Ten Minutes On The Clock, Twenty Years On My Mind
Keith/Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Team as Family
Angst, BAMF Lance, Langst, 3659 words
Summary:
“These things aren’t pressure activated, right?” he asked. Timarin shook her head, puzzled by the question. “No. They have a deceptively soft exterior, as well — kind of like a tight… bag, if that makes sense? — but they’re virtually indestructible until their time is up.” Lance nodded, fist clenched. He looked like he was steeling himself. He took a deep breath. “Nine minutes. Five kilometres. I can do that.” Hunk realised what Lance was planning a millisecond too late. His eyes widened in panic. “Lance, that’s suici—“ --- OR: Lance will give and give and give of himself, until there is nothing left to gift.
---
Everyone froze as something flew through the window, coming to a rolling stop in front of the help desk.
After several moments of tense silence, Pidge was the first to speak up.
“Please tell me that is not what I think it is,” she said in a shaky voice.
“A Puigiogan bomb,” Timarin confirmed quietly.
Hunk swallowed roughly.
“There’s —“ he choked on his words. There were so many people in this hospital. How could people be so cruel? And for what? Money? Power? — “There’s a ten minute timer on it.”
The air was starting to feel thick with panic. The team had maybe thirty seconds to come up with a plan, and it was difficult to believe it would even work. There was no way they could evacuate the hospital quickly enough — even if they could, Timarin had informed them that these bonds had a five kilometre blast radius. There was no way they could move thousands of sick and injured Pou-logians to a safe distance in under ten — well, nine and a half minutes, now.
There was a very real chance this could be the end of the Paladins of Voltron — in the middle of a civil war, on a planet full of innocent people suffering at the hands of greedy leaders, hundreds of billions of miles away from home.
Hunk looked at his friends, seeing his own hopelessness and fear reflected in their faces, before a look of steely determination flashed through Lance’s dark eyes.
“These things aren’t pressure activated, right?” he asked.
Timarin shook her head, puzzled by the question.
“No. They have a deceptively soft exterior, as well — kind of like a tight… bag, if that makes sense? — but they’re virtually indestructible until their time is up.”
Lance nodded, fist clenched. He looked like he was steeling himself. He took a deep breath.
“Nine minutes. Five kilometres. I can do that.”
Hunk realised what Lance was planning a millisecond too late. His eyes widened in panic.
“Lance, that’s suici—“
But Lance had already bolted, scooping the bomb from the ground and leaping from the open window. The team rushed over to the ledge, real fear painting their faces into a grotesque tapestry of terror.
“Lance!” It wasn’t one of them that screamed, but all of them, their desperation begging him to find some other way. But he was already off — leaping and dodging over rubble and wreckage with a skill that seemed almost superhuman.
Seven and a half minutes.
Lance was running faster than Hunk had ever seen him move, far into the desert. He had to have reached at least one and a half kilometres by now, and was in a dead sprint away from the hospital.
Hunk wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to fall to his knees and wail. But all he did was watch, in muted horror, as his best friend ran to what was most likely a brutal death. Beside him, he heard Pidge start to cry, and Shiro muttering prayers. Keith reached over to clench Hunk’s hand in both of his, without looking away from the window.
Five minutes.
Lance was still in a dead sprint. Hunk remembered learning offhandedly that the fastest a human had ever run one kilometre was in two minutes and eleven seconds.
Lance was definitely making better time than that.
Hunk felt a flicker of hope in his chest.
At what had to be at least five kilometres out — Lance seemed like a speck, he was so far away they had to use the zoom on their helmets to see him — he stopped. Hunk felt his heart jump into his throat.
Three minutes. The hospital was safe, now — but there was no way Lance could make it back in time, not if he was just standing there!
“What is he doing,” Keith hissed.
Lance suddenly ran forward a couple steps, bomb outstretched in his hand, and then drop-kicked it with all his strength. Without waiting to see how far it went, he turned back around and sprinted, faster than he was going before.
Shiro wasn’t praying, anymore, not real prayers. He was just muttering ‘please’, over and over again. Begging whoever was listening to keep Lance alive.
90 seconds.
“Pidge. How far is Lance?” Keith demanded. Pidge brought up her scanner in shaky hands, pressing a button.
“A-about three kilometres away from our position. Halfway between us and the bomb — he kicked it pretty far.”
50 seconds.
“Shit,” Keith whispered.
Even if Lance was going as fast as he could, there was no way he would make it back to the hospital in time. He was still in the blast radius, just barely approaching the end of the ruins surrounding the building.
40 seconds.
Lance began the same process of hurdling over the rubble, but it was slowing him down significantly. He was tired.
35 seconds.
Suddenly, Keith ripped his hands from Hunk’s cupping them around his mouth.
“Come on, Lance! You can do it! You’re so close!”
Lance looked up at the sound, hesitating for a second before climbing the ruins with renewed vigour.
The other paladins were quick to join in.
“You’re nearly there, Lance!”
30 seconds.
“Keep going!”
29 .
“Come back to us!”
28 .
He couldn’t be more than two kilometres away, now. So close.
27 .
But still in the blast zone.
26 .
The encouragements could only do so much — Lance had just put Olympic runners to shame, and in armour. He was depleted, fatigued. Weary.
25 .
Hunk could barely see through his tears.
24 .
He didn’t want his best friend to die.
23 .
Nineteen. Lance was nineteen . That was too young to go.
22 .
None of them were old enough to die, really. They were all too young for this. Everyone was too young for this. How old is old enough to be slaughtered on the front lines?
21 .
Lance may have his issues, but Hunk knew he wasn’t suicidal. Lance loved so hugely. With his whole heart.
20 .
He may not want to die, but Hunk knew Lance would never forgive himself if a hospital full of innocents went up in smoke as he did nothing.
19 .
Honestly, Hunk might not forgive Lance for this.
18 .
What was he supposed to do? Without his best friend at his side?
17 .
Lance, who supported him through every endeavour?
16 .
Lance, who stood by him through the worst defeats, the most satisfying victories?
15 .
Lance, who had brothers and sisters and siblings and niblings and aunts and uncles and grandparents?
14 .
God, what would Lance’s mother say? Feel? How is Hunk supposed to come back to Earth alive, only to tell Mrs. McClain that her youngest son did not make it back?
13 .
Pidge would be devastated. Losing another brother.
12 .
Shiro… losing one of the kids he had to protect. He would feel like a failure . It would break him.
11 .
Allura and Coran had found family in the paladins. Losing Lance would be another blow to their already ravaged home — Hunk could barely comprehend what it would feel like to lose the people you called home again and again.
10 .
Keith. Keith . Hunk wasn’t quite sure what Lance was to Keith, but he knew — he knew there was something under the surface. Something brewing in both of them, something wonderful. They would never get the chance to tell each other how they felt, if Lance failed to make it out of this.
9 .
And Hunk.
8 .
Hunk knew he would not survive without Lance. Lance had been with him his whole life. Lance was a part of him, and not one he could live without.
7.
Please make it.
6 .
Please don’t leave me to figure out how to navigate a world without you.
5 .
Please.
4 .
Lance was closer, now, but the ruins and his own exhaustion had slowed him down to basically crawling. He was close to giving up, too, Hunk could see it. Lance checked his watch, seeing the time he had left, and visibly braced himself, before vaulting over a piece of a wall, landing in a crater, and yanking something over the top to give him a semblance of cover.
3 .
He was still in the bomb’s radius, but there wasn’t any more time to move. Hiding and hoping was all he had. All any of them had.
2 .
Hunk felt Keith grip his hand again, and Pidge hold on to his other one. He glanced over to see Shiro tightly gripping Pidge as well.
1 .
Please.
0.
A huge explosion deafened everyone, sending a shockwave strong enough to nearly bowl them all over. Dust billowed up into a huge cloud, and a small earthquake rattled the ground beneath them. Hunk choked, having inhaled a good amount of the airborne desert dust and sand, and heard the echoes of hundreds of others doing the same, along with panicked screaming from those who didn’t know what was going on.
It was several minutes before anyone gathered their bearings enough to move. Keith recovered first.
“Timarin!” he barked, “Are there any structural damages? Any casualties?” Timarin shook her head frantically, eyes watering from all the debris.
“Everyone is safe!” she called hoarsely. “Your paladin has saved us all!”
Keith needed no further encouragement, and leapt through the window, disappearing into the dust cloud, presumably to go find Lance.
Everyone was quick to follow.
Please, please do not let us find a body , Hunk begged to whomever was listening. His gods, the gods of this planet, the universe. He didn’t care. Whomever was benevolent enough to return Lance safely to them.
“Lance! Lance! If you can hear us, respond! Lance!” Hunk felt the desperation in Keith’s voice reflect in himself — he didn’t have a plan for if Lance was dead. He just had to be alive, there was no other option.
“Lance!”
“Lance, buddy, let us know you can hear us!”
“Guys, try turning on your thermal cams, it’ll be easier to see in all the dust,” Pidge suggested. They all did so, and resumed digging through the rubble to find their teammate.
After an hour of searching, hope was beginning to wear thin, along with everyone’s patience. They were afraid, and tense, and there was no Lance to lighten the mood, redirect their energy. Everyone was tired and snappy and it felt like nothing was going their way.
“Why, again, can we not radio the castle and get some help?” Keith asked irritably.
“I already fucking told you,” Pidge snapped, “The Puigiogans set up a long range radio blocker so the Pou-logians can’t ask for reinforcements. Besides, Timarin said they’ve planted several mines of huge magnitude and they don’t know where — I’m afraid that Allura and Coran might land on one and then —“ her voice cracked, and a new wave of tears streamed down her face. “And then we might lose them, too.”
All the fight drained out of Keith in an instant.
“I know. I know. I’m sorry for snapping, Pidge, it’s not your fault. It’s just — I can’t lose him.” He pulled Pidge into his arms, both of them holding tightly for a moment. Hunk and Shiro took a moment to collect themselves, as well.
“We’ll find him,” Shiro said, determined. “We won’t leave this planet until we do.”
They continued searching, thermal cameras on, looking for any sign of life. Pidge tried her B.L.I.P reader again, but the bomb mixed with the radio jammers was scrambling the scanner, and it wasn’t much help.
Hunk closed his eyes for a moment, exhausted. As much as they wanted to keep looking for Lance until they found him, they’d all been up for nearly 52 hours. They were tired and hungry and they couldn’t go on much longer. They —
Hunk tripped over a piece of what looked to be a door, which cracked to pieces when he touched it. He looked over to curse it, scowling, when he caught sight of a flash of bright blue that had been unearthed when the door crumbled.
“Lance!” he screamed, rushing over to the boy. He distantly heard the rest of the team scrambling over to them.
“Lance, Lance, I’m here,” Hunk babbled, jumping down into the crater.
Lance wasn’t responding.
Hunk crawled over, careful to avoid sharp pieces of shrapnel. He gathered Lance’s unconscious body into his arms, hefting him up gently. Lance was a dead weight, unmoving. There was a scary amount of blood on his face, and his helmet was cracked. There were several pieces of shrapnel sticking out of his body.
Hunk hastily removed the armour on Lance’s forearms, and let out a sob of relief when he felt a pulse. It was faint, but it was there.
Shiro’s head poked out from the top of the crater.
“Is he alive?”
Hunk couldn’t speak through his sobs, only nodding.
“Okay, it’s okay, Hunk, we’re gonna get him out of there. Hold on.”
Then he was shouting something to the rest of the team, maybe to someone else. Hunk didn’t know, and didn’t care.
Lance was alive . He survived. He would make it to a healing pod, and then Hunk was going to chain Lance to his person and never let him out of his sight again.
They made it back to the castle. Hunk didn’t remember how, it was all a blur. The Alteans were a flurry of panicked guilt, Coran setting Lance on a surgery table to remove the shrapnel as Allura prepped a pod. Lance was still unresponsive, not even making a noise when the piece of metal that had pierced three inches into his side was removed.
That was worrying.
He was finally put in stasis, and the pod made a happy chirping noise that Hunk felt was inappropriate for the situation.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Pidge asked in a small voice. Coran sighed deeply, shoulders hunched.
Hunk had rarely seen Coran standing anything but straight and tall and proud. It scared him.
“I’m nervous about the head wound. He was unresponsive for hours, after the bomb, and this is the second time he’s received a major head injury and gone unconscious. I’m — I’m worried about potential brain damage. Pods are exceptional pieces of technology, but he was hurt for… almost too long. It does not make me hopeful.”
This time it was Allura who choked on a sob.
“I am so sorry,” she whispered.
Pidge wiped her face, turning to Allura.
“Why —“ she hiccuped — “Why are you sorry?”
Allura exhaled deeply, breath stuttering.
“I saw the explosion, but I didn’t hear your radio and assumed you all were safe. I should have known our signals were interrupted. I should have descended immediately, to help you look — maybe we would have found him faster.”
Shiro put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. A pillar of support, even though he was falling apart as much as the rest of them.
“It’s no one’s fault but the terrorists who bombed a hospital of innocents,” he said firmly. “There’s no use in the blame game, anyway. We found Lance when we did, and we found him alive. Whether or not he suffers when he wakes — he’ll be with us. That’s leagues better than the alternative.”
Allura sniffed, nodding. “You’re right,” she said softly. “There is nothing more to be done.” She turned to the rest of the paladins, clapping her hands together. “Alright! You have all been awake and suffering for far too long. Lance is in a pod now, as safe as he can be. Everyone should clean, eat, and get some rest.”
Shiro nodded. “You’re right. Everyone, let’s—“
Keith spoke for the first time since they entered the castle. “I’m staying,” he said hoarsely.
Shiro sighed, looking decades older than his twenty-five. “I know you want to stay with him,” he said softly, “But you need to eat and shower, okay? Then you can stay here, maybe nap for a while next to the pod. But you should at least wash off the dirt.” Keith opened his mouth to argue, but Coran held up a hand.
“I’ll watch over him while you follow orders, my boy,” he reassured. “No ill shall befall him under my care. I swear it.”
Keith hesitated a moment, but eventually nodded. He trusted Coran as much as any of them.
They all quietly made their ways to their rooms, cleaning up and grabbing a snack before collapsing onto their beds. Hunk didn’t think he’d be able to sleep, not with the worry he was still holding at the forefront of his mind, but his exhaustion caught up to him and he fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow.
Lance spent several days in the pod, with Keith refusing to leave his side. Hunk struggled to leave, too, but he’d always handled his anxiety by distracting himself, and this was no exception. He must have cleaned Lance’s armour three times in as many days, and he cooked more than he knew what to do with. There was no threat of invasion, as Allura had them parked on a random moon in a random solar system lightyears away from any Empire influence, and was ready to wormhole away at a moment’s notice if necessary.
The team would not be moving forward until Lance was fully returned to them — this was certain.
After three full weeks, Keith’s yell echoed throughout the castle.
“The pod’s beeping! He’s waking up!”
Hunk barrelled into the med bay just in time to see Lance collapse forward into Keith’s arms. The rest of the team gathered around them, breath held and fingers crossed.
There was a moment of silence, before Lance blinked awake and —
“K-Keith?” he croaked. Keith let out a sob, crushing Lance to his chest. The rest of them rushed forward, a massive tangle of limbs and tears and relief . Lance was okay. He was okay!
After several moments of overwhelming tears and prayers of gratitude, Lance was sat on an observation table to scan for any lasting effects.
“I think you’re going to be alright, Number Three,” Coran said, pulling Lance into a hug after several minutes of testing. “Aside from some residual sensitivity — you had possibly the worst head wound I’ve ever seen — you will make a full recovery.”
“So he’s healthy?” Hunk asked nervously. “He’s 100% good? Fine? No issues?”
“Safe and sound,” Coran reassured.
“Good.”
Hunk walked towards his best friend of nearly two decades, and decked him in the arm.
“Ow!” Lance exclaimed, looking at Hunk in betrayal.
Hunk sniffed, eyes getting watery again. “I’m not sorry. You scared me.” He pulled Lance into a crushing hug, squeezing tightly.
Lance looked incredulously over Hunk's shoulder at the team, who were all sporting similarly teary expressions.
“He just hit me!”
Pidge sniffled. “You deserved that,” she said in a wobbly voice. Lance softened, holding out his arm. She wiggled her way under it, Lance petting her hair. He smiled sadly at the rest of the team.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said gently.
Keith glared at him, but he was so happy to see Lance alive and safe that it didn’t quite have the effect he was hoping for.
“I notice you’re not sorry for doing it,” he said, voice cracking with emotion.
Lance closed his eyes, exhaling heavily.
“You know I can’t apologise,” he said. “There were thousands of innocents in that hospital, and we had no other plan. I did what I had to do, and I don’t regret it. The only thing I regret is your pain, and…” he cut himself off, looking down with a light flush. “Maybe I regret leaving some things unsaid, too.”
Hunk let go of Lance, taking a step back. Pidge did, too. Hunk took a deep breath, collected his thoughts, and then spoke.
“Lance. Firstly, I need you to know that we love you deeply, and the pain each of us felt when we thought we lost you was unbearable.” There was nodding from the rest of the team. It felt like the panic and agony of the first week of Voltron, when Sendak invaded, only times a million.
“Secondly, I need you to know how difficult acting as a team was when you weren’t there. Everyone was tense and snappy and horrible and we did not work together well. I know you have some trouble envisioning that, but it was genuinely… difficult, to function without you. Individually and as a group.”
Shiro shot Lance a tight smile, seeing his look of disbelief. “At one point, we just stopped talking to each other because we couldn’t do it without yelling or crying,” he admitted. Lance looked bewildered, but Hunk was happy to see it seemed to be sinking in: Lance was important, he was vital , and they didn’t know how to be without him.
“Finally,” Hunk said with a wry smile, “You should know that Keith spent the three weeks you were in a pod sleeping next to you. He could barely be convinced to leave to shower.” Both Keith and Lance burst into a flush that looked simultaneously pleased and embarrassed. Hunk’s grin matched the rest of the team’s. “So the rest of us are going to give you two a moment to work yourselves out, and then we are going to watch a movie in the rec room and you’re going to take turns cuddling all of us, because we are all seriously deprived of quality Lance time. Deal?”
“Deal,” Lance squeaked out. Hunk chucked softly, and led the way out to give the two love birds some space.
Hunk took a deep breath, tilting his head up to send a quick thank you to whomever it was that kept his best friend safe in that crater.
“C’mon, let’s go grab my celebratory cupcakes from the kitchen,” he said, waving everyone over.
“‘Cause we have a lot to be grateful for.”
