Archive of Our Own

“LANCE!”

“Shit! I’M GOING DOWN”

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!”

“KEITH WATCH OUT”

…

“Guys, where'd they go”

“Alien space portal magic?”

“Right should have guessed”

“Regroup at the castle, we’ll figure out what to do about keith and lance then”

__________

A groan escaped Keith's lips as he steadied himself using the console. The lion was beeping and red flashes of light made his headache flare up worse. He could feel blood flowing out of his nose too. Red and hot.

Searing pain shot through keiths head as he pushed up from the chair, “fuck” he mumbled weakley, clutching his head in his hands.

He could distantly hear the sound of metal falling and a flurry of footsteps before something collided with his skull, sending a sharp burst of pain before he collapsed to the floor.

____

Lance could consciously feel hands grabbing at his body, pulling at his arms and legs. His head was spinning as he felt cool metal touch his back as he was laid down.

“Keith?” lance slurred out, “g-guy’s” the constant hands found their way under his armor, unclasping the breastplate and arm guards. He could feel the cold pressure of tubes and needles being inserted into various places.

The last feeling he had before slipping into unconsciousness was the weightless feeling of being lifted up, and the cold air as the top half of his armor was removed fully.

____

Keith’s eyelids cracked open and he was immediately assaulted by a blinding white light. There was something prodding at his arms that wasn't there before as he was carried down a hall.

His wrists and ankles had been strapped down to a metal table, and the armor he was previously wearing had been stripped off of him, making him feel bear and vulnerable.

A door scraped open behind him and pattering feet made its way over to beside Keith. Cold hands pressed down on his chest, arms, and head. “This’ll all be over so quickly," the alien said in a sickenly sweet yet malicious tone. “Soon you won't have to worry about anything, I'll fix you and your troublesome friend”

Keith distantly thought of the rest of the paladins. Which of them had been taken? He also reminisced about Kosmo, who had been flying with him when everything failed.

Was he alright?

Hands caressed his face, and Keith felt the urge to cry, scream and throw up all at the same time. “You’ll be wonderful for me, won’t you? I’ll give you everything you could ever want” something warm and metal was placed over his head, buzzing of machines powering on, sounding around him as his eyes drooped closed.

____

Lance could feel himself falling, it distantly reminded him of something that used to happen in his childhood, but every time he tried to remember his mind would draw a blank. 

In all honesty he had woken up feeling like total shit, his brain was fogged from the start of the day, almost like he stepped out of a trance.

Which led him here, sitting on the grass outside of his navy blue house. It had perfectly clean gutters and a painted white fence. The sun was warm on his face as he stared onwards. The day replayed in his mind as he folded clothes, sitting on the warm checkered rug he had lain out.

He remembers the feeling of forgetfulness when he woke up, the fogged brain and heavy steps as he kissed his wife goodbye. He remembers smiling at young little Lily as he made breakfast and dropped her off at school. But his gut pulled at this uneasy feeling. 

Even now, looking up at this house he should know, the brick steps leading to the back porch and square windows.

It's almost like he's forgetting something.

______

Keith is trying to figure out if he should find it weird calling this girl in his house his girlfriend or not. On the outside it’s nice. He woke up next to the girl he’s known for over two years, the distant thought of a ring box sitting heavy in a cupboard only a couple steps away, spiking anxiety.

But still, after various conversations with the girl, there was this feeling telling him to move away or throw up after she got too close.

It didn't help that after getting dressed and looking in the mirror he felt even more out of place. Clad in casual jeans, a nice green knitted jumper, sneakers, golden rimmed glasses, and a yellow tote bag. 

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

If it was the fact that he suddenly had the need for a new wardrobe he wouldn't know. Thankfully the rest of the day went by normally. He drove to the school, spent most of his day teaching his English class, and marked approximately 3 tests from his pop up quiz about a famous poet before being whisked away by other teachers.

If his day wasn't weird enough already, when he got home his dog, Kosmo. The golden retriever he has had since he was 15. Had scratched the door nearly off its hinges trying to get out. “Stars kosmo, this is no way to act” he laughs, “i thought you stopped all this when you were young”

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Keith tripping over nearly everything in his path, and by the time he and his girlfriend sat down for dinner, he could see almost the exact same strain in her eyes he had seen this morning, gazing into the mirror.

________

It had been two days since Lance's bad feelings started up, and they seemed to not be leaving any time soon.

In the time between now and two days ago he had fallen over three household objects and bumped into all four sides of his table. His house had never felt less like a home than it did now.

His ring, a beautiful golden wedding band, sat idly on his finger. Lance would find his hand shaking anytime he looked at it and that feeling of wrongness would come back. He cried too. Spent hours hiding after lily was asleep gripping his ring in the palm of his hand while he sobbed.

The world around Lance has started to dampen, and after he clawed his way up from the tiled bathroom floor and made his way down stairs. His hands shaky as they wiped away more tears, eyes bloodshot and puffy, and as much as he wanted to lay down in bed, his legs made no move to stop.

Instead they dragged him out the front door and down the block swiftly. The cool night air whistled in Lance's ears as he broke into a sprint, thoughts about his home. His kid. even his wife who he had no feelings for anymore. Just the numb pain of being stuck at that house with that family.

Thoughts plagued him as his joggers hit the gravelled dirt, breaking through the treeline into dark forest. His feet ached, and his legs were numb by the time he succumbed to darkness.

…

Lance has a distant memory of pain on the side of his head. It's gone when he wakes up, like it was never there in the first place, no lump, no anything.

He comes to in a warm bed, a fluttering kiss pressed into his forehead, and for a moment he pictures dark curls and violet eyes. Someone who is and always was, out of reach.

For a moment Lance lets himself sink in the feeling of warmth. For he should start thinking about the night before, or the hours ahead. Of why he wakes in his house away from the forest. But this morning he slips back into sleep, allowing himself to push away the feelings from the days before.

Discarding the thoughts from last night like they never existed. 

_____

Keith needs to break up with his girlfriend.

It's a statement that has run its course through his body, and alas it's the right thing to do. Va’ryl, his girlfriend. A nice girl with pastel yellow skin and dark choppy pink hair. It wasn't like Keith and Va’ryl didn't get along, they in fact, were almost perfect for each other. But deep in his chest, Keith knew they shouldn't be together.

He just didn't know why.

Stowing away that thought for a later day, Keith brought himself back to reality. An old wooden desk, worn down by years of teaching. Today after school had been filled with parent-teacher conferences. Something Keith had been dreading.

He always loved children, they were fussy and mean, but at times sweet. Teaching them was why he loved his job. He did not love talking to the annoying parents who had opinions on every aspect of how he taught.

Keith had talked to four different sets of parents, and he only had one more before he could clock out and go home. Thank the stars.

Knocks sounded on the door and he called the last parent in. If he was correct this should be Lily McClain's father. The little girl was 8, she was kind and quite smart, one of his favourite students.

His laptop screen showed her reports, and as the door knob turned he sat up straighter, glasses shining as light flowed through the window. The glasses were unfortunately another thing he felt insecure and different about. As if it was as new as these feelings he woke up with.

…

Deep brown and blue eyes hit him and the world froze. Tanned skin Keith is sure he has met before, and a kind smile that reminds him not just of Lily.

“Do I know you?” the tanned man asked, seemingly as entranced as he was. For a second Keith could see the world flicker. As much as those eyes reminded him of a sort of comfort, he could see whole other worlds behind them, ones he was and wasn't a part of.

“H-hi” he stuttered, quickly clearing his throat, “it's nice to meet you Mr McClain, i’m Keith kogane, your daughters teacher” he cursed himself mentally. “Please, sit” he gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

“Call me Lance,” Mr McC–Lance, said. He sat down in the chair in front of Keith.

“Well lets get started”

____

It had been two hours since Lance had seen those dark curls from his dream in person, and in the form of his daughter's primary school teacher no less. The saddest part was when he looked into those violet eyes he didn't feel numb anymore, he felt alive.

More alive than he had felt in weeks.

____

It had been two weeks and Keith couldn't stop seeing lance everywhere he went. They bumped into each other at a shopping centre, sharing small talk under a flickering light.

Then again, at school pick up. Eyes locking onto each other, and more a moment everything seems to fade away. Roaring of a lion being heard from far away and close up simultaneously.

When they met a third time it was at a cafe by accident, but they both sat down at one of the tables in the back anyway.

This could have been seen as unprofessional, but in truth it was the most Keith had felt normal and relaxed in ages. He really got to look at lance that day, see the smoothness of his skin shining from light outside.

The fourth time was when he started noticing how odd his face looked. Lance, although having the same dark circles under his eyes as most parents, still held onto rose merry cheeks that seemed fuller, and his jawline almost looked softer. When he laughed before, it was always such a beautiful sound, but that day Keith caught onto how light and loud it was. that of a teenager, maybe. However being married with an eight year old would suggest otherwise.

He saw it the next time they spoke too. The way his smile was wider and more boyish than any other adult Keith had met. The roaring in his head whenever they met up never left either. Some days it was like a whisper of emotions, not quite words yet. Other times Keith was overcome with this loud engine buzzing, or it would act as more of an urge to go a certain way.

Apart from when he would be pulled towards the woods by the whispers in the back of his mind, Keith also studied his own appearance too. He didn't know how to describe it. How his clothes seemed to look a certain way, almost as if they were meant for someone younger than he was supposed to be. His shoe size too. It felt like too much at once.

Keith didn’t get much sleep that night. The roaring in his head hadn’t stopped and it added worse to his already growing headache from the lack of water after he finished crying.

______

Fuck. 

Lance had met up with Keith today, they had wandered the park after bumping into each other when Lance was watching lily. They had hung out before, but while walking Keith had given Lance his phone number. He didn’t know if he should view this as unprofessional or not, but given his situation now Lance is thankful he has Keith's number.

Who else would help dispose of the body?

______

“What the hell, lance!” Keith whisper-shouted.

Lance looked on with panic, “this is why I told you not to freak out” he ran a hand down his face. 

“Yeah, over the phone!” The electronic sound of buzzing is deafening in the quiet that surrounds the two boys. Keith to his credit does try to calm down as much as possible, “also by the way, when you call up your friend at this time of night telling them to not panic I expected something but not this! So forgive me if I seem a little freaked!” 

“I said I would tell you everything when you got here, it's easier to explain in person” lance said, "no shit sherlock, you can’t exactly explain murder through the phone and expect me to actually show!” Keith fumed. Fuck, his definitely getting fired if the authorities find out.

“It’s not technically murder, and nothing will happen if we hide the body like I originally intended,” Lance said, as Keith began pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath. “Plus it actually explains a lot”

Keith’s beating heart was uneven as he looked back down at the body, because what Lance said was true in some form. This explained so much about the past few weeks, but it also left unanswered questions. Pulling a chair out from the table in front of lance, Keith sat down with a sigh, "I'm gonna need that explanation now, and if this goes well, the directions to where you keep your shovels”

Lance was eager to pull up another chair.

_

After putting Lily to bed and doing his nighttime routine Lance finally got under the covers, next to his wife Rosellene. That day was one of the best he had in a while. It was all going perfectly until his eyes shut and darkness consumed him.

His eyes startled open to what looked like nothing. Nothing except the confines of space. Lance twisted around sharply, disorientating himself. His hands instinctively reached out to try and steady himself, showing off white and blue armor covering his arms.

As Lance looked down he could see that the armor adorned the rest of his body too. The familiarity of the armor caught Lance off guard though, it was almost like somewhere deep in his mind he knew this was normal, which really didn't help to settle his nerves.

A lion's roar caught Lance off guard again as he flew around to look at his backside. That's when he saw it, the most majestic metal lion lance had ever seen was hovering 5 feet from his face. Which is a feat in itself since he is pretty sure he's never seen one of those. The sound in his head only intensified as he floated closer.

The lion seemed to respond to his movements, opening its giant mouth to reveal the entrance to a cockpit. Lance pushed onward, and more sounds resonated, this time they were like whispers of conversations. A strange feeling washed over him, pulling Lance inward towards the now lively controls.

His hands travelled along the back of the chair, picking up every dip and slant along its way. Like his new suit, both the inside and outside of the lion was coated in blue, white, and black. When he reached out to touch the console, he started hearing the voices pick up, getting louder until he finally put his hands on the controls, allowing the whole cockpit to light up in blue hues.

From the place his hands rested, Lance could hear people shouting. They were calling his name, and funnily enough Keith's too. He listened closely as they shouted their names, asking if they could hear them and if he and Keith were ok. 

Before Lance could try and respond he was violently dragged away by sleek hands on his back, tugging the suit's cloth away as a red liquid ran down his temple. His head spun as he was shot out of the lion. It continued to spin as he found himself on his carpeted bedroom floor, loud buzzing in his ears as he shakily stumbled from the room.

Lance's feet felt heavy as he descended the staircase, colliding with the bookshelf as he made way to the floor once again. He felt hands steady his back, and it felt all too familiar again, like the hard hands dragging him away from the lion…again? His head is so fuzzy.

Pushing himself back onto two unsteady legs he blindly reached back for a secure grab on the kitchen counter. A sudden beeping startles Lance again, and after his fingers close in on one of the dormant knives he blanches forward. The roaring in his ears dies down as he slices through something metal. 

Whatever it was topples over, he drops the knife with it as his legs carry him over to the light switch. It flickers on to show the eerily still kitchen, the only sound coming from his heavy breathing, and the metallic clicking of his now still wife, who has a gapping wound oozing with deep red blood and crackling robotic parts sticking up and out of her chest.

__

“So you called me?” Keith stared back in horror, “yeah man, I mean the freaky lion was calling our names, plus its not like i can bury her on my own” lance responded.

“Fuck. How are you so calm about this, aren't you supposed to be in love with her?" Keith asked as Lance got up from his spot at the table, making his way to the back. In all honesty Lance was freaking out a bit, but the initial shock wore off after the first half hour.

“It’s all dead noise to me now. Anyway, are you going to help, I'll find the tarp if you'll go get the shovels, there outside near the garden tap” Lance rounded the corner to the back as Keith scrambled to follow, “Oi! Don't leave her there, god. Drag her out back” lance said suddenly doubling back, startling Keith.

“Shit!” Keith cursed “dont do that man, and yeah i’ll get her” he mumbled another string of curses as he moved back to collect the body. 

It took less time than Keith expected to drag the body outside and onto the tarp lance set out, and after securing it closed they hefted her up, both taking one end to carry. Keith sucked in a tight breath as Lance directed their movements towards the gate leading out onto the street, “what are you doing, we can't go out there!” he screeched.

“Yes we can! It’s the only way to the forest” Lance bit back, “if we run fast enough it’ll be like we were never there,”  “That's the stupidest thing I've heard all week” Lance sighs, pulling the body along, and in tow Keith.

“Look, I'll unlatch the gate and once we step out we sprint towards the bush, its a straight line so we don’t need to do anything complicated” he glared at lance again, watching the other man make his way towards the latch, “if we get caught it’s your fault” 

Lance was quick to unlatch the lock and the wooden gate sprung open, the two boys quickly sprung into action, racing down the street. Keith felt the wind in his hair as he made way down the pavement, they were coming up to a crossing about halfway down the block when a car came up out of nowhere, it crashed into the tarp they were carrying, causing both Keith and Lance to fall with it.

The car was a sleek black, with tinted green windows that disfigured the inside. 

“Shit! shit! Shit!” Keith shouted, scrambling back to get away from the car, the glass window didn’t show much, but when the doors opened two masked aliens got out, they both had full body hazard suits on and held some kind of gun. 

He saw lance jump up from the corner of his eye, face conveying the fear Keith felt. He tripped as he tried to follow lance down the sidewalk, Keith could hear the masked men start up their machinery, and it only made him run faster. 

Once he breached the tree line Keith lost sight of lance in the dark foliage. His heart was thumping heavily, the sudden lack of lance by his side making him panic more. He suppressed the urge to shout his name, reminding himself about the freaking masked people who are probably hunting them down.

If Keith had been able to think clearly he might have thought more about running into the forest without a flashlight or clear destination, his foot snagged on a fallen branch and he plummeted to the ground for the second time that night. He hit the ground with a thump, but unfortunately his body kept moving.

Keith's body rolled quickly down the hill, he had plummeted a good bit down before his head hit one of the tree trunks with a thunk, almost as if it was made of metal. Keith didn't have time to dwell on that though, because soon rough hands were grabbing at his jacket and dragging him upright. He felt the slight prick in his neck before the world faded to black.

____

Waking up all Keith could feel was the silent plea to run coming from every muscle in his body. He was strapped to a gurney being wheeled down a brightly lit corridor, Keith would've liked to believe it was just a hospital, that he had hit his head and had to be treated. But the events from the night before, or however long it had been, seemed to real to be all in his head.

He could still feel the pain in his ankle from when he tripped and fell in the forest, and the thumping of his head from the tree. But most importantly he could still picture the panicked expression lance held as they ran away. It was etched into his mind, the fear of what would happen if they were caught.

Well he didn't have to think about that anymore keith thought gingerly, he couldn't understand what was being said around. If that was because of his definite concussion, the quiet roaring of a lion in the back of his mind, or that he was almost positive they weren't speaking English, maybe all three, was known by only the stars and constellations, and not by Keith himself.

The scientists pushed Keith through a set of double doors and stopped his gurney in the middle of a large room filled with lab equipment. Keith found his face being pushed to one side as gentle hands were placed near the vein in his neck. He could feel the tip of a syringe hit the same vein as the scientist removed their hands.

A liquid was then injected into his bloodstream and Keith found his eyes drooping down,he could feel the slight urge to vomit as a tube was pushed down his throat. The last thing he saw was a large dome being moved to hover in front of his face, it glowed a light blue that made him think of lance.

___

Lance woke up choking, a sense of doubt already settling over his mind. His feet dragged heavy on the carpet as he made his way downstairs, he could already hear lily laughing from the next room over and the sizzle of a stovetop in the kitchen.

The smell of bacon and eggs made lances mouth water, he rounded the door towards his marble kitchen, mindlessly taking the coffee that was already set out on the table for him. He sat before his head started spinning more than it has in the last couple days. 

“Hey honey, were you up late last night?” 

The sudden voice startled lance upright, he blinked awake more as he stared at the figure in front of him, the easy smile that usually adorned his face when he saw his wife was knocked aside by the feeling of unease. The eyes he fell in love with seemed hollow now.

“I-i, yeah” his voice cracked, quick to replace his previous expression to something more welcoming as rosellene walked over, she spun his chair to face her and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You know i have the whole day off, and with lily at school we can finally get some alone time” she whispered in his ear, it sent a shiver down his spine. The sudden urge to throw up through him off balance and he blanched back slightly. He could feel his palms sweat and shake. 

“Umm, i’m actually not feeling it today, i think i’m coming down with something” lance lied, he pushed off of her, giving his wife a small smile and another apology before dashing upstairs. 

The movement made Lance's head spin, he could feel pain through his ribs that only added to the queasy feeling he was getting. Bile climbed its way up Lance's throat, he stumbled towards the bathroom door, blinking rapidly in a desperate attempt to not pass out on the bathroom floor. He gripped the toilet seat with a death grip, emptying the contents of his stomach into the bowl. 

You wouldn't think there would be much to throw up if you hadn't eaten, but apparently if you were lance you could throw up quite a lot. Fighting the strong smell of perfume and chemicals in the air around him, Lance's body continued to reject everything he had in the last few hours. Horror filled lances as his puke came out in large chunks of something a terrifying shade of red, it clogged up his throat until the final pieces came out.

Lance rushed towards the sink, desperate to wash away the taste of coppery blood and the last bits of coffee he had. The cool water was a sweet release when it hit his tongue, it slide down his throat with ease and soon he was stumbling back through the house towards his bedroom, he couldn't really think that much on what had happened since his head was still spinning, but he could accurately say that maybe he hadn't lied to his wife before and he was actually coming down with an illness.

…

When Lance woke up he could easily say that whatever he threw up that morning had finally let him cure the constant dizziness he had felt and the inability to think clearly that had been plaguing his mind the last couple days. 

The sun had dipped in the sky outside his window, it was late in the afternoon, around 7pm lance guesses. For the first time in weeks his feet don’t drag when he gets out of bed, or when he inevitably makes his way downstairs for a small afternoon snack that’ll have to work as his missed breakfast. 

But as his mind clears more it re-emerges memories, small and subtle at first, the thoughts of Keith that he can’t shake while making food. He also remembers Rosellene telling him she was off work, although the car keys are decidedly removed from their hook. 

But it wasn't all that calm. Lance's mind had been clear all evening and all he could do was think, it was like now that his brain was tuned back to health it wouldn't turn off. 

Images of the previous night that he could have sworn he didn't remember came back, the fear he felt, the poking of needles and the bright lights beating down on him.

So now he is back in the same bathroom he had thrown up in, mind turning with ideas of what had happened, when he stared at his face all he could think was how young he looked, how the polo shirt he wore didn't match his small stature. He left soon after, the white light making him think back on the lab, the thoughts and feelings hitting him like a bus again for the third time in the last hour.

The feeling of enclosing walls and tightly bound wrists made him claustrophobic. So he almost bolted to the door, flinging it open and rushing out to feel the wind up against his head. 

He breathed a heavy sigh, mentally trying to calm himself down. When he started walking it was almost aimlessly, once his brain had calmed down all Lance could think of was the idea of changing whatever the hell the fashion department in those labs did to him. He had the distant thought to go get Keith, if all he remembers from yesterday was true, then Keith would be in the same boat as him.

But as if his mind had been read, which honestly didn't sound so surprising as it should have been, there was a honking of a horn and when lance glanced over, for sure thinking he was caught by those guys in black suits. Low and behold Keith was sitting behind the wheel. 

“Get the fuck in” keith said.

“Gee bossy much” he rolled his eyes, but happily climbed into the passenger seat. “So what brings you to this side of town at this time of night” 

Keith glanced over as he started down the street again, “just picking my dearest friend up in hopes of going out and getting a wardrobe change” . Lance couldn't help but laugh a little, he almost felt like crying again at the thought of him and Keith being back together again, it felt almost unreal.

“Well good news, i was thinking the same thing” 

___________

The mall they visited was almost empty, although luckily enough most of the shops were still open, huge signs hanging above each store entrance. There were ads projected onto walls showing stuff usually advertised for teenagers. 

Which I guess they were…

On the drive over they hadn't talked much on what happened, the events too fresh in the mind. So instead Keith had mentioned how young they looked, it was something they agreed on.

It was a hard conversation to get through, finally getting a reason as to why it felt so wrong living their own separate lives. Keith had talked quietly about how it didn't feel right going into a work that required a degree of some kind, mentioning that he had no recollection of ever wanting to teach children.

When he said that Lance thought about Lily, how he felt too young to have an eight year old. How the house he slept in looked like it was meant for someone much older.

They both agreed on going clothes shopping first, and that tonight they would act like teenagers again, letting the world fall out around them. What a night they had indeed.

The store they go to is filled with second hand clothes, it came across as some kind thrift store or op shop so they went in. They spend the next hour racing up and down aisles, picking out random items of clothing and teasing each other relentlessly. 

Lance leaned over one of the clothing racks, posing for Keith, a smirk fixed on his face, “how do I look? Gorgeous i know” he added a wink for effect. Keith turned around to see Lance in a bright pink cowboy hat, with one of those feather bowers wrapped around his neck.

“It’s certainly a choice..” Keith drawled out.

“A CHOICE! Come on mullet i’ll have you know that this is the hype in fashion right now!” the nickname rolling off the tongue easily, as if he had used it a thousand times. Keith rolled his eyes with a huff, looking back at the rack of jackets.

Lance was about to turn away before his eyes caught onto something, he quickly reached back over the aisle and grabbed a ugly looking jacket out of the row. It almost looked like a racing jacket, the padding had worn down so instead of being bulky it would hopefully sit right.

He continued to move what he found, hovering the jacket over Keith's figure, while closing one of his eyes to adjust what he saw. The actual jacket was a faded black, but had stripes and lines running up and down the arms in a nice mix between orange and red. 

There was text in bold lettering on the back but it was in a dialect he couldn't read so lance ignored it, when Keith finally registered what he was doing and looked up lance already had smile on his face, “why not this one, it certainly suits you” he said, handing the piece of clothing over.

“Right” Keith gave him a questioning look, “and you sure it's not because you want to see me in something stupid” but he unzipped it anyway and slotted it onto his shoulders.

“What no no no no! I think you’d look good in it!” Lance's voice fell out earnestly, he bit his lip and looked away, suddenly feeling stupid. Until he heard a small laugh, it felt almost angelic to lances ears.

“Woah McClain, that sounds a lot like a complement” 

Lance chuckled back, saying something along the lines of “you wish!” before ducking off to find clothes for himself. It was almost scary how much he liked the sound of Keith's laugh.

…

When they left the shop Keith had purchased the jacket, it fitted him like a glove. 

…

The next shop they had entered was a shoe store, it had multiple different styles ranging in ages. When they arrived the guy behind the counter who Keith knew as one of his students' father gave them both questioning looks about their new outfits. With thought it was fair, they were supposed to be adults, and it's not everyday that you see your daughter's teacher rocking ripped jeans and a sports jacket.

But despite that he seemed nice, first trying to steer them in the direction of shoes that unfortunately screamed old man. Lance had made a remark of definitely being too young to wear those ‘dad shoes’

But the store clerk eventually backed off as they made themselves comfortable near a section filled with combat boots and a few pairs of converse. They weren't there for long, but did decide to situate themselves on the floor while they pulled on different types of shoe instead of one of the benches.

After leaving the store and changing back into the shoes, a pair of cargo boots and something that resembled converse. 

The bright neon lights of an arcade shone above Lance's head and he was quick to pull Keith into the building. For such an empty mall the arcade was filled with people, kids bustled about, the sound of shouts and buttons being clicked aggressively sounded in Keith's year as they made their way inside.

Lance latched onto his arm shaking vigorously, “oh oh oh oh! We HAVE to try that one!” he said excitedly pointing to an old shooting game. Keith rolled his eyes but went along with it.

It seemed lance was a natural at it and Keith found he had lost horribly, he glared as lance did his victory dance, “its so on now, just watch” he sweared.

“Yeah right, mullet! You're going to lose so hard to Mr sharpshooter over here” he said wiggling his finger at keith. For the next hour and a half they ran around the bright arcade playing a multitude of games. 

By the end Keith was pouting as lance dragged him to the prize shop, having lost their competition. He would like to mention that he was actually really good at the racing games, but unfortunately not much else, so it was easy for lance to take top spot.

After securing their prizes and leaving the arcade lance had pulled Keith along yet again towards a photo booth, saying how they needed photos to remember the night. They pile into the cramped booth and lance snatches up the info sheet. Every five seconds a photo would be taken and it would take up to five photos after they inserted a coin.

He took out a coin quickly and put it in before Keith could say anything, “wait how do we pose” he said and lance looked at him, eyes wide as if he hadn't actually thought about that until it was too late. 

A bright flash brought them back to attention, they moved fast to pose for the second, but after the light had flashed and Keith moved his head he bumped into a lance. They both looked at each other for a second, and Keith could only think of how beautiful Lance's eyes were before the flash had gone off again.

They smiled again, before Lance threw his head back and laughed for no apparent reason, Keith's smile widened with him and the fourth photo was snapped. They had calmed down for the final shot, both smiling softly, heads unconsciously leaning forward, and in that moment Keith couldn't stop his eyes from drifting down towards Lance's lips.

The last white flash stopped Lance from seeing or registering it though and as they stepped out of the booth Keith was quick to grab the two photo strips. Luckily Lance was already moving on, walking briskly to the food court, Keith moved his hands up to his chest as he squeezed the photos maybe a little too hard.

…

They ate, laughed, shared a milkshake and chips, then moved on towards the jewelry and accessory shops. Coming out with rings and bracelets and a neon blue pair of sunglasses lance turned back over to look at Keith, he forced winged eyeliner onto him, but other than that all Keith found was some plain black fingerless gloves which Lance teased him for relentlessly.

After walking through another bookstore and having Lance read every book blurb they finally moved on to the exit. Keith could see security doing a final sweep before the mall closes for the night, they rush through the car park in a stolen shopping trolley laughing like kids. 

The two of them end up on the back of Keith's truck while the sun dips below the horizon, casting an orange glow onto them. The silence long and tender, Keith found his eyes trailing over to lance more than once. He looked like he was glowing, hair moving softly in the wind.

They had started to talk more about their lives, finally mustering up the courage to say what had gone unspoken. Admitting that this wasn't their world. They both knew what was to come, they had to find the lab and the source of the angry lions roar in the back of both their heads, but for now the two just sat in more silence after spilling everything.

Letting themselves soak up the sunset, it was quiet again until Keith spoke.

“You ever think we knew each other before all this” it was a stupid question, something that had plagued his mind ever since he and lance started to uncover what was going on. In truth he was scared that after all this they would go their separate ways, that there was no Keith and Lance outside of this strange world.

“I think so, why else were we so drawn to each other” lances gaze dropped from the sunset over to him, "I'd like to think we were close before all this, and that's why it was so easy for us to connect” he spoke softly, and Keith's heart starts to swell up.

Lance looked ethereal in the light of the dipping sun, he felt a tingle go up his spine as Lance slowly leaned in, their hands brushing against each other. “I’d like to think” lance gulped, staring at keith with those oh so beautiful eyes, “that we knew each other really well”

Keith knew that he was leaning in more, gaze tilting towards the others lips openly, his heart fluttering as he looked back up at lance, “can i?” 

With a silent nod he closed the distance. The kiss was barely a brush of the lips, but it was enough to make Keith's heart stop entirely. He let the pain from the last few days melt away as they kissed, eyes easily slipping closed.

It felt like too short of a time before they had to pull away, still only inches from the others face, it was a silent promise to stick together, underlined with a deep yearning that came from somewhere Keith couldn't quite remember yet.

They spent the rest of the night close to each other, reaching out for warmth and comfort. Their knees knocked together as they leaned back in for maybe the thousandth time. Keith doesn't think he’s ever smiled as wide as when he is kissing lance.

_______

The castle was quiet as Shiro rushed towards the bridge. Allura had announced that they had locked onto the lions quintessence field and might have a location for Keith and Lance now. 

It had been 2 months and they still hadn't gotten anywhere, he was worried for them, wherever they were. But this was the first time they had some kind of lead and Shiro would be damned if he was late. When he got to the bridge, Coran, Allura, and Pidge were already there. They had turned on the projections of the galaxy systems, so the whole room glowed in a dark blue, different planets spinning around their own separate solar systems. 

The others rushed in behind Shiro and everyone crowded around the projections. The time spent looking for Lance and Keith had dampened the mood severely. Not only the fear of losing the two, but also the time spent in one place trying to find them instead of making their way home.

The wormhole Keith and Lance had been sucked threw, they figured worked similarly to the one that had separated them a couple years back when they were only just starting out. But whatever happened must have drained the lions power and blocked their quintessence signature.

Shiro had seen the others trying to cope with the loss of the two, he himself can admit to overworking in the training room to try and empty his head. 

The projector started moving, until it finally zoomed into a specific solar system. Allura started talking about the system, ‘sector-H3Ll0’, it was relatively empty of life. Reminding Shiro a lot of earth's own galaxy. Allura explained that all six of the planets had enough oxygen to accommodate multiple different species, although centuries ago before Zarkon's rise, each planet's inhabitants had died of illnesses or fled the sector, only one planet stayed fully operational. But no one knew why. 

“Oh! No no no! Princess but we do actually know what happened!” Coran said, “we had many visitors coming in from this sector in search of somewhere to stay! From what we gathered they all left after one of the planets turned on them, it was a horrible thing to hear about” he lifted his hand up to his heart at the memory.

“Wait so what happened there?” Hunk asked. 

“Well my boy it’s a grim story, but all the more reason to tell it especially if number 3 and 4 have crashed there” he cleared his throat, reaching over to the projected solar system and zoomed into a specific planet, “this is Ashkara-5, the Ashkarii were always great inventors and scientists, they even used to help neighbouring planets with medicine. Before it all went wrong.

“The Ashkarii became ambitious, and somewhere along the line they configured a technology that was able to read minds, it was said that they believed the pain and suffering they saw in a person's mind was caused by the memories that person had, so they took it away” Coran looked on sadly, it was weird seeing him this serious, but for good reason.

Coran shook his head, “the Ashkarii had made a machine that could erase one's memories and swap them out for new ones, the people that escaped and came to Altea for refuge mention how the Ashkarii had designed towns and cities to put people in. They thought what they were doing was right and justified by the need to give someone their perfect life”

“Wait so you're saying that if Lance and Keith crashed there they most likely don't remember us!” Pidge butted in. 

“Yes, unfortunately that is most likely number 5, although I do believe that the mind wipe does not entirely wipe one's memory, but more so to push the existing ones to the back,” Coran explained.

“So like the memories are under lock and key” hunk said, “all you need is something to open the door” 

The air was tense as the five of them sat in relative silence. 2 months of worrying only to find out that Keith and Lance might not be trying to get home. The silence was broken by Hunk, “maybe they’ve found each other, if the memories are only locked away they could’ve been drawn to each other or something?” 

He said it like a question, unsure whether that could be true or not. Shiro saw Pidge crack a smile.

“I don’t think there is a universe in which Keith and Lance didn't hate each other, no matter how much alien brainwashing they are put through” she said. “Which means they’d find a way to annoy each other back into remembering”

 Shiro chuckled quietly, he knew this was their way of coping, he knew that deep down everyone hoped they found each other.

Pidge leaned inwards towards Allura and Coran, “Wait! So what about the loss of signal? And why can't we find the lion's quintessence signatures?” 

“No one knows number 5, there has been no long-range communication from Ashkara-5 ever since the solar system emptied. But it’s said that no one has ever left once they crash” Coran answered, "on the bright side it’s been ten-thousand years since I've even heard of them so they could have changed!”

“It’s also been ten-thousand years since we had any reliable information on the Ashkarii, their technology has most likely advanced significantly which puts Lance and Keith in much more danger” Allura said seriously. That sent off another wave of shivers around the room.

“Sounds like some creepy horror story you would tell on Halloween,” Hunk said, laughing lightly.

“I am not sure I'm familiar with that event, but I guess to a lot of species around the universe it could come off as only a story” Allura answered sceptically. 

Hunks laughter fades out again and Shiro clears his throat, “we have to set a course”

“I don't believe that's the best action to take–”

“This is the only evidence we have gotten for their whereabouts in 2 months! We have to at least try Allura," Pidge yelled to back him up, “yeah! Lance is my best bro, we have to go get him and Keith!” Hunk added.

“It’d be extremely dangerous, especially if they see us and take our ships down” Allura glared.

“Then we’ll take precautions, but we need to make it to the sector if not the planet,” Shiro sighed, “we can regroup and configure a plan once we’re there, but even if they get out on their own you have to agree we need to be there to pick them up”

It was a harsh beat of silence before Allura spoke again, her voice resigned, “fine, but we don't take any unnecessary actions until we make a plan”

“That we can agree on”

______

Lance walked two paces behind Keith, a small smile playing on his lips. They had kissed, him and Keith had kissed less than 24 hours ago and he was still feeling the wonder and excitement of it all.

 They of course had to split up again after the sun had set. Lance had laid back down in his bed, next to that thing. The only thing keeping him going throughout the next day was the thought of seeing Keith again later that night.

So now after another day of pretending everything was fine, he and his new partner in crime were wandering through the forest in hopes of finding the metal tree Keith had talked about.

Although for Lance it was hard thinking about metal trees when he could just as easily drift off thinking about Keith. Who is only a few feet in front of him, looking around like he knows where to go.

Keith stops abruptly, tilting his head as if to hear something, and listening intently again Lance can hear something too. The silent roar has come back, it had been dormant all day and at first Lance thought it was just a side effect of the headaches and dizziness. 

Now though it seems the roaring is something else entirely, and as Keith starts walking again he is quick to keep up, the sound grows louder. Almost like its pulling lance to a specific place.

Lance frowned, he listened for other noises, but the air felt almost too still as they headed over in the direction of the pull, no insects buzzing or slow breeze. Just still.

“You know” he starts, “this is possibly the worst date idea you could have thought of” a smile tugs onto his lips again.

“Yeah well I'm sorry that I'm thinking more on how to fix all this then going on a date” Keith snaps and Lance's smile quickly vanishes.  

“Hey man, you alright?” he says, walking quicker to catch up.

“Just peachy thanks” he says sarcastically, “only thinking about how we were kidnapped and brainwashed and forced to forget everyone and everything we ever new, and now-” Keith's voice cracks, “-we’re trudging through the woods in hopes of finding something that could help us get out, i mean come on we don't even know what's out there or what we’re looking for” he through his arms up in the air for effect, turning to face lance.

“I mean how do you do it? Joke, laugh, act like none of this even affects you!” Lance could see the start of tears well up in the corners of Keith's eyes as he spoke.

But the thing was Lance really didn't want to think about it, because then he would have to deal with it. And a part of him wasn't ready for that, maybe never will be. So instead he moved to pull his hands out of his jumper and wrap them around Keith.

Slotting the smaller boy in his arms, he signed contently and it took a minute for Keith to fully relax in his hold. But then slowly he felt hands grasp the back of his hoodie, holding on tight.

Keith didn't cry, but he allowed lance to hold him.

Lance sat his chin on heads black mop of hair, “I know how you feel” he whispered softly, "I don't show it much but I do, the constant fear of what will happen next”

They just stood there for what seemed like forever, before Keith pulled back and looked up at him with his impossibly beautiful indigo eyes, “I’m sorry” he said, "I shouldn't have snapped”

Lance smiled back and rolled his eyes playfully, nodding in the direction they were going before, urging Keith to continue their track through the woods.

Not long after Keith stopped again and Lance stood beside him, “this is it” it almost looked like a regular tree to lance, except it rose unnaturally out of the ground, and looking closely it was completely straight, no branches, no bark. Just smooth and seamless metal?

Lance swallowed. Here goes nothing.

…

This motherfucker was an airvent. After prying off the hatch they could see directly down, it was a steep slope but would be easy enough to just slide down.

Which is where Lance gets to his problem, because of course Keith wants to go down.

“What if they take our memories again!” he panicked.

“Then we kiss and remember, it’ll be fine”

“Nothing about this is fine” he huffed.

The drop was fast and it took everything in lance not to scream on the way down. Unfortunately for them the ventilation system didn't seem to even out, instead it only led them on, and on, and on…

From where Lance could see behind Keith's head, there was a light finally showing at the end. The two boys hit the vent exit, falling out and onto the metal floor of a corridor. Thankfully Lance's landing was softened by a warm body, he couldn't say the same for Keith though… 

“Shit..” he groaned, climbing off of his partner. After getting back up he offered a hand to Keith, who although rolling his eyes gratefully accepted.

The hallway was quiet again, long stripes of light blinked on, on both sides of the corridor. They were lucky no one heard the two’s crash, but even lance new empty places never stay empty for long. Especially in places like this.

“We should get moving before someone comes this way” he says, “plus this place is giving me the heebie geebies”

“Alright…we can split up, one of us goes each way”

“WHAT!” Lance shouted, before getting hurriedly shushed by the other, "Absolutely not! That's like a one way ticket to someone dying, it's like in every horror movie I've ever watched!” his shouts died down to an enraged whisper.

“Geez, ok” 

“Yeah! You better agree with me! We can go left…Together!”

…

Lance and Keith spent the next half hour running around the underground building. It was like a maze and after almost running into guards several times they had clambered back into the vents. It was surprisingly clean and all the noise they had been making from the hitting of the metal on their knees and feet was being downed out by the loud fans blowing on the outside.

Finding another place to crawl out of the shaft was proving to be more difficult then the two boys would have liked. They had passed over several rooms on their track to follow the growing sounds echoing in their heads. When lance peaked through the metal crate below him this time, he saw a starch white lab room that looked awfully familiar. Without consulting Keith, he swiftly dropped out of the vents.

Lance didn't know why he was drawn to this room in particular but after looking back up to the ceiling he climbed out of he knew exactly where he was. How could he remember the bland roof that he would be forced to look at every time he was in here. He couldn't retell the scene, but he could almost feel everything again. 

The icy cold against his shoulder blades as hands cuffed him to the metal table sitting stoic in the middle of the room, surrounded by lab equipment that lance could only guess what it was used for.

As he looked around, Lance could make out more and more of what was used on him. The most horrifying thing was the long tube that sat at the back of the room, it was connected to a large tub of black liquid.

Looking closer Lance could see how chunky and thick it was, the memory from yesterday morning came back when he was throwing up the same globs of inky black chemical. He was sick to his stomach thinking of how that was forced down his throat.

It must have been what was making him lightheaded. Must be another way to make him forget.

Tearing through the rest of the room, Lance found similar devices, and others he is not sure he remembers. There was one that looked like it would go over someone's face, he had the distance feeling it had been placed on his head at some point but couldn't exactly figure out what it did.

Not like the people here told them anyway.

Speaking of the multiple, where was his other half? Looking back around, Lance noticed the sudden lack of Keith by his side. The fan sounds must have drowned out him leaving the vents. Meaning against better judgment if he didn't hurry up they would be fully separated. Assuming Keith hadn’t noticed his absence yet.

Lance cursed, hurrying to grab a chair to lift him up into the vents. It wouldn't be the nicest thing to climb back into, and the chair didn't elevate him off the ground that much so it would still be annoying.

He had his hands on each side of the opening when the sound of a gun powering up startled him. 

“Times up paladin” 

Lance panicked, jumping from the chair, he vaulted towards the racks of syringes, swiping up a handful before turning to point the items at his attackers. There were three other people in the room, the two on the outside looked like bodyguards, entirely coated in pure black, if not for the lights hanging above them he might have thought they were just big blobs of nothingness.

The one in the middle stood out entirely, he wore surgical scrubs and a mask. Instead of pure black skin, he was a light green, eyes darkening as lance held out the syringes.

“Tut tut tut, do you always have to make this so hard?” the blaster guns the two guards are holding turn to face him.

“I know your friends here too, we’ll find him again don’t you worry, maybe this time i will have to use a stronger treatment”

Before he could try and run again, he heard the guns go off and his vision darkened with it.

_____

It took Keith too long to notice Lance's absence, he should have realised when the silence became stronger, or when his knees became the only ones accompanying him down the vent system. A part of him wanted to blame this on Lance, how he was too careless to get Keith's attention when he had stopped. But in reality it had been his unfocused mind that hadn't been paying attention.

And now Lance's fear about separation had come true. yippee.

The pull of the lion's roar kept getting louder, and as much as Keith wanted to turn back for lance, he was so close to finding the source. The closer he got, the more endless the ventilation shaft seemed. It was almost claustrophobically tight at the end, and the tunnel tilted downward. But the tiny white dot Keith could see far off in the distance was enough for him to keep going.

The vents downward passaged dipped further. Unfortunately Keith's palms decided to start sweating at that moment, and his grip on the metal system became weaker. He slowed his pace, keeping his arms straight and back pressed against the ceiling. 

Beads of hot sweat form on his forehead, dripping down his face. If Keith had enough space he would have leapt for joy once his hands grippiped the rough grate beneath his fingers. He carefully removed the metal, sliding it into the vents next to himself, before climbing down and hiding behind one of the many other metal boxes.

The roars in his head had silenced, but it didn't stop his mind pounding with possibilities of what he might see. Keith closed his eyes, taking small gulps of air to set his mind right, deep indigo eyes flickered back open after a moment. His hands pressed against the floor as he slowly peeped out from behind the crates.

A red metal paw was the first thing Keith's eyes locked onto, it had large claws and as he started up at the body, he found the ship only got bigger. 

The lion was picture perfect from the dreams he had and the ones lance experienced too. The thing was massive, with bright yellow eyes staring Keith down. It would be wrong to say he wasn't  in awe.

Mine.

A growl rumbled through his mind, the possessive behaviour of the lion felt almost natural to Keith in such a foreign way. He was startled out of his trance by the sounds of shouting around him.

Turning back Keith can see just how out and in the open he is now, as he had walked further into the room while staring at the enchanting machine. A spike of panic jolted through his body as more guards were called in.

Don’t worry my paladin, i will not fail again

Keith wanted to believe that the lion would wake up to help, but she stayed still as a statue even as more guards and scientists advanced. Guns powered up as he took cautious steps back.

It is kind of cliche to say the world faded to black, but for Keith it was just that. Falling back to sleep with the sounds of clapping and distant laughter in his ears.

______

Keith spent the next morning vomiting into the toilet. Inky black sludge pouring from his mouth in waves. He heaved the last of it, but the bile never fully left the back of his throat even as he chugged water down. 

Keith slipped down onto the bathroom floor, tiles cool on his back as he let himself lay there. The memories from the past few days blurring back together in a haze. Keith doesn't understand why he remembers as much as he did, he was so sure those aliens were going to erase everything again, and yet here he was.

The vomiting was almost immediate after he had woken up. Does this have to do with the lion, or are the scientists just fucking with him now. 

Did Lance remember?

Shit.

Lance.

Was he ok?

Did they find him?

The ceiling was dancing around now, stars flickering, and as much as Keith hated it, his eyes started to droop closed. He distantly thinks about a memory exactly like this, laying flat on a tiled bathroom floor.

Was it with pills or slits down his arm?

He couldn't think straight.  

Someone else was with him in the memory, coming through the door. Keith thinks about their face, he can't quite place it, but in the moment they looked panicked.

Fuck. He was so so lonely right now. He wishes someone would come through the door like last time.

Last time was bad though. He had done something bad.

But what if it was Lance?

He would do anything for lance to come get him.

He smiled a bit at the name, it was funny.

Lance

Lance,

Lance. 

Keith slipped into unconsciousness with the name lance on the tip of his tongue.

…

The first thing he noticed was how absurdly cold he was as his eyes flickered back open. Harsh lights glowing above him burn behind Keith's eyes as he squeezes them shut quickly. He lays for a minute blinking the stars away for the second time, before pulling himself up by the sink.

His muscles were sore and ached as he stumbled from the bathroom. The cupboard door slid open, but none of the clothes he and Lance had brought together sat inside. Instead Keith dressed in what the scientists constructed to be his ‘regular’ wardrobe. Simple, thankfully black jeans, one of the colourful shirts he had, and a knitted green jumper. His cargo boots had been replaced with a pair of boring old sneakers too, which Keith thinks sucks ass.

By the time he finished changing Keith's head had cleared. The substance he through up finally ridding his mind of the cloudy grey fog fucking with his memory.

The clock on the wall read thirty minutes past one. Keith had missed work, but considering the circumstances he didn't think it mattered much. Teaching robots in disguise is something he hadn't expected to do in his life. Although at this point, he wouldn't be surprised if all the metaphorical dreams of jobs, houses, families were made up too. 

When Keith starts thinking back, he thinks of how he liked to read. Sure he was an English teacher, but was that made up, did he ever like to read before or was that implanted in his brain. Will he still like reading when he gets out, or will it disappear.

Did those scientists read and see their memories first to make up these lives? Could they have gotten things wrong, i mean he did look different, like different species from different planets, maybe they didn't understand everything. 

“Fuck.” he spits out, almost horesly. 

No way those scientists could read and see their proper memories too. That's way to fucked.

Keith takes a deep breath in as he exits to the hallway, he needs to calm down. Because even though his memories are wacky and are definitely all curated by the evil scientists, maybe not everything is fake. Also he is still a school teacher and needs to set a good example for the robot kids.

So no swearing. He’ll keep that thought front and center until he finds Lance. Then he can reevaluate. 

The walk to the kitchen is short, his house was never very big. Just large enough to fit him, Kosmo, and Va’ryl. Who is probably a robot, now that he thinks about it.

The woman in question is coming through the door as Keith steps into the kitchen. She smiles at him, dumping shopping bags onto the counter. “Hey, did you not go into work today?”

“No,” he stared. Petrified. 

“Why? Are you not feeling well” she asked, pulling eggs out of one of the bags.

“Yeah, but i think i'm alright now” it was just above a whisper, good enough that he could count his side of conversation hearable.

“Hah, not talking much today, are you?” She looked so so alive. That laugh and smile, Keith may have figured he didn't like women in that sense after kissing lance. But it sure as hell is still hard.

Empathy flooded him. For Lance, who had gone through the exact same thing mere days ago. Va’ryl looked at him with love in her eyes, but he could see something behind them. Stars Keith wished she was real, he had no idea how long he had been stuck in this place, but he had grown to know and like the women. Just platonic instead.  

He really wished she were real. Could she be real?

What was the fastest way to get someone to vomit?

A memory came back to him, he was disappointed when he realised it was one he experienced while in this fake life. Something he did as a teacher, he had to sub in for a health-something lesson. They had learnt about sickness, nausea, and how it could lead to throwing up.

But in this particular memory the kids had asked more about the vomiting, which deprived them into talking about reasons why someone would vomit and eventually googling ways someone could make themselves vomit.

One of the ways stuck out, he could do it. If Va’ryl was really a robot she wouldn't be fazed, right? There were only two ingredients used, water and salt. 

A hell of a lot of salt.

Through the building sweat on his brow, and anxiety seeping onto his face, Keith cleared his throat, "I'll unpack the rest, you go sit down” he smiled, trying to seem normal as he walked toward the counter where the bags sat. “it looks like you've been on your feet all day”

His ‘girlfriend’ smiled lopsidedly at him, it reminded Keith of how Lance smiled when he was admiring something. It was such a small thing, but he seemed to remember that smile from far before they were taken to this place. 

Distant memories showed it being directed at him, lances beautiful lopsided smiles looking at him. Only for Keith to see.

After kicking Va’ryl out of the kitchen as quickly as he could, Keith went about finishing unpacking the groceries. It let him slow down his anxiety and jitters. 

The glasses were kept at the top shelf, Keith remembers Va’ryl saying she put them up there so he would have to ask her for help, as she was always taller. He had laughed then, but now as he climbed the countertop he wasn't laughing anymore.

Two coloured cups, anything but see through. One with plain old water, and the other with enough salt to hopefully get a person nauseous, oh and water.

Keith was surprised he wasn't visibly sweating bullets going back into the loungeroom.  He placed the mug laced with salt next to Va’ryl, keeping the normal one firmly gripped in his hands so they couldn't be switched.

It took a couple of minutes before it was placed at her lips, Keith almost wanted to go over and force it down her throat, but he controls himself and decides choking someone isn't on his to do list for the day.

The actual act of getting her to throw up was harder than expected, but at least she was affected by the salt water.

Once Va’ryl started feeling sick, the two raced up to the bathroom. Keith had managed to convince her that vomiting up the water was a good idea. Now he holds her dark pink hair out of her face, as she heaves into the toilet, sticking a finger down her throat to make it come up. 

Keith's own face is twisted in almost degustation, watching someone retch wasn't helping keep in the bile that was left from this morning. 

Salt laced water started coming up and out of her mouth as she pulled her finger out. For some they could have found this unwatchable, but for Keith he was hopefully watching as she vomited her guts out, waiting for the tell tail sign of black.

Stars he could have leapt for joy when it showed. Va’ryl hunched more, not happy to have the contents of her gut come up and out. And no more so when black chemicals came with it.

“What the quiznak” she groaned miserably, before tipping back over to heave up more. It took 5 more minutes before she was comfortable moving away from the toilet seat, but by then Keith could guess that the urge to sleep was overtaking her. How unfocused her eyes had become were a clear signal to that too.

He steered her up with a hand around her waist, and the other one attached to her arm. He helped her into bed, tucking Va’ryl in and making sure to leave proper water next to her on the nightstand.

They had a lot to talk about when she woke up.

…

Keith was so close to feeding lance salt water just to get him to throw up, even though he knew it to be a horrible experience, second hand but nether the less.

The reason?

Lance doesn't remember. And he turned Keith down when he showed up at his doorstep with Va’ryl and Kosmo.

Using the time in the car on the way over after Va’ryl had woken up to fill her in on everything, Keith had managed to get to lances at around four. In all honesty he should have found Lance earlier, but Keith didn't have the heart to leave his now new gbf(girl best friend) alone.

Since Va’ryl had actually risen from their shared bedroom about half an hour ago, she had yelled at keith, managed to slap him. Which he thinks is deserved enough after she figured he had given her the large dose of salt water. Not that it was hard to figure out.

Following on, she hugged him, punched him in the chest, then showed surprise at the lack of pain on his face. Keith's follow up questions in the heat of the moment made her admit she thought he was a girl and was just surprised by his lack of tits.

The rest of their argument dissolved into fighting about the justice system of this planet and how the aliens who may or may not have read and/or seen their memories wildly mixed up their idea of a romantic partner.

He was gay.

She was a lesbian. On a technicality, and it was pretty different because of the species she was.

But yeah, basically a lesbian.

Keith thinks if these aliens were going to mess around in his head they could at least do their research. Va’ryl is still confused on how he isn't a girl, this might take awhile.

Air go, the very painfully long and rushed conversation they had on the drive over. What Keith did learn was that Va’ryl is part of the species Lerrelian, who are all made up of one biological sex, that for Keith resembles earth's women. She explained that on their planet they never had to name specific sex’s because there was only one, and that automatically made them all either a lesbian or aromantic within their planet, of course some Lerrelians could have relationships outside of their species and gender/sex. She also told him how their reproduction systems worked, but he doesn't feel like thinking about it anymore.

In return Keith does in fact talk a little about earth, and after some egging on he explains the biology of humans and the relationships they have on earth to the same extent as she did. It was a pretty weird and slightly awkward conversation, and he had to explain that lots of the biology doesn't actually apply to him since he is half Galra. Which then led the both of them into a spiral about how Galra can mate with almost all species across the galaxies and the possibility of hybrids existing, with or without knowing.

That was a whole other topic. A very long one too.

Keith would like to confess the two weren't that productive together, between the fighting and car conversation, that although did derail into anatomy, biology, and reproductive parts, they did talk about the planet itself and Keith even managed to share some stories from the past week. 

But he still needs to get to lance as quickly as possible, hopefully recount the events of the night before and the past couple weeks so Va’ryl could get the full picture, and get the fu-quiznak out of here.

Lance himself was making it harder than it was supposed to be as soon as he shut the door on Keith. 

“I thought he was like, your boyfriend or something” Va’ryl questioned. 

All Keith could do was sigh, long and tired. “Situationship more like, cause apparently he doesnt remember right now”

“Oh grow up, we all had memory loss at one point yours just wore off faster” she rolled her eyes, “what can you tell me about the family he was given? How easy was it last time he snapped out of it? What was different about what the two of you did?”

“Alright lady productivity” he huffed, sitting down on the curb, “let's see, he has a ‘wife’ and ‘child’ both robots. Last time he was on his own, he told me he threw up the same inky black chemical, I believe that was after we figured out the family were robots and we were kidnapped again. 

“Then I saw him yesterday night when we broke into the labs, but we got separated, i found these giant lion mechs that had been calling out to us in our minds, mine talked to me and everything, but lance had got lost before that so i dont know where he went” 

Va’ryl let our a low whistle, “ok, but you new something was happening when you two figured out that the wife was a robot”

“I mean yeah”

Reaching her hands out to grasp his, she pulled the boy off the curb, “soooo all we have to do” she dragged out, pulling keith back towards the house, “is kill his wife again”

He blinked slowly, i dont want to cause lance anymore hurt murdering what he thought to be his family. “How would we get in?” 

As Va’ryl explained the simple ways of breaking and entering, Keith allowed himself to tune her out, already feeling guilt for what they were about to do. He remembers how he felt mere hours ago, thinking he might have to murder Va’ryl. 

Keith may have always been an atheist, but he prays Lance will remember and forgive him. Even if it's all fake.

“Oi! Hurry up and find a rock, we’re smashing the window” Keith snapped back into reality. A totally quiznaked reality.

…

The window shattered immediately after first impact. It was loud, Keith could already hear footsteps coming down the stairs. He and Va’ryl barely managed to slip into the house unseen, hiding behind a wall as the hallway lights flickered on.

It was eerily quiet, Keith's breath mingled with the soft breeze seeping in through the hole they had made. light sounds of feet padding down the hall had the two on edge, sucking in the last of the air and holding their lungs still.

He graspes the rock in one of his bloody hands, steadily lifting it next to his head. 

A high voice echoes down towards where he and Va’ryl were hiding, “who’s there, your going to regret breaking into this house” Lance's ‘wife’ can be heard making her way down the hall. 

Keith lets out a slow breath, eyes training on the corner next to him. As the steps come up closer, he lets instinct take over, whirling around, rock raised in a tight fist and socking her with a mean left hook that he didn't know he had.

It hit slightly off from her temple, red liquid dripping from the wound. Keith panicked, stepping back slightly, eyes never straying from her temple. what if they replaced the robot with someone real. Of fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. 

The wife, Rosellene took the time Keith was stuck in shock to charge forward, pushing the both of them to the ground. She grappled with him, hands catching his throat in an attempt to cut off connection to his lungs. Keith's own hands came up to lodge themself of her forearms, forgoing the rock and leaving it loose of the floor.

Wrapping his legs around her torso, he kicked off the ground to roll them sideways. Rosellene's hands were ripped from Keith's neck as he threw another punch straight at her face. He could distantly hear cries behind them, and more tumblings as Va’ryl and Lance hit the ground too.

A sickenly dark smirk crosses his face as the blood on her mixes with electric sparks. His hand reaches out to take a hold of the rock once again, slamming it down onto her head. Over, and over, and over, again. 

Keith's heart is pounding loudly as Rosellene catches one of his wrists, twisting it back with a sickening crack!. Keith screams in pain, doubling over on his side, the rock slipping through his raw and bloody fingers.

The robot climbed toward him, dropping her body weight fully onto the thumbs pressing into his throat. Keith writhed underneath her, feet kicking up as he choked for air.

Rosellene scowled down at him, electrical wiring spewing out of the deep cut across her face. She pressed one thumb up into his eye socket, pinching down as he desperately cried out. Blood spurting out horribly. 

Keith's body started convulsing with lack of air, black spots appeared behind his eyes, dancing in a  sea of stars. He struggles relentlessly, tears falling as more air is kept away from his burning lungs. He can see Va’ryl racing towards them as his eyes fall back into his head.

The feeling of weightlessness hits as he slips out of consciousness. 

_____

Va’ryl was in deep quiznaking shit. Fake blood drips from her boot from where she had kicked Rosellene’s head in as she heads towards the apartment bedroom. She had already disposed of the child, smashing him against a wall.

Now what's left is too very passed out boys. She had pinned Lance against a wall once the fight started, but it meant her back was too Keith and the robot. That she regrets.

Keith was a good friend, even if most of their bonding happened when they were essentially brainwashed. On the plus side the talk in the car helped clear some things up, and add to confusion but that in particular doesn't matter. 

She moves the boys into the bedroom, lying them down together. Keith's cuts were more severe, and she had to patch him up almost immediately. The pain from cleaning the wounds made him slip in and out of consciousness, spilling random bullshit words almost feverishly.

Finally, once the two were put to rest. Va’ryl moved back downstairs to the kitchen. pouring cold water in a cup to drink while bandaging her own right fist from where she had hit Lance across his face.

_____

Lance woke up with a pounding headache, whispers of a lion's roar distant in his mind. Fog clouds his eyes as he twists over to the side, looking down off the side of the bed. Bile rises in his throat threatening to spill. He can feel the sting of his jaw from where that woman had punched him.

What the fuck.

The origins of why he was in bed instead of waking downstairs with Rosellene.

Stars he was weak, wasn't he.

Lance stands suddenly, remembering the fight, the break in, how that guy had attacked his wife. But most importantly, how he couldn't-

No, he didn't. Didn't try to help, he just stood there watching.

His stomach lurches as he gets to his feet. The movement joseling around his head and making the roaring come back louder, almost like the ringing you would hear near your ears if something extremely loud happens suddenly and for long periods of time.

Acid burned down his throat as Lance made his way to the toilet, slumping down around the bowl. The action seemed familiar in a way, even as he emptied the contents of his stomach, it was a painful and long process that included an awful amount of dry heaving. The dots in his eyes and ringing of his ears did not cease existence after Lance was done either. 

Instead, it made him even more tired, and after hefting himself up by the counter, he could only stare at the red, blurry eyed figure. His hair was unruly and the bags under his eyes could rival the darkness of the cosmos.

A sob escaped Lance's lips, spilling out with unwanted tears that he didn't have the energy to wipe away.

The walk back to his bedroom was pitiful, and Lance was so glad no one was around. Except, there was someone there.

Untaimable long gorgeous dark black locks of hair were nestled into one of the pillows. The boy, although face down, clearly had halos and angel wings from Lance's eyes. It would have been startling and weird when his instincts called for him to reach out, cart his fingers through the stringy hair, however Lance was slowly losing consciousness again and really couldn't find it in himself to care. Even though he knew he should.

His arms wrapped around the smaller boy naturally, and Lance easily succumbed to sleep with his hands gliding softly through the dark mane.

…

The next time lance came too he had found the boy still in his arms, and new pale arms sliding up against his waist and chest. Breaths tickled against the nap of his neck. This time though a name comes to mind. Keith.

How could he ever forget. How could he forget gorgeous, courageous, amazing, funny, soft, Keith.

He found himself unconsciously nuzzling closer, seeking out Keith's warmth from within the covers. Memories come and go through small dreams as he fades in and out pressed against Keith. 

…

“Lance” 

The croaky voice lapsed Lance out of his trance. His eyes fluttered open tiredly, taking in the sunlight glazing through the open window before settling on the pale boy, who laid in his arms.

A starch white eyepatch covers Keith's left eye, wrapped over with bandage. Other cuts littler his face where lance can see. 

“Oh my stars” Keith's grip on his face tightened, his other eye blasted wide open and his lips parted in shock. But before he could process the state of the smaller boy, he was being pulled close into a hug. Light kisses are peppered over his cheek, neck, and jaw. “Wait. you do remember right?” the hands wrapped around Lance loosen as Keith pulls back, searching his face for recognition.

Lance doesn't think he could forget the feeling from last night. Watching someone he loved, even if it was a lie, get hurt. But the weight feels heavier remembering how many hits Keith had taken.

Remembering the way Rosellene had pressed down on his throat and eye.

He smiled back at Keith's worried face, tears easily filling his own eyes, nodding vigorously before pulling the boy back into his arms. Holding one of his wrists to his chest, some could say it was over his heart.

Below him Keith winces, bringing the hand back away. Hurt flashes in Lance's eyes, did Keith not want to hold his hand, was that too much.

‘I- i’m sorry, i thought ugh.” he stuttered, gulping down air. The hand he had grabbed is drawn into Keith's chest, cradled carefully. Only then does lance see another white bandage thats holding keiths hands together,

That ment.

Oh gods.

He remembers the scream, the crunch, the thud.

“Oh quiznak, Keith, I'm so sorry” Lance rushes to apologize. Keith bites his lip, looking away from Lance's eyes. Silently pointing towards his throat Keith huffs, it sounded raspy and uneven, and more like a cough than anything.

Lance smiled in relief, “awww you're even quieter than before” before Keith could cross his arms he swooped up into a massive hug, with Keith tucked directly next to his heart, Lance wonders if he can hear his heartbeat.

They have important things to discuss, and in truth Lance doesn't know how over the death of Rosellene he truly is,  it's also probably going to haunt him in the future. But he lets the weight of Keith settle them back into bed anyway, the ease of eyelids droop down on him again.

____

The town they live in is one of 12 around the planet, which is surrounded by outskirts of 6 different cities, most of which are stale and lifeless, filled to the brim with powered down robots ready to go for the next lot of crash landed science experiments.

Each neighborhood was curated to hold a perfect society, buildings are made to make it seem like a place you would know. Lives are formed to keep a person there forever.  This means-

The tell tale sign of a marker darting across something other than paper pulls Lance out of his computer. The three, Keith, Va’ryl, and himself had sat down to dig deeper into the configuration of the town.

For the past hour his boyfriend had been tasked with printing out and hanging up images detailing the layout of the town on one of Lance's walls. He has been scribbling shop names onto the map for most of the time. However now it seems to have started aggressively circling, drawing arrows and rows of text down the side of his wall. 

“Heeeey, babe what are you doing?” Lance said slowly.

He pushed his computer away in favor of walking over to Keith. None of the group were certified doctors, and fear kept them inside the house, not wanting to be found by the scientists again. That unfortunately meant any damage to Keith's vocal cords couldn't be dealt with, and they could only hope it wasn't serious. 

It scared Lance, to have the black haired boy be so quiet. Even though they figured it would be the best way to make sure no other damages are made.

Speaking of which, the boy in question had taken Lance's hand into his, pulling him towards the new decoration. Scanning his eyes down the text and the linked places…

Tall Tree:

-ventalation shaft

-A entrance to the labs

Where the tree sat on the map was circled by a blue marker, and another larger area, presumably most of the forest, was circled by another red one…

Forest/labs maybe:

-Holds labs underneath???

-where most of the lion signals are coming from

-labs used to erase memory

-dont know why

-dont know how to get them back

Lance shifts his eyes over to a larger wall of text…

Town hall:

-Town hall which is shown to be run by scientists, could hold maps and files about the labs

-break in, steal files???

-break into labs

-find lions

-get off planet

For a supposed teacher, Keith's handwriting was pretty atrocious. He turns back to face the boy, who is once again scribbling things down, this time on a notepad they pulled out of a cupboard.

He pushes it into lance's arms.

‘The town hall is shown online to be run by the same kind of aliens that experiment on us. Those guys aren't seen around the actual town, so it can be assumed that they spend most of their time in the labs…’

Keith bites his lip, nodding toward lance, “y-yeah, that makes sense” he stuttered, “and if they run town hall on their own it could have the original plans and designs for the labs that we could sneak in and restreave” 

He looked back at Keith, eyes wide with excitement. They might have the start of a plan.

“Well quiznak, my ex might be onto something” 

“Ah!” Lance panicked, “I forgot you were there, AND REAL NOT NO COOL WE WERE BRAINWASHED!” 

He heard Keith snicker beside him.

“Hey! Stop laughing, it's not that funny!”

“It's kinda funny” Va’ryl deadpanned.

“Nuh uh” 

“Yeah huh” 

“Nu- hey you're not supposed to be talking!”

Keith huffs before turning back around. He sees Va’ryl roll her eyes as well.

“Ok, well since it's your house where do we get weapons around here?”

____

All together the three gathered up a small amount of kitchen knives and gardening supplies that will suffice as weapons. They had also raided the cupboards upstairs for any black clothing or cloth that could conceal their faces.

Lance’s house didn't have many dark items, but after looking through old boxes they had found enough stuff to make, as Lance dubbed them ‘ninja outfits’.

Footsteps rushed down the pavement as soon as the sun had set, leading out and stepping up into one of the cars. They had one shot at doing this, one night to get in and out and break back into the labs. 

Getting into the labs last time was lucky but there were too many things they hadn't accounted for. Hopefully the three will find schedules for guard changes and maps of the layout in town hall.

And if not, they still go in, blind or not.

Because sooner or later the scientists will catch them again. Lance wouldn't put it behind them to be extra cautious now that he and Keith had been sneaking around together already.

Town hall stood tall. It looked to be made out of sandstone, and had sloped large steps leading to the entrance. 

The heist was horribly planned, and for all the trouble they were getting in for the layout to the labs, the gang hadn't managed to actually find plans to the town hall, so they're still going in blind. At least for step one.

Lance's breath was caught in the fabric of his mask. Heart pounding diagonally as they made their way out back, small huffs and puffs from down below him could be heard, as Keith’s dog Kosmo had taken it upon herself to join them. 

He rolled his eyes as they found the back entrance, pulling the fabric up higher on his nose. Va’ryl was making quick work on the lock next to him as Keith stood a ways away keeping lookout around the corner.

It took a few ticks, but the door eventually popped open allowing the group to slip past. As they crept down the hallway, taking in the surrounding features, all just as plain, office like and sterile as most of the lab walkways.

The three end up taking the stairs up to a top floor, checking each room as they go until they pull up at one that spans out with large filing cabinets on each side, and smaller ones in the middle rows.

“You know… I bet i’d be Daphne if i was part of the scooby gang” 

Keith side eyes him, leaving with a quizzical look in his direction before starting to sift through cabinets. 

“No no no!” he whisper shouted, “you guys need to listen, we already have a scooby, and as the hottest here i’d obvi be Daphne” he turned to look at the group more, “Keith would be Fred, and then you” he pointed to Va’ryl, “can choose between Shaggy and Velma”

“I dont know what your talking about”

“Me neither”

Lance looked up from the files he was looking through, “What! You two have never seen scooby doo! Maaan your all missing out on a childhood”

“Just because we haven't seen one of your stupid shows”

“Hey! I take offence, scooby doo isn't stupid!”

“Kinda stupid”

“You take that back!”

“At least a little stupid”

“Tch, cant believe you right now, you don't even know what it’s about” 

He turned back to the cabinet, tuning out the snickers from the other two, even though it was mostly just Keith. A long silence stretched out again and Lance found himself itching for more conversation.

The other boy must have noticed this and took pity on lance, because he started talking once again. “So, who are they?”

“Huh” he blinked, “o-oh the characters, yeah well ya kind of have to what they do and what goes about in each episode, but the characters are pretty straight forward”

Lance was allowed to drone on about details of scooby doo, with little participation from the others, but it was fine because he felt better distracting himself with the constant chatter.

The three and Kosmo dragged out through the night, looking through draw after draw for any kind of information about the labs. He honestly thought it would be much easier, but after further looking most of the files were about the actual bots.

Each with their own ‘Name” and detail number. Plus a list of programs that the robot would have to do to fit in with the people around them. 

There were some designs for cameras that were built into the robots, and features like that ‘blood’ they could produce.

But overall it was mostly useless junk they found.

What happens next Lance blames on himself entirely. As much as he loathes having to do so.

The chatter had kept his own mind busy and clouded as he passed over file after file. But as soon as he started, he lost most volume control. And it only got worse when a torch light flickered on from outside.

“Shit!” V cursed behind him, they had yet to find what they were looking for and with almost half the room to go, fleeing would mean to go into the labs blind. 

His heart beat sped up as he listened for approaching footsteps. Maybe if he stayed low he could finish checking out the rest of the room.

A hurriedly whisper “Lance!” sounding out from behind him, and as he turned his eyes caught the two others opening up a window hatch.

“But we haven't gotten the file!” he almost yelled.

“Doesnt matter, I'm not risking getting caught” he saw Va’ryl make way out of the window and down a drain pipe, Keith was halfway out too. Arm stretched out, face starry eyed and pinched at the brow. “I can't lose you again, Lance,” he said desperately.

Gods, he could drown in those eyes. 

A clasp of hands pulled lance up and onto the window sill, and the two made way to descend the pipe line.

The air was cold as it swept across his face, rustling his hair. He drank in every bit of the blissful night sky, and the sounds of freedom on his fingertips. Even if it was never truly freedom.

However the sight at the bottom could have been pulled straight from one of Lance's nightmares and we wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It was pitch black, stars lining the sky, not quite covered by the pink clouds.

But below that the street was only illuminated by a couple street lamps, and even worse, a fleet of sleek black SUVs. 

Va’ryl was standing, back straight and arms crossed, directly next to one of the green little alien scientists. Kosmo paced out by her side.

“V, what the fuck” Keith said from beside him, hands up to show his less then threatening palms. 

Lance tried to sneak glances around to find something, anything, they could use in a fight that would overpower the mob of body guards surrounding the two.

His eyes landed on the multiple guns they held, if only he could knock one of them out.

“Come over little paladins, or do you really want to do this the hard way?” the guy standing next to V said, motioning to the (did Lance mention Large) amount of body guards.

“I doubt you need that many people to round the two of us up” he said slyly. 

“Yes, well you two can be quite slippery, from the amount of toxins we poured into your veins you probably don't remember every other, tiny, futile escape attempt” the scientist sighed. “Well that's unfortunate, guess you won't remember this time either, at least it’s been fun watching you try”

“Va’ryl” Keith tried again, piercing eyes digging back into her head, “what the fuck are you doing”

Keith didn't get an answer, instead she dragged Kosmo up by the throat and lugged him over to one of the SUVs. Lance levels that this must be the breaking point, because Keith sprints into action.

Weaving around the mob and right up do their so called ‘friend’, using his left hand to clock her in the jaw.

Rage burns Keith's eyes as he uses the surprise to push Va’ryl over, clawing dangerously at her chest, and face. He grapples with the other hands wrapping around his body. 

He wills tears away as a low growl makes its way up from his throat. Screams can be heard behind Keith's ringing ears, whether it's coming from him or Lance he didn't know. 

Something sharp is stabbed into his neck, and he is quickly dropped back to the pavement, left to writhe around in pain on hard gravel. 

The fire builds from his neck downward, spreading across his body through his veins. Sharp throbbing comes from his bones, pulling on the already made skin, with a mix of pins and needles running down the surface of his body.

The tears he willed away came back up again, and he shouted in pain. It sounded gutted and broken and nearly burst his ringing ears.

The boy didn't quiet, howling in pain until more hands pinned down his sides, piercing the needle back into his neck.

This time it forced his eyes closed and his mouth shut. Tears still drip down as he whimpers, losing consciousness as he is hulled from the ground again.

________

Keith dreamt of a fiery red lion, and faces he swore he knew.

He saw Lance again, whispering close to his ear, but it was nothing he could decipher. 

Deep blue and brown eyes shone down at Keith.

If only he had this nice of dreams often.

Maybe he was dying.

Keith wanted to laugh, what an odd thought. 

But it couldn't be too far off. Last night felt like dying.

______

Worried faces gathered around the two cryo pods, they had only found Keith and Lance a couple hours ago, beaten and bloody.

The paladins had managed to fend off their attackers and treat their injuries before shoving the two in healing pods.

But the wait was even more painful this time, then when they were on their way to Ashkara-5. For the next several days, the med bay was taken up by someone almost every hour, only to be forced to bed when it was too late and Shiro convinced the younger paladins they needed sleep.

Pidge had set up a miniature work shop for them and hunk to work.

Allura had started reading and writing reports in the med bay too.

Coran did his usual cleaning within the room.

And shiro found himself sitting for hours, talking to the others or just thinking. Waiting for the two to wake.

A week later, when the pods had filtered out whatever chemicals Keith and Lance were fed, and healed the injuries. The doors opened with a hiss.

The bright lights stung their eyes, as the two fell forward into different sets of arms.

“Omg you guys are alive!-”

“Thank the stars-”

“I missed you buddy!-”

“We were so worrie-”

“My boys you're alright!”

The sound of everyone talking over each other stung Keith's ears, they still weren't entirely fixed from whatever was injecting into him. Speaking of that, his body still throbbed, though now it was more of a distant ach.

“Lance” he slurred out, pushing up and away from the sturdy hands gripping him, Keith was suddenly aware of how weird the situation felt.

He stumbled back blindly, tripping on something and falling back onto his butt. His eyes stung, and there were too many unknown people crowding around him. 

One of Keith's shaky hands came up to point towards the strange man and usher them back, but his energy is drawn back down as he sees a purple tint across his arm. “What the fuck-” he croaks out.

“Yeah, that took us some time to get used to too,” the man says, scratching behind his neck, “but it’s going to be alright, we’re here to help,” reaching back down to offer a hand, kindly.

He was just about to scramble back when a body hit his, soft brown curls tuck into his side, “Keith! Thank god your ok” 

He lets out a relieved sob, melting into the embrace. He can feel Lance trembling in his arms, as they both tighten their holds. Keith lets his head drop into Lance's hair, blocking himself from seeing the strangers' faces.

Lances push his way onto Keith's lap, urging for a closer hold. It was warm with the boy in his arms, so much has happened but if he got to keep Lance near, maybe the day would turn out brighter. 

The hold broke ever so slightly, enough that Keith could gaze into his ocean blue and hazel brown eyes. The look he got was unwavering, eyes sparkling as they looked at him, and for a moment it was just the two of them.

Keith wished he could stare into those eyes forever.

A voice took them out of their trance, “maybe we could take this reunion to the kitchens, i bet you're both due an explanation and food after all that time in the pods” the person then proceeded to cough awkwardly, scratching behind his neck again.

“S-sure” Lance said, sliding off Keith. He offered out a hand to help the raven up, pink dusting his cheeks. 

…

Lance stood close to Keith as they made way following these people. Now that his mind was less foggy from healing he could get a look at their faces properly.

The familiarity he felt was strange, like he knew he was supposed to know who they were, but couldn't quite find the relation. 

It reminded Lance of the family gathering he would go to with his parents and siblings, there would be so many distant cousins and grandparents that people would swear he had met before, but he couldn't put names to faces anyway.

The kitchen was directly connected to the dining room, so after they had been given two bowls of green goo and a seat each at the table. The other five sat across from them.

Introductions were made, and Lance could tell for certain he knew these people. A small smile was brought to his lips as they began their questioning.

“So… Do you have any of your memories back at all?” Pidge asked, she was the shortest of the bunch with thin black glasses, but he could tell the lenses were popped out.

“Not really, it's more like a feeling telling us- or me i guess, that im supposed to remember who you are” keith said, “if that makes sense”

“From what Corans told us it does” hearing Hunk talk made Lance smile more, it was clear they were all close, but he and Hunk had a deeper bond. Lance mentally stores the thought away, he best talk to guy memories or not.

The princess was next to speak, “yes, we have deciphered what the Ashkarii put into your blood, the stuff can get very complicated and i don’t want to worry you more with a long explanation, but the solution is very simple,

“The toxins don’t get rid of your memories, just lock them away, we believe it unlocks when you experience something that brings your mind back to that memory, because both of you were stranded together once you saw each other the familiarity clicked and you were drawn to each other”

“Exactly!” Pidge responded, “so if you spend more time around the castle with us more memories will come back, and we can tell you stories from your time on earth that could jog your memory from before we got to space”

“Oooh i can't wait to tell you all about your family Lance! Man i miss them so much just thinking about it”

“Yeah can’t wait, buddy”

Allura cleared her throat again, gaining back the attention of her piers, “i will let you all discuss the more fun topics, however for i would like to address Keith”

Her tone was sour, clearly trying not to sound offensive. Looking back down he could see the obvious problem, new purple skin and fluffy ears. Oh, and the tail.

He hadn't been able to look in a mirror since getting out of the pods, and almost didn't want to at all.

“You may not remember” she started, “but we found out some time ago that you are in fact half Galra, another more dangerous toxin was most likely injected into your veins that didn't mix well with you Galra genetics and made them more prominent” 

“Coran and I are trying to find out if it is reversible, but have had no luck,” Pidge added.

“But you are fine with it right?” Lance asked next to him, and was met with many nods and agreements which calmed lance.

A soft snort sounded through the room, and all heads swiveled towards the Princess, “Sorry” she laughed, “i did not mean to cause you distress, i only meant to keep you aware, me and keith had sorted out everything a long time ago”

The group talked more over dinner, about what the Ashkarii did, their overall time together, and the friendship Keith had with the princess everyone was apparently unaware of. Afterwards they had to be split up and led down to separate lion bays.

Letting the two bond back to their lions, before being brought back to their old rooms.

Stepping into his room, it was coloured a bland grey, a bed built into one of the walls, a small knife sitting on his nightstand waiting. There was a door to the bathroom and a cupboard of clothes, but other than that nothing connected him to who Keith Kogane was and what his past entailed.

…

Lance heard a knock from his door, it was light and almost none existent. “Who is it”

There was a pause before the person finally said, “Keith”

“Well then please be welcome to come in” the door swiped open seconds later, and a freshly showered Keith walked in, opting to sit down on the bed.

The room was a lot more colourful, filled with photos and nicknacks Lance must have picked up on different planets. There was a soft blue rug laid out on the floor, posters and fairylights hung up on the wall. 

“It's nice in here” Keith said, he had a frown on as his eyes swept the room, never once meeting Lance's own gaze.

“Hey” he soothed, moving from the floor to the bed, next to Keith, “what is it”

“Its stupid”

“Well its troubled you enough to come here so it can't be that stupid”

There was a beat of silence. Before...

“When I was being walked back from the lions, Shiro may have made an offhand comment about us not getting along” he said slowly, “or i guess not being friends at all” That made Lance's own heart swell, he knew exactly what Keith was thinking. It came from all the way back when they were watching the sun set on a beat up old truck, when the two had sworn they were something before. “Oh”

Oh.

“Yeah.”

It took a couple seconds for either of them to have the courage to speak again. 

“I want my memories back” Keith whispered, he sounded so unsure “but i don't want to loose you too, i want to be with you, b-but if you wake up and don't want it anymore, or never wanted it at all i would understand”

“Especially now that I look like this,” he added quietly.

Tears pricked at Lance's eyes and he was quick to sweep Keith into another hug that could rival their first reunion one, he spoke into Keith's ear reassuringly.

“I want you Keith, i may not exactly remember but i know I’ve always wanted you” 

He pulls away, cupping Keith's face with his hands, “no matter what, I'm always going to want you” he breaths, “i fell for you, and i'm not going to stop falling” 

Keith's eyes flutter closed, savouring the warmth of lances hands and the soft words spoken. He almost subconsciously leans in, eyes only blinking on a second to make sure the movement is reciprocated. 

Their noses bump together, and Keith lets out a breathy laugh before lips pressed on his. The kiss was soft, and not unlike ones they shared in the past. 

His hands wander to Lance's waist, settling at the hem of his shirt. His lips were firm on Keith's, and he was so close he could smell the cinnamon of Lance's body wash.

When air was needed, Lance pulled away slightly, only inches away from Keith's face, “for your information, I think you look super sexy right now” that's all it took for him to push Lance back onto the bed.

Mouths colliding again, it was more heated this time then just the soft kisses they shared before. Lance carded his hands through thick black locks, tugging roughly as Keith moaned into his mouth.

The two parted just enough to get shirts up and over their heads, before Keith buried his head in Lance's neck, kissing, sucking, and biting marks from his jaw to his collar bone. 

Lance's moans were music to his ears. He hummed as Keith sucked down on his earlobe. Bruises already littering his neck as Keith continued to bite down. Warm hands found his waistband, tugging at the grey sweats. Keith looks up to lance, adoring the flustered mess he turned his boy into. 

Kisses trailed back down lances. He bucked up so Keith could slip his shorts off entirely. Lips chasing each other again, Lance gripped Keith's hips moving them slightly as Keith let himself be rolled over onto the mattress, hands still gripping at Lance's waist. 

Lips brush down the length of Keith's body leaving lovebites down his neck and chest. Lance's lips stopped as his eyes lifted up to look at Keith.

“Keith, do you want this?” a gaze so soft and loving stared back at him, and Lance already knew the answer before it came.

“Yes,” Keith answered honestly, breathless.

Moans escaped his lips as Lance went down to finally remove his sweats. The raven's hair circled him like a halo. Lance could think distantly back to how closed off the boy was at first, memories he started to put together dancing around him. But to see him like this, so very vulnerable, well it was like seeing the heavens themself. 

The beautiful sound Keith was making, and the dreamy way he looked was addicting. It could make any sane man mad.

He felt Keith's hands slide around his arms and up his back before they clutched at his shoulders. The moans Keith let out sent a shiver crawl down his spine as he rolled his hips against Keith's. 

He relished in the way Keith gripped his shoulders tighter, rolling his hips down again and again. Keith sucked a ragged breath in to speak, but only succeeded in letting lance get access to his mouth. 

He tensed at the sensation of lances tongue, not knowing entirely what to do with it. But he had always been good at picking skills up as he went and it didn't take too long for him to figure out the motions. 

His want for lance only grew as his head spun in a daze. Lance drew out the last kiss, trailing more sloppily down his jaw before sitting up. Letting Keith get a good look at the man between his legs. 

One of Lance's hands slid down towards his boxers and Keith subconsciously raised his hips at the boy's movements. He felt flustered watching Lance finish undressing himself, turning his head to the side instead.

Warm and gentle touches.

“Is this a good idea?” he said suddenly, blush blossoming all over his pale skin, “with everything happening” 

Lance leans back down to his below his ear, “if your having second thoughts cariña” he whispered before the uneasy anxious feeling returned, “just tell me”

“No” Keith answered, “never” 

“Then let me show you how good this can be” 

_________

Keith dreamed of the desert. It was warm and safe.

It was where memories of his dads love and care surfaced.

But despair drifted in, sorrow cutting through like a knife. He dreamt of a boy missing someone so much in front of the small tombstone. Crying until there were no tears left, and he was escorted away.

The world around him shifted, he saw the garrison, he saw the colours of hope wash over. The same boy who had seen so much pain, gave the rest of his trust to a man he hoped would hold it in his heart.

His brother. 

He was brought back to the desert, and like last time the warmth of a home disappeared quickly after he got comfortable.

The next memories he was shown had the same beautiful boy he met in real life. But he could only stare as they fought.

Is this what he feared would happen? Would lance see the same thing and leave?

The final picture Keith's mind painted him was one of a battlefield. It was one he couldn't believe he ever forgot. Shone in pink hues, the scene portrayed one of the castle's many rooms, wrecked at all ends.

Keith could see lance dressed in paladin armour, bruises littered his face. He had the smallest of smiles as he stared at Keith, hands clasped in his own.

Stars, he was gorgeous. 

Lance would never know how much that day meant to Keith, and he was never meant to tell him. Because he might just think Lance was the most perfect boy in the universe, and this may be the moment he realised it.

_______

The next morning was slow. Keith lazily tucked himself further into Lance's side. Smiling as the boy continued to sleep. 

After letting himself relax and soak in the feeling of last night and allowing the tiredness he felt to take over, Keith slipped out of the sheets easily. Turning the shower on and drenching his body in the cool water.

By the time he had dressed and came out, lance was sleepily blinking away the night. 

“Hey” 

“Hi,” Keith answered, smiling softly. He moved over to the bed to sit back down, adoring the feeling of being close to lance. The boy in question pulled Keith back down to peck his lips.

“Have any dreams last night” lance egged on after they separated. Eyes glittering with mischief, but Keith could see the anxiousness hidden behind it.

“We sure used to fight a lot” he deadpanned, making the other boy laugh.

“That's one way to put it” 

They settled again, Keith tracing lines of lance's jaw, “but, um, no second thoughts right?” 

“No” lance said with certainty, “never”