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Keith runs as the ground gives way beneath him. There’s nowhere to go but the edge of the cliff, the river of lava far below casting light and waves of heat up the wall, rippling the air. The next ledge is twenty feet away on the other side of that river but he doesn’t have any other choice.
Fear and desperation sour his mouth, panic kicking his heart into overdrive as he runs. The stone cracks and falls away beneath his boots in a deafening roar. He can feel it vibrating through his heels, threatening to swallow him.
Adrenaline drives him as he reaches the edge and leaps, stretching desperately for the ledge he knows he’ll never catch. Fear strangled the scream in Keith’s throat as his momentum gives out and he falls, desperation choking him. The heat of the river licks at his legs even from so high up and he imagines he can hear it laughing. And then Lance is there, riding in like a solar flare on the alien surfboard, a streak of light from the engine arcing out behind him as he dives. The roar is nearly lost under the sound of collapsing stone and Keith’s hammering heart, Lance’s open hand stretching towards him.
“ Keith !” He leans down from the board, reaching, his hands slapping into Keith’s wrist, catching him. The momentum drags Keith through the air, snapping him sideways hard enough to give him whiplash but he’s stopped falling. The strain of the sudden weight threatens to pull Lance’s arms from their sockets and he groans, struggling to pull Keith upward, still directing the board through the collapsing crevasse. He nearly upends them, trying to keep steady while avoiding falling rubble but he never lets go. Together they manage to haul Keith onto the board.
“Hold on to me!” Lance has to shout over the roar of the wind in their ears and the engine to be heard, pulling Keith up into his chest. One arm around Keith’s waist he drives his heel down into the pedal on the back for the engine, kicking the board into the next gear and they hurtle forward. Keith’s body bends with his as best he can. The air pulls at them, their hair, the heat singeing their skin as Lance tries to drive them higher, the board struggling under the added weight.
There’s a roar from above them as a wall of stone collapses and Keith looks up in time to see it falling towards them, his grip on Lance tightening reflexively.
“Lance!”
Gritting his teeth Lance kicks the board faster, the engine burning hot against his heel and he goes into a steep dive instead of pulling back, cutting off Keith’s protest before it can form.
“Trust me!”
Keith holds him tighter, their feet locked between one another as if they’re dancing, bodies pressed tight, the lava rising up to meet them as stone comes down on their heads.
“Back!” Lance shifts his weight, rocking onto his back heel and crouching and Keith does the same on instinct, their bodies moving in tandem. The shift of their weight drives the nose of the board up as Lance drops a gear, the back of it giving out beneath them, a startled shout leaving Keith.
They drop dangerously close to the lava, a sheer cliff face emerging out of the darkness ahead of them as they fall closer and closer, the crumbling stone almost on top of them.
“Come on, come one,” Lance mutters, sweat evaporating from his face as he waits for the moment, their hair beginning to singe. Just as Keith thinks they’re going to die Lance hits the pedal for the engine, throwing it into full gear with a final shout of determination.
“Come on!” A spray of lava bursts beneath them and they’re shooting forward so hard and fast Keith nearly loses his footing as they hurtle out from under the stone in a cloud of dust, headed right for the wall.
“Hold on to me! Keith, hold on!” Lance shifts his weight even further back, driving the engine as hard as it will go. The board goes almost vertical beneath them and Lance has to put one hand on the nose, the other around Keith’s waist to keep him from falling. The engine sputters dangerously, rapidly overheating as they approach the wall, soaring upwards in a steep climb.
They’re almost parallel to it, the only thing keeping Lance in place the locking mechanisms around his boots and Keith slips, gravity dragging him down. His feet catch on Lance’s boots until he’s all but standing on them, his arms locked tight around Lance’s back. Lance’s arm is right around his waist, keeping Keith’s center of gravity from dropping.
They clip the edge of the cliff as they soar out into the open air in a burst of shattered stone and dust, Lance kicking them into an aerial to level the board back to the ground and it hits hard, almost slipping out from under them before Lance can correct, holding Keith with both hands to keep him from falling.
He dares a look behind them as the mountain explodes, racing the fallout to the city below, the same one they’d finished evacuated scant hours ago.
Lance expertly weaves between falling boulders, flaming cinders, and abandoned buildings until they’re out. A cloud of black smoke and ash darkens the sky and Lance’s heart pounds in his chest so hard it hurts.
He drops out of high gear as soon as he can, stretching the flight time of the engine, trying to cool it down. He doesn’t stop until they’re miles away, his grip on Keith slowly relaxing until he feels they’re safe and hoping his hands will stop shaking.
He finally lands them in an open field, the erupting volcano miles behind them and slowly comes to a stop. Keith is able to find his balance and stand on the board, Lance holding him loosely. He helps Keith to the ground, both their knees weak.
They’re both shaking, high on adrenaline and fear and Lance can’t bring himself to let go of Keith’s hands. He knows the ground is solid beneath Keith’s feet but Lance is afraid if he lets go he’ll still fall.
Their faces are streaked with soot and ash and sweat, Lance’s hair plastered to his forehead.
“Are you hurt?” The board hovers and wavers under his feet as his eyes fly across Keith’s face. They’re both breathing heavily, jagged and raw, like they’ve run a marathon.
Keith stretches up onto his toes, grabbing Lance by the back of the neck and pulling him down into a kiss, nearly knocking the board out from under him. Lance grunts in surprise, trying to catch his balance. He has to grab onto Keith’s shoulders to stay upright, using Keith as an anchor to keep from breaking the kiss.
Lance bends his knees as the board stabilizes, crouching down to be closer, pressing into Keith and leaning over the board dangerously. His eyes close automatically as he kisses Keith back, one hand sliding to the back of his neck, fingers curling tightly in his hair, tipping Keith’s chin up. Fear keeps him from being as gentle as he’d like, adrenaline driving him to sink his teeth into Keith’s lip, feeling him groan.
Keith’s grip on him tightens and he nearly pulls Lance off the board when Lance drags Keith’s lip through his teeth before pulling away.
The kiss breaks, both of them breathing hard and Lance twists both heels to the right, simultaneously powering down the board and releasing his boots from the mechanism.
Keith drags him off it before it’s touched the ground, pulling Lance into a hug and holding him tightly, face tucked into Lance’s neck as best he can. His breathing is still ragged.
“You came back for me,” Keith rasps, his voice shaking. He can’t stop feeling the heat licking at his legs.
Lance hauls him up into his arms, all but lifting Keith from the ground, crushing him to his chest and holding him so tight it hurts, breathing him in, relieved he still can.
He smells like ash and fire.
“Always,” Lance promises, lips to Keith’s ear as he holds him close, heart still kicking in his chest. “Always.”