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The Blue Lion flew swiftly over the icy surface of the planet.
Lance took a moment to really analyze the landscape, realizing that the horizon was completely covered in ice. It was the first time he had ever seen a planet so white and desolate.
“Allura and Coran weren’t exaggerating about this huh?”
He turned his head to get a better look at Keith, who was now standing beside him, a hand resting on his seat’s headrest, eyes locked on the frozen horizon.
Keith was dangerously close too, and Lance could feel every bit of his presence beside him. Even so, he forced himself to turn his attention back to the front, tightening his grip on the control handles until his knuckles turned white beneath his gloves, trying hard to focus on the task at hand.
Being on a mission with the person he low-key had a crush on, inside his lion, was definitely not on his space war bingo card.
The castleship was currently undergoing maintenance, and in order for the light cannons to function properly without overheating, they needed to retrieve a cooling crystal found only in the underwater caves of planet Vetra—a planet mostly composed of ice due to its extremely low temperatures.
“It should be a quick trip,” Coran said, twisting his mustache as he looked at Lance—who was clearly the obvious choice for the task. “Since the Blue Lion moves better through water environments, it’ll be easy for you to pilot across the underwater cave and reach the cooling crystal.”
Lance smiled at that. A mission all to himself? This was the perfect chance to prove he was worthy of being part of the team. More than anything, he needed to prove it to himself. He didn’t want to feel like a seventh wheel—and going on a solo mission sounded exactly like the boost his self-esteem needed.
Allura and Shiro stood a few feet behind Coran in the castle’s main control room, studying the screens with matching frowns painted into their faces. They were reviewing the list of planets still under Galra control and discussing the best strategies to free the people. But at the sound of Coran mentioning the mission to Vetra, Allura shifted her attention toward Lance.
“Even if it sounds easy, there’s still danger,” she said, locking eyes with him. “Skarnwulves are not to be taken lightly.”
The name alone was intimidating enough to make Lance knit his brows.
“Skarnwulves?”
“Four-legged beasts that usually hide inside the caves to protect themselves from the cold—especially when they have cubs. They’re extremely territorial and wary of outside threats,” Allura explained.
“That’s no problem,” Lance said with a confident, wide smile. “I’ll be careful and get the cooling crystal back to the castle in no time.”
Allura pressed her lips into a thin line. “I don’t know, Lance… It’s dangerous for you to go alone. It would be safer if someone accompanied you on this mission.”
Lance’s fingers twitched. He knew the Princess had a point—logically, having a partner would be safer and they would probably complete the mission even faster. But still, that annoying voice in the back of his head whispered that not even Allura trusted him as a paladin.
He opened his mouth, ready to retort, to convince her he could handle it all by himself. But before he could speak, Shiro turned away from the screens and looked directly at him.
“The Princess is right, Lance,” Shiro said. “It’s too risky to send you alone to an unfamiliar planet.”
“Maybe it is safer,” Lance replied, trying to keep the edge out of his voice, “but Pidge is busy working on the castle’s defense system, and Hunk’s helping her so both their hands are full. Coran’s running tests on those updates, and you and Allura are knee-deep in war strategy. That means… I’m the only one left for this job, besides being the most obvious option.”
“What about Keith?” Shiro suggested.
Lance immediately crossed his arms and turned his head— nope. He was not about to be stuck on a mission alone with Keith. Sure, their relationship had settled into an unspoken truce, maybe even edged into something that resembled friendship. But ever since Lance had come to terms with the fact that his attitude toward Keith had more to do with how hurt he’d felt when Keith got kicked out of the Garrison to later not even acknowledging him when they’d rescued Shiro... yeah. That realization had been hard to swallow.
Harder still was admitting—if only to himself—that maybe, just maybe , he had developed a crush.
And now? The idea of being that close to the Red Paladin made Lance’s heart skip a beat. Having Keith as a mission partner sounded downright terrifying for his already fragile sanity.
“No. Nope. Not an option,” Lance said quickly. “Besides, he’s nowhere to be found, and I’m not about to go looking for him.”
“Looking for who?”
Lance’s soul dropped to the floor.
He didn’t even have to turn around. He knew that voice very well by now and would recognize it anywhere.
Keith walked into the room.
He had just finished his training session, and since everyone else seemed busy, he figured he could at least help Coran with the castle’s defense system tests. What he didn’t expect was to walk in on Lance seemingly in the middle of a discussion with the rest of the team.
“Great timing, Number Four,” Coran said cheerfully, walking over and placing both hands on Keith’s shoulders to guide him toward Lance. “You’ll be accompanying Number One to retrieve the cooling crystal for the light cannons.”
“Then it’s settled.” Shiro said, turning his attention back to the screens in front of him, Allura following suit.
Surprisingly, Keith didn’t protest. He simply nodded and asked Coran for more details about the mission. After a quick rundown, they agreed it was more practical to fly only the Blue Lion, given her adaptability underwater was useful to reach their location and perfect in case a quick escape became necessary.
And that’s how Lance found himself stuck with Keith—far too close—inside Blue’s cockpit on an unfamiliar, frozen planet.
Fantastic.
Lance opened the lion’s tracking system to search for the nearest entrance to one of the underwater caves. The faster they completed the mission and returned to the castleship, the better—for the sake of his heart, mostly.
It didn’t take long for Blue to locate the nearest entry point. Once the route appeared on the screen, Lance focused intently on guiding them there.
“This planet feels like someone left their freezer door open for way too long,” Lance said, trying to mask his fluster with a bad joke.
The sound of Keith groaning—and probably rolling his eyes—was all the confirmation Lance needed to know his distraction plan was working.
“Don’t like my jokes, mullet? You better get used to it if we’re gonna be partners for this and future missions.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Keith replied flatly.
“You don’t need to. I know when you’re rolling your eyes—even without looking.”
Keith shifted slightly away from Lance to glance back at him. When Lance finally turned his head toward his companion, the expression on Keith’s face was something even he couldn’t read.
Lance had a whole library of “Keith_Expressions.jpg” stored in his brain. Ever since they first met, he’d been cataloging the different gestures Keith made in every kind of situation. That’s how he could always tell when his jokes were genuinely annoying or just borderline bearable dad jokes. It also came in handy whenever he had to rescue Keith from awkward interactions with aliens—especially during those “thank you for saving us” dinners. Over time, Lance had basically become a certified Keith Expression Reader.
But right now?
Right now, the look on Keith’s face was a brand new entry.
Then it hit Lance—what he had just said. How he had phrased it.
Realizing his mistake, Lance quickly turned back to the view in front of them, scrambling for something— anything really—to cover up whatever Keith might’ve picked up on from his slip-up.
“I mean—I know when people roll their eyes at my jokes. Hunk’s the most obvious, so… yeah.”
Keith narrowed his eyes.
It wasn’t the first time he’d noticed how Lance would throw out a comment like that and immediately try to cover it up with an obvious excuse.
Something was bothering him. Keith was sure of it.
Ever since their relationship had started to shift, growing warmer, friendlier—Lance had become noticeably more distant when they were alone or outright going out of his way to avoid him. Sure, they talked. They sparred. But most of those moments happened in front of the rest of the team. The second they were alone, Lance always find an excuse to leave.
It hurt Keith—but maybe he’d done something to upset Lance and just didn’t know what.
One way or another, Keith knew he could only put an end to this frustrating situation if he brought it up and was direct. He’d waited long enough. If Lance wasn’t going to talk about it, then he would.
Keith tightened his grip on the headrest, gathering the courage to speak.
“Lance, can I ask you something?”
The Blue Paladin kept his eyes on the front, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“You already asked a question, mullet.” He paused, then added, “Go ahead, shoot your actual question.”
Getting over his slight annoyance at the answer, Keith asked bluntly, “Did I do something wrong?”
Lance’s head snapped toward him so fast it actually startled Keith.
“Why do you think that? But to answer your question: No, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
Keith hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until he could finally inhale at Lance’s reply.
Just then, the screens in front of them beeped, signaling them both that they had reached the entrance of the water cave.
Their attention shifted to the display. On the screen, the mouth of the cave loomed wide and dark, water rippling inside it.
Keith exhaled slowly and answered, “This conversation is important, but I think we should get that crystal first before anything else.”
Lance met Keith’s grey-purplish eyes and maintained eye contact for a few seconds before blinking and turning his head back to the screen.
“I’m only listening to you because I want to get through this mission as fast as we can,” he muttered. “So we are able to finish this conversation somewhere warmer than a freezing water cave.”
The Blue Paladin’s attention returned to the controls, then pushed the handles forward—guiding the Lion into the water.
Keith had piloted Red through water before and knew how the lions could stall slightly while doing so—but Blue? Blue was fast.
The Blue Lion moved smoothly through the water, and Lance seemed to pilot her with even more confidence now. Keith had noticed the low hum emanating from within Blue, but only Lance would be able to truly understand whatever she was trying to convey through their bond.
Even though the conversation they’d had earlier was a serious one, watching Lance slowly unclench his fingers from the controls and let his shoulders relax, Keith could only be grateful for whatever Blue was sending through the mind link—whatever it was, it was helping Lance calm down.
Lance was completely focused on letting the feeling of calm and it’s okay emanating from Blue wrap around him like a warm embrace. The conversation he’d had with Keith actually caused his anxiety to spike, and Blue had sensed it—so now, she was doing her best to help her paladin regain focus and stay on task.
He couldn’t let his emotions take control right now—especially not later, if Keith ended up saying something he didn’t want to hear or wasn’t ready to digest.
Watching Lance basically have a conversation with Blue, Keith opted to remain silent and let the pilot-lion connection be.
A few minutes passed, and Blue’s head surfaced at the entrance of the cave
Lance let go of the handles and the soft engine hum slowly began to dissipate.
Neither of them said a word as they exited the cockpit out towards the cave.
Surprisingly, it didn’t feel as cold as they thought it would be. Obviously their suits could regulate their body temperature, but given the nature of the planet they were in, it was easy to feel the cold currents of winds that traveled through the tunnels.
Keith turned to look at him, “Coran mentioned that we could possibly find skarnwulves so we must be careful.” he said, taking out his bayard and letting it transform into a sword.
Lance nodded and activated the holo map at his wrist to locate the nearest crystal, taking out his bayard once it was done and adopting a defensive stand.
Once he saw that Keith was ready to follow him, he began leading both of them through the tunnels.
The cave tunnels were lit by a soft blue bioluminescence that illuminated their path. Even though Lance was focused on reaching the crystal as quickly as possible, he couldn’t help but notice that the cave they were in was—arguably—the most beautiful he had ever seen.
So far, they hadn’t encountered any angry alien monsters or obstacles along the way, and Lance was beginning to feel grateful that maybe—just maybe—for the first time in their lives as Paladins, there might be a mission where neither he nor his friends ended beat up or injured.
“The crystal is just at the end of this tunnel.” Lance said, slightly looking back towards Keith who nodded and continued following him.
Up ahead, Lance spotted a section of the cave that was brightly lit. The crystal had to be inside that stone chamber.
He was about to rush in when a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
When his eyes met Keith’s, the other boy was staring at him with determination—and something else Lance couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Let’s switch places.” Keith said.
The comment was so unexpected that Lance was taken aback for a few moments.
“What for?”
“It’ll be easier for you to cover me if anything happens once we’re inside. You also have the map, so you can guide us back to Blue safely if things go wrong. I’ll be carrying the crystal and running behind you if that does happen—I should go in first and make sure the room is clear.”
Even if Lance wanted to retort, Keith’s logic was solid. It made complete sense to switch places at this point.
“Okay, but be careful.” Lance answered.
Keith nodded and advanced in front of Lance.
Once they reached the entrance, Lance positioned himself to take the offensive, ready to cover Keith if anything happened.
The Red Paladin cast one last look at Lance to make sure he was ready. Once he was certain, he took a deep breath and stepped into the chamber.
The place was flooded with illuminated crystals adorning the walls and roof of the stone chamber. At first glance, Keith didn’t see any threat that could possibly put both him and Lance in danger.
Keith let out a small sigh of relief. Maybe this was their lucky day.
He walked along the chamber, checking for any signs of threat. But after almost giving a full sweep of the place, he relaxed a little seeing that it was safe for Lance to enter.
Keith was about to declare the place clear when a growl resonated through the walls.
“Keith—!”
Lance calling out his name was the last thing he heard before his body was violently smashed to the cold stone floor.
Keith’s eyes flew open; his head throbbed from the impact and his vision darkened at the corners—but he had no time to lose consciousness. If he did, the alien wolf pinning him down would most certainly tear him apart.
The skarnwulf bared its sharp teeth, growling at Keith—who was desperately trying to hold back its claws from tearing into his chest and throat with the edge of his sword.
He was so focused on keeping the creature at bay that he barely registered the sound of gunfire until one of the shots grazed the beast, making it whimper and leap off of him.
With the skarnwulf’s attention shifting to another target, Keith lifted himself up into a sitting position only to find Lance in the same room and pointing his rifle to the creature.
“Are you alright!?” Lance shouted, never taking his eyes off the alien animal.
“Yes.” Keith answered, pulling himself to his feet.
The skarnwulf immediately snapped its head back toward the Red Paladin, earning another warning shot from Lance to divert its focus.
But this time, the creature didn’t hesitate—it lunged at Lance, giving him no time to fire again and forcing him to use his rifle as a shield.
Keith was ready to leap in and help, but Lance’s strained voice stopped him.
“Cut the crystal and get out!” Lance shouted, still struggling to keep the skarnwulf at bay, “I’ll be right behind you once you’re out.”
There was no time. If he hesitated it would mean that Lance would have to struggle with the creature for more time—but it felt wrong to just let him manage it all alone while Keith handled the easy part.
Keith’s heart ached but he knew what had to be done. He lunged to the biggest crystal he could find and began cutting it out of the floor.
Meanwhile, Lance was managing to keep the skarnwulf at arm’s length—until it suddenly stopped pushing against him and instead stepped back a few paces, only to slashed its claws toward him, making Lance hold his breath and brace for the blow.
For a second, his vision turned completely white.
He was biting down on his lip so hard to try and stifle the scream that he wasn’t surprised to taste iron in his mouth, but the pained groan that escaped him was loud enough to catch Keith’s attention.
“I’m almost done!” Keith shouted from the other side.
Lance positioned his rifle as best as he could and locked the target on the skarnwulf that had paced back a little after successfully hurting Lance.
That was his opening.
A clean shot to the creature’s leg had it whimpering and stopping to lick its wounds for a moment.
“Got it!” Keith shouted.
Lance never once took his eyes—or his aim—off the skarnwulf. Pushing through the pain and fueled by adrenaline, he managed to get to his feet and press himself against the wall.
“Get out of here, I’ll be right behind you.”
Keith bristled at being ordered around—especially when Lance was clearly the one who needed help—but he trusted what the Blue Paladin was saying. More importantly, he trusted his aim.
So he made a run for the exit.
The skarnwulf was already sprinting after him, but Lance fired a shot at its legs, sending it tumbling to the ground.
Keith reached the tunnel, and Lance followed close behind. Once they were both on the other side, the sharpshooter fired a series of powered blasts into the ceiling, triggering an avalanche of crystals and debris that came crashing down and sealed off the entrance.
There was no way the creature would be getting through now.
For a moment, only their laboured breaths could be heard along the sound of debris still settling after the fall.
Lance directed his blue eyes towards Keith. Watching him hold the shining crystal in his arms, he let out a sigh of relief.
“We made it…” Lance said between laboured breaths.
Keith didn’t respond—he just smiled back at him. Unaware of the condition that the Blue Paladin was in.
And Lance was glad to see that smile, because his vision was already dimming at the edges, and he knew the adrenaline was finally wearing off and didn’t have much time before losing consciousness.
With great effort, Lance managed to focus his eyes and bring his sleeve up to tap a few commands.
Keith wasn’t sure what Lance was doing, but when a beep followed by the holo map appearing on his wrist, Keith knew something was wrong. Really wrong.
With a weary voice, he called out to him, “Lance?”
Those blue eyes looked at him once again, now glistening with tears and reddened at the edges.
Keith felt his soul drop to his feat.
He managed to stop Lance from falling to the floor. Supporting him to sit with his back against the wall.
“Keith–” Lance tried to speak.
“Don’t talk. Keep your energy.”
Keith examined Lance's torso until he finally found it.
Two vicious gashes laid across his stomach. At first glance and in such poor lighting conditions, it seemed like nothing happened. But the black fabric of the suit was drenched in blood and it was now beginning to stain the white parts of the armor.
The Red Paladin’s panicked eyes met the ocean blue of his partner.
“Keith—” Lance took in a laboured breath before resuming, “I need to tell you something—I don’t want to die without telling you.”
Lance knew that his time was slipping through his fingers like sand. His vision was getting blurrier by the minute and he knew that if he lost consciousness right here, there won't be anyone to pilot them back to safety and the only way out would be until the team realized they were out for an abnormal amount of time and came to find them.
Keith’s angry stare locked with his.
“You’re not dying here, whatever you need to say you’ll say it back in the castle once you’re healed.”
Lance was fighting hard to keep his focus. He didn’t notice when Keith had managed to pass one of his arms around his neck, keeping the crystal safe with one hand and securing Lance by his waist with the other, basically dragging his body since he could barely walk.
“Tell me a joke Lance.” Keith pleaded, trying to keep Lance awake and following the map back to the lion as fast as he could carrying him like this.
Lance wanted to speak, but a cough followed by a metallic taste filled Lance’s mouth.
Keith turned his face and watched as a thread of blood escaped through the corner of his mouth.
“We need to hurry.” He said, picking up the pace. “We need to get you to Blue quickly.”
For the next few moments, Lance wasn’t sure of what was happening. He could hear Keith calling out to him and requesting things, but his mind felt as if stuffed with cotton and his hearing was muffled. He had begun trembling but he strangely didn’t feel cold, just numb. The pain in his abdomen had begun to cease and he knew that it was a bad sign, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“We’re almost there Lance, hang on. Keep your eyes open.” Keith continued.
Finally, Lance was able to see the outline of Blue‘s head. He was weak but could still feel the bond with her and messages of wrong, hurt and safety wrapped around his mind. Blue was worried about him and he knew it.
That’s when his legs gave in and he sent both him and Keith stumbling to the ground.
Keith was over him now, trying to shake him awake to failing to help him keep focus.
“Don’t do this to me Lance.” Keith’s voice sounded desperate and on the verge of tears. “You need to stay awake and bring us to the castle.”
It pained Lance more to hear Keith so helpless at the situation than the actual wound on his body. But at least Keith was alive, he managed to keep him alive and now could die in peace.
But before he can do that, he needs to tell Keith what was on his mind. What he truly feels.
With a last effort, Lance managed to focus his eyes and take one of Keith’s hands between his grip.
Keith froze, looking directly at Lance’s clouded vision that had suddenly regained a little consciousness.
With laboured breaths, Lance said, “You must… shut your quiznack and pay attention to me Keith.”
And so he did. Keith remained silent. His attention fully on whatever Lance wanted to say.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Lance started, “I’m the one who was acting weird. I’m the one who tried to keep a distance and I’m the one who made a mistake.” He took a laboured breath before continuing his speech. “I’m the stupid one for being scared of my own feelings and now I don’t know if there will be another chance to tell you.”
Keith’s eyes were stinging and his throat was burning, making it difficult for him to mutter anything.
“What do you mean Lance?”
“I mean that I’m the one who did everything wrong.” Another wet cough interrupted his speech, but he did his best to try and continue. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away and made you feel like you did something wrong when I was just being afraid of my own feelings. I was scared Keith, but now I’m more scared that I’ll never get to say this again and I’m a fool for taking a literal blow to see it.”
Keith’s heart began to beat faster.
This couldn’t be true.
All this time, Keith had managed to keep his feelings under control. He knew that Lance liked Allura and deemed it impossible for him to look at him, much less be attracted to him.
But with every word Lance spoke, Keith couldn’t help but get his hopes up that maybe—just maybe—his feelings were reciprocated.
Those hopes were being shot down and crumbling to the ground by the situation currently unfolding right in front of him.
Lance gave a soft tug to Keith’s hands. A tear streamed down the corner of his eye and left a trail on its way.
“I love you, Keith.” Lance said, trying to smile through trembling lips. “I love you and I’m sorry for doing this to you.”
Then the world went black.
Keith remained silent for a second.
The blue eyes had fallen shut. The hand that had been pressing hard against his was now limp
I love you and I’m sorry
Those words kept echoing in his ears.
Lance was in love with him. And now it was too late.
He didn’t even get to say something. His only chance now ripped violently from his hands.
Keith was in such a state of shock that no tears left his eyes.
This couldn’t be happening. Lance was a force of nature, full of energy and keeping the team tightly knit together with his presence. Watching him lay on the ground so peacefully as if he was taking a nap was a terrifying image.
But Keith was stubborn. This couldn’t be it. Their story hadn’t even begun and he was not about to let it end this way.
Keith activated the scanner on his wrist, searching for even the faintest trace of Lance’s vitals. For any sign that it still wasn’t too late.
Please, please, please…
A slow, rhythmic beeping sound greeted him after a few moments.
Lance still had a pulse.
Keith let out a sigh of relief and a strained laugh escaped from his mouth. Lance was still fighting.
But if he didn’t manage to get both of them out of that cave, it would be for nothing.
Keith stood and walked with steady steps toward the Blue Lion’s face. He didn’t know if it would work—but if the Black Lion had once helped him get Shiro to safety once, then maybe Blue could do the same… and give him a chance to save Lance.
Keith softly landed a hand to the cool metal and pressed his forehead against the snout of the lion.
“I know I’m not your paladin.” He started, “And I know I’m not worthy but he is. Help me save him. Help me get him to the castle just this once and I promise I’ll make him the happiest person in the universe.”
For a few moments, the only answer he got was complete silence. Only the constant sound of water rippling against the stone shore filled his ears.
Tears burned at the corners of his eyes.
“Please Blue…” Keith pleaded, “I know I’m not your paladin, but I love him too. Please let me save him.”
Nothing.
Keith wanted to scream and break everything down, but he knew it would be pointless. If this was what the Lion deemed right, then he had no intention of falling apart or causing a scene. Especially when he could be helping Lance feel more comfortable in this cold place.
Raking in a deep breath, he separated from the Lion’s snout and turned around to slowly make his way back toward Lance.
Just as he had accepted their fate and started sitting down beside the unconscious Blue Paladin. A loud metallic rumble filled his ears and made the whole place shake.
Thoughts of quick and safety and Lance came flooding inside Keith’s mind like a hurricane. Blue’s presence through the link was as clear as water and comforting.
He snapped his head towards the Lion, her eyes glowing a bright yellow and her mouth wide open to urge Keith to get inside.
Without a second thought, Keith scooped Lance into his arms and grabbed the crystal with one hand before making a sprint into the Lion’s cockpit.
Once inside, he carefully laid Lance down on the floor and rushed to get a first aid kit. Remembering what Coran had teached everyone for first aid care, Keith created a makeshift tamponade to try and slow the bleeding of the wound. After making sure that he’d done the work correctly, he moved on to the next step.
For the last time, Keith checked Lance’s vitals. The slow but steady heartbeat was a reassuring sound. With one final glance at the Blue Paladin, he sprinted to the controls and dropped into the pilot’s seat.
His hands gripped around the handles as he closed his eyes for a moment.
“Thanks Blue.” He said in a low voice. “Now let's get Lance to the castle as fast as we can.”
Blue answered with a mechanical roaring sound before leaping full force into the water once again.
For Keith, piloting Red for the first time had felt like trying to ride a wild horse—one with a strong will of its own. Red was fast and incredibly agile, so even the smallest shift in the controls could send her veering off in a completely different direction.
Right now, piloting Blue felt a lot like that.
The sound of metal cutting quickly through the body of water made an incredibly loud sound but Keith was ultimately grateful that piloting the Blue Lion underwater felt a lot like usual Red.
A sheen of cold sweat began forming in Keith’s forehead from the effort of keeping the controls at maximum capacity, trying to get out of the water as fast as possible. Sensing how much energy her temporary pilot was exerting, Blue sent a wave of safe , home , and Lance into Keith’s mind.
She was trying to comfort him.
Even if this was just a one-time thing, Keith was amazed by how easily Blue could communicate with him despite the fact that they weren’t actually Lion and pilot.
It was easy to get swept up in Blue’s reassuring hum and gentle stream of thoughts. Keith was exhausted, and now that the Lion was actively trying to soothe his thoughts, every ache in his body made itself known. If he was being honest, he didn’t fully come back to himself until Blue alerted him that he could send a distress signal back to the Castleship.
With ragged breathing, Keith focused his eyes once again to the control panel and pressed the button to call for help.
The conversation was short and rushed. Still numb and detached from everything that had happened, Keith could only manage a few strained phrases:
“Lance is badly injured.”
“Get the med bay ready.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
“I don’t even know how I’m piloting Blue.”
A few minutes later, Keith finally managed to land the Blue Lion safely in her hangar. The comforting hum fading as the massive Lion powered down.
He allowed himself a moment to gather the shattered pieces of his thoughts. They’d done it—Blue had let him bring her Paladin back to the Castle.
But Lance still needed medical attention.
Without wasting another second, Keith jumped from the seat and sprinted toward the unconscious Lance.
“Hang in there, Lance,” he muttered, scooping him up and hurrying toward the med bay.
Lance felt like he was floating.
Was dying like this? Because it felt oddly familiar.
People always say that when you die, all your earthly afflictions disappear. So if he really was dead, why was he so damn cold?
That’s when he heard the sound of decompression—and then gravity yanked him down.
Lance braced for impact, but the pain never came.
Instead, a pair of familiar, sturdy arms catched him before he could hit the floor.
“Whoa buddy, I got you.”
Hunk’s voice sounded like music to his ears. Lance had thought he’d never see his best friend again, but he still felt so out of it that maybe this was just a hallucination.
“Am I dead? Tell me I’m not because that would mean you died too and that would be downright awful.”
Hunk chuckled. “Nope, not dead yet. But you sure gave us a big scare, Lance.”
Then it all came rushing back, as if floodgates opened inside his mind.
The mission.
Keith.
The alien creature.
Getting hurt.
Accidentally confessing in the worst way possible because he thought he was going to actually die.
Oh.
Oh...
Oh this was bad.
“I need to talk to Keith”
Lance tried to walk, but his legs trembled and gave out beneath him. Thankfully, Hunk caught him—again—before he could hit the floor.
"Nuh huh. What you need is to sit down and eat something," Hunk stated, helping Lance back to his feet and guiding him toward a nearby seating area in the med bay. "You were out for almost two weeks, Lance. You need to eat something first."
Lance’s heart dropped to his feet.
“Two weeks…” he muttered.
“Yeah… you lost a lot of blood, and Coran had to stabilize you before we could even think about getting you into a pod. But he managed to do it—and just in time.”
Once he was sure Lance wasn’t about to try standing up again, Hunk walked over to the comm of the med bay to contact Coran. He told him to bring some food since Lance was finally out of the pod. An excited scream came through the speaker before it beeped off.
Hunk turned to sit in front of Lance, who was still spacing out, trying to process his surroundings and the situation altogether.
But there was still one thing he needed to do.
“I need to talk to him,” Lance said, looking at Hunk.
His friend closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
“Shiro told me not to say anything right after you woke up, but you know I can’t lie to my best friend,” Hunk started. “He figured you’d probably insist on talking to Keith—but the truth is…”
Hunk paused. Lance’s eyes widened, jumping immediately to the worst-case scenario.
Was Keith angry? Did he not want to see him again? Had he left Voltron after Lance’s traumatizing confession?
“Keith spent almost the entire two weeks outside your pod, waiting for you to wake up.”
Lance’s train of thought came to a halt.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t leave the med bay,” Hunk continued. “When the distress signal from your Lion reached the Castle, everyone thought that Keith had gotten hurt during your mission and we were ready to prepare for the worst. So imagine our surprise when the feed from Blue showed a clearly distressed Keith telling us to ready the med bay because you were badly hurt.”
Hearing that, Lance knitted his brows.
“Keith piloted Blue back here?”
“We wouldn’t have believed it ourselves if we hadn’t seen it.” Hunk answered, an empathetic look settling in his eyes while looking at Lance. “Allura thinks it was both Blue and Keith’s efforts to bring you to safety. He still won’t be able to pilot Blue just because, but we are grateful that she allowed Keith to bring you back here.
Lance was impressed. He had been sure that with him out, Keith had no way to return to the Castleship so he would basically be stranded in that cave until the rest of the team noticed their abnormal absence… But Blue actually gave Keith permission to pilot them back to the castle.
He took a mental note to thank Blue later.
Hunk cleared his throat, bringing Lance back from his thoughts.
“What happened next?” Lance asked, biting the inside of his cheek.
“When he first brought you in, he was shaking—yelling at everyone. Coran and Allura had to give him a mild sedative just to calm him down. Not even Shiro could get through to him at first. After that, he camped out like a zombie by your pod in his suit for two days straight until Shiro finally talked some sense to him and convinced him to take a bath and change clothes, but the moment he was done, he came right back to sit by your side.”
Hunk let out a breath. “Pidge, Shiro, and I took turns making sure he ate something at least once a day. Yesterday was the first time Shiro managed to convince him to sleep in a proper bed, have a full meal and take a real shower.”
Lance couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had been so sure Keith would hate him… especially after almost dying on him like that. But Keith had stayed by his side the entire time.
The tears gathering at the corners of his eyes burned and stung. His heart clenched, and his thoughts screamed at him how stupid he’d been to wait so long just to make his love confession under the worst possible circumstances.
Hunk’s firm squeeze on his shoulder brought him back from his spiraling thoughts.
“Don’t stress yourself about it man.” Hunk said gently. “You’ll have the time to talk things out with him. Everything will be okay.”
Lance managed to smile, but it quickly faded as he processed what Hunk had just implied.
“What do you mean by–”
Hunk groaned in exasperation, pressing his palms to his face before looking back at Lance.
“Come on man! Everyone here knows you and Keith have some kind of situationship. But you’re both so oblivious and dense, you were the only ones who didn’t realize what was going on. And after seeing what Keith was like while you were in the pod? There’s no way he’s not in love with you.”
Lance’s mouth fell open.
Everyone knew he liked Keith—except Keith himself. And vice versa?
No way. Nope…
Wait, was he really being that obvious?
He was about to respond when the med bay doors slid open.
Pidge was the first to sprint toward him, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight hug.
“Don’t you ever dare to scare us like that, you dumbass.”
“Language!” Shiro called from across the room as he walked steadily toward Lance.
Allura and Coran followed soon after, the latter carrying a tray of space juice and food goo.
Even though Lance still hated that stuff, after two weeks being inside a pod, just seeing the tray made his stomach grumble loudly.
“At least you’ve got your appetite,” Shiro chuckled, giving Lance a welcoming pat on the shoulder.
Pidge finally let go and sat down beside him, her teary eyes peeking through her glasses as she looked at him.
“If you ever do this to us again, I’ll personally revive you just to kill you myself.”
Lance smiled and gave her a gentle shoulder bump in return.
After Coran examined Lance and confirmed that everything was in order, he was finally allowed to eat his first meal which, after two weeks of fasting, tasted like manna.
Everyone did their best to update him on what had happened during his recovery. Pidge and Hunk had successfully upgraded the castle’s defense system. Shiro and Allura had mapped out the best course of action for when Lance was back on his feet, and Coran had completed the maintenance of the light cannons thanks to the cooling crystal he and Keith had retrieved from Vetra.
Well… it was more accurate to say that Keith brought him and the crystal back from Vetra.
Everyone knew the wound was still fresh, so no one dared bring up why Keith wasn’t there. Instead, his friends kept the conversation moving and jumping between random topics in a collective effort to distract Lance from the obvious elephant in the room.
But a while after, the doors slid open once again.
For Lance, it felt like time stopped. The room fell into absolute silence, and he could swear it was quiet enough to easily hear a pin drop.
Gray eyes met blue for the first time in weeks. Lance stopped breathing for a beat.
Sensing the obvious shift in the atmosphere, Shiro cleared his throat before speaking.
“I think we’ll leave you guys alone to talk.”
One by one, everyone quietly walked out of the room. Just before crossing the door, Shiro gave Keith’s shoulder a firm squeeze—a silent message for his brother:
Everything was going to be okay.
Neither of them broke eye contact, even after the med bay doors slid shut. They stood there in silence, locked in each other’s gaze for several long seconds—seconds that felt like an eternity to Lance—until he finally managed to swallow the knot in his throat and speak.
“Keith… I think I owe you an apology––”
But Lance’s words were cut short.
Keith suddenly sprinted towards him with long strides. Before he knew it, Keith was kneeling on the floor, hugging him tightly by the waist and burying his face in Lance’s side.
Needless to say, Lance was taken aback by such a reaction. Keith was not a hugger, so the feeling of his arms enveloping Lance in a warm––and tight––embrace was alien to him.
Lance was about to make a joke to try and lighten the obviously tense atmosphere, but he didn’t even dare to open his mouth.
The arms around his waist began shaking violently, but he could hear no sniffling crying sounds coming from the person hugging him.
Hesitating, Lance called out to the one holding him.
“Keith?” he said, his voice as soft as possible, hoping to soothe the trembling mess that was his teammate.
“I thought I’d lost you,” was all Keith managed to choke out.
Lance’s eyelashes quivered at the response. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Keith felt during their time on Vetra—but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Keith’s pain was written all over him now, and Lance felt a crushing guilt knowing he was the reason the boy he loved most was in this state.
So, he stayed silent.
Lowering his gaze to the kneeling Keith, Lance placed one hand on the Red Paladin’s shoulder and the other on his back, gently moving it in slow, soothing circles.
He knew he’d caused this—and he was willing to give Keith all the time he needed to feel okay again.
Even if it meant staying in this position forever.
After a long while, Keith’s trembling finally began to fade. Still, Lance didn’t stop the gentle motions on his back. He only paused when Keith shifted slightly and loosened his grip.
Keith sank to the floor. When he looked up at Lance, tear tracks stained his cheeks.
He had been crying silently, the entire time.
Lance’s heart ached at the sight..
Lofting a trembling hand, Lance gently pressed his palm to Keith’s cheek, brushing away the tears with his thumb.
Keith’s eyes fluttered shut as he leaned into the warmth of the touch.
“I’m sorry,” Lance whispered. So softly he wasn’t even sure Keith had heard him.
Gray eyes opened once more, locking onto ocean blue.
“Don’t ever do that again, Lance,” Keith said, drawing in a shaky breath. “You don’t just confess your love to someone and then almost die. That’s a really low move—even for you.”
Lance let out a soft laugh.
Hearing Lance laugh again, Keith couldn’t help but smile, his gaze softening.
Noticing Keith beginning to relax, Lance slid down from his seat to sit beside him on the floor.
Now at eye level, he got a better look at Keith’s face. The dark circles under his eyes were deep, and the lingering redness at the corners of his eyes from crying earlier made for a rough combination.
Lance bit the inside of his cheek. Guilt washing over him once again.
“Hunk told me you piloted Blue back to the Castle,” Lance began. “Thank you. I’m glad she trusted you to bring us home.”
He rested his hands on his knees, steadying himself before continuing.
“And… he also told me what you went through these past two weeks.”
Lance paused, searching Keith’s face for a reaction. When Keith said nothing, silently urging him to go on, Lance took a breath and continued.
“You need to take care of yourself too, Keith. I’m not worth your attention after everything I did.”
At those words, Keith’s posture stiffened, his brows knitting together.
“You were dying , Lance. Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to see you like that?” he said, his hands curling into fists. “You don’t get to decide whether or not you’re worthy of basic human concern.”
Lance stayed quiet watching Keith grow worked up by his response. He lowered his gaze to his hands, fingers fidgeting with the sleeve of his left arm.
After a beat of silence, Keith finally dared to speak up once again.
“Did you mean it?”
Lance lifted his gaze. Going back to his archive of Keith Expressions, he knew that the boy was clearly worried and maybe, just maybe, a little scared for whatever Lance was about to answer.
The inside of his cheek felt raw from how hard he’d been biting it. Lance drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again and locking his blue gaze with Keith’s gray one.
“Yes,” he began. “Everything I said back on Vetra was—and still is—true, Keith.”
He paused, another shaky breath catching in his chest.
“It took me a long time to process, but I finally realized I never actually hated you. That was just a wall I built—to hide how I really felt.”
Lance’s voice wavered slightly, but he pressed on.
“Being here, being a Paladin beside you… it made it impossible to keep those feelings bottled up. I didn’t think someone like you could ever fall for someone like me. That’s why I tried to keep my distance—because maybe, just maybe, if I stayed away long enough, those feelings would fade.”
He ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling.
"I guess it was pointless, though. And when that happened... I was just scared I’d never get the chance to say those words out loud to you. So yeah, Keith—I’m hopelessly and irreversibly in love with you. And I understand if you don’t feel the same, especially after everything I put you through."
For a few silent moments, Lance’s eyes remained fixed on the white ceiling of the med bay.
Noticing Keith hadn’t moved or responded, he turned his head toward him.
Keith was just… there . Looking back with those purplish-gray eyes, expressionless.
Yup, Lance had officially broken Keith. Amazing.
It hurt, sure, but maybe this was the fastest way to get over this...
Lance patted his hands against his knees before scrambling to his feet.
“Well then,” he said. Once standing, he dusted off the back of his suit though there was no dust to begin with.
“I’m sorry for turning our relationship into this awkward mess. You don’t have to answer me or anything. Thank you for list—“
Lance didn’t have time to finish what he was about to say because a pair of hands cupped his face. Then Keith’s lips crashed against his, silencing him and making it impossible to speak.
Keith had somehow managed to sprint up to his feet and lock Lance into a kiss.
At first, Lance stiffened from the surprise. But once his brain registered what was happening and with whom it was happening, he relaxed and gave into the kiss.
Being this close to Keith, Lance smelled the familiar scent of sandalwood mixed with soap since he probably showered before walking here to check on Lance.
Slowly, Lance positioned his arms around Keith’s neck for support, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Only in his dreams did he let such scenarios play out and it actually felt so surreal that it was actually happening right now.
The kiss that had started clumsily and full of hesitation was now completely different. Both of them had found the perfect rhythm, separating just enough to take a short breath before resuming the kiss, neither wanting to break apart but conscious enough to take short breaths when needed.
Lance could feel his heart wanting to burst out of his chest. Somehow, kissing Keith felt absolutely right. Like if they were made to be together and do this every day for the rest of their lives. And now that he knew what it felt like kissing him, he couldn’t imagine not doing it again.
Maybe the lack of oxygen was beginning to affect him, since he felt dizzy from the kiss but was trying so hard to push that feeling aside just to remain with Keith like this for as long as he possibly could.
When their lips parted again, Keith didn’t resume the kiss. Lance had to admit he was a little bit disappointed from the separation but satisfied with whatever just happened between them. Instead of continuing eating Lance’s mouth out, Keith remained close to him, positioning one of his hands behind his neck to softly press their foreheads together.
Their laboured breaths mixed, both of them trying to regain the air that they clearly lacked from such a long kiss.
After a few moments, Keith finally spoke.
“I can’t believe I had to shut you up like this just to finally say what I couldn’t before you passed out.”
Lance snorted. “Please do shut me up like this more often. I’ll start rambling endlessly if it means I get to be kissed by you like this again.”
Keith smiled, using his free hand to caress Lance’s cheek before speaking.
“You don’t have the slightest idea of how much nor how long I’ve been wanting to kiss you like this.”
Hearing Keith say those words, Lance smiled.
Hunk had been right after all. They were really that dense.
Keith moved back just enough to be able to see Lance’s freckled face perfectly. Locking his eyes with Lance’s beautiful blue gaze.
“I love you too. I love you and don’t ever apologize to me again.”
A clear response to Lance’s late confession.
If it weren’t for the fact that his body still ached from the excruciating healing process, Lance would’ve thought this was all a dream.
Just to be sure that the Keith holding him right now was real and not some pod-induced dream, Lance had to test the Red Paladin before anything else.
“Do you mean apologize for being dense and not realizing that you were clearly in love with me, for not shutting up or for creating the worst possible love confession yet?”
At that, Keith tilted his head slightly upwards, groaning and rolling his eyes.
Lance laughed loudly now. Yes, this was his Keith, it was all real.
“I’m not even going to answer that.” Keith responded, smiling back at Lance.
He shoved his shoulder against Keith playfully. “Hey, it’s a genuine question so you need to answer.”
“All three of them. But please, no more putting yourself in danger like that, seriously.”
“You know that neither of us can make such a promise given that we’re in the middle of an alien war… But I’ll try my best if you do the same.”
Keith seemed to give it a thought for a short moment, then smiled.
“Good enough, I’ll take it.”
Lance answered with a soft smile, then got closer to kiss Keith once again.
How incredible it was, that it took a literal blow for Lance to realize that Keith was just as irreversibly in love with him too.