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“Lance, seriously, how long does it take to disable the flight bay?” Keith hissed from his crouched position by the door.
“Well sorry I’m not a tech whiz like Pidge or Hunk, Keith,” Lance shot back as he fumbled with the galran control panel. “Situations like these require a bit of finesse.”
“Didn’t you take the same classes as them?” Keith asked with an eye roll, his eyes focused on the empty purple hallway before him.
“Bold of you to assume I was paying attention.” Lance pressed another button, cursing at the annoying red writing that was probably galran for ‘access denied’.
“Just blast the damn thing. We don’t have time for this.”
The mission was pretty straightforward. Board the green lion, sneak onto a sentry manufacturing ship, and blow it up, dealing a massive blow to the empire. As of now, Pidge was busy extracting intel, while Shiro and Hunk were planting charges around the ship. Nice and easy.
And of course the dynamic duo had been given the honors of breaking into the heart of the heavily guarded control center to stop any ships from leaving before Pidge could set off the charges. Which wouldn’t be an issue if LANCE WOULD JUST HURRY UP ALREADY!
Lance pressed another button, to no avail. “You can rush things like this. What if it’s booby trapped?”
“For God’s sake, Lance, IT’S NOT BOOBY TRAPPED!”
“IT COULD BE?”
“YOU’RE SUCH AN IDIOT–”
Pidge’s voice interrupted the heated yelling match. “Intel extracted. Heading towards the green lion now.”
Shiro was quick to respond. “Great work, Pidge. Hunk and I are finished as well and headed your way. How’s it coming on your end, Keith?”
The red paladin grumbled, resuming his post by the door. “Lance is being difficult.”
Lance huffed, his voice echoing in Keith’s eye and a few feet away. “No, Keith is being difficult.”
“Would you just shut up?” Keith snapped.
“Both of you shut up,” Pidge cut them off sternly. “The longer you two take, the longer we have to wait to set off the charges, and the more sentries will escape.”
“Pidge is right,” Shiro said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Finish up and meet us at the green lion immediately. Without arguing,” he added with a note of finality.
“Yes, Shiro,” Keith and Lance chimed in unison.
Just as the team signed off on the comms, the also familiar, and less friendly sound of sentry footsteps sounded from down the hall. Keith ducked behind the doorframe, peeking out just enough to see the half dozen armed sentries marching straight towards them.
“Lance,” he whispered, readying his bayard. “Time’s up.”
The blue paladin paled beneath his helmet, smashing buttons with renewed energy. “I’m trying!”
“Well try faster.” Keith took a second look. They were dangerously close now. Any second and they would start firing. “I can buy you thirty seconds. Then we’re leaving.”
Without waiting for Lance’s reply, Keith darted into the hallway. Before they could fire, Keith threw his sword at the closest one, impaling it in the chest. He pulled out his shield just as the other sentries fired, ducking into a crouch and rolling across the hallway. He pushed upwards against the second sentry, using the shield to shove it back against the others. In the same movement, he pulled his sword from the first sentry and leapt into action, decimating the enemy with the skill that comes with hours of grueling practice each day.
This was why he pushed himself so hard, hacking away at the training dummy long before anyone else woke up and long after everyone retired for the night. Endless hours, pushing his body to its limits until he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
So he could fight.
So he could protect.
So he could prove to this new team of his, to people he wanted nothing more than to be accepted by, that he was worthy of being part of this family. Even if they only saw him as a loner. An outcast.
A monster.
Keith stabbed through the final sentry harshly, sparks flying through the air. He dematerialized his shield, gulping for air. Unsurprisingly, the sound of more sentries echoed down the hall.
“Time to leave!” Keith called, racing back towards Lance. He raised his bayard, sending it smashing into the control panel, disabling it. “Was that so hard?” He grabbed Lance by the forearm. “Let’s go.”
Before they could leave the room, the purple lights turned red, an alarm blaring throughout the base.
“I told you it was booby trapped,” Lance called, materializing his blaster and aiming it at the oncoming sentries.
“Save it for later.” Keith led the way, charging through a patrol of sentries with his shield raised, clearing a path while Lance guarded his rear. Though they argued constantly, they made a surprisingly good team on the battlefield.
Not that Keith would ever admit it.
Keith pulled Lance behind a wall just as the sentries behind them fired their blasters. Lance fired a few shots back, but there were just too many to make a difference.
“Got any bright plans, sharpshooter?” Keith huffed sarcastically as he blocked another shot with his shield.
“I’m working on it,” Lance said as he placed a well aimed shot in a sentry’s chest. He raised a hand to his comm link. “Pidge, can you send me the ship schematics? We’ve got ourselves in a sticky situation.
“You’ve got it, Lance. But you’d better hurry.”
With Keith covering the both of them, Lance was able to pull up a hologram of the ship’s interior. “Ok, if we follow this route, we should be able to make it to the escape pods. Then we blast a hole into space and Pidge picks us up. Mission complete.”
“That’s a terrible plan.”
“Well, do you have a better one?”
“Nope.” Keith nodded to Lance, hoping it conveyed his thoughts. “Lead the way.”
Lance grinned, then leaped out from their hiding place, sprinting down the hall with Keith close behind. But before they could get very far, a wall slammed down in front of them, blocking their exit. The alarm continued blaring, and slowly, a green gas began flowing out of the air vents, covering the floor and steadily rising to fill the hallway.
“Ugh, what is this stuff,” Lance groaned, swatting it away from his face to no avail.
“Pidge,” Keith called into his comm. “Pidge come in.” Only static replied. “Shiro? Hunk? Allura?” No answer. “Shit. This stuff must be scrambling the signal.”
“What now?” Lance said, his voice rising in panic. They would be cornered by sentries any second.
“I don’t know, this was your plan!”
“Well I wasn’t expecting this–” Lance coughed suddenly, his lungs heaving as they expelled the foreign substance. His hand moved on its own, pressing against his helmet. And there it was, a crack barely noticeable, with tainted air steadily passing through.
Blue eyes met violet, widening in horror.
“Lance…”
Lance pressed his hand to the crack, but he could still feel the gas seeping through. “It’s nothing,” he lied, his high pitch betraying his own fear. “Must have taken a hit without noticing.” He coughed again, this one sounding even worse.
Keith didn’t think. He acted, yanking his own helmet and trading it with Lance’s, securing it to his teammates' suit. He accidentally inhaled some of the gas, but it didn’t bother him as much as he was expecting. That was good.
“Wait, Keith, what are you doing?” Lance protested as Keith placed the compromised helmet over his head. He reached out to take his helmet back. “Absolutely not, you do not get to sacrifice yourself because I was an idiot–”
“Lance, shut up,” Keith snapped. “Just listen. I’m half-galran. The galra wouldn’t make a gas that would kill their own. I have immunity to this stuff.” I hope. “You don’t. So just take the helmet and get us out of here.”
Lance could almost cry. This stupid, self sacrificing idiot, was taking the fall for his mistakes. It was Lance’s fault they’d taken too long, and attracted the guards. And if the gas was as fast acting as it had felt…
But Keith looked determined, and he didn’t seem any paler than usual. He wasn’t coughing either. Maybe he’s right. But even if he was half galra, his human side would surely be affected. Which meant Keith didn’t have much time.
Does Keith already know this?
Lance didn’t dwell on it any further, instead heading down a different hallway. It would take them a lot longer to get to the pods, but at the moment it was their only option. Keith followed behind, bayard raised defensively as he kept a steady pace.
Thankfully, it seems their accidental distraction in the control room was working in their favour, as they hadn’t run into any sentries in a while. That, or the plan had failed and they were evacuating the ship for the nearby planning. But Lance was trying to be positive here.
Keith would never let it on, but his throat burned. Each inhale sucked more gas into the helmet, and even when he took slow breaths it did little to help. His feet felt like they were made of lead, his lungs gasping for clean air that it did not have. If this was what a few minutes did to a galra, he couldn’t imagine what would be happening to Lance if he hadn’t acted.
He could be dead.
So Keith wouldn’t regret his decision, and pushed onwards. He would be fine. He always was.
And even if he wasn’t, it’s not like they would care.
Lance cursed ahead of him as the hallway was blocked off once more. “Mierda! We’ll never get out at this rate. Come on Pidge, why won’t you respond!” He punched the door, as if it would magically open.
Keith couldn’t help but laugh. Of course this was happening to him. When has he ever had good luck? They were already way past Shiro’s deadline– who was probably furious right now– and would be lucky to make it out before the whole ship exploded.
His laugh unexpectedly morphed into a cough, doubling over as his lungs burned from the strain. The coughing morphed into hacking, violent and unrelenting, and he couldn’t breathe and this was it–
“Keith. Keith!” Hands grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to kneel on the ground. “Breathe, buddy. You got to breathe for me.”
He couldn’t, he couldn’t breathe because it burned, but he tried anyway, sucking in more gas that just made him cough harder. Near him, he saw hands raising, and a soft click, snapping out of his trance.
“No!” Keith grabbed Lance’s hands, stopping him from removing the working helmet. “You can’t!”
“Keith, you’re literally dying! You need this more than I do.”
Lies. “I’m fine,” he stated, his voice hoarse. “Just feeling a little under the weather. I can handle this.” He pushed himself to his feet, but his legs promptly disagreed and sent him slumping against Lance.
Lance hated seeing his friend like this. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, his skin taking on an unhealthy pale pallor. Keith couldn’t take much more of this.
Steeling himself, Lance wrapped Keith’s arm over his shoulders and grabbed his waist, dragging him to his feet. He would make sure Keith got home safe. I could never live with myself if he died because of me.
And so they staggered through the halls, alarms blaring, dodging sentry units as they went. Lance barely knew where they were anymore, but hopefully he could pick up a signal from the green lion soon that would guide them out of here.
“Just stay with me, Keith. Just a little farther,” Lance babbled, hoping to at least keep the red paladin conscious. “You’re doing great.”
“Would you please shut up,” Keith moaned, his voice barely audible.
“I will once we’re back at the castle and you’re fast asleep in a pod,” Lance answered with a grin.
Keith couldn’t help but smile back. A nap did sound nice right now. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to…
His knees buckled as a burning cough tore through his throat. Frantically, he tore the malfunctioning helmet off just as a stream of thick bile poured from his throat, splashing onto the floor. He barely had the thought to be worried that most of it was red because his throat burned and everything hurt and he couldn’t breathe–
Hands rubbed his back, holding him steady while he sobbed and dry heaved. When he finished, he slumped against Lance’s side, his strength leaving him. Gloved hands wiped the blood from his face, placing the helmet back over his head.
“Don’t worry, Keith. I’m going to get you out of here.”
“Don’t,” Keith breathed, some of his senses returning. “Just… just leave me here. Get out while you can.”
“Keith– what?” Lance’s voice was too loud, and everything hurt. “I’m not just going to leave you here? Quite trying to sacrifice yourself, idiot.”
“I’m–” the words felt too heavy on his tongue. “M-galran. Can handle it.”
“You’re half galran,” Lance corrected, maneuvering Keith into a better position. “You’re human too. We gotta stick together.” He smiled, but Keith’s vision was too blurry to notice.
“Why?”
“Because–” Lance set his arms around Keith’s knees and shoulders and lifted, grunting from the sudden weight, “--you’re my friend, Keith.”
Wait… Lance thinks we’re friends?”
“I thought you d-didn’t like m-me,” Keith whispered, arms instinctively wrapping around Lance’s neck as Lance began carrying him down the hall with a speed the blue paladin didn’t know he possessed.
“Of course I like you!” Lance answered, speeding down the halls. “I mean yeah, we’re rivals and you can be kind of an ass sometimes, but I looked up to you man! I wanted to be you.”
“But at the academy–”
“I wanted to be your friend so badly Keith. I wanted to prove I was as good a pilot as you, then maybe you would notice me.” Lance wasn’t sure why he was admitting all this, but if it was keeping Keith alive then he would tell him every embarrassing thing about his life. “But you were always so cold to me, so I thought you hated me. You still are.”
“I don’t–” another cough tore from his lungs, dark spots filling his vision, “I don’t hate you.” Talking hurt so much. He just wanted to sleep. “I thought you guys hated me. I’m the loner, remember.”
Lance was aware of the tears stinging his eyes as he ran. After all this time, everything they’ve been through together, and Keith thought they hated him. What have they done to make him think that? Couldn’t Keith see how much the team needed him?
How much I need him.
“You’re a member of this team, Keith. And not just as a paladin.” He choked back a sob. “You’re a part of this family. And that means we stick together.” Lance held Keith tighter, hating how limp his body felt. “So no Keith, I will not leave you behind. I will never leave you behind.”
Keith didn’t respond, and Lance could feel the panic threatening to explode. He jostled the red paladin, but he didn’t so much as twitch.
Please no.
“Just hang on, Keith. You gotta stay with me. We’re so close,” Lance repeated over and over again. He would not lose a member of his family. He could never live with himself.
His legs burned, his lungs gasping for air as he ran. They were gonna make it. They were gonna make it.
“--nce? Lance, come in! What’s taking you two so long?”
“Shiro? Oh thank god,” Lance sobbed into the comms. They must be in range for the gas to not interfere.
“Lance? Is everything ok? We need to leave immediately.”
“We need an extraction immediately,” Lance said, trying his best to keep his words calm. “It was a trap, and Keith’s hurt, and he needs a pod immediately.” He shuddered, looking down at Keith’s pale face. “I don’t think he has much time.”
There was cursing from the end of the line. “Hang tight, Lance. We’re coming to you as fast as we can.”
Lance sank to his knees as relief washed over him, still cradling Keith against him. He pressed their helmets together, praying that Keith could still hear him. “I told you. We will never leave you behind.
Lance paced for three days outside of Keith’s pod. Even when Coran had begged him to get in the pod himself, Lance was back on his feet and staring at the pale face of his friend. He hated his stupid face, and his stupid mullet, and his stupid need to always be the first to sacrifice himself. It should have been Lance in that pod right now, not Keith.
But, as Coran had informed him, if Lance had been exposed to that gas as long as Keith he would already be dead.
Still, just because he was half-galra that didn’t make it ok for Keith to sacrifice himself. He was family, dammit. He was so much more than something to be thrown away.
Does Keith really think I hate him?
When Keith was finally released from the pod– four days was way too long– he was still unconscious. Thankfully, Coran said he just needed some bed rest and some fluids, since the pods were better dealing with injuries as opposed to gas and illnesses.
Still, Lance hated seeing Keith so still.
Shiro had congratulated him on a mission well done, and for getting Keith home. But Lance didn’t feel any sort of pride. He just felt guilt. The mission would have been completed sooner if he’d just listened to Keith. And he wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now.
It was all Lance’s fault.
“I’m so sorry, Keith,” Lance whispered. He watched the steady rhythm of the heart monitor, the only sound in the room. “You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.”
He reached for the pale boy’s hand, massaging it gently. It was still so cold. Keith always felt cold, but it was just wrong to see him like this.
Tears filled his eyes. “I’m such a screw up. It’s no wonder you’re always pushing me away. I’m always putting you and the team in danger. And I’m sorry, Keith. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Did you really mean what you said? About being friends?”
Lance bolted up, staring at Keith. Keith, whose eyes were open and was awake and–
Lance sniffed, wiping the tears from his face. He realized his hand was still grasping Keith’s, but he didn’t care enough to let go. “Of course I meant it. Every word.”
Keith smiled, a genuine, happy smile. And by God it was beautiful because he was awake and alive. “Thanks, Lance. For everything.”
“I should be thanking you,” Lance said. “In fact, quit sacrificing yourself, idiot! I can only carry you so often.”
Keith’s face fell slightly. “Sorry.”
Lance chuckled, brushing his thumb over Keith’s hand. “Relax, I was joking. That’s what friends do.”
The smile returned, and for the first time in days Lance felt that everything was going to be ok. “On another topic, Hunk was talking about movie night later. And I want you to join us, if you’re feeling up for it and I can convince Coran to let you go.”
Keith squeezed his hand back. “Yeah. I’d like that.”