Keith stared at Lance's door. He didn't know how long he'd been standing there, but he just couldn't gather the courage to ring the chime. He wanted to wait a while before going after his friend, knowing that Lance would need some time to himself, but after he finished what he had to do, his feet led him here. He put a hand to the door, reaching out the man on the other side of it.

What could I possibly say to someone who had just lost his entire family?

He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw Sven hobbling towards him. He treated Keith with barely a civil glance and pressed a finger to the chime with no trouble, but his dark gray eyes told another story.

"Leave me alone," Lance said, his speech slurred.

"Ve can't let you drink by yourself, Friend," Sven said. "Open de door or Keit vill kick it down."

"I'd love to see him kick down three layers of titanium," Lance retorted with a sharp laugh.

Keith punched the override command on the keypad and the doors slid open. They weren't surprised to see Lance sitting on the floor surrounded by discarded clothing, a bottle of brandy next to him and a glass in his hand. The bottle was nearly empty, but he already had another waiting. He raised the glass, some of the liquid sloshing onto his hand.

"Cheers," he said, before taking it down in one gulp.

Keith and Sven took a seat on either side of him. Lance handed them each a glass.

"To Joseph and Katherine Branegan," Sven said and drank his fill.

"To Gwenevere and Marc DeSouza," Keith said and emptied his glass.

"To Morgan DeSouza," Lance said, but instead of drinking, he hurled the glass at the door, the sound of it breaking bringing some relief to his silent suffering. "May they all rest in peace," he added bitterly.

He buried his face in his hands. Exhaustion, shock, and alcohol had removed any reservations he might have had and he began to weep. Keith and Sven exchanged concerned glances over his head. Sven put a hand on his back as Keith put one on his bent head. Hesitantly, but surely, they put their arms around their friend and embraced him for all they were worth. They didn't say anything because there wasn't anything they could say that could lessen his pain.

They left him after two hours of reassurance that he could have done nothing to prevent it and had he been there he would have died too. After mourning together, Lance had finally given in to his exhaustion and fell asleep. They cleaned up his room as best they could and left silently. Outside his door, Keith turned to Sven.

"I'm sorry about what happened today," he said, feeling uncomfortable, but knowing that he had to say it.

Sven softened at the sound of his apology and like Keith was more aware of not taking things for granted. "I understand, Keit. I don't like it, but I understand."

"We can't let this come between us, Sven," Keith said, casting a look at Lance's closed door. "Not when things are as they are."

"I know and it von't."

They smiled weary smiles at each other and went their separate ways down the corridor. Sven knew where he had to go to rest his tormented soul and headed towards Romelle's room. Keith retreated to his own room and collapsed on his bed.

He was not a drinker like Lance, instead preferring to go through his pain clear headed, but for once he wished that he could just lose himself in a haze because the pain was too great. It was just like when his mother died. The Branegans, like the Van Voorsts, was his family when he had no one else to turn to. Their home was where he visited during vacations because he didn't want to go his own home. Gwenevere had been the first girl he kissed much to Lance's dismay and Kate Branegan had been there when he broke his arm for the first time. He knew that what he was feeling could not possibly be as heart wrenching as what Lance was going through because Keith was already used to thinking he was alone in the universe. But Lance was just now bringing himself around to that particular truth. And because of that, Keith hurt for him.

He thought of all the families that lost members and those that had been completely wiped out. Of Zarkon's evil and though the Alliance had won some small skirmishes, Zarkon had won the battle. They were considerably weakened.

Allura had ordered him to get at least five hours sleep, but Keith could not sleep that night. He stood up and went out the door to see what he could do at Castle Control. He wasn't surprised to see the Princess there, a cup of Rosanial, the Arusian equivalent to coffee, in her hands. She had a shocked and furious expression on her face as she studied the data pad in her other hand. She turned suddenly when she sensed someone else enter the room and threw him a warning glance.

"I told you to get some rest," she said sternly. "You're no good to me half-awake."

"Believe me, I heard you the first time," he said flatly. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I would do something useful."

She studied his haggard expression, and opened her mouth to send him to his quarters, but she recognized the stubborn look in his eyes. She handed him the data pad she was holding. He skimmed it, his mouth thinning and his face reddening with anger.

"They knew," he growled. "They knew!"

She nodded and led him to the conference room. She had just shown him classified information and they soldiers working in Castle Control could not hear what they had to talk about. She had meant to talk to him about it when he came in for his shift, but now was as good a time as any.

Keith began to pace the length of the room as soon as they entered and for once she was the calmer one. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms, her eyes the only part of her body moving as she watched him. He clenched the data pad with such power that his knuckles were white. His jaw worked as he ground his teeth, carefully mulling over his words before he said anything. He wanted to break something or yell at the top of his lungs, both actions unbecoming to an officer, but he was only human. He finally stopped moving and slammed the data pad onto the table and leaned both hands on its surface, pinning Allura with turbulent black eyes. He stared at her for a few moments, his stillness a complete contrast to his actions only a heartbeat earlier. She stared back at him, a frown forming on her face as she waited for his inevitable curses and arguments.

"GG knew," was all he said, his voice menacingly low. "Their spies at Doom warned them of the military buildup and they did nothing about it. They knew about a new military leader leading the fleet and they didn't even whisper a word of it to anyone. Anyone who could have prepared for an attack was not told and millions are now dead because of it. Why the hell didn't they tell anyone!"

"They had a plan," Allura said, taking the data pad from his grasp. She scrolled down the screen until she found what she was looking for. "We just heard a few minutes ago that they were going to ambush the Doom fleets before they left Doom, but they had underestimated the power that they were up against. The White Fleet has been lost."

Keith sat down hard. "Oh my God. They were...they were supposed to be indestructible. The White Fleet was the Alliance's champion."

"They're nothing but bits of metal and wire now," Allura said. "Completely destroyed according to our information."

"Why didn't they tell anyone?" Keith demanded, a note of desperation in his voice.

"They did not want Doom to know that we knew. There are leaks everywhere and they didn't want to risk it. A few people knew..."

He looked at her accusingly. "Did you know?"

She laughed humorlessly. "Me? The disobedient Princess of Arus? I don't think so."

They exchanged a look and knew that the other just had the same exact thought cross through their minds. Allura opened her comm-link, her eyes not leaving Keith's.

"Please come into the conference room, Coran," she requested as nonchalantly as she could.

The advisor entered the room, a questioning look on his weathered face. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

She shoved the pad into his hands and he began to read it. He paled as he did, his hands shaking.

"They did not tell us," he whispered. "They said nothing."

Allura and Keith exchanged a look.

"So you didn't know?" Keith asked.

Coran looked shocked and insulted that they would even consider that he would keep something this important from them, no matter the orders that came along with the information and he said so. Allura took the pad from him, a calmer expression on her face.

"We're sorry, but we had to make sure," she said.

The advisor nodded and left the room, an air of outrage about him.

"He'll be alright," Allura said. "As for GG, they have a lot of explaining to do. I'm sure that everyone else has heard the news already."

Keith steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them. "We're going to be the loudest voice of all because absolutely no one here knew about this." His eyes narrowed. "Does anyone know anything about this new Drule leader?"

Allura reached into one of the many pockets of her flightsuit for another data pad. "Says here that he's human, possibly of Cressian origins."

"Do they have a name?"

"Niloc," she answered. "General Niloc."

The doors slid open then and Pidge entered, his brown eyes wide.

"What is it?" Keith asked, shooting up.

"We just got a report in from Earth. The starship Titania picked up a few escape pods from Luna," Pidge answered breathlessly.

"Lance's family," Allura said expectantly.

"Gwen and Morgan were in one of the pods," Pidge said. "They're alive!"