyes to widen in surprise. "I don't know where it leads but I'm gonna check it out."
"Wait, no. Don't be an idiot, Lance, wait for me." Keith protested.
"You'll take too long. What if Lotor decides that Allura is boring and wants to take a snooze?"
"He's too close to her right now. I want to punch him." Came Shiro's voice through what sounded like gritted teeth.
"See, it won't happen. I'm coming. Wait for me." Keith said quickly. If there was something down there... A dead body or worse... He wanted to protect Lance from it all. Even if the blue-eyed beauty was capable of looking after himself, Keith wanted nothing more than to block him away from the evils of the world. Do his job as a policeman and save him from crime. But how could he do that when Lance was a part of crime itself? He was a thief. Keith had to remind himself that. Their relationship would never work unless Lance stopped.
Then the promise came to mind. Lance promised to willingly go to jail and confess to his crimes once this was all over. Keith felt his heart crumble at that. That was the right thing to do... Arrest the Blue Paladin. He had to do the right thing. He had to make the right choice. It was his job to stop crime. But why did he want to let Lance continue? Jeez... This is why he should've never allowed himself to help Lance.
"Hurry your ass then, Mr Policeman." Lance replied, breaking Keith from his thoughts. Keith then shut the drawer he was looking in and sped out of the room, trying his best to be light on his feet as he ran through the hallway. However, the sound of a gasp coming over the comms had him skidding to a halt. "Wh-What?" He heard Lance breathe out, "Holy s-shit..."
"Lance? Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asked as he finally set to running again. Once in the east wing, he glanced from side to side to all the doors that lined the hallway. They were all shut. Didn't Lance have the decency to leave the door open? Why did he sound so shocked when he had spoken? Why wasn't he replying? God damn it, Lance!
Keith grabbed at every door handle he passed and pushed the doors open to look inside. Each door held different things. Another bathroom, a gaming room, a room full of sparkling jewels. Keith made sure to let his head turn slowly in that room to catch it all on camera. Just in case. He came to a stop in front of last door in the hallway. He reached out to pull the handle. The door didn't budge. It was locked. He wriggled the handle a little more, to check. Did Lance lock the door? He wouldn't have locked the door on him. He couldn't have. He had seen something that had him shocked. What was it? Why was the door locked? Keith felt the beginnings of dread forming in his chest and his eyes narrowed in frustration. He let go of the handle and took a few steps back before barrelling his shoulder into the door.
An ache shot through his arm when his shoulder impacted the wood. The door wobbled slightly, splintering just a tad where Keith had hit it. So, he tried again. And again. And again. Until, finally, the lock broke and the door flung open sending small spikes of wood all over the floor. This was definitely the bedroom. There was a large, queen-sized bed in the centre with luxurious lilac drapes over the banister to obscure the mattress from view. The window was large and ran along most of the left wall and was half-covered in the same-coloured curtains yet with a dazzling sparkle to them. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling in an intricate design of circles wrapping around one another. Cupboards lined the wall with little statuettes on top of them. All of this and no sign of Lance.
"Lance? Answer me. Lance!" He looked around desperately. That was when he noticed a door being slightly ajar to his left.
"You're not-- I can't belie-- Oh g-- Ga--!" He heard Lance's voice come in and out, the connection was breaking. From what Keith could hear, his voice sounded hesitant. Keith quickly made his way to the cupboard door, opening it to peer inside. It looked like your average walk-in wardrobe a part from the fact that the hung up clothes had been pushed aside to reveal a wide open door. His eyes widened. Was this the secret door?
"Lance, talk to me, please." He said as he stepped closer to the open door, poking his head inside. There were stairs that led down just a few paces forward. The walls looked to be made of dull concrete, the steps dimly lit by a single bulb that swung slowly on the ceiling. He still wasn't getting a reply from Lance. He wasn't going to wait for one.
Please be alright. Please be alright. Please be alright.
Keith stepped through the door and onto the concrete. He didn't hesitate to start walking down the steps. If Lance was down there and something had happened to him... Keith wouldn't forgive himself. He was a policeman. He saved people. So, please, let Lance be okay. If only that idiot had waited. As he neared the bottom of the stairs, he began to hear voices amongst the static that came over his comms. He did his best to ignore the static as he reached the bottom. Right in front of the stairs was another door which was cracked open. He could distinctly hear Lance's voice, sounding happy as fuck. Then there was the unfamiliar voice of a female. Wait...
Keith flung the door open, catching the two inside of the room by surprise. The room was a large rectangle, surrounded by white bags that lined each wall. The middle of the room was a completely empty space. Not too far from the centre of the room was a stain of crimson on the grey concrete floor. Then it clicked. This had been the room where Gabriella had died. Keith's eyes trailed from the stain to look to Lance. The thief looked shocked, eyes wide and arms pulled to his chest protectively but, upon seeing Keith, relaxed. There were tears in his eyes. Who the fuck made him cry?!
That was when Keith looked to the other person in the room with them. A girl. With brown hair, bruised sun-kissed skin and eyes that reminded Keith of the Caribbean shallows. He knew that face. That was Gabby. That was Gabriella, Lance's older sister. He had seen her die. How... How was she alive? There was a flash of movement and suddenly Gabby had raised an arm, hand gripping something silver which she pointed at Keith. He was taken aback by the sight of a bloody gun in her hand. Why was she pointing a gun at him?
"Gabby? What are you doing?" Lance asked hesitantly, "Put the gun down."
"I struck a deal. You get to stay safe. Him, he isn't part of that deal, so he needs to go." Her hands were shaking. She probably had never shot a gun in her entire life. So why was she aiming to now?
"What?" Keith asked dumbly.
"Gabby, please, put the gun down."
"No. If I don't get rid of him, Lotor will kill you. He can't be here. You shouldn't be here. Get out!"
Keith watched as Lance's tear-filled eyes hardened and he slid in front of Keith. "Why are you still alive?" Lance asked, his voice wobbling slightly with emotion, "What do you mean by 'deal'? What's going on? Put the gun down!"
"People will do anything for money." They heard a familiar voice speak from the stairway. Keith's eyes widened as he looked over to see that disgusting bastard, Lotor. "Now, blue paladin, what a surprise it is to see you in person. I see that you've already received my surprise. Yes, your precious sister is alive and well. I couldn't get rid of such a pretty face. You got your wish. I didn't hurt her."
mrc2 Note:
the plot thickens again
oops