Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The rev of an old engine was the first thing Lance could sense as he came to, peeling away the layers of cotton wool filling his head until he could fully assess the situation he’d landed himself in. The engine’s vibrations reverberated through the hard floor pressed against his back and the subtle scent of a beta sitting close by were the first things he noticed when everything came into focus. His ankles and wrists were bound with tape and the stale smell of his breath trapped in the burlap sack pulled tight over his head told him that he had been unconscious for quite a while.

Lance groaned, head pounding and hands trembling as fear and adrenaline flooded his system. He tugged on the bonds around his wrists, fighting through the splitting pain in his head and the ache in his throat from suppressing the urge to cry in order to sit up. Lance cried out in pain as a boot collided with his face, his lip splitting with the force of the kick.

“Stay down, Omega” the voice to his left spat.

Lance growled defensively, he couldn’t access the switchblade hidden within his pocket, not with the beta’s eyes trained on him, waiting for the opportunity to kick him again should he disobey. He’d lose it before he had the chance to use it so he succumbed to the pain for the time being, curling in on himself to be left alone with his own voice screaming in his head, so loud that he couldn’t make out the words.

He tried to think back to how he had gotten in this situation but his memory was hazy at best; the last thing he could remember was slipping out of his bed, careful not to wake his niece and nephew and tugging on some old sweatpants but he hadn’t bothered to find a shirt or shoes. He’d slipped out the living room window above the couch and shimmied down the rain pipe to take a walk, just like he had done so many times before when the dreams got to be too much and he was weary with memories of the past.

He’d left the small apartment he shared with his brother Luis, sister-in-law Lisa and their two children, Nadia and Silvio, in an attempt to clear his head of the distressing nightmare that had woken him in the first place. Rain poured from the sky, as it had done for the last three days, showing no sign of letting up any time soon. He could barely feel the drops as they hit his skin and plastered his hair to his scalp.

Even as the chill soaked deep into his bones, he couldn’t feel it; the nightmares left him with a numbness that he couldn’t escape from, not even in the daylight. Sometimes the pain was less when he was distracted with his niece and nephew or out with his best friend but they couldn’t always keep it at bay, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

There were no more tears left to cry anymore, all that was left was a heartache that wouldn’t heal and memories of the life he once had that was now nothing more than the very thoughts that always plagued his mind, even while asleep.

Lance’s finger tips traced distractedly over the jagged edges of the scars on his stomach as every step took him further and further from the apartment, only the blue glow of the streetlights kept him from disappearing into the darkness entirely.

A strangled scream drew Lance out of his own head, his gaze darting around the abandoned streets to find its source. The sound had caught his attention but with the rain pouring at such a deafening rate, he couldn’t narrow in on which direction it had even come from.

The scents of so many people in such a densely populated area usually clung to the air of every sector of their ward. The heavy downpour had washed away every lingering scent, leaving naught but a blank slate behind. Lance came to a stop beneath a streetlight, nose upturned in search of a discernible scent and ears straining to hear any sound that would give him a clue.

Heavy footfalls echoed like gunshots and Lance turned around; a well built man, a beta by the looks of it, exited the mouth of the pitch black alleyway, not ten feet from where Lance was standing. He dug a phone out of his pocket, the rain pouring too hard for Lance to hear what he was saying and then the smell hit him.

Terror and iron permeated the air with a smell like rotting meat, the body of a lifeless omega strung over the beta’s shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Lance was frozen, his own scent reeking of fear and his feet refused to move. The beta chose that moment to look up, looking just as startled to see Lance as Lance was to see him.

He ran.

The asphalt stung his feet and shards of glass left behind by drunkards that had long since retired for the night, cut his feet but the thudding footfalls of the beta giving chase drove him to run faster. The beta caught up to him, slamming his entire weight forward into Lance’s back and sending them both sprawling to the ground. Lance’s stomach and palms were torn up by the bitumen but still he scrambled to get to his feet.

A knee dug into his lower back and thick fingers that smelled like iron wrapped around his throat, crushing his windpipe with ease. Lance could remember hearing the beta curse, a searing pain as his head was smashed into the ground and then nothing but darkness that wrapped around him like a blanket.

The truck had finally come to a stop, the brakes squealing and the rumble of the engine falling silent. Lance felt hands encircle his ankles and he kicked out, hoping to at least injure one of his kidnappers. The tape that bound his ankles was cut and he was hauled upright with a bruising grip on his upper arm.

Lance swayed on his feet, head pounding with a combination of pain and unbridled rage that had replaced the fear that had incapacitated him in the face of the dead omega. His own life was already a shitshow, getting kidnapped was the last fucking thing he needed and he was a hairsbreadth away from gouging the beta’s eyes out on principle. The weak-scented beta held him by the scruff of his neck like a disobedient pup, inching dangerously close to his scent gland and holding him in place, no matter how much he fought to get free.

He was led up a set of cold, stone steps, he could feel as much beneath his bare feet and rivulets of warm blood snaked down the plain of Lance’s back as the beta’s blunt nails dug in deeper, keeping him incapacitated no matter how much he struggled against the hold on his nape. The burlap sack was pulled from his head and Lance’s lungs burned; taking in deep breaths of fresh air, chest heaving as he looked around with wide eyes.

He stood in the courtyard of what was once a long forgotten temple, the grey stone worn by age and the countless storms it had weathered through over the hundreds of years it had stood. A dense forest of towering trees surrounded the temple, the trees so tall they blocked the slowly rising sun as the sky changed from blue to gold after what seemed like an eternity in darkness, further proving that they were, as Lance had suspected, miles and miles away from civilisation.

Lanterns hung from the corners of the roofs and along the walls, dappling the courtyard in a soft, orange glow and a quick observation of the towering pagoda and the central temple had him realising that the building had been renovated to serve a new purpose.

The heavy scent of a powerful Alpha pervade his senses had Lance turned his head, following his nose to the direction of a towering Alpha that sauntered down the steps that led from the central temple down into the courtyard. Long dual toned hair fell over his shoulders like a curtain and the sleeves of his white button-down were rolled to his elbows, showing off a sleeve of intricate black tattoos. Lance noticed the shoulder holster atop the Alpha’s shirt and the butt of a gun peered out from beneath his left arm.

“Do you want to explain to me why he is still alive? We don’t leave witnesses Rax” the Alpha growled furiously, his voice echoing off the stone walls like claps of thunder that signified an oncoming storm. He stopped his descent at the last step, standing above his men. The Alpha’s scent had Lance’s lips curling into a snarl as he huddled in on himself, averting his gaze at the Alpha’s tone of voice.

It was an instinct built into the very DNA of every omega ever born and their role was ingrained into them the day they presented as their secondary gender. It was the role of an omega to always obey an alpha because, as the weakest class, they needed an alpha to protect and provide for them. Omega’s were genetically predisposed to succumb to the scent, voice and dominance of any alpha present and it was a compulsion Lance had fought tooth and nail against his entire life.

Lance lifted his head in defiance, fighting against the desire to submit and the Alpha’s displeased growl at the blatant show of disrespect had Lance sneering, teeth bared and eyes burning with hatred. The Alpha looked down at Lance with nothing more than disdain in his eyes and disgust in the curl of his upper lip.

“This is why, Sir” the beta, Rax, answered, delivering a swift kick to the back of Lance’s knees, sending him sprawling, once again, to the cold stone and aggravating his wounds further. Rax pinned him face down with a knee to his lower back and a hand to his nape. Rax spat on him and Lance growled; bucking against the hold on him as a rough hand rubbed harshly across his back, clearing him of the blood that had already begun to dry on his skin.

Every child, regardless of their secondary gender, was born with the name of their soulmate etched into their skin. Soulmates weren’t always romantic either; some people were brought together by their marks and were nothing but friends that spent their lives together. For Lance, black lines of Japanese script that flowed like spilt ink, decorated the length of his spine, reading the name of his destined mate; Takashi Shirogane.

Lance snarled threateningly as the Alpha crouched beside him, shaking his head in an attempt to fight against the heady scent pouring off the Alpha, filling Lance’s head with cotton wool and leeching the tension from his shoulders. The release of such a potent calming scent was usually an unprompted response from an alpha that needed to calm down a distressed omega but in this instance, he doubted that this Alpha wanted anything but to subdue Lance and regain the chip to his fragile ego.

“You have got to be kidding me. This omega is my mate?” the alpha spat contemptuously. The once calming scent dissipated like smoke, replaced with the acetous scent of disgust. He rubbed a hand across his eyes, breathing through gritted teeth, “I don’t have time for this. You should have killed him when you had the chance, instead of wasting my time”.

The soft calm that had washed over Lance shattered like glass, his chest ached and tears stung his eyes at the harsh rejection. The repudiation of a soulmate was an occurrence so rare that it was almost unheard of, only few history books ever detailed such a phenomenon. Lance was hauled to his feet and without a second thought; he threw his head back, colliding into the beta’s nose and reveling in the sickening crunch of bone shattering. The moment the beta let go of him, Lance lunged for Shiro.

Using all of the force he could muster, Lance slammed the Alpha to the ground and climbed on top of him, pinning his biceps to the ground with his knees; a position would have been rather intimate in any other setting, considering how close his crotch was to the Alpha’s face. He tugged the switchblade from the depths of his pocket and raised his arm, bringing down the bleed in a swift arc, slicing a deep gash across Shiro’s nose from one cheekbone to the other.

“I don’t fucking care what my soulmark says, I will never belong to any alpha. You’d do well to remember that”.

The beta hauled himself upright, one hand clutched to his broken nose as blood poured down his face and stained his teeth red. He charged. Free hand tangling into Lance’s matted locks and tearing him away from Shiro. He slammed Lance’s back into the ground, grinning with sick satisfaction at the winded groan Lance emitted.

The beta bent down, mouth agape to make some snide remark when Lance’s lips twisted into a feral smirk, a beautiful handgun, the metal black and the handle etched with violet filigree, twirled between his nimble fingers. He’d swiped it from the holster beside Shiro’s ribs during their scuffle. He held it steady, clicking the safety off and cocking the gun. Lance raised the muzzle to the beta’s forehead, his eyes burning like blue flames.

“You’re just an Omega” the beta spat, “You ain’t gonna pull the trigger”.

“That’s where you’re wrong” Lance answered.

He pulled the trigger.

A clean shot between the eyes.

Lance didn’t so much as flinch as the bullet entered into the beta’s head, even as blood spattered across his skin his eyes remained open and focused. He rolled to his feet before the beta’s body could fall, firing again and again as men rushed towards him, their own guns drawn, putting bullets in them with so much ease it was almost troubling.

With the magazine empty, Lance dropped the gun and growled, teeth bared as he lunged for the men still stupid enough to attack him, blinding them with sharp nails, shattering their noses and tearing through their skin with his teeth. Blood splattered his skin as bodies dropped like flies, the injured Alpha’s eyes darkening as he took a seat on the stone steps that led up into the temple entrance to watch the battle unfold, the gash across his face pulsing blood that dripped off his chin and soaked into his button-down.

Lance was feral, chest heaving and blood dripping from his lips, he was a masterpiece painted in red, a hurricane that only came to a halt when his opponents were stricken with fear of the carnage the Omega had wrought upon their comrades.

Lance briefly wondered what his family would think if they saw him; covered in blood, chest heaving and eyes burning with unbridled rage. Would they see him as a heartless murderer or a cornered omega that did whatever he had to do to escape?

Was he a murderer?

“Alright, that is enough, all of you” Shiro bellowed, “Lance-” his voice rumbled like thunder, Alpha voice slipping into his tone.

The Omega hissed at the sound of his name, gaze fixed into a withering glare. Lance turned, crossing the courtyard towards Shiro without another word, the men having fallen silent and the only sound being his bare footfalls on the cool stone. He only stopped one, stooping down to retrieve the gun from where it lay before continuing until he stood face to face with Shiro, unafraid.

He slid the bloodied gun back into the holster beneath Shiro’s arm, “If you think I’m some weak omega that’ll just roll over for the first alpha that tells me to, you’re sorely mistaken”

“Weak? You’re the first Omega I’ve ever met that could take on so many alpha’s and live to tell about it” Shiro smiled, folding his hands together as blood dripped from the gash across the bridge of his nose. His inner Alpha was practically giddy, such a strong Mate, so brave and so beautiful, the words a clear juxtaposition to the venom he had spat earlier.

Lance wiped his forearm across his face, smearing the blood that stained his lips and turned his back on the Alpha, taking quick strides away, only stopping once to slip his hand into Rax’s pockets to procure a set of car keys. He passed through a mighty arch, jogged down a flight of stone steps and didn’t look back. He pressed the automatic lock on the keys to determine which car the keys belonged to, clambered into the driver’s seat, started the engine and followed the road through the thick woods and back to civilisation.

~*~*~

Lance sighed as he hoisted his messenger bag higher onto his shoulder and pushed open the sunshine yellow door of Balmera; a popular café owned by his best friend Hunk and his mate, Shay. The small bell above the door tinkled as he entered and Lance made a beeline for his favourite booth, tucked away into the back corner of the café, thankful it wasn’t occupied as the rest of the café was steadily filling with Hunk and Shay’s regulars.

Hunk had quickly become his best friend within his first week in Japan, helping him learn the language and adjust to life in a new country after moving there for his niece’s medical treatment.

“Hey buddy, you aren’t lookin’ so good. Rough day?” Hunk asked, plopping down in the booth seat opposite Lance, sliding over a matcha milkshake and a hefty slice of his famous wobbly cheesecake.

“You could say that” Lance chuckled bitterly, lips wrapping around the mouth of the straw and groaning in approval at the flavour that burst on his tongue.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Lance paused, what could he even say? Got kidnapped by the Japanese Mafia for witnessing a murder, met my soulmate, he’s the leader of the entire operation by the way… oh and I shot some people and stole a car”. The last thing he wanted was to endanger Hunk and drag him into the clusterfuck by telling him the truth.

“Nah, just didn’t sleep well, had nightmares again and forgot my face routine, so I look less sparkly than usual. Don’t worry though, I’m sure all the ladies will still fall all over themselves” Lance finally answered with a wink, making light of the situation as he swirled his straw around the bright green mixture of his drink.

Hunk laughed and clapped Lance on the shoulder as he excused himself to check if his fa'apapa had cooled down enough yet. Lance smiled, hoping it didn’t look like as much of a grimace as it felt and rested his cheek on his palm, staring out the window to the busy street, wondering if things would ever be the same again.

Chapter Text

The crunch of pebbles beneath car tires had Shiro groaning, his head throbbing in time with every pulse of blood that continued to drip from the wound across his the bridge of his nose. His, once white, button-down was now soaked through with blood and the fabric clung to him like a second skin.

Shiro climbed out of the car the moment the door was opened, a handkerchief pressed to his face to stem the bleeding with only marginal success. It had seemed to slow, the blood finally beginning to clot but the gash was quite nasty and wounds to the head and face always bled more than was strictly necessary.

His right hand woman, Allura, looked less than impressed at having been left behind; somehow still maintaining the furious scowl of a woman scorned even with her white hair askew from sleep and still decked in her pink satin robe and matching pink fluffy slippers. She had her arms folded across her chest as she walked down the steps to where the car had pulled up and raised an eyebrow at Shiro’s state.

“You disappear in the middle of the night and come back looking like you went nine rounds with a mountain lion. What happened Shirogane?” Allura demanded, pinning him with a look so scathing that it would have withered a lesser Alpha.

She slid her phone from the pocket of her robe and held a finger up to tell Shiro to remain silent, dialing before Shiro could get a word in to answer her question, a fond smile lilting his lips.

“Hello Father… Yes, I know what time it is but are you able to come and tend to Shiro?... No, I don’t know what’s happened but he’ll require stitches… Thank-you Father, we’ll see you soon”. She hung up and slipped her phone back into her pocket before turning to Shiro.

“Inside. Now.” she snapped, turning on her heel with a huff and stalking back up the stairs, the scent of a pissed off yet concerned alpha pervading the air and her pink robe billowing behind her like a cloak.

Shiro’s smile grew and he shook his head fondly as he followed her; she tended to get angry whenever Shiro did anything to worry her… which meant she was angry quite often. When he entered the compound, she pushed the door closed, her expression practically screaming ‘explain yourself before I stab you’.

“Allura, I’m sorry for not telling you when I left. It’s only been a few months since… I wasn’t sure if you were ready for a mission… ” he trailed off, looking at the wounded expression on Allura’s face, “I received a call from Rax, saying that it was an emergency and he couldn’t tell me what had happened. Only to meet him at the temple” Shiro stated, pulling the handkerchief away from his face with a wince.

They walked down the many hallways that made up the compound, entering into the infirmary; white tile floors, stainless steel furniture, eggshell blue paint on the walls and medical supplies made up most of the room. Deft fingers tugged at the blood-slick buttons of his once-white button down and peeled the cloth away from his skin, barely bothering to look as he tossed into the trash, the shirt beyond saving at this point. He reached beneath the sink and pulled out a pail, filled it with water and pulled out a wash cloth from the cupboard to his left.

“Let me” Allura ordered gently, taking the cloth from Shiro’s hands and gesturing for him to take a seat.

She dipped the cloth into the water and washed away the blood on his chest that had soaked through his shirt, making her way up to wash away the blood that had run down his throat, up to his face before cleaning around the gash as carefully as possible; the water in the bucket now red with blood.

“Rax was out, obeying my orders; he put down that two-timing omega that was feeding secrets to Zarkon’s men but someone saw him. He knows we don’t leave witnesses but he saw this omega’s soulmark…”

Allura gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, “Rax found him. He found Lance?”

“Yeah… and as it turns out Lance didn’t really appreciate being kidnapped. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Omega that was so angry. He shattered Rax’s nose and when Rax let go, Lance went after me.”

“He pinned me down and Rax, apparently, hadn’t bothered to check if Lance was armed. He pulled a switchblade, hence the gash across my face… Not that I can say I didn’t deserve it. Rax pulled him off but Lance had taken my gun and without even blinking, he put a bullet between Rax’s eyes. He actually smiled when he pulled the trigger.”

“Why did you say you deserved it? What did you do?” Allura interrupted, head cocked questioningly.

“I told Rax he should have killed Lance instead of wasting my time… I thought that, if any of my men were spying for the Sincline’s, Lance would be safe if they thought I’d rejected him,” Shiro frowned, expression troubled as he recalled the dejection on Lance’s face as he’d spat the words like poison on his tongue.

Allura looked at him pityingly, her heart aching for him as he turned away from her, folding his arms over his chest to protect himself from the vulnerability he had displayed. She opened her mouth to speak, to offer solace or sympathy but the words wouldn’t form. The sound of knocking thankfully interrupted before she had to find the words.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Sir, but the men have arrived from the temple and require some medical attention” an alpha by the name of Ozar, spoke softly.

“Of course” Shiro nodded, beckoning them in as he rose to his feet. , allowing the more severely injured men to sit in his place.

At least a dozen of their own filed into the room, all with varying degrees of injury; bloody cuts, swelling, bruising, black eyes, broken bones and one alpha had his hands clutched to a broken nose and a ruined eye, left blinded by Lance’s razor-sharp nails.

“A single Omega wrought all of this damage?” Allura asked, turning to Shiro questioningly.

Shiro nodded, a small shine of pride in his eyes, “And nine of my men were shot dead”.

Allura whistled lowly; impressed. Death was a constant in a line of work such as working for the Yakuza and the sight of bodies was something they were all familiar with. It had long since lost its shock value but an Omega wreaking this level of carnage was almost unheard of; their kind being typically more genteel and avoided confrontation wherever possible.

“Good luck with that boy Shirogane. It does not seem like he’ll be easy to win over” she opined, patting his shoulder in consolation as she exited the room to meet with her father.

~*~*~

Shiro leant back in his chair as Allura’s father arrived, a leather doctor’s bag clenched in his hand and his pinstripe dressing gown still held closed by its belt. Alfor was an esteemed doctor at a nearby hospital and the only doctor Shiro trusted to care for him and his men, which led to a fair few calls at all hours of the night.

“What happened, Shiro?” Alfor asked, threading the needle with steady hands. He injected the area with an anaesthetic and began to stitch the gash closed as best he could, the skin over the bridge of his nose too thin to stitch without causing more damage.

“My soulmate wasn’t happy being kidnapped” Shiro simply answered, a small smile curving his lips. Over the years, he had tried not to dwell on what it would be like to meet his soulmate; prepared for the disappointment he’d face when they found just what he did for a living. This life was unsuitable for many people, it was vicious, bloody and few made it out alive but Shiro would be lying if he said the omega wasn’t intriguing to him.

~*~*~

Weeks had passed by since the night he’d first met Lance, the night the Omega killed eight of his men, left another blind in one eye and the others so badly injured they were off duties until they recovered. He found himself distracted by thoughts of the Omega, thinking of him at times when he should be focused on far more important things like the discrepancies in his inventory reports and the incoming shipments of weapons that were arriving later that night.

He had assigned one of his most trusted men to watch over Lance, keeping a respectable distance to make sure no harm came to him. The words he‘d said to Lance may have been barbarous but he truly didn’t wish to see the Omega or his family come to harm, especially due to his ties to the Alpha. Shiro had no doubt there were moles within his operation that now knew of Shiro’s fated mate and protecting Lance was now of the utmost importance.

~*~*~

Ever since the night Lance had escaped from Shiro and his gang of thugs, every step he took felt watched; as if eyes were following his every move. He had become paranoid and jumpy, every loud sound and siren had him on the edge of his seat, knuckles white and the hairs on the back of his neck were constantly on end but whenever he turned around to look, no one was ever there. There were never any faces he continued to see but he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched.

Honestly, Lance had enough and the decision to take matters into his own hands had been an easy one. Lance kept a knife on his person, never leaving home without the switchblade tucked into the pocket of his worn blue jeans and after slicing across Shiro’s face with it, he had never been more hesitant to use it.

Lance tightened the straps on his backpack and ducked into an alleyway, thankful to be away from the bustling street markets and the cloud of scents that hung over the city like smog. He clambered up the drainpipe with ease and leapt from one air-conditioning unit to the next, tucking himself away atop a metal awning where he couldn’t be seen from the ground.

As soon as he tucked his legs up, frantic footsteps began to echo down the alley. Lance leant over the edge of the awning, taking in his supposed stalker; slim build, dark hair, leather jacket, biker boots and the unmistakable scent of alpha was all over him.

The moment the alpha came to a stop, Lance slid his knife out of his pocket and rose to his feet silently. He dropped from his hiding place, blade in hand as he landed in front of the alpha. Lance lunged forward, shoving his stalkers back against the opposite wall and snarling as he held the glinting blade to the alpha’s throat.

“Who are you and why are you following me?” Lance growled threateningly, pressing the blade in deeper until blood welled to the surface of the alpha’s pale skin.

His gaze moved down the lapel of the alpha’s jacket, he tugged it aside with more force than strictly necessary, teeth baring at the sight of ink swirling across a pale shoulder and peering out just below the cuff of his sleeve.

“I know what those tattoos mean. You’re one of Shirogane’s bitches, aren’t you?” Lance rolled his eyes, “Tell him thanks but I don’t need a fucking babysitter”.

“You think I want to be babysitting your worthless ass? I have far better things to do than follow you around all day, everyday but I’m under orders” the alpha sneered, itching to punch the Omega in the stomach to teach him a lesson but begrudgingly under strict orders not to harm a single hair on Lance’s precious head.

Lance loosened his grip on the handle of his knife and pulled the blade away from the alpha’s throat slowly, “Let me make this clear” Lance barked, slamming the blade deep into the alpha’s shoulder and twisting, ignoring his roar of pain “stay the fuck away from me and my family and tell your boss to go fuck himself”.

He tugged the blade free of the alpha’s shoulder and wiped the blood off on the sleeve of his jacket, folding the blade back into place and storming out of the alleyway with an expression so dark that it warded off alpha, beta and omega alike.

~*~*~

“He stabbed me” Keith shrieked, slamming the door open into Shiro’s office with enough force to damage the drywall, “I can’t believe he fucking stabbed me”.

“Who did?” Shiro asked, puzzled. He pulled away from his desk, letting the inventory papers in his hand fall to rejoin the countless other papers on his desk to look up at Keith in confusion.

“Lance. He knew I was following him and he stabbed me in the shoulder and told me to back off. He ruined my favourite jacket Shiro!” Keith was indignant, pacing back and forth in front of Shiro’s desk, his good arm waving in the air as he ranted. Shiro hid a smile behind his hand at Keith’s vexation over Lance ruining his jacket and his distinct lack of concern over the fact he had been stabbed.

He wasn’t happy Keith was injured; it meant he’d be out of duty for a short while at least but a small part of him was proud that his- an Omega had one-upped an alpha as strong as Keith.

“Oh and he told me to tell you to ‘go fuck yourself’, as well as some other stuff about staying away from him and his family and not needing a babysitter.” Keith added, turning on his heel and heading for the infirmary to be stitched up.

~*~*~

Lance pulled his jacket around him tighter and snuggled into the corner of his favourite seat at Balmera. It was long past closing time but Hunk and Shay allowed him to stay as long as he didn’t make a mess, he found the homey atmosphere therapeutic when he was overwhelmed and after his run-in with the mob, he was overwhelmed quite a lot.

Hunk and Shay were out back preparing the food for the next day, as they did every night. It was their ritual; they’d bump hips and share secret smiles as they kneaded dough side by side. Lance had been invited to help once but he’d felt like he was intruding and stuck to cleaning tables and mopping the floor to pull his weight when they let him stay.

He swirled his straw around the empty glass, trailing it through the bubbles left behind from his milkshake when the little bell above the door tinkled; signifying someone had entered the café.

“I’m sorry but we’re clos- Whoa man, what happened to you?” Lance heard Hunk ask the customer, emerging from the back probably covered in flour as he usually was.

“Had a run in with a very pissed off Omega” the voice answered.

Lance’s blood ran cold as he turned in his seat and peered over the edge of the booth seat.

Shiro. Oh, fantastic.

Lance slid slower into his seat and pulled the drawstring on his hood tight; hoping that his efforts to hide his face and bury himself into the wall would make him invisible. He contemplated hiding beneath the table to avoid another meeting with the Alpha but he drew the line at hiding entirely. The footsteps of someone approaching grew louder and Lance prayed it was Hunk and that Shiro hadn’t caught his scent.

“Mind if I sit?”

Nope. Not Hunk.

Lance pushed his hood off and looked up at the asker, a disapproving frown marring his features. His gaze fell on the nasty gash across Shiro’s face, the injury well on its way to healing into the pink scar that would be left behind. Guilt at the injury’s severity wormed its way in beside the anger and betrayal but Lance crushed the feeling beneath his metaphorical shoe.

“Be my guest” he answered coldly, standing up and making to leave.

Rough fingers enclosed around his wrist, gently. The touch so feather light that he could pull away with ease. His pulse jumped at the Alpha’s touch and he snatched his hand away, cradling it to his chest like he’d been scalded and turned to make his timely exit.

“Lance wait, I promise I’m not your enemy, will you please just hear me out?”

“You became my enemy the moment your fucking goon put a bag over my head and kidnapped me, said he should have killed me instead of wasting your time and then sent one of your bitches to spy on me” Lance spat venomously and folded his arms over his chest, refusing to sit back down.

“How did you know I was here; at Balmera” Lance asked pointedly, chest heaving from his outburst.

“I didn’t know you were here. I came to collect Hunk’s protection money. There’s a rival family causing problems all over the city, destroying properties, armed robberies, all kinds of mayhem”

“Do you really expect me to believe that out of every cafe in the entire country, you just happened to walk into the one I come to every day? I think a more likely scenario is that your pet emo with the fingerless gloves came and told you where I like to go” Lance spat.

Shiro leaned back in his seat, lips curved into an impressed smile, “You’re right… He relayed your message to me, by the way, my ‘pet emo’ that is... Also wanted me to mention that he’s not a huge fan of being stabbed and you wrecked his favourite jacket”.

Lance cracked a small smile against his will.

“I know I can’t make up for what I said but if you ever need anything, call this number or go to this address” Shiro instructed, his voice a soothing timbre as he pulled a pen from his pocket and scrawled on a napkin.

Shiro stood and handed the napkin, walking around Lance and heading towards the door

“Hey, Shiro?”

Shiro turned at the sound of his name.

“Thanks” Lance muttered sheepishly.

Shiro nodded, smiled and walked out of the café, climbing into the back of a sleek, black car and driving off.

“How much do you have to pay him for protection? Shiro told me he was here to collect your protection money.” Lance asked Hunk, circling the counter to rinse out his glass.

“He’s just being dramatic. He usually sends one of his men to put in a large order for each weekend. We pay him in desserts that he gives out to his mob and the families under his protection”.

Lance smiled, “Well alright, I’m gonna head home or Luis will freak out that I was out so late again. How much do I owe you before I go?”

“Don’t worry about it, man, Shiro paid for you before he left”. Hunk’s tone was questioning but Lance wasn’t ready to depart the knowledge that “Oh the guy you pay protection desserts to? Yeah, he’s my soulmate and I’m the pissed off Omega that cut his face open”.

Lance shrugged nonchalantly and zipped his jacket before bidding the lovebird’s goodbye and heading out the door, hands buried deep in his pockets. His phone began to ring but the ringtone was unfamiliar and the caller ID read Unknown.

“Hello?”

“Hello Lance. My, it’s good to hear from you after such a long time apart. How have you been?”

“I don’t know who this is or how you got this number but this isn’t funny” Lance growled.

“Come now Lance, don’t you recognise me? We used to be so close after all.”

Lance’s face turned as white as a sheet, his hand curling into a fist so tight that his nails drew blood.

“How is your family, Lance? I hear little Nadia is finally healing after her latest surgery; it would truly be a shame if something were to happen to her or Silvio. Lisa still frequents those little markets in downtown Tokyo, I see and Luis is still working long hours at Gyrgan’s garage. Perhaps I should pay them a visit”.

Lance snarled and hung up, pressing dial on another number.

“Luis, I need you to get Lisa, Nadia and Silvio and pack some things. I don’t have time to explain. Just do it... meet me at this address…”

Chapter Text

“Lance” Luis hissed through his teeth, as he pulled Lisa in closer to him, “What are we doing here? Do you know what this building is?”

He turned to face Luis, teeth sinking into his bottom lip before releasing it, “I- yeah I know. Just please trust me Luis, you know I would never do anything to put you guys in danger”.

Lance let out a sigh of resignation and folded his arms, “Lotor called me… just before I called you”. Lisa gasped and pulled Nadia and Silvio against her instinctually. Lance’s frown deepened, “He threatened you guys and there’s someone here that offered me help if I needed it. Please… please just trust me”.

The gates onto the property were at least ten feet high and made of twisted wrought iron, flanked on either side by twelve foot stone walls that appeared to circle the sprawling property within. The intercom beside the gate into the property crackled to life, “What do you want?” the female’s voice on the other end asked with little enthusiasm.

“Um, my name is Lance. Shiro gave me this and told me to come here if I ever needed anything” Lance answered, holding the napkin with the address and phone number up to the security camera that zoomed in with a whir.

“You’re Lance? Why didn’t you say so? Wait right there” the woman ordered, clicking off the intercom. Lance turned towards his family, answering the questioning looks from his brother with a shrug.

A flash of white hair shot across Lance’s vision and he felt the blood drain from his face as memories he’d rather keep buried rose to the surface and left every muscle in his body tensed, his scent bitter with anxiety. He took deep breaths as a woman with dark skin came to a stop inside the gate and procured a key from the long chain hidden down her blouse.

She pulled the chain over her head and unlocked the intricate padlock, straightening up and pulling the gates open.

“So you are the famous Lance that Shiro won’t stop talking about. I’m Allura” the woman grinned, offering a hand out.

Lance proffered a small smile and shook her hand, “I wouldn’t say famous... I- Shiro said to come to this address if I ever needed help”.

~*~*~

“Shiro?” A knock sounded on the open door, drawing Shiro’s attention away from the invoices he was currently looking over.

“Yes Allura?”

“There’s someone here to see you”

Shiro raised an eyebrow and pushed his chair away from the desk. He tied his long hair back into a messy bun and followed Allura down the halls and into the compound’s foyer. He didn’t recognise the husband and wife and their two children that stood before him but it was obvious they were afraid of him, their scent and body language making that quite clear. He looked over them, eyes stopping on the Omega he’d become so infatuated with.

“Lance! I didn’t think I’d see you... especially this soon” Shiro said elatedly.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know where else to go” Lance muttered, too emotionally exhausted to bite Shiro’s head off, his scent reeking of distressed omega.

Shiro frowned and backed away, giving Lance some space, “Did something happen?”

Lance sighed, something he felt like he’d been doing an awful lot lately, “Four years ago, I began dating this alpha. We were together for a year and a half and had quite a bad break up. He disappeared after he left me and I hadn’t seen or heard from him in two and a half years. After I left Balmera, he called me. He threatened my family. His name is Lotor, he-“

“Wait, wait. Did you just say his name is Lotor? As in... Lotor Sincline?” Allura interrupted.

“Huh? Yeah... how did you know that? Do you know him?”

“Lotor was one of our closest friends and was one of my best men but he disappeared two and a half years ago while working undercover for a rival family. I thought Zarkon had killed him…” Shiro rubbed a hand across the stubble on his jaw.

“That’s enough for now, Shiro. I believe Lance and his family have been through enough for one day” Allura spoke.

“Why don’t you and your family follow me? I’ll have you all settled in for tonight. Tomorrow, you can decide whether or not you’d like to stay here for protection or we can assign men to guard you and your family until we find Lotor” Allura spoke softly, placing her hand on Lance’s lower back and leading him away from Shiro and down a long hallway.

“You guys get settled in. I-I need some air” Lance uttered, dropping his bag in the doorway and disappearing, hands burrowed deep in his pockets.

Eventually he came across some sliding glass doors that led out into a pristine garden. The tall back wall was lined with mature cherry blossom trees and a lush lawn was segmented by a beautiful pond with large koi swimming lazily beneath the surface. He walked across a bridge that arched over the pond and through the expanse of loose white pebbles to the base of the trees, placing a hand to the trunk of one and letting the quiet calm wash over him.

Lance leant back against one of the trees, letting the scent of sakura and the gentle breeze that ruffled his hair soothe his frayed nerves. He tucked his knees up to his chest and waited for the inevitable tears to come; having long since mastered the art of crying quietly, when the nightmares starring Lotor haunted him and he didn’t want to awaken his family.

Only a few minutes had passed when a loud bark echoed through the garden, mere moments before Lance was pounced on by a very big, very fluffy dog. He licked Lance’s face, yapping excitedly when Lance stretched his legs out to make room, the dog climbing into Lance’s lap and settled down, tail swaying contentedly.

Lance laughed and scratched between the dogs’ floppy ears, his tears already drying with the newfound distraction.

“Aren’t you beautiful? What’s your name boy?” Lance asked cooingly.

“His name is Kosmo. He’s an Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky cross.”

Lance looked up at Allura as she spoke, crossing the distance between them slowly. The breeze picked up again and her long, white hair flowed in the breeze, her scent of roses and clary sage wafting towards him and the unmistakable musk that every alpha carried with them. He hadn’t noticed earlier that she was an alpha, her scent uncommonly delicate for one instead of the usual strong scents like sandalwood and fire.

“He belongs to Keith but he seems to really like you” she spoke again.

“Who’s Keith?”

“You may remember him... You did stab him in the shoulder after all”

“Oh yeah” Lance smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Lance, I don’t mean to be so forward but I think you should know that you can trust Shiro. He would never do anything to hurt you. I’ve known Shiro my entire life and not a moment has gone by where he hasn’t wanted to meet his soulmate. Perhaps you should speak with him, give him a chance to explain his actions from the night in the temple”.

Lance looked away, “Yeah, we’ll see”.

Chapter Text

“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, Shiro” Allura smirked, knocking back the golden whiskey in her glass and dropping it onto the bar top, signalling Rolo for another finger. He nodded and poured her drink with a lopsided smile before returning to cleaning the glasses. Rolo was one of Shiro’s underlings and often worked the on-site bar inside the compound, enjoying the novelty of such a mundane task.

“Shut up” Shiro pouted, taking another shot and slamming the glass down on the bar top to start on the glass of jack and coke that Rolo had set out for him.

His foot tapped against the support bar on the stool restlessly and his head rested in his palm, finger tracing along the rim of his glass, “I want him to like me Lura but what if I messed up too bad and he’ll hate me forever?”

“Shiro, have you tried actually talking to Lance? Invite him to do something with you. Let him see the real you” Allura suggested, tying her hair up into a ponytail.

He took a swig of his drink and set down the glass, humming in thought and falling silent. When inspiration struck, he leapt to his feet, stool clattering the ground, “Allura, you’re a genius!”

Shiro was only a tiny bit incredibly drunk as he exited the bar and moved down the hallways, following the faint traces of Lance’s scent that lingered throughout the compound until he ended up outside of his room. He knocked on the door excitedly, with so much enthusiasm that if he were a dog, his tail would be wagging fast enough for lift-off. He knocked again when there was no answer, bouncing on his toes and the scent of alcohol poured off him in waves.

Lance pulled open the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a wide yawn, “Shiro? Wha’d’you want? It’s 3 in the morning” he asked, a frown marring his features.

Shiro’s eyes went wide and his mouth formed an O at the sight of Lance; hair fluffy from sleep and plaid shorts almost entirely hidden beneath a plain blue oversized tee that hung off of one shoulder, baring a scent gland free from the mating bite of an alpha. His scent was soft and calm from sleep but slowly turned bitter with agitation.

“You’re very pretty... Like a fish!” Shiro exclaimed loudly, resting against the door frame, blinking owlishly as a goofy grin worked its way onto his lips, reminding Lance somewhat of a very happy golden retriever.

“Uh... thank-you? Did you want something or...?” Lance trailed off.

“YES! I wanna take you to a festival with games and rides and I wanna buy you food and-“

“Shiro- Shiro slow down. We can talk more tomorrow. Just go to bed, please”.

“Alrighty” Shiro saluted, nodding with so much seriousness it was almost comical as he pulled himself upright and turned… walking straight into the door frame and promptly knocking himself unconscious, falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“Oh for fucks sake” Lance groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead. He nudged Shiro with his foot and when he didn’t stir, Lance sighed, shoulders drooping with resignation. He hooked his elbows beneath Shiro’s underarms and hauled him into his room, dropping Shiro to the floor with a thud.

He pulled one of the pillows from his bed, slid it beneath Shiro’s head and rose to his feet, unfolding the blanket his abuela made for him as a young boy and tossed it over the sleeping Alpha. He winced sympathetically at the impressive egg beginning to form on Shiro’s forehead from his collision with the door frame.

Lance climbed into bed and curled into a ball beneath the covers, falling into a fitful doze with the prayer that he wouldn’t come to regret the decision to allow an unmated Alpha to sleep in such close quarters to an unmated Omega.

~*~*~

Lance awoke when the sun first began to rise, shining through the pink buds of the cherry blossom trees that lined the stone wall that backed the compound and dappling his room in gold and shadows. He was mesmerised by the sight, lost in his head, blissfully thoughtless for the first time in years when a loud groan sounded.

“Mornin’ Sunshine” Lance smirked, unable to help himself as Shiro groaned again and rolled over, burying his face within the pillow and pulling the blanket over his head.

“Why does my head hurt so much?” Shiro grumbled, lifting his head up to speak before burrowing back into the pillow.

“You have a hangover and you knocked yourself out on my door frame after…” Lance covered his mouth, shoulders shaking while he laughed, “after telling me I was beautiful like a fish and asking me on a date”.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry Lance. Allura and I were drinking and I wasn’t watching how much... It was irresponsible of me to do what I did” Shiro shook his head and clambered to his feet, swaying in place.

“Easy big guy, I mean- for what it’s worth, it was pretty funny” Lance grinned, “Now come on, you look like you need about fifty aspirin and someone should make sure your head trauma isn’t life threatening. Don’t need you keeling over dead halfway through our not-date”.

~*~*~

“Which one of these cars belongs to you?” Lance asked once they’d made their way into the underground garage. A vast array of sports cars, SUV’s, coupes and soft-tops all in varying shades of black filled almost all of the parking spaces available.

“Technically, they all belong to me… but my men have access to any of the cars whenever they need them” Shiro murmured, pulling a key off the hook and leading Lance to the furthest corner of the lot, “But this one? This one belongs solely to me” he tapped the roof of a sleek lowline Peugeot ONYX.

Shiro pulled open Lance’s door for him, watching the Omega slide into the luxury car and settled into the lowline leather seats. They rolled out of the lot, smooth as silk and within moments they were on the main road. Lance inhaled deeply, the distinct scent of Shiro and leather had Lance sinking deep into the plush seats with a contented chirp.

The drive to the festival was quick, being held in a sprawling park that was said to be beautiful this time of year. Shiro, ever the gentleman, climbed out first and opened Lance’s door for him, offering his arm to the somewhat awestruck Omega.

“What would you like to do first?” Shiro asked fondly as Lance accepted Shiro’s assistance and smiled softly, stamping down the crushing anxiety he was feeling over being on a date of all things.

As he stood upright, he took in the sights and sounds before him, eyes widening to the size of saucers at the view of the bustling festival; the glow of hundreds of multi-coloured lanterns, the stalls swarming with people, the gales of laughter from young couples and small children trying their hands at the games and the smell of fresh food and spun sugar hung in the air. He grabbed Shiro’s hand and pulled him faster towards the first thing that caught his eye.

“I want to do everything!”

Lance was a combination of a kid in a candy store and a child at Christmas, awestruck by everything he saw and darting off to look at any and everything that caught his eye, Shiro following ever-dutifully behind him with a fond grin.

“Come on, there’s a shooting game over there” Lance exclaimed excitedly, dragging a more than willing Shiro over towards the stall.

Lance moved to pull his wallet from his pocket but before he could, Shiro was already handing over the small fee required to play the game. The vendor handed him the toy rifle and Shiro threw a boyish grin at Lance; his inner Alpha posturing, wanting to do anything he could to impress the Omega.

It was safe to say that Shiro wasn’t the world’s best toy rifle shooter; earning a paltry amount of points and winning a miniature, solar powered maneki-neko that Lance gushed over as Shiro handed it over, watching in delight as Lance made the cat’s paw bob back and forth.

“Watch and learn, big guy” Lance waggled his eyebrows, slipping the little cat into his jacket pocket and taking the gun from Shiro’s hands and some more ammo from the vendor.

Shot after shot he fired and each time he hit the required target, reaching the maximum level of points. Shiro’s jaw dropped, completely floored. Lance pointed to the black lion toy at the top of the prize shelves and turned to Shiro as the vendor handed it over.

“Lance! That was amazing!” Shiro gushed.

“Well they don’t call me the Sharpshooter for nothing” Lance grinned. “I want you to have this” Lance thrust the goofy looking lion into Shiro’s arms, “I know Omega’s don’t usually give things to Alpha’s but...” he rubbed the back of his neck “well, it reminds me of you, y’know cause we came here in a black Peugeot and all”.

Shiro was practically giddy, looking all the while like the cat that got the cream as he unashamedly carried around the toy lion. His inner Alpha was a hairsbreadth away from howling from the rooftops that his Omega had given him a gift, that Lance had reciprocated his initial courting gift of a tiny cat and had been rewarded with a big plush cat in return.

“Who calls you Sharpshooter?” Shiro asked conversationally as they made their way through the aisles of stalls.

“My instructor at the gun range said it once. His name’s Ryan, he’s a great teacher. A little stoic but he’s cool”.

“Ryan... Kinkade?”

“Don’t tell me he works for you too?!”

Shiro shrugged, “He’s our weaponry expert, gun runner and trains my men how to use firearms without blowing off their fingers“.

“Wanna try your hand at the ring toss, you know since shooting isn’t really your thing?” Lance teased, nudging Shiro’s side.

“Yes! There’s something I need to do first. Wait right there”. Shiro disappeared around the corner, returning not five minutes later with something behind his back, “I saw this stall earlier but I couldn’t remember where until I saw the stall again... This is for you” Shiro murmured, handing over a lion similar to the one Lance had one for Shiro, except this one was cornflower blue instead of black.

Lance gasped and hugged it against him, “Thank-you”

They wandered the stalls for hours, stopping every now and again to play the games or sift through the nick-knacks. They purchased key rings and cheap toys that would certainly die within a week. They shared candy floss and talked about their families, their childhoods, favourite songs and movies that made them cry.

At some point their fingers had interlaced, their cheeks flushed from the warmth and the affection. They found an unoccupied park bench and sat together, conversation flowing like they had known each other for years. They lapsed into a companionable silence, simply watching the world go past and basking in each others company.

Lance felt the most calm and at ease that he had in almost three years.

“Shiro? Do you mind if we get something to eat?” Lance asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Of course, wait right here, I’ll get us something” Shiro offered, letting go of Lance’s hand and jumping to his feat, dashing off in the directions of the food stalls before Lance had the chance to pull his wallet out of his pocket.

~*~*~

Shiro handed over his money and grinned at the little old lady as she handed over two servings of fresh taiyaki, one filled with chocolate for Lance’s sweet tooth and the other with sweet azuki red beans. He carried the small trays back to the park bench where he had last left Lance when he noticed he wasn’t sitting where he had left him.

“Lance?” Shiro called. He had a bad feeling, like a stone sinking in his gut.

He called again and again, the trays of food falling to the ground, pacing the aisles of stalls in a panic until heading towards the toilet block, praying he would find Lance there. A dash of blue caught his eye. He crossed the short distance between him and the toilet cubicle, stooping down to the dirt and pulling up Lance’s toy lion and held it to his chest.

Lance was gone.

Chapter Text

Lance felt detached from his body, a bone-deep cold permeating his skin, surrounding him like a cocoon. There was a loud buzzing in his ears that wouldn’t stop and he tried to focus but the room wouldn’t stop spinning. Waves of nausea rolled through him like waves and everything seemed too bright, even the shadows in the corners were blinding.

It was the first thing he noticed when the room finally came to a stop; the buzzing. It belonged to a naked fluorescent bulb that swung ominously from the false panel ceiling. The once white ceiling tiles were stained with countless years of water damage and the light cast strange shadows throughout the room.

The last thing he remembered was a foul scent; an alpha, a hand clapped over his mouth and a sharp pain stung the side of his neck and then everything started to spin and his muscles went rigid. He’d tried to call out for Shiro, tried to scream for help but the words wouldn’t make it passed his lips.

Lance’s fingers twitched as he regained the ability to move; sensation steadily returning to his extremities. His arms were bound above his head and his toes barely brushed the ground. His breath was laboured and his shoulders ached from the strenuous position.

The deafening creak of hinges in desperate need of an oil alerted Lance of another person’s presence and he began to buck against his restraints.

“Who are you? What did you do to me?” Lance demanded, his sight becoming less hazy with every moment that passed. He twisted towards the door and watched a towering, muscular alpha enter into the room, his scent rolling off him like the stench of rotting meat. The sound of his combat boots thudding on the linoleum floors made Lance’s heart jump with fear.

“Name’s Sendak, boy” The alpha grinned viciously, his voice low and feral, “injected you with some ketamine, kept you nice and docile…” he purred lowly, pressing his nose to Lance’s hair and breathing in deeply. “I see why Shirogane finds you so enticing; you are a pretty little Omega, aren’t you?” He pulled a hunting knife from the holster at his hip, the edge of the blade glinting beneath the white light.

“No, no, please don’t” Lance pleaded, writhing in attempt to get away, his efforts futile.

“I could breed you right now and deliver you back to Shirogane. What would he think of his precious prize dripping with the seed of a stronger alpha, my scent burned into your skin and all knocked up? He’d probably throw you away like he should’ve done weeks ago” the alpha smirked, bringing the knife to the leg of Lance’s jeans.

“Good fucking luck with that, asshole” Lance snarled defensively, tears stinging his eyes as a bitter laugh echoed through the room. He choked back a whimper as the knife sliced through the denim, baring one leg at a time until his jeans were cut free and the chill of the room had his flesh breaking out in goosebumps.

“I’m afraid he’s quite right about that, Sendak”.

Lance’s face went pale, his stomach lurching with fear.

“Lotor?”

“Long time no see, sweetheart”.

~

The office was in utter shambles; the desk upturned, papers strewn across the floor and the plasterboard was littered with holes where fists had collided with it. A porcelain lamp was shattered into smithereens after meeting its fate after being thrown against a wall and in the centre of it all stood Shiro.

“IT’S BEEN THREE DAYS, WHY HAVEN’T YOU FOUND HIM YET?!” Shiro bellowed, sending the lower alphas of his ranks scurrying for the hills, tail between their legs.

Allura leant against the wall, arms folded over her chest. In truth she was incredibly concerned for Lance and had done everything in her power thus far to help find him but Shiro’s temper tantrum wasn’t making things easy for those that were trying to be helpful. She stalked across the room, her own alpha side coming out to bare its teeth against Shiro’s as she raised her hand…

SLAP

Shiro’s head snapped sideways with the force, fingertips tracing over the reddening mark on his cheek and jaw dropping in shock.

“What the fuck Allura?”

“That’s enough Shiro. Acting like a child isn’t helping us find Lance. Now remove your head from your fucking ass or I will personally shoot you in the fucking kneecap and then you will truly have something to complain about”.

Operations had all but come to a screeching halt while they searched for Lance, his lower ranking underlings having the chance to prove themselves as Allura stepped up to the plate and gave them their orders herself. They were retrieving orders and keeping watch over the people and businesses that paid them for their protection.

Each of his men were too afraid to come near Shiro, lest they fall into the Alpha’s fraught rage. Even Keith was dubious about approaching Shiro, having never seen his brother so violently distraught before.

Shiro fell to his knees, “You’re right… I just- I need him back Allura… I- he forgot his lion” Shiro’s voice cracked.

~

At some point they had unlatched him from the ceiling and now his arms were bound beneath him in a cruel version of a box tie, his back arching uncomfortably. He craned his neck to take in his surroundings but a thick, leather band pulled taut across his chest kept him from moving.

He wiggled his toes as they began to tingle, slowly regaining feeling and moved to pull his legs up to adjust his position and alleviate the pressure on his arms. The loud rattle of chains clattering against the metal bench top were like gunshots, ears ringing with the grating sound of metal scraping against metal.

Thick metal cuffs encircled his ankles and were welded to the sides of the bench, keeping his legs spread open and held securely in place by thick chain links that wrapped around the legs and were bolted in place.

“It says here…” Lotor hummed, crossing one leg over the other as he perched on the edge of the metal bench beside Lance’s bound legs, “that due to the damage sustained to the reproductive organs, the patient requires monthly injections of Estradiol to regulate the oestrus cycles and tri-monthly injections of… Oh, this is interesting indeed Alphalumine to induce heats”

“You stole my medical file?” Lance growled, gritting his teeth.

“I did. It was surprisingly simple actually. Sendak, see if any of the vials we stole from the hospital have Alphalumine written on them. We’re going to have a little fun with the Omega”.

“You know…” Lotor spoke again as he slid open the top drawer of a stainless steel cabinet and procured a needle, holding it up so the point glinted under the harsh white light “...I knew that Shirogane was your mate long before we began dating. It made our relationship just that much sweeter; fucking the Omega that belonged to the great Shiro, all the while learning his most trusted secrets” Lotor sneered, plunging the needle through the silicone cap of a glass medicament vial and withdrew some of the clear fluid within.

“He was your best friend and you betrayed him… Shiro was devastated when you went missing, Allura too” Lance croaked.

“Oh please, he never cared. He never saw me as anything but Zarkon’s son”. Lotor spat, flicking the syringe to release any air bubbles that were trapped.

“Lotor... please- don’t”

He plunged the syringe into Lance’s bare thigh, eyes glinting maliciously and lips curling into a vicious grin as Lance threw his head back and screamed.

His chest heaved as hormones flooded his system, unable to draw a breath that filled his lungs. The sensation grew as ten, fifteen, twenty minutes passed; like the onset of an oncoming heat. His mind became hazy and his scent spiked, a reaction used to attract an alpha but he refused to succumb. He bared his teeth and turned his head away from Lotor, blocking out the sensations rushing through his body.

“My my, you really don’t want to go into heat, do you? I remember how much fun we used to have when you would go into heat, I could do anything I wanted to you and you’d always beg me for more” Lotor hummed thoughtfully, limber fingers stroking across Lance’s scent gland.

“You’re a bastard” Lance spat scathingly, fighting back the lump in his throat and the tears in his eyes.

Lotor laughed lowly and stroked a hand up Lance’s inner thigh, “So much smoother than I remember” he murmured.

He dropped to one knee. Hands continuing to caress the smooth skin of Lance’s thighs almost reverently. He raised one leg, holding tightly as Lance became unbalanced and the strain on his shoulders grew. He pressed a kiss to Lance’s thigh, almost enjoying the scent of fear and repulsion rolling off of Lance. He opened his mouth wide, holding Lance still as he sunk his teeth deep into Lance’s thigh, revelling in the scream of pain he was given; satisfied with the wound as blood dripped down the Omega’s inner thigh.

Lotor stood up and wiped the blood away from his mouth, “Don’t worry kitten, we’re only just getting started”.

~

“The last guy we tortured?” Shiro pointed to the mangled corpse in the corner of the room, “he told me you work for Lotor, so here’s how this is gonna work…” Shiro’s voice is low as he turns, quick as lightning and plunges the knife in his hand into the meat of the beta’s thigh, grinning ferally at the howl of pain the beta emits “you’re going to tell me where Lotor took my mate or I’ll rip out your lungs”.

~

“Lance!?”

“Shiro?” Lance’s voice croaked.

Lance let out a loud sob, tears of relief welling in his eyes and running in rivers down his temples, soaking into his hair. His body sagged against the bench. Shiro’s boot clad feet thundered down the rest of the stairs and rushed to his side. He tore at the bindings with his fingertips but they wouldn’t budge.

“They keep the key behind that loose tile in the corner” Lance rasped, taking in a shaky breath. Shiro pulled a knife from his belt and sliced through the leather before pulling away the tile and digging out the small, silver key.

Shiro looked Lance over, an enraged roar building in his throat at the state of his mate; Lance’s wrists and ankles were bruised, the skin chafed raw and bleeding. Two bite marks surrounded by yellowish bruising decorated his inner thigh, knife wounds slashed up and down his shins, dried blood caked into his hairline from a blow to the head and the soles of his feet were bruised and battered. Dark hickeys covered his neck and the underside of his jaw and another bite mark on the jut of his hipbone.

Lance began to cry tears of relief, his body ached from his bones being dislocated and his body was flooded with hormones from whatever he’d been injected with but it was going to be okay.

Shiro twisted Lance’s body so he could undo the restraints that kept Lance’s arms bound, a low growl escaping his lips at the sight of whiplashes, some open and oozing with infection, others crusted over with dried blood. The surrounding skin was varying shades of red and purple and the wounds were in desperate need of treatment but Lance’s soulmark was in tact, which left Shiro confused as to what the message was meant to mean.

“SHIRO, LOOK OUT!!” Lance screamed.

Shiro threw his body sideways, just in time to miss a fist colliding with his skull, the air rushing past the right side of his face. He collided with the ground but was otherwise unharmed.

“Don’t worry Omega… We’ve had so much fun these last few days, I’d hate for the fun to end so soon” Sendak sneered, digging his finger into one of the cuts on his shin until Lance cried out.

Shiro clambers to his feet and lunges for Sendak, a growl erupting from his throat.

The fight is bloody and brutal, fists collided with jaws, blood spatters the floor and the roars of two alpha’s fighting for dominance echoed throughout the room. Lance cried out when Sendak pinned Shiro to the ground. Lance tried to sit up right but was too weak from hunger, dehydration and the abuse he had suffered.

He watched Shiro gain the upper hand, pinning Sendak beneath him and digging his nails into the other alpha’s windpipe. Shiro snarled, hissing words that were entirely unintelligible, too blinded by rage to focus properly. His hair was askew, falling out of his bun and his jacket was torn on the right shoulder where Sendak’s teeth had tried to sink into his shoulder.

Shiro keeps him pinned, tugging the knife from his belt and sinking it into Sendak’s throat, pressing the blade deeper and deeper until blood spilled from the alpha’s mouth and his body finally kept still. The Alpha stumbled upright, swaying on his feet and chest heaving with the effort. His black jeans were torn and his purple jacket hung lopsided.

"You came for me" Lance whispers as Shiro limps over to him, fiddling with the small key to undo the cuffs on Lance’s ankles.

"Of course I did" Shiro murmurs, gently brushing the hair out of Lance’s eyes.

Lance lifts his arm, wincing and placed his palm on Shiro’s cheek. His own cheeks are damp with shed tears and for what feels like the first time in an eternity he smiles. He pulls Shiro to him and presses his lips to Shiro’s, just a gentle kiss at first that he slowly deepened.



Shiro doesn't react at first. Completely and utterly shell-shocked that Lance is kissing him; the taste of blood from the split in his lip is a sharp tang on his tongue.

“How did you find me?” Lance asks when he pulls away

“I’ll explain later” Shiro uttered softly, stroking the side of Lance’s face reverently, “I’m taking you to the hospital and then we can talk about it when you’re feeling better”.

“Where’s Lotor? Did you find him?” Lance rasped.

“Don’t worry, Allura and Keith went after him. I’m sure they’ll find him”

“Oh… that’s good” Lance nodded, his eyes fluttering shut and body falling limp against the table as the adrenaline subsided and the exhaustion finally kicked in.

~

“Lance this is-“

“Dr Alfor, I know. We’ve met before” Lance rasped, eyes downcast as he studiously ignored Shiro’s questioning expression.

“Lance, my boy, I wish we didn’t have to reconvene under such circumstances... Come along Shiro, Allura called ahead and I had a room put aside for your arrival” Alfor spoke kindly, leading them deeper into the hospital. Lance whimpered in pain, pressing his nose into Shiro’s shirt to absorb his scent.

Shiro held Lance’s hand while Alfor treated and dressed his wounds, applying salves and bandages to the cuts and whiplashed on his shins and his back and applying antiseptic to the bite marks that littered his inner thighs. He used a cooling salve to treat the bruising to his rear, the top of his left thigh and the soles of his feet.

“You’ve met Dr Alfor before?” Shiro asks softly, settling Lance into the hospital bed and pulling the covers up. He wanted to ask what had happened to warrant their interaction but the only answer he received was a solemn nod before Lance turned away from Shiro and pulled the scratchy, white blanket further over himself, his hand settling on the scars on his lower stomach with an agonised expression.

Chapter Text

When things had finally started to settle down and Lance was finally discharged from the hospital, the artificial hormones in his system began to rear their head. Over the weeks Lance and his family had stayed within the compound, Lance had become particularly close with Allura and she was now soothing Lance through the very beginnings of pre-heat, collecting food and water as well as toys and towels while Shiro buried himself in work in an attempt to distract himself from the vicious jealousy that clawed up his stomach and turned his eyes red.

Shiro had stayed with Lance for the short duration of his hospital visit, refusing to leave his side and had done everything he could to show his Omega he could be a good Alpha for him. He didn’t know why Lance didn’t want him to help, he’d winced at the offer and Shiro’s pride had taken quite a hit as another alpha began helping Lance through the beginnings of his heat.

“Oyabun, daijoobu desu ka?” ((Boss, are you alright?)) one of his underlings asked tentatively, shrinking away at the furious glare sent his way.

As the afternoon sun began to set, Shiro’s attention was pulled away from his papers by a tug on the sleeve of his shirt. He hadn’t even realised someone had entered the room, buried so deep in work to distract himself that he was entirely unaware of his surroundings.

Shiro breathed in deeply, eyes darkening at the sight and smell of Lance. His scent was divine and the jumper he wore covered his hands and reached down to mid-thigh. Shiro let out a please rumble when he realised that lance was wearing his jumper. Lance must have pilfered it from his hamper on his way to find Shiro.

Lance sniffled, the last of his resolve cracking as Shiro opened his arms and looked up at him. Unable to ignore his body’s need to be close to its Alpha, he perched himself in Shiro’s lap, tucking in as close to Shiro as he could, nose pressed to the Alpha’s scent gland and chirping contentedly.

Shiro looked down at Lance, safely cradled in his arms and the sun long having set by now. The light of the moon dappled across Lance’s skin like fairy lights, bathing his caramel skin in vibrant white, making him appear almost ethereal. Lance’s eyes welled with tears as he pressed deeper into Shiro’s arms, getting as close to him as he could. Shiro scent washed over Lance to try and sooth his distress.

It was the first time Lance had had a heat in over two years and already his emotions were all over the place. He clung to Shiro, until he fell asleep, heat not yet having begun and his body exhausted from the display of emotion. He carried Lance down a winding hallway to the wing where his private quarters were located. Lance’s fingers curled into his shirt, knuckles white as he whimpered.

Allura stood defensively, arms folded over her chest.

Don’t give me that look, Allura”

She bared her teeth, “He’s been through hell and back, if you lay a hand on him while he’s in this state, I’ll cut it off”.

Shiro growled defensively, pulling Lance closer to his chest protectively, “Remember who you are speaking to Allura. He is my Omega, not yours. Do you take me for some common alpha that can’t control their urges?”

He shoved past her and into his own quarters, watching with a small smile as Lance’s body fell limp with relief, surrounded by his Alpha’s scent. Shiro laid him down, his head resting in Shiro’s lap as a broad hand stroked through his chestnut locks, leeching the tension from his body.

~*~*~

At some point during the night, Shiro had left, for what reason Lance didn’t know but he felt hollow, he cried out for Shiro but there was no answer, only the sound of his sobs as pain rippled through his body.

Lance was on edge and unable to determine the cause of his behaviour. He paced the hallways of the compound, wearing a hole into the cypress floors as uncontrollable anxiety rolled off him in waves. His usual scent of caramel and sea salt and the honey-sweet smell that accompanied all omegas was almost gone, replaced with an acridity that had his own eyes watering.

Every sound; his own footsteps, the distant chatter of Shiro’s men, the chirps of barn swallows from their nests in the trees outside the open windows, every beat of his heart- they were all like nails down a chalkboard, ringing in his ears and scraping across every nerve in his body.

Sharp nails scratched bleeding lines up and down the length of his forearms, unaware of his own actions as he paced, trying to claw out of his own skin as everything crashed around him, threatening to pull him under.

“Lance?!”

Lance jumped at the sound of his name, stopping mid-step and looking around dazedly. His arms were stinging and as he looked down, he noticed the blood dripping off his hands, creating a scarlet trail up and down the length of the hallway.

“I didn’t- What did I- Shiro?” Lance fell to his knees, eyes welling with tears as a scream tore from his throat, hands covering his own face as he curled in on himself, the scent of blood pervading his senses as his wounds were aggravated further, causing more blood to flow from them. Lance trembled as his stomach heaved, he needed Shiro. Why was Shiro so far away?

Lance stared at the slashes running up and down his arms, his gaze falling to the floor under Shiro’s worried stare. He was barely aware of whatever Shiro was saying, the Alpha’s voice dripping with concern and urgency about what Lance had done to himself,,, but Lance had no recollection of his fingernails slicing painfully up his arms. His mind was blank and the pain was merely a dull throb compared to the ache that spread deep through his bones.

Ocean blue eyes shot open wide as he stared at the drops of crimson creating small puddles around his feet. He stumbled back through terrifying darkness into a memory; White whipped across his vision, everything blurring as white hot agony tore through his abdomen, sending him to his knees. Razor talons dripped a trail of blood from where Lance lay and out the wide open door, the scent of a furious alpha lingering in the air...

He heard a scream, one he soon recognised as his own; his throat burned and his eyes stung with the threat of unshed tears that soon fell from the corners of his eyes, similar to the flow of fear and agony that coursed through his veins.

Every instinct in his body screamed to run into Shiro’s arms and let his Alpha take care of him, to let Shiro make it all go away but a vivid image of the pain and the torture he’d once again suffered at the hands of Lotor flashed behind Lance’s eyes and held him in place, the memory acting as an anchor that prevented him from moving even an inch closer to Shiro.

So Lance did what he did best; he ran... right to Allura.

Lance followed Allura’s scent, coming to a stop outside the door, banging his bloody fists on the cedar. When no answer came, he let out a sob and fell to the floor, pulling his knees up closer to his chest and curling on himself. He didn’t know what was wrong; he felt as cold as ice and severely nauseas and his heart ached at the look Shiro has given him when he’d run off. The hurt and betrayal struck Shiro deep in the heart but Lance wasn’t ready to be so vulnerable in front of him yet... To open himself up entirely and bare the most intimate parts of himself to them.

“Lance? Are you alright?” Allura asked, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. She knelt down, her own scent cocooning him in an attempt to calm him down.

She put her arms behind his back and beneath his legs and lifted him up. She kicked the door shut behind her and sat atop the sleep-mussed bed covers, Lance cradled in her arms. He was trembling and his scent was acetous, sour, nothing like the honey-sweet scent that accompanied all omegas, especially when going into heat. She frowned, concerned.

“I’m a terrible omega” Lance cried, burying his face in his hands, wiping away the falling tears with the sleeve of his jacket. He looked down at her scent gland, at the scarred over mating mark and recoiled.

“You have a mate... I didn’t smell their scent on you... I’m so sorry, I didn’t know... I didn’t... I’m-“

“Lance, shh, it’s alright. I don’t- I don’t have a mate, not anymore” she sighed, rubbing her cheek against his head and her hand up and down his back.

He looked up at her questioningly but refused to pry, holding secrets of his own that he didn’t wish to share.

“Her name was Romelle; she was my soulmate and an omega, just like you. Three months ago, I was taken by the rival family in this part of Japan. She headed the team that infiltrated the warehouses. She died protecting me...” Allura’s chest ached and she pulled him closer to her chest, cradling him in her arms.

A stabbing pain ricocheted through Lance’s stomach and he cried out, pushing away from Allura and collapsing to the floor in a heap. His nails clawed holes in the wood as he arched his back and twitched like someone had pressed a live wire to his skin. Pain; it was all he could feel, as if every bone in his body was breaking at once. He writhed in agony, chest aching with the inability to draw breath. His senses were on fire; every sound, speck of light and whisper of a breeze through the open window burning across his nerve endings.

Allura gagged as the scent of burning plastic and rotting meat filled the room, entirely replacing the sweet scent of pre-heat all omega’s were bathed in. She watched in horror as Lance screamed, clawing at his arms to try and make the pain stop; as if he wanted to crawl out of his skin just for some relief.

“Fuck” Allura jumped up and sped out of the room. She slammed into Shiro’s room, the door flinging open and smashing into the wall, startling Shiro awake.

“Shiro, get up. It’s Lance... I don’t know what’s wrong with him...“

Shiro bolted out of bed, following Allura to her room. He dropped to his knees,

“Allura. Are you still with me? I need you to call Alfor. Do it now” she grabbed her phone off the nightstand and ducked out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Luis asked frantically, clutching Lisa’s hand. They were both mussed from sleep and their children hid behind their parents, clutching onto their parents clothing in fear, scared and confused.

“Is Uncle Lance okay?” Nadia asked, face scrunching up as she began to cry.

“I- I don’t know” Shiro responded, panic setting in.

Lance was twitching in pain, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin as his temperature began to plummet. Shiro managed to scoop Lance into his arms, wincing at the agonised cry the Omega emitted. He carried Lance to the wing of the compound designed specifically for the omegas in his service to spend their heats. He placed Lance on the bed gently and held Lance’s hands to stop him clawing at himself.

“S-Shiro, hurts. Make it stop” Lance begged, clawing at his skin.

Allura burst into the room barely ten minutes later, her father right behind her with his medical bag in hand.

He dropped his bag on the ground and dug htrough it, procuring a needle and a vial, “This is a sedative. It will calm him down until we can figure out what’s causing this. Hold him down Shiro” Alfor instructed, sliding the needle through the silicone cap.

Shiro straddled Lance’s thighs to keep his legs pinned as Alfor plunged the syringe into Lance’s arm. It took only minutes for the drug to take into effect, Lance’s body going limp with relief.

“Lot’r... alph-mine” Lance slurred, nudging at his thigh before he lost consciousness. Shiro hesitates before gently lifting Lance’s hips and tugging his pants down; the skin on his thigh swollen and bruised.

“I failed to notice this when you brought Lance to me. He had other injuries that were in far worse condition so I didn’t think to properly exam what looked like ordinary bruising.” Alfor frowned, looking at the injection sights he had missed before. “It appears that Lance was continually injected with Alphalumine; it’s a drug used to trigger heats in omegas with fertility issues. Lance must have fought against the drugs effects but there had to have been so much in his system that the moment he wasn’t on guard anymore the hormones took effect but the stress of the ordeal he suffered altered the chemical balance of the medication turning it to a frost instead of a heat.”

Allura gasped, “I didn’t know such things could even happen”

“I’m afraid so my daughter. It’s exceedingly rare however. Shiro, you need to be with him, you’re his Alpha, whether he wants to admit it or not and right now, he needs you to be as close to him as possible.”

“When an omega enters into a frost, it can be fatal. The pain is so excruciating that there are very few documented cases of an omega describing how severe the pain is. Lance has a high concentrate of Alphalumine in his system but with Shiro here to assuage the Omegan side of Lance’s brain that control his heats, his body temperature should begin to rise and he should enter into a heat within a few hours. His heat should burn the Alphalumine out of his system but I can only truly guess that there’s no permanent damage”.

“You’re the one that prescribed Lance the Alphalumine; can you tell me why he was on it?” Shiro asked concernedly.

“I think that’s a discussion you should have with Lance, my boy”

Shiro thanked Alfor, promising to call if Lance’s condition continued to deteriorate and slid into the bed beside the sleeping Omega. He pulled Lance into his arms; tucking them away beneath the blanket Allura threw over them before making her departure to give them some privacy. Lance barely stirred but after an hour came and went, Shiro could feel his temperature slowly beginning to even out and the violet shivering had also begun to lessen.

~*~*~

As day broke and the sun rose above the wall, Shiro awoke to the sound of Lance’s pained groans, wincing at the sight of his arms as he tried to stand, legs shaky beneath him like a newborn foal.

“Lance, you shouldn’t move so soon. The sedative might still be affecting you and Dr Alfor said you’ll likely go into a proper heat soon. I don’t know if you want me there with you when it starts but-“

“You’re the one that said I wasn’t worth your time. You rejected me first; when we met. Why should I trust you to help with my heat?” Lance hissed, curling in on himself.

“I never meant any of those things I said that night. I tried to tell you in Balmera but I didn’t have the chance to explain... I didn’t want to risk you or your family becoming targets. Zarkon Sincline is spiteful and cruel and if someone in my ranks snitched to him that I hadn’t rejected you, he would’ve done unimaginable things to you to send me a message and I couldn’t let that happen.”

A deep frown marred Lance’s features as he turned to look at Shiro, looking for even the slightest hint to say he was lying but finding nothing but brutal honesty in his eyes. Lance slid back beneath the covers, without a word and pressed against Shiro’s side, wanting to sleep more before his heat truly arrived.

~*~*~

They came together slowly. Lance’s heat building until it was no longer bearable and he was unable to ignore the desire pooling low in his gut. Shiro was gentle, stamping down the instincts to bite, mate, claim, protect, opening Lance slowly, carefully. Lance was spread out on his back, twitching with every crook of Shiro’s fingers, letting out breathy gasps that sent shivers down the Alpha’s spine.

When he pushed in, he couldn’t hold back the deep groan, blinding heat encompassing his length. He had been with other omegas before Lance but it had never felt like this; as if every fibre of his being was being rewritten, a space in his heart carved out just for the beautiful Omega trembling beneath him.

They rocked together, gasping between deep kisses, hands caressing over skin both scarred and smooth, the crescendo building until the peak was almost upon them.

“Lance, I can’t... I can’t knot you. This line of work... it isn’t suited for pups” Shiro murmured, brushing a lock of Lance’s hair out of his eyes, his hips stilling their movement.

Lance smiled sadly “I can’t... I can’t have pups” tears welled in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck and pressed against his unmarked scent gland. “Please don’t stop, just knot me. Please” Lance begged, tears running down his temples and soaking into his hair.

Shiro nodded, pressing a kiss to Lance’s forehead before continuing his movements. Rocking, letting Lance’s heat ensconce him, burning him from the inside out in the best of ways.

When they’re done, Shiro holds Lance against his bare chest, knot holding fast; a sign of a good breeder, wasted on a broken omega Lance thought bitterly. Lance’s fingers encircle his wrist and tug his hand down to the raised scars on his stomach, Shiro’s fingers danced across the skin softly, feeling the ridges of the four scars on Lance’s stomach.

“I was 20 when I moved here to Japan with my brother and his family so my niece could receive treatment at a cutting edge hospital in Tokyo... it’s where I met Lotor, he was there to see his mother. He was charming, charismatic, the perfect alpha and it didn’t matter to him that we weren’t soulmates. We were in love. Almost a year into our relationship, we’d moved in together and six months later I fell pregnant” Lance swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“We knew the statistics of a fetus surviving with parents that weren’t soulmates but we didn’t care. We were happy until I lost our pup. He called me a murderer, said that because I killed his pup, I would never have another”.

“Lance, you can stop, you don’t have to tell me” Shiro soothed, letting his Alpha voice slip in to help soothe Lance.

“He attacked me, clawed open my stomach and left me for dead. I crawled to a phone to call an ambulance and I passed out soon after. The next thing I know, I wake up in the hospital with Dr Alfor telling me he did everything he could to repair the damage I’d sustained but it was too severe so I’d never be able to have pups of my own“.

Lance was audibly sobbing now, his smaller frame trembling as he turned his head away from Shiro to hide the tears. Shiro rolled them over, still knotted together and rubbed soothing circles up Lance’s back. He pulled the blanket over them and let his scent envelope Lance; soothing him, murmuring sweet nothings as Lance drifts to sleep in his arms; where he was meant to be.

Chapter Text

“We haven’t been able to get anything out of Lotor. He’s been here for almost a week now and he still refuses to talk” Rolo frowned, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame.

Shiro sighed and leant back in his chair, “We’ll get him to talk one way or another. Let him stew for a while, see how willing he is to talk after three days without food or water”.

“Let me try” Lance spoke up, squeezing past Rolo to stand in front of Shiro’s desk, still clad in his pyjamas with a lavender blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“No Lance, not a chance. You know what he’s capable of. I don’t want you anywhere near him, ever again”.

“Shiro, I’m not asking for your permission. Give me ten minutes with him, if I don’t get anything, I won’t try again”.

Rolo whistled lowly, “Sorry Boss, you heard the man. Third door on the right leads to the basement, you’ll need this to get in” he procured a silver key from his pocket.

Lance smiled and plucked the key out of Rolo’s hand, heading off towards the basement. He took the steps slowly, contemplating what he was about to do. Lotor was a wreck, wrists and ankles bound to the chair with rope, blood dripping from wounds to his face, nose and lips and several fingers were missing at the first knuckle.

“Back for more so soon?” Lotor wheezed, blood dripping from his mouth.

“Actually, I’ve come to see if you’re willing to talk yet”

“Oh Lance, did you miss me already?”

“Hardly” Lance smiled sweetly as he slid the knife through the expensive cloth of Lotor’s ruined suit pants, slicing until it fell in tatters to the floor. Lance went for his underwear next until the alpha’s manhood was on display. Lance grabbed a thin blade off the tray and raised it to the light, watching the blade glint.

“Now, here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to tell me what I need to know-“ Lance brought the blade down, plunging the knife through one of the alpha’s balls and leaving the blade in place, the tip of the knife plunged deep into the wood of the chair. The alpha screamed in agony. “…or, I cut the other one off. It’s your choice Lotor”.

Lotor shook his head vehemently, Lance turned to the array of tools left behind by the previous men that had tried to beat the answers they wanted out of Lotor, with no success. A thin metal rod, pincers and a blow torch captured his attention. He flicked on the blow torch, pinched the metal and held it to the blue flame, not saying a word until the metal glowed red.

“Do you know what a urethral sound is?” Lance asked, holding the red metal close to Lotor’s face. “If you don’t start talking, guess where this is going”. Lance wrapped a fist around Lotor’s cock, raising it upright and bringing the end of the metal rod to the tip of his cock.

“Alright, alright” Lotor acquiesced, voice trembling, sweat breaking out on his skin from the heat coming off the metal.

“My father has been killing the wives of prominent families that aren’t affiliated with either the Sincline or the Shirogane Yakuza’s, bringing them onto his side. He’s amassing an army to take over Japan’s underground network and has been stealing Shiro’s inventory little by little to stockpile an arsenal. He plans to infiltrate this compound and slaughter you all”

“When?” Lance seethed.

“I don’t know, he never told me. I swear”

Lance dropped the pincers and the metal onto the tray, walking back up the stairs and shutting the door behind him. He returned to Shiro’s office, expression just shy of being smug.

“Apparently Lotor’s father has been killing the wives of prominent families with no affiliations to the Yakuza, essentially blackmailing them into working for the Sincline family. He’s been stealing weapons from your inventory to amass an arsenal and plans to kill anyone loyal to you, Shiro”.

“That bastard” Shiro growled, he exhaled loudly, “How’d you get him to talk, anyway?”

“Applied a little heat, threatened his manhood. Piece of cake” Lance handed the key back to Rolo, “I’m going to hang out with Allura, she said this morning that Kinkade’s back today and wants to meet up, so I’ll see you later” he pecked Shiro on the cheek and ducked out of the room.

~*~*~

“Hey Lance, do you nee-“ Shiro cut off, looking over Lance, Allura, Kinkade and his mate James, faces covered in bright green goop with slices of cucumber over their eyes.

“Never mind, I’ll come back later”

“Wait... you can stay if you want” Lance chirped.

“If you stay you have to have a facial too“ Allura added, removing a piece of cucumber from her eye to peer over at Shiro.

“Oh no, no way” Shiro backed away, hands raised in surrender.

“Uh uh, too late, take a seat” Lance ordered, snapping his fingers and pointing to a spare seat in his room as he made another batch of the face mask mixture. Shiro unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders, dropped it on the bedside table.

Lance’s eyes traced over the countless scars and slashes, the starbursts of several healed over bullet wounds and the beautiful tattoo on full display. He hadn’t really noticed them before, too preoccupied with his heat to pay attention to anything beyond satiating his desire.

Shiro took a seat on the spare chair and Lance stood in front of him, he pushed Shiro’s head back gently and dipped the brush into the mixture. He pushed Shiro’s hair back and pinned it in place, stroking the brush across the scar over his nose first and under his eyes until his face was covered in the mixture.

Lance picked up some cucumber slices and put them over Shiro’s eyes. A faint smile quirking his lips as he listened to the others chatter amongst themselves as he wiped his hands on his jeans and circled behind Shiro, braiding his hair. A faint rumbling sounded and Lance looked around, coming to the realisation that it was Shiro purring.

Lance smiled softly as the purring became louder as Lance combed his fingers through Shiro’s hair. The room had fallen silent, three sets of eyes on him. Shiro fell asleep with Lance’s fingers in his hair, barely stirring as the mask goo was wiped clean and a moisturising toner was rubbed gently into his skin.

Allura nudged Shiro awake and he hummed, thanking Lance with a dopey smile as he returned to his own room for the night, muttering about getting some more work done.

~*~*~

Only a few hours had passed when a knock sounded at the door and Shiro sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and put down the gun he was cleaning. He pulled open the door, being pleasantly surprised at the sight of Lance on his doorstep.

“Lance, what can I do for you?”

“I made this for you” Lance answered, holding up a container.

“You made this... for me?” What is it?” Shiro asked, cocking his head to look at the brownish goop with interest.

“It... it helps scars heal... you don’t need to use it, if you don’t want to, obviously” Lance explained, handing over the container.

Shiro grinned, practically giddy with delight, it was common for alpha’s to give gifts to omegas as part of the courting ritual but his Omega had not only brought him a gift but he had also made it especially for him, “Thank-you! That’s so thoughtful… Would you mind doing the ones on my back that I can’t reach?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure!” Lance blushed, taking the container off of Shiro and unscrewing the lid.

“Hey Shiro, where’s your soulmark? I mean, I saw you without a shirt on and I’m seeing you right now without a shirt on but I don’t see your mark. You don’t have my name tattooed on your ass or something do you?”

“No” Shiro laughed, offering Lance his right arm.

“My parents met as children they were high school sweethearts. This was a few years before my grandfather passed away and my father became the next head of the Shirogane Yakuza. The moment the rival family found out about my mother, she was a target and I never wanted my mate to be targeted and used against me so I had my mark hidden the day I turned 16”

“I thought you had to be 20 to get a tattoo in Japan?”

“Lance, my father was a mob boss... legality has never been overly important to us”

“Right. Yeah that makes sense” Lance laughed, screwing the lid back onto the jar.

~*~*~

Almost three months had come and gone since Lance’s rescue and Lotor’s capture; the alpha was still their prisoner, having been moved into a cell deeper into the basement. He was weakened and in agonising pain from his own torture. A doctor had seen to his wounds, stitching up the areas cut off or open, assuring he didn’t die of infection or blood loss.

Lotor had been forced to handle his rut alone, hands chained behind his back to limit his movement, unable to give himself even the slightest relief.

Lance felt no pity and no remorse, only a sick sense of satisfaction that scared him sometimes. He tended not to dwell on that fact, spending more time creating different creams and lotions for Shiro and the people that lived within the compound; his omegan nature calling for him to care for those he considered a part of his pack.

Ever since Lance had given Shiro the remedy to aid in the healing of his scars, he had applied it each night he wasn’t working and it had done wonders for all of the scars he had gained throughout his life.

The most noticeable difference being the scar across his nose; the raised edges and pitted scar tissue were smoothing out into a pink line. Lance had commented that he looked more badass with the scar than he ever did before.

Shiro had seen to it that Lance was trained, spending any spare moments teaching the Omega hand to hand combat and other skills, Lance proving an eager and willing student. After one of their lessons, Shiro had had to take an important call and Lance had slipped away.

Shiro had sought Lance out soon after, finding him with ease in his usual place when his thoughts were perturbing him. Lance could always be found in the back garden, tucked away beneath the sakura trees, throwing the ball back and forth to Kosmo. Keith had made it clear he was displeased over Kosmo’s betrayal, his own dog double-crossing him to spend time with the Omega that had stabbed him.

“Who’s the cutest puppy in the world? Yeah! You are! Yes, you are!” Lance cooed as Kosmo rolled onto his back, tail wagging a mile a minute and tongue lolling out of his mouth as Lance scratched his belly.

Lance’s blue lion that Shiro had bought for him at the festival sat beside dutifully him, perched on a knot at the base of the tree. Shiro had brought it to him while he was in the hospital and now he rarely went anywhere without it. Shiro’s black lion sat in the middle of his pillows, the Alpha having brushed off Allura when she’d poked fun at him, “Big, bad Yakuza Shiro keeps a stuffed toy on his bed” she’d teased. Shiro had stuck his tongue out and flipped her off like the mature adult he was.

Shiro stood still, arm resting on the wooden handrail of the bridge as he watched Lance; a halo of light illuminated his skin, making it glow and the shadows of the cherry blossom flowers danced over his face. He seemed content out in the daylight, even though Shiro knew Lance awoke during the night when the nightmares were especially brutal, the Omega crawling into bed with him in search of comfort.

“Hey Sharpshooter” Shiro spoke up, crossing the bridge over to where Lance sat, blinded by the bright smile his Omega offered him as he turned at the sound of the nickname.

“Hey yourself” Lance returned, tossing the slobber-covered tennis ball across the grass. Kosmo barked and jumped to his feet, dashing off to go fetch it.

“How would you feel about going to a party tomorrow night? The head members of the families that work for me attend every year to prove their loyalty and I’d like you to be my date”.

“I’d love to but what if I mess up? I don’t want to embarrass you” Lance frowned at the prospect.

“You could never embarrass me” Shiro murmured, stroking Lance’s cheek and leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead.

“I’ll need to find something to wear” Lance hauled himself to his feet and grabbed his lion’s paw, “It seems as though you have yourself a date Mr Shirogane”.

“I look forward to it Mr McClain” Shiro grinned, watching Lance walk away, his lion in hand.

~*~*~

“Allura, are you busy?” Lance asked, pushing open her door slightly and peeking in.

“Please Lance; a distraction would be more than welcome. What can I do for you?” Allura asked, beckoning him into the room and putting down the book she was reading.

“I’m going to the party tomorrow night with Shiro but I don’t know what I should wear. The clothes I have aren’t exactly what I would consider party attire”.

“Don’t worry, I have just the thing for you” Allura crossed the room and pulled open the ornate wardrobe doors, pulling out a thick coat-hanger with a black protective case hanging from the hook. Lance watched on curiously, head cocked as she unzipped it and revealed the garment, a near manic grin on her face.

“You have got to be joking”

~*~*~

“Mr Shirogane... my boy, it’s good to see you again” Mr Wimbleton-Smythe smiled wide behind his bushy moustache, shaking Shiro’s hand with vehement enthusiasm.

“As with you Coran” Shiro smiled, clapping the older man on the shoulder as he gestured for the older man to join the other party-goers in the dining hall of the restaurant he had booked for the evening.

The seats were filled with the heads of each family, their mates and children also in attendance. The room was lively with chatter but Shiro couldn’t help the furtive glances he’d steal, looking to the doors every ten seconds waiting for Lance to arrive. Lance had told him to go before him, that he’d need time to get ready and that Allura would escort him but an hour had passed already and the last of the guests had arrived.

Shiro was making small talk with Kolivan Blade when the room fell silent, his guests’ eyes drawn towards the doors. Shiro turned in his seat at the head of the table as the double doors were pushed open wider, his breath stolen from his lungs at the sight of Lance; donned in a dress that captured the evening sky.

The fabric was deep cobalt blue coming up to a bejeweled collar that clasped around the base of his throat, the fabric shimmering like millions of stars beneath the light of the chandeliers. A slit up the side of the dress revealed a long leg, made longer by the delicate heel that curled over the top of his foot and tied around a dainty ankle

Lance came to a stop beside Shiro, the Alpha’s breath stolen completely as he took in the back of the dress. It was entirely backless, displaying his soulmark and the scars he’d sustained during his time with Lotor but Shiro thought he’d never looked more beautiful. His skin shimmered with a glittery dust and his hair was swept across his forehead and pinned back in a slight wave.

“You look… beautiful” Shiro breathed, the word feeling too inadequate to truly encapsulate Lance’s beauty.

“Thank-you” Lance blushed, “Allura lent me the dress, she’ll want it back in pristine condition, so keep your hands where I can see them” he teased, leaning in for a kiss, a shiver running down the length of his spine as warm hands came into contact with the bare skin.

The party stretched for hours, heading well into the early hours of the morning. Lance barely left Shiro’s side as he was introduced to everyone, shaking more hands and learning more names than he could remember. They’d parted ways when Shiro began to talk business, Lance sneaking away to spend time with the young children forced into attendance. Which is where Shiro found him; a gaggle of children, perhaps eight or so, huddled around Lance as he told them wild stories of his home back in Cuba, the shenanigans he’d get up to with his brothers and sisters and the terror they’d wreak on old, mean Mr Branko.

After another hour passed, most of the children had found a space along the walls and in corners, curling up and falling asleep with their parents’ coats and shawls in makeshift nests, leaving Lance to return to Shiro’s side. His arms encircled Shiro’s waist and he leant in, pressing a kiss to the Alpha’s throat.

“I thought I was supposed to keep my hands to myself, how could I do such a thing when you tease me so?” Shiro whispered, breath fanning over Lance’s ear and causing him to shiver.

Before Lance could answer, the doors flew open and the dense scent of a powerful alpha infiltrated the air. Shiro growled loudly, pushing Lance behind him protectively. He looked around; the other members were all tensed, some standing between the intruder and their pups, teeth bared.

“Who is that?” Lance hissed, feeling like he already knew the answer.

“Zarkon” Shiro answered lowly, eyes never leaving the gatecrashing alpha. “You aren’t welcome here. Leave immediately” he growled threateningly, reaching for his gun.

“But I've just arrived. Now tell me... where is my son?”