My Love and My Heart

by Killed Stars

After a rescue mission turns sour, Lance is left in a comma-like status. Before it happens, Lance tells Keith a few choice words. Now, Keith has to deal with the fact that Lance loved him back, and face the reality that he may never get to love Lance at all. And Lance? Well, he's playing a game of cat and mouse. One he can't escape from inside the confinement his mind.

Their mission had been hard.

The Paladins were assigned by Allura to go aboard a Galra ship and rescue the prisoners, of which there had to have been at least a hundred. Pidge had found out about the ship ages ago, holding on to the hope that their family would be amongst the crowd. Lance wasn't all that hopeful, as much as he loved Pidge. The enemy's numbers had to be in the millions at least, which meant they had to have many, many ships. And bases. Any one of those could hold Pidge's family.
Lance had split from the group awhile ago. They agreed that one person should go and scout around while they were on the ship. Maybe they would find something useful. Of course, Lance piped up instantly, ignoring the obvious choice of Pidge. Pidge agreed, because they really wanted to check if their family was there. Pidge said that if Lance found something, that he should contact them immediately. Lance took off without another word from Pidge.
Lance should have said anything besides 'smell ya later!' while walking away. Very, very shitty last in-person words.
Lance, being as quiet as he could, approached a door. It opened up, showing no guards inside. Good, Lance thinks. He stepped inside, taking a glance around. There was a lot of alien technology inside. Lance gave the side of his helmet a tap, opening up the communication channel he previously turned off. It's just filled with the group giving kind yet rushing words to the hordes of prisoners. Some shushing too.
"Pidge, I think I found something," Lance informs, picking up a weapon. It's got dual blades, which looks totally badass.
"What is it? We're kind of busy!" Pidge asked in a whisper, trying not to alert guards.
"It's a room full of technology, it looks like it's all alien tech. Nothing human my friend. I mean, a lot of it looks pretty awesome though!" Lance pokes a button, causing some weird ninja-star thing to light up. "Duuuuude, there's a ninja star!" He adds excitedly.
"Dumbass! Don't touch the stuff!" Keith shouts at him. Shiro then yells at Keith for being loud.
"Oh shut it, Keith! I'll touch what I-" Lance pauses when he hears footsteps rushing towards the room. Heavily booted steps. "Quiznak," Lance curses under his breath. Of course he had alerted the guards.
Lance gets into a fighting stance, readying his bayard. He aims at the door and waits for them to charge. Ticks later, three normal sized guards rush in, guns blazing. Lance is lucky enough to dodge a good portion of them, his armor taking what bullets he can't. Lance quickly rids of them. There's a decent pause and no more guards rush in, so Lance lowers his weapon. Lance lets out a sigh of relief, about to inform the others of his status, when a very large figure runs in. It catches Lance off guard, so his reaction time to raise his weapon is off. There's a whizzing noise before Lance takes his shot. It's still just a guard, this time an actual person, so they go down with an accurate shot to the head. The adrenaline is pumping through Lance so much that he doesn't even realize he's bleeding out until his outfit feels sticky.
Lance looks down, and there's a fucking spear in him. A spear. Not even a small spear, no, a very large and very deadly spear. It had pierced the weaker parts of his armor around the midsection. Ok first off, Lance thinks, is how the hell did he manage to miss being fucking impaled. Second, what kind of Galra soldier uses a damn spear? Third, was he always sitting on the floor? The fourth, which hits him like a brick, is that he's probably fucking dying because having a giant spear in you is not a good thing for your health.
Lance brings a shaky hand up to his helmet. "H-Hey guys?" Lance desperately asks, hoping someone responds. His voice is weak, the pain finally setting in.
"Damn it Lance! Like I said, we're kind of busy!" Pidge growls.
"I know, I know, but how's the rescue going? I kind of have an emergency here…" Lance can't bring himself to be loud.
"It's going shitty, Lance!" Hunk pipes up.
"Oh… how bad?" Lance bites his lip.
"Well considering we're currently fighting like fifty Galra soldiers I'd say pretty bad!" Ah. They couldn't spare anyone right now. The lives of a hundred over his single… It was pretty obvious of a choice to stay silent. Lance couldn't create a panic. As stupid of a move it was, lives were more than likely at stake, and Lance knows they'd run to find him.
"What's your emergency, Lance?!" Allura's concerned voice cuts in.
"Oh, it's all good now," God, why does he sound so small?
"Lance?" Keith says, not believing him, the clanking of his sword echoing over the feed.
"Hey, guys. Do you remember back at the garrison that time Daniel punched Keith in the face because he thought his face was pretty and couldn't handle his gay feels?" Lance smiles fondly at the memory.
"Yeah, I definitely do, but what does that have to do with anything currently?!" Keith shouts between hacks.
"Well I mean, I definitely can handle my gay feelings for you, but I just thought it might be fun to.. y'know, look back a bit?" Lance doesn't care anymore about censoring himself, he is dying after all. A glance down at his white belt, now red, confirms that.
"Lance there's no time for a confession! Get your ass down here!" Shiro yells at him.
"No no, I know… but… I just wanted to say that. God, things can change so quickly. Remember when Hunk threw up on the commander?" Lance's vision was going spotty.
"That's not really a great memory of mine, Lance."
"..man… Why is blood so damn warm?" Lance asks himself, setting alarms off in his friend's minds.
"Lance what the hell happened?! You said you would tell Keith that over your dead body!" Pidge screams into their mic, panic not even hidden.
"Surprise, I kind of am dying…" Lance's eyelids grow heavier and his voice grows softer. Well, there goes his entire motive for being silent on the issue. Lance hopes he bought the prisoners enough time.
"LANCE WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" Hunk's loud voice joins in with Pidge's. The voices are kind of starting to slur together.
"Lance where are you? I'm coming to get you!" The group kind of yells at Keith, but don't stop him.
"Tell my mom I love her. Also, I love you guys, I really hope you know that. We're like a dorky space family," Lance winces instead of smiles, because smiling is too hard with the pain in his abdomen.
"Lance you can't just say that then fucking die on me!" Keith's yelling is barely registering to Lance.
With what little strength he has left, Lance uses his right hand to pry his helmet off. He'll have to destroy it. The Galra can't get their hands on it. Lance whispers a sorry into the com and chucks it against the wall. The visor cracks, but the voices are still going, screaming, which means it's still working. Lance drags his still active bayard next to himself, trying his best using his side and one hand to shoot it. After letting out a few cries of pain from moving too much, he manages to shoot the helmet. It eventually gets holes in it and begins to spark, the screams cutting out.
"Lance!" Keith's voice rings out quietly. Damn it.
Lance shoots at the helmet one last time before his grip isn't strong enough anymore. The room is almost completely black in Lance's eyes. Keith's voice returns, this time followed by rushing steps. He must be hearing things. Probably hallucinating, actually.
Lance finally shuts his eyes, head rolling to the side and laying against the wall. The pain he's been feeling, all his feeling, is slowly fading. I hope they find a new paladin quickly for Blue, Lance thinks.
There's just more yelling, but even they eventually stop. Instead they become sobs, and something lays painfully on his side. Lance lets out a hiss, because apparently the pain wasn't gone, and it hit him full force again. Lance's eyes shot open. A mess of black hair, red, and tears is kneeling beside him, checking over his wound.
"Keith?" Lance asks weakly, not really sure since his vision is super blurred again.
"Fuck… damn it. Pidge! PIDGE! How the hell do I fix this?! Holy shit there's blood everywhere…" The hand that isn't on Lance is covering his mouth.
"No shit Sherlock, I'm dead."
"STOP SAYING THAT ALREADY!" Keith screams, not really at Lance but at something else. "Yeah, yeah… No, it's um- I think it's a spear. I'd say about four, five feet?" Lance smiles. Pidge is walking Keith through this… so the prisoners must be fine.
"Yes… No it's all metal. Lance stop smiling damn it you're fucking dying!" His smile just widens, because even in death he can still mess with Keith. His last minutes should be fun. "He's kind of? Like he's being shitty like normal, but fuck he's not being loud and his eyes are open DAMN IT PIDGE HURRY UP THE BLOOD IS STILL FUCKING POURING EVERYWHERE. I SWEAR IF HE DIES IN MY ARMS I'M GOING TO BLOW THIS SHIP UP WITH ME ON IT. YES I KNOW THAT'S BAD FUCKING PLANNING BUT DAMN IT YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIND TWO PALADINS." Keith seems to not realize they're still on enemy grounds and shouting is a bad idea.
"You really should just leave, Keith. I can't exactly move…"
"Shut the fuck up already! I'm not losing you too!" The hand curls into his wound and Lance lets out a small yelp. Keith looks completely terrified. "Sorry! Shit! Fuck me I am such an idiot! Shut up Pidge! Uh, ok… something heated," Keith runs to the tools, taking the pressure off his side.
Keith tests a few out, finally finding the alien equivalent of a small flamethrower. Quickly, he kneels back down next to Lance. Lance can, even though he can barely see, make out how panicked and scared Keith is. It pains Lance. He shouldn't have said anything to him. Keith is back at his wound, trying to be gentle and failing. Lance is just trying his best to not scream, clenching his teeth painfully. "I can't see the spearhead, no," Keith informs Pidge. Lance can hear them faintly curse.
"I have to what?! I can't do that! He's in so much pain as it is! Just- damn it Pidge I know he's dying! Fine I'm doing it!" Keith grips the spear, looking at Lance. "I'm sorry for this," Keith says, planting a kiss on his forehead. A rag used for cleaning the weapons is shoved in his mouth, and before Lance can even question why, Keith pulls. The rag thankfully muffles him, and Keith quickly stops. Lance is barely holding on to his consciousness.
"Ok. Not pleasant, fuck you Pidge. I can see the top of the spear now what? Just heat-" At that point, Lance can't keep his eyes open. He closes them, and soon follows is his mind. He drifts in and out of consciousness for the next few hours.
He remembers being burned, then blacking out. Then waking up in Red with Keith flying like a madman to the castle. The signature blue luminescence of the castle halls. Finally, Lance faintly remembers his friends, mainly Keith, crowding around him before being covered in cold.

XxxXxxX

"Keith, buddy, you gotta eat." Pidge sits down next to Keith with a bowl of food.
The Red Paladin had been staying vigilant beside Lance's healing pod. Like a dog whose master is in the hospital, staying loyal until the end. As much as Pidge loves Lance, they really don't have that much hope in Lance making it. Keith had barely even made it to Lance in time. Besides, even if Lance did pull through, the likelihood is that Lance, and all of them, will probably die in space in some terrible way. Lance had been in the pod for almost a week, and it wasn't looking pretty. Pidge thinks Keith is the luckiest person on the ship, honestly. Keith, as far as they knew, had zero responsibilities or family back on Earth.

Keith silently takes the goo, continuing to stare at his feet. Keith doesn't make a move to eat however, just mindlessly moves the food. It's kind of killing Pidge to see Keith like this. "Did Lance really mean it?" Keith side eyes Pidge, who takes it as an improvement since Keith hasn't talked since Lance got put in the healing pod.

"That he wanted you? Yeah, he meant it. Even back in the garrison he talked about it. We goofed around one night and made code names for everyone. You were 'If I had to choose a guy'. Hunk was 'It happened once in a dream'," Pidge said, looking up at Lance.
Lance was healing, Pidge would give him that. The once giant, jagged cut was now a little less large, giant jagged cut. Pidge still had no good reason as for why a Galra elite guard would carry around a primitively designed metal spear instead of some laser gun or sword. Well, Pidge thinks, some Galra have to have a style.

"I remembered who Lance was, to be honest," Keith says randomly, taking a bite of his goo.
Pidge blinks at Keith, their attention now on him. "You mean when we rescued Shiro?" Keith nods.
"I just said I didn't to mess with Lance. To be honest, again, I kind of thought about Lance a lot while I was gone. Not romantically or anything back then, but he was just kind of hard to forget, you know? Lance was part of the reason I got kicked out of the garrison, after all." Pidge's eyes widen.
"I thought you dropped out to try and find the Blue Lion?"
"Well, that too. I only told you that part though, 'cause Lance would have freaked if he knew what I did."
"What did you do?" A new voice enters the room. The two turn to the voice. Hunk is walking over to them, sitting down beside Pidge. They're both staring at Keith with expectant eyes.
"I might have broke Dean Novak's arm because he was plotting to injure Lance so he could be the 2nd best pilot?"
"That's what happened to Dean?!" Hunk exclaims in surprise.
"Actually, now that I think about it, you guys both disappeared at around the same time," Pidge adds in thought.
Keith hums, taking a few more bites before looking back up at Lance in his pod. The small amount of joy in his expression was once again drained, and Keith looks back down at his food. The black haired man is painfully crestfallen, the two note between a glance.
"The pods aren't made for more than two weeks of use..." Keith says in a small voice, gripping his spoon with white knuckles.

The rest of their time is spent silent.

XxxXxxX

Lance smiles up at the wide blue sky of Earth. He missed home so much, and now he was back! And much to the happiness of his family, with a husband.
Keith laid down next to Lance, entangling their hands. Keith smiles too, but his is directed at Lance, which just makes Lance's grow bigger. "This is so amazing!" Lance breathes, looking at the clouds.
He points to one with the untangled hand. "Keith, look! It looks like a Bulmera!" Lance says excitedly, letting out a few giggles.
"Nah, that's definitely Coran's mustache." Keith laughs back.
Lance flexes his left hand up to the sky. He stares at the gold band wrapped around his finger, then down at the one on Keith's. His eyes go soft, filled purely with affection for the raven haired man. Keith draws their hands up to his lips and plants a kiss on the back of Lance's.
"I almost feel like I've died and gone to heaven," Lance traces circles on Keith's hand.
"You already have," Keith looks him dead in the eye, the smile gone. It's unsettling to Lance. He turns his eyes back to the sky.

XxxXxxX

Keith, although still acting like an abused puppy, was getting better. The man would now go to his room and had resumed his hobby of walking aimlessly around the castle. It's so large that not even Coran and Allura know the contents of every room. Keith had taken it upon himself to figure it out.
Lance was also getting better. The wound couldn't be any bigger than a grapefruit. He's got a day left in the pod until they'll have to move him to the other one. The pods could only be used for so long at once, so they'd have to alternate every two weeks until it was completely closed and the pods decided that Lance didn't need them anymore.
Everyone, including Pidge now, has hope that Lance is going to pull through. Sure, there's a small chance that something might happen during the transition, but that was a small if. Keith is going to be there when that happens. Keith won't let anything happen to Lance during that time. He still had to tell Lance he loved him back.
Keith made his way to the room where the healing pods were in. For once, he doesn't feel a tightness in his chest while he's walking. Keith let out a rare smile.
When Keith makes it to the healing room, Allura, Shiro, and Coran are already there. Keith stays in the doorway, since they haven't noticed him. "What do you mean by that Coran?!" Shiro growls at him, arms crossed in an angry fashion.
Coran twiddled his ginger mustache. "Simple! What I'm saying is that we can't move Lance to another pod!"
Keith's eyes go wide, hugging the wall a bit more. "WHY can't we move him?!" Shiro spits out the same words that Keith had been thinking.
Allura places her hand on Coran's shoulder in a protective gesture. "Look, we only have three pods total. One of them is shattered beyond repair. The other needs serious maintenance. We thought we could fix it in time, but we just don't have the parts. These pods are over ten thousand years old! I'm thankful we even have one functioning one, let alone a functional ship!" Allura retorts, trying to calm Shiro down. Instead, it just riles him up.
"So what are we going to do, Allura?!" He's trying not to yell. He's failing. Miserably.
Allure flinches because angry Shiro is scary Shiro. "This is my plan. The pods are only designed for less than or as much as two weeks of use on full power. That's using the time to heal an Altean. Assuming that human anatomy is less complicated, Lance should have three weeks instead. Which leaves a week left. But if it's going at the rate it is now, he'll be out of time with the wound about the size of Pidge's fist. The damage is right in his organs, so that's a huge risk. If I put the pod at half power, it will take a lot longer, but by the time his time is up, we should be able to repair the other pod. There's a much larger chance Lance won't make it. In fact, I'd bet on it. But if we don't do this, there's zero chance that Lance is going to live."
Shiro finally uncrosses his arms and runs his human hand down his face. "What am I going to tell them?"
"I imagine Pidge will take it best. They're very understanding. Maybe we shouldn't tell Hunk, but most definitely not Keith," Allura says, taking her hand off of Coran's shoulder.
"Right. We'll just have to lock access to the room. I'll go find Pidge and-" Shiro looks up. His eyes lock with Keith's, widening in shock. "Shit."
Allura quickly turns and gasps. Coran follows. "Keith!" She calls out, walking towards him.
Keith takes a step back, clenching and unclenching his fists. Allura stopped her advance and Shiro comes up beside her. "Keith, how much did you hear?" Shiro asks in his concerned dad voice.
"Lance is gonna die…" Keith bites his bottom lip to fight back tears.
"He... He may still live, Keith," Allura adds. It doesn't help.
He doesn't answer. Keith's faith is gone.
Before they can rope him in more, Keith bolts for his room. He can hear Shiro lazily chase him and Allura yelling, but he doesn't care. He's gonna lose Lance before he can even love him back. Cuddle him, kiss him, tell him how much he means to Keith, watch the stars with him, and go on stupid and silly dates on foreign planets.
Keith would be lying if he said he didn't cry into his pillow that night.
XxxXxxX

Lance let out a huge sigh. Really, he wanted to be anywhere but stuck in this boring conference. Anywhere. Maybe even a Galra ship, although those days are behind him. The Admiral apparently wants to beat his dead horse of a speech. Galra cleanup, Human encounter, blah blah blah. Lance just wants to go back home to his kids.
Eventually, the Admiral gives up once even Shiro starts to look bored. And by bored Lance means that Shiro turned to his left and started asking Pidge – who never listened anyways – what they were doing. Shiro only did that once he had nothing to do. The Admiral soon dismisses the group after that.
Lance quickly gathers his things and bolts for the door, giving the two a quick wave while going out. He also grabs his ever loyal house-husband Keith (even though Lance pretty much did all the cooking. Keith just did his fair share with everything and worked at home. It was an inside joke between them.) a free cup of coffee from the café. Lance hops in his car and makes his way through traffic. He curses when he notices the red numbers on the dashboard read ten at night.
His house is a decent size. Five bedrooms, one for himself and Keith, two for the kids, and two guest rooms for his ever large and expanding family. The guests rooms are more occupied than they are empty. The paint job could use a touch up, and he definitely needs to replace the shower head in his bathroom, but it's still a great house. Very large and spacious. Sometimes it reminds Lance of the castle, but the Paladins have long been out of use since the fall of the Galra. Allura visits frequently, although she and Earth's starfleet were still traveling the galaxy. And as much Lance loves space, he loves his family even more. He had had enough adventure for one life, even if he found himself craving the freeness. Lance had a family of his own now.
Lance walks into the house, greeted by the site of his daughter, Alli, hunched over a laptop in the kitchen. He gives the girl a smile, setting his bag down on the kitchen table. Alli looks up at her dad for a second, but quickly goes back to typing. Her long black hair is pulled back in a ponytail. "Entrance exams giving you hell?" Lance grins, taking a bit of the sandwich his daughter made. She smacks his hand in an attempt to protect her sandwich, giving Lance a pointed look.
"Well when your parents are the two of the most famous members of the Garrison, they put a lot of pressure on you!" Alli takes her sandwich back and protects it.
"I can't help it that I'm so awesome, Alli," Lance walks to the fridge to make himself a sandwich.
"Come on guys, we all know Pops is the better pilot!" A new loud and annoying male voice, similar to Lance's own, enters the room.
Alli just takes a sock off and throws it at her brother, Jay. Unfortunately, Jay is not a graceful child and gets smacked in the face with Alli's smelly sock. Jay reels back in horror and Lance sticks his tongue out at him. "How much did he pay you to say that, Jay?" Lance grins, finishing up his sandwich, which his son quickly steals from him. We're a family of thieves, Lance thinks.
"Enough that I had to cradle it in my arms," Jay shoots back, giving Lance his own signature smile. Teenagers.
"He will never let it die, will he?"
"No, I will not," Keith walks in, smiling.
"You still can't prove it. Also get my sandwich back from our son," Alli quickly eats what's left of hers, seeing her father eyeing it.
Keith takes the sandwich from Jay and opts to eat it himself, much to Lance's disapproval. "Whatever, you're dying anyways," Jay says casually, catching Lance off guard.
"I'm not dying, Jay?" Lance looks at Alli and Keith, who seem unaffected.
Keith lets out a chuckle. "Yes you are, dear."
"I think I would know if I was dying!" Lance shouts and Alli smiles softly.
"No, they're right, you're dying right now. None of this is real. None of us are real. Did you really think you'd get a happy ever after? Especially one with Keith?" She stands up from her laptop and gestures around the room with wide arms.
"No, this is… every hero gets a happily ever after!" Lance eyes Keith with scared eyes. Lance notices that Keith hasn't aged a day since they became Paladins.
"Do they, Lance? One always thinks they are the hero of their story. Zarkon thinks he is, and the Galra probably view him as one. Our definition of a hero is so twisted. To a lot, you're a villain, Lance. Do villains get a happy ending?" Keith smirks, sitting Lance down on a kitchen chair.
"You aren't real!" Lance squeezes his eyes shut, willing himself to wake up.
"Oh but aren't I? What is real, Lance? Months ago, sentient robotic spaceship lions weren't real. Aliens weren't real. What's to say I'm not. I'm very much so alive, Lance. Because what is real is what you think and consider as being, and I'm right here," Keith purrs into his ear, the vile words ringing in his ears.
"SHUT UP!" Lance screams and covers his ears from Keith.
"You're dying, Lance. Because only in a dream will Keith EVER love you back. He hates you. You're so unimportant to Keith, that he never even noticed you in the first place. It hurt, back at Shiro's rescue, because you loved him. So you buried it, burned it, so that Keith could never know. But you let it slip, didn't you?" Keith stalks around the table, like a raven circling around a fresh kill.
"You slipped. Told Keith that you had 'gay feelings' for him. That's a shitty way to tell someone. And now what? Death is coming for you, not even space can deter him. Your soul is on the fast track to hell, Lance. You're a sinner. Not because you fell in love with a man, no, because you're a terrible person, Lance," Keith leans against the table across from him. A wolfish grin is plastered to his face.
"I'm the hellfire, and we've just started cooking, baby."

XxxXxxX

"Keith, will you relax for just one day?!" Shiro is scolding Keith, but Keith is paying no attention.
Keith throws a punch at the Gladiator, causing it to stumble backwards. Using the leverage, Keith kicks the legs out from under the droid and drives his bayard through the chest. It gives off a few sparks and struggles a bit before the floor swallows it up. It was set at level four, which scared even Allura for Keith's well being.
"It's been three weeks, Shiro. Lance is more than likely going to die, and I get to live with the fact that he loved me back and we never got to do anything! Damn it, Shiro! Imagine how you'd feel if you found out that Matt loved you!" Keith yells back, very well knowing not to mention Matt, but does it anyways.
Lance isn't doing very well. Terribly, actually. They've had at least five near-death scares and many other health issues, and it's only been a week. Lance still has a week left in there. Coran has taken to just staying in the room instead of running to it since they were so frequent.
Keith is about to spawn in a new level five Gladiator when Shiro spins him around. Shiro looks downright murderous and it scares Keith a bit.
"You wanna know how I'd feel? Guilty. Because Matt is out there, scared, fighting for his life without me! He's probably still holding on to the hope, if he's even alive, that is, that I'll rescue him. At this point is likely that he was separated from his father. He's all alone, and the last fucking thing I did was hurt him! Even if it was to protect him! Don't you think there's a reason I always protect Pidge over everyone else, even if I know it's a bad thing to do?!" Shiro growls at Keith, throwing Keith back.
"Our difference, Keith, is that I haven't given up on Matt! Even though the odds and all the information points at Matt being dead, I still have hope that we'll see each other again," Shiro storms out of the training room, leaving Keith to his thoughts.
It works for a minute until it hurts Keith too much to think. He skips level five and goes straight to level six. Minutes later Allura runs into the training room, having been alerted by such a lethal level, and finds Keith lying on his side, coughing up blood.

XxxXxxX

"Where are we now?" Lance asks, his voice hoarse and eyes heavily.
Dream Keith laughs and fixes the tie around his neck. "Baby, how could you forget our wedding night?"
Lance can't bring himself to be surprised. Dream Keith seems to be dragging him through a wonderful life he never lived with Keith. "Aw, don't look so sad. If it makes you feel any better, Hunk is really funny this night," Keith smiles at him.
"Right."
"Lance, Keith!" Allura calls to them, Pidge walking beside her.
Allura is wearing a very nice purple dress and Pidge is wearing a casual but snazzy suit. Allura is carrying a basket of flowers. Lance snorts. Allura is their flower girl? That's new.
"I must say," Allura is looking down at the petals, "this Earthling ritual is very strange. Throwing flowers in front of the person walking down the aisle." Pidge looks very amused.
"Usually we assign children to do it," They say, patting Allura's shoulder.
Now she looks downright offended. "I am not a child!" Allura pouts.
The group laughs, except Lance, because this scene seems so real. It hurts, too. Because this is exactly how he had always imagined their wedding would go. All the times have always been how he imagined them. Almost always down to the last detail. In the same church, the same faces in the crowd, and even all of their roles were the same. Keith would walk down the aisle, led by Shiro, and his mother would unite them. After which their first dance would be to some slow, sappy song in Spanish, and Lance would love every moment of it while he's sing the words to Keith.
Except it's all hard to do when the man in front of him isn't the man he loves. Just a monster in his skin.
Eventually the day rolls on to the dancing, and the two of them are swaying to a song while everyone else is dancing with someone else. "Why are you doing this?" Lance whispers, which gets Keith's attention.
Dream Keith pulls Lance closer. "You really wanna know why?" The malicious eyes are back.
"Yeah, I do," Lance tightens his grip on Keith's hip.
The man just pulls him even closer and leans up to whisper in his ear. "You remember, you were impaled by a spear. Not an ordinary one, though. No Galra would be dumb enough to do that. No, you see, the one you were killed with increased, to sum it up, the 'bad feeling' chemicals in your mind. Right now, you have enough of it upstairs to be put in a ward back home. Of course, if you wake up, all of this will still be in your memory, but the levels will significantly drop. You'll pretty much be your regular self again, except will you? Because that's what makes this so effective, Lance. Not the fact that I'm here now, but the fact I was once there and you can never change it."
Lance stills and his blood goes cold. He pushes Keith off of him and everyone looks confused. Dream Keith smiles at Lance and it sickens him.
"You can't run from me Lance, I am you."
XxxXxxX

"The pod is ready, right?" The door opens up, revealing Pidge and Hunk.
They walk into the room and join the others, minus Keith, beside Lance's healing pod. It's been a month since that horrid day on the Galra ship. They've been pretty much useless without a member of Voltron. As much as Pidge always had wanted more peace on the ship, it was too quiet without Lance. Everyone is more quiet without Lance. Hell, Keith has hardly spoke in two weeks. He locked himself in his room since Shiro confronted him.
"Quite so! The second pod is fully functional. Of course there is a chance something may go wrong while moving him, but as long as we do it in under a minute we should be alright!" Coran proudly puffs out his chest.
"Shouldn't we tell Keith?" Hunk inquires, looking at the door.
Keith seems to want nothing to do with them. The only time they got a reaction out of him was when Coran informed him that Lance had almost died, again. In which there was a very loud bang against the door like something had been thrown at it. The next day when Allura (the only person Keith didn't yell at) brought him his food, Allura noticed that there was something broken in the corner of the room.
"No, we shouldn't. Keith has to work through this. He's never been in love, the last thing he needs is to be here in the last moments when something could go south fast. What he needs is good news," Shiro nears Lance's pod.
"Have you ever been in love, Shiro?" Pidge joins Shiro near the pod.
Shiro looks down at Pidge. His previously sad expression drops to something that looks like regret. Shiro's gaze lingers a little too long on Pidge's hair. "Yeah. I have been…"
"Alright, enough of the pity party, we actually have to move Lance, guys," Hunk breaks the odd silence.
Everyone gathers around the pod. Lance looks somewhat peaceful in his sleep, but the hole in his side is still a reminder that he could very well die. Unless, of course, this all goes ok. The group looks amongst themselves. With a collective nod to Coran, he presses a button on the control panel and the frozen door roars open.
A semi-frozen Lance falls out and into Shiro's arms. He's already starting to thaw out, Shiro thinks. They really pushed that healing pod to it's max. Hunk lifts up his feet and Shiro takes his torso. Lance's closed eyes open slightly. "Crap, he's waking up!" Hunk says, and they pick up the speed a bit.
"Nnn… fuck you, Keith…" Lance's mouth twitches into a tiny smirk. Just as soon as he was up, Lance is down again.
Thankfully, they successfully get Lance into the second pod. The frost instant covers the door in a thin layer. The group hugs each other and rejoice. Pidge and Hunk even start to cry. Coran soon joins in after. No one even bothers to question why the only words he had said were mean towards Keith, the only one not there. It's a mentally unanimous agreement not to tell Keith about it.
In the middle of their celebration, Shiro goes off to tell Keith the news. He's got a bowl of food with him as well. This will be the first time he's tried to talk to Keith since their day in the training room.
Shiro stops in front of Keith's room. By the door is a few objects Hunk and Pidge had left out for Keith. There's even a sword from the planet they visited a few days ago. Shiro smiles at their gestures and decides it's time to man up. He knocks on Keith's door, waiting for the boy to open up. When he doesn't, Shiro lets out a sigh.
"Ok listen up, Keith. I'm not mad at you for bringing up Matt, even though it's a very touchy subject. I can… kind of handle my emotions, it's Pidge you need to be concerned for. But that's not the point. I thought you'd might like to know that Lance is going to be fine, Keith. We have him in the second pod now, and he's gonna heal up. He's got maybe two weeks left. I suggest that by the time he's out, you should at least try and know what you want," Shiro talks to the door in a soft voice.
"I.. kind of know what you're going through. I've been in love too, Keith. I hurt them, once. But we moved past that, I hope. Honestly, Keith. It scares me too. Love, I mean. I have no idea if they still think of me, still love me, or even want me. Just… don't lose what you have with Lance, Keith. Don't make me watch you let him slip through your fingers..."
Shiro lays down Keith's food by his door. Quietly, Shiro takes his leave, going back to rejoin the others in the dining room. Although they don't see Keith the rest of their night, Allura smiles the next morning when she sees Keith sleeping beside Lance's pod, covered up by Lance's signature green jacket.

XxxXxxX

Lance wakes up in a nursery. The walls are a soft red color. The room has no lights on, except for a small night light, so it takes a bit for Lance's eyes to adjust to the dark. It's surprising quiet, considering that by now Dream Keith would be purring malicious words to him.
Lance looks around and recognizes the signature mullet. It's standing beside a crib with a baby in it, sound asleep. Keith's hands are firmly gripped around the wood, shoulders shaking. Lance is confused since for the first time, he's not acting fiendish.
Sensing Lance's presence, Keith turns to face him. The expression on his face shocks Lance. Dream Keith is crying. Not even lightly, the tears are streaming. There's no sadistic smile on his face. Actually, there's no smile at all. Just head shaking and quivering lips.
"Why can't I stop…?" Dream Keith whispers, more to himself than to Lance.
"What's going on?" Lance asks, taking a step back. Lance doesn't trust this.
"I can't stop!" Dream Keith sinks to the floor on his knees, fists balling in his hair.
"What are you doing? What do you mean?!"
"Don't you get it! I don't want to hurt you, but I can't stop! I'm not supposed to make you feel bad, Lance. I'm supposed to make you happy! I'm supposed to dry your tears and tell you everything is going to be okay! I… I'm trying to love you, I am, but it's so hard when you can't love me back!" Dream Keith shouts, and the room around them collapses.
The room is now just a white emptiness. There's nothing around them, just white as far as the eye can see. Dream Keith is still on the ground, trying to stop his shaking.
"…Why won't you stop…?" Keith hiccups out, the tears finally catching up with his body.
Lance walks over to Dream Keith and rubs circles into his back. Lance pulls Dream Keith – Well, Lance thinks, my mind I guess? – into his lap. Lance shushes Dream Keith and tries to tell them encouraging words, like he always did with his siblings. It seems to work since Dream Keith promptly stops and just lays there.
Over the next week, the dreams or scenes or whatever they are progressively get better. They still mess with Lance, but they aren't aggressively doing so. Most the time, Dream Keith stays silent and they just watch a scene play out. The latest one was watching himself and Keith (apparently now instead of Lance and Dream Keith acting them out, now they just got to watch another Lance and Keith) excitedly bring home their five year old daughter Alli for the first time. For a second, Lance wishes it was all real.

XxxXxxX

"Do you think when we get back to Earth, we could convince Allura that twerking is planetary greeting method?" Pidge ponders, trying balance a pencil on the bridge of their nose.
Hunk laughs through his nose and puts his feet up on the lounge room table. "Probably, but don't you think that convincing her that dogs are also an intelligent species, capable of speech would be even more hilarious? Like just imagine her walking up to a mastiff and expecting it to talk to her," Hunk grins at the thought.
"Hello Earthling! My name is Allura, Princess of Altea! Might I say your fur is lovely!" Pidge says in a terrible accent.
"Shiro, why are they sniffing each others behinds? Is that how you greet dogs on this planet? Should I sniff their butts as well?" Keith tries, looking up from his book. Pidge and Hunk stare at him.
The three of them burst into laughter, and it doesn't help when Allura hears them and walks in to investigate. Every time she talks, the laughter just gets harder. Eventually she gives up and goes back to whatever she was going. Pidge has to wipe away tears from laughing so hard.
"That was amazing, oh my god. We totally have to do that to her and Coran!" Hunk takes a deep breath.
Keith smiles at the two of them. Despite his initial coldness, Keith thinks that his whole Lance thing has strengthened their bond. Hell, Keith thinks, he even considers them friends. Keith hopes the feeling is mutual (although really, who isn't friends with Hunk?)
Although it's a terrible thing that happened to Lance, Keith adds to himself, maybe not everything to come out of this is bad like he had thought.

XxxXxxX

"Surprise!" Dream Keith exclaims, startling Lance.
They're in a restaurant on Earth. A restaurant that Lance knows very well. He worked a job here during the summers, before he joined the Garrison. It's a nice little burger joint. The waitresses are quite attractive, and the manager has known Lance since he was a baby. The man was practically his uncle.
"Why are we here?" Lance notices they're at the table right next to his favorite booth, since you can see the waitresses really easily from here.
"I figured that since you're almost alive again, probably today, actually, we may as well come to the place you found out you liked Keith," Dream Keith points at the door, and himself, Hunk, and Pidge walk through.
This day, Lance smiles a bit. It was a great day for Lance, albeit it was an embarrassing day. He watches himself throw his body into the booth, Pidge sitting beside him and Hunk across. They looked around the place, taking in the scenery.
"Not a very pretty place," Pidge hummed in thought and Hunk nodded in agreeance.
A very pretty and nice waitress named Betsy walked over to them, giving Lance a little wave. "Hi guys! You must be friends of Lance's from the Garrison! He'd never shut up about the place. We're all super proud that he got in! Sorry, I was rambling. What can I get you boys to drink?" She pulled out a notepad and twirled her blonde hair with the pen.
Hunk stared and Pidge asked for a water. Hunk and Lance gave their orders and she walked off, winking at Lance.
"Duuuude, Lance! The hot waitress likes you!" Hunk said excitedly, not even jealous that she hadn't noticed him.
Ok, so normally Lance would totally be all over this. Hot chick liked him, hell yes. But he couldn't really see himself with her. She didn't have a certain look to Lance. "Not really my type, I guess?" It made zero sense because last year Lance had hit on Betsy every chance he could.
"Since when do you have a type?" Pidge retorted, messing with their phone. Probably playing some dating app again, Lance thought bitterly.
"I dunno. Her hair is too long, I think."
"So what, you like girls with pixie cuts or something?" Pidge looked up at Lance with strange eyes.
Lance smiles at his younger self. Oh, if only you knew, Lance thinks.
"I never really cared about the hair. But if I had to choose I would say medium hair."
"Black hair?" Pidge smiled to themself, returning back to their game.
"Yeah. And dark blue-y eyes. That's really pretty. Also someone who sasses me back, because I don't think I could deal with a mushy person. Probably should be able to kick my ass, too," Lance told himself, resting his chin on his hand.
"Bro, you realize you just perfectly described Keith, right?" Hunk raised his eyebrow in an accusing expression.
"WHAT?!" Lance screamed, his face burning.
"Here you guys go!" Betsy randomly appeared, setting their drinks down. She stared at Lance a little too long. Not like Lance was even paying attention over his minor heart attack.
They gave her their meal orders, although Lance always ordered the same thing. A bacon cheeseburger with a side order of mozzarella sticks. Pidge had opted for a chicken salad like a dainty girl (once again, future Lance was laughing at himself, because how was he even surprised Pidge was secretly female?). Hunk was having the same thing as Lance, who was currently in a completely different plane of existence.

There was no way he liked Keith! The emo bastard was his sworn enemy, even if Keith didn't really know he existed. Lance was just jealous, that had to be it. The jerk had the prettiest damn eyes Lance had ever seen, and he looked at himself in the mirror a lot! Plus, Keith had that black, super soft looking hair! He also had a mysterious, dreamy aura to him. So what if Lance thought he was hot? He thought lots of people were hot. So what if Lance maybe had a few dreams where Keith would smile at him and he'd get all fluttery inside. And maybe those dreams had consisted of them going out for dinner at a nice little restaurant, after which they'd go listen to a street mariachi band, and Lance would introduce Keith to his family, and his family would love the guy, and his mom would feed them her famous deserts, and Keith would absolutely love his family back, and then they'd go sit on the roof and stare at the moon and maybe kiss - and yeah okay Lance totally liked Keith now that he thought of it. But that didn't mean Hunk had to say it! He probably did, his conscious said, you're kind of slow.

Betsy was staring at Lance expectantly while Lance was staring at space with wide eyes. "Holy crap," Lance stage whispered, "I have a thing for Keith!"

Pidge cursed, sliding Hunk a twenty out of their wallet. Hunk grinned at put the dollar in his own wallet. Lance wasn't all that surprised his friends were betting on his obliviousness. However, Betsy let out a startled noise and hurried into the kitchen. Hunk looked a little disappointed and Lance just banged his head repeatedly but softly against the counter.

You don't know how hard you've fallen, past me, Lance thinks as he watches. Lance sneaks a glance over at Dream Keith. Dream Keith - or is it more like Coma Keith? Anyways, Dream Keith is watching the event with a sadness in his eyes. The sight makes Lance's drop as well. Something clicks in his mind once he does. "You're not truly my mind, are you?" Lance whispers to himself more than anything, causing Dream Keith to look up at him.

"What do you mean? Of course I am!" Dream Keith shouts, standing up from his seat angrily.

"No, you're not. You're… well, I guess you are, in a way. You're the Keith I created in my mind," Lance says, trying not to sound sad..

Dream Keith sits down, looking guilty. I see, Lance bites his lip. "I knew it. I always dreamt that when I told Keith, he'd think it was a stupid way to figure out I liked him." Lance scrubbed at the single tear that had escaped.

"Lance, I tried, really, to make you not love me. The way you created me, I knew you were looking at actual Keith, not… me Keith. I thought that if you didn't love your Keith anymore, you'd wake up…" Dream Keith fiddle with his wrist, trying not to hiss out the words.

"No, it's okay. That's… exactly what I imagined real Keith doing too. Trying to make me not want to love him. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't working, too," Lance's voice cracked, and now he was furiously wiping at his cheeks.

"When that Galra soldier impaled you, it wasn't for the purpose I told you. Its purpose is to put a person into a coma-like status and make you never want to leave. With the hopeful outcome that your loved ones will eventually have to kill you out of mercy," Dream Keith looks up at Lance.

Dream Keith's eyes are shining too, and his hands are gripping the table tightly. "Lance, you should know that… I know you truly love the real Keith, but if you really want, without having to gamble, Lance, you could… stay with me forever, and I'll love you as much as you need me to, as much as you need the real Keith to," Dream Keith says weakly, looking at Lance with expectant eyes.

"What do you mean?" Lance asks curiously, staring at Dream Keith with blurry eyes.

"I told you. If you just… give in, you can stay with me forever, the Keith you've always imagined."

"You mean, if I kill myself and not wake up?" Lance's eyes go wide, still stinging with unshed and halted tears.

"No, if you went brain dead, you wouldn't be able to. But the not waking up part, yes. I know this is playing into what the Galra wanted but… is it really that bad of a choice?" Dream Keith speaks softly, trying not to scare Lance away from his offer.

Lance looks down at his wet hands, noticing the gold band from all those weeks ago, when he was laying next to Dream Keith, and remembered how real it had all felt. The tears began to flow again, leaving warm streaks down Lance's face. He let out a choked sob before covering his mouth. Dream Keith wrapped his arms around Lance in a comforting hug. Lance knew the real Keith would probably never treat Lance like that, would probably hate him even considering taking Dream Keith's offer. A fleeting thought enters his mind before he closes his eyes, allowing the darkness shroud his world.

… I am so sorry, Keith…

XxxXxxX

Keith shifted on his feet nervously, taking a look around the room. Everyone was in the room, even the mice. They were all on edge. It had been a few hours since the last of the gaping hole in Lance had closed up. He was supposed to wake up any moment now.

Coran and Pidge were crowding around the vitals monitor, Shiro hovering behind them. Allura was conversing with the mice. Only himself and Hunk were silently await their friend. Pidge let out a growl of annoyance, throwing their hands up heatedly."I don't get it!" They shouted, pointing at Lance's defrosting body. "Why hasn't he woken up yet!? His vitals are fine! They have been for hours!"

Almost on queue, the pod whirled open, fog pouring out. Lance's body flew forwards and Keith rushed to catch him. The blue paladin landed safely in Keith's arms, whose smile grew huge. His eyes were still closed, but Keith figured he was still waking up. Placing a light kiss on Lance's forehead, Keith softly whispered, "Hey, Lance."

Lance didn't react, still laying limp within Keith's grip. Keith looked for the kindness in his features, the one that showed from his heart. He looked for the signature Lance he loved. When he didn't find it, Keith have Lance a light smack to arouse him from his sleep. "Lance, wake up," Keith said in a playful voice.

However, Lance didn't. His almost lifeless body continued to stay unconscious. Keith's heart rate picked up again, this time giving Lance a harder smack. "C'mon Lance, wake up, this isn't funny," Keith scolded, his smile dropping.

Again, Lance wasn't responding. Keith's breathing stopped, and the atmosphere in the room dropped a degree. No one moved towards the two. Keith could feel the hot prickle of tears, no longer of happiness. He shook Lance lightly, awaiting his punch in the face from Lance. "Lance, wake up!" Keith cried out desperately, falling onto knees, taking Lance down with him.

Keith curled Lance's still figure against himself, nudging Lance's forehead with his own. A shaky hand supporting his head, Keith could feel the coldness of Lance's body. Almost dead like. The black haired man began to weep, his erratic tears quickly developing into sobbing. His chants of no filled the room, their noise above the other's crying.

"Keith." Shiro walked over to the mourning teen, squat down and placed his hand on top on Keith's shoulder. "He's… He's gone," Shiro whispers, almost not believing it himself.

Keith curls in on himself more, taking Lance along with him. He shakes his head, refusing to believe Shiro. But he can't, because he has the evidence right in his arms. Lance's shallow breathing is barely ghosting against his shirt, so faint that Keith is certain it will end any second now. He looks up at Shiro with reddened eyes and notices that Shiro had been crying, too. Just barely, he thinks. Shiro was trying to be everyone's rock.

Keith shifted his eyes over to Pidge. They were wiping at their eyes furiously, glasses discarded. Hunk was trying to hide his loud cries behind his hands. Coran was hugging Allura, who was hugging him back like the universe depended on it. In a way, Keith thinks, it does. Keith looks back down at Lance, his brown hair damped in some places black. Keith presses another kiss to his hair, as if the action will bring Lance back to life.

Keith has been in a position like this before. Not dying, but holding a dying loved one within his arms. Feeling the life fade out of them. He can see it vividly still, the scarlet color of blood, although the event had been years ago. No one knew about his time on Earth. He's kept his facade up for as long as he can remember.

The first orphanage he ever lived in was a large place. The poor older ladies who ran the place could hardly keep up with them all. However, Keith was a quiet kid. Not because he had a traumatic life story, Keith was just naturally quiet. He'd listen to the older women talk and did exactly what they asked of him. He was quickly known as the favorite amongst the orphanage. The ladies told him to be more energetic, and that it was scaring away potential adopters, but Keith shoved the thought off quickly. If his parents didn't love his quietness, they just didn't love him. Keith soon became big enough to the point where adopters weren't likely to pick him. So, Keith found parents in a form amongst the nurturing women. Obviously, they weren't truly like parents, but it was the closest thing Keith figured he'd get.

One day, his favorite caretaker, Maria, excitedly ran into his room. She began exclaiming about how some men asked to come see Keith for a potential adoption. Keith was shocked, to say the least. No one ever wanted the older kids! Hastily, Keith tugged on his best outfit and followed Maria into the interviewing room.

One of the men was scruffy looking, his eyes black and soulless. The man sitting next to him had the same aura, and it scared Keith. He instantly did not like these men, and told Maria rightfully so. Maria told him to be nice and to at least give him a chance. They took their seats across from the two but Keith held onto Maria's hand under the table.

The interview went… well it went. The men asked Keith the usual questions, but a few of them were weird. Maria waved them off for him, seeing how uncomfortable Keith was, until the very last question. "Do you two have any more questions to ask our little Keith then?" Maria asked in her chipper and accented voice, forcing a smile at them.

"Yeah, we do," The two men nodded at each other as one of them said it.

"Oh?"

"Keith, do you like shooting?" The first man asked, a wolfish grin on his face. Keith's heart started pounding at the sight.

"I-I've never been shooting, sir." Keith was shaky, trying to make eye contact and failing.

"Really? Then I guess we'll just have to show you, Keith!" The second man laughed while reaching into his coat.

Keith's eyes widened as the man produced a silver pistol. The other man pulled out a glock. Maria's hand tightened in his grip. "What are you doing with tho-!" Her loud voice was cut off by a gunshot.

Keith flinched, squeezing his eyes shut. Only until the hand around his dragged him down did he open them. The men had ran out of the room by then and Keith screamed for help. He could hear more gunshots erupting for the hallway, followed by quickly cut off screams. Many shouted that they were going to die.

Keith looked down at the hand still around his. Maria was covered in blood that was streaming out of her neck. Keith gave her a light tap on the face. "Aunty Maria?" Keith tried to calm himself down. No response came and the light in her eyes was gone.

The police had found Keith with blood on his side, cradling his Aunty Maria, singing her the spanish lullabies she'd sing to the kids of the orphanage. She'd sing songs from her mother and from some of her favorite movies. Keith vaguely remembered some of them still.

Their had been twenty-five deaths, twenty of which were children. No one was quite sure why they let Keith live. Somedays, Keith wishes they hadn't.

Sometimes Keith saw and felt similarities of Maria in Lance. It pained him when those traits came out into the open. Whenever Lance got really angry at Keith, sometimes Lance would shout out his name with a hint of an accent; Just how his Aunt Maria would say it. The way Lance would look at him sometimes, like somehow Keith was a true miracle from God himself. Sometimes Keith would find himself feeling the same way towards his fellow paladin. Keith got his breathing down a bit, although he was still very shaky. He remembered fragments Maria's favorite lullaby in that moment. It was a popular song from It seemed fitting to sing the songs the first person he loved taught him to the person who taught him to love again.

"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms. When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken. So I bowed my head and I cried," Keith quietly sang under his breath, humming the melody.

"I'll always love you, and make you happy. If only you will say the same. But if you leave me, to love another, you'll regret it all one day," The room falls silent around him.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." Keith can feel the last of Lance's breaths leave the second he sings the last note.

With new tears, these ones silent and cold, he runs his hands through Lance's hair. Keith closed his eyes, briefly wondering if he was not God's miracle, but the Devil's. Everyone Keith has loved was stripped of him. How long until he loses the other paladins? How long until he becomes the next Zarkon…?

"Buenas noches, mi amor y mi corazón." Keith shakily breathes out.

"Since when have you known Spanish?" A weak voice asks under him.

Keith's eyes shoot open to see Lance's blue opens lazily looking up at him. If Keith could, he'd probably cry more. Instead, Keith is frozen with his hand still in Lance's hair. The other is smiling up at Keith, looking like he's about to cry as well. "Your love and your heart, huh?" Lance practically purrs with happiness, bringing one of his own cold hands to cover Keith's.

Keith nods rapidly, which causes Lance to chuckle. Keith beams at the noise, his smile from before coming back tenfold. Unable to contain his joy, Keith began to pepper Lance's face with chaste kisses. The blue paladin laughed, trying to playfully shove Keith's face away from him. "No, I refuse to love a man who sings Johnny Cash to his dying love, and who also steals my jacket," Lance fake pouts, pulling at the green jacket wrapped around Keith, but Keith just turns and kisses his palm instead.

"If you're done with the PDA, Keith, can we hug Lance now?!" Pidge shouted with heat, still trying to wipe the tears off themself.

Hunk doesn't even bother to wait and runs up to Lance. The large man pulled Lance up, bringing him into a crushing hug. "I thought you were for sure dead! Man, you even made Shiro cry!" Hunk exclaimed.

Pidge hung onto a side of Lance that wasn't Hunk covered. Lance put one arm around Pidge's shoulder and one around Hunk's, hugging them back awkwardly. Shiro walked up to the group and gave Lance a pat on the back. "I'm so glad you aren't dead, Lance," Shiro sighed, walking over to help Keith up.

Allura and Coran ran up too. Coran took the other side not covered and Allura hugged him around the back. If he wasn't staring intense with Keith, he'd probably had been ecstatic at Allura accidentally touching his butt. Instead, he used the arm around Hunk to wave Keith over. The dark eyed teen walked over, unprepared to be dragged into the emotional group hug. Keith got wedged in between Hunk and Coran, however he didn't mind, seeing how alive Lance was.

After what seemed like hours of hugging, everyone pulled away. Minus Keith, who hovered around Lance. No one could have been truly tired, but all but Keith and Lance headed off to 'bed'. Lance's thoughts suggested it was to give them some space, since he was all of them heading towards the lounge area. When everyone had filtered out, Lance grinned at Keith.

"Honestly, Johnny Cash?" Lance teased, which caused Keith to blush.

"My Aunt Maria would sing me it. It was the last lullaby she sang before she passed away," Keith shot back, sitting down on the stairs leading towards the door.

Lance sat down beside him, side eyeing him. "Why are you wearing my jacket, anyways?" Lance is mostly curious about something else, but it seems like a better ice breaker than 'hey yeah so why do you love me?'

Keith blushed deeper, swiftly removing the green article to show his black t-shirt underneath. He shoved the jacket into Lance's lap, who put on the jacket since it's freezing in the healing room. "It helped me remember you were still there. It gave me hope in a way," Keith says sadly.

"Well I'm here now!" Lance smiled, grabbing one of Keith's hands.

Keith gives a small smile back down at their hands. With a soft laugh through the nose, Keith rested his head on Lance's shoulder. "Yeah, you are. I was so scared that I had finally lost you for good…" Keith winces at the thought.

"I was scared when I woke up, you wouldn't love me back," Lance confessed, nuzzling his nose into Keith's dark hair. Lance grins because it was just as soft as he imagined it was.

"We're both idiots," Keith chuckles.

"No kidding," Lance agrees.

"Especially you. Who does that on their deathbed?!" Keith lightly hits Lance's arm with his non-interwinded hand.

"Pft, I knew I would live."

"I didn't! You were gone for over a month!"

"Technicalities."

"Ugh, why do I love you?" Keith lets out a huff, eyeing Lance with a smile.

"I like to think it's my charming personality, care to weigh in?" Lance smiles back.

"Your stupid smile, for one. Your shitty personality, your kindness, and your ability to somehow always manage to party even if you only have five cardboard boxes," The shorter teen informs, grinning.

Lance gapes because it had been Keith in the doorway. Back in the Garrison, Hunk managed to get hold of a few cardboard boxes. He being the weird kid he was, Lance promptly made himself into a knight with them. Lance then made a suit for Hunk and their other roommate. They then proceeded to duke it out, and at the Lance was declared the King of the Box People. Hunk was his royal fool. "You traitor," Lance hissed, causing Keith to laugh.

Shifting up a bit, Keith presses another kiss against Lance's cheek, giving their hands a small squeeze as well. Being the devious bastard he is, Lance turns his heads so their lips connected. It wasn't anyone hot or heavy, just a sweet kiss to let each other know don't worry, I'm here. We're in this together.

Keith pulls back first and stands up. "C'mon box knight, let's go to bed," Keith lets out a yawn, crying having fatigued him.

Lance quickly stands up. Keith is warm, Lance thinks, I can get used to this. He follows Keith out of the room. The familiar sight of the blue luminescence in the halls fills Lance's heart with joy. He made missed the castle and everyone. Dream Keith was shitty company. They reached Keith's room and Lance pulled his hand away. Keith was having none of it and reconnected their hands. Lance frowns down at them. "Um, Keith? We can't exactly sleep in two different rooms like this."

"Obviously," Keith states, looking at Lance with an arched eyebrow.

"Soooo, let go so I can go to my room?" Lance fills in.

"Dude, your room is dusty as hell, and I've been waiting for over a fucking month to see you again. Now get your damn ass in the room so we can cuddle, or have it your way and cuddle with all the dust bunnies!" Keith growls, tugging at his hand.

Lance just smiles, because hell yes to cuddles. They walk into the dark room and Keith leads them over to the bed. It's not really made for two people, but they make do. Lance is curled protectively around Keith, who'd back is slotted against his front. Lance has one arm over Keith and the other is somewhere above his head. It doesn't take long before they both fall asleep.

Lance, before he falls asleep, wonders what would have happened if he had taken Dream Keith's offer. Would it have been this sweet, or would that Keith have been empty and hollow? Lance really doesn't want to know. All he really knows is that the Keith in his arms is the Keith that Lance truly loves, and wouldn't trade for any copy.

After all, Keith was Lance's love and heart, too.