Left. Right. Swing. Dodge.
Left. Right. Swing. Dodge.
The motions were becoming rithmic, quickly eating away the adrenaline Keith felt at the beginning of every match. He'd set the bot to a moderate level, but purposefully programmed it to loop the same attacks. He was too exhausted for a real fight, but he needed a distraction. Training helped him focus.
Keith was a tight bundle of frustration, worry, and guilt ever since the team's failed mission the week prior. It was supposed to be a simple mission- infiltration and extraction. The moment Allura made it known that she had found a secret Galra base a few planets away from Kerberos, Pidge made everyone get into their armor and into their lions, no further questions asked. The found footage of Matt escaping the Galra prison had given her new hope, and she was willing to do anything to find another lead.
Shiro had split the team up to cover as much ground as possible. Lance and Hunk were to monitor the halls for any incoming guards, while Pidge, Shiro, and Keith would work around the base's security. Keith had the bad feeling that three close-combat fighters wouldn't make the best match, but Shiro assured him that it was their best bet at staying hidden.
"With Pidge's hacking skills, your ability to operate Galra tech, and my prosthetic, it will be much easier to get around the base without the risk of exposing ourselves."
And with that, Keith agreed without much further argument. He forced the nagging knot in his stomach down and got ready for the mission.
Left. Right. Swing. Dodge.
Left. Right. Swing. Dodge.
The ten minute timer went off and the bot finally retreated. Keith was about to set up another bot cycle, but his command was interrupted by a voice at the door of the training room.
"Hey Mullethead, Hunk says you've got to come down and eat or else you're going to scare the mice off with your stomach noises."
Oh great, the one person he definitely didn't want to deal with today.
"I'll be down after one more round," he answered flatly.
Lance merely shrugged and came inside. He took off his jacket, went to the corner of the room, activated a panel hidden in the wall, and pulled out a spare sword from the artillery closet. After gingerly testing its weight, Lance closed the panel and approached Keith.
"If you're going to kill time, might as well make it count. You programmed that bot to be way too predictable," he said. He raised his sword as if it were a bat, prompting an eye roll from Keith. "Let's do this."
"Have you even used a sword before?" Keith asked, frustrated.
"Nope, but how different can it from a lightsaber?," Lance said.
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."
Keith swung, and Lance was barely quick enough to get out of the way. A few minutes later, Lance was *kind of* getting the hang of how to use a sword well enough to defend himself from Keith- which wasn't much considering Keith wouldn't actually hurt Lance, as angry as he may have been.
He was surprised at how competent Lance actually was with a sword, considering this was probably his first time fighting with one.
"You're holding back, aren't you? Afraid I'll catch up? Or are you actually this soft in battles?"
Well, that did it. Keith's stubborn pride kicked in and he attacked full force. He wasn't about to let Lance, of all people, doubt him.
Again.
He lunged at Lance with his sword, but Lance dodged his move almost as quickly. Keith turned and bombarded him with a storm of swipes, moving left and right, forcing Lance to gradually retreat. Lance made a desperate swing to try to hit Keith's shoulder with the flat of his sword, but Keith bent down and avoided the hit as soon as he saw the move coming. By the time he came back up, Lance's arm was too far away to make another quick swing and it proved to be his downfall. Keith swung for his legs and knocked him right off his feet, disarming him in the process.
"I can take care of myself," Keith said bitterly, sword pointed at a defeated Lance. "I'd be willing to take on a whole army of Galra single handedly if my life depended on it. If our lives depended on it"
Keith didn't know if it was the adrenaline coursing through his veins, the anger he felt towards Lance at that very moment, or if it was his guilt over their failed mission finally reaching its limit, but he could have sworn his voice had shaken at the end there.
Lance furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait. Is this- is this about…" He slowly sat up, pushing Keith's sword away. "You said the exact same thing last week. When we were on that base, right after..."
He finished getting up and came face to face with Keith. He looked into the Red Paladin's eyes as if staring long enough would reveal the words Keith had been keeping locked up.
"Keith. Keith, It's not your fault the Galra took Pidge and Shiro."
"I had the opportunity to get them back and didn't, Lance," Keith retorted. "I could have gone after them and taken those guards down before they took them off the base, but you stopped me. What the hell was that about? Why didn't you let me go after them?"
"Are you nuts? There were dozens of them, not to mention the druids they had as backup. Two guns and a sword wouldn't stand a chance against magic and state-of-the-art Galra tech, and you know that," Lance said. "I wasn't going to let you get yourself captured too, or worse."
"For fuck's sake, I don't care if I get captured. They. Took. Shiro. And. Pidge. what part of that do you not understand? I could have at least tried."
Lance took a deep breath and crossed his arms.
"Dude, you're taking all the blame. Don't do that to yourself. I've been there plenty of times and it's not pretty. We're going to get them back. We just need to figure out how," Lance said.
"Lance, it's been a week. Seven days. Do you have any idea what the Galra could have done to them since they got captured?" Keith had certainly spent the past few nights thinking about it. "I've already lost my family once, and I'm not going to let it happen again. Not when I can do something about it."
"And what exactly do you plan on doing? Waltzing up to the Galra base and challenging each of them to a one-on-one? Storming Red right to the mouth of the beast?" Keith would be willing do that anyways, and Lance knew it. "You're not a lone wolf anymore. You don't have to push yourself to do this on your own."
You're not a lone wolf anymore. But it still felt like it sometimes. The Paladins were his family now, but sometimes he couldn't help but think that maybe he was still the odd one out. The fifth wheel. Well, seventh if you count Coran and Allura.
"All I've ever done is destroy bridges. This team is the last one I have left, and I'm not letting it crumble to pieces." He wasn't at rock bottom yet, but that meant he still had enough to lose for the fall to be painful. "If risking my life for for one of yours' means the rest of the bridge stays in place, then that's a risk I'm willing to take."
"Por Dios, Keith, what is it going to take to reason with you? There's no trading here. Voltron isn't Voltron without all five lions, and the team isn't the team without all five Paladins. We're going to get them back, but it's not going to be any better if we barge in and die to do it. I'm worried, Hunk is worried, Allura and Coran are worried. But we can't let this eat us up from the inside. We just have to be there for each other while we figure something out and set everything back to the way it should be."
It was now obvious to Keith why Blue had opened up to Lance, and Lance only. He was a sorely needed anchor to keep others from floating away and falling apart. The passion in his voice was a slap in the face that finally gave Keith the patience to keep his head on his shoulders.
There was silence.
There was staring at each others' shoes.
When it seemed that it would begin to be unbearable, Keith finally spoke up.
"I'm...I'm sorry about the past few days. I've been distant and angry. Angry at myself, angry about the mission, angry about everything," he said. "I guess I took most of it out on you. Well, more than usual at least."
Lance let out a soft chuckle. "Well, I'm glad we cleared that up. For a second I thought you were mad that I sneak into your room to steal your gloves sometimes."
"Wait, you what?"
Wrong move, Lance. Very wrong move.
Lance realised his half-joke killed the moment more than he intended it to and frantically tried to patch up the holes. "Hey, uh, let's backtrack for a second. Anyways, I think Hunk is still waiting for us to get to dinner so let's get going, shall we?" He was already rushing to the door before Keith could take further action to express his indignation.
Lance could drive anyone nuts in a matter of seconds. But it was still comforting to know that the Blue Paladin wouldn't let Keith be the lone wolf on is watch.
Sorry for making you guys wait so long for the next chapter. My teachers had the not-so-brilliant idea of spreading finals out throughout the month, so I took a break from the web to study for all of them. Anyways, here it is!
Wrote in some nods to season two, but I tried not to be *too* spoilery in case any of you haven't caught up yet
I tried to keep this chapter platonic, but if you so dearly insist, then i guess you can ship your hearts out anyways. ;)
As always, reviews are very much appreciated!