Chapter Text
-Keith-
The first time Keith had met him, he couldn't exactly say he met met him. He had actually just seen him from afar, surrounded by various cadets on their first day at the Garrison. He was lean but had a good posture and stood taller than a lot of kids his age. His Cuban heritage did him no justice with good looks and a way of charming people. He also looked like the kind of guy who should've been a dick on first meet but he wasn't.
Keith actually noticed that the first friend he'd made was a big, dark-skinned shy kid who seemed to want to make himself invisible despite his size.
He'd forgotten about him until overhearing a teacher one night.
"That Kogane kid is good- as expected on Sir Takashi- but that Cuban cadet could jeopardize his position if he isn't careful."
Keith shouldn't care. He knew that but the real rivalry started the very next day. Most kids had already dropped out of the simulator. In fact, he would have claimed all and forcefully demanded victory in a competition that hadn't been stated
If not for the stupid dickhead beside him who just happen to be on par with him.
When Keith had eventually won, the boy sighed and laughed. He offered a tan hand, childish smirk and said: "The name's Lance, Lance McClain, amigo. But the kids call me the Tailor, because of the way I 'thread the needle'."
And.. he'd ignored him. And had also thought that his name was Taylor.
Now, Keith had to hand it to him- he was determined to make himself Keith's buddy. He'd even gone about saying they were rivals. Keith might not have known how to feel but he felt that being rivals suited them. His face looked like just the sort Keith liked to punch.
However, Keith never paid attention to him, only replying with a shrug whenever Shiro had asked him about it. Seriously, that man had been overstepping his boundaries around that time.
The next time Keith paid him his full attention was when Shiro and Adam had The Big Fight.
To cut the story short, Shiro had a mission he really wanted to go on- a space mission to Kerberos -and he would have been going with Alfor Hime and Coran Smythe- two men he'd grown fond of in his time at the Garrison. Shiro, insensitive prick, was completely dumbstruck when Adam told him he would not let him go. Shiro had a disease (that Keith never seemed to remember til much later in life) and going on that mission would make it worse. To Adam, he would leave him sooner.
It was the first time Keith had heard them argue like that when he was right there, cowering behind the sofa's backrest, and it was.. terrifying somewhat. Shiro really wanted to go and had ended up telling Adam that if he wasn't okay with the situation, he could always just leave.
Okay, he didn't say it like that but still - that was what it had sounded like.
After a long pause in which Shiro reflected over his words and had just started apologising, Adam gave him three options. He told Shiro it was either he went on that Kerberos mission, leaving his side, and they call off the engagement forever, or he went on that other mission General Rodsworth had suggested considering his disease and Adam wouldn't see him until things had cooled off or Shiro stays right where he is - where Adam knows he won't be hurt.
When Shiro didn't reply immediately and with the answer Keith had a feeling Adam would like to hear but knew he wouldn't, the latter walked right out and left his ring on the table in their kitchen. Adam never came back and treated Keith like every other cadet at the Garrison.
And it hurt Keith (even if Shiro had to catch him crying to hear him admit it cause he never would while sober) when he saw Adam speaking with that- as he had remembered at the time -rival kid in hushed, warm tones.
It was then that Keith started reciprocating their stupid rivalry thing.
Few weeks into the recently rejuvenated relationship, Shiro had already gone on the mission- hold up.
Then, he wasn't sure if Adam ever got to know though he probably did, Shiro picked to go on the other mission- pleasing General Commander-In-Chief Rodsworth greatly. It was a sub-mission to Mars in order to repair one of the land rovers planted by the Garrison. He could also remember McClain being particularly on edge around that time.
Where was he?.. right.
Few weeks into the recently rejuvenated relationship, Shiro had already gone on the mission and Keith noticed that Adam hadn't been around as much, leaving that McClain kid looking more and more.. forlorn. Not that he cared where Adam went. He did. The Garrison had also begun official preparations for the Kerberos Mission, alongside looking for a good pilot for the mission.
Keith wasn't even sure when it happened but General Iverson had come in one day, bearing news that the higher-ups were looking for really skilled cadets since this would be an amazing way to check their progress. Of course, only the best were to be selected so a little competition was conducted amongst the fighter pilots of his year. When he and McClain came to a close tie, Keith had this giddiness in his heart. He was going to be able to go on the mission Shiro couldn't. He already thought of so many ways to rub in his brag.
But McClain had won. He had gotten chosen. The worst part was, he didn't even look all that happy. He even looked like he wasn't expecting or planning to win.
The last Keith saw of him, after weeks of hanging out with the head of the mission, Mr. Hime and Mr. Smythe and Hunk, was just before take off. He looked so deserving in the gleaming orange and white space suit of the Garrison, beside the Garrison's best scientist, Sir Alfor Hime and his close and private assistant, Sir Coran Smythe. Keith's heart ached and he did not know why. Something in his gut told him Lance shouldn't go. It seemed different from the jealousy he'd felt when he first saw Adam by his side. It was something more and.. seemingly important.
You know, Keith learned that his best instincts came from his gut.
As Shiro came back from his mission, the news of the Kerberos mission was broadcast.
"Pilot error? Well, I guess the kid was too young."
"That can't be true!", Hunk had yelled. He looked so convinced. He of all people knew how immature Lance could be. So why..?
Hunk dropped out of the Garrison. Something about figuring shit out on his own.
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You know, with a past like that, Keith could never really forget about him. That was why when he followed Alistair and Shiro to the rooftop that day, saw the former's alien tech stuff, then saw the explosion and Hunk's diversion then finally, looking through Shiro's binoculars which Alistair had stolen few days prior, saw Lance fucking McClain, the Garrison's youngest pilot to be sent on a mission beyond the asteroid field and who the kids still called the Tailor, lying down there and surrounded by curious Garrison authorities, he didn't see a reason why he shouldn't run without explanation.
Lance was the reason why Alistair took this identity and searched for her (his?) father, blackmailing Shiro all the way. Lance was the reason why Shiro carried this guilt on his shoulders, saying he should have gone. Lance was the reason why Adam never came back for him. Lance.. Keith was sure he hated Lance.
Funny enough, Lance was also the reason why Keith could feel his body heat even more as he looked at his resting (-though not peacefully) stupidly handsome face as Shiro held him and Hunk tidied up things in the tent.
Lance McClain.. just what the hell happened out there for him to have this prosthetic leg?