Chapter Text
Just stay here, you'll be fine.
Keith snorts despite himself.
What a shitty thing to say.
The hand- the clawed hand- around his throat tightens, cutting off his air flow completely. He tries to grip their wrist harder, but he can't- his fingers are starting to slip and his eyelids are starting to droop-
He thinks he hears Lance before the blackness engulfs his vision.
When he wakes up (yes, he knows he passed out, and he knows it's pathetic, he doesn't need to be reminded), he's in his and Lance's bed, something warm against the back of his neck.
It comes in little puffs, parting his hair and exposing his neck to the frigid air.
Legs are tangled with his, something warm- an arm- is thrown across his waist and holding his hand.
He turns in their grip, smiling when he’s met with the familiar sight of unblemished tan skin and dark eyelashes.
He presses a chaste kiss to said unblemished skin, rests his chin over Lance’s head and closes his eyes once more.
The next time he wakes up, it's to talking.
There's a hushed argument going on above him- he can't really make out the words, and he's no longer holding Lance, but someone, probably Lance, is holding him, fingers carding through his hair and gently tugging knots apart.
He sighs deeply, leaning into their touch. The fingers still for a moment before they move again, the volume of the argument slowly gaining audio.
"-he doesn't like the pods, Allura!" It's a hushed whisper, definitely Lance, and now that he thinks about it, Lance's fingers are shaking.
"He needs his throat to heal," they say- probably Allura- voice low but not whispering, either. "If it does not heal, it could alter his vocal chords-"
"He's claustrophobic," Lance retorts, grabbing a fistful of Keith's hair. It stings, but not enough for it to hurt. "I've asked him if he wanted to go in the pods for minor injuries, like this, and he said no."
"It is not his choice-"
"Yes it is!" Lance snaps, pulling at Keith's hair. It does hurt this time, but he doesn't make a noise. He wants to hear this. "You can't just make him go into the damn-"
"I can, and I will if I have to, Lance," Allura says, a string of venom lacing her words. "He could put all of you in danger on your next mission-"
"He doesn't need a pod!" Lance yells, again, anger slipping into his words. Each syllable he says, the grip he has on his hair tightens. Keith knows he doesn't mean to, but he can't find it in himself to open his eyes and ask him to stop when the argument is about him.
"If that does not get healed in the next two days, Keith could lose the ability to speak," Allura hisses.
"Then we'll find another damn way," Lance spits, voice dangerously low. He lets go of Keith's hair and presses a light kiss there, then lets go of him. The mattress bounces, probably Lance getting off, and his source of warmth is gone. He shivers, skin exposed to the cool Castle air. "There has to be more than just healing pods-"
"There isn't."
"Then he's not going to be healed. It's just a couple of bruises," Keith has only heard Lance this angry twice. Once with his brother when he almost drowned Keith (well- that was Keith's fault, but Lance wouldn't listen to him when he said that, because his brother pulled him underwater) and the other when Allura disliked his Galra side. "His vocal chords will be fine."
"Lance-"
"No," There's a swoosh, and the mattress beside him is dipping, a warm arm going around his shoulders. Keith realises he's been shivering the entire time Lance was gone. "I'm not arguing about this anymore. Get out."
There's a long pause of silence, but then there's light footsteps, and another swoosh.
He hears Lance sigh, then he's pressing his whole body against Keith's, draping a soft blanket over both of them, and burying his nose in his hair. "Sorry for pulling your hair," he mutters, rubbing little circles into his back.
Keith shrugs, slipping his arms around Lance's warm back.
"You wanna keep sleeping?" Keith shakes his head, shoving his cold nose into the crook of Lance's neck. "Cuddling?" Keith wants to, he does, but they should probably get up and ready for the day.
He sits up tiredly, pulling away from Lance's arms and rubbing his eyes with a yawn.
"You're adorable," Lance sits up beside him, a small smile decorating his face. Keith feels heat rise to his cheeks, but pushes it down forcibly. "You wanna get up, then?"
Keith nods, tilting his head to the side to kiss Lance's cheek. Lance huffs a short laugh, falling back onto the bed. He rolls his eyes, swinging his legs over the bed and planting his pale feet onto the floor. He gets up, stretching and cracking his back.
"Hey, so," Lance starts, placing his forearms beneath him to sit up. "What do you remember from the last mission?"
Keith furrows his eyebrows in thought.
They'd been sent to a planet- S'eng-orley, if he remembers correctly, halfway during their trip back to Earth. Keith, Lance and Allura had been sent to the planet as foot soldiers, while the rest of the team, save for Coran, had fought with their Lions in the air. They'd received word that Lotor, just Lotor, not his crew, was in the S'engiens castle, giving them a chance to take him down once and for all. When they got to the Castle, Lance didn't want him coming with them in case Lotor caused any flashbacks, so they left him guarding the entrance, and as possible backup. He'd been waiting for at least ten minutes when someone snuck up on him, and pinched one of the nerves in the back of his neck that rendered him immobile for at least five minutes. Three of them- one purple, looking vaguely like his mother, another multicoloured one, and one with a tail and mask- had ran past his crumpled form, leaving the biggest one behind, hovering over his body. She'd taunted him for a good few minutes, then, when she got bored, she started punching the wall, making decently (decently, as in huge, gaping holes) sized holes in the wall. When he had control over his limbs again, he snuck up on her, and tried to cut her back, but she was stronger and faster. She grabbed his neck and forced him onto the wall, bayard falling from his hand, feet dangling. She was choking him, he couldn't breathe, and Lance is rooms away, and- and he's going to die-
"Hey- hey, Keith! Breathe, c'mon baby, breathe," Tight fingers are gripping his shoulders, worried, blue eyes frantically searching his face. He inhales deeply, lungs burning as the oxygen finally re-enters his body. He gasps, coughing as he slumps into Lance, wrapping his arms around his waist. He buries his face into Lance’s shoulder, taking deep breaths of what smells like home, trying to regulate his breathing.
"Sorry," he mutters, pulling away from Lance. He wants to keep bathing in Lance's warmth, his safety, because no where else is safe, no one but him will ever be safe again- but they need to get up and face the day, maybe get some training in, and some pill for the pain coming from his neck. "We should go," he says, ignoring Lance's protesting look. He gets out of bed, hardly wondering how he got back onto it, walking into the closet and pulling out the first pair of pants and shirt he can find, uncaring of who's it is. He combs his fingers through his tangled up hair, and exits the closet, surprised to find a fully dressed Lance ready and waiting by the door.
"Well?" Lance asks, tapping his foot impatiently. Is- Did he make Lance mad? "Are we going, or what?"
Swallowing thickly, he nods, setting a quick pace for the door, hoping Lance won't notice.
He does.
"Hey- Keith, slow down-"
"You're taller than me," Keith explains, breath on the verge of hyperventilating. If Lance is mad then that means Lance won't like him anymore and if that happens then no one will stop him when they try to kick him off the team- "So you walk faster. I don't want to slow you down."
Lance raises a curious eyebrow, but nods.
From there on out, they walk Lance's pace.
During dinner, he moves from his original spot so he can sit beside Coran, giving Lance some space. Lance seems upset, but doesn't push.
He shouldn't be upset.
He would've just insulted Keith the entire meal, anyways.
"Paladins," Allura says, at the head of the table. Keith continues to stir his goo absentmindedly, trying to ignore the feeling of Lance's eyes on him. "Paladins," she says again, sharply, causing Keith to bring his head up. Everyone else is looking at Allura, except for Coran, who's looking at him with a small frown, while Allura glares him down. Keith lowers in his seat, but keeps his eyes on Allura. She straightens her posture and looks away once she knows Keith is listening. "After our meal, we will be talking to Lotor," What? "We will interrogate him for Galra information, but there will be no physical violence involved," she sends Keith a pointed look, who shrinks under her gaze. He feels Lance's gaze burn holes into his head. "Purely words. Understood?"
They nod in agreement, Shiro being the only one to voice his confirmation. Keith remains silent, fidgeting with his spoon.
"You have twenty dobashes to finish eating and, as Lance calls it, suit up?" Something sharp twists in his heart and stomach as Lance sends her finger guns and a wink, something he used to do all the time as flirting for her and then Keith and-
His spoons snaps in half, not loud enough to be heard over the chatter of the others, but enough to be heard by Coran.
"Keith," Coran says quietly, once the others start to eat again. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," Keith snaps, disposing the broken utility onto the table. He takes another look at the green goo and decides he isn't willing to risk eating with how twisted up his insides are. He gets up, shoving back his chair a bit too harshly and makes to leave the room.
"Keith?" Lance says, startling Keith enough to turn around. He sees Lance getting up, the others watching with confused looks. Coran looks like he's solving a puzzle in his brain, while Allura just glares at him for interrupting their meal. Lance, though, Lance looks concerned. "You should eat," he says, genuine concern lighting up his eyes.
"Don't tell me what to do," he grits out, then leaves the room, not trusting himself to speak anymore words.
When they meet to talk to Lotor, Keith strays from the rest of the team, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. He watches a spot behind Lotor's head, refusing to look anywhere near that sick bastard in fear of snapping. He'd tried to rape Lance, he nearly killed Shiro and himself, and he’d tried to rape Keith, too! And what, they think it's fine for him to come into their home? Even as a prisoner, it's still not helping Keith's mood. He wants to slit that asshole's neck and watch him bleed out, beg for help, like Keith did himself-
"Why is Keith so far?" He asks, head tilted in question with a smirk grazing his lips. Keith snarls, fingers itching to grab his bayard. "Is he too scared to come any closer? In fear of being tortured over and over again once more?"
Keith just glares at him, fingers tightening on his bicep. He sees Hunk grab Lance's shoulder out of the corner of his eye, holding him back. Does... does that mean Lance isn't mad?
He's so confused.
“Shut the fuck up!” Lance yells, struggling in Hunk’s hold. Lotor turns his attention to him, smiling.
”Don’t you think it’s a bit self-centred, the way he only pities himself for that entire capture?” Lotor’s only adding fuel to the flames, he realizes, and it’s working perfectly well on Lance and Keith. “You’d think he’d be trying to break my neck from how I inserted my dick into your tiny little human-“
Lotor is cut off when Keith lunges at him, shoving Allura out of his way and reeling his fist back as he knocks Lotor out of the chair and onto the ground. He hears nothing but buzzing as something grabs his fist from behind, wraps an arm around his waist and throws him away. The only thing he sees is Lotor’s smug face as he hits the floor a few feet away, red tinting his vision.
“I’ll kill you!” Keith shouts, rolling to his feet and charging at Lotor again. He sees a flicker of fear cross over Lotor’s features before someone’s grabbing his waist and throwing him over their shoulder. He kicks and punches, thrashing in their grip. “Let me go! I’ll fucking kill him!”
He continues to struggle even as the doors close behind them; even as he’s set onto the ground. He manages a solid kick into their stomach before he realizes that it’s Hunk, holding his stomach with a pained look.
”Keith, calm down,” He says quietly, kneeling in front of him. Keith nods, biting his lip as he takes deep breaths. One, two, three- “It’s okay. He’s trying to rile you up, he didn’t rape Lance.”
Keith knows that. “R-right,” he nods again, nails digging into his palms. “Sorry for kicking you,” he says sheepishly, breathing under control.
Hunk shrugs with one shoulder, then stands back up. He offers him a grin. “I’m going back in there, but Allura thinks you should stay out here for the time being. I’m supposed to bring Lance out, too.”
”What’d Lance do?” Keith asks, scooting backwards so he’s leaning against the wall.
”The second you were off of him he made some comment about you, and- well, Lance nearly gouged his eyes out.”
He isn’t mad.
He isn’t mad.
Hunk must notice his grin because he laughs shortly, then enters the room with a small wave. He hears shouting before the door closes, but he can’t be sure.
Seconds later, Hunk is coming out of the room while holding a still thrashing Lance, who has a look of pure anger on his face.
Keith freezes up, breath hitching.
”Let go! He doesn’t get to say that! Fuck him!” Lance is still shouting, trying to pull himself out of Hunk’s grasp even as the door shuts. “Let me kill him! Let me kill that sick fucking bastard!”
Keith curls into himself, not enough for Hunk to notice, squeezing his eyes shut as his hands start to shake. He tucks them into his knees, pinching the skin to ground himself.
He can’t have another breakdown. He’d gone months without one, Earth trip not included, and he wouldn’t start back up now, just because some stupid-
Then someone sobs nearby, a soft hiccuping noise he’s only heard once before.
He gingerly peels his eyes open, watching as Lance covers his mouth and hides his face into his knees as his body trembles, muffled sobs escaping his lips.
Keith crawls over to him, his own wet eyes be damned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close, feeling tremors wrack through his body.
Lance all but melts into him, wrapping an arm around his waist and digging his fingers into the material of his shirt. Keith, feeling his own tears start to fall, buried his face in Lance’s hair and wills himself to stay silent. Lance needs him.
Slowly but surely, Lance’s tears fades and he’s sniffling, unraveling himself from Keith and pulling away. He offers a shaky grin, wiping at his eyes as he leans against the wall, staring at the ceiling. “I hate Lotor,” he mutters.
”Me too,” Keith says, wiping at his own eyes and cheeks, rubbing away the tears. Lance doesn’t need to know. “I want to kill him,” he admits, pulling himself towards Lance and curling into his side.
Lance settles an arm around his shoulders, pressing a light kiss to his lips. “Me too,” He rests his head on Keith’s, playing with his fingers. Keith sighs, a smile grazing his lips as he burrows a little closer. “I’m sorry if I made you upset, earlier.”
”What?” Keith sits up, knocking Lance’s head off his own. Lance squawks, nearly falling in his attempt to stay upright. “I thought you were mad at me!”
Lance blinks owlishly, licking his lips, a sheen of saliva decorating his mouth. “I... I’d never be mad at you,” he furrows his eyebrows, sitting up a little straighter. “Why would you even think that?”
”You...” Keith trails off, trying to think of the reason he came up with earlier, or any reason at all, that Lance hasn’t tried to convince him would never be true. “I... I don’t know,” Lance sends him a look that defines the phrase ‘I told you so’, but he continues on. “You-you seemed mad when I was slow getting changed, a-and you started-started flirting with A-Allura, a-and-“ He chokes off, eyes filling with tears once more.
“I wasn’t mad,” Lance says, kneeling in front of him and kissing right below his eyes, where the tears begin to leak. “And the flirting- I do that for fun and she knows that too. It’s not at all serious, and if it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop. Allura’s like a sister to me,” Lance explains, pulling him into a tight hug. Keith sniffles, clutching the front of Lance’s shirt with shaking hands. “You’re the only one I could ever love, Keith.”
Keith bites his lip to keep from sobbing, body trembling as he makes himself small enough to fit in Lance’s lap. Lance runs a soothing hand through his hair, relaxing him. “Can...can we go to bed?” He asks quietly, voice sounding too small and frightened for his liking.
“Yeah, of course,” Lance says, a yawn cracking halfway through his sentence. Keith giggles, a sound that startles him. He’s never made the sound before. “That was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard, please giggle more often,” Lance laughs, kissing the tip of his nose. Keith surpresses another giggle, mostly because he hates blushing.
He feels himself being picked up before he actually realizes he’s being picked up, arms flying to Lance’s neck as he walks down the hall.
“Lance,” He sighs, arms tightening as Lance bounces on purpose. “I can walk,” he scowls, fidgeting in his grasp.
”I don’t care.”
He huffs.
By the time midnight rolls around, Keith is still awake.
He’s been awake ever since Lance brought him here, deposited him on the bed and tickled him until he would let Lance spoon him, not that he hated cuddling, but he had a 'loner' reputation to maintain, too wired up to sleep.
He sighs, turning in Lance's grasp so he can be chest to chest with him, tracing little patterns onto his bare chest.
He feels Lance breathing shift, then the arm around him is leaving and Lance is sitting up. Keith frowns, but sits up as well.
"Can't sleep either?" Lance asks, breaking the silence. Keith nods. "Lotor?"
Keith nods again.
"I want to talk to him, or- or something," Keith sighs, playing with the hem of his- Lance's- shirt.
"Me too," He mumbles back, mouth turning into a frown.
Keith hums in thought, then plants his feet on the floor and stands up. He stretches, knees cracking as he takes a step. "What are you doing?" Lance asks, following him out of bed with a small yawn.
"Going to talk to Lotor."
Something flashes in Lance's eyes, then he's leaving the room, dragging Keith with an arm around his waist.
"I was wondering when you two would show," Lotor comments casually, just as Keith and Lance enter the room, cell door sliding open. Keith's muscles tense as he watches Lotor lean back in the chair he's chained too, a calm smile dancing on his face. Lance remains calm, somehow, walking forwards until he's in front of the table, an icy grin on his face, one that sends shivers down Keith's back.
"Yeah, well, we're here now," Keith snaps, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, glaring at Lotor. "And we have questions."
"Do you now?" Lotor inquires, smile slowly turning into a smirk.
Lance grins just as wide, eyes alight with a sadistic fire. "Yes, and we won't be as nice as Allura was earlier," Lance purrs, trailing the metal of the table as he walks the length of it, getting closer to Lotor. "See, I know what you did to him, and I know what you tried to do to me," Lotor eyes him calmly as Lance approaches closer, pulling Keith's dagger from a pocket in his pants. Keith's eyes widen, hands reaching to grab the knife handle that usually protrudes from his lower back. There's nothing, confirming the fact that yes, Lance had taken his knife without his permission.
"Lance-"
"And I want you to feel the same way as Keith did, go through the same things," Lance drags the tip of the blade down Lotor's cheek, leaving a thin pale line in it's wake. Lotor regards it with amusement, lips quirking into a smile. "But Allura won't allow us to do-"
"Lance," Keith steps forward, arms at his sides. "Put the knife down."
"That," He continues, as if he hadn't heard Keith. "So I guess I'll have to settle with shallow cuts, hm?"
"Babe," Keith says, grabbing Lance's attention. Keith tends to use the pet name 'babe' when he needs Lance's attention, or if he's really tired and doesn't think much of it. Lance looks over, blue eyes icy as he smiles at Keith. "I need you to put the knife down-"
"'Babe'?" Lotor hums, watching their interaction with an amused smile. His smile twists into a smirk, eyeing Keith carefully. "Isn't that a human nickname for lovers?" Lotor asks, but neither responds, hardly sparing him a glance. "It's surprising you two got together, considering whenever I touched him he would lean into my touch, beg for more, as if he hated you-"
With an angered scream, Lance plunges the knife into Lotor's shoulder.
"Lance!"
Lance grabs the knife again, tearing it out of the lilac skin, reels it back to go in again.
Lotor only laughs.
As much as he wants Lotor to die, to suffer, they're the good guys, and they can't do that. So Keith does the only logical thing; Slides over the table as the knife is coming down, throwing his body in between Lotor and the blade. He sees shock take over Lance's face, and Keith knows he tries to bring the blade back to keep it from hitting him, but it's too late, it already has too much momentum.
The knife, his knife, drags a thin line into his bicep before it's being pulled away, a clatter as it hits the ground. Keith stumbles forwards, hand flying to cup his bicep and try to lessen the amount of blood that escapes his bicep.
"Dios, I'm so sorry-" Lance is pulling him away from Lotor, covering the cut with his hands as well. It stings as Lance puts pressure on it, causing Keith to try and jerk away from the pain. Keith stumbles again, falling onto Lance's chest. The room spins around him and Keith vaguely realizes something-someone, Lotor, is laughing behind them.
"'s fine," he slurs, going limp in Lance's hold. "Just a cut."
"A deep cut, god, I'm so sorry," Lance says again, setting Keith on the table and letting go. Keith whines at the loss of warmth, safety, falling backwards. Lance maneuvers Keith's pale, blood soaked hand onto his cut to keep it from bleeding out. "I'm gonna grab a first aid cut, alright? I'll be right back, keep pressure on the cut," Lance brushes the hair from his eyes as he exits his line of vision. Keith almost whines again. Almost. "And you," Lance snarls, obviously glaring at Lotor. "If you so much as touch him, I will break every bone in your body and make sure you stay awake to feel the pain."
Lotor has the audacity to snort as Lance runs out of the door, in search of a first aid kit.
"Look at you," Lotor says, a hint of laughter still in his voice, as Keith stares at the ceiling, trying to keep as much pressure on his bicep as he can, pain be damned. "So helpless, so weak. You were better before I took you; stronger. I guess four months worth of torture can do that to a person, don't you think?
What?
"What?" he croaks out, unable to filter himself and remain silent. "N-no, it was only a week."
"A week?" Lotor laughs, again, god, Keith hates that sound. "Is that what they told you?"
"I-"
Lance barges in again, a bright blue box in his hand. He sets it by Keith's head wordlessly, pulling out a roll of gauge and a bottle of a clear liquid, probably something to clean the cut with. He rolls up Keith's long, blue sleeve up to the shoulder, pressing a wad of toilet paper, or something, he's not sure, to the bottle and pouring some on, then placing it over the cut. It stings, but not enough that it makes him move away.
"You know," Lotor comments, breaking their silence. "If I had some of your blood I could get our Galranians to track down your family," Keith turns his head to the side, glaring down Lotor. Lance's hand stills on Keith's arm, processing what Lotor said. "Sorry- Galranians are Earth's version of hounds."
"What? " Lance says, taking the wad off his arm and wrapping gauze around it. The bleeding seems to have stopped, cut not as deep as Keith- Lance managed to convince Keith it was before, leaving the gauze as white as it was in the roll.
"What do you mean 'what'?" Lotor asks, genuine curiosity tinting his voice.
"How- Earth- you-"
"Oh," Lotor hums in thought for a few seconds, tapping his claws against the chair. Keith sits up, getting himself off the table with Lance's help. "I tracked it down a while ago. I didn't tell my father; It's an amusing little planet, I did not realize the Blue Lion was on it, and even if I did, I wouldn't have told him. I wish to keep it alive, it's a cute planet."
Keith scowls as Lance growls at Lotor, muscles tensing as if he's about to tackle Lotor. Keith grabs Lance's bicep, keeping him in his place.
"I can do it for you too, you know," he looks at Keith, then, as if expecting the same reaction from Keith. Keith just blinks, this threat having no effect on him. After all, the only family he has-had there was Shiro, and, well... "What, no parents? No siblings?"
Keith doesn't answer.
Lotor looks into his eyes, then gasps. "Oh! You're- you're her son, aren't you?" Lotor spits out the word 'her' as if it hurt him to say. Keith's stone face must crack, because Lotor continues. "Yes, I can see it in the eyes. The same bright fire, the same purple colour," Keith tries to remember how to breathe, taking a step away from the table. Lance reaches out to him, but doesn't say anything. "It's a shame, really. That- that whore left the Empire because of it's ways, fled to Alfor. He sent her to Earth, so she could be safe. She was a good fighter, but she couldn't fight off all of the Galra. She went to that planet- Earth- for a little while, then when she realized I was tracking her a few years back, she fled again," Keith inhales sharply, fingers digging into his thigh to ground himself. "I found her, killed her. Slit her pretty little neck open and watched her bleed out."
"Keith," Lance murmurs, stepping into his personal space, cupping his cheeks. Keith suddenly feels the wetness on them, fingers twitching on his thigh. "Who's he talking about?"
"His mother."
At that, Keith screams, trying to lunge at Lotor. Lance grabs both of his arms and pulls him back before he gets the chance, earning a struggling Keith in his hold. Keith continues to scream, tears trailing down his cheeks.
"Pathetic," Lotor mutters, leaning back in his chair as he eyes them. Lance snarls, but doesn't let go of Keith. Keith stops screaming and struggling, breathing harshly as he tries to stop crying. "Like I said before, it's now wonder you were so easy to keep for four months."
Wait-
He had said that before.
"What?" He feels Lance still beside him, arms loosening on his. He jerks them out of his grasp, turning to face Lance. "What does that mean?"
"I, uh-" Lance breaks off, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, did he not tell you?" Lotor laughs, repeating his words from earlier. Keith turns to him, scowling. "You were in my gracious care for four months. Acted just like your mother."
Four months.
Four months.
Keith's vision blurs, and he's running out of the door.