TW: graphic descriptions of blood in this chapter. It doesn't really get any gorier than that, but if heavy bleeding triggers you in any way, please read at your own risk.

In Lance's defense, he held his side of the deal for nearly two months. Two months filled with activity, in which his friends were hurt countless times, and he didn't use his powers even once.

He didn't use them when Hunk crushed his lion and banged his head against the control panel, earning such a nasty concussion he could no longer fly Yellow and both Black and Blue had to drag them back to the castle.

He didn't use them when Keith had his shoulder busted while fighting off about ten Galrans all by himself, and even though they had to wait nearly half an hour for a rescue and he was bleeding through this entire time, he still had enough strength left to scream at Lance that he was fine and if you dare lay a finger on me, Lance, I swear to god I'll make you bleed.

He didn't even use them on himself, even though he couldn't help but wonder what harm could be done by that. After all, he wasn't wasting quintessence if he was transferring it back into his own body, wasn't he? But Allura refused to hear any of it, and practically pushed him into a pod as his injured leg threatened to buckle underneath him - it got trapped under a pile of crates which collapsed on top of him while the paladins were creating havoc in a Galra warehouse.

Lance wanted to use his powers so bad; he hated to see his friends hurting without getting the help he could give them. But he also knew that by doing so he will hurt himself and make them worry about him, and that was an even worse feeling. So he refrained.

But it was only a matter of time before the choice between his friends' lives and his own had to be made.

The plan for this day's mission of infiltrating a Galra ship was simple and straight to the point: Hunk and Pidge would sneak into the control room, hack the security system and download all the valuable data they could find, while Shiro, Keith and Lance would use the temporary security failure to release a bunch of prisoners and lead them to the castle which floated outside in standby, hidden from the ship's radars. It wasn't the first time they performed a mission like this, and the ship wasn't even that big, so nobody expected anything to go wrong in particular. Get the data, get the prisoners out, get back to the castle. That's all.

However, even though the ship wasn't large, it was crawling with Galra. They didn't know whether the prisoners happened to be high-class ones or whether the data was extremely valuable - either way, the second the systems were down all the corridors were filled with droids along with flesh-and-blood Galran soldiers. There were hundreds of them and only five paladins, so things went downhill pretty quickly.

It was nearly an hour since their arrival when Lance made his way from the control room back to the other side of the ship, where Shiro and Keith were supposed to be finishing loading the prisoners to the escape pods. There had been a change of plans after they had realized there was no way Pidge and Hunk would be able to fend off the enemy by themselves while tinkering with the computers, so Lance was sent to cover them. He wasn't too happy to leave Keith and Shiro alone, but he also knew that they were the best fighters on their team, and right now his cover fire was needed somewhere else.

Shortly after he stopped counting how many Galrans he had taken down with his bayard he heard Pidge's triumphant cheer from behind him. "Download is complete! Come on, let's get out of here!"

"I'm sending the castle at the direction of your edge of the ship, so be ready to hop on!" Allura announced through the comms. "Is Lance still with you? If so, tell him to come too, we need to evacuate as quickly as possible."

"Sorry princess, but Keith and Shiro hadn't been responding on the comms for the last few minutes, so I'm going to check on them first!" Lance called, already springing forward and ignoring Pidge and Hunk's protests. "We'll catch up with you guys later!"

He ran as fast as he could despite his aching muscles, hopping over still bodies from time to time (all Galra, to his relief), though he did not encounter any new attacks along his way. Perhaps they finally managed to wipe out all the Galra on the ship, and in this case, evacuating should be a piece of cake.

Lance finally reached the prisoner deck and skidded to a stop, only to see the last escape pod launch into space. "Oh great, you got them all out," he panted. "Pidge and Hunk just scrammed and Allura's waiting for us, so we should really get go - " his words were caught in his throat when he circled a corner and ran into Shiro and Keith.

Shiro was sitting on the floor with his back against a wall, his face so white he looked like a ghost. His eyes were only half-open and he was breathing way too fast and too shallow. Keith was kneeling beside him, pressing his hands against a large tear in Shiro's thigh plate. which was shuttered beyond recognition and had blood leaking through it in a never-ending stream, already forming a puddle on the floor beneath them.

"What happened?" Lance dropped to his knees next to Keith, staring unbelievably at Shiro's torn leg.

"He got shot," Keith said, his face red with effort. "Those bastards... I think it tore through the femoral artery, judging by all the blood... fuck, it won't stop, fuck!" he groaned and pressed harder, though it did little to contain the bleeding.

"Keith, it's okay," Shiro muttered. He seemed awfully relaxed, almost sleepy. Which, of course, was a very bad sign.

"Stop saying that," Keith hissed. "I'm not some fucking kid!"

"Allura, we sent all the prisoners out, but Shiro got shot in the leg and he's bleeding, badly," Lance said into his comms as Keith was clearly too hysterical to call for help. "We need rescue now!"

"I'm sorry, Lance!" Allura called, sounding frustrated. A mix of static noises and distant explosions filled the background. "The Galra have ambushed us - I don't know how they did it, but they just launched dozens of warships to surround the main ship and they're firing at the castle from all directions! We're trying to find a way to pass through, but it might take some time!"

"We don't have 'some time'!" Keith screamed back at her, but Lance has already yanked his helmet off and nudged Keith's side. "Move. Let me patch him up."

Keith only stared at him dumbfoundedly, as if he did not fully understand what Lance was saying. "But you're..." he hesitated.

"Keith, if I don't heal him now he's going to bleed to death and you know it," Lance said firmly. There wasn't a hint of fear in his eyes, only pure determination. "It's our only option. I'm not going to let Shiro die, not on my watch."

"Lance..." Shiro rasped, trying to get his eyes to focus on the blue paladin, "D-don't..."

Lance waved his hand to shush him. "Don't forget our deal, Shiro," he persisted. "I'm not allowed to use my powers unless it's a life-or-death situation, right? Well, you have a gunshot in your thigh, so I really don't know how it can get more life-or-death than that. So I'm going to save your life now, and you're going to be fine, and we can worry about me later, is that clear?"

Shiro wanted to argue, but he barely had any strength left. Besides, he knew Lance was right, even if he refused to admit it. He managed a tiny nod before his eyes fluttered shut and he sank a bit lower against the wall.

"No no no, Shiro, you have to stay awake," Keith raised one bloodied hand off Shiro's leg and tapped his cheek several times, but their leader remained still and unresponsive. Keith turned his gaze to Lance, his face washed with panic. "Hurry," he begged.

Lance adjusted his position, planting his butt on the floor, and placed both his hands next to Keith's. "When I get to three, you take your hands off the wound as quickly as possible, so I can put mine right over there. Ready?" Keith nodded feverishly, and Lance started to count. "One... two... three!"

They both moved as fast as they could, although a small fountain of blood still managed to sprout between Lance's fingers before he covered the wound again. He heard Keith make a gagging noise beside him, but his hands did not budge. "Keith, I don't know how long it'll take me to close an open artery, but it's probably going to be a tad more difficult than a broken arm, so I need you to keep your shit together until I'm finished, okay?" He wasted no time waiting for an answer, as his hands already started to glow with the familiar blue light.

Keith seemed to get the message though, as he placed his own palm across Lance's lower back to support him. "I'm right behind you," he breathed.

The blue ball of light swerved and curled around Shiro's thigh, but the torn artery did not succumb to the healing energy so easily. It was a painfully slow process, and it took more than a whole minute for the bleeding to slow down a bit, though it was still leaking in a steady pace beneath Lance's fingers. Shiro's face remained pale and unmoving through the entire time, and if it wasn't for the barely visible rise and fall of his chest he would have looked like a dead man.

"I need more power," Lance hissed through gritted teeth. He was sweating so hard that the blue light reflected in the perspiration on his face. "Come on, stupid quintessence..."

The light glowed harder all of a sudden, so bright that Keith had to squeeze his eyes shut. He felt Lance's back shudder beneath his palm, vibrating from both energy and exhaustion. He bit his lip, wishing with all his might that he could take some of Lance's burden, pass him some of his own quintessence so he won't collapse before Shiro is out of danger.

Keith wasn't sure how much time had passed before the pressure on his eyelids suddenly lessened and he cracked them open gingerly. The light still encircled Shiro's thigh, but it was a lot weaker now, and he could see through it that the bleeding has finally stopped and the skin around it started to form a scab. He released a huge sigh of relief, turned to Lance - and froze in horror.

Lance's face was beyond pale; it was ashen, and there were dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for a week. But the worst part was his nose. It wasn't dripping lightly like last time - this time blood was leaking from his nose in a harsh, constant flow, just like Shiro's thigh bled moments ago. Dark, brownish-red splotches littered not only the lower half of his face but also his armor from the chest to the stomach, standing in sickening contrast to his gray and lifeless skin.

"Lance!" Keith wrapped an arm around Lance's shoulders, wondering how the hell he managed to keep himself upright until now. "Oh my fucking - you need to stop, now! Come on - the bleeding has stopped, can't you see? Now you're the one who's bleeding out!"

"...isn't fully closed yet..." Lance muttered, his voice less than a whisper. Every part of his body was wrecked with shivers now save for his hands, who remained strong and steady. Keith wanted nothing more than tear them apart from Shiro's body, but before he could move or say anything, Shiro shifted in his place.

The black paladin moaned softly before his eyes snapped open and he shot up with a loud gasp of air. "What the..." he looked around in confusion until his eyes rested on Lance and Keith. He gasped once more as he caught the sight of the person who was healing him. "Lance!" he cried, clumsily trying to pry Lance's hands off his leg, but somehow they stayed glued to the wound. "Lance, stop! I'm okay now! I'm - shit..."

Lance didn't reply. It wasn't clear if he was listening or hearing anything at all at this point. His face grew paler and paler with every passing second, and even his hair seemed to lose some of its color. And the most horrible thing was that at the same time, Shiro's face was gradually filled with more color, more vitality, as if his body was sucking directly on Lance's life force. The sight was ironic in the most grotesque way possible.

Just when Shiro was ready to ask Keith to forcefully pull Lance backwards, Lance's hands finally slipped away from the wound as the last spark of blue light vanished. He toppled to the side like a sack of potatoes and crashed right into Shiro's chest. His eyes were shut but his nose was still bleeding freely, staining Shiro's armor and mixing with the pool of half-dried blood below his thigh.

"Lance," Shiro breathed, so shocked he wasn't even able to raise his voice. He touched the blue paladin's face with a shaky hand and felt around the cold, clammy skin. "Lance, wake up, please, you have to wake up..."

To their both surprise and relief Lance's eyes fluttered open, if only to a silver, and he stared at Shiro hazily. His mouth twisted into a crooked smile, though it looked more like a grimace, especially with all the blood covering his lips and front teeth. "Y're 'live..." he slurred, looking so genuinely happy despite all the pain and exhaustion it was utterly heartbreaking.

"I'm very much alive," Shiro said softly. He wrapped his arms around Lance and held him close. "And it's all thanks to you. You did good, kiddo. You were amazing. I'm so, so proud of you."

"J'st doin'... m'job..." Lance coughed weakly, more blood spilling from his lips.

"Allura, we need the castle now!" Keith barked into the comms with renewed panic. "We're out of time!"

"We just managed to clear a path, we're coming your way now!" Allura yelled in response. "How is Shiro doing?!"

Keith froze, realizing that in the rush to save Shiro's life he hadn't even told the others what Lance has done. He gulped at the sight of Lance, who was now unconscious, with Shiro desperately trying and failing to wake him up. "Shiro's okay," he said thickly. "But Lance is..." he choked on his words, unable to continue.

"What?! Did Lance get hurt too?" Hunk joined the conversation now, and Keith flinched at how terrified he sounded.

"Keith, what is going on?" Allura demanded.

Keith looked at the ceiling, blinking to hold back the tears that burned his eyes. "Lance used his powers to heal Shiro's leg," he said, barely controlling his voice. "He... he saved his life."

The mixture of gasps and cries which pierced through his comms made it clear that the others understood exactly what he meant, and Keith nearly tore his helmet off from frustration.

Then Shiro's words reached him through the cacaphony of voices. His speech sounded so broken that Keith barely recognized it, barely managed to catch the meaning of his words. But one look at Shiro's face, which was crumpled in utter despair and streaked with tears, was all he needed to be knocked back to reality.

"He's not breathing."

-X-

Muwahahah, cliff hanger! :P I'll try to upload the next chapter as soon as possible, but it's a pain to edit since it's kind of a heavy chapter, and I have a busy week ahead of me. So, I'll try my best to aim for 4-5 days from now, but no promises! You're more than welcome to scream at me in the comments in the meantime.