It turned out that Lance had gotten some good out of the long, uncomfortable night, much to Shiro's surprise. After the call from Hunk and Pidge, and after he'd gotten over his emotional response to Hunk's promise, Lance was downright chipper. He didn't move much, but he smiled and talked as much as he had breath for, and even the flush in his face started to look more like a sign of life than the mark of serious illness it really was.

And then he started getting insistent.

"For pity's sake, Shiro, would you just...lie down."

Shiro blinked at him. It was disconcertingly difficult to make his eyes stay open. Every time he blinked, his eyes just wanted to...stay shut. Still, he tried. "No," he said.

They were still sitting in the mass of leaves at the end of the giant branch. There were enough branches and leaves arched over their heads to provide some shade from the rapidly heating sunlight, and the breeze still felt good up here. Plus, great line of sight. Lance didn't want to move back to the trunk, and neither did Shiro. After some discussion, Shiro had gone and fetched the majority of their stuff. He'd also flown down to the forest floor to get more water, so they were well-supplied.

Lance's hands rose in front of his face, stiff-fingered in exasperation. He sucked in a deep, deep breath, noisy and loud and wheezing, then went off. "Just...take a break, would you? Please. We don't have to watch out for Galra ships. They're not gonna be scanning for us, and when they do start to break Pidge's hack, someone from the castle will warn us. You've been awake for two nights in a row and...and it hurts to look at you, man. Your eyes are so bloodshot..." His hands waved in the air as he searched for a comparison, but as usual, Lance didn't have much. He finally blew out a breath and collapsed, his hands falling down. "They are really bloodshot."

Shiro blinked at him again, distantly astonished by the outpouring of words. He hadn't thought Lance had the strength for such discourse. And indeed, the aftermath of the rant left Lance slumping against the bundle of branches at his back, panting and wheezing and clutching his hands in front of his body to keep them from shaking.

"Someone has to keep watch," Shiro said, because it was pretty much the only thought in his head at the moment.

"I will keep watch!" Lance shrieked.

Birds flew away above their heads, squawking in indignation.

Shiro's eyebrows rose.

Lance closed his eyes for a moment and drew a breath, slow and careful, though his chest still hitched halfway through. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Shiro again. His eyes looked clear and coherent, for the moment, though Shiro couldn't quite believe it. The memory of Lance last night, fevered and coughing and mumbling in his sleep, was too strong.

"Shiro," Lance said. Oh, and that was his reasonable voice. Shiro rarely heard that one, so this was going to be interesting. Shiro settled in and nodded seriously for Lance to go on.

Lance took another breath. "I know I'm sick. I know I'm not really...reliable. Right now."

Shiro opened his mouth to protest, but Lance waved a hand. "Not what I meant. Don't...console me. Just... I know you're scared to leave me alone, even by...taking a nap. But this is our chance, man."

He looked around, over the field, and Shiro didn't miss the uptilt of his chin, the brightness of his eyes and he peered to the forest beyond. He still had to take breaths in the middle of his sentences, but it seemed much more controlled than it had been last night. "This is it. I've been sick before, though not this bad. I know...morning is when I'm likely to feel...as good as possible. I just got as much sleep...as I'm going to get, thanks to you...taking care of me. In a few hours I'm gonna be...I'm gonna be dragging again. I know that. But right now, I'm awake. I'm alert. I can see just fine."

He looked back to Shiro. "And thanks to Pidge, we don't have to...worry about Galra ships. Just foot patrols. I can watch the field...and the forest. I can see them coming. Just...give me my bayard."

He looked around at the gear, which he hadn't been much attention to when Shiro had brought it over. At the time, he'd still been shielding himself from the light and trying to doze, still trying to "sleep in." He'd now given up on that.

Shiro smiled and found the bayard, thankful that it had been materialized and clipped to Lance's hip at the time of the crash, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to summon it with the broken armor. He placed it in Lance's hands and watched as Lance made his weapon appear, long and deadly and heavy in his hands.

Despite his weakness, Lance lifted the weapon fairly easily and cradled it to his chest like a favored pet. "See? I'm fine. And I know...it's temporary. But that just means we gotta...take advantage of it now. So...you go to sleep. I'll take watch. Just for a few hours, Shiro. Please."

Well. This was strangely persuasive. Shiro opened his mouth, but he didn't have an immediate argument. He closed his mouth again, frowning.

Lance grinned at him, broad and bright and almost silly. He could sense that victory was at hand. "Besides, how would you even...shoot them at long range...when you don't have a gun? I have a gun, and you don't." His tone implied that this was obviously the winning argument, and no further discussion was necessary.

Shiro narrowed his eyes. He was pretty sure he did have a plan for dealing with the foot patrols when he saw them, but he couldn't remember it now. He was too tired. Had it been...sneak up on them from behind and destroy them with his arm? That might have been it.

Lance wiggled his eyebrows and nodded encouragingly, and Shiro had to concede the point. A gun was definitely the superior option in this scenario. He tilted his head slightly, but still couldn't quite give in. There was a hesitation in his chest, holding him back.

Lance sighed and lowered his weapon into his lap. He looked at Shiro full-on, his eyes wide and solemn. "Please, Shiro. You need to sleep. Please trust me."

And that did it. That broke Shiro's last barrier, filling his chest with something warm and light and soft. He smiled, and he felt it spread through his entire being. How could he not?

"Okay, Lance. I'll go to sleep. Just for a few hours, though. If you start to get too tired, or if something happens, wake me up. I'll be right here next to you."

Lance busted into a big grin, the one that Shiro liked the best, so broad and childlike and charmingly sincere. "Booyah, Grandma! I won't let you down."

Shiro couldn't help but smile back, almost as big as Lance. "I know. And don't call me Grandma."

With that, he felt himself sinking down immediately. He lay down on the branch, curled up on his side, his feet and one arm lodged securely in the smaller branches so there was absolutely no chance of rolling off while he slept. He pillowed his head on his flesh-and-blood arm, and his eyes closed on the sight of Lance settling back where he sat with his gun in his lap, a bright smile still on his face.

"Yes sir, Shiro, sir," Lance said cheerily, not a hint of sarcasm to be heard.

Shiro smiled gently, already fading out. It was okay. He could sleep. Just for a little while...

There were some things Shiro liked about being constantly sleep-deprived. It was why he did it on a regular basis. For one thing, it was great to just be able to instantly pass out the very second he decided to go to sleep. As soon as he stopped fighting it, sleep was there, wrapping him up in thick folds of black. It beat lying awake with nothing to do but think, that was for sure.

The main benefit of this kind of sleep, though, was no dreams. If Shiro ever accidentally got too much sleep, the dreams came back. They usually didn't make sense, but that didn't mean they were easier to deal with. He always had the feeling that things he saw his dreams were just the smallest corner of an enormous reality. Big, awful things were hidden in the depths, things he couldn't see yet, and an enormous feeling of horror welled up in him with the realization.

What he did perceive in the dreams was bad enough. How much worse were the things he couldn't see? Magnitudes, he was sure. So much worse that they would break his mind the instant they were exposed. Better to just...not know. To not see. To never see at all, even the tiniest hint.

One of the drawbacks of this sleep, though, was the way time seemed to just...skip. One moment he was awake in the early morning, then he laid down and closed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, it was much later in the day. Shiro was still for a long moment, staring blankly ahead of himself as he tried to orient himself. The leaves shifted before eyes, gold and shining in a light breeze. Sun filtered through the branches above him, warming his body enough to border on discomfort. He shifted his head and felt sweat where his cheek lay against his arm.

What had woken him? Shiro blinked, and everything rushed back. Where was Lance?

He sat up in a rush, his heart leaping into his throat, then swayed as dizziness assaulted him. Shiro had been already pushing himself up to a crouch, but now he had to lower his head and press his hand against the smooth bark for a moment as he steadied himself. Where... Where?

There it came again. The sound that had woken him. It was Lance's gun firing.

Shiro raised his head, his eyes so wide that they hurt. He turned his body on the balls of his feet, one hand reaching out to grab a handy branch to anchor himself where he crouched, and... There he was.

Lance was stretched along the branch, farther down from their initial nesting spot, lying on his stomach with his head up and his arms holding his gun steady as he sighted along the barrel. It was a classic sniper position, and for a moment Shiro could only stare at him, his mouth dropping open. Despite Lance's disheveled appearance, his sweat-stained clothes and tousled hair, he looked almost...professional.

"Lance..."

Lance didn't look up, didn't even spare a glance for his leader. He lay there, still and quiet, sighting down his barrel. "Shh."

The sound was so quiet. Barely even a breath of air. But Shiro heard him, and he ducked further down against the branch, instinctively wary. He didn't dare to move and hardly dared to breathe, afraid of interrupting the delicate balance Lance was maintaining. Lance's hands were steady on the gun, and his body was perfectly still. Not even his breath made a noise. Was he holding it?

After another long, aching moment in which Shiro could only listen to the breeze and the birdsong above them, it suddenly ended. Lance relaxed, slumping down on the branch with a gusty sigh. He sucked in a breath, then another one, shaking and rattling his entire frame.

"Lance..." Shiro dared to move, creeping up beside him on the branch. He laid his hand on Lance's back and felt it jerking up and down, one breath, two, another, harsh and wheezing. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine. It's fine." Lance rolled over on his side, away from Shiro's touch, and grinned up at him. His smile was a little shaky, but it was entirely real. His body was limp where he lay, though, entirely worn out. Only the hand still holding his gun was firm. "Two robots, two shots."

Shiro eyes widened. He turned back down the branch, toward the field, looking in the direction Lance had been aiming. He flopped down on his stomach next to Lance, exactly where Lance had been lying a moment ago, and found the opening in the leaves Lance had been using to snipe through.

It was hard to see from this far away, but... Yes. The glint of metal. It was all the way on the other side of the field of giant leaves, only yards away from the jungle. One of the robots had ruined some of the plants when it fell, otherwise Shiro wouldn't have been able to see them at all. They would have disappeared under the leaves like wreckage under the surface of a sea, broken and lost and vanished beyond the finding.

Shiro looked back to Lance, his eyes wide with wonder. "Two robots, two shots."

Lance nodded, a crooked grin turning up the corner of his mouth. "I was just watching to...make sure there...wasn't another one."

"You destroyed a Galra patrol. With two shots."

Lance nodded. He just nodded, this kid, this miraculous kid, didn't crow, didn't triumph, didn't lord his victory over the world. "I'm a good shot."

Such simple words. "I'll say you are." Shiro turned back to stare at the fallen robots again. "How are you so good at this?"

"Step-dad's...ex-military. Army sharpshooter. Been...going to the range...since I was eight."

So...a lot of practice. Sure. But that was talent, too. Sheer, raw talent that Shiro could only marvel at. And Lance had done that while sick with pneumonia and a high fever. While barely able even to breathe. Somehow, someway, with all the disadvantages stacked against him, he had held his hands steady and sighted down his weapon and sniped their enemies from...

How far away? Shiro couldn't guess. The scale of everything on this planet kept throwing him off. When this was over, he was going to ask Coran to come down here with surveyor's equipment and figure out exactly how far Lance could shoot. Because... Wow. He'd seen Lance shoot in training, of course, but they'd never pushed his limits, never even done much target practice, since most of their training was based on hand-to-hand. He never would have guessed...

Shiro turned back to Lance and reached out to pat his cheek. It was warm under his hand, still shaking as Lance fought for breath after the strain he'd put his body under, but Lance smiled at the contact even so. "You're amazing, kiddo. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."

Lance's smile broadened. "I keep...telling you guys..."

"Yeah, you do." Shiro took one more look back to the fallen robots, then got up on his heels on the branch and reached a hand down for Lance. "C'mon, big guy. Let's get you back to the lookout point. You did your job. You kept your watch. You can rest now."

Lance lifted his hand and let Shiro grab it, holding him strong and steady. His bayard winked out of existence as he relaxed, letting Shiro take over. Shiro levered Lance up to a sitting position, then helped him back to their nest in the branches. Once there, Lance fell backward into his usual reclining position against the branches, still fighting for air.

"Did you...sleep good?"

Shiro smiled at him, slow and wide. "Yeah, I did, buddy. I slept great. I feel fantastic. So I can take up watch now, okay? You did it. You gave me the time I needed."

"Okay. Good." Slowly, breath by breath, Lance's panting and heaving calmed. He slumped against the branches, and his eyes drifted to half-mast. "That's good. I was...getting worried about you."

Shiro laughed softly. "I know. Thank you." He ruffled his hand through Lance's hair, pressing his fingers into Lance's scalp when the kid closed his eyes in contentment. "You can sleep now. I'll be right here."

"Okay. Wake me up if more come so I can shoot them." And he was out, just like that. Shiro knelt there for a long moment, just watching his face.

When he couldn't delay any longer, he turned away and looked back to the field again. That was one Galra patrol down. There would be others, he was sure. How would he deal with them when they came?

Shiro's metal hand clenched into a fist. He would figure out a way.