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Beautiful fireworks popped in the sky above while Lance’s head was pressed against Keith’s shoulder. Everything was always so peaceful when Keith visited Lance on the farm. He wished it could always be this way.
Lance shifted closer to Keith. It wasn’t necessarily cold out but it was fairly windy. Keith let him do so, having no reason to object. The action only made him more comfortable. “Comfy?” He asked, his voice soft.
“Yeah,” Lance responded easily, his gaze fixed on the fireworks above, his hand gently tracing over Keith’s wrist.
All these fireworks and Lance was still the prettiest thing Keith had seen since they became paladins. The way his hair flowed in the air, the way his freckles glistened from the moonlight, the way his eyes reflected each firework. God Lance was gorgeous.
“When do you go back?” Lance asked, lifting his head up a little to look at Keith. He was now playing with Keith’s sleeve on his shirt as he spoke.
Keith sighed softly. Lance wouldn’t like this answer. “Few days. I leave on monday.” He replied.
“What? That's hardly a break,” Lance pouted, crossing his arms, “You deserve so much more time off than you’re getting. You’re risking your life out there.”
Keith shrugged. He agreed that this was barely a break considering Keith was at work for months on end. But there was only so much they could do whenever there was a war going on.
Lance seemed angry on Keith’s behalf. He was usually dramatic like that. It made Keith let out a soft laugh, “It’s okay. It’s better than nothing.”
“No break wouldn’t make much of a difference,” Lance huffed.
Keith simply chuckled in response, “Just enjoy the fireworks. We can worry about this later.”
Lance deflated, snuggling more against Keith. He fit perfectly against him.
The two of them sat in silence for a little while. Lance ended up falling asleep against Keith. He smiled softly at him before he moved to lift him up in his arms.
Lance immediately sunk into Keith’s body as he held him, his head still resting on his shoulder.
He brought him into his room, laying him down on the bed. “Keith..” Lance murmured, his voice groggy.
Keith reassured, grabbing a pair of pajama pants and a white t-shirt, “I’m right here.” He unbuttoned Lance’s shirt and helped get him out of it.
His gaze caught onto the scar on his chest. Lance had told him what happened and every time he saw it up close it made him sad. It always just made him think how close he and the rest of the team were to losing him.
Lance whined quietly, wrapping his arms around Keith, trying to get him to come closer. “C’mere..”
Keith couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head, “Just wait a second, okay?” He pressed a soft kiss to Lance’s cheek before gently prying his arms from around him.
Lance groaned in response, shifting a little bit.
Keith rolled his eyes. He lifted Lance to sit up so he could pull off his shirt and put on the new one for him. After, he had to struggle a good amount trying to get Lance’s pants off and put on the ones he picked out.
He tossed off his own shirt and jeans then grabbed some sweatpants before finally climbing into the bed next to Lance.
“I’ve got you,” Keith assured gently, “I’m not leaving.”
“Promise?” Lance mumbled
Keith answered, “I promise.”
As expected, Lance immediately snuggled into Keith, eventually ending up on top of him. He pulled the blanket over top of both of them and got comfortable.
He always got the best sleep when he was with Lance. In space, he could hardly ever sleep. Nightmares always haunted him but they were a lot less frequent when he was home.
‘Home’ meaning.. Lance. He knew he was safe with him.
That morning, Keith woke up before Lance. He usually did. Lance needed more sleep than Keith ever did. Plus, Keith’s body got used to the limited sleep he got in space.
He didn’t try to get up. He knew that that would just make Lance whine and complain so he lied there in silence, staring at his boyfriend’s beautiful face. The soft light from the sun shining through the blinds enhanced his freckles and eyelashes. God he was gorgeous.
Lance shifted in his sleep to get the sun out of his face, burying his head into Keith’s neck.
Keith gently pressed a kiss to Lance’s head, letting his hands play with the hair on the nape of his neck.
“Keith..” Lance mumbled in a sleepy voice, his voice muffled against Keith’s skin, “Morninggg..”
He smiled as he heard the soft mumble fill his ears. “Morning sleepyhead,” he whispered to him.
Keith sat up, gently guiding Lance to sit up as well on his lap. “Sleep alright?” Keith asked him gently.
“Yeah..” Lance nodded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, “Glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” Keith hummed, still playing with Lance’s hair gently.
The two sat there in silence for a while before finally getting up to get some breakfast. Lance was rambling away and Keith was listening.
“Fuck— what was I saying before?” Lance questioned, getting a little frustrated at himself for not being able to stay on one topic for more than 3 seconds.
Keith easily answered, watching as Lance cooked some pancakes, “About how the animals escaped their pen and ended up in your neighbors yard?”
“Yes! That,” Lance nodded, seemingly glad that Keith was listening to him. He always was. “Thank you,” he added quickly before continuing onto what he was going to say.
Keith loved that little surprised expression Lance did when Keith helped him remember what he was talking about. It was so cute. Lance was so cute.
The break wasn’t long to begin with but it felt short.. like really short. It felt like only after a few hours he had to leave Lance..
Keith held Lance’s face in his hands, pressing gentle kisses to his face. “I don’t want you to leave..” Lance mumbled.
“I know,” Keith replied with a soft voice, pressing another kiss to Lance’s cheek before pulling away to look him in the face. His sad expression felt like it was ripping Keith’s heart in half.
“Look,” Keith soothed, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Lance nodded, his hands resting on Keith’s forearms, “Be safe out there, okay? No reckless stunts. I want you back in one piece.”
“I promise,” Keith laughed gently, capturing Lance’s lips in a final kiss before pulling away and loading up into his ship.
And just like that he was gone. He already missed Lance.
He got himself situated in his ship while out in space. It was so jarring going from a loving environment that was so full of life to.. a dark silent one. It was hard to get comfortable.
A couple nights went by. Keith was struggling to sleep at all. He had a big mission coming up and really needed some sleep. There was only one solution he had that he hadn't tried.
He hated to call Lance when he knew he was sleeping but.. he had to let himself be greedy. Just this once. He picked up his phone and called him. It rang a few times before the familiar sleepy voice filled his ears.
“..keith? Are you okay?” Lance mumbled.
Keith confirmed, “Yeah.. I just… needed someone to talk to.” Even just the sound of his voice was comforting.
“Nightmare?” Lance asked.
“Not this time… just can’t fall asleep,” Keith answered.
Lance sighed, “Yeah.. figured. Do you want me to talk or is being on call enough?”
“Whichever you want..” He mumbled in response.
Lance laughed sleepily, “Yeah. That always means you want me to talk.”
Damn he could read him easily. “Yeah.. i guess,” Keith mumbled, shutting his eyes once Lance started rambling.
Finally he could get some actual rest. He wished Lance was there with him… whyd he have to pick the farm? At least he knew he was safe there.
Keith eventually fell asleep.
When he woke up, someone was shouting his name and there were sirens in his ship going off. He sat up quickly, going to grab his blade beside his bed before immediately being grabbed by the torso and mouth.
He tried his best to get out of the grasp and shout but nothing he did was working. There wasn’t just one of them either. The other stabbed him from behind. It was enough to cause Keith to black out once it was taken out.
He woke up in a dark room on a different ship. The only light in the room was on him. He was tied down to the floor. Fuck, no.. the memories were coming back. He was panicking.
This has happened before. He couldn’t go through this. Not by himself. He strained against the chains, trying to get free even if he knew it wouldn’t do anything to save him.
His back was killing him. The injury he sustained was calculated. It was enough to cause him to black out but not quite enough to kill him.
His thoughts were interrupted when one of them walked in. They were masked so he couldn't see their face.
“What do you want from me?” Keith questioned, trying to make his voice come off as sharp as possible even despite the situation.
“You’re nothing more to us than bait,” They answered, “Your ship has already shown us where the main ship your organization is using is located.”
Fuck. And he couldn’t even warn them. Maybe if he never called Lance he wouldn’t have gone to sleep. Then he wouldn’t be in this predicament. That's what he gets for being selfish. Should’ve just let his poor boyfriend sleep. Now he was probably worried sick.
They only laughed before then walking out. Keith strained at the chains again, his wrists bruising from the pressure.
He was there for what felt like days. They fed him but he never ate. He couldn’t. He just wasn’t hungry. He just wanted to go home.
But finally, fate was on his side. He heard shooting. His head immediately perked up. He went to stand up but from the lack of nutrition and chains holding him down he didn’t have the strength to.
He held on to hope even when it was difficult in his current state.
The door busted open and he was met with Lance in full armor with gun in hand. His sharpshooter was back. He missed him so much.
Lance immediately ran over to Keith, pulling him into his arms. “Lance..” he whispered weakly. God, he could cry.
“I’m here,” Lance responded quickly, holding him carefully in his arms as if he were afraid of hurting him any more, “I’m right here.”
“You’re a little late,” Keith laughed quietly, his body sinking against Lance’s, “Didn’t expect you to come here at all..”
“I know. I made them let me come,” Lance sighed, “I’m gonna get you out of these chains, okay?”
Keith nodded before Lance gently covered his ear and pressed his other ear against his chest to silence the gunshots as much as he could.
Lance shot each of the chains to break Keith free. He then lifted him up in his arms. This was a shock since Lance had never tried to pick Keith up. Working on the farm must’ve been paying off then.
He rested his head against him, his cheek against the cool metal of Lance’s suit. It wasn’t comfortable or anything but he was so exhausted from everything that he fell asleep easily in his hold.
He woke up with a loud gasp, moving to sit up. A quick hand on his chest stopped him from doing so, guiding him to lay back down.
“Easy, now. You’re safe,” Lance said in a calming voice, gently rubbing Keith’s chest.
“Hey.. where..?” Keith murmured.
Lance answered, “We’re on Pidge’s ship. We’re on the way back to earth to get you to a hospital.”
Keith nodded. His entire body was killing him. He was starving, weak, and injured. He hated having to be taken care of like this.
“Feeling okay?” Lance asked quietly, still gently running his hand over his chest.
Keith hesitated before answering, ”Yeah.. yeah,” he was lying. And he could tell Lance knew but he didn’t say anything.
Lance simply sighed, pressing a gentle kiss to Keith’s cheek, “You should get some more sleep while you can.”
He shook his head slightly. He was too paranoid to fall back asleep. What if it happened again?
“Look,” Lance said softly, his hand moving to carefully touch Keith’s jaw, “You’re safe here. I’ll wake you up if something happens, I promise.”
Keith wanted to argue and say that he could stay up but the words from Lance were comforting to him and he was tired. He nodded and closed his eyes, putting a hand on Lance’s wrist to make sure he was still there.
He woke up with bright lights in his face and beeping from a machine. He was in the hospital. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Lance was by his side, as expected.
“Hey,” Lance said quietly, his hand resting on Keith’s shoulder, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Keith nodded sleepily. “Did the.. doctor say anything?”
“They said you were malnourished and dehydrated. They said your wound on your back will heal soon,” Lance answered.
Keith nodded simply in response, leaning back against Lance.
“You had me worried sick,” Lance murmured, pressing a kiss to Keith’s head as he wrapped his arms around him.
Keith sighed, “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I’ve got you, okay?” Lance soothed, ”I’m not letting you go.”
“Promise,” Keith requested.
Lance answered easily, “I promise.”