Chapter Text
The three of them navigated the halls aimlessly in search of their confiscated items in a clandestine manner, careful not to run into any troopers.
As it turns out Safira’s underdeveloped power for seeing just a few seconds into the future proved extremely useful in their situation, able to nearly avoid every Galra that passed by.
Finally reaching the last door on the hall, Lance took a moment to try to listen through while Keith kept watch making sure nobody snuck up on them. Silence met his ear but it was a rather thick metal door and it’d be hard to tell so Lance looked to Safira for confirmation.
With a short nod Lance felt safe enough to get Keith to unlock the door with his weird fingerprints that seemed to work on this ship (which, by the way, only works with Keith! Lance tried it out for himself only to be met with an error sign…)
The metal door slid open automatically with gentle machinery noise. There, a Galra soldier stood, he must’ve been at least five heads taller than Lance. Skin colored a deep purple, eyes glowing yellow and muscles bigger than tree trunks.
There it was. Safira was wrong, which was bound to happen sooner or later with her being so young. Lance was just grateful she had such luck until now.
Stepping in front of Safira, Lance evened his stance, ready to defend. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Keith do the same.
The Galra turned his gaze away from the table that had their missing bayards and helmets spread out along with some miscellaneous items that had gotten confiscated from some other poor prisoner. He looked a little surprised to see two paladins of Voltron standing in front of him before realization snapped in him, baring his teeth into a snarl at the new intruders.
Hurling a punch towards Lance, the brunette hardly having any time to just nearly avoid the assault.
Without missing a beat, the Galra continued to thrash out punch after punch only getting fast with each hit until Lance couldn’t keep up. One final hit slamming into Lance's gut sending him spiraling backward, gasping for air.
The large man’s shadow enveloped Lance as the Galra grew closer, wounding his arm up for another punch. But before the Galra could land another blow, he froze, face contorting in pain as Keith slashed his sword at the Galra’s ankles. His bayard which he must’ve grabbed while Lance was fighting, now stained with the Galra’s blood.
The Galra snarled, falling to the ground with clenched teeth. Soon, his pained breath turned into breaths of amusement, almost laughter.
The two paladins made eye contact, confusion clearly communicated between them as the purple alien slowly raised himself off the floor.
Still unsure of how to react to this… odd act, Lance staggered back into a defensive stance, shakily pointing his only weapon, a stolen gun, at his target.
It almost seemed laughable but the growing unsteady laughter mixed with the metallic scent of blood, throw in some brand new internal bleeding, this whole scene really turns into a horror movie.
Almost like a switch was flipped, the Galra spun around with a sudden burst of malice, beating a brutal fist into Keith.
Just one swing of the Galra's massive arm sent Keith hurtling backward, his body crumpling to the ground next to the wall. Lance cried out in alarm for him, but Keith laid still, his eyes fluttering.
A burning heat of anger swelled within Lance, snapping his attention to the towering Galra. His eyes narrowed into slits, pure adrenalin pumping through his veins, and even though it still hurt to breathe, he’s ready to take on the Galra that's twice his size.
He fired shot after shot at the towering man but the bullets seemed to have no effect, each one bouncing off the Galra's muscle as if they were made of stone.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lance spotted Keith getting to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose as he glowered at the lofty Galra. Keith charged the Galra with a yell, jumping on his back and using his sword to pin the Galra’s forearms up in a pose reminiscent of a defensive position. Despite forcing the blade deeper and deeper into the Galra’s flesh, it refused to cut, the Galra's thick skin seemingly impervious to the attack.
Lance stared wide-eyed at such an unexpected attack from Keith, he almost burst out in laughter. Seeing a much smaller Keith relentlessly clinging to a tower of a man is nearly comical, but when Keith let out such a pained whimper when the aforementioned tower violently shook him off his back, Lance quickly snapped back to reality.
“Fuck!” Keith shouted, scrambling to his feet again. “I slashed his ankles! How is he still moving like this!”
Lance couldn’t help but agree, while it looks like it’s slowing him down a smidge, the Galra is still moving like a bull moose. Not to mention this guy is apparently made of metal, even after all the paladins threw at him he remains unscathed.
Feeling a gaze on him, Lance turned to face Safira who stood by the door, hands clasped together. She gave him a perturbed look. A look that tells Lance he needs to finish this fast. Giving a short nod to her, Lance turned back to the room in search of his bayard which he spotted immediately still laying on the table next to the two paladin helmets.
Lance wasted no time in darting over to the table, grabbing his bayard, and throwing his helmet on his head.
Transforming his bayard to his gun, Lance went to aim at the Galra firing shot after shot, seeming to annoy the Galra further coming to the realization they’re going to have to retreat.
“We need to get out of here!” Lance yelled to Keith as the Galra grabbed ahold of the ravenettes hair, ramming him into the metal wall seemingly into a button that set off blaring alarms. Keith cried out in pain as the Galra dropped him to the ground like a ragdoll.
The large man turned his attention to Lance, seemingly finished with Keith who laid on the floor, somehow still conscious and stumbling to his feet once again, face bloodied.
Lance started shooting again, gathering the attention of the purple alien and allowing Keith time to get up as well as to discombobulate the man. “Keith, we have to retreat!” Lance shouted over the booming noise of his bayyard. “Run to Safira, i’ll be right behind you!”
Keith paused, Lance unsure if he was simply dealing with a concussion or if he’s really thinking about killing this Galra.
Almost as if Keith was answering Lance's suspicions, the smaller man ran at the Galras back, desperately slashing at him trying to cause any kind of damage.
“Keith!” He sounded more miffed than worried now.
Keith blocked a hit the Galra threw at him with his sword, having to hold both ends of the sword to keep up with the immense force the Galra was pushing with, wincing as the wound on his arm cried out in pain.
“You go, get Safira to an escape pod,” Keith shouts.
“What?!” Lance shouts back incredulously, “You need to come with me!”
Keith grunts in pain as the Galra forces his arm deeper on the blade, finally breaking some skin. Keith’s footing slipping. “GO!” He shouted, pushing back against the Galra roughly. “Safira is our mission, without her, we fail.”
“But you’re- ” Lance hesitated, they both knew he was hurt but the last thing Lance wanted was to let the enemy know Keith’s weakness.
“I’ll be fine,” Keith smiled roughly, staring straight into the enemy's eyes, not daring to take his focus off of him.
Without another word, Lance turned and exited with the Safira.
Keith huffed a small laugh.
“Your teammate left you and yet you’re smiling.” The Galra grumbled out in a low tone.
Keith's brow furrowed. “I can take you all on my own.”
“You’re weak.” With that, Keith threw the Galra off of his blade with a harsh thrust. A deep wound now penetrates the Galra’s skin, blood dripping off of it like water, something so deep would have rendered Keith useless but this Galra seems like it doesn’t even bother him.
Like a coin dropped, they both ran at each other, Keith slicing the Galra’s arms to pieces, unable to hit anywhere else as the Galra guards with his arms.
Keith swings his sword, ignoring the grueling pain from his arm warning him he’s going too hard. He’s used to this kind of pain though, he can power through it, he has to for the sake of this mission. He just needs to stall for just a bit longer, just a bit-
The Galra gripped Keith's blade in hand, twisting it forcing his shoulder to bend in a way it should not.
His wound burns making the pain far worse than it should be. Whimpering in pain, Keith drops to his feet, letting the sword slip from his grip.
The Galra eyed his bayyard in his hand as it de-transformed. Deciding it’s useless, it was thrown to the side, Galra closing in on the smaller man. Keith can do nothing but glare.
Shadows covered Keith as the Galras raised fist blocked the ceiling lights, making a big show out of winding his arm up for a bone-crushing punch. A mockery at Keith’s overzealousness. Keith screws his eyes shut, arms raised in a weak defense before-
A gun goes off. The Galra grunts in pain, reeling backwards. Keith looks towards the source of the bullet to see there in the doorway stood Lance, in all his glory. Gun aimed at the Galra, smoke coming from the barrel.
“Lance.” Keith breathed in utter disbelief, tears pooling at the edge of his eyes. Lance took notice of Keith's staring and flashes him a smug smile, lowering the barrel of the gun slightly.
“Thought you could get rid of me?”
The absurdity of the situation, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Keith laughs, tilting his head back. “If only,”
The moment is cut short by the Galra screaming, hurling himself towards Lance in a furry. Blood seeping out of his side where Lance had shot him. Lance had found his weak spot.
The brunette quickly kicked Keith’s bayard back towards him, firing shots at the Galra’s weak point, the Galra doing his best to dodge despite his gigantic body.
Keith sprung up, snatching his bayard off the ground in a single, fluid motion. In an instant he dashed over to the table which held their confiscated items, swiping his helmet off the table and threw it on his head watching Lance keep the Galra at arms length with his shooting, the Galra progressively growing weaker.
“Pidge? Pidge come in?!” Keith shouted in urgency.
“Keith?!” Pidge’s voice staggered in through static. “What’s going on? Where are you guys?”
The Galra turned around, attention drawn by Keith’s voice, malice in his eyes as he turned his attention towards Keith.
“Shit.” He breathed, gathering his stance to face the Galra again. “Pidge, we’re near the cells, we need you to come get us.”
“Eyes on me!” Lance yells as he shoots the Galra directly on his wound making him growl in pain.
The Galra whipped around to face Lance, charging towards him with a raised fist. Keith shot forward before the Galra could even manage a graze on Lance, shoving his sword directly into the Galra’s bleeding wound.
The once tall man staggered, hunched over on himself before collapsing to the floor, the impact revealing Lance's stunned expression to Keith.
Their eyes locked for a moment, a brief and tense exchange of looks. Lance’s eyes reflected an indescribable emotion of worry and fear, searching for any sign of emotion in Keith’s cold and distant expression.
There was a shared understanding among the team that this was something they had to do, despite the impact it had on each and every one of them. They all had their different reactions to killing someone, the consequences of their actions and how it would shake them to their very core, but all Keith felt was cold. And having Lance see that show on his face- Keith didn’t like the feeling.
With a swift motion, Keith drew his blade from the growingly lifeless body, the blood seeping out and pooling at his feet. He shook the blade in a weak attempt to try and dispel the blood that clung to it, turning away from Lance to activate the comms again.
“We’re done here, Pidge,” he spoke, his voice betraying him with a crack. “Where are you?”
Pidge consulted the digital map she managed to get her hands on, her voice serious as she read from it. “I should be in the middle of the prisons section B,” she informed them. “You guys need to move quickly. I have five minutes before the cloaking wears off.”
Keith looks towards Lance. “What about the Princess?” he asked. “Where did she go?”
Lance opens his mouth to answer, but Pidge interjects before he could speak, “She’s with me on the Green Lion, managed to catch her in an escape pod.”
“What?” Keith huffed in disbelief, his annoyance evident. “Lance, I told you to go with her,” he said sternly.
Lance looked at him, incredulity in his eyes. “You really thought I was going to leave you, dude?”
When Keith didn’t respond, Lance continued.
“I… we both know there’s no way you’d come out alive if I didn't come back.” he spoke “I had Safira protect herself with the spare gun I had while I showed her to the escape pod, it all worked out.”
Keith’s frown deepened further. “Lance, I could’ve handled that fight on my own, what would’ve happened if she got hurt? Or even killed?! Our whole alliance would’ve gone up in flames.”
Lance steps forward, gesturing animatedly with his hands as he speaks. “Screw the alliance then, your life is more important to me than any political shit,” he emphasized.
Keith huffed, growing more annoyed with Lance. He shut his eyes tight, clenching his fists until they were indented with the crescents of his nails. “If I die on a mission, I die.” Keith shouts. “We need this alliance to win this war. with or without me.”
Every word Keith is saying is true, his life truly means nothing in the grander scheme of things. But seeing Lance’s face drop into a more fearful expression than when Keith had killed a Galra in front of him. It made Keith feel something so excruciatingly uncomfortable, like a group of worms eating at him from the inside out.
Was his way of thinking not normal?
They all knew the risks of being a part of this war. This was bigger than any one of them.
“What matters is this war,” Keith stated firmly.
Lance’s expression shifted to one of shock and realization. “This whole mission you’ve been throwing your life on the line for no reason.” He began to speak slowly, as if he was working things out as he spoke. “I- This whole time I thought you hated working with me but you really want to get yourself killed, don't you?”
“Lance-” Keith tried to cut him off. They don’t have time for a conversation like this right now.
“No, Keith, be honest with me.”
Keith feels his face heat up slightly. This whole conversation feels so naked.
Keith drops his head, refusing to meet Lance’s eyes. He had really thought the rest of the team shared this mindset, but he hadn’t given much thought to how their personal lives might change that.
They really shouldn’t be talking about this right now, not with a dead body between them.
“We have to go, Pidge is waiting for us.” Keith walks past Lance, looking out the door to see for any patrol guards, not once making eye contact with the other boy, not wanting this uncomfortable feeling in his gut to churn any stronger.
Lance whipped Keith’s body around not letting him walk away, his voice tinged with anger and concern. “We’re not leaving until you answer the question.”
Pidge interrupted them, her voice cracking over the comms. “I hate to agree with Keith but you guys should really get going. I’ve spotted a group of Galra soldiers heading this way.
“But Keith,” She spoke with concern. “We should all have a talk when you get back.”
With an inner groan, Keith knew he was trapped. He had gotten himself into an uncomfortable conversation, and now they would have to finish it later.
And so, Keith made his way out through the wide halls of the ship, Lance following him closely.
✮ ✩