Author's Note: For those interested into having songs playing while they read fics I recommend "What if the Storm Ends?" by Snow Patrol since I feel it really goes well with the mood of this chapter and the ones following this one.
You can find it watch?v=S0BDS0-ZwOw
Chapter 4
Keith may have been locked into his room, but he refused to just stay in bed and do nothing. Instead, he attempted to make plans to escape. He suddenly found himself wishing the others were here to draw ideas from.
If Pidge was here she'd be able to hack the system and get the door to open easily.
Hunk would probably find a way to break into the wires of the lock system and force it to open.
Lance's plan would likely be some crazy duo plan of him causing a distraction while Keith knocked Thace out and they make a run for it, and frankly Coran would have a similar plan. Shiro would just kick the door down and Allura would try to reason with Thace a lot more calmly than Keith was capable of.
But they weren't here, as much as he wish they were, Keith was on his own.
Plan A was to wait until Thace entered and knock him over as he made a run for it. It would have worked, except Thace stand firm as a boulder like he had predicted Keith's plan and watch Keith fall back onto the floor.
Keith felt like he had run into a brick wall. What were Galra soldiers made of?!
Plan B happened in the evening when Keith pretend to be asleep and when Thace came to check on him, Keith jumped and tried to run. Would have worked, except Thace tripped and pinned him to the floor until he agreed to not run again.
Plan C would have been to find an air vent and crawl his way through that to freedom, he had read some books with that plan. Unfortunately the only one he found was barely big enough for one of the Space Mice to crawl through.
Keith was trapped, and there was nothing he could do about it, at least for the time being. This frustrated Keith and for the next couple of days refusing to even look when Thace entered to give him food. He didn't say anything, and didn't even look at him when Thace examined his arm.
Keith instead tried to put his anger into regaining his strength. He practice his fighting stances and perform sit ups. It hurt his ribs to do so, and he was always panting by the end of it, but it was a small price to pay. At least he was doing something.
His body didn't agree though. On the third day, after attempting a few kicks, Keith felt dizzy and was forced to sit down. He sat on the bed and wiped the sweat on his forehead and he waited for his dizziness to fade.
He barely heard Thace approach him.
"I'm fine," Keith said automatically, knowing Thace was going to question his whizzed breathing.
Thace looked less than convinced and reached out to touch Keith's forehead. The boy jerked, but Thace held him in place and as his hand touched Keith's hot skin.
"You're burning up," he stated. "Your training sessions is putting too much strain on your body and it's brought your fever back."
"I'm fine," Keith repeated as he yanked free.
That was a lie. His body felt hot all over and it was covered in sweat.
Thace sighed as he rose and reached into his pocket. "It's good to work out and regain your strength, but rushing it is foolish and will only harm you. Any experience warrior will tell you that."
Keith rolled his eyes. So, he's giving me life advice now? Fantastic.
"We need to get that fever down, so you'll have to take this," Thace said as he brought out a small bottle from his pocket.
Keith froze and straightened his posture in alarm. He wasn't liking where this was going.
"What's that?" he said as he pointed.
"Medicine," Thace explained as he kneeled. "It will put you in a deep sleep and bring your fever down."
Keith glared and moved further back on the bed to be away as possible from Thace. "I'll pass. Food is one thing, but I'm not taking some strange drug I know nothing about."
"You already have taken it," Thace replied with a frown. "How do you think I broke your first fever in the first place?"
Keith blinked stunned and shifted uncomfortably. He did remember drinking something during those fever dreams, but that didn't mean that liquid in the bottle now was medicine.
He narrowed his eyes and glared. "I'm not taking it," he said in an icy tone.
Thace said nothing as he unscrewed the cap. "It wasn't a request, you need to take this."
"No," Keith said, readying to fight him. "There's no way I'm drinking that stuff.
Thace snarled as he drew closer. "Yes, you are."
He grabbed Keith by the arm and pinned him to the bed. Keith fought, trying to shake him off and punch him, but Thace dodged. He popped the tip of the bottle into Keith's mouth and felt the liquid poured in.
The bottle was removed and Keith attempted to spit it out, except his mouth was clamped shut by Thace's hand and found his nose was pinched at the same time.
"If you want to breathe, then swallow it," Thace ordered.
Keith tried to hold out, but his lungs demanded air. Reflex took over and Keith swallowed the medicine. Thace released and Keith sprung to his feet coughing and gagging.
He snarled at Thace, and tried to overlook how hot his whole body was feeling.
"You," Keith started, "I'm going to-"
"Keith, relax," Thace said calmly. "There's no point in fighting it."
"I'm fighting every tooth and…nail," Keith said, but found it hard to do so. He was feeling so drowsy and heavy. His legs gave out and he would have dropped to the floor if Thace hadn't caught him.
"I'm…not…sleeping," Keith said, but was forced to give into a yawn.
"The medicine says otherwise," Thace retorted as he scooped Keith up and placed him on the bed.
Keith tried to keep his eyes opened, but it proved fruitless as they demanded to shut and he felt Thace draped a blanket over him.
"Sleep well, Keith," he heard Thace say as he gave into the darkness and went to sleep.
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Keith didn't know how long he slept, but he woke up to hear rain rattling on the roof. He rubbed his eyes as he forced himself to sit up. He wasn't feeling as hot anymore, but his body felt stiff from laying in bed for so long.
His eyes landed on the door. There was no point in checking, Thace was clearly no fool and presumably locked it after Keith fell asleep.
"I'm so ready to be out of here," Keith grumbled as he pulled his knees to his chest and realized his boots had been removed while he'd been sleeping.
Thace must have taken them off, Keith thought. Not that it matters since I can't go anywhere.
He rested his forehead as he shut his eyes and listened to the rain. It suddenly struck him that this was the first planet to have rain.
I'll have to tell Lance, Keith thought. He keeps saying he misses the rain back home.
That was one thing Keith did have in common with him. His missed the rain too. No matter where he was, whenever it rained, Keith could just sit and listen to the falling raindrops for hours. It was soothing, and helped him relax. He had picked up the habit from his mother.
Some of his best memories was snuggling with her under a blanket as they watched the rain hit against the window. They did it every time, even when she got sick and was stuck in the hospital.
They last time they did it, there was something she was trying to tell Keith, but he couldn't remember what it was. He hadn't thought about that memory in years. Something about-
BOOM!
Keith jumped. The thunder shattered his chain of memories as he felt his rapid heartbeat return to normal.
"There's a jolt scare I didn't need," Keith muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hope, Red is okay out there."
Keith assumed his lion was fine in the storm. Although, if Red did become more damaged due to one rainstorm after all the battles they've been in, he was going to sincerely doubt the power of Altean technology.
Another thunder was heard, and while Keith was more prepared this round, he was not expecting the lights to suddenly flicker. Then, all at once, a small boom was heard, the lights in the bunker went out and Keith found himself sitting in the middle of the dark.
He sat stunned, unsure what to think, but it then dawned on him.
The storm must have taken out the generator or whatever powers this place. He froze. Wait all the power? Wouldn't that mean the door-
Keith bolted and tripped over his own feet as he scrambled towards the door. His fingers clumsily found the edge of the door and with a grunt he shoved it aside.
"YES!" Keith cried, but then covered his mouth with his own hand. If Thace knew the power was out, he would be coming straight to Keith to see if he was asleep or not.
A plan formed in his head and he didn't have a lot of time to do it. Thace would be here any moment. Keith hastily pulled the door back shut and then raced back to his bed. He dove under the blanket, and shut his eyes just as footsteps could be heard from the hallway.
Keith kept still as he heard the door slide open. He felt the light of a flashlight shine on his face and then heard the sigh of relief.
"Good, he's still asleep," Thace stated. "I'm going to have to work fast to get power back online."
Keith didn't dare crack an eye until he heard Thace step back into the hallway. He then forced himself to wait another minute before he tossed the blanket off like an old band aid.
"Time to go," he declared as he fumbled in the dark to dig for his boots and found them under the bed.
He shoved his boots on blindly and then carefully made his way through the darkness until he found the door and shoved it aside.
He debated on what he should now.
Still haven't found my bayard, but I could spend hours looking for it and not find it. Keith gripped his chin. I don't know how long it will take for Thace to get the power back on. I won't have a better chance of escaping then right now.
He would just have to explain Allura that he lost it and hoped she understood why. Getting Red flying again and finding the others was the most important thing.
Silently, Keith kept a hand on the wall as he crept his way through the hallways. He wasn't quite certain where he was suppose to go, but stayed alert. The one thing that would ruin his plans was if he literally bumped into Thace in the dark. That would be a pain to deal with.
He paused. The pounding of the rain was slightly louder here. Keith strained his ears and tried to trace the sound until his nose bumped into a door. The rain was especially roaring here, and Keith held his breath as he forced the door to open.
A scenery of pouring rain, grey clouds and lush green foliage greeted him and he stood back in awe.
"That was lucky on the first try," Keith said as he held out a hand to the rain. He gave a smirk to himself, but it was short lived as the lights in the base suddenly came back on.
"Looks like time's up," Keith said. "Got to get moving!" Keith looked at the raining grey clouds. Only problem now was which direction should he run in. Thace never told him how far the base was from Red, and with Keith's luck he could run in the wrong for hours without knowing.
Keith calmed himself, and shut his eyes to concentrate on Red. He mentally called out to her.
Come on, Girl, Keith thought. Tell me where you are.
Red appeared in his mind as she answered and Keith grinned. He knew exactly where to head. North!
Keith sprinted out into the cold rain and tried to not yelp as the freezing water ran down his back.
