"Keith?"

He thinks it's a dream at first, until it comes again, clearly outside of his head and not in it.

"Hey, Keith. You awake?"

Keith lets out a small groan and sits up in his bunk. "Lance? Is-is everything okay?"

"Oh! Yeah, no. Everything's fine. Sorry. Uh...I'm glad you answered. And that you apparently sleep with your earpiece in."

Keith rolls his eyes and scrubs a hand down his face. "Yeah, well. It kinda comes with the job. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uh...well. I mean, I understand, like, the units, but actually telling what time it is? I know it's late. Or maybe early."

A corner of Keith's mouth lifts against his will, and he tries not to let it show in his voice. "What is it, Lance?"

Lance takes a deep breath, then lets out a short laugh. When he speaks, there's warmth in his voice, but there's sadness there, too. "I miss you, Kogane."

"Is everything okay?" Keith asks again, but the meaning is different this time.

"Yeah," Lance answers, and then quickly follows with "No."

Keith lays back down on his bed, his hands clasped beneath his head. "You wanna talk about it?"

"There's so much going on, ya know? Sam Holt went back to Earth and got me thinking about how much I miss my family, something weird is going on with Shiro, Lotor is walking around the ship like he's just one of the guys, I almost died today, I-"

"Wait," Keith says. "You almost died?"

"Only almost," Lance says quickly, and he sounds embarrassed. "But you know, occupational hazard. It happens all the time."

"Yeah, well, you don't usually mention it. What happened?"

Lance lets out a long sigh. "It's a really long and complicated story. The short version is, we got caught in a space junkyard that shut down the castle and while Allura and Lotor were off finding a way to fix it with ancient Altean magic, the rest of us were sitting around waiting for our oxygen to run out."

"That sounds...horrific," Keith says, trying hard not to picture Lance slowly suffocating.

"It was. At first, all I could think of was my family, how none of us would get the chance to say goodbye. And then, at the end…" He stops talking.

"What?" Keith urges after a second.

"At the end, when I was sure I was gonna die...all I could think of was you."

Keith's breath catches in his throat and his heart hammers in his chest. Before he can think of a response, Lance speaks again.

"Why don't you come back?" The sincerity in his voice is disarming.

"Lance…" Keith says, sitting up again, and this time he pushes his blankets away and swings his legs over the edge of his bed.

"No, I'm serious! Your old room is waiting for you. You can still go on missions with the Blade of Marmora. I bet there's even somewhere on the castle where you could keep your fighter!"

Keith closes his eyes and rubs a hand on the back of his neck. "C'mon, you guys don't need me."

"Yeah, but I do! I need you! I'm all alone!"

Keith opens his eyes and frowns at the near-desperation in Lance's voice. "What are you talking about? You're one of the paladins of Voltron!"

"I'm not talking about when we're fighting, Keith! It's the rest of the time. Pidge and Hunk are always doing brainy science stuff that I don't understand. Matt too, when he's here. And Allura, Coran and Shiro are always busy talking about ancient Altea and strategy and stuff with his royal assness Prince Lotor. I spend most of my time in the training room by myself. It's like I'm you!"

"I'm going to ignore that last comment," Keith says. He lets out long breath. "I miss you too, Lance."

There's a pause before Lance lets out a quiet, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not just saying that. I really miss you and I'm...I'm sorry that you feel so alone right now. I can't guarantee that I'll always answer, but you can call me whenever you need to."

"Thanks, Keith. How're things with you?"

Keith chews on his bottom lip, trying to decide whether to tell him. He finally decides to just go for it. He has no idea when he and Lance will get the chance to talk like this again. "Well, I...I kind of found my mom today."

He's met with silence, and his heart sinks as he thinks Lance must've hung up until he hears a sniff. "You there, Lance?"

"That's, uh...that's great Keith. I'm really happy for you."

"Well you don't sound happy." He isn't sure what he thought Lance's reaction was gonna be, but this wasn't it.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just…" Lance lets out a mirthless chuckle. "Well now you don't need to come back, do you? There's no reason for you to. And when this is all over, there's no reason for you to go back to Earth, either."

Keith feels as if he's just swallowed a bunch of rocks and now they're sitting heavily in his stomach. Lance really is feeling alone, and abandoned. And now he thinks Keith is going to abandon him too.

"Look, I'm glad I found her. I have a lot of questions and I want to get to know her, but you're wrong, Lance. I'll be back the second you guys need me. And when this is all over, I'll go back to Earth. Because my home is where my friends are. My…" He feels a familiar heat crawl up his neck and to his face and ears. "My home is where you are, Lance."

Lance answers with a sniffle, followed by a small, "Oh." Then more sniffling.

Keith's eyes widen. "Oh! I didn't-I didn't make you cry, did I? I'm sorry!"

"I'm fine!" Lance's voice is tight, though. After a few more sniffs he says, "So, does this count as a bonding moment?"

Keith smiles. "I mean, yeah, I guess so. I sort of wish I were cradling you in my arms right now."

Lance takes a big shuddery breath. "You and me both, Samurai."

Keith wrinkles his nose. "You know I don't like it when you call me that."

When Lance answers, it's in that Voice he uses when he's flirting with whatever breathing thing happens to be closest to him. "Well I don't mind when you call me Sharpshooter."

Keith can't stop the snort that erupts from him, and Lance starts laughing too. It feels good, especially with all the heaviness that's been hanging over everything, and once he's started, he can't stop. When he finally catches his breath his says, "Look, I've gotta get some sleep. It's been good talking to you."

The smile is evident in Lance's voice when he answers. "You too, Keith. You know, when we get back to Earth...You always have a place with me and mi familia. We've always got an extra room for guests. Or we can just make like the Garrison and share my room."

Keith's eyes widen, and he's grateful Lance isn't there to see him blushing as he answers. "Thanks, Lance. That sounds great."

"Goodnight, Keith."

"Goodnight, Lance."

He lays back down and stays awake for a long time. When he finally falls asleep, he dreams of Earth, and the feeling of rain on his skin and a hand clasped tightly in his own.

xxx