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Void (Part Eight)

"Lance? What's gotten into you?"

"Yeah, man? You good? D-did we say something wrong?"

"No. You said everything right."

"Wait, Lance?"

Lance!

"LANCE!"

Lance jolted awake in his seat, his heart beating out of his chest. Clearly, being woken up out of his sleep via heart attack was going to be a regular occurrence for the paladin. And it couldn't have come at a worse time considering he and the other paladins were still on a bit of a low after leaving Olkarion, or at the very least what was left of it. Somewhere between them leaving and them being mid-flight, the red paladin ended up dozing off, still somewhat tired from the events from earlier in the day. But life is fair, and he needed to wake up to a voice of panic.

"Lance! Oh thank god! I thought you died of sadness!"

Lance turned his head to the sound of the voice, seeing Hunk's relief-filled face appear on the screen next to him. He took a deep inhale and exhale to calm his heart one last time before finally responding.

"No, but I will eventually die of a heart attack if you do that again!" he chastised lightly. Hunk rubbed his neck awkwardly, embarrassment taking over his face.

"Sorry about that. I just really wanted to apologize for earlier. We didn't mean to upset you." Hunk said quietly, his somber eyes looking at the bottom corner of Lance's screen. Lance furrowed his brows sadly. For some reason he was hoping that he and Pidge would let it go and just let him work himself back up again, but he knew better. Hunk wouldn't function if he knew someone was mad at him and would go out of his way to make sure they knew how sorry he was. He sighed.

"Hey, man. I know you guys didn't do it on purpose. It's just, y'know, kind of a sore spot for me." Lance replied, a tired smile creeping back on his face. "But I'm sorry I worried you."

Hunk looked back up at him hopefully.

"So, we're good?" Lance chuckled.

"Yeah, man. We're good." Hunk's eyes widened as a big smile appeared on his face before sighing in relief.

"Okay, awesome! I'll go tell Pidge the good news!" Hunk said quickly, his screen disappearing from Lance's view a second later. The red paladin crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat. To say that he was having an all-around stressful few days would be an understatement. First, he botches a date with a girl he's had feelings for since forever. Then, he ends up breaking down to his friend, whom for some reason is feeling REALLY conflicted about; which then cumulates to him breaking down AGAIN in a conversation that he can barely remember. And now, he has to deal with hearing about Lotor again.

Lance let out a heavy sigh. He knew he shouldn't be letting Lotor rile him up like this again. He's gone, out of the picture, stuck in the quintessence field and will never see the light of day. So why does it feel like he still finds a way to taunt him? Why does it feel like he's mocking him? Mocking him on how he'd be able to do the things that he couldn't. Things that made Allura want to get closer with him in the first place. Who knows, maybe he and Allura did have something. Something bigger than Lance could ever hope to be for her. Lance smacked his cheeks, trying to snap himself out of his stupor.

"This day couldn't possibly get any worse."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Paladins, get airborne immediately! This is a trap!."

And just like that, it got worse. What was supposed to be a simple rendezvous point became a trap as what was supposed to be the Atlas turned out to be some sort of war ship, ready to take Voltron captive. The lions bolted for the sky as they tried to put as much distance between them and the ship as possible. Suddenly, the lions became dead weight as the ship projected red beam that caused them to drop to the ground, unable to move. Lance quickly tried to make use of the controls, but to no avail.

"It's just like when we were caught by those pirates!" Hunk shouted. Lance slightly panicked at the memory and the thought of it happening again.

"We're about to be captured again!"

"Emergency ejection!" he heard Keith yell. Lance pressed the ejection lever in his lion, making him fly from the lion's head. He landed on the ground momentarily before using the jets on his armor to fly away from the area, Pidge right beside him. He focused on the path before him as he and the other paladins tried to avoid the heavy fire from the ship. He heard Keith and Allura trying to contact the Atlas, but he knew nothing good was going to come out of it. Eventually, they found themselves hiding in a disheveled forest, evaluating the situation before them.

"The Atlas isn't receiving our communications!" Pidge whispered. The paladins turned their heads to where they had left their lions.

"That beam has the Lions pinned." Hunk added.

"We must have been set up. But by whom?" Allura questioned. The paladins waited in silence, wanting to see if the coast was clear to make another break for it. Not even a minute later, they heard the sound of beeping from a distance, starting to close in as the beeps eventually turned rapid.

"Guys, we have incoming. It's closing fast." In a matter of seconds, a drone appeared, not hesitating to start shooting beams at the paladin, whom had already begun to run for their lives. Using their jets, they jumped from branch to branch in another attempt to put distance between the drone and them before starting to run the rest of the way.

"We need to lose it!" Hunk shouted, trying to balance himself on the branch as he ran and cowering in the same breath. Lance added jumps to his steps, barely avoiding the incoming blasts himself.

"Isn't there anything we can do to throw it off our scent?"

"Yeah, I've got an idea, but I need a minute." he heard Pidge shout from the branch above him.

"I'll buy you some time." Hunk shouted back. Once he made sure everyone was behind him, the yellow paladin turned back to the drone as he summoned his cannon, firing in the drone's direction. Lance didn't hesitate in helping his friend, summoning his gun and shooting in the same direction. The blasts from Hunk's cannon targeted the nearby trees, implanting miniature cannons on said trees as added ammunition toward the drone. Lance looked out the corner of his eye and saw Keith and Allura providing cover for Pidge as she tried to shut down the drone's defenses, which luckily didn't take too much time at all.

"Got it!" Pidge shouted triumphantly. "It shouldn't be able to detect us anymore." Lance stopped firing, lifting his gun upward.

"Then let's get out of here!" he replied urgently. A couple of more shots were fired before they ceased, showing the drone was encased in a protective shield. The paladins watched in confusion as the drone flew towards them, moving past them swiftly and slowly. They heard the drone begin its beeping once more, only for it to turn right back around, beeping rapidly, as it once again tried to shoot them dead.

Tears came to Hunk's eyes as all hope of escape turned dim given their current situation.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Hunk cried. Luckily for him, the other paladins had found cover and he didn't hesitate to jump into crevice beside Pidge. Keith pulled up his shield, blocking him and Allura from the oncoming shots next to them.

"I need something to draw its attention!"

"I've got it!" Allura said before running out of the space. She ran up out of the drone's visual range and summoned her whip, making it wrap around the tree that's behind the drone before pulling it. Once the whip was gone, she used all of the strength she could muster to push the tree down, only for the drone to move from underneath it just before the tree could land on it. The drone zoomed out of range above where the Altean and the other paladins stood, but before it could launch another attack, a spinning disc appeared from the smoke and hit the drone point-blank, turning back into its original form of a sword as the drone landed on the ground in a burst of flames. Just as quickly as it landed, so did Keith, whom summoned his sword back into his hand in its bayard form.

"Huh, good job, Keith." Lance remarked as he walked up to the black paladin, smiling. "I mean, I was just about to do that, too, but that's cool." His smile grew as he could sense Keith scowling in annoyance at his remark. Even though he was just teasing him, the red paladin always finds himself amazed at how Keith can get them out of situations. He was taken out of his amazement, however, when Pidge spoke up after him.

"I might be able to hack into it." The green paladin walked past the two as she knelt in front of the destroyed machine, Hunk and Allura joining the circle a second later. Lance, however, stepped back, choosing to lean back on the tree near them. While the drone was still being scanned, he couldn't help but to peek at Keith again from the corner of his eye.

His gaze was focused, looking over Pidge and the drone. His back was straight, arm crossed in mild patience and slight urgency. Lance felt his throat get dry, his chest getting tight. He looked so serious, so determined, so...strong. The kind of strength that was in no doubt instilled in him thanks to Shiro. The kind of strength that the red paladin himself could only hope to achieve. The kind of strength that made him feel safe. Unconsciously, he felt his eye shift past Keith to look at Allura. Her stance was similar to Keith's, the only difference being that she was crouched forward a little with her hands on her hips. Her facial expression was also that of an urgent one, but it didn't hold the same patience and sense of calm that Keith's face held. Nonetheless, he couldn't deny how beautiful and ethereal she looked. He felt the dryness in his throat ease up, along with the tightness in his chest. Lance forced himself to look away just in time to hear Pidge telling Hunk to shut up, so he could only assume it had something to do with the drone that Keith had just destroyed.

"This thing has been locking on to our key encryption protocol that's built into our suits and bayards." Pidge stated.

"How did they get that?" Keith inquired.

"I don't know. Only a genius could do it." Lance thought for a moment.

"Can't we just turn our suits off?"

"Negative. If the drone had our encryption protocol, then so does that cruiser and anyone on it. If we want to avoid detection, we need to lose our suits and our bayards." Pidge replied simply. Lance's eyes widened. At this point, dying by drone blast started to sound pretty good to him. The paladins seemed to hold a similar sentiment.

"Remove our armor? In this place?"

"Has anyone read the atmosphere? Oxygen low, CO2 high. We're not gonna last long. A few hours, tops. We need our suits to survive." Hunk pointed out. Lance moved his eyes to Keith, eager to see his stance on the situation at hand.

"Yeah, at this point, we'll survive longer without them." Keith stated firmly. Lance looked back at the drone.

"So, keep our suits on and risk getting blasted, or take our suits off and live long enough before dying from poisoned air." Lance thought over the options at hand. He was still kind of on the fence about dying by drone firing squad, but now with the new information at hand if they went without their suits, now he wasn't so sure. He kept silent as the others discussed what to do.

"There's no way when can move on without our suits." Allura spoke. "Our helmets supply us with the oxygen we need. Without them, there's no way we can survive out here." Hunk shifted back and forth nervously.

"Yeah, guys. I'm with Allura on this one. I kinda want to get back to the Lions with my lungs intact." Pidge stood up from her original spot, looking at Hunk with mild annoyance.

"Hunk, we all want our lungs intact. But our lungs aren't going to be on our minds if we keep getting blasted. This was just one drone, but we don't know if there's going to be more. And if there is, we can only hold out for so long before they get us. Ditching the armor is our only option." Hunk started to panic.

"Aren't there ANY other options?!"

"If there were, don't you think I would've said it?" Hunk bowed his head in defeat.

"Look, when that drone came up on us, we barely had time to react. If we leave our suits and bayards here, it'll give us time to find help." Keith added.

"But the only way we can even call for help is with our communicators. How will we be able to contact the Atlas if we can't call them?" Allura replied, sounding slightly agitated at the prospect of abandoning the armor.

"Shiro probably knows by now that something happened to us. The Atlas could be looking for us as we speak. Until then, we need to do all we can to survive. And that includes leaving our armor and bayards. We'll pick them up once we're found." The conversation was getting nowhere. Lance sighed heavily. Allura and Hunk were adamant about keeping the armor, but Keith and Pidge were keen on leaving it. He knew they couldn't keep arguing about this forever, knowing any minute they'd be in danger again.

"Lance? What do you think?" Lance raised his head at Allura's urgent voice, being bombarded by the expectant looks of her and the rest of the group.

"We're kinda split down the middle here, so we kinda need a tiebreaker and that's you. So...armor or no armor?" Hunk spoke quickly, trying to fill Lance in. The paladin in question shifted uncomfortably, the gaze from the group making him anxious.

"No pressure, right?" Lance chuckled nervously. Allura walked towards him.

"Lance, this is serious. We need to plan our next steps. Do you want to keep the armor?" she inquired urgently. The red paladin shrunk under her gaze. She looked so serious and agitated and it twisted his gut to know he was contributing to it.

"Allura, that's enough." the princess turned her head to look at Keith, who was clearly getting annoyed at what was transpiring. "I get that you're stressed, but this is his choice. Lay off him for a bit and let him talk."

Lance looked at Keith in surprise. He hadn't expected him to speak up for him, let alone against Allura. He sent him a quick smile in thanks, with Keith nodding his head in acknowledgement. Lance took a deep breath before turning his head back towards the group as he made his decision.

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I was fine with idea with getting shot at. But, if Hunk is right and we can manage a few hours of survival, then I think we should try it. It might be hard considering where we're at and what we're up against, but that's why I think we should maintain a good distance away and conserve our energy until absolutely necessary. I think we should leave the armor behind." Lance finished nervously. He looked back at Keith, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Then that settles it. We leave the armor behind and try to get to the Lions. And if we find Atlas, even better." Keith stated, his decision final. Lance, Pidge and Hunk (though hesitantly) nodded in confirmation. Lance turned his head to find Allura, staring back at him in minor disappointment before sighing.

"Okay. But only because you think so." Allura finally relented. Without hesitation, each of the paladins disposed of their armor and bayards, tossing them into a pile in front of them.

"Okay, the armor and bayards are off limits. Now what?"Hunk asked, looking at Keith. The black paladin didn't hesitate to give him an answer.

"Now, we split up." Lance swiftly turned his head towards Keith in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" the team exclaimed collectively.

"Are you insane? First you want us to ditch the armor and now you want to split up?" Hunk yelled in sheer confusion.

"If we split up, it gives us more of a chance to get out of here. You guys need to go and try to retrieve the lions from the cruiser. I'm gonna try and lead whatever comes away from you guys. I'll meet back up with you guys once that's taken care of."

"Keith. Going on your own in this environment is dangerous. You can't go by yourself." Allura warned, not liking the idea at all. Lance looked at her briefly before turning towards his leader.

"She's right. Because I'm going with you." Lance said firmly. Now it was Keith's turn for his eyes to widen, along with Pidge and Allura looking at Lance in sheer shock while Hunk proceeded to grip his hair and walk in circles in what could only be described as the beginnings of a mental breakdown.

"Lance, no. You need to go with the others and try to get to the Lions." Keith replied in an authoritative tone.

"I can't do that. You're trying to navigate in this random forest, low on oxygen, with NO armor with a few good hours top before something bad happens. And I know you, if something or someone comes at you, you come back at them 100%. But given where we are, that's the last thing I want you do. Besides, I'm your right hand, remember? Where you go, I go, too." Lance replied, a new sense of determination filling his chest. Keith felt the authority he had turn dim. He knew Lance meant well and wanted to protect him, something Keith would do in a heartbeat if the roles were reversed. But he knew that if given the circumstances, if something happens to Lance he wouldn't forgive himself. So as much as he wanted him to stay, he needed to keep him away. Or at least try to. Keith let out a deep exhale.

"Lance, you don't have to do this." Keith said quietly. Lance didn't budge.

"Actually, I think I do. And um, I'm not asking for your permission. No offense." Lance added quickly towards the end. Yeah, he's not backing down, Keith thought in defeat.

"Okay, fine. But for the record, I don't approve of this." the black paladin warned slightly. Lance smirked in response.

"I'm aware." Lance replied teasingly. Keith gave him a small smirk of his own before forcing his face back into a serious expression. He looked towards the team once again.

"Okay. Lance and I are going to try and hold off whatever comes our way. You guys go and try to retrieve the Lions from that cruiser. Hopefully the Atlas can pick up on our distress calls and try to trace our location." the black paladin instructed in finality. Before they split up, Hunk didn't hesitate to grab Lance's hand and shake it with ferocity as tears streamed down his face.

"You're a good man, bro. I'll never forget you!" Hunk wailed. Lance gave a small smile at Hunk's behavior.

"Come on, man. Have at least some faith in me." the red paladin joked. Once Hunk finally let go of his hand, Pidge came up next to him and punched his shoulder lightly.

"Be careful out there." she said with a nervous smile.

"Thanks."

"Okay, we should get going." Allura stated boldly before walking in the direction of the lions, Pidge and Hunk trailing behind her. Lance couldn't help but feel bad. He knew that she was adamant about them keeping the armor on, but he felt as though going without the armor was their best bet. At least that's what he hoped the issue was, and not because she expected him to follow suit because of how he felt for her. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad." Keith started, keeping his grip on Lance's shoulder firm in a display of comfort. "You chose what you thought was best. Don't feel bad for stating it." Lance turned his head to face him, sighing.

"I know. Thanks." Lance replied, giving Keith a reassuring smile. Keith moved his hand to Lance's back, gently directing him to where they were going.

"Let's get to it."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Are we sure the Lions are this way?" Pidge asked stressfully.

"Every direction looks the same." A solid hour passed since Hunk, Pidge, and Allura had started their trek to retrieve the Lions, but so far the group had made no progress as they continued to find themselves surrounded by dead trees and hanging branches, with no Lions in sight. And since they had no form of mapping their location, they had to depend on instinct.

"And that's why it's important to walk in this never-ending straight line." Pidge deadpanned in response. "We'll reach them sooner or later if we keep at it. Right, Allura?" the green paladin turned to ask the princess, only to receive a despondent expression on her face as the Altean was clearly deep in thought.

"Allura?" Pidge waved her hand in front of Allura's face, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes?" Allura stammered. Hunk and Pidge paused in their tracks as they looked at Allura with concern.

"Oh no, is the oxygen getting to you?" Hunk asked hurriedly.

"What? No, no, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind." She answered truthfully. Pidge and Hunk shared a knowing look with each other.

"And by that I'm guessing you mean Lance?" Pidge asked slowly. Allura sighed as she nodded. Pidge gave her a small smile.

"I don't think you have to worry about him too much. He's with Keith. He's not going to let anything happen to him." Pidge said reassuringly.

"I know. It's just...I've never seen him be so adamant about something like that. The way he went after Keith like that." Allura replied, thinking back to how Lance offered to be by Keith's side without hesitation. Almost as if he belonged by his side. The two paladins hummed in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, that was pretty crazy. But given where we're at, he probably has the right idea." Pidge shrugged. She narrowed her eyes at Hunk as he began sniffling.

"He's gonna be Keith's right-hand to the very end. I'm so proud of him!" Hunk cried in happiness before Pidge slapped the back of his head, telling him to get it together as they continued walking. They didn't take into account, however, that Allura was still stuck in her tracks, arms crossed. She knew that she had nothing to worry about. Lance was a skilled paladin who could handle himself if need to be and if he's with Keith, who in certain aspects is just as skilled if not more, he'll be well protected. But she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to this. Any other time in circumstances like this, Lance would voice his concern, but he would choose to stay with the group rather than split up. So Lance volunteering himself to go with Keith was surprising to say the least.

Not only did this fact surprise her, it worried her. Ever since they went on their date, she began to take notice of the small ways Lance started to act around her. The way he left after he dropped her off. How panicked he looked when he sped-walked away. Even during the briefings to head to Olkarion he was different. He was quiet and reserved, as if he had so much plaguing his mind. She hoped it was just because of something like exhaustion or lack of sleep, but after what just happened, the signs were clear as day.

"Allura? You coming?" She looked up finally, looking at Hunk and Pidge who were a good few feet away from where she stood. She faked a smile as she took her first steps.

"Yes."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Okay. I'm really starting to question how your brain works, sometimes."

"You didn't question it before we left." Unlike the others, who caught themselves going in a straight circle, Keith and Lance found themselves going upward, more specifically towards the top of the planet's somewhat active volcano. Keith figured that if he wanted to keep whoever was after the team off their trail, they'd need to lead them to a location where they wouldn't pose a threat. Lance was on board with idea, that is until Keith suggested bringing his armor to provide a ruse once they got to their designated point. And as expected, Lance got tasked with carrying it.

"Yeah? Well that was before you decided to bring your armor into the mix!" Lance raised his voice in annoyance.

"Again, Lance. It's all part of the plan." Keith answered nonchalantly. Lance sighed. It was bad enough they had to walk (and sometimes climb) slowly in order to conserve their energy and oxygen, but that's kind of a hard task when you're carrying a bunch of armor. He was so busy on thinking about hitting him with his helmet that he didn't realize that he had bumped into Keith's open hand, outstretched to him.

"What?" Lance asked. He wasn't given an answer as Keith took his helmet and chest plate from his hands, leaving him to hold his leg gear. Lance instantly felt some of the weight get lifted off of him. He sighed in relief.

"Took you long enough. But thanks." he said gratefully. Keith hummed a "your welcome" as they started walking again, this time being side by side. Lance felt his throat get dry again as he locked his eyes on the rocks before him. Realization finally dawned upon him. He was with Keith. Alone. NEAR A VOLCANO. He could already hear Veronica saying how this was like the YA romance novels she read back in during her teenage years. He felt himself starting to heat up, but it wasn't because of his sweat forming from the grueling walk or the heat festering beneath his every step on the rocky path. He had felt this heat before: it was the heat he felt It was the same heat that he felt when he had that dream about Keith, the same one that was so intense he needed to take a cold shower. It still bugged him how he couldn't remember what actually happened before he fell asleep and the only thing that he could remember was Keith leaning in to do...whatever he was about to do. The red paladin didn't want to ask him what had happened, but sooner or later he's going to end up having a heat stroke and he was not about to let that happen.

"H-hey Keith?" Lance asked nervously.

"Yeah?" Keith replied, eyes still trained on the cliffs ahead.

"Remember that conversation we had in my room after my date?" Keith's eyes instantly moved to peer at Lance with mild suspicion. He nodded in response.

"Well, I don't really remember what happened. It's all a blur. I-I was just wondering if you could help me fill in the blanks." Lance replied truthfully. At this, Keith fully turned his head toward the red paladin in shock.

"You really don't remember?" Lance shook his head somberly.

"No. And when I do try, let's just say it's replaced with the wrong memory." Keith nodded his head in understanding. Before he answered, he placed his helmet and chest plate on the ledge in front of them, gesturing for Lance to do the same with the leg guards. Once he did that, he heaved himself up onto the ledge, taking a breath after doing so. He then reached out for Lance, taking his hand and pulling him up swiftly. Keith then stood up with Lance, finally prompting him to let go of his hand.

"When we were talking, you started getting upset again. You were talking about how you shouldn't be feeling bad about pulling away from Allura but then you mentioned how you couldn't stop thinking about it." Keith started. Lance nodded quickly in response.

"Yeah, yeah. THAT I remember. It's just what happened afterwards that's a blur." Lance responded.

"Well, when you started crying again, I walked up to you and told you not to cry because you would make your migraine worse. I guess that made you cry more, so I sat down on the bed next to you to help calm you down and you just..." Lance's heart started to beat out of his chest at the pause.

"Just what?"

"Just...lunged at me." Lance's eyes widened in fear and embarrassment.

"LUNGED HOW?!" he exclaimed. Keith winced at his tone, raising his hands in front of him in a "calm down" motion, causing Lance to cower in nervousness.

"By lunged, I meant you just hugged me and started bawling. So I just sat there and told you how everything was going to be okay. Eventually, you fell asleep and I left once I made sure you were good." Keith shrugged as he finished explaining, starting to walk once again with the flustered boy right on his tail. Lance felt his face heat up at the explanation. He was partially relieved at the fact Keith didn't kiss him, but in the same breath, the fact that he held him as he cried just make the heat he felt increase twice as much. Nonetheless, he appreciated the gesture.

"Thank you." Lance breathed out.

"It wasn't an issue or anything, but-" Keith started to brush off the gesture, but Lance wasn't having any of it.

"No, thank you. For standing by me. With everything that's been going on with the team and everything, even before we got back to Earth, you're the only one who seems to care about how I'm doing." Lance spoke wholeheartedly. Keith's eyes widened at the confession. He never realized that Lance had felt this level of loneliness and it hurt his heart to know that he had a part to play in it. The Galran looked away in guilt, but it didn't last long.

"There." Keith pointed to a giant set of rocks in front of them. "That's where we'll set up the armor, come on." The paladins rushed to the behind the rocks, setting up the armor to simulate them sitting. They stood back to make sure that it was sturdy, which it was.

"You know that's not true right?" Lance raised his eyebrow in confusion as he turned to look at Keith, who was still looking down at his armor.

"I'm not the only one who cares about you, Lance. The whole team cares about your wellbeing, Allura especially. I don't know what or who made you feel like this, but I want you to know that-" Keith didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Lance started to cough. He had a couple of quick second coughs, but as he tried to tell him he was fine, he started coughing even more.

"Lance! What's wrong?" Keith asked worriedly, brows furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine. I think the smoke is making its way in my lungs." Lance replied raspily as he crouched over in an attempt to catch his breath. The Cuban teen quickly raised his hand to his mouth as his coughs turned violent. Keith rushed over to him and placed his hands on his arms, keeping him from falling forward.

"I don't think it's the smoke." Keith said grimly. He then took Lance's arm and placed it over his shoulder, leading him to another set of rocks farther away where there was less smoke. Keith sat him down gently against the fixture as Lance continued to cough. The black paladin kneeled in front of him in concern.

"Lance! Talk to me!" Keith demanded urgently. Lance finally released his hand from his mouth and looked down at it, causing his eyes to widen in fear. Keith grabbed his hand and pulled it into his view, only to see a red stain covering the palm. The black paladin had no time to panic before he heard footsteps coming from both directions. After signaling Lance to stay quiet, he peeked above the rocks to see an armed Galra rebel searching for them. He gritted his teeth as he turned back to Lance.

"I'm gonna go over there and distract them. You stay here and try not to cough so loud, okay?" Keith whispered. Lance shook his head.

"No way. I'm helping you. I promise to fall back if the coughs get worse."

"Fine, but only if they come here. If not, stay put and don't try to save me." Keith got up and started to leave but not before Lance grabbed him by the elbow. Keith turned back to face him as he struggled to talk.

"What's wrong?" Keith asked quickly.

"Come back." Lance rasped out, tears brimming in his eyes from the pain. Keith placed his hand over Lance's in comfort.

"You, too." Keith replied, before finally getting up and running to the sound of the footsteps. Lance took as much of a deep breath as he could before he turned over, keeping an eye out for any sign of attack. It didn't take long for him to see what Keith saw earlier, the Galra rebel with their gun ready to shoot. He watched as she fell for the decoy, rushing up on the abandoned armor only to be left in confusion as the armor held no paladin within it. A small smile crept on his face as he saw Keith sneak behind them out of view and deliver a good blow, knocking them out. But just as he was about to get up and meet with him, the sight of another figure stopped him in his tracks.

_______________________________________________________________________

Keith panted as he climbed up the nearest ledge away from the rebel, pulling himself up onto his knees. He didn't expect the punch he gave her to make him lose energy. He raised his head in attempt to look for Lance, only to be met with a tall figure towering over him, The black paladin raised himself up on one knee in anticipation. Before he could ask them for their identity, they ended up taking off their helmet, releasing a hissing sound before colliding to the ground. He was met with a familiar face, though they have been scarred on one side of their face, a pupil missing.

"Zethrid?" Keith asked aloud, shock evident on his face.

"You took Ezor from me!" Zethrid shouted, before attempting to land a blow to Keith's crouched figure. Keith rolled out from beneath her, narrowly avoiding the blow. He stood up, taking out his Mamora blade from behind him as it turned into its sword form.

Zethrid ran towards him as she attempted to land a punch, only for Keith to dodge and attempt to swing at her with his blade. She avoided it, however, and ended up punching a rock in an attempt to land another punch on Keith. After a couple of missed slashes from Keith, Zethrid took a hold of his wrist, tripping him off balance and flinging him, causing him to roll a few feet away from her. Using this to her advantage, she landed a good couple of blows on the half Galran, making him fall down a steep trail of stone.

Seeing the commotion, Lance slowly got up, trying to keep his balance. He proceeded to release a couple more violent coughs before they ceased, causing him to grip his side. He slowly took shaky steps as he attempted to make his descent down. The more steps he took, the blurrier his vision became. Need to...keep...going, Lance thought to himself. Suddenly, he heard Keith shouting from a distance, clearly in pain. The red paladin picked up his pace into a run, skipping steps and jumping off stones to reach them. He was about to make another jump before a stabbing pain pierced his lungs, causing him to trip and fall onto the ground, releasing another round of bloody coughs. He felt his muscles shake beneath him as he attempted to sit up, his body slowly starting to fail him. Can't...I can't. Lance looked ahead of him, only to see Zethrid hoisting Keith by his neck as he held onto her wrist in pain. He noticed that he made progress distance wise, but not enough to stop this. Finally, on shaky knees, he began to crawl. I can't...I can't lose.

He gripped the ground beneath him as he crawled forever, the pounding within his head and burning within his sense excruciating. His lungs continued to burn and sizzle as he let out another string of coughs, the pain within his throat making him want to throw up. At this rate, Lance attempted to ignore the pain and merely focused on his breathing, trying to inhale as much oxygen as he could given the little amount of oxygen there was in the area. After what seemed like years, he finally made it to another fixture of rocks that rested upon the edge of the cliff he was on. With the remaining energy he could muster, he stood up and took in the scene before him. That's when he saw him: Keith, being held in a chokehold by Zethrid, whom was being confronted by Acxa and Shiro.

"How did they-?" Lance rasped out before looking up. And sure enough, the Atlas and two other Garrison jets floated above the four. The exhausted paladin looked down back at Keith. He couldn't ignore how he was writhing in pain as Zethrid held him in place. He couldn't ignore how any wrong move by Acxa and Shiro could cause Zethrid to easily snap his neck. He couldn't help but to notice the lava below them and how close they were to the edge. His view of them became shaky as he started to tilt from side to side due to the lack of oxygen. But as much as he wanted to collapse, he couldn't. Not while Keith was facing death's door. He felt himself bite his lip and he could've sworn he saw Zethrid tighten her grip and Keith's face contort in pain. He began taking short, sharp inhales in anger as he felt his lungs shrivel, his head pound, and his throat close. He couldn't take it anymore. I can't...I-I won't. I won't lose him!

A shout snapped Lance out of his episode as he looked at what happened before him. There was Zethrid, laying on the ground behind Keith as she gripped her arm in pain. Thankfully, Keith was released from her grasp without a scratch and could only look back at her before he looked up at him in sheer shock. Lance shifted his eyes to the side as he caught a glimpse of Acxa and Veronica, who were looking back at him in the same manner as Keith. Shiro was nowhere to be found. The red paladin finally looked down to see what they were staring at: his bayard rifle in his hands, smoke coming out as if it had been fired recently. He felt his hands begin to shake as he realized what he just did as he looked up back at Keith. He summoned his bayard. He shot Zethrid. Lance's eyes turned dim as he felt himself finally collapse, but not before hearing someone call his name.

"LANCE!"

_______________________________________________________________________

"Lance? Lance? Can you hear me?"

Lance's eyes squinted as he adjusted to the light blazing down on him. When he opened them, he waited a couple of seconds for them to adjust to the two figures above him before. Luckily, he didn't need to wait long because one of them spoke.

"Hey. Take it easy." Lance turned his head to find Shiro, looking down at him in sheer relief with a relieved smile to match. His eyes moved past him as his eyes focused on Allura. She looked just as relieved as Shiro, only this time she had tears in her eyes. Lance allowed himself to smile at him. It gave him comfort knowing that there was someone at his bedside making sure that he was okay.

"Good to see you, guys." Lance spoke quietly, his throat dry. It no longer felt swollen or burned, but that didn't erase the slight soreness he still felt.

"Come on. Let's sit you up." Shiro stated, reaching for Lance's arm. Allura ran around to the the other side of the bed as he grabbed Lance's other arm before they both raised the paladin up slightly. Shiro took the time to readjust the pillows so that Lance could lay against him, making him look at the captain in appreciation. It took Lance a minute to realize that he was wearing an oxygen mask, which probably explained the newfound energy in his lungs that helped him breathe like he did before. Allura grabbed Lance's hand as he looked towards her.

"I'm so glad you're alright. When Veronica told me what had happened, I started to lose my mind." Allura spoke In relief, a faint blush gracing her features. Lance shifted in his bed as he lowered his mask.

"Wait. What happened? Where's Hunk and Pidge?" Lance asked in concern of his friends. Allura placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"They're alright. The Atlas found us first, so they treated all of us for any breathing issues. Once they got cleared, they went back for the Lions." Lance leaned back slightly, relieved to know that they were okay. But he still didn't feel at ease. That's when everything hit him at once. He sat up quickly in his bed, his head twisting in different directions as he scanned the room.

"Keith! Where is he? Shiro, where is he? Zethrid had him a-and she was going to- she was going to kill him! Is he okay?! D-did you see him?! Did he-" Lance began to wail, causing Allura to step back in surprise while Shiro sat on the bed next to him, gripping his shoulders and shushing him as he tried to get him to calm down.

"He's fine, Lance. You saved him." Shiro said reassuringly. The red paladin looked at him in shock. So it really did happen the way he saw it. He saved him. He saved Keith. For the first time today, Lance let out a sigh of relief as tears began to cascade down his face. He threw his face into his hands, trying to keep himself from sobbing. He didn't pull away when he felt Shiro pull him closer as he rubbed his back in comforting circles. He's alive. He's alive. He's alive.

"Lance?"

Lance's head shot up as he looked at the sound of the voice. He was actually here, standing In the doorway nervously as if he was worried about interrupting something sacred. He was no longer in his paladin suit, instead back in his Garrison attire. He had a smile of relief on his face, which were a contrast from the scratches that plagued his face from his fight with Zethrid. But Lance couldn't afford to care: because he was here.

"K-Keith." Lance breathed out slowly, smiling in relief and overall joy. Shiro looked between the two with a knowing look as he turned to look at Allura.

"We should probably give them some privacy." Shiro spoke quietly to the princess. Allura nodded quickly with a small smile of her own as she walked back around the bed, joining Shiro's side as they began their walk out of the hospital room. The captain let the princess exit the room first, but not before squeezing Keith's shoulder before he made his exit. Once they were gone, Keith couldn't help but to stuff his hands awkwardly in his pockets now that they were alone. He let out a shrug before forming an awkward smile.

"Hi." he spoke quietly. Lance's smile grew bigger as newfound tears started to brim.

"Hey." Slowly, Keith walked towards the bed, taking deep breaths through his nose as he did so. Once he reached him, he gently sat down next to him in the same spot where Shiro was as he leaned in, arms crossed on top of his knee. The amount of relief he felt at seeing Lance was immeasurable. Back on the volcano planet, he was horrified to see the state that Lance was in: weak, disheveled, low on oxygen, and on the brink of breath. After he was free from Zethrid and saw him collapse, he couldn't help but to yell out his name in horror. He picked up his sword and was about to run and get him, but the lack of oxygen caught up with him and he was ushered onto the Atlas by a concerned Veronica to be given an oxygen mask while Shiro tended to Lance and carried him onto the ship. Once Lance was admitted into the medical bay, he went with Hunk and Pidge to retrieve the Lions, who were being guarded from other rebels by Garrison troops. He couldn't help but to stomp his foot in anxiety as he retrieved Black and carried Red in her jaw back to the ship bay. And now here he was.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked hesitantly. Lance exhaled as the newfound tears he felt finally spilled over onto his cheeks. His feelings of relief overwhelmed him as he launched himself into Keith's arm and sobbed. All the fear and sadness from the day was slowly being taken out of his body with every hiccup as he rested his head on Keith'c chest, sobbing more with every heartbeat he heard. Keith looked down at the sobbing boy in bewilderment.

"You came back." Lance hiccuped. His knuckles felt numb as he tightened his grip on the fabric of Keith's uniform. Any other time, he would feel embarrassed to be breaking down in front of him like this. But he knew this song and dance and he knew that Keith wouldn't judge him for opening up like this. And with everything that just happened, he just wanted to cherish the fact that he didn't lose him. And he hoped to God that he never would.

Keith smiled at the sobbing paladin, bringing his hand up to hold the back of his head and press the boy further into his chest. His other arm reached around Lance's back, helping to hold him closer. The black paladin closed his eyes as he relished in knowing that this man was alive. He was alive and breathing and he was still going to be able to hear his voice. He let out a shaky, watery chuckle.

"Of course I did."

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