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Keith smiles weakly, Lance’s arms wrapped around his waist. “Hey, y’know, things could be worse.” He coughs, and shivers.
Lance growls, low and frustrated. “HOW??? You’re bleeding to death in my arms!!! This the worse that could possibly happen!!”
Keith laughs, followed by a gurgle and he spits up blood. His breathing is laboured, and his hands are cold. “Well, I could be already dead.”
Lance never thought he could feel like this. Like something was slowly crushing him, a bloom of grey guilt unfurling in his stomach. Like he’d be completely alone.
“Lemme go grab the kit, I can stop the-”
“No need.”
“You sure??? I think the bleeding-”
“He,” Cough. “Hit my lung and stomach. It’s fatal, Lance.”
Keith hurts all over. Nothing hurts worse than the fear that he’s gonna die, a bullet to the gut. That infuriates him. He’s ran at Zarkon himself, done more insanely dangerous things than he can remember. And now with Lance cradling him, he can do nothing but sit as the fear of leaving Lance drifts in.
“Y-You promised.” Lance’s voice is shaky, grief somewhat already kicking in.
“I know,” Keith reaches a weak, cold hand up and smoothes Lance’s hair. “Kiss it all better, would you?”
Lance has been shattered. He can’t do anything at this point but shake and whisper reassuring words to Keith.
“Hey!!” The effort is almost too much for Keith, but he can’t stand the sight of Lance with his head bowed in defeat. He coughs, a painful ache where his lungs should be.
Lance’s face contorts with guilt, cradling Keith closer.
“It’s not your fault, love.” Keith falls back a bit, the strain of keeping his head up making him dizzy. Adrenaline has never failed before.
“Yes, it is!!!” Lance tries to somehow bring Keith closer. “I wasn’t watching, it was me he was aiming for… It should be ME DYING, NOT YOU!!!!” He sobs the last words, screaming his pain for the world to see. “It should be me.”
Keith stifles a sob, as he realizes how alone Lance would be without him. All alone, even with the 3 remaining paladins and Allura and Coran. Lance has never lost anybody, not this close to him. All alone, without him, even if Keith didn’t do that much for Lance.
Lance is feeling everything and wishing he could express all those emotions. But he doesn’t know how. How are you supposed to react when the love of your life is literally bleeding to death in your arms? Keith was everything to Lance, and with him gone, he’d have no purpose. How did a human bullet ruin everything?
“Kiss it all better…” Keith tries it again. “It’s not your fault.”
Lance pales, and kisses his forehead. “No, no, it’s all my fault, everything’s gonna be alright, you’ll see!” He’s desperate with his words, and why is Keith so cold and pale?
“Just, stay with me, alright?” Keith smiles again. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know.”
Lance didn’t know. Of course he didn’t. But it was his fault that someone had shot at them. His fault that he let Keith take the bullet for him. His fault that he’ll lose the one person who cared enough to truly peek into his walls. His fault. His fault. Everything circles back to him.
Keith is done with watching Lance grieve.
“W-Why are y-you s-so cold?” Lance asks the question shuddering, guilt and grief swirling like a cloud around him. “Why?”
“I…” For once, Keith doesn’t know how to answer humorlessly. “Oh I don’t know, Lance, Maybe because, y’know, I’m bleeding to death??” He coughs, more blood spilling into the mess they’ve made. He scowls. “Lance, bring your stupid face closer.”
Lance obeys, and his eyes are sparkling blue. “Huh?”
“Did you lose a few brain cells along the way?”
“N-No, JUST THAT YOU’RE BLEEDING TO DEATH IN MY ARMS.” His face is sarcastic now, trying to pretend that everything is alright. Okay, fine, great.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
“Huh?”
“Shut. Up. And. Kiss. Me.” Keith groans.
“Oh, okay.”
Lance leans in slowly, until Keith growls and kisses him hard. It’s a bloody kiss, and it’s cold, but Lance doesn’t care. If this allows him to have more of Keith, he’ll do it. It’s a delusion, but one he wants to hang on to.
Keith knows it does nothing, but he wants the illusion too. So they’ll stay locked.
“Keith…” Lance whispers. “What am I gonna do without you?”
Keith falls back onto his lap. “I don’t know. You don’t need me that much, do you?”
“Yeah.” Lance looks at the stars, than back at Keith. “Wait, no, I need you more than I need the rain, Keith.”
“W-Wow,” Keith knows he’s gonna die. He can feel a little bit of life leaving him with every rattling breath. But he’s not ready to leave. Not yet.
“Kiss it all better,” Keith sings softly. “I’m not ready to go,” He clutches weakly at Lance’s arms. “It’s not your fault, love, you didn’t know, you didn’t know.” He laughs, coughing. “Y’know, that song that always made you cry. It fits now.”
Lance is going to cry. He wants to sob, he wants to trade places, he wants… Everything he wants is impossible.
“Hey, stay with me.” Keith whispers softly, barely audible. “Stay with me until I fall asleep.”
“I hate you,” Lance is close, his voice breaking. “I love you.”
Keith smiles.
His hands are so cold, he’s cold all over. Keith is ready to go, but what about Lance?
“You didn’t know. It’s not your fault.” Keith closes his eyes. He takes one last breath and exhales.
He’s gone. Lance knows it, from the way his chest shakes and stops, never rising again, He’s gone. Gone forever.
It’s not your fault love, you didn’t know.
Stay with me
Kiss it all better
“Defenders of the universe, huh?” Lance is defeated, empty. “Well this one couldn’t even block one bullet.” He screams. “NOT ONE BULLET!!!” He sobs. “Not one. Not a single damned bullet. I couldn’t save you.” He’s crying over Keith, tears everywhere. “I failed you.”
Blue is broken and Red is gone.