Chapter Text
Keith
You fight like a Galra soldier
Unending. Deep, unending blackness.
Like a Galra soldier
Unyielding. It surrounded Keith on all sides, closing in, reaching with claws.
A Galra
Suffocation.
Keith jerked, gasping for breath, only to smash his head into some cold and metallic. He groaned aloud, clutching at his forehead. As soon as he opened his eyes, he knew he had a concussion. The cockpit of his lion swirled before his eyes, and whether that was what made him dizzy, or what caused his dizziness in the first place, he wasn’t sure. He allowed himself a few more seconds of ignorance, focusing only on catching his breath and making the room stop spinning so he could actually see straight.
A few blissful seconds, and then everything came rushing back to him.
Shit.
“Hello?” He spoke into his helmet. “Is everyone okay? Hello?” He expected a quick reply from at least one of his teammates. He was only beginning to remember what had happened. The fight. The wormhole. Keith looked around at the state of his lion. There were loose panels and frayed wires everywhere. It would take Hunk at least two days to repair, maybe one if Pidge would help.
“This is Keith reporting. Where is everyone else? Is anyone hurt?” Although he tried to fight it, Keith could hear the high pitch of worry creeping into his voice. Why weren’t they responding? Was something wrong with his microphone? Were communications down? He unbuckled himself and stood, kicking aside a scrap of metal. The main lights were off and the red emergency lights cast an eerie shadow across the cockpit, adding to Keith’s uneasy feeling. But he would not panic. Panic was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
He fumbled around the inside of his helmet but, despite the cosmetic damage it had taken from the fall, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. He swore and flung it across the room. It landed on the control panel and bounced to the ground, rolling under the counter.
That was when he heard it.
The sound was faint, nearly indistinguishable amidst all the alarms currently going off in the room, but he heard. Keith dove to the floor and crawled under the counter.
“Who’s there?” he asked, shoving the helmet on his head.
“It’s—ow—me.”
“Lance? Where are you?”
There was a shuffling sound, then a scrape of metal against metal, and Lance yelped in pain. Then, “Um, I don’t really know? There’s purple sand everywhere and the sky’s a weird blue. It doesn’t look like any planet I’ve seen before.”
Keith slowly rose from the floor. Outside the window he saw the scene Lance had described: dark indigo skies, like a watercolor of bruises; purple sand pockmarking the ground, rising in great dunes in the distance. Rocks were scattered across the ground, most of them fist-sized, but some the size of small asteroids.
“I think we’re in the same place,” Keith realized with a short-lived relief soon replaced with overwhelming anxiety. He had to agree with the other paladin: this planet didn’t look familiar. And there was nothing in sight. No buildings or people or distinguishable landmarks. In fact, it looked like he was in the middle of a desert.
“Really? I don’t see you,” Lance said.
Keith rolled his eyes. “What are the chances we would have landed next to each other, Lance? This planet looks huge.”
“Look, Mullet, I don’t need your—OW!” Lance screeched into the headpiece, and Keith recoiled, grimacing.
“For Christsakes Lance, do you mind not screaming into my ear?”
“Quiznak, I think my leg’s broken.”
Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. Perfect. “Alright, just hang tight and I’ll come find you.” He glanced around. There was no way he could get the red lion up and running by himself. Although he was an excellent pilot—the best out of all the paladins—he wasn’t that great with machinery. He would have to leave it behind. Just the thought pulled at something in his chest, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that Lance was better at fixing things than he was. He would bring him back and see what he could do.
Keith started gathering a pack of things he thought he might need, like extra water, a blanket, a first aid kit, and some tech Pidge had distributed to each of their lions a while ago. The whole situation was surreal. They had only just gotten their team back together, and now they were separated again. Shiro had been so weak, and Allura…he didn’t want to think about what those Galra monsters had done to her.
“Have you heard from any of the others?” Keith asked softly. There was a pause, the silence only broken by the sound of Keith tying the strings of his bag.
“No, I haven’t,” Lance finally answered. Maybe it was the pain in his leg, or the knowledge that so far only the two of them were accounted for, but there was a somber tone to Lance’s voice, one that Keith had only heard a handful of times before, when things seemed to be at their bleakest.
“Look, I’m sure there’s just an issue with the communications system. We’ll find them soon.”
“Yeah,” Lance responded, his voice still dismal. “You’re probably right.”
Had Hell finally frozen over? Lance must have been really out of it if he was willing to admit that he was right.
Keith grinned smugly. “Well, I usually am.”
He pressed the keypad to exit, but it was unresponsive. Grudgingly, he pried open the red lion’s mouth with a piece of scrap metal and let it fall shut behind him with a heavy bang.
Lance, in a small voice, said, “Are not.”
“Am too.”
“Are not.”
Keith hefted the bag up on his shoulder and replied, “Am too. And don’t say ‘are not’ or I’m not coming to help you.”
“Fine,” Lance snapped, but the fighting edge was back in his voice.
“Good.” He stepped out onto the sand, the shadow of the dark sky falling on him immediately, dying his body the same color. He wondered if it was day or night here. He hoped it would get brighter eventually, but wasn’t counting on it. If he had learned anything, it was to be careful what you relied on. What he didn’t know, he didn’t trust. And even if this alien planet appeared harmless, he knew that things weren’t always what they seemed. He just wanted to find Lance and the others, fix his lion, and get the hell out of there. But first he had to find Lance. And, as he walked farther out into the purple desert, it seemed as if that was not going to be an easy task.
“Are not.”
“Lance!”
Keith had already been walking for an hour when he heard the voices. Lance had long since shut up. Keith thought he might have fallen asleep, or maybe passed out from the pain of his leg. But he didn’t really need Lance for this part, anyway. Since he couldn’t walk, it’s not like he could meet Keith halfway. Instead, Lance had described his surroundings with as much detail as he could from inside of his lion: purple sand, a series of three dunes about 100 yards away, a big rock to his right, and a weird cactus-looking plant to his left. He also said that two of the planet’s moons were directly overhead, as they were now where Keith was, so he figured he couldn’t be too far away. He’d kept track of the time on his watch, which was thankfully still working, and he’d been walking for a little over an hour when something made him stop. He quickly hid behind a rock. There was a faint sound in the distance, like wind whistling between leaves, but there were no trees nearby.
He heard them before he saw them. And he saw their weapons before he saw their faces. The whistling noise came from purple glowing weapons being carried along the dark side of the dunes up ahead. He couldn’t make out the identity of the aliens until they were right in front of him and the glow from the machines illuminated their faces. Then, it was unmistakable.
Galra. Of course he and Lance had to crash on a planet inhabited by the aliens they’d just almost died escaping from. They spoke to each other in whispers too quiet for Keith to make out. He needed to know what they were saying. Maybe they knew what had happened to the rest of his team, if they’d already been captured.
Keith rolled to another rock to his left, then jogged to one in front of him. Fortunately, this particular area was littered with the rocks, which he was pretty sure were asteroid fragments, and it wasn’t hard to follow behind the Galra. The hard part was not being seen. He made sure to stay far enough away so they’d have to turn around to spot him, but close enough that he could hear at least part of what they were saying.
“Disturbance…Sector V,” the one in the back of the group said to another Galra soldier. “Think it’s some kind of ship…were at central…paladin.”
Keith’s eyes widened. He had to get closer. There were rocks right beside the soldiers’ path, but they were significantly smaller. It would be easier for them to see him, and since he was by himself, he’d be a sitting duck. But if these guys knew something about his friends—Shiro’s face flashed across his mind, and the agony in his voice when Zarkon almost took his lion echoed in his ears—he had to take the chance. He darted forward, staying low. At least the sky and the dune’s shadows offered some protection from the unsettling yellow eyes of the Galra.
“Zarkon has sent out a command to all stations to be on the lookout. If this ship ends up being one of the Voltron lions, it means glory for us all.”
“And the human?” the other soldier asked.
“The sensors picked up signs of life, but they were weak. It shouldn’t be hard to take him out.”
Oh, no. Keith paused, allowing the squadron to advance without him. It had to be Lance. There was a slim chance it was one of the other paladins, Allura or Coran, or someone else entirely, but….
“Lance?” Keith hissed into his microphone. “Lance, are you there?”
There was a moan, then a loud yawn, then Lance’s voice saying lazily, “What’s up Mullet? Found me yet?”
“No. But I think someone else has.”
This is the stupidest fucking plan ever conceptualized, Keith thought as he dug the flare into the sand. After waking Lance up and telling him what he’d overheard, he had followed the Galra over the crest of the dunes. Sure enough, the blue lion lay on its side in the middle of the valley, obviously out of order. What were they going to do without a ship? They’d be trapped on this godforsaken planet, helpless against their enemies.
Lance had come up with the plan. The flare was to distract the Galra and give Keith time to sneak over to the blue lion and get Lance out. They’d escape to the west where it looked like the dunes were more concentrated, giving them more places to hide. Keith vehemently argued against the idea, but they didn’t really have any other options. Of course, none of it mattered if they couldn’t get off this planet.
Keith shook his head, giving the flare a final shove. He had to focus on one thing at a time. And right now, that one thing was Lance.
He sighed. Why does it seem like I’m always saving him?
“Lance, you ready?” he asked softly.
“Been ready for the past ten minutes,” Lance grumbled back.
Keith fought down the urge to snap at him. He could tell the blue paladin was in a lot of pain, which was probably adding more than the usual bite to his words.
“Let’s just get this over with.” Keith struck the end of the flare against the cap. Sparks flew from the point of impact and a bright red light burst into the darkness. He took off, leaving the light behind. The Galra would come to investigate soon, and he intended to put plenty of distance between them in the meantime. Seconds later, there was a soft pop and the light launched high into the air, leaving a tail of ruby-tinted smoke in its wake.
Keith suddenly saw fireworks, red, white, and blue dancing into the night sky, felt the cold chill of Earth air on his skin. He remembered how, no matter which foster home he was at that year, there was always a fireworks show every July, without fail. He’d climb to the roof of the apartment, or the three-story townhouse, or the squat ranch house and watch the distant lights burst in the sky. Even though he was never in the same place, he found comfort in the yearly ritual. It was one constant thing in his life.
“Keith where are you?!” a voice barked at him, grounding him to the present. This particular voice seemed to be another constant thing in his life, one he hadn’t asked for, and did not particularly want to keep.
“I’m coming.”
“Yeah, not fast enough! I see the Galra headed towards the flare. We’ve only got a couple minutes to get out of here!”
Keith growled—as if he didn’t already know that—but picked up the pace nonetheless. He barreled over the dunes with his Bayard sword at the ready. About half the squadron had left to investigate the flare while the other half were advancing towards the lion. Fortunately, they didn’t hear Keith approach so he had the upper hand. He sliced down two soldiers before the others realized they’d been attacked.
“Lance, get out here!”
Almost immediately he saw the blue lion’s mouth open and Lance tumble from it, landing on his back. Keith rolled to the side as a soldier shot at him, the purple beam burning a hole in the sand where he’d just been standing. He cut down the soldier at the knees and flipped backwards to bury his sword in another’s torso.
“Lance, could use a little help here!”
“I know, I know, I’m working on it!” came Lance’s frustrated voice. Keith’s sword met a soldier’s gun, and the two grappled for a moment before the soldier adjusted his footing and threw Keith to the side. By the time he righted himself, he was staring down a glowing purple barrel. He could feel the heat of it between his eyes.
And then it was gone in a flash of blue. The Galra soldier crumpled on the ground, a smoking heap.
“Yes, ten points to Lance!” the blue paladin shouted in Keith’s ear.
“You hit one of them, I’ve already taken down like, six,” Keith shot back, pushing himself up.
“Yeah, but I’ve got a broken leg, so I get a handicap.”
“Less talking,” Keith interrupted, “more shooting.”
In response, the soldier nearest him was blown backwards, allowing Keith to stab him in the chest before he could get up. Keith took out the last two soldiers swiftly, then looked to the blue lion. Lance sat at the base of his lion’s mouth, now closed, chest heaving, gun resting beside him. Keith hated to admit it, but the guy was a good shot.
He was about to tell him as much when Lance said, “About time. What in the hell took you so long, Mullet?”
Keith narrowed his eyes. “Unlike you, I actually had to do something to get here, Lance. All you did was sit around and wait. And don’t call me mullet.”
Lance gestured to his leg, ignoring the last part. “Broken, remember?”
Keith glanced behind him. “We’d better get out of here. Do you have everything you need?”
Lance nodded. “I can’t really walk, though.”
“Well I’m not carrying you.”
“I-I didn’t ask you to!” Lance sputtered, his face flushed. Keith hoped he wasn’t running a fever. A delirious Lance was the very last thing he needed. Keith grabbed a straight piece of metal from the stomach of the blue lion and slid it under Lance’s leg, then retrieved a length of rope from his bag, securing the leg with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. He tried not to smile when Lance whined about it.
“Let’s go.” He slung one of Lance’s arms around his shoulder and hoisted the both of them up. Lance hopped on his good leg, getting his balance, before taking a tentative step with Keith. Although they wouldn’t be moving fast, hopefully they’d find shelter before the Galra were able to track them.
“Hold on,” Lance said when they reached the top of the nearest dune. He pulled away from Keith and got his Bayard from his weapons belt. It transformed into his gun and he aimed at his lion at least 50 yards away.
What was he going to do? Blow up his own lion? “Lance, what are you—”
Lance shot. The entrance panel exploded in a flash of blue and orange, and all the emergency lights surrounding the lion simmered off. Lance lowered his weapon, his face closed off. He’d completely fried his lion’s operating system. Now the Galra couldn’t get in, but that meant whenever they got back, he probably couldn’t get in either.
“It’s better this way.” Lance put his Bayard back in his belt. “We can’t let Zarkon get his hands on it.”
Even though he looked fine—tired, if anything—Keith thought he sounded upset. He looked away. Should he have done the same to his lion? If the Galra were able to find it and take it…Keith set his jaw. They didn’t have time to go back, so he would just have to hope it stayed undiscovered.
Lance tossed his arm back over Keith’s shoulders, leaning more heavily on him than before. “Let’s get out of here.”
They were almost out of water.
This planet’s sun had risen a few hours after they started walking, casting the planet in a strange orange glow that contrasted with the purple sand, making everything pretty disorienting. Plus, it was hot. They’d drunk three cartons of water and were halfway through the fourth and last. Moreover, they hadn’t found any other signs of life besides their Galra friends back at the blue lion. As far as Keith knew, they hadn’t been followed.
Lance was weaker. Keith had to basically drag him across the desert. The sand was firm, but their feet still sunk into it; add Lance’s dead weight into the equation, and his legs felt like they were going to snap any second.
“Can I,” Lance gasped, his voice ragged, “have the water?”
“No.”
“Keeeiiiith.”
“There’s barely any left, dumbass. We have to conserve it until we find more.”
“And where do you suppose we should do that? We’re walking in circles. We’re as good as dead out here.” To prove his point, Lance stopped trying to walk altogether. Keith was barely able to keep them from falling over.
“Come on, idiot, pick up your feet!”
Lance put the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically. “So…tired…can’t go on.”
Keith rolled his eyes. He was surprised they hadn’t gotten stuck in the back of his head by now. “Fine then. Carry yourself.” With that, Keith threw up his hands, letting Lance fall face-first to the sand. He jumped up immediately, spitting and brushing the sand off of his suit.
“What the hell, Mullet?!”
Keith squared his shoulders. “I told you not to call me that.”
“Why not? It’s true.” Lance stuck out his tongue.
Keith shoved him.
In hindsight, he felt a little guilty about this. Lance did have a broken leg, after all. But he’d been complaining nonstop since they’d crashed. Usually Shiro or Hunk would be around to break the tension, or Pidge would distract him with tech mumbo-jumbo, or Allura would distract Lance by just existing. But with the two of them alone on a seemingly deserted planet, it was like all their problems were focused through a looking glass and magnified tenfold. Every single thing Lance did or said grated on Keith’s nerves, and he could tell the feeling was mutual.
Lance stumbled back, teetering on his bad leg. “You wanna fight, Kogane? Fine, bring it on.” He got into a fighting stance, which looked pretty pathetic with sweat dripping down his face and his bum leg twisted at an awkward angle. But Keith couldn’t resist. He was fed up with Lance’s antics, his complaining and taunting. Keith sneered and mirrored Lance, balling his hands into fists.
He leaned back, preparing to take a swing, when something over Lance’s shoulder caught his eye. He hesitated just for a second, but it was enough. Lance clipped Keith’s jaw, sending him flying backwards. He landed on the sand, the soft texture hardly any cushion, and it knocked the wind out of him.
By the time he realized what had happened, Lance was already jumping around—well, jumping was perhaps an exaggeration; it was more of a jolted, uneven hopping—pumping his fist.
“What. The. Fuck. Lance.”
“Would you look at that! The Great Keith Kogane KO’d by one little punch. So you can talk the talk but you can’t walk the walk, huh?” Lance laughed joyfully, and Keith had the strong urge to take out his good leg with his Bayard, but the thing that had distracted him popped up again over a distant dune, and his raging anger at Lance was pushed to the side.
“Did you see that?”
“Oh,” Lance started, “don’t try to blame your pathetic fighting on something else, Keith. We both know I beat you fair and—”
“Lance. Shut up and turn around.”
Lance opened his mouth, as if he was about to argue, but complied. From the way his eyes popped wide, Keith knew he hadn’t been hallucinating.
“What is that?”
Keith stood and brushed the sand out of his hair. He could feel a bruise beginning to spread on the side of his face, but it didn’t seem important at the moment. The tiny figure in the distance, realizing they had spotted him, ducked behind the dune, disappearing completely.
“Hey, wait!” Lance called out, moving as if to run after the creature.
“I’ll go,” Keith said. He took off, leaving Lance behind. He could hear him grumbling, but he had to catch up with—well, with whatever that thing had been. It wasn’t Galra. It didn’t look like any alien Keith had seen before. It had been green, covered with what looked like scales. Its eyes were dark, black, but might be brown up close. Keith scrambled up the side of the dune, but when he got to the top the creature was nowhere in sight. He scanned the immediate area, panting. There seemed to be a trail of raised sand leading from where he stood down the other side of the dune, and as Keith watched, the trail grew longer. There was definitely something under there.
“I’m gonna keep going!” Keith called out to Lance, then dropped to the ground, sliding down the side of the dune parallel to the trail. He reached the end of the trail which was now move erratically, trying to get away from him. Keith dove, digging with both hands, and met something warm and smooth under the sand.
He pulled the creature out. It didn’t even reach his knees and weighed almost nothing. Like he thought, it had scaly green skin. The sand fell right off its writhing body, and its dark brown eyes fearfully reflected Keith’s face back at him.
“Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you,” Keith said to the alien, who was thrashing desperately, and apparently did not understand English. Then again, why would it? It wasn’t Galra, a foreign species that had invaded and taken over the planet. This species had to be native. It looked as if it had adapted to the hot and sandy conditions.
“Did you catch him?” Lance’s voice drifted down the dune.
Keith turned around to answer and the creature took the opportunity to shift in Keith’s hands, slipping to the ground, and disappearing once more in a matter of seconds.
“Shit!” Keith swore, looking around for the green little monster. He saw its trail start again about ten feet away, going faster than before.
“What did you do?” Lance said, appearing beside Keith.
“I didn’t do anything. It got away.”
“Oh great. What do we do now?” Lance whined.
Keith paused, thinking over his options. There was really only one. “We have to follow it.”
Lance’s eyes followed the creature’s slowly growing trail. “You think it’ll lead us somewhere?”
Keith met Lance’s gaze. “I think it’s our only chance.”
They ended up following the green creature for another three hours, towards the end of which they were both dragging their feet. They only had a few sips of water left, and Keith was regulating them strictly. He wasn’t sure if this trail would be a dead end or not, and if it was, they might be able to get another day out of the little water that remained. After that…well, he couldn’t afford to think about that right now. Just like he couldn’t afford to think about Allura, or Hunk, or Pidge, or Coran, or Shiro….
Where were they? It had been at least a day since they’d been separated. That is, assuming time didn’t work differently on this planet. Keith cast a glance up at the sky. There was only one sun for this planet. It was bright and hot even though it had already begun setting. Keith found that he couldn’t wait for nightfall, if only to get some respite from the strong rays of light. He wondered what the others were doing right now. If they had landed somewhere safe. If Shiro was okay. He’d already been weak before they escaped Zarkon, and if he’d crashed anything like Lance had….
He observed Lance out of the corner of his eye. The guy was barely hanging on. He’d stopped relying on Keith, but he could tell it was out of pride, not because he felt any better. He was limping heavily, his foot completely dragging with every step. Keith could tell he was trying not to look weak, but his eyes were tight, the pain barely concealed behind the thin line of his lips. Keith recognized the look from when he’d been injured during Sendak’s attack on the Castle of Lions. Lance had only been conscious for a little while, but even then he’d put on a brave face. Keith had admired it back then, but now he was just being stupid. He was going to hurt himself even more just because he was too proud to rely on anyone else to help him.
Then again, could he really blame him? If their positions were switched, Keith wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do the same. Plus, he hadn’t been the most supportive. Keith crossed his arms over his chest. The images of him dropping Lance to the sand and shoving him flashed across his eyes, making something in his chest tighten. He knew it was guilt. But he wouldn’t apologize. Lance had been in the wrong, too.
Still. Keith wasn’t heartless.
“Here.” He tossed Lance the last water carton.
“Oh thank God.” Lance gulped down the rest of the water.
Keith let out a slow, controlled breath. Don’t say anything. You’ll both be fine. And if this trail leads nowhere, and you end up marooned in the desert dying from dehydration, then you’ll just have to make do.
“Man, that was good.” Lance passed back the empty carton, and Keith just held it for a few seconds, still trying to convince himself not to knock Lance to his ass, before tucking it in his bag.
Out of nowhere, Lance slapped his arm.
“Ow, what was that for?”
“Up ahead!”
Keith followed Lance’s outstretched hand to a gray dot on the horizon, a welcome variation from the endless purple sand and brown rocks they’d been staring at all day.
Lance started, “You don’t think…?”
They looked at each other. Then, they ran. Well, Keith ran and then doubled back to help Lance jog despite his protests that he didn’t need help. They’d long since lost sight of the creature, although they’d been following its trail all this time. It led them straight to the point in the distance which gradually sharpened into what appeared to be a scattering of squat, makeshift buildings. Renewed with hope, both men plowed forward, and Lance even stopped complaining. As they got closer, Keith noticed movement in between the buildings. The figures seemed to be too tall and large to be of the same species as the green creature. He could only hope that whatever beings lived there were friendly.
The first thing that hit them was the sound. A dull chorus of voices drifted across the air, and although Keith couldn’t make out the language, at least they were communicative. The second thing that hit them was the smell. Lance literally drooled at the smell, which reminded Keith of roasting meat, and even his own stomach started to grumble with anticipation.
It seemed to be some kind of marketplace. Cloth was draped from building to building, casting shade across hundreds of makeshift stands and aliens of all shapes and sizes patronizing them. Keith and Lance entered the town mostly unnoticed, as if it were commonplace for two bedraggled strangers to wander in from the desert. Keith didn’t see the creature they’d followed, but it didn’t matter anymore. They had found a place to rest and recover, and, hopefully, find some help for their lions.
“Keith, look! Meat!” Lance darted over towards the stand where sticks of juicy meat were roasting over a contained fire. Keith had to physically hold him back.
“Lance, focus. We have to get your leg looked at before we do anything else.”
Lance’s face fell. “But it’s meat!”
For about the thousandth time that day, Keith rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”
The sand here had been compacted from being walked on so much that it was the consistency of dirt. It was a nice break from constantly fighting the dense sand out in the desert. Deep into the center of town they came across a tall building with a smattering of people lingering at the entrance. Hanging outside was a sign decorated with a black cross.
“Excuse me,” Keith said as he approached the group. “Can we get medical treatment here?” Most of the aliens just stared at him blankly. Some ignored him completely. But one alien whom he hadn’t seen before came up to him.
“You are human, yes?” it asked in broken English. Keith nodded. Compared to most of the other aliens, this one looked quite human itself, apart from the gray skin. It had a high, feminine voice, and oversized blue eyes with purple irises. If Lance’s reaction was any indication, it was probably female.
“Why yes, I am a human. A male human. A strong, tough male human.” He winked and gave her a flirty smile which was somewhat diminished by the sweat pouring down his pale face and his bloodshot eyes.
“Yeah, a strong, tough male human that’s about to pass out,” Keith deadpanned. He turned to the alien. “His leg is broken.”
She regarded them. Then, she waved them on. “Follow, please.”
She led them into what looked like an Earth hospital, except not as clean. Dirt from the street had been tracked inside and covered almost every surface, and the machinery was at least decades old. Plus, it was crowded. Every bed Keith saw was occupied. He wondered if there would be room for them at all.
The alien led them down the hall and up a stairwell, which took a while since Lance couldn’t bend his leg. They emptied out onto the second floor and continued to the very back of the room. “Lay him here.” She gestured to an empty bed. Relief flooded Lance’s face as Keith helped him down onto the bare mattress.
“Oh, quiznak,” Lance moaned in a voice that made Keith strangely uncomfortable. “That feels good.”
“You do this?”
Keith didn’t realize at first that the alien was talking to him. She had begun to gingerly unwrap the slapdash brace Keith had secured Lance’s leg with. He nodded.
“Do you even work here?” Keith suddenly asked, ashamed he hadn’t even thought to ask.
Lance swatted Keith’s arm. “Of course she does!”
“And how would you know?”
“Well she obviously knows her way around here.”
“I a student. Medicine student. Still learning.” She shrugged. “I can handle. Doctor Jorb very busy, too busy for broken bone.”
“So you’ve set a bone before?” Keith pressed. Lance was shooting him an annoyed look, but Keith was still uncertain.
She pulled off Lance’s lower armor, revealing his jeans, then rolled them up to above his knee so she could see the leg. It hadn’t broken the skin, but there was a dark violet bruise and hard lump just below the skin. “No, not before. This is first time.”
“See, Keith, she—” Lance froze. “Wait, you haven’t—OW!”
Lance bowed against the mattress, his face pinched with pain.
“Yes, that broken,” the alien confirmed.
“Well obviously it’s—OW!” he shouted again as she poked at his leg. “Will you stop doing that? We know it’s broken! Can you just put me in a healing pod or something?”
“No healing pod. I make cast.” She set about making a cast with a machine in the corner of the room. Lance’s eyes followed her, his expression finally nervous. Keith had known the technology in the Castle of Lions was advanced, but what kind of society was this that they still had to use casts?
In about a minute, the alien came back with a black cast split down the middle and began to secure it around Lance’s leg. With every movement, with every jostle of the bed, his face became more tense, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“Can’t you give him painkillers or morphine or something?” Keith asked, his voice betraying his concern.
“None left. Next shipment in fortnight.” Lance was biting down on his lip so hard Keith could see pricks of blood beginning to well up. Without thinking, he reached for Lance’s hand, holding it tightly. Lance glanced at him, ready to protest, when the alien closed the cast around his leg. Lance’s eyes snapped shut and his grip tightened around Keith’s fingers painfully. But he knew it was only a sliver of the pain Lance was dealing with. The alien melded the two halves of the cast together with some kind of heat ray, then stepped back, her face proud.
“There. Like you say, ‘good as new’.”
“Fuck,” Lance half-sighed, half-groaned. He took a few deep, ragged breaths, then managed to sit up on the bed. Only then did he seem to realize he was still holding Keith’s hand and dropped it quickly. He looked away, but Keith saw his face was red and covered with a layer of sweat. He must still be in pain, Keith reasoned.
“Leave on for six weeks. Then I take off.” The alien puttered around, replacing her tools. With her back turned, Keith allowed himself to look at Lance again. He was back to being pale as death, though his breathing was more even.
“Maybe you should stay here and rest for a bit,” Keith suggested softly. Lance looked up at him. “And before you ask, yes I’ll go get you food.”
Lance smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Keith spied a pillow on an empty bed across the hall and retrieved it. He helped Lance lay against it and his eyes slid shut. He was still evidently in pain, but at least looked a little more comfortable.
“I’ll be right back.”
Lance moved only enough to give him a thumbs up. A ‘Thank You’ would be nice, Keith thought, but didn’t bother saying aloud. He was pretty sure Lance was already asleep, anyway.
He moved towards the stairwell, but paused beside the alien.
“Thanks. For helping him.”
She shrugged. “Is my job.”
“What’s your name, by the way?”
“Koramonda. Call Kora.”
“Thank you, Kora. I’m Keith. That’s Lance.”
She eyed him carefully. “You two are close.”
That was not what he had expected her to say.
He felt his face heat up inexplicably. “Well, I mean, not really. We’re paladins, so we kind of have to be close, I guess,” he rambled. He didn’t even know what he was saying. Maybe her meaning had gotten lost in translation, or something.
She shook her head. “No, you are close. Important to one another.”
Keith opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out. He wasn’t sure what to say. They were friends. They were about the two least compatible people in the galaxy, but they made it work. They had to, or else they could never form Voltron. But close? Important to each other?
“I don’t think so,” Keith said finally. She merely raised her eyebrows at him, then returned to cleaning her tools. Keith lingered a second more, his eyes pulling to Lance’s body lying motionless on the bed.
Then he went downstairs.