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Lance grinned at the camera in front of him. “Well, that’s our show for tonight. Thank you so much to all of my guests and the band! Just as a reminder, next week there will be guest hosts filling in for me as I make my appearance at the five year Voltron anniversary!” The band began to play a dramatic song quietly. “That’s right, it may be easy to forget that underneath all this Cuban charm and showbiz razzle dazzle beats the heart of a champion. I was a paladin of Voltron, fighting hard in the war to free the universe from the grasp of Zarkon and the Galra empire.” A screen appeared next to him, showing video feeds of himself, the other paladins, and the lions. “It took years, but we were finally victorious. The empire fell, and we worked with the Voltron Coalition to bring peace to entire universe. But nothing lasts forever! We trained up a new band of paladins to pass the lions on to a group that better represented the diversity of the Coalition.
“After our duties were fulfilled, we each went in our own directions. I, obviously, came back to Earth and started my own show, which is now broadcast all over the universe!” Each paladin appeared on screen as his spoke. “Hunk travels all over the universe, exploring all the unique cuisines it has to offer; I’m sure you’ve seen some of his shows and read his cookbooks! Shiro elected to return to the Garrison to help train and teach new recruits. We will still need young space explorers ready to get out there! Princess Allura, of course, became central to the Coalition and helped spread diplomacy everywhere she went. Pidge and her family started a foundation to reunite families separated by war. And Keith traveled deep into Galra space to learn more about his family.
“But now, we are all coming back together on Olkarion to celebrate five years since the war ended. I’m sure you’ll still be hearing from me while I’m gone. Keep an eye out, because there will be lots of press getting pictures of the Voltron Victorious Paladins! Anyway, that’s all from me. See you on the flip side!”
The Castle of Lions still felt like home. Well, maybe a home away from home for Lance. He enjoyed living it up in Hollywood, but nothing could ever replace Cuba in his heart. Unlike Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk, Lance hadn’t been back to the Castle since they left after installing the new batch of Paladins.
As the shuttle doors opened, only Coran, Allura, and the mice were waiting to greet him. Allura smiled broadly and held her arms wide for a hug.
“Welcome back, Lance,” she said as he squeezed her tight. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s always good to see you, Princess,” Lance replied with his trademark wink. He held out a hand to the other Altean. “Coran, my man!”
Coran all but tackled him in a crushing hug. “Welcome back!”
Lance chuckled as he was manhandled and then shivered a little as the mice climbed up his legs and settled on his shoulders. “Yeah, missed you little rodents, too. So, who else is here?”
“Pidge and her family are getting settled just now,” Allura responded. “Hunk is already in the kitchen, of course. He’s going to serve dinner tonight just for us. He pressed Shiro into service as well. Keith won’t be arriving until tomorrow, unfortunately. He will join us at the reception.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Of course Mr. Mullet wants to make an entrance. So, is there anything I can do to help?”
Allura smiled. “All the arrangements are taken care of, but I’m sure Hunk wouldn’t say no to another pair of hands in the kitchen.”
It was easy to fall back into the old routines of their team as they scurried around the kitchen. Jokes flowed as readily as the nunvill. By the time they sat down to dinner, it felt like old times. The four paladins, Allura, and Coran were joined by Pidge’s brother and father. Even with the new additions, the nostalgia was strong.
Lance felt a pang in his chest when he thought about who was missing. It felt good, but it didn’t feel right without Keith there. There was no one for Lance to get a rise out of. No one for Hunk to draw one of those incredibly rare laughs.
Their relationship was complicated. Most of the time, they were competing or actively fighting. In the heat of battle, they could work flawlessly together. There was grudging admiration between them and maybe even a few sparks when no one else was looking.
It only erupted into flames once.
Static crackled in Lance’s helmet.
“--ance! Get to the elevator now!”
“On my way!” Lance responded, breaking into a run. The base they had attempted to liberate was in flames. The Paladins did everything they could to get innocent civilians out to safety while battling the remaining Galra. But the Galra weren’t so careful and cared nothing about who got hurt.
“Lance!” Keith’s voice was strained, urgent. “Hurry!”
Lance pushed himself harder, rifle still held out in front of him. They were the only two still left inside. He skidded around the corner and barreled into the elevator, letting Keith shut the doors.
As it started to descend, the two of them took in unsteady breaths.
Keith coughed in the hot, smoky air.
“You two need to get out of there! The whole place is coming down!” Pidge cried into their helmets.
“We’re coming,” Lance answered, since Keith was still struggling to catch his breath.
“How can they have wormholes but not transporters?!” Hunk wailed. “It doesn’t make sense!”
Lance and Keith both lost their footing as the elevator shuddered and groaned. They exchanged terrified looks and held onto the walls.
“We’re gonna die,” Lance stated. “Guys, the elevator is in bad shape!”
“There’s nothing they can do from out there,” Keith told him. “Just hang on.”
Lance closed his eyes tight as the elevator lurched violently. He could see the smiling faces of his family and wondered if he would ever see them again. His eyes opened when Keith's hand landed on his shoulder.
“Lance --”
They both screamed as the elevator started to freefall.
It stopped after only a few seconds. They had reached the bottom.
“Keith! Lance! Are you okay?!” Shiro shouted.
“We’re okay,” Lance answered shakily. “Just took a little shortcut to the ground floor. Coming out now.”
Keith pried the doors open, and they raced out of the shaft, down the hall, and into the sunlight.
They were thrown forward as the building exploded behind them.
Lance came to a minute later, voices overlapping in his helmet. “Their life signs are stable! We just need to extract them -- We’ve got them on the Castle’s scanners -- Healing pods are prepped -- Finish extracting survivors -- Almost back to my lion --”
Lance slowly pushed himself to sitting and coughed. “Guys … we’re okay. Just … come get us.” He took off his helmet and set it beside him.
Keith was lying on his stomach next to him and stirred at the sound.
“Easy, don’t get up if you’re hurt. Are you okay?”
Keith groaned in answer and then slowly pushed himself to his hands and knees. “I’m okay. I think. Hard to tell when everything hurts.” He gingerly shifted to sit next to Lance and took off his helmet.
They both stared at the burning wreckage of the base.
“Well, that was close,” Lance said.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for waiting for me.”
“Wasn’t gonna leave you behind. You know that, right?”
Lance turned to face him and saw a strange expression on his face. He stuttered. “Uh, yeah, I mean, I guess?”
Keith’s brows drew together as he frowned seriously. “I would never leave you behind. Ever.” He grabbed the front of Lance’s armor, yanked him close, and kissed him.
Lance just sat there in shock with his eyes open for a moment. But when Keith started to pull back, his fingers found their way around the back of his head and pulled him back in. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth, deepening the kiss. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist, and they fit together perfectly.
They pulled apart abruptly as the Black Lion roared above them and started to descend.
“Looks like our ride’s here,” Keith said.
“Yeah. Looks that way,” Lance replied.
And they never spoke of it again.
Lance felt heat rising to his cheeks as he recalled the event. He passed by the door to Keith’s old room and remembered more than a few nights when he had thought about knocking for more than a chat about strategy and Zarkon. He never had though. It was the most tempting after Shiro disappeared. Keith was lashing out at everyone, and Lance thought maybe he could help.
But he had been scared of rejection.
His own room hadn’t been touched, save for a cleaning. His blue lion slippers had made the journey home and back again with him. He got ready for bed and wondered how it would feel to see Keith again after all this time.
You’d never leave me behind, huh? Well, you kinda did. Or … maybe I left you. Depends on how you look at it, I guess.
Once the universe had started to pull itself back together after Zarkon’s reign, the Paladins had to learn from Allura how to handle the press. It was something that only Lance took to naturally. And now that he was a bonafide celebrity with his own show on earth, he was a pro.
He smiled easily as he lined up with the other Victorious Paladins for the gala. There had been debate about what to wear, but they had decided that they would go with formal Earth attire for all the humans. The current Paladins wore their armor, and Allura and Coran were in Altean formal wear.
As the press took their photos and video streams, the door behind them opened again, and Keith entered in what Lance supposed must be Galra formal attire.
Lance felt like time slowed down. Keith’s hair was longer and pulled back into a ponytail at his nape. His face had a slightly harder edge and a few fine scars along his chin and cheekbones.
The press roared at the newest arrival and immediately clamored for a shot of all of the Voltron Victorious Paladins together.
Lance blinked and managed to get his body moving as the six of them -- Allura included -- gathered together for pictures and video. He ended up next to Shiro.
“You okay?” Shiro asked him.
“Me? Yeah, this is old hat for me!”
Shiro just nodded and gave him a mysterious smile before turning back to the crowd before them. After those pictures, then they took some with the current Paladins. Coran deftly fended off any questions, ushering the guests of honor into the hall for the gala. There was no time for any of them to greet Keith before the head of the Coalition introduced them, and they made their way into the crowded hall. Lance ended up all the way across the table from Keith, in between Pidge and the current pilot of the Blue Lion.
“Unvele, how is my beautiful Blue treating you these days?” Lance asked once dinner was served.
The Saplawn chittered and blinked large eyes slowly. “Very well, Lance. She thinks of you often and fondly.”
“Glad to hear it!”
Unvele said something else in her high pitched voice, but Lance completely missed it. Hunk had, as usual, gotten Keith to actually laugh. Hadn’t even taken much time. And the sound did things to Lance’s heart. It was a relief to hear it and see it. He was more worried about what time with the Galra was doing to his friend than he realized. But if he was still laughing at whatever Hunk was saying, everything was going to be all right.
“Lance?”
“Oh, sorry, what did you say?”
Lance had trouble staying in his seat. He wanted to just go over and talk to Keith, but the formality of the situation didn’t allow for it. Though that didn’t stop various dignitaries and allies from coming to speak to him. Normally he was good at this game, but his focus was off tonight. He kept getting distracted by Keith. Keith laughing, Keith taking a minute to hug Shiro, Keith talking with Allura …
Lance couldn’t keep his eyes off of him.
Finally, the dinner ended, and everyone was free to get up, mingle, and dance. Lance didn’t know exactly how one was supposed to dance to the unusual music, but before he could think better of it, he marched straight over to Keith and said, “Do you want to dance with me?”
Keith’s eyes widened in surprise. Shiro hastily covered a smile with his hand, and Hunk knocked over his drink. They were all silent for a moment.
Lance valiantly fought the urge to immediately back out of the hall, maybe all the way back onto a spaceship to Earth.
Finally, Keith found his voice. “Sure.”
Lance nearly collapsed with relief but instead made his way over to the dance floor. The music was thankfully slow enough for simple swaying. He turned back around to face his dance partner and stepped closer, daring Keith to make the first move.
Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist, pulling him even closer. Lance put his arms loosely around Keith’s shoulders as they began to sway.
“Sorry. I probably should’ve at least said hi first,” Lance mumbled.
Keith chuckled. “It’s okay. It was cute.”
Lance blushed and ducked his head.
“I took a minute to answer, because at first I thought you were joking.”
Lance raised his head to meet Keith’s violet eyes. “I wouldn’t joke about something like that. Your hair is one thing.”
Keith looked over his shoulder as if he could see his ponytail. “You still don’t like it?”
“It looks great.” Lance bit his lip. His mouth was far ahead of his brain.
“So do you,” Keith murmured.
Lance just stared at him, struggling for words. “We … we never …”
“No, we didn’t. But never say never.”
“I still think about that kiss.”
“Me too.”
“Then why didn’t you write, man? Or call? Or anything? You just left us all behind, like … like we didn’t even matter.”
Keith looked down at the floor. “That’s not … you all matter to me. It’s just that when everything was over, I felt so lost. I didn’t know who I was. I just wanted to find out. And … I just didn’t know what to say to you. I knew I wasn’t ready to come back.”
“How about, ‘Hey Lance. Still in Galra space. Kiss was amazing. Thinking about you. Blade of Marmora says hi.’ How hard would that have been?!”
“You didn’t write either, you know.”
“But you wrote to Allura and Shiro!”
“You’re dodging the question. Look, let’s not fight about it now. Or at least, not right this second.”
Lance huffed. “We’re good at fighting.”
“We are. But we make a good team, too, remember?”
“I still don’t remember being cradled in your arms.”
“That’s okay. There’s still time for more bonding moments.”
“Is there, though? I’m going back to Earth, and you’re --”
“I don’t know where I’m going, Lance.”
Lance blinked at him. “You’re not going back to find more of your Galra--”
“It … it hasn’t been what I expected. I don’t know what I’m doing next.”
“Well … we’re here for another day or two. We can talk about it. If you want to.”
Keith gave him a half-smile. “I’d like that.”
When the song ended, and the two headed back to the table, they were met with grinning faces from their fellow Paladins.
“I was hoping you two would get around to it eventually,” Shiro stated.
Lance felt himself blushing. “Yeah, well … we’re both stubborn.”
Pidge laughed and hugged Lance. “But you did it.”
Keith looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. “Can we stop talking about this now?”
“No way! We all had bets on what was gonna happen and when,” Hunk explained. “Though none of us thought it would happen like this.”
Allura couldn’t contain her smile. “I thought perhaps the time had passed. I’m glad to see I was wrong.”
“Okay, let’s not put pressure on them now,” Shiro said, taking pity on them. “We’re just happy one of you finally made a move. Now don’t kill each other.”
And then Shiro was left blushing furiously when Allura asked him rather formally to dance.
Keith and Lance sat back down as the other Paladins wandered off to mingle and dance.
“So, I guess they knew, huh?” Lance stated.
“Looks that way. From the outside, it probably seemed obvious. Did they ever talk to you about it?”
Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Hunk went babbling on about it one night after too much nunvill. That was it though. Shiro ever say anything to you?”
“Nope. Maybe a few knowing looks, but he never said anything.”
“So, what happened out there, meeting more Galra?”
Keith’s face darkened a bit. “I don’t … this isn’t the time, Lance.”
Lance rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Do you want to get out of here? Get some air?”
Keith shook his head. “Not yet. I don’t want to disappoint Allura or Coran.”
“Think Shiro is actually making a move?”
Keith smiled. “Maybe. Maybe you inspired him.”
Lance reached for both of their glasses. “I’ll drink to that.”
Keith raised his glass a little before taking a long drink. Lance wasn’t sure what the concoction was, but it tasted far better than nunvill. Not that that was saying much.
“So glad we have access to other kinds of alcohol. Man was not made to drink nunvill alone,” Lance stated.
Keith set his glass down and stared at it intently. “That’s weird …”
“What?”
“It just … tasted different now … than it …” He trailed off.
Lance gripped his arm. “Keith?”
“I think …” He swayed and would have landed on the floor if Lance hadn’t caught him.
“Keith!”
“Lance … poison …” His violet eyes slid closed.
“KEITH!”
The ballroom had been locked down once security was aware of what had happened. Medical personnel whisked Keith away to the infirmary. Lance wanted to go with them, but he was more angry at whoever had tried to poison his friend.
Creetix, the head of security, made announcements to the crowd and told them that no one was allowed to leave until the perpetrator was discovered. Lance worked with Pidge and the head of security, reviewing footage of the ballroom.
“Someone must have done it while we were dancing,” Lance stated. “I don’t know how they managed it with all you standing there, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Damn it, how did they even know which one was his glass?!”
Shiro rested a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. They have healing pods here, and I’m sure they can fix Keith right up. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay, here we go …” Pidge muttered, queueing up the footage. “Okay, here’s where you guys got up. We were all watching, so we had our backs to the table.” At first, some of the other Paladins remain at the table before drifting away to mingle.
“There!” Lance cried, pointing at the screen. “There he is!”
A male Galra approached the table from the other side and dropped something into Keith’s glass.
“Wait … isn’t that one of the guys that Keith came with?” Shiro asked slowly.
Lance was already out of his seat and heading back towards the ballroom.
Shiro stopped him. “Lance, wait! We need to think this through.”
“Indeed, let us take the lead on this,” Creetix said. “You’re too emotionally close to this. We will apprehend him immediately.”
“I don’t care! I’m gonna --”
“ Lance .” Shiro’s voice still commanded him after all this time.
“Fine. But I get to at least punch him at some point.”
Creetix nodded. “Of course.”
Lance sunk back into his seat and sulked. Pidge helpfully pulled up a live feed of the ballroom for them to watch.
“So, who is this guy?” Pidge asked. “Is he Blade of Marmora? Is he a relative of Keith’s?”
“No idea,” Shiro replied. “But we’ll find out soon enough.”
Allura entered the security control center with a worried look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked.
“They can’t get him into a healing pod.”
Lance was on his feet again. “What?! Why not?!”
“Whatever poison they used, it’s causing effects similar to hypothermia.”
“And since the pods work by lowering body temperature, they can’t risk it,” Pidge concluded.
Red clouded Lance’s vision. He glanced at Shiro. “Can we get involved yet?”
Shiro looked as angry as he felt. His fists were clenched.
“We must find out what kind of poison was used,” Allura stated. “Otherwise, they can’t devise an antidote.”
“Uh, Shiro? I think we’re involved now,” Pidge said, pointing to the screen.
They all watched as Hunk shoved aside security personnel and grabbed the male Galra with both hands. “What did you do to my friend?!”
Shiro shook his head. “Shit.”
Creetix allowed the Victorious Paladins to participate in the investigation. Allura and Shiro went to question the suspect while Pidge and Lance went to talk to the other members of Keith’s crew.
“Kolivan, what can you tell us?” Lance demanded.
“Not much, I am afraid. The young one’s name is Nargrek, and we met him on a planetoid only a few weeks ago. Keith seemed to form a bond with him, and he expressed a desire to see more of the universe. Keith allowed him to join us, though we would have preferred a more rigorous screening process. Clearly, his trusting human side made a grave error.”
“So you don’t know who he’s fighting for, or what he wants?” Pidge asked.
“I know only that not all Galra are handling the transition of power well. They do not trust us, nor anyone associated with Voltron. There are many who still wish to do all of us harm.” He looked down at the floor. “I am sorry. I should have done more to protect him.”
Lance shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault. He was desperate to connect with his Galra heritage. If he found someone who played to that, made it seem like he was like him in some way, he would have latched onto it. Wouldn’t have been able to help it.”
“That does seem like what happened. They spent much time talking.”
“So, if Nargrek was working for whatever this pro-Zarkon group is, who were they reporting to?”
“Uncertain. We can return to the planetoid and investigate further. It is possible, however, that he was working alone and simply wished to stir unrest.”
“Thanks for the info,” Pidge told them while Lance steamed. “It may not get us closer to a cure, but maybe at least we don’t have to watch for an imminent invasion.”
“We will look into it further, but we cautiously agree with that conclusion.”
Lance muttered his thanks and stormed off. Pidge chased after him.
“We’ll figure this out,” she assured him. “They may not be able to use a healing pod, but there are plenty of other options to keep Keith --”
“Alive?”
Pidge swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“Let’s go see how the interrogation is going.”
Lance and Pidge viewed the proceedings through a window as Allura, Shiro, and Creetix tried to reason with Nargrek. He smirked at them with his arms crossed, seeming to not have a care in the world. Just as Lance was about to lose his temper and barge into the room himself, Shiro jumped to his feet, grabbed the Galra by the front of his suit and pulled him close.
“Shiro!” Allura cried.
Shiro was saying something to the guy in a low and dangerous tone; his cybernetic arm began to glow purple.
“You wanted to impress other Galra. Show them you could hurt Voltron and the Coalition. Well, what’s it like experiencing it up close?” Shiro demanded. “Which is it gonna be? Victory? Or death?”
Nargrek’s face crumpled. He was young, maybe as young as Pidge when they first arrived on Arus. “Okay, okay! I mean -- I don’t know how to counteract it, but I can tell you where I got it …”
Pidge started entering the information into a search engine immediately. “Okay, I’m sending this straight to Medical. They’ll be able to use it.”
Shiro released Nargrek, and he dropped back into his seat. That done, Lance took the opportunity to march straight into the interrogation room and punch him so hard that he fell to the floor.
Shiro just looked at him. “Feel better?”
“Maybe a little. You?”
“Yeah. A little.”
Of course, nothing could be as simple as formulating an antidote with the ingredients on hand. No, the current Paladins were dispatched in their lions to gather a rare mineral from a nearby comet. They thought at first of only sending Red, being the fastest, then decided they should all go, just in case it was part of an elaborate plan to damage the Coalition.
That left Lance with nothing to do except sit beside Keith’s bed.
The medical staff had loaded him up with blankets to keep his core temperature up. He was pale and breathing harshly.
Lance reached out and stroked his hair back from his face. “You can’t do this to me. It’s not fair. We’ve only had one kiss and one dance. It’s not enough, mullet. It’s like a cliffhanger. You don’t get to do that to me. Not now.” He swallowed convulsively. “You just hang on, okay? You said we had time. More bonding moments. I’m holding you to that. You can’t just dangle that in front of me and then pass out to get out of it. Not happening. You hear me?”
Keith groaned softly, and Lance wondered if he could hear him after all.
“Keith?” He reached under the blankets to squeeze his clammy hand. “Can you hear me? Is there something you need? Are you in pain?” His voice caught, and he cursed himself internally. “Being on the other side of this is zero fun, you know. I’m … I’m here, okay? I won’t leave. Not until the Paladins get back, and they make a cure for this poison. I should have … maybe I should have just flown Red. It’s not like I don’t remember how. I could have been faster, and you would be better by now, and …” He trailed off and wiped tears from his eyes. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t leave. Not now. Not again. Come back to us. Come to back to me.”
The fingers in his hand twitched a little.
Lance squeezed gently in response. “Yeah, I’m here. If you can hear me, you probably want me to shut the hell up, but I’m not gonna. I’m going to keep annoying you so that you stay with us. Listen to my voice and hold on. Man, you should have seen the way Shiro went after that stray kid you picked up. You’ve never been a sucker before, man, why’d you have to start with the one who wanted to poison you? Little shit. I mean, you probably gave him the opportunity of a lifetime, and this is how he repays you? Where’s the gratitude?”
Keith’s hand jerked and then the fingers curled tightly around Lance’s wrist.
Lance stood up, not letting go. “Keith?”
Keith’s eyes fluttered. “Lan … Lan ... sorry …”
Lance’s eyes felt hot as tears filled them again. “Don’t. Don’t apologize. Tell me what you need.”
“St-stay. Talk.”
Lance twisted his hand around to grip Keith’s again. “I’m here. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. I won’t leave. The Paladins will be back soon, and we’ll get you fixed up.”
Keith groaned again, and the sound made Lance’s heart hurt.
“There won’t be a test later, so if you get sleepy again, it’s okay. But not too sleepy. Stay away from the light. Don’t leave me. Who am I gonna make fun of if you’re gone? Sorry. Shouldn’t talk about that. Uhh … why is it harder to keep talking now that I know you want me to? Even when one of us is only half conscious I can’t resist being contrary. Should I just start reciting poetry? Mary had a little lamb … I don’t know. Keep talking, keep talking. Most of the time, you probably want me to shut up. First time you’ve probably ever asked me to keep talking. Ever. Crap I’m sorry that I’m sucking so hard at this right now, shit, just don’t … Stay with us. Stay with me.”
Keith cried out and convulsed.
“Keith!” Lance leapt to his feet. “Somebody get in here!”
A doctor came into the room, moving far too slowly for Lance’s taste. “There’s nothing else to do at this point. He’s sedated and on painkillers. I can’t give him more at this time. He’s as comfortable as we can get him right now.”
Lance shook his head. “There’s gotta be something …”
Keith’s hand found its way out from under the blankets, reaching out.
Lance sat back down and took his hand again. “Okay, I’ve got you. I’m sorry you’re uncomfortable. It shouldn’t be much longer. Just hang on. Think about all of the things that Hunk is going to cook for you once you can handle it. Pidge is digging into all of Nargrek’s records to make sure he wasn’t actually working with anyone important. Seems like he was just some punk kid, trying to make a splash. Remind you of anyone? Still doesn’t make a lot of sense, though. Who’s out there that would even notice? I don’t know. Hopefully no one. But it could be that someone gave him the idea. Take out one of the Victorious Paladins on the anniversary? That would sting.” Lance shook his head. “Not that that’s going to happen. You’re gonna be fine. Or else, got it? You are coming back from this.”
Keith moaned and squeezed his hand.
Lance reached out and stroked his hair. “I know. I know it’s hurts, and I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could do. Try not to think about it. I know that’s a useless thing to say right now. Uh … shit, what else can I talk about.” Lance looked up as Shiro entered the room.
“How is he?”
“Slightly conscious and in pain,” Lance shot back. “They said there’s nothing else they can do right now. I think he can kind of hear us. He tried to say my name a few minutes ago. Told me to stay and keep talking to him.”
Shiro smiled slightly. “Well, that’s something you're good at.”
Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “What if it’s not helping?”
Shiro stood behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s helping. Keith, if you can hear me buddy, just hang in there. We’re here with you. You’ll be feeling better in no time. And you have to wake up and dance with Lance some more, because that was the cutest damn thing any of us had ever seen.”
Lance gave a watery chuckle and Keith squeezed his hand. “Yeah, I think he heard that, Shiro. Thanks a lot.”
“Do you need a break?” Shiro asked quietly. “When did you last eat?”
Lance shook his head. “I can’t. He told me to stay, and I’m staying.”
“Good thing I can bring the food to you!” Hunk announced, coming in with a tray. “Being a famous Paladin has its perks. Almost any kitchen will let me in now.” His eyes darted nervously to Keith. “How is he?”
“He can hear you, Lance thinks,” Shiro replied as Lance dug into the food. “He told Lance to stay and keep talking. He’s in pain, but there’s nothing else they can do right now.”
Hunk frowned and rested a hand on Keith’s leg. “Hang in there, buddy. As soon as you can eat, I will stuff you to the gills.”
“That’s what I told him,” Lance said, garbled by the food in his mouth. He looked at the monitors next to the bed and noticed that -- to his untrained eye at least -- Keith’s vitals looked more stable. “Hey … maybe we should get the others in here. I think having the old gang together is helping. Maybe. His heart rate looks steadier.”
“That’s a good idea,” Shiro agreed. “I’ll get the others.”
“Lance, let me take his hand while you eat,” Hunk offered. “It’ll be easier with two hands.”
“Okay,” Lance conceded reluctantly. He and Hunk switched seats.
“He squeezed my hand!” Hunk exclaimed.
“Yeah, he’s been doing that. I think he mostly knows what’s going on. I mean, I don’t know if he’ll remember it later or not. We’ll see, I guess.” He raised his voice just a little. “I’m still here, Keith. Hunk’s just making me eat. I’m not going anywhere.”
It wasn’t long before Pidge, Coran, and Allura joined them. It was almost like old times again, except that one member was even more silent than usual. Coran agreed that Keith’s vitals looked very stable.
The hour grew later and later as they waited for word from the Paladins.
“We should’ve gone,” Lance stated. “I should have just taken Red and --”
“Lance, you know the kind of tension that can cause within the Coalition,” Allura said gently. “We transferred the Lions to the new Paladins.”
“But he’s one of us,” Hunk said. “They could understand that, couldn’t they?”
“Well, it’s not like it matters now,” Pidge replied. “They’re out there, and they’ll be back. Hell, they got a lot more training than we did. They’re good pilots.”
Coran bristled. “What do you mean?! I gave you expert training --”
“Yeah, the super condensed version,” Shiro chuckled. “Speed training.”
Coran smiled and shook his head. “Well, you still turned out to be victorious. That’s right, the Paladins I trained! Not that I get much credit …” He went on for a few minutes, to the amusement of the rest of them.
Pidge’s laptop beeped, and she quickly began typing. “Just got an alert that the Paladins are back. They were successful. All the doctors need to do know is formulate the antidote.”
A collective sigh of relief went through the room.
Lance rubbed his eyes. “Hear that, mullet? It’s almost over. Just keep holding on. What am I gonna call you now, huh? Ponytail? Pony Express? I’ll have to think of something.”
Hours later, almost all of the Victorious Paladins were asleep. Pidge was passed out with her laptop still open, sprawled sideways in a chair. Shiro was lightly snoring in another chair. Coran seemed to be asleep standing up, leaning against in the corner of the room. Allura was snoozing in a chair next to Keith’s bed, arms over his legs. Hunk was sitting on the floor, back to the wall, snoring away.
Lance was the only one awake. He thought he may have dropped off a couple of times. But the light beeps of the monitoring equipment kept reminding him where he was.
He squeezed Keith’s hand lightly. “We’re all still here, buddy. Hope you’re sleeping.”
Keith’s brow furrowed, and he groaned.
“Damn,” Lance said softly. He stroked his hair softly. “Okay, I’m here. We’re all here, everyone else is just asleep. I don’t know what’s taking them so damn long, but it won’t be much longer. It can’t be. You’re so strong; you can do this. You’re the Black Paladin, damn it, you can handle a little virus from some stupid punk kid.”
Keith’s eyes fluttered open. “Lance?”
“I’m here. What do you need?”
Keith closed his eyes and shook his head. “Can’t.”
Lance gripped his hand as tightly as he dared. “You can . You are. You will. Understand?”
“Please.”
“No. You don’t get to quit on me. Not now. Not after you’ve already hung on this long. What was the point, then, huh? Just so you can make a dramatic exit in the eleventh hour? I don’t think so. You hold on . You're almost there.”
Allura stirred and lifted her head. “Keith?”
Lance wiped his eyes; he wasn’t sure when he hard started crying again. “He’s in pain.”
Allura reached under the blankets to hold Keith’s other hand. “We’re here, Keith. Just a little longer. Hold on for us.”
Keith’s breathing quickened to pained gasps. Lance made a noise of frustration that caused the other Paladins and Coran to stir.
The door to the room opened, and a doctor stumbled in, rubbing her eyes to stay awake. “I’m so sorry. Finally finished!”
A wave of relief again swept through the room as the medicine was injected.
“How long? When will we know it worked?” Lance demanded.
“Very soon. We should see the effects reversing in ten minutes or so. His body temperature should start to come up on its own. Please, get some rest, all of you.”
Allura thanked her profusely before she left the room.
“You hear that?” Lance asked quietly. “Told you you could do it. You’ll be better in no time.”
Keith squeezed his hand in response.
The monitors beeped as his heart rate slowed again, and his muscles relaxed.
“It’s working,” Allura whispered. “His pain levels must be dropping. He’ll be able to sleep properly soon. It’s what he needs. What we all need.”
“You guys go ahead,” Lance said hoarsely. “I’ll stay. He asked me to.”
Hunk shook his head. “I’m staying.”
“Me too,” Shiro agreed. “The rest of you should go through. Some of us need to be functional tomorrow. Or -- you know, I don’t even know what day it is anymore. But there’s more that will happen with the investigation.”
“You’re right about that,” Coran said. “Come, Princess. Let’s get you to bed.”
Allura smiled good naturedly. “Very well. Keep us updated.” She followed Coran out of the room. Pidge reluctantly followed them.
“You should try to sleep, Lance,” Shiro said gently. “He’s gonna be okay.”
Lance rubbed his eyes. “I know.”
It felt like only a moment later, his head hit something soft, and he felt a blanket draped over his shoulders.
Lance stirred as he felt himself being moved. He grumbled and tried to pull away.
“Shh, I gotcha, buddy,” Shiro murmured. “Keith’s fine; we need to get you to bed.”
“Nnn … wanna stay …”
“I know. But Keith woke up long enough to tell me to put you to bed. He’s doing great. The antidote worked. Time for you to get some sleep in your own bed.”
Some part of Lance’s mind wondered if he should be embarrassed at being carried to bed like a toddler, but then he quickly decided he was far too tired and relieved to care.
“Who’s with ‘im?”
“Pidge and Allura right now. The girls have it covered. Everyone’s gotten some real sleep now except you. You weren’t exactly in a comfortable position there.”
“Hmph. ‘M flexible.”
Shiro chuckled. “I know.” He set Lance down gently and pulled the covers over him. “Get some sleep. I’ll stay until you’re out.”
“Yeah … thanks …” He was asleep again in less than a minute.
By the time Lance awoke, another day had passed. He took his time getting ready for the day, figuring that if anything important had happened, someone would have woken him up.
As he showered, he wondered how he would react to seeing Keith again. How much did he remember? Was he just delirious with fever? Was the dancing and flirting just a result of the alcohol? Knots formed in his stomach as he got dressed. Was this all in my head? No, the others commented on us dancing, too. But what if he’s too freaked out after all this and just runs again? Wait … what if he’s already gone …?
Lance ran out of the room still wearing his blue lion slippers and skidded into the dining room.
Everyone stopped and looked up at him. Keith was standing at the buffet table, unidentifiable blob halfway to his plate.
“Lance? Are you okay?” Shiro asked.
Lance’s eyes didn’t leave Keith. “You’re … still here.”
Keith set down his plate and gave a small smile. “Yeah.”
“And upright? And ambulatory?! You guys let him out of bed?!” Lance shouted. “How long was I out?”
Keith crossed over to him and put his hands on Lance’s biceps. “I’m okay. I’ve been resting and taking it easy. This is the first time I’ve been out of the infirmary. Everyone’s been keeping an eye on me. I’ll probably go back to bed after breakfast.”
Lance felt his face flushing as he realized the scene he had made. “Right. Um … cool. All’s right in the world. Do we have coffee?”
Hunk lifted a carafe. “Of course. Now that we travel back to Earth more easily, I don’t like to go without.”
Lance stepped back out of Keith’s reach and awkwardly walked around him to pour himself some coffee. Keith went back to filling his plate.
“I do have some news on the case,” Allura announced as everyone settled in to eat. “Nargrek has been taken into Coalition custody and will be awaiting trial.”
Matt snorted. “Yeah, like there’s any doubt of his guilt. He’s on camera!” He smiled sheepishly at the disapproving look from his father. “Sorry, dad. I know. Due process or whatever the Coalition equivalent is.”
The conversation flowed on smoothly from there. Despite having eaten little in two days, Lance had to force food into himself. He couldn’t stop staring at Keith, wondering if he looked too pale or too flushed. And he wished he could test everything he was eating and drinking to check for any more poison.
Why him? Lance wondered. They could have just as easily poisoned my drink. Is it because he’s Galra?
As soon as Keith had finished eating, Lance pushed his plate aside and stood. He tried not to hover like a mother hen as Keith got up, but it was hard. Keith said something about getting more rest and then Lance grabbed him by the elbow and made a speedy exit.
“Lance, slow down. Not going to the infirmary. Back to my room,” Keith told him.
“What if you have a fever? Do they need to check your blood counts? I —“
“Lance!” Keith gripped his arms again and stared straight into his eyes. “I’m cured. It’s all out of my system. They let me out and told me to check in once a day, more if I feel sick. I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
Lance stared back into his violet eyes for far too long before pulling him into a crushing hug. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again, mullet.”
Keith ran his hands up and down Lance’s back soothingly. “I don’t plan to. But I do plan to actually rest again. My energy is just — hey!”
Lance scooped him up in his arms and started marching towards his room.
Keith squirmed and kicked his legs a little. “Put me down!”
“Nope.”
“Come on, I’m not still sick. I can walk.”
“Maybe. But I’m not taking any chances. Besides, this is fun.”
Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
“Are you sulking?”
“No!”
“You are. It’s almost adorable.” The doors to Keith’s room slid open, and Lance marched inside, depositing him on the bed.
“Happy now?” Keith snapped, glaring up at him.
“Sorry … I just …”
“Shut up and get over here.”
Lance raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t mean … ugh, I’m probably going to fall asleep in five minutes. Just get over here.” He pulled back the covers and slid under them, moving over to make room for Lance.
“Not even gonna talk before we get in bed?”
“Did you miss the part where I’m going to pass out in five minutes? Probably with drooling and snoring?”
Lance shrugged and got into bed. “Sexy.”
Keith laughed until tears ran down his face. Lance wrapped his arms around him, wondering how everything had happened so fast.
“We should probably … you know, talk after you’re done drooling and snoring,” Lance remarked.
“Maybe. Or we can just keeping winging it. Seems to be working.”
Lance chuckled. “I guess. But we at least need to talk about where you’re going next.”
Keith yawned and closed his eyes. “With you. Goin’ with you.”
“But I’m going back to Earth and —“
“With you,” Keith said again as the tension drained out of his body. “Doesn’t matter where. Jus’ … with you.”
Lance felt warmth blaze in his chest as Keith dropped back off to sleep. He snuggled closer and whispered, “Sounds good. I’m not letting you go again.”