Keith hated this. He hated his stupid body, for not listening to him. He hated his stupid instincts, for forcing his body. He hated his stupid luck to be born a weak Omega. He hated Lance. He hated Lance most of all, for doing this to Keith.
He cowered lower, keeping his face turned down towards the ground. He could smell his own fear and anxiety, a heady mixture of burnt-sweet and sour, and he hated that too. Hated that he could smell himself, and that meant everyone else in the room could too. Hated that he was even afraid or nervous or upset.
He didn't dare look up. Didn't dare to look into the eyes of the person who'd put him here, on the cold, hard ground of the training room. His Omega instincts were running amok in his system, vicious and merciless, taking over. All because Lance spoke. All because Lance spoke to him. As an Alpha. With his Voice.
He hated Lance for doing this to him. Lance knew. Lance knew how much Keith hated his secondary gender, hated how others wanted to mold him into a stereotype for it. Lance knew how Keith had fought against that stereotype his whole life, and how Keith had trusted Lance to never use his gender against him or take advantage of it.
He hated Lance for betraying him. He hated himself for trusting the Alpha, for thinking they could be friends, could even just co-exist in the same area. He should know better than to trust any Alpha, and he hated himself for how easily he'd let Lance slip past his defences.
He wanted to growl, to bark, snarl, snap. Anything to show his displeasure. But those damnable instincts that he never wanted and had always ignored, had risen against him and overpowered him. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything other than cower on the floor and whimper pathetically.
He fought it, gritted his teeth and focused on just getting his arms underneath him. Just his arms. If he could just get his arms underneath him, support his weight, he could lift himself up and stand up and stand his ground. His arms shook with the effort to drag them underneath him.
A growl sounded above him, followed by words spoken in that Voice. That Voice that Keith hated.
"Don't. Move.".
Low and dangerous. Nothing like Lance's usual annoying, chipper tone.
It froze Keith. His arms collapsed, and Keith curled them uselessly in front of him. His legs were crumpled underneath him, his torso twisted and hunched. His face still turned to the ground. He didn't dare look up. Couldn't.
He could taste the fear. His fear. Why was he afraid? He'd never been afraid of Lance. Of any Alpha. No, that wasn't true. He'd been afraid. He was still afraid. But he learned to hide it, to never let it show. He taught himself to stand his ground and act tough. And he learnt how to defend himself and how to protect, and then he taught himself to attack. And he knew he didn't need to be afraid. He was the match of any Alpha out there.
But he was still afraid. He was still here, lying defenceless on the ground at an Alpha's feet, whimpering for forgiveness.
He could feel the liquid gathering in his eyes, and he scrunched them shut, trying to prevent the inevitable. He couldn't let Lance see him cry. It was bad enough Lance thought he could get the better of him by using his Voice against him. By being an Alpha. As if being an Alpha made him superior to Keith.
"Aw, is the poor, little Omega gonna cry?" Lance's voice taunted him. "What's wrong, kitten? Don't like being put down in your place?"
"Lance," Shiro's strong voice, stern, tightly controlled.
Fuck, Keith didn't want to be this weak in front of his team. Didn't want them to think he was a stereotypical Omega, couldn't take care of himself. He was supposed to be stronger than this. He was supposed to be stronger than his damned instincts.
"Lance," Shiro repeated.
Keith could sense the others hovering nearby. He could feel the heavy tension that had descended. Could smell Pidge's concern and Hunk's unease, just barely over the overpowering stench of his own fear. He couldn't smell Shiro. He couldn't smell what Shiro was feeling. Couldn't smell his mate. His mate wasn't there. He was there, Keith knew he was, had heard him speak just moments ago, but he wasn't there. Keith was weak, vulnerable; he needed Shiro.
The tears escaped, only a few, slipping silently down his cheeks. He coudln't even move to brush them away. He hoped the others wouldn't smell them. He needed Shiro. Where was Shiro?
He whined low in his throat. He struggled to push himself up, limbs quaking against the unseen pressure holding him down. He just wanted his mate. He just wanted Shiro to hold him and hide him from the world. He whined again, calling for his mate. His whole body was shaking with the effort to lift even his chest off the ground.
"Pathetic. Just stay down, bitch".
Keith's body was too heavy. His arms shook with the effort of defying the Alpha Voice, but inevitably, he piece-by-piece crumpled back to the ground, panting from the effort.
"Lance, stop it, that's enough!" Shiro growled and suddenly Keith could sense him, his prescence familiar and safe and comforting.
He could smell Shiro's rage, Pidge's indignant fury overpowering her worry, Hunk's confusion, Lance's contempt. He could sense it all, feel it bearing down on him. Pushing him down to the ground as much as Lance's Alpha Voice did. He tried to shut it out, focus on Shiro's voice. He wasn't alone anymore, Shiro was here. He could let go, Shiro would protect him.
He relaxed his body, lying limp on the cold floor. A tremor wracked through his body, still controlled by the Alpha's order. He could hear other voices joining Shiro's now, a cacophony of noise that he drifted farther away from with each passing moment. Somewhere in the back of his head, he recognised that he was falling into subspace, but he couldn't stop.
"Let him go, Lance".
"This is for his own good, Shiro. The sooner an Omega like him learns his pl..."
"Lance, stop!" Pidge.
"Lance!" A growl, throaty and vicious, dangerous.
The sound of flesh connecting with flesh. A rucus of noise, raised voices. Keith couldn't be sure what was happening. He whined softly, lost in his own head. He rolled onto his back, exposing his belly and tilting his head to the side to expose his neck too. Shiro. Where was Shiro? He was here, Keith could sense him.
He doesn't know how long her drifted in that place for. It was still and peaceful, and the noises around him were muted. When he came to, Shiro was above him. He looked worried, his face creased with concerned lines.
"...th... ...Kee... ...Keith..".
The noises were slowly getting louder, clearer. He could hear his name being called. Someone was calling his name. Shiro's mouth was moving. Shiro was calling his name. Why? Why was Shiro calling him? He didn't want to move. No, wait, he was told not to move. But why? He couldn't remember.
The daze of subspace pulled him back under again and he didn't resist, letting himself fall into its' gentle embrace; like a soft sheet being pulled over his head, everything was blocked out; sound, sight.
"Damn it, Lance," Shiro growled, twisting around to glare at the Alpha where he was constrained by Hunk's grip.
"What? How is this my fault!?".
"This is ALL your fault. Just because you couldn't keep your damn Alpha pride in your pants. Look at him, look at what you've done".
Shiro didn't really care if he was being fair or if he sounded antagonistic or immature. That was his mate lying on the ground, lost in an unwilling subspace after being forced by an Alpha.
Keith was collapsed on his side, somewhat loosely curled up. His neck was bared, head tilted to rest on the hard floor. His eyelids were lowered and his beautiful plum orbs were dazed, glazed over. His entire body was slack, free from the Alpha command, but trapped in a gentler, but just as cruel vice of his own instincts.
Subspace was a state of mind and body that an Omega could enter either willingly or not. Shiro and Keith had tried it a few times during their intimate moments with each other. But it could also be triggered by an Alpha. A response due to an Omega's natural instinct to submit when confronted by an overbearing Alpha. It was unfair. Shiro knew Keith had been trapped in subspace before, because of an Alpha. And instead of looking after Keith when he was at his most vulnerable, that Alpha had betrayed Keith in the worst way possible.
"Shiro, you should take Keith away," Pidge interrupted the Japanese Omega's thoughts. "We'll watch Lance, make sure you guys get some quiet time".
Shiro looked from Pidge to Hunk, who silently nodded and tightened his hold on Lance. Lance merely scoffed.
"I don't need any watching. I haven't done anything wrong," Lance remarked, a hint of gravel in his voice. "All I did was show Mullet his place".
That did it.
Shiro pivoted around so fast he almost lost his balance. He growled ferociously in Lance's direction.
"Until you can correct your sexist, backwards thinking, you're grounded. You don't deserve to fly a lion," Shiro growled, crowding Lance and using his height to his advantage to make the Alpha crane his neck up. "No gender is better than the other. Just because you're an Alpha doesn't make you superior. You need to get that in your head, Lance.
"Omegas aren't weaker than you. And they aren't things for your amusement. Don't you ever treat my mate like that again".
Seeing Lance cowed, Shiro spun away from the Alpha with a final, throaty growl and stalked towards his mate. Keith hadn't moved from where he collapsed. As Shiro bent to pick up his mate bridal-style, Keith's eyes fluttered and he let out a breathy whimper.
"Shh, baby, it's alright, I'm here," he tried to reassure the smaller Omega, but Keith didn't seem to acknowledge his presence anymore.
He adjusted his grip carefully, making sure Keith's head was rested on his chest. With one last look at Lance and the others, he left the room.
He carried his precious bundle down the hallways, trying not to jostle the Korean boy. It didn't matter, because Keith didn't respond anyway.
It was a bit of a juggle to get his palm to the reader on the wall, but he managed. Once he was in the safety of his room, he carried Keith to the bed and deposited him there gently. He sat beside the inert body and reached forward to brush the hair out of Keith's lidded eyes. The look in them was still dazed.
Shiro knew there wasn't much more he could do other than wait. Maybe try to talk Keith out of it, but his chances were honestly half-half with Keith. Sometimes, Shiro could coax the other Omega out of subspace with just his soft voice and gentle hands. Othertimes, he could only wait for Keith to come out of it himself.
Shiro laid himself down beside Keith, gently rolling the smaller Omega towards him and fitting their bodies together. He carefully wrapped his arms around Keith's neck and shoulder, cradling the Korean's head and nuzzling his face. He laid there, holding his mate to him, waiting.
Keith "woke" softly. He blinked slowly, a few times, eyelashes fluttering. It was dark wherever he was, not dark enough that he couldn't see, but dim. He could smell something, a comforting smell, all around him. It was like warm bread and honey. Like Shiro. Shiro. He could smell Shiro. And he could feel him, feel his buff arms - one warm human, the other cold, hard, but safe metal - wrapped around him. His was pressed into Shiro's chest; that's why it was so dim.
Keith stretched as best he could within Shiro's hold, a bit achey and jittery after so long in subspace. How long was he under? It must have been longer than he's ever been before; his body's not usually so tired. Usually, Shiro coaxed him awake. Why didn't Shiro this time? What happened..
The memories come rushing like a wave. He gasps and instinctively tries to curl up, protect himself. Tears come, unbidden, and he can't control them as they roll down his face. He falls apart, gasping and hiccuping and trembling in Shiro's arms, desperately trying to keep himself together and not wake his mate, but depserately wanting Shiro to wake up and save him, protect him.
Shiro had protected him, hadn't he? Shiro had stopped Lance. He doesn't remember how. Or when. Even if. He just trusts that Shiro never would have let Lance do anything to him. It scares him that Lance - or any Alpha - has that sort of power over him. He never wants to be forced like that again. Lance could have done horrible things to him, if Shiro hadn't been there to stop him. He hates his Omega body for being so weak, why is he like this? why is Lance stronger than him? is he really just some plaything for any Alpha to use?
Shiro is jostled awake, and it takes him a moment to reorientate himself. Keith is still in his arms, but the other Omega is awake now. Shiro realises with dawning horror that it was Keith that woke him. Keith who is crying and gasping and scratching at his own neck, leaving red marks that will definitely bruises.
"Keith, Keith, oh god, Keith stop," Shiro cries, grabbing the smaller Omega's hands and using them to leverage the Korean boy onto his back.
Making sure to keep a firm grip on Keith's wrists, Shiro leans in to inspect the wounds he's left on his neck. Only a few of the scratches are bloody, and they aren't bleeding much, so Shiro isn't worried about permanent damage. He's definitely going to have bruises though. Keith tries to yank his hands free.
Shiro turns his attention away from Keith's neck. The little Omega is still crying, though it's lessened and he seems to be on his way to calming down. He's hiccuping and his body is trembling. Well, he's out of the subspace, at least.
"Shiro...Shiro, why... ...what...".
He can't seem to put his thoughts together, but Shiro knows what his mate is thinking, can imagine some of what he's feeling. Being controlled like he was, so casually by a person they both trusted and liked, Shiro can only just begin to imagine what that must feel like. For a person like Keith, so independent and strong and free..
He can't fix it, he can't make it unhappen, and he can't promise Keith it won't happen again (though he does silently promise that he'll be watching Lance like a hawk from now on, and if the Alpha tries anything..). There's always going to be knot-headed Alphas out there who think they're better than everyone else, who think Omegas are just property for them to take and control.
But he can hold his mate to him, cocoon him in his warmth and scent, and whisper soothing nothings to him and shush him until he cries himself out. He can stay with him for as long as it takes for Keith to feel safe again.