Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Lance," Keith croaked, letting his hand slide into Lance's. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutley positive," Lance smirked, intertwining their fingers.

"Certain?" Keith asked, interlocking their other hands. He put his back against Lance's, still holding hands.

"Yup," Lance said, popping the p. Keith didn't get why he said it like that, but Lance seemed to chuckle at his own... joke? "Start training simulation; Laryngo duo!"

Keith breathed deeply, thinking of the previous nights events, waiting for the lasers to fire. He fell asleep in Lance's arms, on the floor, yet again, and when he woke up, they were in a bed. Lance seemed just as surprised when he woke up, but pulled Keith closer none the less. They stayed like that for about twenty minutes before the breakfast call forced them out of bed. Keith seemed to have lost his Galra looks during their cuddle session, giving the team no proof that he had ever shape shifted. Keith was actually pretty happy with that- It meant he didn't have to tell them... just yet.

Allura had introduced them to a new training program, making them team up with someone. Naturally, the team were, Lance and Keith, Pidge and Hunk, and Allura and Shiro. The object of the training simulation was to avoid any lasers you could without letting go of your teammates hand. The lasers would show up out of nowhere, so you had to look everywhere and anywhere. You could dodge them however you wanted, back to back, side to side, as long as you were holding one of your partners hands at all times. Keith and Lance were first, pushing their backs against each other. The rest were watching from the observation deck.

"Be careful Paladins," Allura called from the speakers, setting the simulation up. "The lasers are dangerous and very painful. Please try not to get shot."

"Wait- how dangerous are they, Allura?" Keith asked, turning Lance so he could face her.

"It depends on where you are shot, Keith. If you get hit anywhere near the chest, let us know immediately. You will need to be put into a cryo-pod right away," Allura said, pressing a few buttons. 

"Starting Laryngo Duo simulation," The bot announced, a hoverbot appearing from thin air. It shot a laser at Lance's chest, but Keith was faster. He lifted Lance up from just the hands, (Which, of course, caused Lance to yell "Sweet mama, get me a piece of him!" and made Shiro groan at his comment.) making the laser hit empty air, as Keith ducked to avoid a shot to the back. He dropped Lance, not letting go of his hands, wheezing for air.

"Dude!" Lance yelled, pulling him to the right to avoid a shot. "How the fuck did you do that?" He asked loudly enough to be heard over lasers. They were starting to get faster and harder to dodge.

"Practice?" Keith said, making it seem like a question. It actually was. "I guess?"

"That," Lance breathed, ducking his head to avoid another shot. Luckily for him, Keith was about two inches shorter, so it didn't hit Keith. "Is amazing."

The rest of the training was mostly spent in silence, the occasionaly grunt of pain and warning call. That is, until Keith got shot in the leg. His leg gave out, forcing him onto one knee. He let go of one of Lance's hands to activate his shield. Despite the burning pain in his calf, Keith didn't make a noise. Lance didn't get what he was doing, looking back at Keith, catching sight of Keith's now bleeding leg (which was weird, because didn't heat normally keep the wound closed? Maybe space lasers are different). Lance let his eyes linger for a second too long.  He let go of Keith's other hand to make the system shut down, but not before a laser hit his elbow. Unlike Keith, Lance yelped in pain. The system shut down, telling them how long they lasted.

"15 dobashes and 27 ticks."

Shiro quickly rushed into the training room, Coran and Hunk right behind him, yelling at Allura to end this program. He knelt down beside Keith, who was clutching his bloody leg in pain, one trembling arm on the floor to steady himself, eyes squeezed shut to keep tears from coming out. "Keith," Shiro said, cupping his jaw to make him look up. His breathing was erratic, his eyes not focusing right. "Are you okay?" he asked, eyes flicking to the bleeding burn on his leg. How the hell did that work?

"L-lance," he croaked, ripping his chin out of Shiro's grasp, eyes searching for the Blue Paladin. Keith found him leaning on Hunk a few feet away, letting his arm be wrapped up by Coran. His eyes never left Keith's. Once he saw that Lance was mostly okay, he let his arm crumple under his weight. Before Keith could face plant, Shiro caught him and dragged Keith into his lap, using his back as a support to stay sitting up. Coran, having put Lance's burnt, but thankfully not bleeding like Keith's, into a sling, made his way over to Keith to patch up his leg. Right as Coran lifted Keith's leg, (Keith totally didn't scream at the pain travelling up his leg. Nope, not at all.), Lance got up, much against Hunk's protests, and marched his way over to Keith. He sat down cross legged right beside him, claiming Keith's hand as his own when he intertwined them with his not injured arm. Even thought Lance knew Keith and Shiro were brothers, he couldn't help the pang of envy that came when he saw their current position.

Keith turned his head away from Coran's work to look at Lance. "Are you okay?"

Lance's face was priceless. It morphed from shock to pain to worry to a soundless laugh to pain again, before it all melted into a worried smile. "Me? Babe, you're bleeding. Mine's just a burn. I'll be fine, space-cat."

Keith groaned, dropping his face into his hand. "Is now really the time for pet names?" Keith mumbled, totally not hiding his blush from the others.

"It's adorable when you blush."

Keith groaned louder this time, from Lance and the pain in his leg. His grip on Lance's hand tightened.

"Squeeze if you want, Keith," Lance whispered when his grip loosened, only loud enough for Keith to hear, "pretend it's my dick."

Keith ripped his hand from Lance's grasp, putting it on his face with the other one. "Lance," he groaned, again, pressing his face into his hands harder. He heard Lance laughing uncontrollably beside him, presumably falling onto the floor behind him- 

"Fuck!" Lance yelled, forcing Keith to look at him. Lance had landed on his bad arm, now clutching it in his free hand, lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at Keith.

"What?" Keith asked, forcing himself not to laugh.

"It's your fault for being an adorable space cat."

"You're- you're-" Keith stuttered, trying to find the right word for it.

"Amazing? Handsome? The best boyfriend you could ever ask for?" Lance suggested, smirking the whole time.

"Exasperating!" Keith practically yelled, mostly from the pain. He slammed his head backwards, apologizing to Shiro.

"Done!" Coran stated, seconds after Keith's small outburst. "Alright, Keith, this injury isn't serious enough for a cryo-pod, like Lance's, but you won't be able to walk for a few quintants. If you'd like, I can hook you up with a hover chair. The only downside with it is you will not be able to move it yourself. You'll need someone to push it for you," Coran said, standing up and offering a hand to Lance. Lance took it and hoisted himself up.

"No, I-"

"He'd like a hover chair, Coran. Thank you," Shiro said, cutting him off. Keith glared at Shiro, but didn't protest. Lance smirked in his direction again.

"Would wittle hurt Keith need a wheelchair?" Lance asked, speaking like a toddler.

"You need a sling," Keith retorted, earning a totally dignified squawk from Lance. "And I thought we were over this!" Keith said, crossing his arms.

"We will never be over bickering. Especially when we decide who's top and who's bottom," Lance said, a look in his eyes telling him that would happen.

"Lance!" Keith yelled, his face going a bright red, "Can you not?"

"Number 3, come with me to fetch the hover chair," Coran said, interrupting their childish squabbling. Lance huffed but followed anyways, shooting Keith a wink over his shoulder.

"Hey, Keith," Shiro said, nodding to Allura and Pidge who had entered the room. They left before he continued.

"What," Keith sighed, shifting off of Shiro so he could look at him.

"You know if he ever treats you wrong-," Shiro tried to say. Emphasis on tried.

"Shiro!" Keith screamed/groaned. "You're just as bad as Lance!"

"I really think I'm not," Shiro laughed, preparing for a pissed Keith. "Despite all of the I'm-his-big-brother-you-hurt-him-you-die looks."

"Shiro!"

Shiro just laughed at Keith's distress.

"But, uh, you guys aren't actually, you know, doing it ?" Shiro said, gesturing vaguely with his hands.

"Shiro, no! Yo-"

"Your knight in shining armour is here!" Lance yelled, running in with a hover chair, cutting Keith off purposely. Lance ignored Keith's glare, just like Keith ignored Shiro's attempts to carry him into the chair. Keith got up on his own and limped to the chair, looking in Lance's eyes with some type of desperation, silently hoping Lance would understand. Lance seemed to understand that he needed to do this on his own, walking back to the handles. Once he reached the chair, he collapsed into it, heaving for air, even thought it was a four foot walk.

"Maybe I should've accepted help," he mumbled, his pants slowing down.

"Lance, do you want me to push it?" Shiro asked, gesturing to his hurt arm.

"Pssh, nah, I got this," Lance said, waving him off. Lance gripped one handle, already starting to push it. 

Keith placed his hand over Lance's, (it was an awkward angle but whatever), silently hoping he made Lance blush as they left the training room so Shiro could train.

 "So... this is a wheelchair without wheels?" Keith asked, playing with his hands. He was getting fidgety in the chair, not having too much space to move around in. He had been in it for a few hours, after all. It was near the Castle's night time, now.

"I guess," Lance said, turning the corner. Keith raised his hand to place it back on Lance's- and he saw it.

The purple.

"Lance," Keith whimpered, scratching- clawing, now- at his arm that was slowly being devoured by purple.

"What's up, space cat?" Lance asked, oblivious to the pain and distress Keith was in. Keith continued to claw his arms off.

"I..." Keith whispered, continuing to claw at his arms, he looked up, tears in his, probably, yellow eyes. "It's happening..."

"What?" Lance asked, looking down. "Oh shit- Keith stop hurting yourself!" Lance yelled, grabbing his wrist with his good hand. "It's fine, you're fine. They won't hate you for this," Lance said, kneeling in front of his hover chair. "Keith, look at me."

Keith looked up reluctantly, finding a pair of ocean-blue eyes right in front of his face, startling him slightly.

"We're going to find the rest of the team, and we're going to show them this, alright?" Lance asked, cupping Keith's cheek. Keith opened his mouth to answer, only to find he had no voice to use. He nodded instead, even if he didn't want to go tell them. Lance smiled warmly at him before getting up to push his chair once more.

Keith's anxiety spiked when they neared the common room. It was filled with laughter and chatter and Keith didn't want to break that. He turned as much as he could in his chair, facing Lance who was looking at him curiously. He didn't stop walking though. "Lance, no- I don't want to do this-" Keith's voice betrayed him, cracking halfway through.

"Keith, buddy, I'll be right here, the whole time. Okay?" Lance asked, stopping outside of the entrance.

Keith whipped his head from side to side, surprised that it hadn't flown off yet. "No, Lance they won't- They won't want me here if I'm like this, Lance, just- I can't,"

"Yes, you can. I won't leave your side for a second. I will be right here the entire time," Lance said scratching the base of his Galran ears.

Curse his cat like tendencies.

He couldn't say no to Lance when he was petting him. God, it felt so good- Oh wow, "Fine," he huffed, leaning into the touch while purring.

Lance just laughed at Keith and pushed him in with his feet, still scratching his ear so he wouldn't back down from this. "Right here," he whispered, pulling his hand back to fully push the hover chair.

Lance cleared his throat when they entered the room, ceasing all conversations and gaining looks from the others. Those looks of irritation and curiosity quickly turned into looks of panic, shock, pain and confusion. Lance nudged Keith's shoulder with his hands, telling him to go on with it. Instead, Keith looked up at him with pleading eyes, as if to say;

Don't make me do this.

When Lance didn't do it for him, Keith sighed and looked at his friends. Pidge and Hunk had a look of confusion on their faces, Shiro's expression was proud,(he already knew from the trials of Marmora), and Allura... oh God, Allura looked as if he had kicked a basket of puppies off of a cliff. "I..." I don't know what's going on, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this, "I'm Galra..I-I don't know how, but I should've told you sooner... but I- I just couldn't deal with the rejection of another family I loved.." Keith practically mumbled that last line, ducking his head so he couldn't see anymore reactions. "I know you all probably hate me now, I'm the fucking enemy, but, I- I was selfish. I didn't want you to hate me so I didn't say anything." Keith bit his lip to keep himself from crying, which, all in all, was a bad idea. With his new fangs, he made his lip bleed.

Lance placed a hand on his shoulder, letting Keith know he was there.

"Keith," Shiro said, causing the younger boy to look up with teary, but violet, eyes. "This doesn't change who you are. We would never hate you."

"Yea!" Hunk yelled enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air like he was Judd Nelson acting in the Breakfast Club.

"Keith, this is our weird ass space family. Shiro speaks for all of us when he says we would never hate you, because we wouldn't. We love you, Keith," Pidge smiled,  coming to hug Keith.

"I love you the most, space cat," Lance whispered, kissing his cheek. That seemed to bring him out of the Galra form. He watched in awe as the purple faded from where his arms were wrapped around Pidge, (and Shiro and Hunk and Coran) turning back into their pale colour.

"Hey, look at that. Your ears are still cat like," Lance chirped, moving his hand to itch them. Keith groaned and dropped his head, but only to hide a smile. He couldn't hide the purring that came with those oh, so, amazing scratches, though. Because, wow. He would never tell Lance it, but wow. Those felt so good.

However, as much as Keith wanted too, the moment didn't last forever. They all had to go their own separate ways, be it training or hacking or eating, leaving Keith alone with Lance and Allura. Allura had a stoney expression, her hands clenched on the armrest of the chair. Keith couldn't see it, but Lance had a face that said 'I dare you. Say something mean. Anything.' So, that's what she did.

"What?" She asked, finally letting her anger out. Keith looked somewhat shocked at her outburst. Lance stopped scratching his ear, letting his hand squeeze the handle of the hover chair so he wouldn't punch Allura or squeeze Keith's ear.

"I-" Keith cleared his throat, hating how shaky his voice sounded. "I didn't-"

"You think I'd like a Galra as a pilot of one of the lions? It was hard enough when the Black Paladin was fully Galra! Do you think a half Galra is any better? No! You could just be a spy of some sort, telling Lotor all of our plans!" Allura spoke calmly, despite all of the venom in her voice. Keith stared at her, with wide and teary eyes, mouth still open from when he was cut off. Lance was fuming, it was a surprise the handle he had a death grip on hadn't snapped in half yet. "You think as if controlling the ability to change what you look like would help? It doesn't. It just confirms my suspicions, you filthy Galra. It's no wonder why you were abandoned as a ch-" 

A loud snap startled Allura out of her rant. Keith jumped in his seat.

It seems the handle did break.

"What the hell, Allura?" Lance hissed, dropping the handle he'd broken. "It's not like Keith chose to be apart of the race that killed your kind! You can't blame him for this; that wasn't him. It was Zarkon and his shitty empire! As much as he doesn't want to be Galra," Lance new that for a fact. "it makes him who he is! You can't change that! Everyone else, even Coran for fucks sake, has come to terms with it and doesn't care! Why can't you do that? He's done nothing to deserve this hate and disrespect! All he's ever done is do good and good and good, and this is how you treat him? Do you think if he were some fucking spy, he'd-" Lance broke off, remembering what happened when they were captured. "All he's done is help, Allura. Is this how you want to treat your loyal red paladin?" Lance spat, turning Keith's chair around. He ignored Allura's blank expression as he left, slamming the button to close the door behind him.

"Lance," Keith finally said, slightly shell shocked from what happened, "You didn't have to-"

"I don't care. She can't treat you like that, space cat," Lance said, trying to scratch one of Keith's ears with his burnt arm. It would distract Keith from the current topic, maybe even help him feel better. Keith pretended not to like it, but, oh, Lance knew. From the way he purred to the way he leaned into the touch unintentionally.

Tried was the key word.

Keith swatted at his hand, ducking his head slightly. "But- what if- what if she was right, Lance?" Keith's voice sounded so broken and small.

"She wasn't," Lance said, matter of factly.

"But-"

"She wasn't, Keith. She's only looking from one point of view. If she thinks all of that shit about you, then she's missing out."

Keith didn't seem happy with that answer, but he didn't push it.

Lance pushed him into the doorway of his room, taking him out of the chair and settling him on the bed. "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just gonna put some pyjamas on," Lance said, slipping out of the doorway to get to his own room.

A few seconds after Lance had left, Allura walked in. Keith flinched when she stopped at the foot of the bed, but made no move to speak or hurt her. "Keith, I-"

"Get out," Lance hissed, having entered in the room once more.

"Lance, I just-"

"Get. Out."

Allura sighed, but left none the less.

"Lance, I could've handled that," Keith said, moving over to make room.

"Like you handled yourself last time?" Lance said, causing Keith to flinch. "I-I'm sorry, Keith, I didn't mean it like that-"

"No. It's fine. I get it," Keith sighed, rolling onto his side so he wouldn't have to look at Lance. Despite how mad he was at Lance, he couldn't force himself to make Lance leave. He loved the boy too much. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's wait, hesitating before latching on. Keith didn't move, so he held him against his chest, murmuring apologies and sappy shit into his purple ear. Keith hummed in response playing with the fingers around his waist.

"Why didn't your ears revert back?" Lance asked casually, as if he was asking someone to pass him the salt during dinner. "Not that I'm complaining."

Keith shrugged, releasing one of Lance's hands when he moved it. That was Keith's mistake.

Lance placed his hand at Keith's ear and- oh wow. Wow.

Keith didn't bother to stop the purring this time.

However, that only lasted for a few minutes.

The alarms blared throughout the room, causing Keith's ears to flatten against his head. Lance got out of bed, dragging Keith with him and putting him in the hover chair. They bolted down the hallway, as fast as they could go with a hover chair, already seeing the others ahead of them.

Keith mentally cursed himself for getting hit in the leg.

It would be a liability in a fight.

Chapter Text

"Keith..."

No response. The knife was pressed further into his neck.

"Keith, please. This isn't you. You wouldn't hurt us, you wouldn't hurt me."

He felt blood trickle down his neck.

He wracked his brain to try and find something to break Keith out of it.

"Space-cat, please, it's us, your team! Your fr- Family! We're your family, Keith!"

"We-" He choked off as the knife pressed too hard against his throat. "Keith."

Keith pulled back a little. The cold metal against his neck wasn't completely gone, but he could talk again. The collar around Keith's neck flashed yellow right before Keith screamed. The knife was against his throat too hard once more. "We don't care that you're Galra, Keith! You're still Keith! We love you! I love you!"

Instead of the response he was expecting, Keith hesitated. He started to pull the knife away, and- the collar around Keith's neck flashed yellow at the same time Keith let out a blood curling scream. He could only watch as Keith clawed at the collar for several seconds before the pain overtook him. Keith collapsed, becoming dead weight on top of him. Lance quickly recovered from his shock, hugging Keith close to his body with his bloody arm. He used his good arm to put his rifle against Keith's neck, shooting the collar off. Keith let out a pained whimper. "Sorry, I'm sorry," Lance whispered.

The floor suddenly felt colder.

"Shiro! Shiro, he's down! The collar's off!"

"I'm sending Hunk to come grab you guys," Shiro grunted, still protecting the Castle-Ship.

Lance knew the scream and whimpers Keith made in the past few minutes would forever haunt him.

How had it come to this?

 "Paladins!" The alarm that rang was just a drill, seeing how fast they could get to the control room with injuries. They had a mission, sure, but it could wait for Keith and Lance to heal. Once Lance and Keith fell out of the pods (Keith came out first), Allura gathered them all into the control room where she was speaking to them now. "We have a scouting mission!" She locked eyes with all of them, except for Keith. Keith looked at his feet, shaking his shoulder away from Lance's grasp. Being too entranced by his feet, he didn't see the quick flash of hurt on Lance's face. "Shiro, Pidge and Hunk you shall stay up here to do whatever you please as Lance goes down to this planet," she motioned with one hand to a holographic orange and green swirled planet, "to collect a few flowers and see if anyone lives there!" She clasped her hands together in front of her, watching them all with expectant eyes. Minutes passed. Lance could see the twitch in her eyebrow as she tried to contain a steady composure. "What are you waiting for?"

"Well? What about Keith?" Lance snapped, crossing his arms. Keith moved to stand behind Lance. Luckily, Lance didn't notice or he would've pushed Keith towards Allura. 

"Lance, it's fine," Keith whispered, but Lance grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward. Nope, he noticed.

"What job do you have for Keith, Princess?" Lance spat the last word out. Keith wrapped his arms around himself and looked at his feet, refusing to look at Allura. He would do the same with Coran, but Coran was no where in sight.

"Oh," Allura hid her look of disgust, but Keith, poor, poor Keith saw it, because he chose that moment to look up. "Well, the Red Paladin can aid Coran in his cleanings and repairs. I'm certain he would need help!" Allura's fake enthusiam was heard by all of the Paladins. They all broke into a chorus of protests.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Pidge yelled, stepping forward to stare Allura dead in the eye. "Not every fucking Galra is fucking evil! Have you even fucking met the fucking Blade of Marmora?! They're all good! More importantly, Keith is fucking good! You should fucking know that by now, Allura. We've been forming Voltron and saving the God damn mother FUCKING UNIVERSE FOR A FUCKING YEAR NOW, ALLURA!" By the end of her little rant, Pidge was out of breath. She had been yelling at the top of her lungs, after all.

"Allura, just because Keith is Galra doesn't mean he's changed. He's been Galra this whole time, none of us have known it," Shiro tried to take the rational side of things, but you could still see his fury resonating within.

Hunk remained uncharacteristically quiet.

Just as Lance started yelling, the Princess left the room, leaving them no more room to argue with her, but to get to their missions. For Lance to get to his mission.

Everyone dispersed from the control room in undignified grumbles, save for Lance and Keith. Lance touched his arm lightly, not knowing what was going on in Keith's head. His eyes remained glued to the floor.

"Babe?"

Keith tensed and lashed his arm out to the direction of the voice. He stopped a few inches from Lance's face, fear evident on his face. "I-" Lance pulled him into a hug, resting his chin on Keith's head. Keith rested his head in the crook of Lance's neck.

"It's okay. I get it. Just ignore Allura for now, alright? I'm sure we can get some fucking sense into her thick skull soon enough," Lance said, chin moving Keith's head ever so slightly. Keith kept his arms in between them.

"I'll, um," Keith stuttered, pushing away from Lance after a few seconds, "go help... Coran, with whatever he needed help with," Keith rubbed at his cheeks furiously, wiping the tears off.

"Nope, no, no you don't," Lance said, grabbing Keith's arm. Keith looked back at him, eyes wide out of curiosity with one eyebrow raised. Lance mentally praised himself for how better Keith had become over the few weeks they'd been back, seeing as Keith didn't flinch when he suddenly grabbed Keith's arm. "You're coming on the mission with me."

"Wh- I- Lance, no. If Allura wants me to help Coran, then that's what I'm g- Lance!" Lance had started dragging Keith behind him as he walked to Blue. "Let go!" 

Keith wanted to go. He didn't struggle against Lances grip, he just slowed his walking and allowed himself to be dragged. Instead of letting Lance hold onto his wrist, Keith pried his hand off and interlocked his fingers with Lances, moving into step beside him. Even without looking, he knew Lance would be beaming. After all, Keith was too.

 "Fucking ten thousand year old database!" Lance screamed, dodging a blast aimed for his head. This planet was definitely inhabited, and they did not like visitors, even if they were Voltron. They had attacked right as Keith and Lance had entered the forest. They didn't want to separate, but they didn't really have a choice. Half of the aliens had pushed Keith into a corner (it was really just the opposite side from Lance), while the others chased Lance around.

So, at the moment, Lance was hiding behind a tree, poking his head out to see if Keith had gotten any closer, or to find Keith. He had stopped responding on comms a while ago, and none of their calls to the Castle were going through. The mission was only supposed to be half an hour. If they didn't come back within that time, the others would come in to get them. The Castle was nearby.

You know what didn't help?

The inhabitants were Galra.

"Why couldn't it have picked up that ducking Galras, of all species, lived here?! Fuck you!" Lance yelled, mostly to himself, while mentally glaring at the Castle. He had brought out his bayard earlier, but it was hard to make shots when you were pushed behind a tree.

"For fucks- Keith, are you okay? Are you going to respond?" Lance asked into his comms, shooting one of them in the leg beforehand hiding behind the tree again.

There was a lot of static before Keith's voice filtered in. Relief flooded Lance in waves and waves, threatening to drown him. That is, until he heard how pained Keith sounded. "..ce, I can't," Keith coughed "see you... but I-I.... red, maybe blo.... they- Lance!"

Lance had poked his body out to shoot once more when Keith screamed his name. It startled him out of his position, causing him to get shot in his dominant arm. Lances bayard fell from his hand as he hid behind the tree, left arm cupping the burn mark on his right. "Fucking- I just healed that!"

"...elp..." Keith's words were surrounded by static, but Lance knew, for fucks sake, he fucking knew Keith was asking for help. He never asked for help. Never.

Something was insanely wrong.

Lance looked around for Keith's helmet, his mullet, his armour, something. "Keith, Keith baby, where are you?"

"...le bush... Lan.....n't breat...." Keith whimpered into the comms.

Lance didn't give a fuck if he died. He ran from his hiding spot, looking for any purple bushes. He couldn't hear the Galra following him... which was odd. He didn't question it, though. He was actually rather grateful for it. He needed to find Keith.

"Keith, Keith baby, talk to me here," Lance begged, yes, he begged. He did not need a dead lover.

Wheezing came from the other end. "..y ribs..."

"Keith, baby, what hurts? What happened?"

Thankfully, Pidge had managed to keep the static away long enough for Lance to hear Keith's story.

"The.. the Galra guy.. had enhancements, and-and he impaled me... Lance, it hurts..." Keith mumbled, pain evident in his voice. Lance swore to his loving mother that he would murder every fucking Galra that ever touched Keith. 

"I know, I know baby, just hold on, I'm coming. Anything else?" Lance lied, still looking for Keith.

"He-he came back... when I yelled your name.. and injected something into my neck... and put a collar on me... he said something... but I-I didn't... I didn't hear it..."

"Keith, baby, I'm coming, please, please, just hold on," Lance begged, again, tears flowing down his face.

"I'm tired... Lance... can I... can I sleep?" Lance finally caught sight of Keith. Fuck, he did not look good. He was lying on his back, on the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath his leg. A spike was going through his leg, and a dark bruise had formed on his jaw. Blood had dribbled down his chin and onto the leafy ground.

"No, baby, I see you, just stay awake for a few more minutes, alright?" Lance watched as Keith's eyes fluttered closed. He was so close, it couldn't end now. "Keith! Keith, babe, wake up!"

No response.

Lance slid to his knees beside Keith, cupping his face in his hands. "Baby, don't die on me, wake up..."

"Lance! Lance, what's going on?!" Pidge's voice filtered through the comms. Lance realized they'd been talking the whole time, but he had tuned them out. It sounded like they were fighting... Maybe the Galra were attacking them as well?

"Extraction. We need an extraction, fast," Lance practically mumbled, shifting so he could keep the blood from pouring out. He placed his hands around the spike, trying to stop the blood. He looked back at Keith's face, just realizing how pale he looke... No. No, he was turning purple.

Lance wasn't really sure what happened after that. Keith seemed to have woken up, tackling him to the ground. Keith straddled him in full Galra form, pressing his luxite blade to his neck. "Shiro! Shiro, I think Keith's being mind control-" Keith pressed the knife further into his neck. "Fuck, Keith, this isn't you-"

The person above Keith growled. Lance's arms were pinned at his sides by Keith's bloody and non bloody legs. He let his eyes trail up to Keith's impaled thigh, to the collar on his neck, to the sheen of sweat on his forehead... Collar?

That was it.

The collar was controlling him, or something.

"Shiro, I think the collar's controlling him, I ju- Keith," Lance choked out, trying to get one his arms out to push the knife away.

He tuned the others out, focusing on ways to get Keith to fight it.

"Keith..."

No response. The knife was pressed further into his neck.

"Keith, please. This isn't you. You wouldn't hurt us, you wouldn't hurt me," Lance voice was strained against the knife.

He felt blood trickle down his neck.

He wracked his brain to try and find something to break Keith out of the control.

"Space-cat, please, it's us, your team! Your fr- Family! We're your family, Keith!"

"We-" He choked off as the knife pressed too hard against his throat. "Keith."

Keith pulled back a little. The cold metal against his neck wasn't completely gone, but he could talk again. The collar around Keith's neck flashed yellow right before Keith screamed. The knife was against his throat too hard once more. "We don't care that you're Galra, Keith! You're still Keith! We love you! I love you!"

He really, really hoped Keith could fight it.

Instead of the response he was expecting, Keith hesitated. He started to pull the knife away, and- the collar around Keith's neck flashed yellow at the same time Keith let out a blood curling scream. He could only watch as Keith clawed at the collar for several seconds before the pain overtook him. Keith collapsed, becoming dead weight on top of him. It was clear Keith was still awake for a few seconds, just unable to do anything except shake violently above him. Lance quickly recovered from his shock, hugging Keith close to his body with his bloody arm. He used his good arm to put his rifle against Keith's neck, shooting the collar off. Keith let out a pained whimper. "Sorry, I'm so sorry," Lance whispered. Keith had passed out seconds after Lance said that.

Lance knew the scream and whimpers Keith made in the past few minutes would forever haunt him.

"Shiro! Shiro, he's down! The collar's off!" Lance yelled, thankful that the static was gone. He could hear Pidge's fingers tapping her keyboard at an inhuman rate to keep it away.

"What happened?" Shiro asked while grunting, still (probably) protecting the Castle-Ship.

"The collar on him was controlling him, and he will definitely need a pod. Something impaled him and I'm pretty sure his ribs are broken, along with the burn marks on his neck," Lance informed him, shifting a little. "I can't carry Keith. My arm is fucked up."

"Let him bleed out and die. Leave him there to ro-" Pidge cut off Allura's voice.

"Bitch," Pidge muttered under her breath.

"I'll give you the full story when we get back to the Castle," Lance said through grit teeth. He was going to fucking kill Allura.

"I'll come get you guys," Hunk said. Lance could hear the Yellow Lion's roar above them.

"That'd be great," Lance mumbled, holding Keith a little tighter. "It'd be great if you got here in the next few seconds, before my Space-Cat dies."

Hunk snorted on the other end.

"Um, his Galra form faded back into human form. I think he prefers looking human, so that's a good thing?" Lance tried to lighten the mood, but it came out more of a question.

"Yea," Shiro sighed. Lance couldn't hear the battle through the comms anymore, they probably finished the Galra off.

"Well, anyways, I'm really fucking tired, and I'm probably gonna pass out soon. I'm not in life threatening danger, so just wake me up when you get here, buddy," Lance said, getting a comfortable as possible with a somewhat heavy Space-Cat above him.

"No, Lance, don't-"

"Too late," Lance mumbled, letting exhaustion overtake him.

Yea. They'd be fine.

Chapter Text

Sure they didn't want to separate, but what choice did they have at this point?

The aliens had ambushed them when they had walked into the forest. Half of them pushed Keith further into one side of the forest, while the other pushed Lance further away from Keith when he tried to get closer. Their eyes met across the battlefield, and they came to a silent agreement. 

They needed to separate.

Instead of fighting the aliens (turns out they were Galra too, isn't that neat?), Keith dodged and let himself be pushed into the forest. From what he could see, Lance was doing the same thing. Nope, that wouldn't work. They wouldn't be able to find each other. "Lance," he spoke into the comms, dodging a laser to the gut. One of them had a sword, while the other four had blasters. There was a Galra further behind them with upgrades like Sendak, but he made no move to attack, just walking forwards slowly with robotic... hands? clasped behind his back. Lance had the same amount of Galra as he did, but two had swords, three had blasters, and no one had robotic parts. They were equally screwed. Lance's gun wasn't meant for close range fighting, while Keith's blade wasn't meant for long range fighting.

"Lance," he tried again, this time not waiting for an answer. "Find cover and try to take out your guys. I'll try and help once I get rid of mine, or, y'know, defeat them?"

"...n't do th...ready go...oyfriend," Static surrounded Lance's words. What did he just say?

"Lance? What are you saying?" Keith asked, slicing the droid with the sword in half. He was pushed further into the forest.

"...o' static...ar you..." Keith was momentarily distracted, watching a tree fall where Lance was (or still is). That was enough time for the Galra with enhancements to step forward, commanding the other bots to fall back. He had a good four feet over Keith, a metal ear, and two arms that had spikes instead of hands. By the looks of it, Keith figured the spikes could detach from the arms. Taking his distraction for advantage, the Galra kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying. His back slammed against the trunk of one of the orange trees, which caused him to groan.

"...ou oka..?" Lance's voice filtered in, but it was once again covered by static.

Keith blinked the black dots away, not quite sure of what Lance asked. He was about to push himself into a standing position, to face the Galra coming his way, but something stopped him. Before he knew it, one of the spikes were flying through the air to stab him, and from where the Galra was aiming, it would have been fatal. But hey, the universe has to got to be his friend some time, right? Wrong.

The spike decided Keith's left thigh would be it's new home. It sliced through his skin, his muscle, anything that got in it's way. It managed to avoid the bone all together, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Instead of screaming, because no, Keith would not let the Galra have that satisfaction, Keith bit his lip hard enough for it to bleed. The Galra walked towards him, pulling him to his feet by a bruising grip on his jaw (Keith wasn't really sure how, his hand was a spike, after all), right before lifting him off of his feet. 

He bit something every time he felt the need to scream in pain.

"Pathetic Galra mutt.." The Galra muttered, taking in his features.

He wanted to call out to Lance, tell him to get out of here, or something, but the grip was too tight to open his mouth with. He settled with trying to get a noise from the Galra with his foot and fists. Struggling didn't seem to work, seeing as he was too far to reach the Galra. He turned Keith from side to side, presumably inspecting Keith's physical features. Once he was done, he let go of Keith's jaw, causing him to crumble to the ground in a very graceful heap of limbs and blood. The Galra 'tsk'ed at his bloody form and walked to where the droids were, holding out his spike (it has fingers? What the fuck?!) for something. Keith tried to breathe in and out properly, but something in his chest wasn't working right. Humiliating wheezes left his mouth as he tried again and again to breathe right, even if it made his chest feel like it was on fire.

He couldn't see Lance, but he could hear the fight from the other side, so he figured Lance was still there.

"...th? Ar.. okay...to respo..." Lance's voice sounded panicked from his end, even with the static enveloping his words.

"Lance... I can't breathe right, and I can't see you, but I-I can see a lot of red from that direction...I think.." Keith coughed, feeling blood dribble down his bruised chin. "I think they might be lasers... and I might pass out from blood loss..." Keith broke off, trying to sit up and grab the bayard that left him when he became a bird. It was a few feet away. He could get it. "They- Lance..!" He could get it. That mantra broke off when the Galra grabbed the front of his undersuit. He injected something into his neck, then quickly put the collar on after that. He let go of Keith's undersuit, backing away with the other droid that had handed him the stuff, saying something in a voice Keith couldn't hear. Keith fell back onto his back with a groan, unable to move further. The Galra went towards the direction of Lance's voice. He had gotten incredibly closer during that little talk. He didn't hear Lance say anything, but he heard a lot of static. Lance was talking. Keith was losing the fight to stay awake. He needed to warn Lance.

"He's coming to you...I can't get up... to help..." Keith wasn't sure how much of that he heard, but if it made it sound like he needed help Keith was gonna burn his fucking helmet when they got back. Speaking of the helmet, Keith heard a bit of typing. Was Pidge trying to get rid of the static? Hopefully.

"Keith... baby, whe... you?" Lance's voice was more clear now, hardly any static ate his words like it was a fucked up version of pac man. Keith managed to make out what Lance said, and when Lance calls him 'baby ' things are serious. He must've thought Keith was asking for help.

Fuck.

Keith was going to burn the helmet when they got back.

Now that Lance thought he needed help, he wouldn't be able to convince Lance otherwise. He decided to give in and get the help he actually needed. "I'm.. I'm beside a purple bush," Keith wheezed, trying to breathe again, and wow, did his chest hurt. Did he break a rib or something? "I- I can't breathe right, Lance, it hurts so damn much..." What the hell? Was Keith whimpering now?

Pathetic Galra Mutt.

The words echoed in his head never ending, never stopping, getting louder and disgusted each time it made a lap.

"...by, talk to m..." Lance practically begged as Keith poked multiple spots on his chest where the pain was the most. He winced, hissed, cringed, and did anything that showed signs of weakness several times. Maybe it was a few ribs that were broken.

"Lance, my ribs.." Keith wheezed, unable to get more out. Poking was not the right choice.

Through another line, Keith heard more typing. It seemed to get louder every click, and wow, it was loud. Keith resisted the urge to whip his helmet at a Galra to keep the blooming headache at bay.

"Keith, baby, what hurts? What happened?" Lance asked, and Keith had never heard Lance so loud before. Or he had? He couldn't remember well at the moment. He did notice that the static was gone, though. He also noticed the inhumanly fast typing in the background. Pidge must be getting rid of the static.

"The... the Galra guy... had enhancements," and it was hard to form a proper sentence, Jesus, "and-and he impaled me..." Keith saw a small flash of blue. Was he getting near? "Lance, it hurts..." Keith didn't care how pathetic he sounded. Everything hurt, and he wanted Lance. Was that too much to ask?

"I know, I know baby, just hold on, I'm coming. Anything else?" Lance asked, and God, Keith hoped he was near and that blue wasn't his imagination.

"He-he came back... when I yelled your name.. and injected something into my neck... and put a collar on me... he said something... but I-I didn't... I didn't hear it..." Keith sighed, which was a huge mistake. The sigh ended in Keith wheezing for the proper air he wasn't receiving. 

"Keith, baby, I'm coming, please, please, just hold on," Lance begged, again. Keith didn't like it when he begged like that. Why was he begging, anyways?

"I'm tired... Lance... can I... can I sleep?" Keith couldn't really feel anything anymore. His left leg had gone numb, his chest wasn't on fire every time he breathed, and his head was just a dull ache. He coughed harshly again, more blood dripping down his chin. He knew it wasn't a good idea to sleep, but he was exhausted. Surely a few minute nap would be okay, right? Lance could wake him up. He was only a few feet away now.

Wait, no, don't sleep, Lance is right there- His eyes fluttered closed as Lance got closer. No, you moron! Open your eyes! Don't sleep, this is such a bad idea!

He couldn't hear Lance anymore. He couldn't feel anything anymore.

The darkness swallowed him whole, giving no space for Keith to cling to Lance.

Kill

Kill him

Who is this

Kill him

"Keith..."

Make his blood spray onto the ground

Use it as paint

Cover yourself in your lover's blood

"Keith, please. This isn't you. You wouldn't hurt us, you wouldn't hurt me,"

No

Don't hesitate

Excruciating pain filled his whole body when Keith pulled the knife away.

He put the knife back against this person's throat.

Who is he

How does he know my name

Who are you

Answer me

"Space-cat, please, it's us, your team! Your fr- Family! We're your family, Keith!"

Family...?

I don't...

"We-Keith."

Something in the persons voice made him hesitate.

The pain was back.

So was the knife.

"We don't care that you're Galra, Keith! You're still Keith! We love you! I love you!"

Lance

Nononono

I can't hurt Lance

I can't hurt any of them

They're my family

Move the knife

No- Move the knife

Whenever Keith did something wrong, the pain came back, and at this point, Keith would take a thousand missiles to keep Lance safe.

This was nothing compared to what he would do for Lance.

Suddenly, something was beneath him. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not, but he could tell that his throat was raw from something. He wasn't aware of what he did when the pain overtook him. The only thing he was aware of now was someone was beneath him, Lance, Lance was beneath him, and that he couldn't stop shaking. The pain was still there, just duller than before.

Something fell off of his neck. The shaking didn't stop, but the pain did. It was gone. Keith let out a whimper when Lance moved too much. God, everything hurt so much. Keith couldn't hear anything except for the loud ringing in his ears. He couldn't feel anything except for the aches everywhere in his body and the warmth from beneath him. He couldn't see anything but white and black dots.

He couldn't escape the darkness that was pulling Keith away from Lance. Again.

He didn't want to leave Lance... but... he couldn't...

Keith felt really, really cold. He still hadn't opened his eyes, coherent thoughts hadn't approached him, he was hearing a lot of ringing, but nope, he could feel the cold perfectly fine. The ringing cleared away, allowing Keith to hear the hiss of a.. of a something. Suddenly, Keith could hear, he could see, he could feel- oh look. He couldn't control his legs. He tumbled onto the floor, landing in someone's lap. He could see, but everything was blurry. Just like his memory.

The person he landed on let out an undignified squawk as Keith fell on top of him, giving the person his full body weight to bear. The person beneath him, it looked like Lance, but he wasn't sure, quickly relaxed and put an arm on Keith's back. Yea. That was Lance.

"Always interrupting my beauty sleep," Lance teased, poking his ribs. Keith grunted out something incoherent, and curled into a ball on Lance's lap. Well, he tried to. He still couldn't move his left leg. In fact, he could hardly feel it. Keith furrowed his eyebrows and tried to recall on why he couldn't feel it. Just as he remembered how, all of the memories flooded him. He was lucky he didn't drown in his own memories. 

"Lance," he gasped, turning to face him. He grabbed Lance's face, moving up, down, left and right. He inspected his neck very thoroughly. There was a line of skin that was lighter than his normal tanned colour. "Did... Did I do this?" He asked, voice still hoarse from disuse. He turned his face so Lance could look at him. His eyes remained on the floor. Keith sighed and let go of his face, moving to get up. "I-" His voice cracked. "I'm sorry," Keith said, trying to stand up.

"No- Babe, don't stand up-" Too late. Keith tried to walk, only to fall back down. He wasn't sure when Lance got up, but arms were wrapped around his middle to keep him upright. Lance settled him back onto the stairs, letting him lean against the pods. Why was he so nice to Keith after what he'd done? Why doesn't Lance hate him?

"Babe, I could never hate you. It wasn't your fault," Lance smiled, brushing his hair away from his eyes. 

What the fuck.

"I can't tell babe," Lance laughed, sitting beside Keith. "Was that a question or a statement?"

Keith turned his head to look at Lance when he intertwined their hands. He blinked at Lance. Could he read minds? What the hell kind of relationship did he sign up for?

"Okay, first of all, rude, and second of all, no I can't read minds. You're saying all of this out loud," Lance dragged his hand into his lap, playing with Keith's fingers.

Keith stared at Lance's hands in wonder. His fingers... They were long. Like, really long. And big. It looked bigger than his hand.

"Okay, Coran, I think Keith's high," Lance laughed, knowing full well he was high.

"I'm... I'm high?" Keith asked, tilting his head. He kept watching Lance's fingers. Why was he high?

"Lots of painkillers. 'Probably haven't worn off," Lance said, kissing Keith's hand.

"How... please stop, oh my God, it's distracting," Keith said, barely able to force out that sentence. Lance snorted, but stopped nonetheless. It took Keith a few minutes to remember what he was going to say. How many painkillers did they make him take?

"Like I said, a lot. If you want a specific amount," Lance answered his question, and Keith really thought he was a mind reader. He didn't feel his mouth move, "you gotta ask Coran."

"Stop distracting me!" Keith almost shrieked, pulling his hand away from Lance. "I'm trying to re-remo- remote."

"You're trying to remote?" Lance was smiling so wide.

"Yes- wait, no, I'm not-"

Keith's voice was drowned out by Lance's laughter.

Once Lance settled down, and the tears were wiped from his cheeks, Keith asked again. "How long was I in the... the... um. The.. Pad! How long was I in the pad for?"

"You aren't a girl, pal. You don't need a pad," Lance snickered, earning a smack and glare from Keith. Well, the closest he could get to a glare. The floor was actually interesting. It had weird swirly patterns that started to make Keith dizzy. "Okay, babe, look at me, no more of that floor nonsense," Lance said, moving Keith's face to look at him. "And, about two days. You're leg'll be pretty numb for a good three hours, but after that it should be fine to use. Coran said to see him tomorrow to put some weird Altean cream on it."

"Where is every... every pun?" Keith asked, still not noticing the words he was using.

"Sleeping," Lance answered, ignoring the mistake. He knew what Keith meant, and God, he was cute when he was high. "Speaking of that," Lance cut Keith off before he started talking about floors again. "We should sleep too. It's like, three am Castle time. You were supposed to be out in another three hours."

"Worm gets the bird early," Keith smiled, accepting Lance's offered hand when he stood up.

"Yea, alright," Lance laughed again, scooping Keith up into his arms. Carrying a fully conscious, not hurt, high Keith was far different from carrying a not high, not conscious and hurt Keith.

"Oooh," Keith said, wrapping his arms around Lance's neck. "I'm your prince."

"You sure are," Lance answered, walking them to their room.

During the entire walk, Keith mumbled incoherent nonsense about floors and how they should be treated better, while nuzzling Lance's neck.

Lance could get used to a high Keith.

Maybe Coran had more drugs...?

Chapter Text

The bot's staff slammed into Keith's stomach, sending him flying across the room. His bayard was already on the floor somewhere, he had dropped it during the bots third hit. He was really out of it today, and he wasn't sure why. He had woken up with a minor headache, passing it off as the electricity that entered his body the other day. It wouldn't have fazed him in the slightest if Lance had been there, kissing the pain away-

When had he become so dependant on Lance? It was pathetic.

But he wasn't there, so Keith dealt with it fine. He hid in the bathroom, leaning against the cold tile until it weakened to a dull ache.

From that point on, he had been training, trying his best to not think about Lance, even though they were dating. Now that he wasn't high, he was blaming himself so damn hard for what happened, while at the same time he tried not to get hit by the bot.

Worth a shot.

Landing harshly on the floor, Keith couldn't hear the frantic voice yelling for the simulation to stop, or the hurried footsteps getting closer and closer to him, due to the ringing in his ears. He couldn't see the worried look on Lance's face hovering over his form, due to the spots in his vision. The only proper sense he did have, however, was to feel. He could feel every ache that dug itself deep into his bones, and the vomit that threatened to spill over.

When warm hands rested on his arm, he instinctively curled into himself, protecting his stomach from further damage. He squeezed his eyes shut, the lights becoming too bright for his full blown migraine. His other senses soon came into focus after that. He tasted the vomit starting to pool in his mouth, swallowing it down harshly. He would not puke.

He. Would. Not. Puke.

Keith groaned as his stomach churned, wrapping his arms around his middle, momentarily forgetting about the other person in the room. The persons hand moved from his biceps to his shoulders, while the other hand dragged Keith closer from under his armpit. Once Keith was settled in said persons lap, it was obviously Lance, he started to stroke Keith's hair, while whispering soothing words that Keith couldn't quite hear.

Keith moved his hand weakly to grab something steady, to keep the dizziness at bay. He started feeling less and less control over his own body, and he knew he was going to pass out soon. Maybe he was sick. He still wasn't going to puke, though.

Finally finding Lance's cheek, he let his hand stay there, trying to open his eyes enough to get something over than a blur of blue and brown.

"Lance..." Keith said it as loud as he could, but it still came out as a whisper.

Miraculously, his hearing became straight again.

"Keith, babe, you're so fucking warm," Lance said, glaring at him halfheartedly with a hand on his forehead. "Pods can't heal colds."

"How... how do..." Keith forgot was he was asking half way through, suppressing a shiver when Lance's hand left his forehead.

"How do I know? I was sick nearly the entire time you were in the pod. Oh, and Coran said it couldn't the first time, remember?" Lance teased poking his side. It must've been some kind of joke, but no, Keith didn't know. Not really. His brain was a mess.

"..no.."

Lance rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Whatever, mullet. Let's get you to bed."

Keith opened his mouth to answer, but closed it once he was lifted up to keep vomit down. Lance must've noticed his struggle, walking down the halls faster. Keith buried his head into the crook of Lance's neck, and clung tightly to his shoulder and neck to keep the pain and dizziness at bay. He would not puke on Lance. His stomach had other ideas.

He opened his mouth to make some comment about Lance, but he couldn't hold down the vomit that came up. He puked on Lance. They were so close to his room, why did he have to puke?! He closed his eyes, letting the contents spill out of his mouth and onto both of their chests, clutching Lance tighter. If Lance noticed the vomit, he didn't make any comment, just held him tighter. A few doors before their room, nothing else came out, leaving Keith to dry heave sadly. Once it was fully finished, he had to keep every nerve in his body that wanted to make him sob and look even more pathetic.

Sure, Lance had seen him at his lowest before, but that didn't stop the humiliation Keith felt afterwards.

He remembered opening his eyes and seeing a bit of blood involved with the puke and Lance's worried face before passing out.

Lance woke up this morning, Keith's warm face pressed against his chest. He needed to get up and see Allura, sure, but Keith was so cute and cuddly and warm while he slept, he didn't want to get up. Allura was a very patient woman. She would surely wait for Lance.

He wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulder, smiling as Keith curled up closer. He wished they could stay here, wrapped up in each other's arms all day.

But, alas- "Lance, get your- what was it? Ass? My, what an odd word. Get your ass down to the quiznacking bridge right now!" Allura's voice yelled over the speakers.

Lance sighed, gently prying Keith off of him. Somehow, Keith hadn't woken up from Allura's loud voice. He quickly pulled on a shirt and kissed Keith's forehead, not noticing how warm it had gotten. He turned the lights down lower and left the room, leaving a peaceful Keith to sleep.

Walking down the hall, he remembered the events of last night, right after Lance had come out of his own pod. He'd gotten lots of hugs from Hunk- apparently there had been poison in one of his cuts. Then he had to debrief everyone of what happened, trying not to notice that Allura was staring at Keith's pod. Once he was done, Allura tore her eyes away from his pod and looked at Lance. It took every ounce of self restraint he had to keep from punching her in her stupidly pretty face. Instead of saying that Keith should've died, she apologized. Of course, he wouldn't forgive her until Keith did, but she was being friendly again, and so was Lance. In fact, they were setting up a movie night for Keith right now.

He walked onto the bridge, only to be alerted by Allura that Keith was getting his ass kicked at training. He smiled apologetically before bolting down the hall.

He hadn't walked that slowly, had he?

Whatever.

He couldn't worry about that now.

From the security feed, it looked like Keith was about to pass out, and if that happened, the drone would keep coming at Keith, conscious or not. But, he wouldn't be able to defend himself if he were unconscious.

Lance made it just in time, ignoring the burn in his lungs as he heaved for breath. Keith was just landing on the floor, limbs sprawled out ungracefully. The robot was coming in again, raising the staff to Keith's head. What level was it even on?!

"End training simulation! Holy fuck, end the simulation!" Lance screamed, running towards Keith. He got into a crouch position, covering Keith's head with his own body while waiting for the bot to disappear. Wow, was the Castle slow today. The bot's staff grazed Lance's back before it disappeared.

"Simulation finished. 2% progress made. Try again."

Ignoring the bot, Lance placed both of his hands on Keith's bicep.

"Keith?" Keith curled into himself protectively, closing his eyes. "Keith, it's Lance. Are you okay? You got-"

Keith groaned, wrapping his arms around his stomach and ducking his head.

Lance sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder and the other under his armpit, dragging Keith into his lap. Letting go of Keith's armpit, he carded his fingers through that incredibly soft, thick mullet. "It's okay, baby, you'll be fine, it's just a fever, you'll be okay," he repeated, feeling the tip of Keith's ear against his mouth as he spoke.

Lance watched as Keith lifted his hand weakly, watching as it tried to find something solid, watching as it was finally placed onto his cheek, before those violet eyes peered up at him through slits.

"Lance," Keith whispered, low enough that if a pin were dropped twenty feet away, Lance wouldn't have been able to hear it. Lance placed a tentative hand on his forehead, nearly wincing at how warm Keith was.

"Keith, babe, you're so fucking warm," He said, glaring at him with no malicious intents, leaving his hand on Keith's forehead. "Pods can't heal colds."

"How... how do..." Keith trailed off mid sentence, shivering when Lance moved his forehead. He shifted Keith higher into his lap.

"How do I know? I was sick nearly the entire time you were in the pod. Oh, and Coran said it couldn't the first time, remember?" Lance teased poking his side. Lance hoped he got the joke, but any hope he had was quickly diminished when confusion filtered across his features.

"..no.." Lance rolled his eyes smiling. "Whatever, mullet. Let's get you to bed," Lance said, knowing Keith wouldn't weigh much when he picked him up like a bride. He was practically starved while with the Galra, and he hadn't eaten much since then. Lance would have to start force feeding him soon.

He looked down at Keith when he opened his mouth, but watched his stomach roll when his mouth was closed, obviously trying to hold down vomit. He quickened his pace, wanting to get him to a proper bathroom before he puked all over himself. Keith clung tighter to Lance, hiding his sweaty face into the crook of his neck.

"It's okay, baby. Puke if you need to." He wasn't sure if Keith heard it, but it was worth a shot. He felt Keith move his head, so he looked down, seeing him open his mouth. Instead of words, an unsteady stream of vomit and blood came out as Keith closed his eyes. Why was there blood?

"Coran!" He yelled, changing his direction for the med-bay. His shirt was soaked with puke, while Keith's lap was filled with it, leaving trails of the mixture of blood and puke wherever Lance stepped. After a few seconds, Keith's stomach had emptied all of it's contents, but it didn't seem satisfied. Keith continued to dry heave while blood dripped from his mouth. He started running. "Coran! Shiro! Fucking anybody!" Lance's face stayed on Keith's face while he ran.

He knew these halls by heart, he'd know when to turn. His face was a mixture of blood, mucus and tears. Keith was visibly struggling with sobbing; he felt Keith tremble in his hold. Keith cracked his eyes open, taking in a quiet breath before going limp in his arms with eyes closed. That just made him run faster.

"Fuck- Coran! For fucks sake!" He ran into the med-bay, nearly tripping over Pidge's curled up figure, a computer resting on her hip as she snored.

"Coran!" he yelled again, placing Keith's seizing body on the observation table. He held Keith's head in a gentle death grip, making sure he didn't hurt himself further.

Pidge startled awake when Lance yelled, again, for Coran. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up, computer falling to the ground. "Lance?" she yawned, standing up. "What's going on? Is Keith okay?"

Her voice became panicked when she saw Keith seizing. "I don't know!" Lance yelled, struggling with tears and holding Keith's head up as he watched his chest to make sure he continued breathing. "Go get Coran! Or Allura! Or Hunk, for fucks sake! Just go get someone!"

Pidge was gone before he finished the sentence.

Just as fast as it started, Keith went limp in Lance's hold, a soft groan emitting from his throat. Lance waited a few minutes before gently placing Keith's head on the table, ignoring the stench of blood and puke when some dripped onto the floor. Lance backed up a little bit, intertwining their fingers and rubbing circles onto his hand.

When Coran walked in, Keith's glassy eyes opened halfway, unfocused look fixed on Lance.

"La... Lance..."

"Oh, Keith, baby, you scared me-" Coran was getting an oxygen tank ready, noticing how Keith's breathing was too slow to get enough air into his system. "T...the... serum... t-they put... some... something... i-into me..." Keith wheezed out, grip loosening on Lance. The rest of his sentence was cut off when the mask was put onto him.

Why is it always Keith? Lance thought, barely hearing Coran's voice as Keith passed out again. It's always him- He always gets hurt- Please, just let me take the bullet for him. He's already gone through a lot- Just let me help him. I'd destroy the fucking universe to save him, which I know his hypocritical, but still. You get my point.

"-nce? What happened?" Lance stared at the hand holding Keith's.

"It's alright, Pidge. Why don't you get cleaned up, number three? I'll alert you if his condition gets any worse or better, or if he wakes up," Coran suggested.

Lance shook his head, eyes set on their hands. "No... no, it's okay. He... When the Galra turned him against us... he put something into his neck. It was a needle, but we weren't sure what was in it. It could be what's affecting him now," Lance said, looking up to see Allura, Shiro and Hunk had joined the crowd. "He'll be okay, right?" he asked, to no one in particular.

"I... I'm not certain, m'boy. We can't place him in a healing pod if what you say is true. We'd have to extract the substance from his bloodstream, which involves plenty of surgeries..." Coran sighed, strapping the mask into place.

Keith seemed... peaceful, while he was sleeping, even though they all knew he was in pain.

"Lance, I know you're worried and want to be here, but go get some rest, clean up. We'll come get you if anything happens, or if he wakes up. Pidge and Coran can find out what's effecting him. Once they do that, we'll get Keith fixed, alright?" Shiro said, using his dad-but-leader voice, which left no room for arguments.

Lance sighed, letting go of Keith's hand, watching it fall limply to the bedside before getting up. "Alright, but... keep him comfortable too, okay? Like, blankets, pillows, all that freaky shit that was in the hospital after relatives visited-" Lance cut off, being pushed out by Hunk.

Once they turned a corner, with silence, Hunk stopped, causing Lance to stop as well, a sad look on his face. He opened his arms for Lance. "C'mere," he said, smiling sympathetically. Lance sobbed, accepting the embrace as he buried his face into Hunk's shoulder. He felt bad for getting his friend's shirt dirty, but Hunk never cared for that. "It'll be okay," he soothed, rubbing his hand up Lance's spine. "Keith will be fine."

"He was never fine."

All he felt was pain.

Nothing else.

He couldn't feel the hands prodding him.

He was focused on keeping the blood inside of his gut.

It didn't work.

He choked on it, even.

There was nothing but pain.

He wasn't sure if there was a time before the pain.

Would the pain ever end?

Chapter Text

"Lance?" Keith asked. Why was he ignoring him?

Lance continued walking into the Red Lion's hangar.

"Lance, why are you ignoring me?"

Lance didn't turn around, but he stopped walking.

"What's going on?" Keith stepped forward, surprisingly appearing right behind Lance within that one step.

"What's going on?" Lance repeated, venom filling his words. He looked behind his shoulder. "What's going on, is I don't love you, and I never have."

"I.. what? Lance, what are you talking about?"

"You think you can be loved and be apart of the enemy? You're a monster, Keith. We never should have let you on the Castle. I should've pulled you out of the airlock when the venom affected the ship."

"Lance, I.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of-"

"Any of this? Yea, well it happened, and it's your fault. We've got a new Red Paladin now. Leave. We don't need you. I don't need you."

"La-Lance, I..."

"Save it, asswipe. Get lost. You aren't needed."

 I don't need you.

Keith woke up panting, blanket flying off of him. He sat up quickly, hardly noticing that he could breathe properly.

"Keith? Keith, hey, it's okay-"

Keith turned his head sharply, nearing cracking his skull against Hunk's. Luckily, the bigger man jerked his head backwards before that could happen.

He ignored the ache in his heart when he noticed Lance wasn't here.

"Wh-what...?" Keith asked, licking his dry lips.

"You had a fever. When that Galra dude injected you with the weird thing, it was some sort of bacteria that your immune system couldn't fight off. Apparently, fevers are deadly to the Galra. Coran had some medicine for it, so you  didn't actually, um, die," Hunk smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Keith sat up, absentmindedly scratching the side of his neck. Instead of skin, his hand met a clothed texture. Keith picked at it, tilting his head down to get a better look.

"Don't touch that," Hunk said, gently catching his wrist and moving it away from his neck.

"What... What is it?" Keith asked, narrowing his eyes at the white and blue patch covering half of his neck.

"It's the medicine," Hunk answered. "Altean medicine comes in patches, apparently."

Keith nodded, still freaked out by his dream.

"So, uh, you want some water, or something? You've been asleep for two days," Hunk asked, standing up from his chair.

Keith gaped at Hunk. Two days?

"You, uh, also might be a tad bit high."

"What? "

"Painkillers," Hunk said, helping Keith out of the bed.

The bed itself had the pillows and blankets from their bedroom, along with Lance's jacket hanging from the post. Curiosity spiking, Keith poked Hunk, grabbing his attention, then pointed to the jacket. His throat was starting to hurt from the dehydration.

"Oh. Lance said if he wasn't there when you woke up, you could at least have the next best thing," Hunk chuckled at the end, rubbing his forehead. Keith gazed at the jacket, eyes glassy from the tears he was trying to keep down. "Oh!" Realization lights up Hunk's face. "Lance spent every hour beside your bed- he snapped at Shiro when he tried to get him to sleep."

"Where- Where is he now?" Keith asked sadly, voice cracking in the middle. 

"Allura sent him, Shiro, and Pidge to gather some ingredients and plants for some Altean thing," Hunk answered. Keith could feel his eyes trailing him as he crossed the short distance to grab Lance's jacket. "It was only going to be Shiro and Pidge at first, but Allura saw that Lance was going stir crazy, or something, and sent him along. He protested. A lot."

Keith only nodded as Hunk guided him out of the room to the kitchen.

"I stayed to keep an eye on you if you woke up," Hunk said, answering his question he had yet to ask.

They walked in silence after that; the only noise being the slaps of Keith's bare feet hitting the floor, and the rustling of clothing as Keith put on his boyfriend's jacket. Putting on the jacket, he noticed that he was wearing Lance's pyjama pants and one of his t-shirts. Blue, of course. He vaguely noticed that the pants pooled above his foot.

Slipping on the jacket, he never thought of how cold he was, and how warm Lance's jacket could be. It never occurred to him before; he had his own jacket. The sleeves ended a few inches from his fingertips, cutting off any sight of his hands. The jacket itself reached him mid-thigh, and Keith had never felt smaller. He had never worn big clothing before; He always bought his clothes the right size, with growing room. He pulled the hood on, just barely managing to keep his eyesight. He pushed it back so it covered his forehead, but not his eyes. Without thinking, he breathed deeply, gathering a heavy whiff of Lance. It smelt like cinnamon and apples, with a mix of the ocean. Well, Keith thought it was the ocean. He hardly went to beaches, but it seemed like an oceany scent.

"Next best thing," Keith agreed quietly, getting a laugh from Hunk.

Hunk led him to one of the chairs that lined the counter, making sure he was comfortable before leaving to get him some water and goo.

He reappeared seconds later, a glass of water in one hand, and in the other, a plate of purple, orange and green... somethings. Keith didn't think about it too much; he was having trouble keeping his head up. Man, was he tired.

"While you were, um, asleep, I managed to get the closest thing to spaghetti. The noodles are purple, but other than that, it's pretty close," Hunk assured him, setting the plate and glass down in front of him, the fork placed in the spaghetti.

Keith grabbed the fork tentatively, debating on whether or not he should eat. He hadn't been hungry in a while... 

"I've noticed you haven't been eating a lot, recently," Hunk said, as if reading his thoughts. "You wanna tell me why?"

It was a question, not a demand. He wasn't forced to tell Hunk why, but how could he not tell Hunk? Hunk was one of the best people there were, you couldn't help but tell him your deepest, darkest secrets, even if he would tell, but they all knew he wouldn't. "I guess I never really notice when I'm hungry," Keith answered, shrugging as he twirled the noodles onto his fork. He hesitated before putting it in his mouth, uncomfortable that he was being watched while eating. He was about to put his fork down and tell Hunk that, but his stomach growled, a stab of hunger shooting through his body, and he did not care anymore. He shoveled food into his mouth, watching Hunk smile warmly in his peripheral vision. Once he was done, he downed the glass of water like he hadn't drunken anything in days, which, he hadn't. "Oh my God," he said, but it came out as an exhale. "Hunk, that was fucking amazing."

"There's more in the kitchen, if you want," he smiled, taking Keith's plate and glass. He put it in the Altean dishwasher, setting it to rinse before  he placed a hand on his back. "You gotta start eating more, man. You're worrying the hell out of us."

And Keith was left to his own devices.

That is, until Allura showed up seconds after Hunk left.

Keith tensed, ducking his head and avoiding Allura's gaze. He didn't want to upset her further by speaking-

"Keith," she said, voice firm.

Keith swallowed, slowly looking up. "Y-yes, Princess?" He still avoided her gaze.

"I-" Keith watched her breathe in deeply, seemingly preparing herself for something. Probably making him leave the team. "I am so sorry, Keith."

Keith blinked, forgetting to breathe as he caught her gaze. "I- wh-"

"I should not have assumed the worst of you for being Galra. I shouldn't have- I should have trusted you, Keith. You have saved our lives constantly- you should not have been treated with such disrespect. I am so, so sorry, Keith. You are a valued member of this team, Galra or not. You are my friend, and I should not have treated you in such a way. It is alright if you do not forgive me; I would understand completely. I had-"

"Allura," He said, gasping slightly when he remembered to breathe, "It's okay. I, uh- I forgive you."

Allura's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Certain," Keith said, nodding as he stood up. He swayed slightly, and Allura, curse her, must've noticed.

"You should go rest, Keith."

Keith nodded. Sleep didn't sound like a bad idea, but without Lance... "Yea, yea. I'll do that," He agreed. He didn't need Lance to sleep; that was pathetic. He can sleep on his own.

"I never want to see a jungle again," Pidge groaned, pulling off her humid filled helmet.

Lance agreed; there was mud places there shouldn't be mud.

"Here here," Shiro sighed, plopping down into one of the chairs while pulling off his helmet.

"I'm all for relaxing, but I need a shower. Can you get this to Allura?" Lance asked, holding out the bag of plants to Pidge. She nodded, took the bag and slowly began her march to Allura.

"Make sure to get sleep, Space Dad," Lance said, leaving the room before Shiro could question his nickname. 

He was just so adorable.

He had Lance's jacket on, curled into a ball and fast asleep on top of their bed, Lance's pillow pressed into his face.

Lance loved watching him sleep, despite how creepy it sounded. His exhales were soft snores that made hardly any sound. He never moved while he slept, didn't steal the blanket; He stayed in the same position as he fell asleep, pressed against Lance's side, unless Lance had moved him so they could spoon.

Freshly showered, Lance put on a pair of pants and sat down on the bed, careful not to wake Keith up. He never slept with a shirt on, especially since he found Keith would blush at seeing his abs every once in a while.

Lance lifted his legs onto the bed, turning sideways and wrapping his arms around Keith's waist, moving closer until his chest touched Keith's back.

"Your jacket is warm," Keith mumbled, tangling their legs together. 

Lance yelped, not knowing Keith was awake, and smacked his head against the wall when he jumped up. He fell back down, nuzzling into Keith's neck. He felt Keith grasp the hand around his waist while he was laughing.

"It's not funny," Lance groaned, resting his chin on Keith's head.

"It was."

"It put an imperfect bump on my gorgeous skin."

"Which is what makes it funny," Keith said, shifting so he could be face to face with Lance.

After a few seconds of just staring into each other's eyes, and breathing the same air, Lance spoke up again.

"Are you okay?"

Keith nodded.

"You sure?" He asked, caressing Keith's cheek.

Keith sighed contently, leaning into the touch as his eyes fluttered closed. "Yes," he breathed.

"I-," Lance coughed, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up. I really tried to be-"

"It's fine," Keith opened his eyes, but pressed his face into Lance's clavicle. "And besides, I got a free jacket from it."

Lance felt him smirk into his collarbone.  

"All yours," Lance laughed, pulling the hood over Keith's head. "Go to sleep, space cat."

"I'm not a cat," Keith grumbled.

"You're a fucking cat, I even got Pidge to agree with me," He hadn't, not yet, but Keith didn't need to know that. No matter what he said, yes, he was a cat. "Pidge is never wrong."

Keith huffed but made no further arguments.

After a while, Keith's breathing evened out, soft snores escaping his lips. Lance buried his nose into Keith's hair, taking in the scent. It was clear that he had showered at one point; his hair smelt like Lance's shampoo.

Lance noticed when Keith's breath hitched; his snores were the only sound in the room.

"Keith?"

Keith whimpered, curling into a small ball with his hands tightening into fists. Lance could see the shine on his cheeks from the tears that were slowly dripping from Keith's eyes.

Oh no.

"Keith, hey, it's just a nightmare," Lance whispered, rubbing his hand up and down Keith's back. When they first got back from the Galra, Keith had a lot of nightmares; two or three a night, depending on if he fell asleep again. He always woke up sobbing, or having a panic attack. Each time, it wasn't good. After a while, though, his nightmares had dramatically slowed down. Some nights he had a nightmare, but when he woke up to Lance calming him down, he would fall asleep without having another nightmare again. His last nightmare had been around four days ago, if Lance remembered correctly. "Keith, come on, babe, it's fine, you're okay, we're okay-"

Keith blinked up at him through teary eyes, his lower lip trembling in the pout that had formed. Keith wasn't a loud or ugly crier like you might've expected; He cried silently, always trying to muffle his sobs with only one fluid running down his face - tears.

"D-do," Keith started, another tear escaping. Lance brushed them away, cupping Keith's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Do.. D-do you gu-guys need m-me?" He hiccuped at the end, just as Lance buried his face into Keith's neck.

"Of course we do, you moron. Not even for Voltron. Hell, if we didn't meet up because of Voltron, we would still need you. I need you," Lance said. Normally, his nightmares were about his time with the Galra, or him turning Galra and slowly killing the team. He wasn't sure what this was about, but he didn't care. Of course Keith was needed. He was needed for Voltron, he was needed for their family, he was their friend and Lance's soulmate, (yes, Lance is that sappy) so why was Keith doubting it?

"I-.. Okay." Keith sighed, copying Lance's motion of nuzzling his neck.

"You wanna sleep again, babe?" Lance asked, removing his face from Keith's neck. Keith did the same, shaking his head at Lance's question.

"No... not- not after that..." Keith said quietly, tracing shapes onto Lance's chest. "I- can we just... cuddle, for a while?"

Lance snorted. "'course we can. You know you don't need to ask that."

"Y-yea, I know," Keith agreed, hiding his smile into Lance's neck.

They laid like that for a few more minutes, until Lance heard Keith's snores again. He chuckled lowly, laying flat on his back and dragging Keith with him. Keith's head was nestled on top of Lance's chest, with one hand holding the arm around his shoulders, and the other hanging limply at his side.

He had a feeling Keith wouldn't have any more nightmares tonight.