Work Text:
Purple light bathed the halls in an eerie glow. Somewhere in the distance an alarm blared but that was far from this hall. Lance didn’t have to worry about being quiet so he stalked down the corridor at a steady pace, bayard held in rifle form at the ready, breath heavy from the tension.
Lonely shadows following me / Lonely ghosts come a-calling / Lonely voices talking to me
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
“I don’t like this,” he mumbled into his helmet. “Too quiet.”
“Because I’m out here drawing their attention,” the comm hissed back. “Dumbass,” Keith just couldn’t help the barb. At least his tone had gotten softer having said it so much.
“Yeah, well. That’s what they want you to think,” Lance bit back then jumped at a shadow on the wall as he passed a break in the corridor. It was just a doorframe but he felt exposed in the hall alone. “Why am I doing this again?”
“Because you can’t fly Red. Trust me, Lance. I think I should be the one in there too. Now shut up and get it done.”
“Yeah. Sure. But you get to tell my mamma why her baby won’t be home for Christmas if this goes bad,” Lance huffed as he plugged a clunky handheld device into a door panel on the Galra cruiser. The lock’s lights flickered then released.
“Whatever.” Lance could hear the roll of Keith’s eyes.
And my mother told me son let it be / Sold my soul to the calling / Sold my soul to a sweet melody
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Pidge should be doing this but she was with Hunk and Shiro on the other side of the galaxy raiding her own Galra systems. Lance got stuck with Keith. Alone. And without his lion. Lance had lost the toss for which one they would take. Damn his rock. Every time.
A hiss and sudden movement pulled Lance’s attention out of his head. The door was open now and he could see into the room. The auxiliary command deck of the Galra ship he was supposed to hack. Thankfully, Pidge had found a way to get through the Galra genetic activation security protocol on at least their access panels and made a device, the clunky thing Lance had used to open the door, that would automatically hack their systems. This allowed him to access records and steal data without having a tech genius or pet Galra’s help. Not that Keith couldn’t be the one in here doing this but. . . well, the Mullet could only be in one place at a time and Lance had lost the toss.
The room suddenly filled with ruddy light and Lance flinched for the brightness. His eyes weren’t really given time to adjust before the light was gone again. An explosion. The command deck had one of those ridiculously large windows that looked out into space. Out there was Red. Swatting Galra ships like flies. In here Lance had a perfect view of the fight.
She really was beautiful. So fast. So agile. So hot.
Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire
Burn, burn, burn
Lance lost himself for a moment watching Red fight. That fire. Fearless.
But he had a job to do so after a perfectly appropriate amount of staring, he tore his eyes away and plugged into the console, started the download. Now all he had to do was wait and make sure no one found him there before it was done.
A flash from the screens caught his eye and Lance frowned. The hacking script had to open files to download them for some reason that Pidge wasn’t able to adequately explain beyond ‘Galra programming is needlessly cumbersome and stupid’ so Lance was now staring at the raw data he would take back to later be analysed, hopefully by someone else. Currently the program was scrolling through a list of names each with a photo and some numbers to the side. He’d recognized a few of those photos. It took Lance a while to realise what he was seeing. Casualties.
Oh, a thousand faces staring at me / Thousand times I've fallen / Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
This wasn’t what he’d signed up for.
Flying giant, sentient robot lions that fit together to form an even bigger robot, sure. That part was great. Spending almost every waking moment with an amazing team of the best people the universe had to offer, yeah. Even the grueling training and non-stop high alert wasn’t so bad. Saving people was fun. Especially the parties after. But this? Killing people?
Lance knew this was a war. He knew they were killing people. Keith was killing people right now. Maybe. The Galra used a lot of drones so it was easy to convince himself that it was just a machine going down every time they took out a fighter. It was harder to rationalize when the guards screamed. Even more so when he recognized their faces on a list of casualties.
But this was a war. And they were killing Galra. They were the enemy. . . It was a lot easier before they knew about Keith and the Blade of Marmora. Before they proved that Galra really were people too and not the monsters he’d gone into this thing telling himself they were.
Lance couldn’t help but wonder how many of the faces scrolling by had been Blades undercover. How many had just been grunt soldiers. Doing their job. Were they drafted? Did they even have the choice not to fight? How many of them had Lance killed? How many brothers? Sons? Fathers?
And my mother told me son let it be / Sold my soul to the calling / Sold my soul to a sweet melody
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Lance really didn’t want to know. It was easier to just not think about it.
His mamma had warned him he didn’t really want to be a fighter pilot. When he’d not made the cut she had said, “It is better this way, mijo.” He’d not understood at the time. He’d thought she was just trying to comfort him. But now. Looking at those faces. He knew what she meant. Being a fighter pilot meant being a soldier and that means killing people. He finally understood why his mother promised to pray for his soul when he got accepted.
What would she think of him now? After all he’s done. Would she think the cause worth it? Saving the universe sounds good but at what cost?
It was exactly the sort of nagging worry that could make Lance lose himself for days. Thankfully, the universe gave him a distraction.
The whole ship suddenly lurched. Lance had to grab onto the console to keep his balance, gritting his jaw at the sound of tearing metal. Something had just hit the hull. And hard. He stared frantically out the oversized window, searching for the Red Lion.
Keith’s voice came through the coms, “Lance! I hope you’ve done your part. I’m coming in to get you. It’s too hot out here.”
Lance checked the files, “Just a few more seconds.”
“I’m clearing a path. Come back the way you came when it’s done.”
Lance gave an affirmative then bit his lip as he watched the download finish. As soon as it did, he pulled the device out and tucked it into his belt then bolted, trying not think how easy it would be to end up just another face in a list of the dead. How easy it would be for Keith too.
Empty halls echoed with the sound of heavy boots. Runing. Lance ducked into a doorway to let the marching drones pass but they were going the same way. To the hangar. To Keith.
Lance bit back a curse as he waited for enough distance to pass between them. When their boots began to fade he whipped around the corner, rifle first, and took the shot - one, two, three. They went down. Two left. He jumped back behind the wall to dodge the return fire.
An explosion ripped through the hall and with it the sound of more boots, shouting. Soldiers, not drones. The flash of a blaster cut the dark as the clash of a familiar blade ripped a scream from a purple chest. Lance’s heart stuck in his throat. He swallowed it down. Pray for me mamma.
He whipped around the corner again.
Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire
Burn, burn, burn
So fast. So agile. So hot.
Half their size and taking them down. Keith had his bayard in one hand, Marmora sword in the other. Dual wielding a cross cut right through the Galra in front of him. It fell with a heavy, wet sound that Keith just dodged around. Like a dance. A mesmerising, deadly dance. He blocked a shot with the bayard then brought the purple sword down in a spinning jump, cutting through the drone that dared challenge him.
Lance lost himself a moment watching Keith work before he shook that off and raised his bayard, put a well placed shot to take out one that threatened Keith’s back then another and another. Together they took out the enemy. Lance didn’t let himself wonder how many had been drones. Or not. He just nodded to Keith once the last of them fell and ran to close the distance between them.
He bumped into a purple chest halfway.
Ghosts and devils come a-calling / Calling my name oh, lost in the fire
The massive Galra glared down. All muscle and gleaming cybernetic tech. It towered over him. Blocked the whole hall and any escape. A fanged grin spread as it lifted a gaint hand, batted the Blue bayard away. Lance’s eyes followed the arc as his weapon tumbled down the hall. Out of reach. His mother’s voice echoed in his head, telling him to come home. He braced for the blow.
Sweet virginal blood is calling / Calling my name oh, lost in the fire
“Lance!” Keith screamed but the Blue Paladin couldn’t answer, too busy trying to fuse himself into the wall behind him to escape the hulking monster. He didn’t hear the quick charge footsteps behind the beast. It didn’t hear them either.
A burning blade sprouted from the Galra’s chest then jerked to the side in a violent arc. The now lifeless body crashed to the floor and Lance couldn’t help but smile at the fire. Keith.
So fast. So agile. So hot.
Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire
Burn, burn, burn
Keith jumped over the ruined hulk to grab Lance by the front of his armor and pull him close. Aggressive, as always. Midnight eyes glared into ocean blue as their foreheads nearly pressed together.
“Pay attention,” Keith snapped at Lance. The taller boy couldn’t help a teasing smile.
“I knew you’d save me,” he purred leaning in closer, noses touching. Keith glared.
“I might not always be there,” he warned darkly but didn’t pull back. Keith never backed down.
Lance hesitated just a moment but was sure not to let it show. No more than a dramatic pause passed on the outside though internally he recognized that Keith echoed his own fear, how easy it would be for either of them to die. It was over with a huffed little laugh and tiny shake of his head, too small to pull them apart.
“Then I should enjoy it while I can,” Lance’s breath heated Keith’s face then he leaned in, breached that last tiny distance and pressed their lips together.
Keith tasted like fire, burning hot. Lance would be happy to lose himself in it. But Keith only kissed back a few crashing beats before he stopped them.
“Dumbass,” Keith hardly pulled away to say it. Lance could feel him smile against his lips. “Wait till we get out of here.”
Lance panted for breath against the fire in his gut and took a moment to process before huffing a husky sound and purred, “I’m gonna hold you to that, Mullet.”
“I’m gonna hold you to the floor,” Keith deadpanned, half promise, half threat. Lance went a little weak in the knees and Keith had to give him a pull to get him going, running back to the waiting Lion and promise of fire.
Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire / Oh gimme that fire
Burn, burn, burn