Archive of Our Own

Lance only wanted two things: one, to be able to breathe through his goddamn nose and two, to be able to sleep on his side while breathing through said nose.

He groaned for the thousandth time that night, sitting up in his bed and running his fingers through his hair out of frustration. God, the headache was killing him. Not to mention the pain of his nose. Any second now he was going to pull out his bayard and shoot himself dead in the face just to get some relief.

Taking a deep breath, he laid back down and started counted backwards from 100, hoping for sleep to sweep him out of his misery.

100 counts later and he was still wide awake, his nose painfully stuffy and irritated.

Lance bit back the urge to scream and jumped of his bed, his head swimming. He stumbled for a bit, reaching out to stable himself on the bed. Once he was stable, he rushed out his room. Maybe there was some medicine he could use in the medbay storage. Some Vicks or shit like it.

The sterile room was quiet and Lance felt a lick of guilt for rummaging around at random in all of the cabinets, but the pain of his nose kept him from caring too much. Besides, it would be rude to wake up Coran this late.

There were rows of different pills lined up to each other, all different kinds of colors and bottles. It was like a rainbow of possibly helpful, maybe deadly jelly beans in formation.

Lance grabbed random bottles from off the shelf, peering at the labels and struggling to read them. Allura and Coran had been trying to teach them Altean, but to be fair, Lance was never the best at paying attention in class. So sue him if he wasn’t that good at it yet.

He grabbed another container, this one a violet-pink color in the shape of an hourglass. He read off the label and saw a word that looked like the Altean equivalent of nose… maybe. Lance’s nose tickled and he sneezed violently, his whole body jerking. He groaned loudly, grabbing his face. That hurt like a bitch. His nose was begging for release of the pain, to once again be able to actually smell things.

Shrugging, he popped the lid of the bottle and grabbed one of the red pills. “Fuck this,” Lance growled to himself before setting the pill on his tongue and swallowing it dry. At this point, he didn’t care what happened to him as long as he got to sleep.

If it all went wrong, that’s what the healing pods were for.

Lance put the bottle back in its spot and crept through the halls and back into his room, tucking himself under the covers. Huh, maybe the pills did work. His nose already felt much clearer and he could actually breathe now.

Miracles never cease, he thought sarcastically.

He huddled underneath his blanket, easily falling asleep curled up on his side.

…

In the morning, he woke up with a dry throat, pounding headache, and worst of all… A congested, aching nose. He dragged his hands over his face, his teeth grit together in annoyance. Everything from the neck up fucking hurt , why did God hate him?!

Then, through the pain he remembered the red pill he took last night. It was okay for him to take a few more, right? They worked then, why not now?

Before he could think too much of it, he was already out of his bed and in the medbay medicine storage, popping two more pills in his mouth and swallowing. Within minutes, he already felt better. He grinned to himself, mentally patting himself on the back for the quick thinking.

After that was dealt with, he made his way to the kitchen, a new pep in his step. Wow, it must be some sort of miracle medicine. Even though he got little to no sleep last night, he felt so energized! He felt like he could take on Zarkon that second and come out victorious.

Lance skipped through the hallways, dancing to his own beat before spinning to a stop in the kitchen. He filled a bowl with food goo and spooned it into his mouth, ignoring the texture he hated with a passion. How could Alteans eat this stuff? It was like eating expired jello.

Hunk walked through the room, noticing Lance’s energy automatically. “Heya, buddy,” Hunk greeted, patting him on the back. “You look better than you did yesterday. Some extra sleep help you out?”

Lance briefly thought about telling him about the medicine he took, but quickly thought better of it. Hunk might not applaud his genius for popping random pills from outer space. “Yep, slept like a baby last night and now my nose is all better!”

Lance grinned widely, winking and shooting finger guns at Hunk. “No weird space cold can stop me, baby.”

Hunk laughed at his friend’s usual antics. “Whatever you say, dude.”

Everyone else eventually trudged in, filling the dining table and eating while holding up casual conversation with each other. The rest of the day was devoted to training and Lance completely forgot about his cold. He was too busy bonding with his teammates, keeping the mood light with his humor.

He was in the living room after everyone had head off to bed when he felt his nose drip. Lance groaned, wiping away the snot with the back of his hand.

“Frickin’ disgusting,” Lance muttered to himself, looking at the back of his hand-

Blood was smeared on his hand, a dark thick line of red. Lance jumped to his feet, quickly cupping his hands under his nose before any blood could spill onto his clothing. He felt it pooling in his hands and grimaced, wasting no time before sprinting to the medbay.

He was hoping Coran would be there to help, but the Altean was nowhere to be seen. Lance cursed, rushing to a nearby sink and dumping the blood from his hands into the basin, the blood from his nose steadily dripping onto the counter. Lance cursed, hovering over the basin and turning on the faucet, watching the droplets hit, turn pink, and swirl down the drain.

Lance washed off his hands and face, quickly shoving paper towel up his raw nose before any more blood could come out. Fuck, everything hurt even more now. His his throat was dry and scratchy and his brain felt like it was going to burst out of his skull in any second. He took his hands off the counter and stepped away from the sink, not even realizing it when he fell to the floor. The world was spinning around him so fast that he struggled to get back on his feet.

God, going to the team like this would be embarrassing. Yeah, I had a small nosebleed and fell over. What were they supposed to do about that? What could they do to help him with that? Telling them wouldn’t change anything.

His gaze coincidentally drifted to the cabinet with the red pills, still out on the counter from this morning. Lance didn’t hesitate before popping more in his mouth, the aching of his entire skull fading away in a minute flat.

The nosebleed stopped entirely by the time he was back in his room.

…

The next few days continued like that. Lance would start to ache all over so he would sneak away to the medbay to swallow more medicine before slipping back out. Nobody suspected anything wrong because Lance didn’t let them. Team Voltron continued as they usually did with daily training, the occasional alliance ceremony, with a battle or mission sprinkled in every so often.

As time marched on, when the medicine wore off, Lance’s symptoms steadily got worse. The headaches were so bad that he once almost fainted before making it to the medbay. Or when he was in the middle of battle in his lion and his nose starting to bleed like a running faucet that could only be stopped by a pill on his tongue. He would be jittery and uncomfortable, his face flushed and hot, but no sweat on his skin.

It was like he was addicted to the pills, he thought to himself while opening the bottle again, his hands trembling as he did so.

In the back on his mind he knew this was wrong. He was perfectly aware that it was past time he should get help from the rest of his team, but he just couldn’t. How embarrassing would that be? Yeah, I couldn’t sleep a few nights ago so I grabbed whatever I could and swallowed it. Haha, good one.

So he continued to use the medicine, guilt weighing heavy in his stomach every time he slinked away for more. It became a way of life as days became weeks. The pills were a part of his routine, like how you would brush your teeth or wash your face.

Then came the faithful day where he ran out.

The medicine was starting to wear off and Lance’s nose began to itch, so  he excused himself from the room as usual. As he was walking, his breath hitched just before he sneezed so hard that he felt his lungs rattle in his chest. He rubbed his eyes and groaned, picking up speed before things got worse.

Lance peered into the medbay, double checking that nobody was there. The coast was clear, so he entered, making a straight line to the cabinet. He took the bottle and opened it, overturning it into his hand.

… Only to be met with nothing.

A sinking feeling hit him and he peered into the bottle, praying his mind was just playing tricks with him. But no, it was completely empty, the bottom a dark violet purple.

“Shiiit…” Lance said, trailing off into another violent sneeze that made him drop the bottle. He spared it a glance before kicking it under the counters, deciding that he would deal with it later. A mantra of curse words were running through his head as he started to panic, his brain starting to pound on his skull. Maybe there was something else in here that could help him?

Lance dug through the cabinets in a flurried rush, desperately trying to find something similar to what he was taking before. Nothing was the same, but he did some across one that had the same word on the label, what he hoped was Altean for nose. Was that the right medicine for him anymore?

Another painful sneeze ripped through him, blood starting to drip down his face.

“Well, hope this works,” Lance mumbled to himself, raising the bright yellow pill to his lips. He swallowed it dry, his throat tight with anxiety as it went down. God, he hoped this didn’t come back to bite him in the ass later.

The pain stopped almost automatically, even faster than the pills he was taking before. Huh, what do you know? Problem solved. The fear and uneasiness dispersing from his chest as he sighed in relief. Crisis averted.

Lance set the pills down on the top of the counter, not bothering to put it back. He’d grown careless, but nobody else ever came into this room, so what did it matter? He left in search of Pidge, eager to bug her as she worked.

The rest of the day passed without a hitch. He bugged Pidge as promised (but also got her to take a break, thank God), helped Hunk cook in the kitchen, and accompanied Coran with his patrols around the castle. Everyone else was either busy discussing future missions or simply didn’t want to be in his presence (cough, Keith, cough).

Even if that was slightly insulting, Lance brushed it off. The mullet could brood and get beaten up by a robot if he wanted to.

(Not that he would ever say it aloud, but hanging out with Keith would be nice. He was the only person in the Voltron family he wasn’t close to. If anything, the distance between them was an insult to Lance’s social skills. Not that Lance was desperate to get to know Keith or anything… But…)

The day was starting to end. Dinner was just hodgepodge, a little bit of this and that and calling it a meal. Everybody was tired despite there not being a single mission for weeks. Lance knew that was going to change soon though, judging by how often Allura and Shiro had meetings to discuss new missions.

Or… He snickered to himself, a cheshire cat grin stretching across his face… Or they’ve been meeting about something else.

The Galra had been quiet for a while though, meaning something was brewing. Meaning Lance didn’t have time to be sick. That morning was a close call with the pills, but he had gotten lucky. Thank God for small miracles.

Lance was sitting on his bed when he promised to himself that he would talk to Coran about what he’s been doing. Even he had to admit that it was becoming a serious problem. As much as he hated it, he’d have to get help from everyone else.

And with that in mind, he laid down on his pillow, quickly slipping into a comfortable slumber.

…

Lance’s eyes snapped open, barely able to fully sit up before his stomach heaved, his dinner splattering onto the floor. His throat stung with an acidic taste, like he had swallowed an entire bottle of bleach. His entire body was soaked with sweat and he had to peel the blankets off himself, his eyelids strangely heavy despite being wide awake.

His whole body hurt , a sharp pain stabbing him in the gut. Lance clutched his middle, pressuring his stomach to try and stop the aching. A pathetic cry came from his mouth, his eyes hot. His breathing was irregular and choppy, his throat like sandpaper.

It was disorienting every time he opened his eyes, his vision swimming as his head pounded. The sweat was so thick that it was dripping down his neck, disgustingly cold against his flushed skin. He was uncomfortable and overstimulated, wanting nothing more than to crawl out of his own body.

The agony of it all was too overwhelming, all of it hitting him like a train in the middle of the night. All he could think was, why me?

His stomach heaved again, more throw up splashing on the tile.

Pills. He needed them now .

Lance stood up too fast, his legs quickly crumpling beneath him. He groaned loudly, not caring if he was heard. He pushed himself onto all fours, heaving from doing almost nothing, his entire body shaking with tremors. He didn’t even realize that his nose was bleeding until he saw the crimson drops start pooling beneath him.

It took what felt like hours to crawl his way to the door and he stopped to press his flushed forehead to the cool metal, relishing the feeling. His stomach lurched again and Lance struggled to keep it down.

His heavy breaths cut off suddenly when his throat started to swell shut. Lance sputtered and clawed at his neck, struggling for more oxygen. Tears welled in his eyes, his chest feeling like it was being constricted by a boa. His shaking got worse and his train of thought was derailing, too panicked to truly focus.

He was going to die there alone, all because of his stupidity. All because he couldn’t ask for anyone’s help. God, he was pathetic, laying there on the filthy ground gasping for air. There was nobody to blame except for himself. His mama would be disappointed.

Well, at least he had a good run. He wished he could have seen the Earth one last time, but that was too bad. After all, he had great friends by his side up in space, even if he was always bugging the shit out of Keith about some rivalry he knew he made up but-

Wait, Keith! His room was right next to Lance’s, maybe if he made enough noise… Maybe he wouldn’t die here after all.

Lance wasted no time before beating the literal shit out of his wall, slamming his fists on the metal until his skin broke and bled. Every second that passed felt like a decade, his vision getting spotty as less and less oxygen made its way into his lungs.

“Kei-” He choked, “K-Keith!” He tried to yell to the red paladin, but the name got caught in his throat over and over. Blood was pooling in his mouth and he tried spitting it out, but there was too much of it. Lance was starting to lose his strength, his throat now not only tight but raw from his failed attempts at screaming.

His banging got slower before he stopped completely, his hands trembling against the cool wall. His whole body hurt from the slightest movement and he couldn’t muster the strength for anything. A single tear slipped from his eye, mingling with the blood streaming over his lips. A sob was stuck in his chest and he slowly slumped to the ground in defeat. He was so dizzy and he felt his stomach churning once again.

It was over for him… His only regret would be not telling his family goodbye.

Keith stood outside Lance’s door, absolutely fuming with anger. He manages to actually go to bed at a decent time for once, but it rudely woken up at the sound of his next-door neighbor playing the timpani's against the wall. Why? Keith didn’t know, he could never figure Lance out. Whatever reason it’s for, it’s not good enough to stop Keith’s rage.

He opened up Lance’s unlocked door (he’s so careless) without knocking and came in without saying a word. He crossed his arms across his chest, expecting to find the other boy messing around on his bed to yell at him. “Why the actual fuck are you so loud for-”

All words he was about to say next got caught on his tongue when he caught sight of the blue paladin. Keith could feel the blood draining from his face.

Lance was crumpled on the ground, his face a sickly pale color with a thick sheen of sweat. Blood and tears mixed with each other as they dripped off his chin, spilling onto the floor and staining his clothes. The most concerning part was how he was clutching at his throat, not breathing and unable to speak.

“Holy shit, ” Keith whispered, frozen to the ground.

Lance’s eyes snapped up to Keith’s, glazed and unfocused. Without a word, the other hurled on the ground for the third time, finally losing consciousness.

…

“What the hell is wrong with him?!” Keith yelled, seconds from tearing his hair out from stress. All anger about being woken up was long gone. Coran was hovering over Lance’s unmoving body, his arm laying off to the side with a needle in it, hooked up to some lime green fluid the older Altean promised would keep the boy alive.

“I can’t tell yet, not exactly,” Coran said, prodding Lance’s chest methodically. “It looks as if there’s some soft of chemical reaction happening in his body, affecting him negatively,” he muttered mostly to himself.

“What do you mean, chemical reaction?” Keith said, moving closer to Lance’s side. God, he looked awful. They hadn’t had time to clean him up before hooking him onto the fluid, so there was still blood oozing from his nose, most of it dried and flaky. Had his eye bags always looked so deep? His breathing was smoother than before at least, but it still sounded raspy and struggled.

Coran stroked his mustache in thought, thinking to himself. “Well, his vomit is too acidic for humans- and before you ask, I’ve had plenty of time to run tests when Hunk first came aboard. Any who, not only that, but his throat is swelling, similar to what happens during a human allergic reaction. The nose is the only part I don’t understand… Why would it start bleeding?”

“Isn’t there any medicine we could make him take that could help him?”

Coran quickly shook his head. “Oh, heavens no! That could potentially make it worse! The medicine could react with the existing reaction, making things even more catastrophic than before!”

Keith gnashed his teeth in frustration, feeling a bit helpless. Here his… teammate was bleeding out and he couldn’t think of anything to do to help. “What I don’t get,” Keith started, brushing the hair off of Lance’s sweaty forehead, “Is how did this happen so suddenly? He was perfectly fine earlier.”

“That I don’t know, number two,” Coran sighed. “From what I can tell, whatever this reaction is, it happened suddenly. The reactant must have been introduced to him recently.”

“Wait,” Keith said suddenly, perking up. “Couldn’t you test his blood for anything? What if it’s some alien infection that got to him during a mission? It could be reacting with Lance’s body, or something like that.”

Coran snapped his fingers together, “You’re right! Can’t believe I didn’t just do that before, guess I was just caught off guard when you came barging in with Lance in your arms. Gave me quite the fright!”

Keith felt the tips of his ears get hot and coughed to cover up his flustered sputtering.

Coran gently collected some of Lance’s nosebleed onto something similar to a cotton swab before dropping it into one of the machines, waiting for the results to come back. They were printed off on a strip of paper, sort of like a receipt. Keith automatically noticed how some of the lines were highlighted, worried as to what they meant.  

Keith waited with thick anticipation as Coran read over the receipt, his stomach dropping when the older Altean’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.

“Dear gods, what is this!” Coran shouted, clutching the strip of paper so tightly it was crinkling.

“What is it?” Keith yelled, grabbing at the receipt. “Did you figure out what’s wrong with him? Tell me already!”

“His body is basically made of Jutriolite!” Coran sputtered, clutching at his head. “How could this have happened? Why, this is only possible if…” The Altean trailed off, before gasping.

“What is it, Coran?! I don’t understand a single word you’re saying.”

Coran whirled around with frightening speed, the slip of paper fluttering to the ground forgotten. He grasped Keith by the sides of his arms, forgetting what personal space was for just a second. “Keith, have you noticed Lance acting suspicious lately?”

Keith was so lost. “Uh… Not that I know of, no?”

“No signs of illness? Has he disappeared at random times? Tell me everything you know, now,” Coran said quickly, shaking Keith with each word.

“Okay, okay!” Keith said, pushing Coran off of him. “I mean, now that you mention it, Lance has been sneaking out of practice every now and then. I never really paid attention to it though.”

Coran shook his head. “Yes, yes, okay, for how long has he been doing this, exactly?”

Keith scratched his head. “I don’t know, a month maybe?”

“Have you seen him come in here before?”

“Once, I think? It was after a battle and I saw him bleeding from his nose so I assumed he was going to get help from you.”

“No, he didn’t,” Coran said, cursing under his breath. “If I’m correct, Lance might have been taking medicine in here without any of our knowledge.”

“What?” Keith yelled. “Why would he do that? That’s idiotic!” He looked over to Lance’s limp body, some of the anger dissipating out of guilt.

Coran put a hand on Keith’s shoulder, making him snap his neck around to look at him. He had a knowing look on his face that Keith couldn’t exactly interpret. “Knowing the boy, he thought asking for anything would be a burden on us, not that it is. Seems he just can’t get it through his head. I’ve talked to him before on my patrols and he’s not an idiot, Keith.” He sighed, shaking his head while resting his hand next to Lance. “He’s just not willing to ask for help, even when he needs it.”

Keith went awfully quiet, all insults trapped back. He watched Coran’s hand thread through the Cuban’s hair in a caring manner.

“First thing we need to do is find out what exactly he’s been taking,” Coran said, rushing to the cabinets. “Judging from the Jutriolite, the medicine must have contained Gytrion or Outrio. So look for something with that on the label.”

Keith had no idea what either of those meant, but started to dig through bottles anyways. He kept away from the ones in the back, doubting Lance would bother to hide them back there… Would he? Screw it, no table unturned.

They had been searching for about ten minutes until Lance was groaning from the table he was laid out on. Keith looked to Coran, unsure what to do.

“Go ahead and tend to him,” Coran ushered, “I’ll continue to search.”

Keith slowly approached the side of the table, nervous for reasons he didn’t know. Lance’s eyes were barely cracked open, his wheezing painful to the ears. He noticed that the other’s nose was starting to bleed again. He knelt down.

“Keith?” Lance croaked, wearily lifting his hand.

“Yeah, yeah it’s me,” Keith said softly, taking Lance’s hand gently. “You doing alright?” What kind of a question was that?!

Either Lance didn’t hear him or he simply ignored the question. “Water…”

Keith shot up to his feet. “Right! You’re probably thirsty. Uh… Stay right there! Wait, you can’t- Never mind! Just give me a second,” Keith rambled, his face flushed with mild embarrassment. He grabbed one of the water pouches from in some mini fridge-like compartment and ran back to Lance, sliding across the tiles on his knees and ending perfectly by the table.

“Here,” Keith said, stabbing the straw through, “Drink this.”

Keith held the straw to Lance’s mouth, lifting the end to the other’s lips. He took a big, greedy gulp before coughing and sputtering, choking on the liquid.

Keith’s hands jerked the pouch away, throwing it to the ground. He helped Lance sit up and patted his back as he coughed noisily. The blood from his nose was starting to drip over his lips. “Oh shit, are you okay?”

“H-Hurts… To swallow…” Lance said between coughs. Keith rubbed the other’s back awkwardly.

“You should lay back down,” Keith whispered, to which Lance could only nod. As soon as his head hit the pillow, the other was out like a light. His face was sweatier than before, mingling with the blood.

The only thing he could think of to do was wipe off Lance’s face, so he grabbed a tissue and cleaned off the nosebleed. Lance whimpered in his sleep, twitching ever so often. Keith bit his lip, grabbing the other’s hand once again to give it a soft squeeze of reassurance.

“Aha!” Coran yelled in the other room. “Keith! I think I may have found it! Come quick!”

Keith put Lance’s hand down carefully before sprinting to Coran. “What was it?”

“Ah, well you see, I’ve figured out that Lance must have taken two types of pills. See, to make Jutriolite, you must have a vast amount of Gytrion for it to work. Then, if even the smallest amount of Outrio makes contact,” Coran made an explosion with his hands, causing Keith’s stomach to sink.

“You mean Lance is going to explode?!” Keith shrieked.

“No, no, no,” Coran said quickly, waving his hands in front of him. “That’s only if the elements are pure. Now, when used in medicines, they are quite useful painkillers. This was discovered by-”

“Get to the point, Coran.”

“Oh, yes, right. So from what I can tell, Lance must have been taking medicine from in here containing those specific elements. Now, I’m sure I found the Outrio pills-” He held up a clear bottle with bright yellow pills- “Since these are the only ones we have containing such an element, but I can’t seem to find any containing a heavy percentage of Gytrion.”

“Why can’t we just pump it out of him now? Wouldn’t that solve it automatically?”

Coran shook his head, digging through the cabinets once again. “No can do, number 2! Doing that could jostle the Jutriolite and actually cause Lance to go ka-bloom ! That, and the amount of Gytrion in his bloodstream is too much to be removed without any counter-medicine.”

“So then what are we doing exactly?”

“Well first, we have to find out what medicine is causing this. When we do that, we can search for a counter medicine to give to him. If we don’t do that first, we could accidentally give him the wrong one and make things worse!”

Keith sighed angrily. “I’m beginning to realize that medicine is more complicated than I thought.”

“Precisely! Now you’re getting it!”

“So after that, then what?”

“Once that’s all done, we can then stick him in a cryopod. See, we can’t do that now because the Jutriolite could damage the machinery, therefore Lance. So when the counter-medicine goes into effect, it will start to break down the Jutriolite and then make it safe for him to go into a pod.”

“And the pod will get the… what did you call it? Guy-try-on?”

“Gytrion! So the pods will finish up the rest for us and Lance will pop out a new man, as you humans say.”

Keith nodded. “But none of that can happen until the other bottle is found.”

“Exactly. So we must hurry.”

Half an hour later and they weren’t even halfway through checking the other bottles. Keith was starting to get weary, but slapped himself awake. He had to help his teammate.

It was when he was when he was digging through the lower cabinets when he found something. Rolled under the counter was an empty violet-pink bottle with an hourglass shape. Keith picked it up. Could this be…

“Coran! Come here, I need you to check this one!”

“What is it, my boy? Did you find something?”

“Maybe,” Keith said, handing it up to Coran, “I need you to check it first.”

Coran peered at the label. “Oh dear.” He then peering into the bottle. “Oh dear. Where was this one exactly?”

“I found it under the counter.” He pointed to the empty spot.

The older Altean stroked his mustache. “Well, I believe we found our match. But this bottle was full last I checked! If Lance took all of these, well, then he has enough Gytrion in his system to knock out a Repesshia!”

“So do you know what medicine to use for this?”

Coran nodded. “I believe so. Come with me.”

Keith was led to the end of the room where there was a hand panel. Coran removed his glove and pressed his hand against it until it beeped and turned green. A small compartment slid out of the wall, filled with tiny syringes of liquid. Keith couldn’t help but shudder. He always hated doctor visits.

Coran picked up one with an orange color. “This should be the one, if my memory serves correct. See, on Altea, this was in fact relatively common. An Altean would take some painkillers with Gytrion, and then take Outrio when it didn’t work. My grandfather dealt with this problem a lot, back when he worked in the medical center. He was one of the best…”

Keith started to drone Coran out after a while, not very interested. This was more of Lance’s forte. “Hey, Coran, can we give it to Lance already? We need to get him into a pod, remember?”

Coran’s rambling was cut off. “Oh, yes. Could you please go disinfect his arm for me, please?”
Keith returned to the table, wiping what he hoped was disinfectant on Lance’s forearm. His skin was awfully pale, probably from the nosebleed. He barely brushed the other’s forehead and recoiled at how hot he was. Shit, they had wasted a lot of time.

The Altean rushed over with the needle in hand. “Hold him down for me, it’s going to sting as it fights the Gytrion in his blood.”

Keith nods, already holding Lance down. The Altean jabbed the needle in at an angle, making him wince. Lance jerked in his sleep, but it got worse as Coran started to inject the counter-medicine.

Lance’s back arched upwards, his eyes open in pain. A coarse scream ripped its way out of his throat and Keith struggled to keep his arm still. The other began to thrash, fighting away from the needle.

“Just a bit more,” Coran gritted through his teeth.

After what felt like forever, Coran pulled the needle out and Lance stopped writhing. All three were panting, tear tracks going down the sides of Lance’s face. Keith finally let go of his arm, biting his lip in shame when he saw the marks his hands left. He hoped they wouldn’t bruise.

Keith cupped the side of Lance’s face. “Hey, it’s okay, you’re fine now.”

Lance blearily looked at Keith before closing his eyes and passing out again. Keith sighed, letting his head drop. He looked up to Coran, who still looked shaken from the ear-piercing screeching.

“Go prepare a pod.”

...

When Lance woke up next, it wasn’t exactly pleasant. There was a familiar hiss as the cover of the cryopod opened and he gasped a lungful of cold air before he felt himself start to fall forward. He felt himself fall onto something soft, warm, and familiar.

“Hunk?”

“Oh my gosh, you’re okay!” His friend said, giving him a bone-crushing hug. “You had me so worried… Wait, no, you gave me a heart attack!”

Lance was soon being throttled by Hunk, not even able to protest. “What were you thinking?! You couldn’t come out and say you were sick? I thought I was your best friend, what happened to that!”

Then it all came rushing back to Lance. The new pills, waking in the middle of the night, Keith opening his door. His face flushed in embarrassment and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his room and die. His rival saw him like that! Ugh…

“Wait, Hunk,” Lance managed to get out. Hunk stopped jostling him long enough to listen. “How long was I out?”

“About a week,” came Pidge’s voice, who was hiding out against the wall with her laptop on her knees. “Not surprising considering what you did.”

“About that,” Lance muttered, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry?”

Hunk smacked him upside the head. “What kind of half assed apology was that?”

“Well I don’t even know what happened! All I did was take some medicine and then I wake up blowing chunks!”

Both Pidge and Hunk visibly recoiled. “Disgusting,” Pidge said, typing on her computer. “Didn’t your doctor ever tell you not to go witch doctor and take a bunch of different medication?”

Hunk crossed his arms, lifting a brow. “And why exactly did you do that, hm?”

Lance groaned, telling them how crappy he was feeling just a month ago and how he didn’t want to wake anyone up. Then how that turned into a habit. Slipping away, the worsening symptoms, and finally running out.

Pidge gave him an are-you-serious for the entire speech and Hunk was rubbing his temples by the time Lance was done. “Dude, I love you, but sometimes you can do some really stupid things.”

Lance looked down at his feet with his best puppy dog eyes. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

He really tried, but Hunk couldn’t keep up his angry face. With a sigh, he outstretched his arms. “Come here, you dummy.”

They hugged it out with Pidge rolling her eyes in the back.

Of course, he was chewed out by Shiro and Allura, finally being informed of the seriousness of what he had done. Lance swore his stomach dropped right out of his body once Coran told him how deadly Jutriolite was.

“If it wasn’t for Keith, you probably wouldn’t be here anymore, Lance.”

He narrowly avoided a panic attack when Coran realized how traumatizing his words must have been, providing comfort. A lot of apologies were thrown around, especially from Lance’s mouth. Guilt was heavy in his stomach for the whole day.

Man, how awful was it to be known as the guy who didn’t trust his team?

It was late before he was able to collapse in his own bed, ready for the best sleep of his life. That was until there was a loud knocking at his door.

Groaning, he slipped off his bed and opened the door. “What is it-”

He cut himself off when he was met with the most angry looking Keith he think he’s ever seen. And trust him, he’s seen a lot of angry Keiths. If his eyebrows were any more scrunched, they just might become a unibrow. His arms were crossed over his test as they usually were.

What made it more awkward was that Lance hadn’t seen him all day. He was almost positive that Keith was trying to avoid him, probably too angry not to punch him in the nose.

Well, guess that punch was coming sooner or later.

Lance braced himself before speaking. “Can I help you?”

He jerked when Keith moved, squeezing his eyes shut for the blow. What he did not expect was a hug from the other.

It did not last very long before Keith pulled away, leaving Lance in a hazy daze. The other seemed a little flustered himself, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“Don’t scare me like that again, idiot!” Keith barked before quickly turning on his heel and marching down the hallway to his own bedroom.

Lance was there in the door frame confused, peering down the hall just as Keith went into his own room.