Chapter Text
Keith never meant to keep secrets. At first he wanted to protect people, and sometimes not knowing something would keep them safe.
So when he found himself in space with four others who knew almost nothing about him, he panicked. What else was he supposed to do? He had gone out of his way to hide the truth and go through becoming a pilot without attracting attention and here he was. Trapped on a ship with six other people who would find out sooner or later.
And that thought terrified him.
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Keith had been born hundreds of years ago. He didn't care to keep track of the exact number of years because, to him, it just didn't matter. One year blended into the next and it was just too tedious keeping track of everything.
He stopped aging around 18. He had a forever youthful appearance, which he found was very helpful when joining the Garrison. It had been a good idea at the time, but then someone came too close to figuring him out.
Why had he joined the Garrison in the first place? Because on a whim he had stolen a ship from them and taken it for a joy ride. He of course had gotten caught, and a blessing in the form of Takashi Shirogane found him. Shiro offered to pull some strings to get him into the Garrison, stating that talent as strong as Keith's was important to hone. Shiro had made Keith feel good for once, even when his reckless behavior out others in danger. Keith had nothing to lose, so he did what ever popped into his head. He enjoyed the rush, making the seemingly endless torture of eternity a little less dull.
Keith had flourished at the Garrison. He was top of his class and doing great… Until Shiro went to Kerberos. And then Keith had lost another person.
Keith had vowed when he first realized he wouldn't die that he would never get close to someone once again. He had broken that vow time and time again, each heartbreak worse than the last.
So when Keith heard Shiro was back on earth, he didn't think twice. He dove into the fray and rescued him.
He just didn't count on anyone else trying to rescue him too.
And now, that's where they were. They were in space, they were becoming pilots of robotic lions, and were helping a princess of a long gone empire save the universe.
This lifetime would be much more interesting than his others, Keith thought.
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Lance was unbearable. Keith got the urge to slap him whenever he tried one of his dumb pick up lines or would make a snide comment about Keith’s appearance.
Shiro was the only one who really knew anything about Keith and as a result of that Keith spent as much time around him as possible. Everyone else? He was as closed off as he could be.
He liked the others, but after years and years of never opening up he couldn't bring himself to make the first move for getting to know them. He was scared, even though he'd never admit it.
He would outlive everyone, and if he got too close to them that could hurt more than necessary. Keith had been through too much hurt already.
Lance had walked up to him and slung an arm around his shoulders. Keith wasn’t sure what Lance was saying, it was all blending into a hum of background noise as he focused on what Allura had put up on the screen.
“So, Keith,” Lance addressed him directly. “I bet I can kill three times as many Galra as you on this next mission.”
Another bet. “Three times? Really Lance? You can barely defeat the same amount as me,” Keith teased, a smile flitting across his lips so briefly it would be easy to miss.
“Oh come on,” Lance whined. “ I so can beat more than you! I’ll prove it!”
Allura tsked at them, calling attention back to her and the mission at hand. “Then in that case, you two can be on the same team.” She pointed to a spot on the map that was magnified on the screen. “That is where the prisoners are being kept on the ship. I trust you two will be able to get in and clear the way while Pidge and Hunk get the main defenses down.”
Lance groaned. “What about Shiro? Why can’t Shiro go with me instead of Broody McMullet over here?” He had moved away from Keith sometime during when Allura was talking, and Keith missed the contact. He immediately chided himself for that thought.
Shiro and Allura traded worried looks. “Because there is a possibility Zarkon or Haggar will be on the ship. We cannot risk the black lion.”
“How will we form Voltron then?” Keith spoke up. He understood protecting the black lion, but did Allura really expect this mission to go that well? Did she really expect the Paladins to be able to get in and out with that little difficulty?
“We do not expect too much resistance on this mission.” She paused, thinking. “Besides, the castle will still be in range we can deploy if the situation gets dire.”
Keith nodded and stood up. He wanted to go and make sure everything was ok with Red before they departed on this mission.
Spending a large amount of time with Lance wasn’t preferable, even though something in the back of his mind was telling him it was a great idea. Even if he did want to get close to the Clueless Wonder that was the blue paladin, he wouldn’t. For both of their sakes.
After a little while the COM system in his helmet kicked on and Allura was saying there was 10 minutes before departure. Keith sighed, running a hand over red’s control board. Red had guessed what he was the second he stepped into the cockpit. Red was, at first, a little wary of him, but once the battle had been over Keith had won her trust.
He felt the strange metallic purring that he was able to understand without any difficulty. Lance had been right, it was as though Red was putting ideas into his head, not so much saying words. Keith liked how straightforward his lion was in her communication. In a lot of ways he was very similar to her.
Lance’s voice came over the COM, slightly static-y. “Hey, Mullet Man, you ready to rock?”
Keith chuckled, allowing himself to relax into his chair. “Ready when you are,” he debated on an insulting nickname for Lance, but decided against it. Lance crowed as Blue shot out of the hanger, flying against the inky darkness of space.
“Slow down, hotshot,” Keith griped as he urged Red to take off. He quickly caught up to Lance, a grin stretched across his face as the wonder of flying washed over him.
No matter how many times he’s flown, or how many times he will fly in the future, the novelty will not wear off. In all the years he’s lived, flying is the only thing that makes him feel truly alive.
He was yanked out of his thoughts by Shiro giving them instructions on where to go on the ship. They were going to get the prisoners off of the ship, and hopefully Pidge’s family would be among them.
Keith would never say this to them, but the odds of them finding the Holts was getting slimmer and slimmer with every ship they took. Shiro knew this, and Keith saw how much it hurt him to consider. So he kept his mouth shut and went along with the missions.
It was not long before the Galra ship came into view. Keith couldn’t help the apprehensive feeling he felt as they got closer and closer. They landed on the underside of the ship, the lions latching onto the metal undetected. As Keith got up to leave the cockpit he patted Red’s control panel. “I’ll be back for you, and I’ll make sure Lance goes back to Blue.” It was a habit now, for him to make that promise. Red’s bond with the other lions was strong and she knew Keith kept his word. He kept his word even if it cost him his health. The one time Keith couldn’t protect Lance he wound up in the healing pods for much longer than Keith was ok with.
Lance had already cut a hole in the ship’s hull and motioned for Keith to follow him. As they quietly dropped down into the halls of the ship, Keith’s apprehensive feeling grew. There was no one around. No guards, no Galra, no prisoners, no doors, nothing.
“Lance,” Keith hissed. “Lance there’s something wrong.”
“It’s fine,” Lance whispered back. “We just dropped in the wrong area. So we head up a bit and search.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“So do I.” Lance was serious, his eyes wide. That was the only trait giving away his fear. Lance motioned for Keith to follow, and without hesitation they made their way down the hall.
They walked for what seemed like 30 minutes without encountering anyone else. The cells they eventually came across were empty and the guards were gone.
Neither of them wanted to voice the fact that empty cells meant an arena battle.
“Lance, we need to go back and regroup,” Keith stated, peering around a corner for any threats.
“Just a little longer Keith,” Lance muttered. He grabbed Keith’s arm and pulled him around to face him. “Just a few more minutes. We can't give up yet. We can hide and wait to see if the guards bring the prisoners back. Then we can free them when the guards leave.”
Lance’s expression was so determined Keith decided that he couldn’t say no to him. He would probably regret this, the apprehensive feeling still in the back of his mind. “Lance, we’ll stay for 15 minutes and then leave. Ok?”
“15 minutes is enough!” Lance’s signature grin was back in place and Keith’s chest hurt.
10 minutes passed and the prisoners were nowhere to be seen. Lance was growing restless and Keith could tell. Lance was about to get up and check the cells again when a guard appeared. Keith yanked him down, not paying attention to how close they were. Keith didn’t let go of his hold on Lance’s bicep as he watched the guard lead a prisoner into the cells.
A single prisoner.
Keith felt sick to his stomach as he tightened his grip on Lance. He knew Lance had connected the dots.
“We should’ve been here sooner,” Lance whispered, voice cracking. “We’re too late.”
Keith pulled him closer to him as he felt how Lance was shaking. Lance rarely showed any kind of weakness around him, and this just felt wrong. Keith didn’t like being forced to see the human emotions behind the confident flirt who took rejection so smoothly it was like he expected to strike out.
“Lance,” Keith whispered, watching the guards. “Don’t act rashly, ok? We’ll just bide our time-“
Keith was cut short by a guard spotting them and immediately firing. Keith shoved Lance away from him and out of the way as the shot hit him square in the shoulder. He hissed from the pain but was already drawing his Bayard. He charged at the guards as he felt Lance’s covering fire all around him. He defeated one guard, stepping over its body to chase the other. He was so engrossed in the fight that he didn’t hear Lance’s warning from behind him.
With a sickening noise, a blade burst out of his chest. Keith gasped and spun around after the sword was pulled out of him. There was the lone prisoner, eyes dazed and a blood soaked sword held loosely in his hand. Keith grit his teeth and struck him down as quickly as he could manage. Lance was at his side helping him to stay on his feet.
“Keith, oh my god, stay with me,” Lance was frantic. His armor was starting to stain red too as he held Keith. He cradled Keith in his lap, attempting to contact the castle.
He was going to tell them. They were going to find out. Keith gasped and grabbed his arm.
“No… Lance…” he coughed up blood at that point, probably not helping his case. “Help me… get this breastplate… off.”
Lance nodded and moved Keith into a sitting position. The cracked breastplate slid off easily enough and Keith noticed Lance had tears streaking down his face. He reached up to Lances face and tried to wipe away some of the tears, accidentally smearing blood on his face.
“Keith, we need to get you help.” Lance’s voice wavered with emotion as he stared determinedly at Keith.
“Lance, look at me,” Keith sat up as much as he could, already beginning to feel the healing process. “Lance, no one can know about this.”
“Keith, you’re gonna die!” Lance made no attempts to keep his voice down.
“Lance, no I’m not.”
“Yeah, no, unless we get you to the ship-“
“LANCE.”
“What?”
Keith had pulled open the fabric where his wound was and… Lance gaped down at it. It was…. Closing up?
“Keith… I don’t….”
“Look, I’ll explain everything on the ship. For now, I need to stay here to heal up fully and then go back.”
“They’ll see the broken armor. And the hole in your suit.” Lance’s hand hovered over his wound, eyes wide with a mix of fear and fascination.
“My armor had to be left behind due to damage and I sustained a few shallow cuts in the fight.”
“They’ll heal.”
“I’ll make them again when we dock at the castle. Shiro already knows I head quickly, but he thinks it’s only small things.”
“You… I don’t know what to say.”
“How does nothing sound?” Keith grunted as he stood up, legs shaky but overall ok. He was able to hold onto the wall and steady himself. He was a little light headed but that was to be expected. Healing a wound like that would take a lot out of him. Once he felt he was well enough to get back to the lions, he nudged Lance.
“Hey, we should get back to the lions and report.”
Lance nodded and stood up, looking a little pale. His jaw was clenched and his brow furrowed. Keith knew the questions were coming but he was in no mood to deal with that now. The coming conversation would be draining and very tiring.
“Keith,” Lance grabbed his arm and turned him around. He ran a hand over Keith’s chest and Keith prayed to any god that may have been listening that Lance could not feel how hard his heart was beating.
Lance looked at him for a couple ticks longer. Then, without a word, he walked past Keith.
The walk back to the lions was only broken up by a couple guards seeing them, which Lance swiftly took care of. Keith wasn’t sure if Lance knew how weak he was feeling, or Lance just needed to fight things to feel better. Either way, Keith was able to focus on getting back to the lions and the castle.
Once they had detached the lions from the Galra ship and flown out of there as fast as possible, Keith allowed himself to relax. Red chided him for not explaining anything to Lance. He reassured her that the conversation would be coming, just not immediately.
Allura’s voice filled the cockpit and Keith smiled sadly as he briefly told her what had happened. Leaving out certain things, of course.
Lance was oddly quiet during the communication.
Keith tried to not let that bother him as he pulled out his knife. He had to make the injuries believable, right?
He ignored the pang of guilt he felt as he saw the castle looming in space.