Chapter Text
Standing, Keith looks up to see his team all staring– practically slack-jawed– at the screen. He scans the floor around him for the camera device and picks it up from its tilted position so that it is resting at eye level on the control table’s top.
Team Voltron is full-on cheering now (Lance and Pidge are trading money??) making him a bit self-conscious. Shyly, Keith rubs his hand behind his neck, wincing when it hits a sore spot.
“You ok Keith?” Shiro, ever the observant one, asks.
“Uh, ya, just a bit sore is all,” he says, giving a small smile for reassurance.
“That was so awesome man!” Hunk chimes in, flailing his arms around in excitement. “The way you were all stealthy and Ninja-like taking out those guys!”
All the others start chiming in as well, making Keith duck his head to hide the red he can feel crawling onto his face. Yet in doing so, his eye catches on the communication set-up and the computer it is attached to; the latter of which seems very robust, definitely a bit too complex and well-constructed to either be just for its current purpose or cobbled together in the few vargas he’s been here. Hoping he’s correct, Keith brings his hands to the keyboard, and searches to see if there’s any info he can find here, letting his friends' voices fade into the back of his awareness.
Eyes scanning the screen, he finds something that piques his interest. The pirates must’ve used an existing computer from the server room, because lo and behold, there is the encrypted file that Kolivan said had the information he was looking for.
Maybe he has a bit of luck left after all.
Taking his empty drive, he attaches it to the proper port on the dash and starts copying the file. Glancing back towards the door he can still hear the siren going off outside, though it has stopped in the room he is in— probably destroyed by the falling rubble. Making sure to keep an ear out for footsteps, he turns his attention back toward the screen: 32% done.
“-ieth!” A voice cuts through his concentration. Looking up he sees everyone quietly looking at him.
“Sorry,” he throws a quick glance over his shoulder– towards the thankfully still blocked door– before turning back towards his team Team Voltron. “What did you say?”
Allura studies him for a bit before repeating herself. “I asked if you needed us to come pick you up,” she asks calmly. Everyone has stopped talking now, all looking at him in worry. Keith squirms a little, getting uncomfortable with all the attention on him at the moment.
“Oh.” 78% now. “No, I should be fine. I have an updated layout of this place now, so I’ll be able to get back to my ship without too much trouble.”
They all share a look on the other side of the screen, before Shiro calmly says, “If you’re sure, Keith.”
“Absolutely,” he nods and looks towards Kolivan hovering in the corner. “Besides, I’m sure you guys are busy.”
They all look as if they want to say something else, possibly in protest, but before any one of them can, a sharp robotic sound cuts in from the computer. “Download 100% complete.” Pulling out the drive, Keith puts another one in that has the Blade’s virus code to rid any evidence of him being in the system. Putting on a small– if a bit forced– smile, he turns to fully face the camera once more. “It was nice seeing you guys again.”
With a shared look of sadness on all their faces, good-byes are said from each member of Team Voltron.
“Don’t be a stranger, ok?” That’s Lance this time.
Looking at them again for the last time in the foreseeable future, Keith replies with a simple, “I won’t.”
And with that, he cuts the feed.
Letting the smile drop, he allows himself a moment to get his headspace back in check before putting his mask on and pulling the hood down. He has a mission to complete.
Now how to get out of this room…
———
Arriving back at the Blade base, vargas later, he trudges over to where Kolivan is standing to meet him. He must look as tired as he feels, because the Blade Leader tells him to take a few doboshes of rest and that the debrief can happen later. Keith waves a thanks as he trudges off.
It’s only a few doboshes later, right as he tips onto his bunk half asleep, that he registers the “good job.”