Chapter Text
Of all the people to get stuck on a solo mission with, of course it had to be Keith.
It was going to be a quick and easy mission. But, that was only after you took away the fact that it was on a commander ship, not just some random one from in a fleet. That made sneaking in and stealing information a lot more stressful than it should have been for him.
They both flew in using the red lion, Keith at the wheel while Lance clung to the back of the seat with his unactivated bayard tight in his hand. He gripped it tight and hummed quietly to himself, a calming mechanism his older sister taught him.
Just as Pidge said, there was a blip in the Galra’s shield just under the belly of the ship. Red slipped through easily, landing upside down. Keith and Lance exiting and used their jetpacks to get closer. Keith grabbed on effortlessly to the metal while Lance had to fumble for a bolt, flailing in the vacuum of space and laughing at himself. He didn’t miss the way the other’s eyes rolled.
Keith took out his own bayard and activated it with a flash of light, slamming it through the metal and cutting them an easy way in. The red paladin flew in first, not even waiting for Lance to catch up.
The hallways were eerily quiet, which made the hairs on t he back of Lance’s neck stand on end. Every so often, they would hear the clunking of sentries feet from around the corner and pressed themselves against the walls, waiting for them to pass.
Lance struggled to keep his anxiety at bay, trying to convince himself in his head that this was just like every other mission. But the uneasy feeling in his gut didn’t go away, making him jumpier than usual. He just about shot Keith’s arm off when he touched his shoulder.
Now he definitely didn’t miss that eye roll.
“You’re going the wrong way,” Keith whispered, his voice he ated. “The room is to the left, not the right. Have you even been looking at the map Pidge gave us?”
Lance waved his hand at Keith exasperatedly. “Of course I have, let’s go.”
Keith huffed and turned on his heel away from Lance, walking down the correct hallway. Lance made sure the other wasn’t looking when he quickly tapped his wrist and brought up the holomap, the two blinking dots on the screen representing them. He knew what he was doing, Keith didn’t need to be such a-
They were just about to turn a corner when there was a loud thump down the hallway, followed by voices. Keith grabbed Lance by the back of his collar and pinned him against the wall with his arm. “Quiet,” he said, as if Lance didn’t already know to do that.
The voices laughed and got further away, the dull footsteps growing quieter. Then it was dead quiet again. Keith slowly peered over the wall, his eyes narrowed and sword held ready. He dropped his arm and let Lance go, motioning him with his head.
“It’s clear, let’s go.”
Lance grumbled under his breath, the weight in his stomach still unbearably heavy. They continued down the hall until the holomap pinged, a flashing red dot blinking brightly next to their own dots. On the left was the Galra’s data room which contained what they were here for.
It was Lance’s time to shine. He pressed himself against the doorframe with his bayard activated, light in his hands and humming with energy. He nodded to Keith who nodded back before pressing his hand against the doorpad.
The door slid open and Lance didn’t waste a second. He spun into the room and aimed for the first thing that moved. One shot, clean to the middle. He expected the satisfying sound of crunching metal and the frizzing of fried circuits, but instead, he heard sizzling and something squishy .
Lance’s eyes opened in horror when he saw what- no, who he hit. It was a Galra sentry, not a bot, but a living, barely-breathing one. They looked incredibly young, he couldn’t have been older than a teenager. God, he looked around Lance’s age.
The Galra teen leaned heavily against the wall before slumping to the ground, groaning and whimpering at the pain. One of his clawed hands was clasped on his side where Lance had shot him, a sticky, dark purple liquid oozing from his suit. His eyes were squeezed shut and they were struggling to breathe.
Mission be fucking damned. Lance threw his gun to the ground, the bayard deactivating automatically. He slid across the floor on his knees and pulled the teen into his arms, putting his hands on their now pale face. The kid looked up at him with bleary eyes, his whole body shaking from the effort of breathing.
“H-hey,” Lance stuttered, his voice trembling. “Yo u’re going to be a-alright, okay? Stay awake for me, you got that?”
“Lance,” Keith gasped, looking at the Galra boy bleeding out in his teammate’s lap. He felt a pang of pity. The blue paladin was really too good of a shot. “It’s not going to work. He’s bleeding too much, don’t prolong things.”
The purple blood was pooling on the floor already, trickling through the Galra’s fingers and staining Lance’s armor. It smelled sickly sweet. He shook his head furiously, his face determined. “No, he can make it, he isn’t going to die. I won’t let him die.”
The Galra coughed up more purple, baring his teeth at him. “Don’t give me your pity, paladin. I am loyal to my empire.”
Lance heard Keith sigh and step away. “Fine, you can try to save a hopeless cause. Just… Never mind. I’m getting the information and we are leaving.”
The Galra thrashed in Lance’s arms, causing his wound to bleed heavily. He was yelling in a language that neither of their translators understood and Lance struggled to keep the boy still.
“Stop! You’ll hurt yourself more!” Lance yelled, trying to pin the Galra’s arms to his sides. The Galra let out a guterral screech, his eyes full of fury and hatred. Then when he ran out of breath, he went limp like a broken doll, his eyes as lifeless as one too.
Keith inserted Pidge’s flashdrive into the computer, her hacking icon popping up on the screen before getting to work. A bar popped up showing that 4% was downloaded, approximately five minutes left until completion.
Lance had time. He looked into the teen’s eyes, noting how his breathing was shallow. Lance’s own breathing was heavy and ragged and he was desperately trying to keep himself from hyperventilating. That wouldn’t help anyone in this situation.
“Hey, I need you to take deep breaths for me, okay? Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep. Help… Help is coming.”
The Galra was unresponsive, his eyes barely open. Lance tried tapping the side of his face, but they didn’t do anything. No slap of the hand, no note of anger. The only sign that he was even alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest, but even that was faint.
Lance could feel his eyes start to sting with a growing heat. His hands weren’t just trembling anymore, they were full on quaking. He grabbed the Galra by the shoulders, shaking him lightly, but desperately. “Dude, you have to stay awake. Keep your eyes open, please, please, please…”
The teen slowly opened his eyes again, a thin line of blood trickling out of his mouth. “Yeah, y-yeah, just like that,” Lance said, a huge release in his chest. “You need to-”
The Galra hissed something through his teeth, coughing up a clot of blood.
Lance leaned in closer. “What is it? What did you say?”
The Galra teen sucked in a breath through his mouth, his eyes hard and cold. They were the eyes of a soldier, not some child. “ Vrepit Sa .”
Before Lance could react, the teen let go of his side and slashed Lance across the face with his purple-stained claws. It was like cutting through paper, ripping deep into his cheek.
Lance screamed loudly, barely hearing Keith’s yelling over his own. He dropped the now limp body of the teen, scrambling to his feet and clutching his hands over his right eye. Already he felt the thick, hot liquid pooling in his palms, gagging when he registered what it was. The pain was unbearable like someone had taken a hot poker and sliced it down his face.
He didn’t even realize it when he stopped screaming, his mouth wide and panting heavily. He was only able to take a few steps before he crumpled down on his knees, curling in on himself moaning in pain.
Keith was crouching in front of Lance, trying to pry his hands off his face to try and see how bad the wound was. “Fuck, Lance, let go! I need to see it!”
Lance was sucking in air like a dead fish, his head light and vision spotty. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head as he began to faint.
“ Lance !” Keith yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking sense into him. He snapped back into focus to listen, his entire body shaking like a leaf. His hands were pressing to his face so hard he might have crushed his cheekbone.
“K-Keith,” Lance gulped, his eye drifting to the body behind the red paladin. The teen was still and soundless, the blood continuing to spread across the floor until it stained the soles of his boots.
His breathing picked up again. He felt sick.
Lance quickly threw off his helmet and turned to the side to vomit, the acidic taste burning the lining of his throat. He didn’t feel Keith rubbing his back through the thick chestplate. Even when his stomach was empty, he kept gagging on his own tongue, trying to spit out the taste.
His head felt heavy and his mind light, the sound of rushing blood deafening him. The air was thick with both the sickly sweet smell of Galra blood and his own, choking Lance without mercy. It was hard to not gag again. The uninjured eye was blind with tears that dripped down his face, splashing on the ground just inches from the Galra’s... A sob ripped out of his chest.
The computer beeped, Pidge’s hacking icon popping up a second time to signal that the download was complete. Keith grabbed the side’s of Lance’s face, forcing him to look away from the Galra. He tried petting his teammate’s hair as an effort to calm him down.
“Time’s up. We need to go. Can you stand?”
Lance nodded his head numbly, taking Keith’s hand and pushing himself to his feet. His legs wobbled dangerously underneath him but he steadied himself before he could toppled over. It was painful to avoid looking at the boy, but there was nothing he could do anymore.
Was there something he could have done?
Keith snatched the drive from the port and grabbed Lance’s forearm, leading him to the door. Lance quickly grabbed his helmet to put back on his head, snatching his bayard and attaching it to his belt just before they ran out of the room. One hand remained on his face while the other grasped Keith’s, allowing him to guide Lance half-blind through the ship.
The halls were still quiet when they snuck back through. Lanc e didn’t even realize he was holding his breath the whole time they were moving. He had to bite his tongue to keep from whimpering, the side of his face throbbing in pain. Blood trailed down his arm and dripped from his elbow, leaving a trail of droplets behind them.
“Keith,” Lance whispered, his voice raspy.
“Just hold on,” Keith assured him as softly as he could, picking up his pace.
“But Keith-”
An alarm sounded overhead and Keith cursed. The Galra knew they were here now, wasn’t that just peachy? They must have found the…
Keith snatched Lance by the wrist and dragged him along, the other too tired to protest. He had lost a lot of blood and was starting to get woozy, standing straight now a conscious effort. They abandoned stealth and sprinted through the hallways, luckily managing not to run into any sentries.
The luck didn’t last long, however. Soon, there were guards spilling from every hallway and shooting at them wildly. Lance could feel the sweat on the back of his neck when some bullets came too close for comfort.
Keith slashed down the sentries in their path relentlessly and without hesitation, never letting go of Lance. He knew he should be shooting back at them, but none of his hands were free and he was almost certain he would die if he removed the one on his face.
A stray bullet flew through the air and snagged Keith in the leg, making them both stumble. The hallway ahead of them was clear, but there was a cluster of bots behind them armed with guns that seemed never-ending.
Keith released Lance’s arm and they kept running. “Lance, I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to shoot back.”
Lance’s stomach flipped at the thought. His senses were flooding with the dark purple blood and the cold, unforgiving eyes of the Galran boy…
“Lance, focus!” Keith yelled. Another bullet flew past their heads, only millimeters from hitting his helmet. “It will be fine, just work your magic, sharpshooter.”
Lance’s chest was suddenly filled with pride, his anxiety and fear temporarily pushed to the back of his mind. Yeah, he was the team sharpshooter. They were just bots, it would be fine. His first priority as a paladin of Voltron was to protect his teammates, no matter what.
With a temporary newfound confidence, Lance came to a stop and spun a 180, his bayard materializing and taking form. He lifted his left arm and aimed, his other hand still applying pressure to his face. He took a deep breath to calm himself and focus, the sentries gaining ground and getting closer.
His finger was just about to pull the trigger when his entire body froze.
The piercing eyes of the Galra boy flooded his vision. Vrepit sa hissed in his ear just before-
A bullet hit Lance dead in the arm, causing him to yell in pain. He almost let go of his face before clutching it again with a hiss. His bayard fell to the ground with a clatter as he hunched over himself, his stomach performing a circus act.
“Keith, I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it,” he muttered to himself, trying to regulate his breathing. The anxiety and pain washed over him in neverending waves, too violent to let him up for air.
He didn’t even realize it when they were running again because of being trapped in his own mind. Keith was saying something to him, but he couldn’t focus on it long enough to understand. Lance’s bayard was attached to Keith’s belt, bouncing against his thigh as they ran.
“We’re almost to Red, we will get out of here in a minute. But I need you to focus until then, got it?”
Lance nodded dumbly, his whole body numb.
It was a blur up until they got back to Red, both of them flying back in through her open jaws and racing to the cockpit. Keith worked on getting them the hell out of there while Lance collapsed in the back of the cockpit, his knees to his chest and back pressed against the wall. It was an ongoing war to keep himself from A) hyperventilating and/or B) passing the fuck out.
The red lion sped away from the ship, the Galra following close behind. Keith glanced back at Lance with worry, quickly contacting the castle with a press of a button.
Allura’s face popped up on the screen, her face alert. “What is it, Keith? Has something happened?”
“Yeah, Galra found us out. Both of us were shot, but Lance isn’t faring too well. Half of his face is injured and bleeding heavily. I need you to get Coran to prepare healing pods for us by the time we get back.”
Allura nodded, pulling up a holoscreen and pressing buttons quickly. “I’ll inform him of the situation. Were you able to retrieve the information?”
Keith held up the flashdrive with a smirk. “Yep.”
Some of the tension in the princess’s shoulders released. “Good, then the mission was successful, aside from a few bumps in the road.”
Lance heard this and winced. It was his fault that they both got injured. He thunked his head on the metal lightly. Useless.
“We will head back to the castle now- what the fuck is that?” Keith said. One of the holoscreens was displaying the ship chasing behind them, a massive canon charging and pointing in their direction.
“What is it? Keith, report the situation!” Allura yelled through the speakers.
Lance looked over at the screen and gasped. “Keith, we need to speed up!”
Keith grit his teeth, slamming the controls forward. “I’m trying, give me a second!”
“Keith, what is happening?!”
“Red, faster!”
The canon fired just seconds after Keith swerved to the side, but it wasn’t enough for the blast to miss them completely. The cockpit was lit up with a bright light that stung both of their eyes, but after a few seconds passed, nothing seemed to have changed.
The cockpit was silent and thick, the call with Allura now offline. “Did anything get damaged?” Lance asked, h is voice low and tense.
Keith clicked a few buttons and viewed the status log, humming to himself. “The canon didn’t affect anything? I don’t understand what it was for-”
Then, the entire cockpit went dark, the only light emitting from the stars outside. Keith just about inhaled his tongue and panicked when the lights flickered before coming back on. Red growled in their mind bond, telling Keith that the blast effecting her quintessence negatively. She was going to-
“Keith!”
He was snapped out of it when Lance yelled at him, pointing out that the canon was warming up again. Keith panicked, trying to push red to go faster, but she only growled in distress.
“Come on, move! We need to get away!” Keith yelled, the adrenaline in his veins overwhelming.
Red’s eyes lit up as she growled again. Suddenly the stars were moving past faster than before, the ship growing smaller and smaller until it was barely a blip behind them. Both of them sighed in relief, their hearts still beating fast in their chests.
They were safe now. Well, they thought so.
Red’s speed didn’t stop. The stars blurred by so fast that soon they were nothing but white lines across the glass. The whole machine was rattling from the velocity, startling the passengers inside.
“What’s going on?” Keith asked through the mind meld. Red growled. He wanted fast, now here’s fast.
Keith wanted to slam his hands on the dash, but the force rendered him immobile. His head was practically glued to the back of his seat, his teeth gnashing together as he tried to endure it.
Then, the lights flickered again. It was only once, not much to worry about.
But then the flickering increased. Intervals melded together until it was like they were at some screwed up version of a rave. Then, with a loud click, they shut down completely.