Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pidge startles as a hand lands on her shoulder, the tablet in her knee clattering to the floor. She looks up, Bayard drawn, but relaxes as she sees Coran, the Royal Advisor looking down at her with a worried expression. Pidge allows herself to relax and falls back into the chair, resting her face in her hands as she lets out a deep sigh.

"Pidge, you should really get some rest." Coran speaks softly, his usual enthusiastic attitude nowhere to be found. "It has been several hours since your return."

But the Green Paladin shakes her head.

"No…I'm alright. I need to stay here, in case…"

 In case something happens.

In case something goes wrong.

"You know there is nothing more you can do for him."

But Pidge answers only with a shake of her head, refusing to give any other response. Nothing Coran has to say will make her leave, not after she promised that she would stay. And she needs to keep that promise.

"Have Allura been able to reach the others yet?"

She hears Coran sigh and knows he’s letting it go for the moment, for which she is thankful.

"Unfortunately, no. We are still unable to get a signal out, but we will keep trying."

Pidge nods and after a few moments of silence, she hears the Royal Advisor leave. She lets her shoulders drop in exhaustion and leans her head against the side of the bed, taking a few deep breaths in a try to calm her fried nerves.

But it doesn’t help.

Slowly, she looks up and has to once again fight back the tears she felt threatening to overflow, despite her having thought she had no more to cry.

Keith looks so small.

From the moment she had met him, Keith had seemed untouchable. He is strong, quick and the only one of them that can match up to Shiro when it comes to fighting skills. He is stubborn, refusing to give up even if the odds were against him.

She has grown to admire him, the way she has always done with Matt.

Where others see his stubbornness, she sees his bravery. Where others critique his temper, she admires his fighting fire. Where others scoff at his rashness, she marvels his protectiveness. 

In the beginning, her thoughts had been like everyone else's when it came to the Red Paladin. In the beginning, he had seemed cold and uncaring, with a certain harshness that would have most people running for the hills.

But now she knows differently.

The fact was, Keith is one of the most caring people she has ever met. He just has a hard time showing it. But if you just watch, you can see that caring heart that was usually locked behind thick doors.

She has seen it.

She had seen it when he had helped Hunk in the kitchen, the two of them either working side by side or Keith observing the Yellow Paladin from the counter. How he listened as Hunk told him about how it was his mother that taught him to cook or the mess his little sister would make whenever she wanted to help.

She had seen it when he allowed Lance to lash out at him, letting the Blue Paladin scream himself hoarse until his anger from being away from his family dissipated. How he let himself be baited into silly fights because it would give Lance a sense of normality, a familiarity from his life back at Earth.

She had seen it when he would listen to Coran for hours, allowing the Royal Advisor to talk about everything and nothing. How he listened to the man mourn everything he had lost, how he listened to a man who spoke of friends and family long gone.

She had seen it when he would spar with Allura, letting the Princess let out her frustrations without uttering a single word until neither of them could no longer stand. How he would sit beside her as the tears finally started falling, never judging her as she talked about everything she had lost and how she didn’t feel ready to bear the responsibility her father had left her.

She had seen it when he sought out Shiro after what everyone knew was several sleepless nights for the Black Paladin and the two of them would sit side by side, watching the millions of stars. How he would speak softly in a tongue only he and Shiro knew, until his big brother finally relaxed and feel asleep, his head pillowed by the Red Paladin's thigh. How Keith would spend a sleepless night watching over Shiro, holding his brother's fears and nightmares at bay.

Had seen it when he cared for her.

How he would drop what he was doing to help her, would it be holding a few wires for her or help her in training. How he would help her pull a prank because he knew she needed it and then help her escape the consequences, either playing oblivious or taking the blame himself.

Or how, at night when she couldn’t sleep, he would read to her, just like Matt had done.

He had taken all their pain and carried it for them, when it had grown too heavy for them to bear. He had been strong, when they had been at their weakest and never once faltered.

But now, he looks so young and small, especially with the ventilator mask secured over his face. And had the situation been different, Pidge would have marveled over the technology.

The mask is transparent, but it isn’t made out of silicone like they are back home. Instead it is a type of soft crystal that can change shape depending who the patient was, so it will fit perfectly no matter the specie.   

There is no need for tubes or even a ventilator, only the mask. And the glowing blue liquid Coran had dropped into a small slot on either side of the mask. Pidge knows she had asked about it, but she can’t remember the details. From what she had been able to gather, it works much like oxygen. The liquid had also contained some kind of medicine, but she hadn't had the energy to ask any more questions.

She sighs and looks up, feeling her stomach roll uncomfortably at his appearance.

Keith's face is tilted towards her and there is a layer of sweat on his pale skin, his black hair clinging to his face in wet wisps. His breathing is unsteady; it hitches now and then, like his lungs forgets to work every few seconds. His hands lay limp by his sides, no longer drawn into fists as they had been hours ago.

His body is limp, relaxed. From an outsider's perspective, it could one could have thought he was merely sleeping.

Pidge shakes her head and scoffs, glaring at nothing.

This isn’t sleep.

She glances at the bandages that wounds around Keith's chest and disappears beneath the covers, now only splattered slightly pink.

She can still vividly remember how they had been soaked through within moments of being changed the first two hours.

Pidge raises her gaze to his face, shuddering as she remembered how the blood had bubbled out of his mouth and splattered her own armor when she had tried to lift him off the ground.

How he had drowned in his own blood.

"Why did you do that?" Her voice cracks, strained and too loud for the silent room. "You shouldn’t have done that."

Keith doesn’t answer.

He doesn’t have to. Pidge already knows the answer.

He has already told her.

Chapter Text

Pidge grumbles as she ducks behind a tree, pressing her back to the bluish bark as shouts echoed across the forest.

Easy mission, her ass.

It had all gone to Hell as soon as they had landed. They had set out to approach a small planet's inhabitants, her and Keith with Allura and Coran standing by in the Castle, but as soon as they had met the Manorians, as the specie was called, they had been attack.

Instead of throwing himself into battle, like he usually did without hesitation, Keith had surprised her by picking her up with one arm and sprinting into the forest for cover. Her first thought had been 'Holy fuck, Keith is strong' which was quickly followed by 'Why the Hell was Keith retreating?'.

It was usually the rest of the team that had to pull the Red Paladin away from a fight, not the other way around.

It had been the right move, as they were easily outnumbered but it had still left her somewhat confused.

That confusion had morphed into something else, something she couldn’t quite put a name to but something she knew she missed, when it had dawned on her why Keith had did what he did.

He had run to protect her. He had taken one look at the small army running towards them and had known they had no chance of winning. Instead of fighting, instead of going with his first instincts, he had turned and gotten her out of a fight she knew she would never have survived.

He had picked her up, tucked her close to his side and run as fast as his leg could carry him, shield held uncomfortably behind them to provide cover as they were shot at. And as soon as they had gained enough distance from the Manorians, he had put her down and told her to hide.

Before she had even thought of arguing, he had turned and run in a different direction, effectively leading the Manorians away.

Away from her.

Pidge closes her eyes for a moment and slams the back of her head against the tree, cursing the situation.

She and Keith have been separated, they are cut off from their lions and something on the planet is interfering with their communications, so they have no way of contacting the Castle.

They are stuck.

They are stuck on a planet with aliens trying to kill them.

How did this become her life?

Sighing to herself, she pushes herself away from the tree and continues to run deeper into the forest, turning left as she hears shouting coming from her right. The Manorians keeps getting closer. Either Keith has gotten lost and was leading them in the same direction as her or he is…

Pidge shakes her head, forcing those dark thoughts away. If there is someone capable of taking care of themselves, it is Keith.

He is fine.

…she hopes he is fine.

She rounds a large boulder and comes to a stumbling halt, her heart freezing in her chest. Only a few feet ahead of her stand a Manorian warrior, the alien easily five times her size. Its four pair of glowing white eyes stares at her and she feels her stomach drop as the warrior sneers, a pair of large fangs peeking out from beneath its lips.

She glances at the jagged sword it holds in its left hand, the sword almost as long as she was tall. The blade itself is red, with a line of toxic green running along the edges.

She swallows thickly and takes a step back; activating her Bayard and suddenly finding herself whishing she had a blaster like Lance. Had that been the case, maybe she would have stood a chance.

They stare at each other for a long moment, before Pidge thinks 'Fuck it' and kicks at the ground, sending several small rocks into the alien's face. As the Manorian is temporarily distracted, she spins around and runs.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" She jumps over a log and almost falls on her face as her foot catches on a branch. "Curse my short legs!"

She can hear the Manorian catching up, it's snake like body easily sliding across the ground. She casts a look over her shoulder, yelping and throws herself to the left. The sword buries itself into the ground where she had been not even a second ago.

She scrambles to get back to her feet but once she does, she realizes she will never get away in time. She spins around on the spot, intent to at least try to fight, but instead lets out a startled shout as the Manorian is already coming at her, its sword raised over its head.

Once it is in front of her, it swing the blade downwards and Pidge's eyes widens as she realize that the angle of which the blade is swinging will sever her head from her shoulders.

There is no time for her to move or even counter, and even if she could she has the feeling the force behind the swing would only accomplish to break her arm as well.

She is going to die.

And then, there is a flash of white and red, and suddenly Keith is in front of her. Out of nowhere, Keith has appeared and put himself between her and the Manorian.

She watches, as if time itself has slowed down, as Keith thrusts his sword forward. She watches as the Red Paladin's Bayard pierces through the Manorian's unprotected stomach and as the warrior's blade slices across Keith's chest.

The sound of tearing flesh fills the air and blood splatters to the ground, red and yellow mixing orange.

No one moves for what felt like an eternity, until the Manorian suddenly falls to the ground, its lifeless eyes staring up at the sky and yellow blood running from the corner of its mouth.

Pidge stares at Keith's back, her heartbeat loud in her own ears as it seemed like the forest around them has suddenly gone eerily silent. The sword then slips from the Red Paladin's hand, clattering to the ground and causing Pidge to flinch.

He takes a stumbling step back, before his knees buckled and he falls backwards. Pidge wonders for a second who is screaming, before she realizes it is her. Keith hits the ground hard and she scrambles over to him, falling to her knees beside him.  

"Keith? Keith! Oh my god, Keith!"

Her hands hover over his chest piece and she feels her stomach turn. The Manorian's sword has cut through the armor as if it had been nothing, the blade's jagged edges leaving the metal cracked and the under-suite, which had done nothing to protect the boy wearing it, torn.

But the wound, the wound horrifies her. The uneven blade has torn, rather than sliced, through flesh and muscle, leaving a mangled mass of what once had been Keith's chest. It runs from just below his right armpit to the lower part of his ribs on his left side. And the wound is so deep, blood gushing out and soaking into the ground. It almost covers all the white of the chest piece and there has only been a few seconds.

With trembling hands, Pidge gently removes Keith's helmet.

He is so pale.

Keith shouldn’t look like that.

She pushes his bangs out of his face but they fall back a moment later, sticking to his forehead from the sweat that coats his now ghostly skin.

His eyes are closed. They shouldn’t be closed.

She tears off her own helmet and throws it to the side, not caring what happens to it. She then leans forward, placing her hands on his cheeks as tears begin to drip from her eyes.

She hasn’t cried since she watched the news about her brother and father and she promised herself she wouldn’t cry until she found them again.

But now, she can do nothing to stop them from falling.

"Keith, open your eyes! Look at me, please! Please, open your eyes!" A sob tears through her throat. "Keith!"

But his eyes remain closed.

Her hand trembles as she draws it across his cheek, trying to just make him open his eyes. She chokes on her breath as blood slowly runs from the corner of his mouth, leaving a trail of horrible red down his chin.

Sobbing, she lifts him off the ground as much as she can manage and presses him close to her chest. She buries her face in his hair as she begins to rock him back and forth, wailing as she begs him to just wake up.

As she begs him to be alright.

"N-no, no, no. Please, no." She sobs, voice breaking. "P-please, Keith…please."

Chapter Text

She doesn’t know how long they stay like that, with her just holding him close and begging him to open his eyes, but it feels like an eternity.

She forces her eyes open and looks down at Keith's face, struggling to breathe as she sees how  much paler he has grown over what could only have been a short amount of time. He is bleeding out, if he isn’t already dead.

She chokes back a sob and shakes her head.

No. He can’t be dead. He can’t.

But Pidge can’t even tell if he is breathing or not. In desperation, she looks around, praying there is someone there that can help.

But there is no one. There are only the woods surrounding them, trees reaching for the sky a far as the eye can see. They are all alone and Pidge doesn’t know what to do. She wants to think rational, to come up with a solution, but in the end it is her panic that wins.

“Help! Someone, anyone!” She screams, her voice cracking. “Help, please! Someone, please!”

But her only answer is silence.

“…please.” She whispers as she clutches Keith's motionless body closer. “…help.”

The world around them almost seems to disappear. She can no longer see the trees or the bushes surrounding them, no longer feel the earth beneath them. She no longer feels the wind lightly tugging at her hair nor does she feel the heat from the burning sun in the sky.

All she can feel is the warm blood beneath her hands and knees, the horrible smell of copper burning her nose.

Then there is a noise and her head shoots up, eyes widening with hope. But that hope quickly shatters when she realizes it’s the Manorians. They are still far away, but they are getting closer by the minute. It won’t be long before the Manorians reach them.

And Pidge can do nothing to stop them.

She shakes her head and snaps her gaze around, despite knowing she will find nothing. She can feel the panic wrap around her heart and squeeze, but she doesn’t know how to stop it. She doesn’t know how to make her mind focus, she can’t-

“P-Pidge.”

Her gaze snaps downwards and she freezes as violet eyes looks up at her. They are glazed and unfocused, but she has never felt more relieved to see them.

“Keith!”

She’s rewarded by a small smirk, a shadow of its usual strength, but she’s glad to see it none the less. She carefully wipes a bit of blood away from his chin and Keith's blinks, his eyelids heavy and threatening to plunge his world back into darkness.

He can hear the Manorians getting closer, despite everything sounding like he’s under water, and he knows they have little time before it’s too late. He can feel himself slipping, his will to stay awake evaporating.

He can’t feel anything aside from the heavy weight in his chest. No pain, no warmth of his own blood running down his chest. There is only a numbness.

He feels cold.

He can’t breathe. His lungs feel wrong, like he’s drowning. He suspects, that in a way, he is. Only it isn’t water.

He’s dying. He doesn’t want to, but he is and there is nothing he can do to change it. And yet, he doesn’t regret it. He doesn’t regret letting his instincts guiding his actions, he doesn’t regret leaping in front of the large blade. He doesn’t regret getting his chest ripped open, he doesn’t regret his lungs filling with blood.

No, he doesn’t regret dying.

Because if he did, it would be Pidge in his place.

The sister he never knew he wanted, but now couldn’t image life without. The little sister with a mind greater than the universe itself, the little sister he knows will change it for the better.

The sister he will die for.

Better him than her.

His arm is heavy and his fingers tingles painfully, but he ignores it and reaches up to grip the hand cupped against his cheek. He blinks, trying to clear the mist obscuring his vision but it does little. He tries to focus on her, but the only thing he sees is her blurry outline and those bright caramel eyes.

It’s enough.

He smiles, weaker than he wants it to be, but he hopes it’s enough. He hears her cry more than he sees and he wishes he could make her stop, make her happy again.

But he doesn’t think he has the time.

Not anymore.

He can’t make her happy, but he can make sure she’s safe. He still has enough time to make sure she has the chance to smile again.

“J-just hang on, Keith. I-I w-will think of something…d-don’t cl-close your eyes.”

He hates how frighten she sounds. Hates the way her voice wobbles and cracks.

Her tears are warm against his cold skin.

“I-I w-wi-will-I c-can-Ju-just-”

“P-Pidge.”

Her mouth snaps shut with a soft ‘click’ and Keith wishes he had the strength to chuckle. He blinks and is able to make out more of her expression. He hates how distraught she looks, how he is the reason for it. He wishes she would smile. He wishes the last thing he got to hear from her was her laugh.

“…Pi-Pidge.” His throat burns and clogs, but he forces himself to speak through the pain. “Y-You ne-need to g-get out of he-here.”

He feels more than sees her eyes widen, he feels her stare delve into him. He knows she will hate him for asking her to leave, but he can’t bring himself to care if it means she will survive.

That’s the only thing that matters.

“NO!” Her voice is shrill enough to cut through the fog surrounding him and a part of him is glad for it. “I’m not leaving you here! T-there’s still time! I-I c-can still-”

“Katie…”

He feels her stiffen and he blinks to clear his vision. It doesn’t do much, but it’s enough. Her outline is still blurred, but the rest of her is more clear than before.

She looks terrified.

He hates himself for being the cause of that.

With his strength slipping, he uses the last of it to squeeze her hand. He smiles as his eyes begin to slip close without him wanting to, but he lacks the energy to fight it. As he speaks, his voice is nothing more than a soft whisper.

“Katie…please…you have…to go...stay safe…for…me.” He smiles one last time. “Go…f-find y-your…f-fa-family…”

She squeezes his hand but he no longer feels it.

He doesn’t feel anything.

He can still hear as she screams, loud and heartbroken. She begging him to stay awake, but his eyes slips close no matter how hard he wishes they would remain open. He wishes the last thing he got to see would have been her face.

But instead, the last thing he sees is darkness.

Pidge screams as Keith’s grip goes slack and his eyes close. She begs and pleads, but they won’t reopen. She pulls his limp form close and buries her face in his black hair, screaming until it feels like she can’t breathe. Her lungs beg for air, but she can’t make herself stop screaming.

She wants him to come back.

She needs him to come back.

She can’t lose another brother.

She can hear the Manorians rampaging through the bush, their shrill wails cutting through the air. She knows it will only be a few moments before the aliens reach them, her screams leading them straight to her and Keith.

She knows if she is to survive, she needs to leave.

But she can’t bring herself to move.

She can’t leave Keith.

The first Manorians are just a few yards away now, weapons drawn in the intention to kill but all Pidge cares about is Keith’s limp form in her arms.

She can’t lose him too.

“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!”

“!”

The roar that tears through the air causes her flinch, the roar so loud it leaves her ears ringing. The earth beneath them trembles and she hears the cracking of wood as trees are torn apart by claws, boulders turning to dust under massive paws.

 Crackling fire is followed by the stench of burned flesh as the Manorians are engulfed in the inferno.

And with it, hope flickers to life inside of Pidge like a candle amongst unrelenting darkness.

Red is coming.

And she is pissed.

Chapter Text

Red is coming.

And she is pissed.

The stench of burning flesh fills her noise and almost causes her to gag. She looks around to see fire engulf everything, flames climbing up trees and rising towards the sky. Bushes and grass turns to ass, leaving behind only a blackened ground.

Pidge shuts her eyes and tries to block out the screams from the dying Manorians.

It does little to help.

Her eyes snaps open when a cry, so unlike the others, reach her ears. One of the Manorians has someone managed to evade the fire and is only a few feet away, rapidly moving towards them with its weapon raised.

It’s too close.

Pidge tries to pull Keith closer as she fumbles for her Bayard, but her fingers are slick with blood and it falls to the ground. Knowing there is no time left, she curls herself around Keith with a desperate scream that tears through her throat.

A giant metal paw slams the Manorian into the ground, crushing it.

The sound that follows is horrifying.

Pidge’s eyes snaps open as a roar rips through the air, so loud the ground beneath them trembles. She looks up to see Red towering over them, an enrage guardian. Flames spills from her open jaw and her eyes shines with anger that could rival the heat from a thousand suns.

A small distance behind Red, Pidge spots Green. Her own lion is crouched low to the ground, shoulders hunched to make herself appear smaller. There is a small tremor to her body and her gaze is cast low, in what Pidge realize is submission.

Green is scared.

Scared of Red.

Pidge’s attention snaps back to the red lion as another roar shakes the planet, more shrill than the previous. Pidge can hear the desperation in it, the hurt and worry.

But most of all, she hears the rage.

Despite the size and the power the lions possess, Pidge has never feared them. Not even when they first encountered Blue back on Earth had she been afraid, as she knows they others hadn’t as well. Even the thought that maybe she should fear them, had always been laughable to Pidge.

It wasn’t anymore.

For the first time, she felt afraid.

This wasn’t the Red she had come to know.

She flinches as Red lets out another roar, fire springing from her mouth and engulfing the trees in front of them. More screams fills the air, burning bodies falling to the forest floor and turning to ash. A wall of fire circles them, a burning barrier between them and the rest of the planet.

The Manorians that hasn’t yet burned flees, screaming in a language Pidge can’t understand. Her eyes snaps back to Red, seeing the twitch of movement she knows means the red lion is about to chase after any survivors.

She can’t let Keith’s only chance of survival slip away because of vengeance.

“RED, WAIT!”

Burning embers focus on her and Pidge flinches at the snarl that follows. She swallows thickly and forces herself to meet Red’s enrage gaze, her grip of Keith unconsciously tightening.

“You have to stop!” She begs. “There’s no-”     

‘THEY NEED TO PAY!”

Pidge startles at the voice, so loud and clear in her mind. She is used to hearing Green, her own lion always present. Sometimes she swore she could hear the others as well, like an echo through the fog.

But never Red.

Red has never spoke to anyone but Keith, too guarded to let the rest of them in. Even Allura was cast aside, ignored no matter how many times the Altean princess tried.

No matter how many times they all tried.

Red refused.

Pidge wants to be proud that Red had broken that wall for her, wants to be happy Red had accepted her.

But she can’t. Not now.

Not when Keith is dying in her arms.

“You can’t!”

Red snarls.

‘THEY ALL DESERVE TO DIE!”

“You can’t go after them!”

Red leans down, snarling and giant claws digging into the ground.

‘WHY?’

Pidge shuts her eyes and lets out her own snarl, tears dripping to the blood soaked ground.

“KEITH IS DYING!”

Red rears back as if struck and Pidge open her eyes in time to see the rage slowly ebb away from those burning embers, giving way to the soft yellow glow they all know.

But it doesn’t last. Instead they dim, with what Pidge can only describe as despair.

Red almost stumbles forward and lowers her head, so close that her nose is almost brushing against them. Her chest vibrates with a low rumble and Pidge can feel her calling out to Keith, desperate and pleading.

Keith doesn’t respond.

Something sharp washes over Pidge, sharp and burning like melting candle wax.

She stares at the red lion of Voltron.

Red is crying.

Pidge feels like she can’t breathe, like her chest is splitting in two. She feels fresh tears run her cheeks, but this time they are not her own.

They’re Red’s.

A sound close to a whine slips from the red lion, low and heartbreaking. Red paws at the ground, hesitant and unsure. Pidge can feel the worry dripping from her large form, so unsure of what to do. Red has always been a lion of instinct, of action, just like Keith, but for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t know what to do.

She’s scared.

Pidge feels her heart break.

“Red, please.” She begs, voice cracking. “We have to save him.”

Pidge wishes for the comfort of her own lion, but she knows Green won’t be fast enough to reach the castle in time. If Keith is to survive, she needs Red to help them.

Red doesn’t say another word and Pidge can feel her build the wall back up. She sees the moment the lion pulls herself together, sees the fire returning to her eyes.

Red refuses to lose her paladin.

She lowers her jaw and extends the ramp, as close to the two of them as she can. Pidge spares a glance down at Keith and swallows thickly, before she forces herself to her feet. Quickly, she throws both their helmets and Bayards into Red’s mouth, having no desire to come back for them later.

She hooks her arms under Keith’s armpits and whispers an apology, before she straightens and starts pulling Keith up the ramp. Keith gives no indication to being moved, but Pidge swears the blood dripping down his chin picks up speed. She pulls him up the ramp as quickly as she can, begging for him to just hold on.

Once inside, she stumbles and falls against the wall. She holds Keith tightly as she slides down to the floor, his head resting against her shoulder while blood drips from his lips and stains the collar of her armor.

Once they are inside, Red wastes no time. She closes her jaw and leaps into the air, speeding towards the castle faster than she has ever gone before. Green trails behind, unable to keep up but also making sure there is no danger following them.

She calls out for her sister but Red ignores her, pushing herself to move faster. Green doesn’t blame her and prays they aren’t too late.

Green knows what it took for Red to let Keith in, knows what it took for her sister to allow herself to love her Paladin in a way that came easy to the rest of the pride.

If they were to lose Keith now, Green isn’t sure what her sister’s reaction would be.

She doesn’t wish to find out.

Inside Red’s mouth, Pidge brushes sweat soaked locks of black away from Keith’s face. She sobs as she takes in the paleness of his skin, like freshly fallen snow, and the blue tint to his lips.

She can’t tell if his breathing.

She prays that he is.

She presses both hands against the gaping wound on his chest and forces herself not to gag as blood slips from between her fingers. She leans her head against the top of his and begs for him to not leave her, for him to hold on a little longer.

“Please,” She sobs, her eyes stinging as tears drips into locks black as coal. “Please, I…I can’t lose another brother.”

Chapter Text

Coran leaves the Med Bay with a heavy sigh and a heavier heart. The doors close silently behind him and for a moment, he doesn’t move. He just stands there for a long moment, feeling the pressure of their situation wrap tightly around is chest until it feels like he can’t breathe. He raises his gaze towards the tall ceiling and blinks, telling himself the wetness in his eyes are just from exhaustion.

Forcing his lungs to expand despite the sting, he squares his shoulders and straightens his back. He looks to the left, down the corridor that leads directly towards the Bridge. It’s the quickest and shortest way.

He glances down the right corridor, which leads past the Lions hangar and past the Paladin’s living quarters. It’s the longer path, several minutes more than the left and he is needed on the Bridge.

He takes the long way.

He walks slowly, a heaviness in his bones that aches painfully, no matter how hard he tries to ignore it. The castle is silent and the air is thick with tension, awaiting the spark that will make it all explode.

As he nears the hangars, his ears twitch as they pick up a muffled sound, before they fall sadly. The sound is almost silent, but sharp and broken. There is plea woven into the deepness of it, the craving so thick it tears at Coran’s heart.

The door takes a moment to open but once it does, the Royal Advisor sees something he never wished to see.

No longer perched on the platform where she usually rests, the Red Lion is curled up in one of the corners. She is curled up as tightly as her body will allow, her claws and head scraping against the floor as she calls out, a fraction of the volume she had called when Keith had first been removed from her.  

Her frame trembles and her eyes are dimmed, lost and unfocused. Dried blood coats her normally white chin, a testament to just how much blood the Red Paladin had lost.

The Green Lion is curled up beside her sister, head resting on the smaller lioness’ back, but Red seems unaware of her presence. Green coos softly in a desperate attempt at comfort, but Red doesn’t either hear her sister or doesn’t care.

Coran fears it isn’t the first.

He swallows thickly and slowly moves forward. Green tilts her head slowly, her eyes tracking his movements but makes no move to stop him. When he’s a few feet away, he stops and stares a long moment at the Red Lion of Voltron.  

Coran had never before seen Red in such distress, not even when she had lost Alfor. When she had lost her original Paladin, she had been grieving but angry. Furious that her Paladin had been ripped from her by someone they had all trusted.

Now, she’s broken.

And Coran isn’t sure how to mend this.

“…I wish I could take your pain away…” he murmurs softly, heart shattering as the calls once more grows louder. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you must feel…”

He almost believes his words go unheard, until Red’s eyes flicker before they focus on him. Coran feels the air leave his lungs as he sees the raw pain in those glowing orbs, suddenly so bright he can no longer make out his reflection in them.

The Red Lion stands abruptly, throwing her sister off her, and stalks towards him. Her body still trembles, but the rumble from deep within her is a frightening sounds that echoes against the hangar’s walls.

Coran stumbles backwards, for a moment fearing that Red will lash out, but the smallest lioness lowers her head until it’s scarping against the floor once again in front of him.

‘BRING HIM BACK TO ME!”

Coran has always thought Red’s voice would be warm like a bright sun or powerful like a raging fire.

Her voice now, only reminds him to ash.

He swallows thickly.

“You know I can’t do that. If Keith is removed from the Medical Wing, he will not sur-”

Red snaps her head up with a snarl that sounds more broken than threatening.

‘BRING HIM BACK!’

Coran feels his eyes water at the desperation in the otherwise proud lioness, her voice pleading for him to listen. But he can’t and part of himself hates him for that, that he can’t bring her that comfort.

“I can’t.”

Red snarls and rises to her full height. She lifts her right paw before she slams it against the floor, metal bending beneath the powerful blow. Green quickly steps forward, purring softly in an attempt to calm her sister.

But Red ignores her.

‘HE’S MINE!’

But Coran can only shake his head.

“He’s too injured to be moved. I can’t-”

Red doesn’t let him finish.

‘HE’S MY CUB!’

Coran finds no words and Green falls silent.

As much as Red had cared for Alfor, her love for him had been that of a partner. They had been teammates, a Paladin and his lion. Red had cared for him, but not like she cares for Keith.

Coran’s heart cracks as he finally realizes.

Never before had Red loved someone like she loves Keith.

He is her cub.

And her cub is dying.

Coran tries to swallow, but his throat is too tight.  He takes several steps backwards, away from the grieving lioness. Red moves as to follow him, but Green moves forward to stop her. She places herself between her sister and the Royal Advisor, purring softly but with a firm undertone.

‘Please, calm yourself, sister.’ Green’s voice is brisk like fresh grass, but there is a heaviness in it, like dying leaves. ‘Lashing out at Coran will lead to nothing. He has done nothing wrong.’

Red snarls and slams her head against her sister’s chest, but Green doesn’t waver. She takes the beating, but it isn’t long before Red falters. Her frame trembles as she stops fighting and leans her head against Green’s chest, a sound so broken leaving her.

‘…he is keeping my cub from me.’

Green rumbles, but the comfort feels frail.

‘He is keeping your cub alive, sister.’

Red shakes her head but doesn’t argue, far too broken to keep fighting. She whines and sinks to the floor, pressing her face tightly against her paws, as to hide herself from the universe. Green coos and lays herself down beside her sister, her head draped across the red lioness back in a desperate attempt at comfort.

‘It will be alright, sister. Your cub is strong, he will-’

‘N-no, no, no, no…’ Red shakes her head. ‘I-I…I can…can…’

Green raises her head to stare down at the red lioness, worry falling of her large form in waves.

‘…sister?’

The room falls silent for a long moment and as Red answers, Coran finds himself wishing that the silence would have lasted longer.

‘…I can feel him fading.’

Chapter Text

The bridge is silent when Coran enters, alarms long ago turned off when they had realized there was nothing they could do. All screens has been closed as well, all beside one that, to Coran’s faltering hope, still flashes red.

His eyes scan the room, before they fall on the princess. Allura has abandoned her previous post by the controls, no longer able to fool herself that she will get somewhere if she just keeps trying. She sits by the edge of the platform, exhaustion falling off her in waves. Her expression is pinched with strain and strands of hair have been falling out from the otherwise normally tight bun.

She looks as exhausted as Coran feels.

She staring off into nothing, hands resting tightly on top of her knees, her posture stiff and shoulders pulled back with worry.

Coran hates seeing her look this helpless.

He takes a few steps forward, until he comes to stand at the other end of the platform. He knows she hears him, but she makes no move to acknowledge his presence.

He doesn’t blame her for that.

They stay in silence for some time, before it becomes too heavy for Coran to bear.

“Any luck yet, princess?”

It’s a stupid question, he knows, but he finds himself asking it anyway, if only to break the silence.

It takes a moment, before Allura shifts, if only a fraction, and shakes her head slowly, refusing to look at him.

“I’m sorry, Coran.” Her voice doesn’t rise above a whisper. “I will try again, I just need some time to…”

She doesn’t finished but nor does she need to, Coran understand. They have tried everything they can think of, but without the rest of the paladins and the lions, there isn’t much they are capable of doing. The others are scheduled to return in roughly two Quintants, and had their situation been different, they would have been able to wait on rescue.

Now, they don’t have that kind of time.

Coran frowns and walks around the platform, before he sits down beside the princess. She leans into him and he drapes an arm over her shoulders, forcing down a sigh as he feels her tremble against him.

“You need to rest, princess.” He murmurs softly. “If you keep going like this, it won’t be long before you-”

He doesn’t get to finish.

“And then what, Coran?” Allura frowns and her lips tighten into a sharp line. “We’re running out of time and me resting is just time I could have spent trying to get through to Shiro and the others. Without them, Keith is going to…”

She falls silent, unable to continue. Coran draws a breath but finds himself unable to argue, any argument dying before they can even form. He knows she is right, time is working against them, but he still hates seeing her like this.

At first, the Royal Advisor had hoped they had managed to send out a distress signal but as time had passed, it became apparent that the castle had shut down before it could happen.

It left them with very few options.

Coran knows they could send out Pidge in search of help, but it’s too dangerous for her to go alone and there is no guarantee she would even find someone. Even if it was an option, the Green Paladin has so far refused to leave their Red Paladin’s side.

And the Red Lion is in no condition to be left alone. She needs the Green Lion by her side now more than ever.

They have no other choice than to wait and hope that if they try enough, Allura will finally be able to reach out to the rest of Voltron.

But with each tick that passes, Keith’s chances are getting lower.

Coran doesn’t know how much time the young man has, but he fears it isn’t much.

The Red Paladin’s injuries are severe but Coran would still have been able to do more, had it not been for the poison coursing through Keith’s body. Whatever the blade had been coated in was so powerful it was breaking the Red Paladin apart from the inside, slowly crumbling his organs until there’s nothing left.

Coran doesn’t know what will be the first thing to fail but he knows if it comes to it, Keith will suffer a painful death.

Without the Castle in working order, Coran can’t synthesize an antidote. Without the antidote, Keith can’t be placed into the Healing Pods once they are operational and without the Pods his recovery will be long and painful.

If there was a recovery at all.

Truth be told, if someone asked him how the Red Paladin was still alive, Coran wouldn’t be able to give them an answer.

“I don’t know what to do, Coran.”

The Royal advisor looks up from his musing and he feels his heart twitch painfully as he looks back at Allura. She looks small and helpless, no longer looking like the powerful leader Coran has always known she would grown to be.

Instead, she looks like a scared young woman that fears losing someone else she cares about.

Coran wishes he could take all that worry and fear away, crush them into dust.

And he hates that he can’t.

He wants to tell her that everything will be alright, that they will get out of this, but he doesn’t have the energy to lie. No matter how much he wishes he could change their situation, he is powerless this time.

All they can do is wait and hope for the best.

“Neither do I, princess.” His grip of her tightens slightly. “Neither do I.”

 The silence that falls over them doesn’t last long, but it still feels like a lifetime.

“I’m scared, Coran.” Allura whispers, voice trembling. “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can tell them…”

She presses her hands against her chest in a silent prayer, a broken sob escaping her lips.

“Even…even if I manage to get through to them…how do I tell them…how do I tell Shiro…” When the first tear falls, there is no stopping the rest. “…how do you tell someone their brother is dying?”

Pidge has lost the battle of staying upright. She leans her body from the shoulders and up against the mattress, head cushioned by her folded arms and one of her hands grasping Keith’s. Her glasses rest on the top of her head and she rubs her left eye with a knuckle, forcing back a yawn.

Her body begs for sleep but her mind refuses, thoughts running too fast for her to relax enough to fall asleep.

She’s scared of closing her eyes.

She fears that if she does, Keith will be gone once she opens them again.

And she can’t live with that possibility.

So she forces herself to stay awake, forces her eyes to remain open no matter how heavy they grow. She thinks of going to the kitchen and grabbing the Altean version of coffee but she quickly forces that thought away, unwilling to leave Keith.

Keith, who is still struggling to breathe despite the aid of the ventilator.
Keith, whose skin has started to turn from a cold white to a sickly grey.
Keith, whose veins almost gleams a sickening green beneath his skin as the poison continues to spread.

Keith, who is still, despite their best attempts, slipping away.

Pidge feels a tear drop onto the skin of her hand, but she lacks the energy to care. She keeps her eyes locked onto Keith’s face, searching for any changes but finds none. Keith hasn’t awoken, not even once, since Red brought them back to the castle.

Not even when Coran had flushed the wound in a desperate attempt to get rid of the poison.

Pidge tries to force the memory away, but it’s forged to her mind so hard she doesn’t think she will ever forget. She remembers it so clearly when Coran had poured what felt like gallons of Altean alcohol and medicine into the wound and how Keith had reacted to none of it.

She had almost wished he had.

She knows it’s selfish of wishing for it, wishing for Keith to scream and cry as the wound was flushed. But if he had, then at least she would have known he was still alive.

When he had showed no reaction, Pidge had honestly believed they had already lost him.

That they had been too late.

She knows now that they hadn’t been, that he’s still here. But in that very moment, she really thought he had already slipped away.

It had terrified her.

It still terrifies her, because she can still lose him.

A couple more tears escape and she wipes them away absently, squeezing Keith’s hand a little tighter. His skin feels cold against hers and she rubs her thumb over his knuckles, before it rest over a scar that starts at his ring finger and doesn’t stop until the base of his thumb. She knows he got it when he was ten and that he had needed twelve stitches.

She knows, because he told her.

It had been during one night when neither of them could sleep, that she had noticed the scar due to the absent of his gloves. She had asked him about it and after a moment of silence, where she had started to believe she wouldn’t get an answer, he had smiled softly at her and told her.

He told her it had happened when he was at his fifth foster home, having climbed a tree in the back yard and fallen, splitting his hand open on a broken branch. How he had walked himself to the hospital, his foster parents having left him home alone while taking their son to soccer practice.

He had told her, during that night, how not even a week later, that same foster family had returned him to the orphanage.

She doesn’t think he meant to tell her the last part, but she feels honored that he trusted her enough to it anyway.

That same night, she had told him how terrified she was that she wouldn’t find her father and brother. How terrified she was that she was already too late.

Keith had hugged her then and promised her she would, that he believed she would.

A twitch brings her out of the memory and she instantly leaps to her feet, chair scraping against the floor. She leans forward, heart hammering in her chest as she stares at Keith’s slack expression for any change.

She had felt his finger move, she knew she did.

“Keith? Keith, can you hear me?” Her voice cracks. “Can you hear me, Keith?”

Her eyes widen as his expression tightens and his head turns to the side, his breathe coming out in small puffs that fogs the mask. She hopes for a moment that he will open his eyes, but that hope falls when they remain closed and she feels her heart stutter as his whole body suddenly shivers.

She swallows thickly, as she spots the tears running down his flushed cheeks.

When had they turned flushed?

Carefully she reaches out to wipe his tears away and flinches at the heat that comes off his skin. She leans forward and brushes her fingers against his forehead, biting her lip at the dry heat that she meets. She contemplates getting Coran and almost turns to go, when she feels Keith’s fingers tighten around her own.

“Keith?”

She receives no answer, only huffs of breathe that are even more struggled than before. It’s then her nose picks up on the faith smell, sharp and foul. It clings to the back of her throat and almost makes her gag.

Slowly, she removes her hand from his forehead and holds it over his chest, frowning when she finds heat rising from the bandages. She hesitates for a moment, before she removes the covers and carefully starts to peel away the bandages.

She almost whishes she hadn’t.

A sob tears through her throat as she sees the swelling around the wound, a stark contrast to the rest of Keith’s sickly grey skin. The area of skin surrounding the wound is a mix of angry red and pale yellow, a slightly cloudily green slowly seeping out from the broken flesh.

The wound has gotten infected.

Pidge stumbles away from it all, sobbing as she turns and buries her face in Keith’s shoulder. Her cries echo across the room and down the hall, carrying her grief with it. She wails and begs to ears that can’t hear, begging for a voice that can’t answer.

Despite their best attempts, despite everything they have tried, the wound has gotten infected. Not only is Keith fighting the poison but now an infection as well, an infection Pidge suspects is being aided by the poison.

Despite all the praying and hoping, Keith isn’t getting better.

He’s getting worse.

Chapter Text

Green worries for her sister, for the way she has curled into the hanger’s corner and now refuses to speak to her. Her sister has closed herself off, ignoring every call from Green and it worries the larger lioness.

It has been a long time since Red closed herself of to the rest of the Pride.

She stays closed off to the other Paladins, yes, but never the Pride.

It frightens Green.

‘Sister, I beg you to listen.’ Green pushes gently. ‘Hiding yourself away will solve nothing.’

Red only curls up further, keeping her back to the other lioness and Green’s core pulses painfully.

‘Sister, please.’

Green stumbles back as Red suddenly rises to her paws with a deep guttural snarl, tail whipping dangerously close to the large lioness’ muzzle. The smaller lioness looks ready to pounce, body coiled tightly and fire licking the edges of her mouth.

‘And then what, sister!?’ The snarl echoes across the hangar. ‘What will listening bring me? Should I sit here and listen while my cub clings to life? Will listening save him?’

Green sees at the fight leaves her sister, her bright eyes dimming and the tension in her body flickering away like a candle being blown out by a small gust of wind. She sits down heavily, head hung low and eyes unseeing.

‘…I…’

Red hesitates and Green feels her soul tremble with fear.

Red never hesitates.

Never.

‘…with each moment that passes, my connection to him grows weaker.’ Red’s voice is small and fragile. ‘…I am…I am losing my cub and there…there is nothing I can do…’

Green shakes her head and walks closer to her sister, gently nudging her shoulder in what she hopes is a reassuring gesture.

‘You can hold on to hope, sister.’ She sits down beside the smaller lioness and leans her head against Red’s shoulder. ‘He possesses the same fighting fire that resides within you. If you believe in him, there is always a chance.’

Red doesn’t argue, but nor does she agree. She stays silent and Green feels her tremble against her own frame, claws digging into the floor. The silence doesn’t get a chance to grow into something stiffening, as Red breaks it before it can come to that.

‘I should have been faster…’ Her voice is quiet, broken. ‘I should have acted sooner. I should have burned that forsaken planet down the moment I felt he was in danger.’

Her tone changes to something more bitter, something dangerous.

‘I should have burned them all.’

Green doesn’t argue, for she knows had it been her paladin, her Pidge, she would have done the same. Where Red would have burned the planet to its core, Green would have torn it apart. She would have ripped the planet into pieces from within, leaving a broken planet floating through space as a warning to all that comes across it.

Red would have turned it all to ash.

She wouldn’t have left a warning.

She would have left a promise.

So Green keeps quite, unable to argue with her sister. Instead, she wraps her tail around the smaller lioness and purrs softly, hoping to bring some sort of comfort. They sit in silence for what feels like an entirety and Green feels her sister’s despair wash over her like a cold wave of heavy rocks.

The suddenly, Green feels her sister stiffen against her, her small body coiling so hard the large lioness fears she might snap. But before she can ask, she feels something within her wither before it crumbles and she almost cries out.

Pidge is crying.

Her Paladin is heartbroken.

‘…no…’

Before she can stop it, Red tears herself away from the other lioness’ side and stumbles forward. She cries out, more painful than anything Green has ever heard coming from her sister and she watches, horrified, as Red throws herself against the hangar wall that separates them from the inside of the castle.

The wall that separates Red from Keith.

The entire hangar rattles as Red slams against the wall, the metal bending but refusing to yield. The sound that follows is sharp enough to shatter glass.

Green stares, before she rushes forward and places herself between her sister and the wall.

‘Sister, stop!’

But Red doesn’t. She rams herself against the larger lioness, metal scraping against metal, until finally, Red’s legs trembles too much to hold her up and she sinks to the floor. Green feels her soul shatter as she stares down at her sister, seeing the smaller lioness’ will to hope flicker before her very eyes.

Red is giving up.

‘…sister…no…’ Green presses her snout against her sister’s cheek. ‘You…you cannot…’

When Red speaks, it isn’t a voice Green recognizes.

‘…he is giving up, sister…he…he no longer wants to fight…’ Her voice is so soft, Green must strain to hear her. ‘…I-I failed him…’

Green shakes her head and pushes against the smaller lioness.

‘No, sister! We cannot allow ourselves to give up. He has yet to pass, there is still time.’

Red looks up at her sister and Green knows, if they were able to cry tears the same way their Paladins did, her sisters eyes would be overflowing with them.

But they can't and instead, Red raises her head and lets out a roar that could shatter even the thickest of glass. It's shrill and painful, its sorrow jumping across the hangar's walls and making their way across the rest of the castle.

The roar is brimming with such sorrow, that Green actually stumbles back from the red lioness. She stares at her sister, her own frame trembling as the little strength Red had left, leaves her like a candle being snuffed out by falling rain.

Her body slumps to the floor, like a doll that has had its strings cut off, and her frame shakes with fine tremors. Her claws scrapes against the floor, as if she is making an desperate attempt to get back up, but her body seems unable to carry her own weight.

She cries out again, weaker but still as broken.

It cuts through Green's core, sharper and hotter than what a laser of an enemy ship would ever be able to do. 

The larger lioness hesitates to move forward, but slowly finds her courage. She moves forward with caution, body coiled tightly almost to the point of pain and hesitation making her move less gracefully. She doesn't know what to do but finds that she can't do nothing, so she lays down beside her sister and rests her head on Red's trembling shoulder.

She tries to find something to say, but words fail her. Instead her eyes dim and she reaches deeps within herself, her core pulsing. She concentrates, reaching out until she finds what she's looking for.

And what she finds, could have killed her.

Her own core, her own heart, wraps around Red's own flickering one and she barley holds back a flinch at the pulsating pain. Desperate, she reaches out further, far further than she has ever attempted before. It doesn’t come as natural as it once did, millennia having taking its toll, but she doesn’t have a choice.

They can't fight alone any longer.

'Please…' Her own body trembles with despair to match her sister. 'Please…we need you.'

Shiro will be the first to admit, under great distress of course, that he isn't paying much attention. Which is probably why, when Black suddenly stops and turns, he falls out of the seat and onto the floor.

He stares at the roof of Black's cockpit for several moments, before his brain catches up with him and he pushes himself into a sitting position. Then, he pulls himself to his feet with the help of his seat and frowns at the open vastness of space that lies beyond the windows.

"Black?"

The Black lioness rumbles deep enough that Shiro feels it through his own chest and he can tell that his frown sharpens.

Black is worried.

Before he can ask, his comm. cracks to life and the screen to his left flares to life with both Lance and Hunk's faces.

"Shiro?" Lance arches an eyebrow. "What's going on? Why did you stop?"

The Black Paladin opens his mouth to answer but before he can get a word out, Hunk leans forward and starts to ramble.

"Did something happen? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you sick? Do we need to find somewhere to land?" Shiro isn't sure when the  Samoan has the time to breathe, but the Yellow Paladin keeps going. "Does he look pale, Lance? He looks pale. Should we turn around? We should turn around."

Shiro and Lance share a knowing look between the two of them and the Blue Paladin rolls his eyes, but the smile on his lips shows that there is no ill intent in the action.

"Hunk, buddy, take a breather before you pass out."

The Yellow Paladin draws a deep breath and slumps into his seat. Shiro manages a small smile, before Black gives another rumble and the smile slips away as soon as it came. Something that doesn't get past the other two Paladins.

"Shiro?" Lance asks with a slight hesitation. "Why did you stop?"

Shiro's grip of his seat tightens as he feels something deep in his gut start to stir.

"I didn't" He says tightly. "Black did. She's worried."

Lance and Hunk share an unease glance, while Shiro settles back into his seat. He grips the controls and closes his eyes, concentrating on his bond with Black and winces when a distress that doesn't solely belongs to the black lioness slams into him. The sudden pain takes his breath away and his eyes snap open from the force of it.

When he blinks to clear his vision, he's met by concern from his fellow Paladins.

"Shiro?"

Lance's worried tone breaks the Black Paladin out of his musing. Shiro sits up a little straighter and his eyes sharpens, his mouth set in a firm line.

"Something's wrong."

"What is it?" Hunk's voice almost shakes with worry.

Shiro frowns and shakes his head, unsure of what to answer. Black had only given him the feeling that something was wrong, but it hadn't felt like she was withholding anything from him. It was as the black lioness herself wasn't sure what she was feeling, only that she knew that something was wrong.

"I can't say. Black isn't really-"

'We must go back!'

Shiro is struck by the fright in Black's voice, so loud it feels like it could almost rattle his inside. She lets out a roar that takes them all by surprise, even the two other lionesses, and Shiro has no time to brace himself before she launches herself forward. The Black Paladin is so startled by the sudden movement that he shouts and both Lance and Hunk calls out for him.

"Woah, wait!" Shiro shouts, gripping the controls tightly. "Black, what's going on? Stop!"

Black actually lets out a growl, ignoring his command.

'We must go now! We must return at once!'

Shiro frowns, sparing a glance to the monitors and feeling relieved to find that the other two lionesses are following them. The other two Paladins are still shouting questions at him, both of them confused and worried, but Shiro finds himself unable to answer either of them.

He still has no idea what is happening.

"Black, I don't understand. Why must we go back?"

Black lets out another growl laced with anger, but Shiro can feel the underlying anxiousness that hides behind it. She pushes herself forward, with more speed Shiro has ever experienced from the largest lioness.

'The others are in danger. We must help them.'

Shiro's inside turns cold with fear.

"What?" Shiro's voice never rises over a whisper. "What do you mean? What danger?"

Black hesitates in answering and Shiro feels something within him crack.

"Black?"

"…I do not know.' Black's voice is smaller than Shiro has ever heard it and it scares him. 'I can feel my sister calling out for me, she is begging us to return.'

Shiro swallows, feeling sick.

"Which sister?"

Black hesitates again and Shiro feels like he can scream.

'…Green. It is Green.'

Shiro suddenly can't breathe and when he tries to swallow, there's a lump in his throat that makes it impossible. He opens his mouth but Back already answer the question she knows he is about to ask.

'…I cannot feel my other sister…Red is quiet.'

Shiro's eyes widen and he spares off into the vast space that lies in front of him. He's struggling to breathe, his chest suddenly feeling like there is something heavy resting on top of it. His hands tightens around the controls so hard his knuckles cracks and he bites down so hard he swears he can taste blood.

He wants to lose it, but knows he can't. There is no time for him to fall apart, not when the rest of his team needs him. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he sits up straight once more in his seat and turns to face the monitors.

Lance and Hunk is staring at him with fear and worry, both pale and quite.

"We're heading back to the castle."

It's Lance who speaks next, Hunk seeming too worried to form words.

"But what of our current mission? We have already been traveling for three hours and we're not even there yet. Are we just going to abandon it?"

Shiro grits his teeth.

"Yes, it doesn't matter anymore." His voice is tight and leaves no room for objection. "Something has happened to the others, they need our help."

Lance falls quiet quickly, sucking in a breath as his eyes widen. Hunk grows several shades paler and his body begins to tremble with worry. Shiro concentrates his gaze forward, unable to look at his teammates ay longer without feeling like he is about to fall apart himself.

"What happened?" It's Lance once more that breaks the silence. "Were they attacked? Is someone hurt?"

Shiro forces back something that could be a sigh, but feels more like a sniffle, his vision blurring for a moment as Black's previous words is washed over him as if she had just spoken.

"I don't know, Lance. Black can't tell." He prides himself in the way his voice doesn't waver. "She only feels Green reaching out for her, begging for help."

Lance swallows thickly and Hunk looks like he is about to be sick.

"But, but does that mean Pidge's in trouble? Is she hurt? What if the castle has been attacked while we have been gone?"

Shiro tries to find the right words but before he can speak, Hunk asks the one question Shiro knows he don't want to hear.

"What about Red?"

The Black Paladin blinks away the sudden moisture in his eyes and looks away from his teammates, unable to look at them as he answer in a voice that is just loud enough for them to hear.

"…I…I don't know…Black can't feel her…"

Shiro hears the others draw a sharp breath, before they both falls silent. He dares to look up and almost whishes he hadn't, his own breathing stuttering as he sees the tears dripping from Hunk's cheeks. Lance is still holding himself together, but the Black Paladin can spot the tears in the corners of the Blue Paladin's eyes.

He also realize that Lance is currently typing, his worry now hidden behind a mask of frustration. Lance snarls a moment later and slams his hand against the armrest of his seat, one angry tear making its way down his cheek.

"I can't make contact with the castle! Something is blocking the signal!"

Shiro frowns and tries contact himself, but his screen only lights up red. He prays it is only a blocked signal and not that there is no longer anyone to answer the call. He grits his teeth and thinks, before he looks at Hunk.

"Hunk, is there anything you can do?"

To the Black Paladin's dismay, the Samoan shakes his head.

"Not without knowing what is causing the blockage." The Yellow Paladin sinks in on himself. "I'm sorry, Shiro."

Shiro shakes his head and manages a smile that he hopes is reassuring, but it still feels like it falls short.

"It's not your fault, Hunk. We will just have to keep trying. The most important part is that he get back there as soon as possible." He swallows down something foul. "We just have to hope for the best in the meantime."

It feels like a lie, but Hunk sits up a little straighter.

Shiro still feels like a liar.

They haven't felt what Black felt, but he can't bring himself to tell them. They need to hold onto hope that the others will be alright and with his own dwindling, he needs Lance and Hunk have enough hope for him as well.

"Yeah, Hunk." Lance says, trying to sound convincing. "Just you wait and see, by the time we make it back they will already have everything under control. Pidge will have whipped whoever thought of picking a fight with her and Keith…"

Lance words fails him only for a second, but it's enough for them all to notice, before he finds himself able to continue.

"And Keith's like a freaking space ninja, nothing can take him down."

Shiro stops listening, praying that the Cuban is right. He worries about the fact that Black is unable to connect with Red as she did with Green, fears it even. He can't explain it but the swears he can feel that something is wrong, that something horrible has happened.

He wonders if it's Black's feelings or his own intuition.

He prays they are all alright, that nothing has happened to them, but deep down, it feels like he's lying to himself. He knows it selfish of him, but most of all he prays Keith is alright.

Keith is all he has left.   

He can't lose his little brother.

Chapter Text

Allura is once again alone on the bridge, Coran having left moments ago to prepare a meal the Princess knows neither of them will be able to stomach. But she hadn’t had the heart to tell the older Altean not to bother, well aware that he was in need of a distraction.

She won’t rob him of that.

She wishes for one as well, but knows it is something she cannot afford.

The room is almost eerily silent, the only source of light the still flashing screen that bathes everything in red. She has tried to redirect all the power aside from that single screen, in a desperate attempt to bring the Castle out of the planet’s field, but it hasn’t helped. The Castle is still struggling to keep itself afloat and they have run out of option.

Allura sighs and shakes her head.

They had run out of options hours ago.

She doesn’t know what else she can do but keep trying to reach the rest of the team and hope that they can return in time.

She still feels like a failure.

She is the Princess. She is the one that is supposed to have all the answers, yet she can do nothing but pray to Gods that has never answered her before.

The Gods her mother prayed to every night, who did nothing to aid them in the war, won’t be answering her now.

Allura draws a breath that feels like it fills her lungs with ice and curls up a little tighter where she sits, leaning her head against her knees. She tries to keep the tears at bay, her shoulders trembling with the effort.

Her tears won’t help them.

She needs to be strong, to keep going despite the seeming impossible odds that stand in her way. She needs to find a way to help them before it is too late.

A sob tears itself from her throat.

It already feels like their time has run out.

It shames her to admit it, but she has not been able to bring herself to walk into the infirmary. She is not proud of herself, but she fears what she will find behind those doors. Seeing Keith when he and Pidge had been brought back had almost broken her, Keith hanging limply in Coran’s arms as the older Altean had rushed him to the infirmary

There had been so much blood.

Once Coran had disappeared with Keith, Pidge had fallen to the floor and cried, her screams echoing across the hangar while she curled up on the floor. She had clawed at her chest plate, the white hidden behind a sea of crimson that is so thick it dripped onto the floor.

Allura had stared at the youngest Paladin for a moment, shock making her body still. It took everything she had to break out of it but once she had, she had rushed over to the Green Paladin and gathered her up in her arms. Red had been smeared across her own suit and she had flinched as it had soaked so deeply she had felt it against her skin.

But she had never let go of Pidge.

Allura forces herself from the memory, tearing herself from its grip and back to the present.  It is almost painful, but she knows she can’t let herself linger. There is still so much left for her to do and she can’t allow time to run away from her.

She must find help.

Drawing a breath that feels like a lie, she forces herself to stand and steps towards the controls. But before she can even reach them, the silence in the room is broken by the shrill sound of an alarm. It is so sudden that Allura stumbles, finding her footing in time to spin around the face the flashing screen that has suddenly appeared to her right.

Her heart drops to her stomach.

It is the alarm to the infirmary, more exact Keith’s heart monitor.

His heart is giving up.

Before she can even think about it, she is out the door and running down the corridor, the sound of the alarm chasing after her. She hears the sound of breaking plates as she runs past the kitchen and a moment later, Coran is beside her. They both run as fast as their legs can carry them and together they throw themselves into the infirmary.

 Only to come to a stumbling stop.

Because Keith is shaking so hard it looks like he is having a seizure.

Pidge has draped herself over the Red Paladin, screaming and crying as she desperately tries to keep Keith from falling off the bed. He is still unconscious, but his body is fighting as if he was awake, fresh sweat covering his skin and making his black hair stick to his forehead.

But what scares them the most, is the fresh red and greenish yellow that soaks through now loose bandages.

Allura can’t move, her feet glued to the floor from shock. Sound disappears as all she can focus on is the blood seeping out from the bandages and falling to the sheets. It forms around him like a wall of red specked with yellow, soaking so deep Allura knows they will never be clean again.

When all of this is over, she swears she will burn it all.

Without warning, Keith’s struggle intensifies as he lets out a strangled sound. His eyes snaps open violently with a gasp and then suddenly, he is choking beneath the mask, red splattering against the inside of the crystal.

Pidge cries out as Coran sprints forward, pushing the Green Paladin back as he quickly turns Keith to his side, ripping the mask off just in time.

Keith’s entire body trembles as he heaves, his head hanging off the edge of the bed as a mixture of blood and a thin yellow liquid falls from his lips and splatters against the floor. A few drops of the foul-smelling liquid lands on Coran’s knees and shoes, but the Royal Advisor doesn’t even flinch.

The screen, which is placed above the bed, flashes with a shrill noise of warning, bathing the room in red. Its use is to show Keith’s vitals but the only thing they can see on the screen now is his unstable heartbeat. It beast almost too quickly for the monitor to pick up, but Coran can still make out certain movements that makes his own heart freeze in his chest.

He leans down slightly to see that Keith’s eyes are still open, but glazed over and unfocused. They stare off into nothing as the young man struggles to breathe through the liquid still forcing its way out of his lungs. It drops from his lips like a small river, pooling on the floor by Coran’s feet.

“Keith, my boy, can you hear me?” Coran speaks softly, with a hint of desperation. “Can you focus on my voice, my boy? Keith?”

But the Red Paladin shows no recognition to even having heard the older Altean. He blinks once before the tremors starts up again and he leans forward as more liquid spills from his lips. His cheeks are flushed with color for the first time in hours, but for the first time it something they wish was absent.

Coran can feel the heat coming of Keith’s skin that before had been cold and it frightens him. The young Paladin’s skin feels as it could have burned him had it not been for the Royal Advisor’s gloves. He tilts Keith a bit more to his side, aware that it will put pressure on the injury but at the moment he is more concerned of Keith drowning in the mixture his body is still trying to force out of his already weakened lungs.

He puts one of his hands on Keith’s collarbone to help stabilize him, but flinches when the fabric of his glove instantly grows warm and wet. He pulls his hand back and his eyes widen when he sees the mixture of red and green.

The Royal Advisor looks up towards Pidge, question on his tongue, only for it to die as he sees the broken look the Green Paladin’s eyes are carrying. She sits on the floor, staring up at Keith’s back as tears falls and tremors shakes her body. Her arms are wrapped around her middle, as if she’s trying to hold herself together, and she is gripping the fabric of her shirt so tightly her knuckles has turned white.

There is no need for Coran to ask any questions. Pidge has already answered them without uttering a word.

He lets his gaze fall back towards Keith’s chest and carefully peels away the loose bandages, almost gagging at the scent that hits him as he removes the now stained fabric. He forces himself to continue and removes the last layer.

The moment he does, he wishes he hadn’t.

Without meaning to, he draws back with a gasp. He feels his throat constrict at the mangled oozing mess he can’t bring himself to look away no matter how much his stomach wishes he would.

It looks worse. It looks so much worse than when Keith had first been brought to the infirmary.

Coran hadn’t thought it possible.

He has never hated being wrong before as he is now.

“By the Gods…”

He opens his mouth to speak, to call out for supplies, but the words wouldn’t come. The wound has gotten so much worse over such a short amount of time, faster than Coran could ever have prepared for. The Royal Advisor can tell that the infection is a powerful just from looking at it, too powerful.

It has formed too quickly and what frightens Coran the most is the fact that the medical instruments wasn’t able to pick up on it before it was too late. Had that been the case, he might have been able to starve it off, at least for some time.

Now, there is nothing he can do.

He doesn’t have to run any scans to know that the venom is aiding, if not causing, the infection and no matter how much medicine he administrates or how many times he flushes the wound, without the antidote, the infection will never die.

He swallows, his throat raw and hurting.

Coran glances up at the screen still displaying Keith’s heartbeat and feels something harsh wrap itself round his chest. He kneels beside the bed and places a hand on the Red Paladin’s cheek, hoping to see some form of life Keith’s eyes.

He finds nothing but distance.

“My boy,” He whispers softly, his voice pleading. “Just hang on a little longer, please. Just for a little longer, that’s all we’re asking.”

Keith shows no signs of having heard him, his body still fighting for enough air. It was already a struggle before and with the liquid now filling his lungs, he has nothing to spare. He is drowning, the venom too much for his already broken body.

Coran almost pulls away when he spots something that makes his heart stutter almost painful in his chest.

Something flickers in Keith’s eyes, a flicker that for a second looks like something Coran recognizes as the Red Paladin’s stubborn fire, before it dulls. But the Royal Advisor knows what he saw.

Keith didn’t want to give up. Somehow, through all that pain and suffering, Keith has heard them and is willing to continue fighting, but Coran knows he cannot win this fight by himself.

Neither will he need to.

Corn stands and squares his shoulders, his gaze focused on Keith as he finally finds his voice.

“Allura, I need you to fetch me the largest syringe you can find. Look in the cabins to your left.” He takes a calming a breath, before continuing. “Pidge, the drawers behind you, find me a tube. And one of the glass containers from the counter, the large one.”

There are no movements from the two for a few seconds, seconds Coran knows Keith doesn’t have.

“Now!”

Both Allura and Pidge rush into action, the Green Paladin stumbling as she pushes herself onto her feet. Her hands shake as she pulls open drawer after drawer, until she finally finds what she is looking for. She grabs one of the clear tubes, a longer one, and then grabs the largest glass container one the counter, before she spins around and rushes back to the bed.

She almost drops everything as she spots the syringe in Allura’s hand.

The syringe itself is large, but it is the needle the steals the breath from Pidge’s lungs. The needle is longer than Allura’s middle finger and slightly thicker than her own ring finger.

It is horrifying.

Pidge knows what is about to happen, knows it needs to be done, but that doesn’t make the knowledge any easier to stomach, which is why she hesitates a few feet from the bed.

It takes Coran shouting for the equipment for her to start moving again.

Pidge finds herself unable to look as Coran prepares and instead places herself at Keith’s head, using her own body to shield the older teenager from what is about to happen, even if she knows Keith still wouldn’t have seen anything in the first place.

His eyes are already distant.

Gone.

Pidge never thought she would miss the light in Keith’s eyes, how bright amethyst eyes almost seemed to shine when the light hit them just right.

She would give anything to see that shine again.

A sudden shrill noise breaks her out of the fog that had started to surround her and her sight immediately focuses on the screen above the bed. Something in her breaks and she turns just in time to stop Keith from falling out of the bed as the Red Paladin’s body suddenly starts twitching. She screams as more, far more than before, liquid spills from his pale lips.

Now, there is almost only blood.

It splatters against the front of her shirt and a part of her wants to move away, wants to get away from the blood, but to do that she has to let go of Keith and that is something she could never bring herself to do. Instead she tightens her hold of him and tries to ignore the wet spot on her stomach that grows each time Keith twitch.

Coran’s voice breaks though the shrill noise like a gunshot, so much that Pidge can’t suppress a flinch.

“Pidge, keep holding him a still as you can! Allura, help her!” Pidge hears the older Altean move closer but she doesn’t dare to look, instead tightening her hold of the Red Paladin. “I need him as still as possible!”

Allura hesitates for a fraction of a second, before she rushes forward and drapes herself across Keith’s legs. She places one hand on his hip while she wraps her other arm around his knees, muscles tightening as far as she dares. She feels the body beneath her tremble, so violently she feels it in her own bones. She looks up to see Coran step forward, needle in his hand and the container in the other, and quickly turns her gaze away.

Her own shoulders start to tremble as she hears the older Altean prepare and shuts her eyes, hoping that it will somehow drown out the sound she knows she is about to hear.

It doesn’t.

Despite all the sounds around them, despite all the alarms blaring, the sound of a metal needle pushing through flesh is louder than anything.

And for the first time, Keith shows a reaction.

He starts to struggle, violently. His body strains against the two people holding him down, trying to break free from their hold, trying to pull away from the sudden new pain. Both Allura and Pidge is forced to tighten their hold of him, even Coran wrapping an arm around the boy’s back as he presses the needle deeper.

Despite the shrill sound of the alarm, Coran can still make out Pidge’s scream.

“He can’t breathe! Coran, he can’t breathe!” 

Coran grits his teeth so hard it feels they might crack and presses the needle deeper, until the base of the tube rests against the Red Paladin’s pale skin. There is a small sound that Coran almost misses over the sound of the alarm and then, slowly, thick pinkish fluid drains up the tube now inserted into Keith’s chest and into the container by the Royal Advisor’s feet.

Keith grows still and Coran almost lets out a breath of relief, until he realizes that the alarm is still blaring around them. He turns to look at the screen still hovering above them but Pidge’s scream halts him.

“HE’S NOT BREATHING!”

Coran flinches, before he glances at the screen then quickly back at the boy on the bed. Keith has stopped moving, because he isn’t breathing anymore.

Because his heart has stopped beating.

The Red Paladin has lost the fight.

Coran takes a stumbling step back, hands trembling as tears fills his eyes. His chest suddenly feels tight and hollow at the same time, his gaze falling to the floor as he finds himself unable to look at the still boy for any longer.

The boy he failed.

Allura pulls back from Keith as if struck. Somehow, her legs manage to bring her several steps back until her back hits the cabins located behind her. Her hands rise to cover her mouth, fingers shaking so hard it feels like her bones is about to shatter. Tears run down her cheeks and she makes no move to stop them, her knees finally unable to carry her own weight. She sinks to floor, clasping her hands over her chest as she whisper prayers she knows will do nothing.

She closes her eyes as a sob tears itself from her throat.

She didn’t want this. When she chose to continue her father’s legacy, this isn’t the outcome she wanted.

Pidge feels her own heart shatter. She screams and cries, curling herself around Keith as she begs him to wake up. She curses the universe for taking someone else she cares about away from her, curses the universe for taking another brother from her.

She has already lost enough.

“GIVE HIM BACK!” She screams until her voice cracks with agony. “YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM! GIVE HIM BACK!”

She feels a hand on her shoulder, trying to guide her away, but she rips herself free. She refuses to let go of Keith, to leave him. She curls herself around him and buries her face in those black locks, her tears getting caught by dulled ebony strands. One tear drops onto Keith’s cheek, shimmering in the shine of the lights.

Keith doesn’t react to any of it.

Pidge pulls back slightly, staring at the Red Paladin’s still expression. His mouth is slightly parted, lips painted red from blood that has stopped flowing too late. Empty eyes stare off into to the distance, the amethyst now dulled to the point where those eyes look grey.

The Green Paladin sobs as she realizes that she will never see those amethyst eyes shine again.

“KEITH!”

“!”

The sudden roar shakes the ship so violently the two Alteans crash to the floor, Pidge escaping the same fate do to the fact that she never let go of Keith, the frame of the bed also helping her in staying on her feet. The roar continues, so loud it causes them all to clamp their hands over their ears in a desperate attempt to muffle it.

It does nothing.

It rattles them to their bones, the grief seeping into the core of their souls. There is no mistake of it being Red crying out, but there is something strange about it. The despair strikes them first, but then Red’s fire and determination they had previously thought had begun to fade blazes anew like a volcano erupting.

They don’t understand, not at first.

Pidge opens her mouth to ask Allura what hell is going on, only to freeze when she feels the body beneath twitch. She pulls back, a gasp forced out of her as Keith’s eyes suddenly snaps open and glows of gold. His back arches so violently Pidge fears it will break in half when he falls back to the mattress just as suddenly, eyes fading from gold to amethyst and his broken chest stuttering to life with shallow breaths

Pidge swallows almost painfully as eyes she thought she would never see shine with life again, stares back at her.

“…Keith?”

She hears the two Alteans stand behind her but pays them no attention, unable to tear her eyes away from the boy on the bed.

The very same boy that had been dead only seconds ago.

She reaches out until trembling fingers brushes against the Red Paladin’s cheek and manages a shaky smile as those eyes blink once before they are filled with recognizing. Bloodstained lips curve upwards in one corner of that mouth and Pidge finds herself sobbing, but for the first time since this nightmare started it is in relief.

She falls forward, once more wrapping herself around Keith and just holds him as her own body trembles.

She hasn’t lost him.

Somehow, she has gotten him back.

Keith isn’t sure what he is feeling. He is either feeling too much or nothing at all. It is a strange concept to him, his head muddled in a way that reminds him of when he was eleven and concussed. He can’t see very well either, his eyes as fogged as his mind. There is a heaviness that rests over his body, making all his limbs feel stiff and heavy.

He wouldn’t be able to lift his hand, had he even wanted to.

But for the first time in what feels like years, he isn’t in pain.

He still lacks the ability to draw a breath deep enough to really fill his lungs and his throat feels clogged, but where it had previously been pain, he finds none. Instead what he finds is something he has grown familiar with but had feared he would never have a chance to feel again.

Where there should have been pain, he finds warmth.

Red’s warmth.

He can feel her, curled around him like a lioness around her cub, chasing away the cold and willing to fight any threat that may be foolish enough to come close enough.

She had fought death for him.

He had thought himself gone, too tired to continue the fight no matter how much he had wanted to. But in that darkness, that cold unforgivable darkness, she had found him and brought him back.

He didn’t know how. He was just glad she had.

He feels a slight nudge in his mind, breaking through the fog and smiles weakly as a soft purr washes over him.

‘…Red?’

Keith swears, that for a moment, he feels a muzzle of soft fur caress his cheek.

‘Rest, my cub.’

 His eyes slowly slip close and he finds that he is no longer afraid of the darkness that closes in on him as he finally allows his body to rest.

Red will protect him.