Overexertion

by stride.for.victory

Keith pushes his combat abilities too far, affecting not only him but he rest of the paladins. He learns his limits the hard way. More description in the first chapter. Also, I wanted to say that this story has received the most hits and follows out of all my works. Thank you all so much! P.S. I am willing to work with artists and commission art for this story! Please DM me. :)

10. Amends - A Series of Events

Reminder: This story takes place in season 1, where Keith still pilots Red and Lance pilots Blue, and Shiro is still with the team. It continues into season 4.

AN:Okay so, you know how I said chapter 9 was my longest chapter? Yeah, check that. This shit is over 14k words, close to 15k! How? Anyway, in this chapter, I summarize events that occurred in season 2, but also add my own flare. Thanks for sticking around, and if you're new, thanks for choosing this fic!

(Updated: 10/14/2017 and 12/04/2017)

I edited out the part where Keith says he doesn't know what a virgin is. He's 18, he knows what it is/means lol

I was debating what to do with that scene for a while and decided to remove/edit it. If you are a new reader, disregard this message lol

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Chapter 10: Amends/A Series of Events

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Amends

The imitation alcohol that felt so good going down his throat now burned as it came up. With every hurl, Keith's hatred toward himself grew. Somewhere deep down, he knew better, but he just had to have that elixir. Now he was dearly paying the price for his frantic behavior.

Lance winced and shivered as Keith spewed another mess from his mouth. He tip-toed over to Keith's side and held his hair back with his arms extended out. He felt bad for the red paladin, but the sounds he made and the smell of it all was awful.

When it finally stopped coming up, Keith collapsed onto his side, huffing in exhaustion. He then began to shake, as though he were shivering. Lance couldn't tell if it was from exhaustion or because he was cold or frightened, but he didn't bother to ask. He brushed strands of hair from his face and caressed his head. "You're fine now, Keith. Just try to relax."

Keith crept his eyes open and weakly smiled at Lance over his shoulder in thanks.

Shiro then spoke through the communication device. "We're sending a bot to clean the room."

"Ten-four. I'll get Keith out of here and take him to the bathroom to wash up." Lance responded, then whispered to himself, "If he can stand, that is."

Shiro agreed that was the better option and disconnected.

Lance gently rolled a limp and groaning Keith onto his back and sat him up, then made sure he wouldn't puke again before he did anything else. "No, I'm fine now. Better, anyway." Keith mumbled.

The paladin was like putty in his arms; Lance was sure he was half-conscious. He draped his jacket around Keith's shoulders since he was still shaking, then scooped him up and carefully made his way around the hot mess on the floor and to the bathroom.

Once they made it, Lance asked if Keith could stand on his own for a few minutes and wash his face. Keith replied with a low groan but eventually nodded yes. Lance slowly brought his feet to the ground and held the paladin under his shoulders as he steadied himself, Lance's jacket still draped over him.

He kept a watchful eye on Keith as he turned on the water and washed himself, practically in slow motion. He felt guilty then. Lance hated seeing Keith all weak and unsteady like this.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled instinctively, thinking maybe they'd danced too vigorously and that was what made Keith nauseous. 'Or maybe it was because…we were grinding…' Lance then thought to himself, embarrassed. But Keith didn't so much as look at him. He was exhausted and in no mood for apologies.

"Shut up," he huffed, supporting himself with his hands on the counter. "Get me a towel."

Lance nodded and fetched him one from an in-wall closet, looking back several times to make sure Keith wouldn't fall over while he was away from him. After retrieving the cloth, Lance ran back and handed it to Keith.

He swiped it from him and halfheartedly wiped his face and hands dry, then threw the towel down and fell into Lance's arms with a flop. "Take me to bed. I need sleep." he groaned.

Lance laughed through his nose and agreed to take Keith to bed. Returning to the red paladin's room was out of the question, so Lance scooped him up again and carried him to his room. The light and fresh scent of the air helped ease some of the pounding in Keith's head, and the cool bedsheets helped him relax further.

Just then, Shiro came by. "Hey, how is he?" he asked gently.

Lance whipped around, relief washing over him when he saw the black paladin. He finished tucking Keith under the covers before he made his way over to him. "Eh, he's better I guess. That's what he told me." he said in a hushed tone. "At least he stopped shivering."

"Hmm. He was probably in brief shock after he threw up."

"Yeah, it was pretty sudden." Lance agreed.

"Well, Coran took responsibility and confessed, and explained that he gave Keith some sort of- elixir to drink?" Shiro recalled, then looked to Lance for a further explanation.

"Yeah, about that. Keith ended up drinking the majority of it straight from the bottle. I don't know if Coran gave him the whole thing or if he took it, but…" he shrugged. The damage was already done. "When I tasted it, I knew right away it was alcohol. Or something similar to it. That's probably what made him sick. He said it was his first-time drinking "alcohol" of any kind, so." Lance informed him, shrugging.

"Right…I see." Shiro absorbed Lance's words as he looked over at Keith. Sweat still riddled his hair, but the redness from his cheeks completely faded. He almost looked like a corpse, he was so pale and laid so still. "Well, I stopped by his room, and from the looks of it, he must have thrown everything up. So, he should be fine by tomorrow. I mean, he'll probably have a pounding headache, but he'll be rid of that elixir at least."

Lance nodded and rubbed his arm, looking over to Keith as well. The red paladin then shifted and propped himself up on his elbow, rubbing his eye to focus his vision. Lance instinctively went over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lay down, Keith, you need to rest."

Keith looked up at him and weakly took hold of his sleeve. "Mmm…stay…" he mumbled.

Lance blinked in confusion, then looked over at Shiro when he understood what Keith meant. The black paladin nodded for him to stay, but Lance was still hesitant. "I- I can't, Keith. I'll only be in your way and- you won't sleep as well. I- I'll go sleep in the living room, or-"

It was clear to Shiro that Lance thought sleeping with Keith would be wrong, so he stepped in. "Lance," he began. The blue paladin looked his way. "Let go of what you think is wrong, and do what's right. If sleeping with him will somehow help him, then just do it. We aren't on Earth anymore. There are no rules or standards, really. You want him to return to his old self, don't you?" he encouraged gently.

Lance paused and contemplated Shiro's words before he agreed with him. He then turned back to Keith and brushed some hair from his face. "I'll stay, Keith."

The red paladin smiled at him, then fell onto his back and got comfortable between the sheets.

Lance straightened up as Keith fell back asleep. He looked over at Shiro again. He smiled at him warmly and nodded with a proud look on his face. He then stepped out of the room as he said, "I'm going to see if that bot came around to Keith's room. You get changed and such. Sweet dreams." he mused with a little laugh. Lance blushed lightly and shooed him out.

In all honesty, he was still hesitant to lay with Keith. It didn't feel immoral—Lance wasn't like that—it just felt strange being so close to another boy who was initially his rival. Well, rival-in-theory. He certainly didn't hate Keith now. And that was another thing. What if that urge overcame him again, that urge to take Keith and have him for himself? He didn't want to disturb the red paladin in the middle of the night. He knew he needed his rest after the day's events.

Lance tried to shake himself of thoughts and worries and relax. He went to shower and wash up, changing into his paladin pajamas afterwards, then head back to his room where Keith slept. Exhaustion overtook him and his eyelids became heavy. He didn't think too much of sharing his bed with another boy now. As soon as his body hit the bed, he sank into the cushions and drifted off into a dreamless but restful sleep.

•

This time, Keith did dream as he slept. He dreamt of the paper planes he saw in his head when he and Coran used the Thought Projector at the training deck. The table was still flipped and papers were scattered around the shack. It wasn't a pleasant sight, but it was how Keith knew he was in his mind. The space around the shack was still pitch black. Everything was the same, just as he'd left it.

When he stepped out, he saw the same paper planes with images of his past painted on them. But this time, they flew closer to the ground. This time, Keith had hope of catching them. He climbed up onto the roof and reached out to one, and it fell gracefully into his hand. It was his memory of getting recruited at the Garrison; joy flowered in his chest. He reached for another one, and caught another memory from the Academy; the day he met Shiro, and their experiences sharing a dorm room.

Another plane flew down, and it depicted the day Shiro came out to him as his half-uncle, the half-brother of Keith's father. He explained how they were only half related since he and Keith's father shared a different mother. Keith bawled when he discovered he had a link to his family, even if it was a partial one. He remembered how some of the hopeless loneliness drained from him, and that space filled with joy and thanks, if only for a little while.

When Keith looked up from the memory, he saw many more planes flying toward him, some of them painted with less significant memories than others, but Keith was grateful they returned to him regardless. He needed to remember his past, no matter how small the memory. His pockets were full at this point, nearly overflowing since he'd caught almost all the planes. But then, one more flew his way.

The last one told the story of his time alone in the shack, the months he spent researching and analyzing his surroundings. He then recalled how trashed the shack he was sitting on was, and climbed down from the roof and went back inside to reorganize it. He repositioned the table and straightened out the curtains, and reorganized all his maps and notes on the cork board. He pinned the last note to the board and stood with his hands on his hips, proud of his work. But then, something sparked in his mind. He realized he had forgotten something. He tried to remember his mother…and where he had gotten the dagger on his belt…but soon, everything went black, and he woke up, laying on his side in a bed that didn't feel like his.

•

Lance had woken up before Keith. He'd forgotten he let the red paladin stay the night. He must have slept extremely well; Lance hadn't heard him stir once. The blue florescent lights lit up his face; he looked so calm when he slept. Lance smiled at him, then propped himself up on his elbow and placed a kiss on his forehead. He paused to see if he'd wake, but Keith only shifted slightly and drifted back into a deep slumber. But Lance didn't mind. He had a few things to do before Keith woke up anyhow.

He quietly rolled out of bed and gave his body a good stretch before he made his way to the bathroom to wash up. Once he was done, he dressed in his usual clothes, styled his hair, and spritz his usual deodorant and cologne over himself before making his way to the kitchen. He wondered why it was so quiet, but then caught sight of the clock on the wall; it read 7:20am. Lance hadn't thought he had woken up so early, but then again, he and Keith went to sleep rather early the night before.

Memories from the night danced around in his head as he poured himself and Keith a glass of water. It was still hard to believe everything actually happened and wasn't a big hallucination. He recalled how curvy Keith's body appeared to be, and how he effortlessly swayed his hips around… Lance ended up chugging his glass since he was so lost in thought. He didn't think he was that thirsty.

As Lance made his way back to his room, he wondered if Keith was awake. He wondered what he'd say to him first, where he'd even begin…

When he entered his room, he found Keith still asleep, so he placed the glass next to the bed, then rolled out his yoga mat. It was part of Lance's morning routine to do yoga back on Earth, so he tried to keep it up while they were out in space. Of course, he didn't always get a chance to practice, but he took full advantage of every time he did.

Lance went through the usual poses, like Mountain Pose, Child's Pose and Upward Facing Dog, Downward Facing Dog, and the four Warriors just to name a few. (LINK) As he came to the end, Keith shuffled in his bed and let out a sloppy yawn. Lance greeted him with a warm smile and a playful, "Morning, sleeping beauty."

Keith slowly sat up, his hair bouncing around his head and jutting out in every direction, then blinked his blurry vision into focus. He smacked his lips together and rubbed his eyes before he responded. "Morning… Where am I?" he asked, hardly able to think through his pounding headache.

"You're in my room, man." Lance chuckled. "How are you feeling?"

"Meh, shitty. I slept like I was dead, but my legs are sore…and my head is just…ugh…" Keith brought his hands to his temples in pain.

Lance picked up the glass of water and handed it to him as he sat down on the bed. Keith thanked him and washed the stale taste from his mouth. The refreshing liquid helped cool his head a bit, but the pounding still went on. Then, a sudden urge came over him. He sprang out of bed as he blurted, "I gotta pee!"

Lance laughed and took the glass from Keith as he dashed out of the room.

After he'd relieved himself, Keith absorbed his reflection in the grand mirror of the bathroom; his messed-up bed hair, his chapped lips… He then recalled his dream as he washed the dirt from his face and brushed it from his teeth. It felt so unreal. He thought back to everything that happened before the lot of them were projected into space, remembering his dream, then about what happened last night…

He thought to ask Lance what he remembered about it, but before that, he needed to explain himself and apologize. He certainly remembered how he'd acted toward him.

He reentered Lance's room with guilt in his gut; it showed in his body language too.

"What's the matter, Keith?" the blue paladin asked instinctively.

"It's- nothing… I… I just need to get something off my chest." Keith took some time to collect his thoughts before he spoke. Lance sat patiently in the meantime. Keith then sat down on the edge of the bed with Lance and began. "Lance, I'm sorry. I know that's cliché of me to say… but I truly am sorry… For everything. For having that argument with you…for pushing you away… I didn't mean any of it, I swear."

Lance's expression drooped—he didn't want to be reminded—but he let Keith continue.

"I… I was really upset with myself for training too hard, and…confused about what was going on in my head…and I was so sick of people asking me how I was doing… I had just gotten so fed up with being babied… And I let all my anger out at you." Keith lifted his gaze and met Lance's eyes. "I know you were just worried about me like they were… I truly am sorry, so sorry. I never meant to make you feel like you were in my shadow, or that I was better than you, in any way. I swear, Lance." Keith practically pleaded for forgiveness.

Lance then sat up straighter as he caught on to what he just said. "Wait… How did you—I… I said those things when you were in the cryo-pod. How could you have known I said that—Did you hear me?"

"Well, yes. I guess I did. I didn't know I'd heard you until Coran and I used the Thought Projector. You know, the thing we used to help us bond and form Voltron?" Lance nodded in recollection. "Yeah…I- had this weird dream," Keith wasn't going to explain it all to him. He knew Lance wouldn't understand anyhow. "where you were talking to me, but I couldn't respond to you. You couldn't hear me, no matter what. Then you mentioned something about me being in the cryo-pod, and that's when I knew I was remembering what you'd said to me."

Lance sat frozen, awestruck. He was puzzled about how Keith could have heard and remembered his words…but also slightly embarrassed about what he'd said. Those words were private; so private he didn't even want Keith to hear them. But, he knew there was no taking them back or denying them now. Frankly, he didn't want to.

Keith then went on. "Oh yeah. There's also- some of your thoughts—or memories or whatever—got mixed into my mind? I don't know how to put it, but…that's why I was acting so weird. I tried to figure out which thoughts were mine and which were yours, but I ended up accepting all of them as mine…and then I completely lost myself… That's why I put up that fight with Allura… I was going crazy…" Keith trailed off and looked at his hands, ashamed of himself.

Lance would have comforted him, but he was still trying to piece everything together. He held his chin in his hand, resting his elbows on his knees in thought. He was still confused, but the dots were slowly connecting.

Eventually, Keith shook it off and left it in the past, but he kept a mental note to apologize to the princess and the others for any trouble he caused them.

Lance then spoke up. "Well... Firstly, I accept your apology. Don't worry about it, man. It's all good now that you've explained everything. I would have come to resolve things earlier, but... I don't know. I thought you hated me after that argument. I've never been yelled at like that before... Well, by anyone other than my mom." he chuckled. "I just thought...I thought you despised me. And I figured that, even if I did try to work things out, it wouldn't go anywhere... I don't know..." he mumbled, looking down at the floor.

Keith then turned and faced him more fully now. "Lance, I never hated you. I- I'm sorry if I made you think that I did... I just- really wasn't myself... Back at the lounge, when I called to you…it tore me apart when you didn't turn around. I wanted to tell you I was looking all over for you because I wanted to apologize, and figure out what was going on in my head… Initially I didn't know why you didn't stop and turn around…but now I do." Keith hung his head, then looked up at Lance and apologized one more time.

Lance looked up and smiled at him. Keith's voice was just so genuine; it practically oozed sincerity. "It's alright. I understand. I forgive you."

Keith paused and smiled back at him. "Alright, I'm glad. Thanks."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while before Keith spoke up again.

"So…another thing." he began, looking at Lance as he spoke. "You- also said how you wanted our rivalry to end, and that it was pointless…and stuff…" Lance blinked as he recalled his words, suddenly feeling like he'd been thrown under the bus. "Did I hear you right?" Keith added.

He looked around the room, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...yeah. I did say that." He then looked back at Keith and gave him a sheepish smile.

Keith grinned in return, glad that Lance was slowly maturing out of his old ways. He then added, "But…we can't be entirely buddy-buddy, ya know. That would ruin our reputation and dynamic." he mused, throwing a playful wink Keith's way.

The red paladin shoved him and rolled his eyes.

"Atta boy!" Lance played on. Keith shook his head and said, unamused, "Shut up," but grinned as he crossed his arms and threw Lance an unimpressed look. The blue paladin laughed out loud.

He calmed down then, and took a second to appreciate the moment. He liked spending quality time like this with Keith. He wanted many more moments like this; wanted to see him wake up each morning and greet him with a smile…ruffle his bed-head and mess it up some more…

"So, um… What happened last night?" Keith then asked with a shrug.

Lance's satisfied expression fell as he was pulled from his daydream. He glared at Keith in disbelief. "Wait- what?"

"What?" Keith asked plainly.

"You- you don't remember what happened?"

"No…" Lance only stared at him. "What, did I do something stupid?" Lance continued to stare at him. "I did something stupid, didn't I? How bad was it? Did I break something? Please tell me I didn't br-"

"No! You- you didn't break anything." Lance cut in, exclaiming in disbelief. He knew exactly why Keith couldn't remember; it was because of that elixir. It made him blackout (link definition), just like alcohol could.

He felt more nervous than ever now, knowing he had to retell the whole story to Keith. There was a lot that happened, that probably shouldn't have. "Well..." he trailed; he didn't even know where to begin. "You…took my phone and earbuds…and then danced a lot in your room...you know, to the music that was playing from my phone."

"Uh-huh." Keith nodded in comprehension.

"Then Allura sent me to calm you down, since you'd just woken up from your coma earlier in the day." Keith nodded for him to go on. "And... I tried to calm you down, but you'd been drinking a lot of that elixir...and it made you— act differently, to say the least."

Keith blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He debated what he should tell him, and what he should definitely leave out. "Ehhh... I'd prefer not to go into detail."

But Keith made him. "Lance, just tell me. No more secrets, come on."

There was no way around this; Lance knew it. He huffed before he went on. "So... You were- I don't know...flirting with me, or something." Keith blushed in embarrassment at the sound of that. "Yeah, tell me about it." Keith laughed to himself. "I- I didn't know what to do, you just kept- flirting with me! And- and then you convinced me to dance with you so we danced and then we got too close," Lance rambled as he began to redden and break a sweat. "and- and then we were grinding on each other and then you pulled me onto your bed and we were kissing and- gaaahh." He stopped and covered his face in embarrassment. "I should have stopped it- we- I-"

"Wait, what!? Are you saying—" Keith didn't want to utter the word, but it flew out of his mouth. "Are you saying we fucked?!"

"No, we didn't actually fuck, but we came real close to it!"

"What do you mean!?"

They were both yelling at each other in utter disbelief now.

"I mean we rubbed our dicks together, Keith!" Lance told him matter-of-factly.

"Oh, my fucking—" he yelled, gripping his hair. "What the fuck?! Wait- was it like- skin-to-skin?!" he asked with his hands out.

"No, thankfully! We still had our pants on!"

"Okay— Well, are you sure this wasn't some sick dream you had?!" he asked in disgust.

"Yes, I'm sure, Keith! It really happened!" The red paladin still looked at him with a questioning expression. "It really fucking happened!" Lance reiterated, almost not believing the words himself.

"Well, I- you can't blame me for this." Keith defended.

"No, I'm not. This was- mostly my fault. The grinding part was, in some respect..."

The thought of them doing such a thing made Keith's heart flutter in a way that alarmed him. "Well- Why didn't you stop it?!"

"I don't know! It just- started to feel really good, and I guess instinct took over- I don't know!" He reached back and grabbed the pillow, then covered his face with it. "You don't understand, Keith, you- you're still new to all that..."

Keith furrowed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean I'm still 'new'?"

Lance looked up at him then. "Well, you're still a virgin, right? I mean- no offense, but..." he shrugged. Keith squinted his eyes in confusion, but Lance thought he was getting the stink-eye. "Uh… N- never mind. You just- never mind."

"How did you know I was a virgin?" he then asked.

Lance became flustered again and stuffed the pillow in his face. "Keith, please!"

"I- I'm sorry, I just wanna know. How close— What boundaries did we step over last night?" He rubbed his arm in slight embarrassment. Eventually, Lance lowered the pillow and brought it back down to his lap. He looked at Keith with an expression that read "Do I really have to answer that?"

"I just- don't remember what happened… I just want to know how you knew." Keith told him gently. He could tell Lance was getting hot and bothered by his questions.

Lance grinned a little, then hesitated before he nervously pulled the words from his throat, making sure to avoid eye contact. "Well…um… You would shiver a bit whenever I'd touch you gently…and- and when I kissed your neck…you'd moan…" Lance shook his leg in an uncomfortable manner. "And I was like, 'Dis boy sensitive…'" he laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. "So, I figured, because you were so sensitive," Lance choked out through laughs. His face began to redden again. "that- y- you were still a virgin." He stuffed his face back into the pillow. "Now please don't make me talk about this anymore, please, Keith."

The red paladin turned away and crossed his arms over his torso. He blushed madly and instinctively hid his face behind his hair. "Well then…I shouldn't have asked…" Lance laughed a bit harder at that. "I- this is so humiliating honestly, but- I can't help but laugh about it." Keith admitted, chuckling along with Lance.

After they'd calmed down, a stiff, awkward silence fell between them. They both debated what to say next. "This is ridiculous, honestly." Keith then blurted, turning to face Lance.

He nodded in immediate agreement. "Yeah…a little."

"I just feel stupid for not remembering."

"Don't worry about that. I think you lost your memory because of that elixir. It was very similar to alcohol and- I think you drank too much and blacked out."

"I blacked out?" Keith asked, worried. Lance explained what the word meant in terms of intoxication, then Keith relaxed some.

"It's going to take us a while to get past this, isn't it?" the blue paladin asked after a brief pause.

"Us? You're the one that remembers everything that went down. I can't recall shit." Keith mused.

Lance threw him a look. "Shut up."

"Am I wrong?" he laughed.

"Shut up!" Lance exclaimed, burying his face in the pillow again.

Keith chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. Then he noticed how dirty his hair was. It was like he ran his fingers through wax. "Wowh, my hair is greasy." he cringed.

"Well, yeah, you didn't take a shower afterwards." Lance mumbled into the fluff. "You basically just washed your hands and went to bed." He then lifted himself back up. "But I guess that's understandable after projectile vomiting all over the place."

"Wait- what?"

"Yeah. We- grinded for a bit, and then you threw up all over your floor. They had to send a bot to clean it up."

Keith only blinked in response. "You know- I'm done talking about this. It's too much to take in at once…" His headache began to get worse now.

Lance laughed about it one more time before they settled down and tried to think of a way past this. "What does all this make us now?" Keith then asked the impending question, slightly afraid to hear the answer to it after it left his lips.

Lance whipped his gaze over to him. "W- what do you mean? We're still- friends…ya know, partners, paladins. Whatever happened yesterday…it doesn't really change- our status of relation." He tried to play it off, but he knew it would change things for him; he would always remember what happened last night. Maybe he wanted to be more than just partners with Keith… 'But not right now…maybe later…maybe never.' But that was the least of his concerns. Or at least, that's what he told himself. Their relationship didn't necessarily play a part in taking down Zarkon and the Galra on his side.

They agreed, with minimal debate, not to make a big deal out of it and not to mention what happened to the others. It was much too personal and somewhat embarrassing, and they didn't exactly need to know anyway.

"I think the most important thing for you to do now is return to yourself. You know, regain your strength…and see if you can still pilot Red." Lance advised. Keith agreed that was the best plan.

After he got cleaned up, he went back to his room and rested a bit more. Lance went and told the others Keith was better, but now was dealing with a terrible headache. They were all relieved to hear the news that he was at least returning to normal. Allura then told Coran to bring him some nutritious food, but Lance offered to take it to Keith for him.

Keith naturally thanked Lance, but then asked to be left alone so he could think of what to say to the others. Lance understood and left him alone. After he ate, he laid in his bed for some time, then got dressed in a new set of clothes. He proceeded to find Coran afterwards and ask him to gather everyone in the living room. There, he explained himself to the lot of them like he'd done with Lance, taking full responsibility for all his actions and wrongdoings, and sincerely apologizing for them.

It felt awkward apologizing, however. He stood at the center of the circular couch, and spoke to everyone at once, making sure to lock eyes with them so they could see his sincerity. He didn't want them thinking one paladin was more important than another. Everyone was understanding, as expected, but Keith was initially nervous about their reactions.

---

AN: The following text contains excerpt from VLD episodes.

A Series of Events

Allura and Coran were still overprotective of Keith for the next few days, although he'd told them repeatedly he felt fine. The princess ordered him not to train for at least a day or two, regardless. As long as he could hold out at least, she mused. He agreed with some reluctance. After about a week or so, things began to return to normal. Keith regained his strength rather quickly and resumed training after Allura gave him consent.

Lance kept his distance from Keith for a while, but tried not to make it too obvious. They still wordlessly stood next to each other and bickered a bit every now and again, but Lance made sure not to stand in his "bubble" too much, and not to focus his gaze on Keith for too long. A funny feeling would arise in his chest if he did.

He would never admit it, but Lance would give in to his urges every now and then after that day. He just couldn't resist when the thought of Keith huffing in ecstasy and squirming under him crawled back into his mind. He would touch and pleasure himself in his bed, in the bathroom, under the water that escaped the showerhead, moaning Keith's name quietly to himself, either into the sheets of his bed or into his hand, whichever was more effective at muffling his voice. He was slightly embarrassed about behaving so scandalously under the circumstances…but he just couldn't help himself. He wanted so badly to replace his hand with Keith's body, but he knew that was no easy task.

Eventually, his urges subsided and things returned to normal. But that didn't stop the reoccurrence of thoughts about Keith that danced in Lance's head.

•

After many, what now seemed like, minor battles, the team was practically forced to head to Zarkon's headquarters and rescue Allura after she sacrificed herself for Shiro on a mission, they fought the battle of their lives then. Hunk ended up crash-landing and getting Allura from her prison cell, but immediately afterwards she ordered them to find and save Shiro after she heard him struggling. She, along with Coran, knew the immense strength Zarkon and his wife possessed. The paladins were nowhere near ready to battle them and their forces head-on.

After they managed to escape, Haggar fired a beam of dark energy into their wormhole and caused a temporal rift, scattering them across the universe.

Keith and Shiro crash-landed on an arid, rocky planet, far from each other. A decent mile or so. Things were bad enough, but now Keith's Lion was unresponsive, and Shiro was wounded and far from help.

Keith hadn't found out about the black paladin's wound until later on; once he heard the news, his heart beat out of his chest as more adrenaline coursed through his veins. He wasn't excited to know his relative was wounded; quite the contrary. He was so stressed and worried about the situation and about Shiro, he swore his body would give out; he was thankful he held on this long, through the battle and all.

Once he reached Shiro, he faced another obstacle, aside from the blasts of water from underground guizers, and the split in the earth he already faced earlier. Some nasty, lizard-like creatures were nagging Shiro for his flesh. Keith figured they'd be hungry, living in a wasteland like this.

Things had just gone from bad to worse. He turned to Black then and called, "I know I'm not Shiro, but he's in trouble!" Keith then placed a hopeful hand onto its metal snout and added, "We need to help him."

He knew it was a longshot, but he was desperate and the least he could do was try. After several more pleas, Black responded and lit up. A wave of relief washed over Keith then, but he couldn't relax just yet. He quickly climbed in and ran to its head, taking a seat in the piloting chair and commanding it to crush one of the creatures just as it jumped for Shiro. He crushed another, then roared at the others and scared them away.

Shiro gaped at Black, guessing Keith was inside. He sat in awe as he caught his breath under the metallic beast.

Later, after Keith helped Shiro into the Lion, they flew back over to Red, which was now operational, and settled by a formation of rocks. Keith grabbed some survival supplies from Red and came back over to where Shiro was seated with firewood, a lighter, and a flask of water that they ended up sharing.

As concerned as Keith was for Shiro, he couldn't help but wonder about the others…about Lance. He felt so stupid about not remembering what they'd done. He knew Lance played it off when he asked if things would change between them now. He wondered if he'd gotten injured during the battle with Zarkon… He wondered if he'd ever even see him again. It made his throat constrict and his chest ache.

"Thanks for saving me." Shiro then muttered as they sat by the fire.

"You'd have done the same for me." Keith replied plainly. He knew it was the absolute truth. "How's your wound?" he then inquired gently.

"My wound's great…its getting bigger all the time." he mused lightly. He then looked over at Keith and saw his expression drenched in worry. "Just- trying to lighten the mood."

"Hang in there," Keith encouraged. "When Allura and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up."

Shiro then leaned his head back in pain and huffed, "Keith…" His voice was dry and frail. "If I don't make it out of here…I want you to lead Voltron."

Keith's heart wrenched, and he choked on his breath. "Stop talking like that. You're going to make it." he assured him with the best of his ability.

Shiro then smiled weakly, looking like he'd almost accepted the reality of things through all the pain. But then, a blue light began to shine above them, and Pidge appeared through a wormhole; a familiar one they were happy to see again. Keith stood up, overjoyed to see the Green Lion. The castle-ship then appeared shortly after, and Coran, Allura and Pidge all helped the red and black paladin's inside.

Coran helped Shiro change out of his armor, then disinfected his wound with an Altean potion that burned like one hundred bee stings at once. He then helped him into a cryo-suit, just as he'd helped Keith at the very beginning. Seeing his half-uncle in the pod brought back so many memories, but he was unable to dwell on them too long.

"Now we have to locate Hunk and Lance." Allura reminded them.

•

Lance was scared out of his mind as he span wildly in the torn wormhole, but he knew he wasn't the only one; from their screams of horror, he could tell the others were equally as frightened. He shouted Keith's name upon instinct, then called out to the others. His chest tightened when no one responded back.

When the defective wormhole spat them out in the madness of it all, he saw Hunk's Lion spiraling out of control with him. He was glad he wasn't going to be alone. They crash-landed onto a watery planet that was frozen on the outside, but warm and alive underneath. There, Lance discovered a group of mermaids.

They seemed like friendly beings until, supposedly, the queen brainwashed them. They were, more accurately, put in a trance of sorts until rebel mermaids found them and "saved" Lance. He wished they hadn't; he was having quite an interesting dream as he slept.

He dreamt he was back at the castle with Keith. What room they were in was unclear, but it wasn't important. Lance was telling him all about how he met these mermaids, and then how they gave him the ability to turn into one at will. Keith awed, but was confused out of his mind, asking one question after the other. The room then flooded with water and they were both in their swim trunks. At this point, the dream stopped making sense, but Lance enjoyed it regardless. When they were completely submerged, Keith watched Lance as he swam around effortlessly. He then began to take his pants off, loving the feel of the water on his skin. Keith yelled at him to stop with his mouth closed and shook his head no, but Lance continued to remove them. "I don't need pants…I'm a mermaid!" he cheered.

He then was taken by the rebels and rudely awakened. Well, not initially. When he first woke, he was still in a trance. He sat up and noticed he was blindfolded and bound at the wrists, but he didn't mind. "Hello?" he asked gently. "Good morning!" he then called out to whoever was out there; he hoped it was a certain paladin.

"Where am I?" Someone whispered something in reply, but he didn't catch it. "Why am I blindfolded?" he asked, then gasped as he quickly realized, "Is this a game? I like games…" he sang.

But then some nasty gas was puffed into his face and he returned to reality, discovering it wasn't that certain paladin that bound and blinded him, but rather the rebel mermaids with weird names and jellyfish on their heads. They told him their theories about the mind-controlling queen, and how they needed his Lion to capture her and save the other mermaids. He agreed and they got to work. There were some minor hurdles when they put the plan into action, but everything eventually went accordingly.

In thanks, the now freed queen agreed to fire an energy beacon so the others could find the blue and yellow paladins. Shortly afterwards, Pidge appeared in the beam along with the castle-ship, and they returned home. Or what they saw as home for the time being, at least. All they knew was that everyone was back together and safe.

Keith and Allura explained their adventures while they were apart, and Keith told them about Shiro's injury.

"Is he okay?" Hunk then asked after he noticed Shiro struggling in pain.

"Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions." Allura informed him.

"He…looks like he's having a bad dream." Hunk then speculated.

"He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards. What dream could be worse than that?" Keith asked rhetorically in response to Hunk's statement.

Allura then explained he would only have to be in the pod for a few hours. That brought a tad bit of relief to the lot of them.

Afterwards, everyone gathered for dinner, then went to bed with their stomachs full to rest after the long and dangerous trip. Coran vowed to watch over Shiro while they rested. Everyone bluntly agreed, taking time to thank him before they trudged off to their bedrooms, exhausted. Allura thanked him as well, but told him to wake her if any abnormalities appeared. Keith and Lance merely exchanged glances and shared small smiles.

Yes, Lance was glad to see Keith alright, but he wasn't going to show it. And since he wasn't going to show it, neither was Keith.

However, as time passed, Lance began to struggle more and more with keeping his feelings for Keith concealed. Weeks after their separation, they got trapped in an elevator together.

Now, this wouldn't have happened in the first place, had Keith just gone up on his own or taken the stairs. But no, he had to ride in the elevator with Lance. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" he asked Keith with a scowl as he held the door open.

"Allura said there was a pool. I'm gonna go check it out. What do you think you're doing?" he practically mono-toned in reply.

Lance could tell by his tone that he wasn't there to pick a fight. He knew Keith was just as exhausted from the previous missions and encounters with Zarkon as he was.

But then... "Look. You stay on one side of the pool, and I'll stay on the other, and we'll be far, far away from each other." Lance gave him a confused look, but Keith wasn't looking at him anymore. What, was Keith suddenly afraid he'd make a move on him just because they were shirtless? Lance wasn't like that. Sure, deep down he favored seeing Keith's bare muscles, but he wasn't going to reach out and touch them for his pleasure.

But then another thought crossed his mind. He was going to ask Keith something, but then he syllabized, "Very. Far. Away."

The elevator then froze, and to make things worse, the lights went out. 'Uh-oh.' Lance thought to himself then. He knew things would really get weird and awkward now.

They both sighed hard and slumped over. "Come on! Can't we even get a chance to relax?" Lance shouted out in annoyance.

"Yelling won't solve anything. We need to find a way out, or light so we can see, at least." Keith then reasoned.

"Ugh, fine."

So, they got to work and used their hands for eyes, trying to locate a lever or a switch, or a button to press so they could get the elevator moving again, or at least call for help. Lance was sure he'd traced the entirety of all four walls after some time, but he was unable to find anything of the sort. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he yelped in fear and jumped back.

"Sorry! It's just me. I didn't mean to scare you." Keith feverishly apologized.

"I know it was you, but— Why did you touch me?!"

"It was an accident, get over it." Keith brushed off. He wanted to remind himself of how Lance's body felt, since he still couldn't remember their feverish experience in his room. He thought the warmth of Lance's skin would spark something and clear up the blurred part of his mind that struggled to remember. It didn't, but Lance was shirtless, and it was just the two of them, so he figured it was worth a shot. He then thought to himself, 'Okay, bad idea, bad idea…'

Lance raised a brow. 'Sure. Accident.' he thought to himself. He then noticed something glimmer in his eye. He squinted to focus his vision and saw what looked like an outline of a square. "Wait, what's that up there?"

Keith stood silent for a moment, looking for what Lance was referring to. "The glowing outline of a box on the ceiling?"

"Yeah. I think that's our way out."

"Maybe, but how are we going to reach that?" Keith asked, then stated plainly, "I'm not tall enough."

"Well, neither am I. I'm only an inch taller than you." Lance pointed out.

Keith then got under the box on the roof of the elevator. "Give me a boost."

"I can't see where you are, Keith. And- wait- Why do I have to give you a boost? You're the one that swings a sword around."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm saying you probably have stronger arms that me." Lance told him bluntly, trying hard not to sound like he was complimenting him.

"I- I guess." Keith stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fine. Gimme your foot."

"Keith, I'm not just going to swing my leg out into the darkness." Lance chuckled.

"Okay, fine. Then- I'm going to have to guide your leg over to my hands."

"What?" Lance choked.

But Keith already put his plan into action. He reached down and felt for Lance's leg, then trailed his hand down to his foot. "You're okay with me doing this, right?"

Keith only ran his hand down Lance's leg briefly, but it was enough to throw him off. Lance could hardly form words. "Eh- sure. Yeah." he nearly squeaked.

Keith then lifted his leg and scooped his foot into his hands. "Alright, put your hands on my shoulders." Lance did as he was asked after hesitating briefly. When his hands met Keith's body, a shiver shot down his spine; he really wished it hadn't. This was not the time nor place for him to fantasize about the softness and warmth of Keith's skin. But he needed to use his hands to steady himself when Keith boosted him up, so there was no way he could avoid touching him.

"Okay, on three, I'm going to boost you up." Keith then said.

"Wait- where do I put my other foot?" Lance asked feverishly.

"Just balance yourself on one leg." Keith told him, starting to get annoyed.

"Okay, okay. I just don't want to mess up."

Lance held on firmly to keep his balance, but then felt how prominent Keith's muscles were and couldn't help but blush. He was glad the lights were still off in the elevator.

Keith counted down then and lifted Lance up, using more strength to do so than he thought he needed to. Lance bumped his head on the ceiling, not realizing he would reach it so fast. He winced in pain before he opened the hatch and looked around. There was nothing but the elevator shaft as far as he could see. He knew somewhere up there the shaft would end.

Lance tapped him chin in thought as Keith struggled beneath him, his arms shaking in strain. "Gah- what are you doing up there?! Just climb up!"

"I'm thinking!" Lance shouted back.

"Well- can you think on the ground? You're heavy!"

Lance sighed and stepped down from Keith's hands. The red paladin shook his arms out as he spoke. "Oh, don't be a baby. The only reason I'm heavy's because it's all muscle." Lance grinned smugly.

"Yeah, don't be so proud." Keith snorted.

Lance laughed a bit before he reasoned, "I don't think we should climb up."

"Why not?"

"Think about it, it's a stupid idea. What if the elevator starts up again? It could crush us at the top!" he pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Keith agreed after some hesitation. "So, what do we do? Wait around for it to work again?"

Lance shrugged. "I guess that'd be our best-" Just then, the lights came back on and the elevator started up again. "option… Well, at least we didn't have to wait too long." he mused.

Keith leaned back against the wall and tugged at the ends of the towel over his head, covering his eyes. "Thankfully…" he huffed.

Once they reached the floor, the elevator let them out and they reached the pool area a few steps down the hall. Lance then jumped back in shock when he saw the pool on the ceiling. "What the heck?!" he exclaimed.

"Stupid Altean pools." Keith spat.

Lance then sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay. Okay." he gestured. "There's no sense in stressing about the placement of the pool. Let's just- work with it." He then stepped forward and held his towel out under the edge of the pool. Some sort of force pulled it up toward the water. "Huh. There must be an artificial gravity holding the water up there." He turned to Keith as he spoke.

"Okay. So, it'll just pull us up?" Keith shrugged.

Lance looked back at the water. "I guess. Let's go down there. I think that's the shallow end." he said as he dashed over, excited and full of energy now. Lance absolutely loved the water. Sure, it didn't have that oceanic smell to it that he was so familiar with back on Earth, but that didn't matter. Since it'd been so long since he swam, any kind of water he could swim in was good water.

Keith laughed to himself as he watched Lance. He looked…so cute when he was excited about something; the way his face lit up and his lively energy… Keith then realized his thoughts and shook his head, hiding his face behind his hair until the blush faded away. 'I need to stop.' Keith told himself.

When they got to the end of the pool, stairs materialized at their feet, then appeared to twist around near the top. They began to climb them, and once they reached the twist, the gravity shifted, so the stairs appeared normal again.

Lance threw his towel to the side and ran into the water, diving in when it was deep enough. The water was smooth, and his eyes didn't burn when he opened them, so it must have been pure. It felt amazing against his skin, like a satin robe wrapping around his body. He really wished he was a mermaid now.

Keith, on the other hand, was cautious as he neared the water. He dipped his toe in to see how warm or cool it was, then sat down by the edge and submerged his legs. He wasn't really up for a swim. He just wanted to cool down and relax.

Lance then came up with a splash. "Get in, Keith, the water's fine..." he sang as he floated on his back.

"I know. I can feel it." Keith told him plainly as he kicked his legs, the water swishing around him.

Lance looked over to him then and saw him sitting at the edge of the pool. He grinned as he submerged himself under, then swam closer to Keith. He brushed his wet hair back after he softly came up. "What's wrong?" he asked instinctively, but not with a serious tone. There was a playful grin on his face.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." Keith said quickly with a sheepish grin.

Lance's grin widened as he asked teasingly, "You can't swim, can you?"

"I never said that. I just-"

"You can't swim, can you?" Lance repeated again, this time singing his words.

"Shut up..." Keith mumbled, kicking some water into Lance's face.

"Aw, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Keithers." Lance teased.

"Keithers?" he echoed with a raised brow.

"Come on, I'll show you." Lance then offered, holding his hand out.

"No thanks. You'll probably drown me."

"Wha- no way." Lance whined, slightly offended. "C'mon dude, I'm not that shallow." He looked down at the water and realized the unintentional joke he'd made, and laughed out loud.

"Aren't you proud..." Keith mono-toned.

"I didn't mean to make a joke, swear. Come, I'll teach you slowly." Keith crossed his arms and gave him a hesitant look. "Swear." Lance vowed. He then sat down in the shallow water and asked, "What do you not know how to do?"

Keith placed his towel to the side and slid into the pool, the water reaching his thighs. "Well...most importantly, I don't know how to float. And- I don't really know how to swim...the right way, anyhow..."

Lance could tell Keith was self-conscious and slightly embarrassed about his situation. "That's fine, man. I'll teach you the basics." He then stood up and offered Keith his hand. The red paladin crossed his arms and gave him an unimpressed look. "Okay, okay. But if you need help just let me know." Lance chuckled.

"Mm-hmm." Keith nodded.

The two slowly walked deeper into the pool until the water reached their shoulders. Keith didn't like the way the water felt as it crawled up his body, and anxiety began to build in his stomach as they entered the deeper part of the pool. He instinctively grabbed onto Lance's shoulder when they got to a certain point, the shifting water messing with his head. The blue paladin glanced at Keith's hand and grinned to himself at his touch.

"Alright, so now that we're deep enough…" Lance began, then noticed the frightened look on Keith's face and paused. "Keith," he smiled. The red paladin whipped his gaze over to him. "It's okay, don't be scared." He loosened up a bit at Lance's words. "You can't be afraid of the water or you'll never learn to swim."

Keith nodded in understanding and slowly peeled his hand from Lance's shoulder.

The first thing Lance taught him was how to float, showing him how to move his arms and kick his legs around before he let Keith try for himself. Keith attempted to mimic Lance's gestures, but sank after a few strokes. Lance quickly pulled him up and brought him over to a shallower part of the pool. Keith draped an arm around Lance's shoulders in support, and Lance held him up with an arm around his waist until he got his footing again. He patted him on the back to help get the water out from his throat as he coughed, then brushed his hair back and laughed a bit, not necessarily because he was entertained, but that was part of the reason. Keith had his hands on Lance's shoulders now; he held on tight, anxiety flooding his body again.

Lance's laughter ceased as he absorbed Keith's appearance. His smooth hair, dripping with water and highlighted with shades of dark purple, his glistening skin dotted with droplets that shone like crystals...the color of his eyes even looked more vibrant.

"W- what?" Keith blinked through the water in his eyes. His grip on Lance loosened now.

"Uh- nothing." Lance shrugged off, then congratulated, "You did great back there, man!"

"Shut up, that was shit. This is so embarrassing." Keith said, kicking himself.

"No..." Lance encouraged. "Here, try it again. I can hold you by your waist if you want. That's how I taught my siblings." he offered.

Keith shook his head no, but after getting swallowed by the water a second time, he eagerly agreed. Lance held onto him firmly for a moment, but then Keith noticed he wasn't holding him at all; his hands merely levitated around his body. He'd gotten so lost in concentrating on the form, he hadn't noticed until now. "There you go, you're getting it!"

Keith smiled to himself, then slowly tried to turn around and face Lance. "Now, how do I swim?"

"You- uh- lift your butt up and- and then kick your legs and- and then… I don't know how to describe it." Lance stuttered, then laughed to himself. "Here, come to the edge." Keith kicked his legs and jolted his body until he reached the edge of the pool. Lance laughed his lungs out the entire time.

"Sh- shut up," Keith huffed. "That was exhausting… Alright, show me." But just as Lance dove into the water, the alarms began to blare around the castle and red lights flashed. Allura called everyone to the control room immediately.

Lance and Keith groaned in annoyance simultaneously. "Well, at least you learned how to float." Lance highlighted.

They sprung out of the water and grabbed their towels to dry off some as they ran to the control room to help. 'So much for a relaxing break,' they both thought. It was a shame, truly. Lance wanted to teach Keith some more about swimming, and Keith equally wanted to learn more.

•

Several weeks had passed. They encountered a Galra by the name of Ulaz who was a rebel fighter. He told them about the hidden base of the organization he was involved with, the Blade of Marmora, and directed them to a fold in space where an outpost was located. There, he gave the paladins directions toward their Headquarters. Unfortunately, Ulaz sacrificed himself to save Voltron from a robeast Zarkon sent. They tried to stop him, but he knew it was the better option. Shiro mourned over his death the most, since he helped the Earthling escape from the ship he was kept prisoner and experimented on.

After that day, Keith started to keep to himself, more than usual. He came out of his room less often, and wouldn't give too much constructive input during group meetings when they gathered to make plans; wouldn't say anything at times. He skipped out on meals and fought at the training deck more often… He looked like he was brooding over something; that's what Shiro and Lance thought. He'd approached Shiro about it after Keith's behavior continued for a week or so. Shiro said to just leave him alone. "I'll talk to him if it gets really bad." he assured Lance.

It was like fortunetelling. The next day, Lance noticed Keith had only gotten worse, like Shiro speculated he would. Keith was in no mood to take things lightly. Even his body language was off. He sat in the control room hunched over in his paladin chair with his hands folded. Just that was strange to see, since he usually stood with his arms crossed. His eyes were low, like he was deep in thought. Lance wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but he crossed his arms and stayed back, like Shiro asked him to.

"I can't wait to see it." Pidge then said excitedly, referring to the Blade of Marmora's headquarters. "I mean, they were able to fold space time, and that was just at an outpost!"

"Mmm, the space taco." Hunk then mused, rubbing his stomach. "It left us too soon." he pouted with humor.

"Well, sure…" Pidge replied, unamused. "But my point is: imagine how amazing their home base will be!" she cheered with her arms wide.

Hunk imagined it being folded into the shape of various foods and desserts, only making Lance hungry for breakfast.

"Guys this is a serious mission, we need to focus." Keith then spoke up.

Lance contorted his face and mocked, "We need to focus."

Coran then informed them the base was within range. Shiro advised him to bring them in slowly, but Coran stated that might be a challenge. The base seemed to be caught between two blackholes and an enormous sun, five times the size of the one in the Earth's solar system. Pidge then informed them about the extreme temperature differences outside and inside the blackholes, temperatures that were highly lethal, indirectly explaining that getting near them was a death wish.

Hunk then compared her analysis to microwaving a frozen burrito and the temperature differences due to the uneven distribution if microwaves onto the food. "Now I'm hungry for lunch!" Lance whined.

Keith then stood up, offended by their, seemingly, unnecessary comments. "Guys, quiet! Coran, where's the base located?"

"In between those three deadly celestial objects." Coran told him, his voice tense with hesitation.

"The perfect defensive position." Pidge thought to herself aloud.

"Or the perfect trap." Allura hypothesized sternly.

"Yeah, I'm with Allura." Hunk said quickly. "Maybe…we shouldn't go in there at all?"

"What are you talking about? We have to go in! This is the whole reason we came out here. There is no other option!" Keith countered just as Hunk finished his question.

Lance gaped at him, then gestured, "Okay…jeez, calm down." Keith furrowed his brows further and turned away without another word.

The system then ordered them to identify their business here, relaying the message sent to them from the members at the Headquarters. Shiro spoke for them and said they were sent by Ulaz and hoped to form an alliance. The members at the headquarters allowed them in, then sent them a route to enter, only open for one hour. Then it would remain closed for two days, 48 hours.

"So, uh, any thoughts on who's going to join you on this little mission?" Lance then asked Shiro nonchalantly. "I'm thinking things might get a little hot, so you're going to want someone who can stay cool." he offered, but Shiro insisted Keith's Lion could withstand the heat from the sun, so he should go with him. Lance countered and claimed Keith was too impulsive and too much of a "hothead" to go, but Shiro made up his mind. Meanwhile, Keith stood idly on the side and listened to their conversation, only making faces in response.

Lance frowned to himself as they then went to suit up and head over in Red. Keith had been getting a lot of attention recently. He started to feel left out…unimportant…but, those were just side thoughts. Right now, the mission Keith and Shiro were going on was what wracked his mind. This was one of their more dangerous missions.

Keith and Shiro were now headed over to the base, following the route the members sent them. Mid-flight, Shiro spoke up. "Keith, is everything okay?"

"I'm fine." he said lightly, not looking over at him.

"You kind of blew up at everybody back there. You'll to have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this group someday."

Keith scoffed as though Shiro were joking. "Lead the group?"

"When we were stranded I told you, if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron." he reminded him.

"I thought you were just delirious with pain…w- why would you make me the leader?" he choked, giving Shiro a stern but confused look.

"Because I know what you're capable of." he replied matter-of-factly, locking eyes with him. "If you can learn some self-discipline."

"Why are we even talking about this?" he asked rhetorically, upset Shiro brought the subject up again. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

Shiro then placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's just in case. I need you to get focused. When you and Allura ran away, it put us all in jeopardy. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight." A few days earlier, Keith planned to run away in a pod, since he thought Zarkon was tracking him and finding the castle-ship. Then Allura showed up and they both ended up escaping. They thought it was for the team's good, but evidently, it proved detrimental. Keith apologized, slightly ashamed for acting selfishly and endangering the group.

One of the blackholes began to draw them in then, and Keith had to pilot them back to the route and to safety. They passed through the solar flares just before the entrance shut.

Once they landed on what seemed like a plain asteroid, two members then came up and led them inside. Underneath the plain exterior was an advance organization of fighters with technology they'd never seen before. They were lined up against the walls as Keith and Shiro made their way inside. A broad-shouldered figure then introduced himself as Kolivan, "The leader of the Blade of Marmora." He said firmly.

Shiro informed them about the coordinates Ulaz gave them, and their leader called him a fool for devoting the location of their HQ, insulting him by saying he tended to disobey orders and follow his impulses. Keith looked inside himself when Kolivan uttered those words, thinking for a moment he was referring to him, but then shook it off. Kolivan then pointed out that they'd asked the paladins to come unarmed. They thought he was referring to the Red Lion, when Keith was suddenly tackled to the ground, his arm twisted behind his back. The attacker took the dagger from his belt. "He has one of our blades… Who did you steal this from?" he ordered, his voice sharp.

"I didn't! I've had it all my life!" Keith exclaimed. He tried to get Shiro to vouch for him, but he was unable to say whether or not the knife was really Keith's. The red paladin then recalled that Ulaz had a blade with the same symbol on it. "Tell me what it means." he asked feverishly.

He was desperate to know now that things weren't looking good, but Kolivan wasn't going to tell him so easily. "Our organization is built on secrecy and trust. You two should leave...now." Shiro could tell they weren't welcome, nor did they want to form an alliance, but Keith refused to give up.

"Somehow one of your knives ended up with me on Earth. Tell me how!" he nearly begged.

"Your friend is right. It is time for you to go."

"Where did it come from?!" he pressed. "I have to know."

Kolivan then offered him to complete the Trials of Marmora, since he was so eager to know. Only then would he discover more about himself and the blade. Keith agreed with haste, but he regretted the decision just as quickly afterwards.

He was put through a series of battles, each round increasing in the number of members he fought that brutally kicked, punched, and threw across the room. He'd gotten his shoulder sliced in the first round, and the pain was nearly unbearable, but he wasn't going to let himself give up; not even with a knife to his neck. When he managed to get through round one, the member told him he was "not meant to go through that door." The others said the same thing. Keith assumed they were saying he wasn't strong enough to fight, insulting his small, human form. He was nearly half their size and in thinned armor.

In the end, the red paladin somehow managed to pass through seven agonizing rounds, each round increasing in the number of members to fight. Once he reached the seventh round, he knew he wasn't going to be able to defeat them on his own. 'I guess I won't be seeing the next round…' he thought to himself in defeat.

But then, he had an epiphany of sorts. His eyes locked onto the small shafts the members came up from, and he told himself that was his way out of this endless battle. He threw his dagger with all his might then and sprinted toward his exit, trying his best to fight off the other members before helpfully getting thrown by one of them; he slid toward the shaft and grabbed his knife before he dove down and landed in an elevator shaft.

•

Meanwhile, the others itched in their seats as they waited for the red and black paladins to return.

"How long has it been?" Allura ordered, an annoyed worry knitting her voice. Coran informed her that only about 10 hours had passed, or vargas in their language. "We cannot just wait here."

"The path is closed for like, I don't know, 30 more vargas or somethin'." Lance then speculated coolly. Coran briefly calculated the numbers and told him he was correct. He leaned back and commented proudly, "Yeah, I wasn't born yester-quintant."

"I- I have to see what's going on down there." Allura persisted. She was worried about them both, but Shiro slightly more.

"There's no way to get a read on their base; too much interference from the solar flares and the black holes." Pidge then told her. Hunk tried to come up with something that could work, but quickly shot it down. The best they could do was wait, unfortunately.

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance then thought to pass the time in another room, so as not to disrespect Allura in her worried state, and played some road trip games to get their mind off things for a bit. Eventually, they went to bed and got some rest. There were still 25 or so hours until their entry way opened again.

•

"Guess I really wasn't supposed to go through that door." Keith mused grimly as he held his shoulder, limping out of the elevator. He was so exhausted from it all, he wondered how his legs were still able to support him. The room then began to shift and distort, and before he could catch himself, everything faded to black, and he fell over.

After what seemed like a few minutes, he felt someone's presence in the room and crept his eyes open. He was still dizzy, but after blinking his vision back into focus, he saw the figure before him was Lance.

He didn't know how he'd gotten there, but joy filled his chest for a moment.

"Hey, man." the blue paladin smiled, reaching a hand out to him. "You did it." he congratulated.

"Lance?" Keith whispered. He reached his arm out and slowly stood up, groaning in pain and exhaustion.

"Kolivan told me you lasted longer than anyone ever has in those battles." Lance went on. "You don't have to keep this up." he then waved off.

Keith gave him a confused look. There was something off about him. "What are you talking about?"

"Just give them the knife and let's get out of here." Lance said, almost grimly. There was a foreign smirk on his face.

"I can't give it to them, Lance… And- how did you even get here? How did your Lion-" he began to worry for Lance's safety then, but was cut off.

"That doesn't matter, Keith. Just give them the knife." he repeated, this time speaking more sternly.

Meanwhile, Shiro watched the madness unfold. "Is that a hologram?" he inquired fearfully.

"His suit has the ability to create a virtual mindscape, reflecting its wearers greatest hopes and fears." Kolivan informed him. "And at this moment, your friend desperately wants to see that boy."

Shiro then continued to watch as Lance spat his words at Keith. "What is it with you and that thing?"

"It's the only connection I have to my past." Keith told him hoarsely. "It's my chance to learn who I really am." He was desperately trying to make him understand.

Lance gave him a disapproving look as he went on. "You know exactly who you are: a paladin of Voltron. Stop living in the past and focus on the now, Keith! We're all the family you need."

Keith shut his eyes and contemplated his next words for a moment. What could he say to get through to Lance and make him understand? There didn't seem to be a clear way, so he spoke from his heart. "Lance…you know I love everyone back at the ship…especially you… But I have to do this." He nearly choked the words out, he was so desperate.

"No, you don't." Lance spat again, ignoring Keith's previous words. "So just give them the knife!"

"I can't do that…" he nearly whispered, his grip on the blade tightening.

"Just give up the knife, Keith! You're only thinking of yourself, as usual." Lance exclaimed, leaning forward to add emphasis.

That struck him off guard. Keith hadn't thought he was acting selfishly…but maybe Lance was right. Maybe he had been acting overly-selfish for the past few days. But that comment wasn't going to shake his determination. "I've made my choice."

There was a pang of silence between them before Lance firmly stated, "Then you've chosen to be alone." He turned his back to Keith and walked away without another word.

Keith looked down at the knife again and contemplated whether he'd made the right decision. Regret filled his body, and he was confused all over again, not knowing which choice was better than the other. He then looked up and watched the distance between him and Lance grow as he continued to walk away. His heart wrenched. He couldn't just let him leave like that…

"Lance… Wait!" he begged, then started to run after him. He reached his free hand out to grab him, but a light flashed before him and the scene changed before he could.

He was back at the shack in the desert, alone at first before his father appeared. He manipulated Keith to stay with him and ignore the blasts he kept hearing outside, saying his mother would be here soon to explain everything to him.

Meanwhile, Shiro continued to watch as Keith, in reality, laid on the floor, his face tense with pain.

"You need to get him out of there." he then told Kolivan, fear for the red paladin plaguing his voice.

"He can decide when to leave." Kolivan replied plainly.

"You're messing with his mind! You're going to kill him!" Shiro pointed out angrily, having had enough of these games.

The leader only turned to him and stated, "Knowledge or death, Shiro."

He scowled at Kolivan before he turned and made his way to the exit, but was stopped by a pair of members.

•

With only a few minutes left until the path opened again, the others on the castle-ship ran calculations and prepared to enter through and get the other two paladins in case of emergency. Not knowing about what was happening caused them to become tense.

Just then, Allura was alerted. "The Red Lion is moving!" she called out.

"We gotta get down there!" Lance called out after her. He knew something was off. Why would Red activate on her own if everything was alright? He speculated that Keith was in some kind of trouble, since the Lions were able to sense when their paladins were in danger. But he didn't want to dwell on the thought too much.

Lance then went over to his seat in the control room and prepared himself like the others.

After a few agonizing minutes passed, Coran cried, "The Red Lion has started attacking!"

"Wait- what does that mean? Why would the Lion attack? Unless…" Hunk asked, then speculated the same thing Lance had earlier.

"Allura?" the blue paladin asked softly, his anxiety increasing by the second. Allura told everyone to stay focused, but, how could he? Who knew what exactly was going on down there? Lance hesitated to find out himself… They were stuck between two black holes and a sun, for crying out…anything could happen under those conditions.

It couldn't end here. There was still so much Lance hadn't told Keith...so much they hadn't done together, intimately and otherwise. He was upset about how eager Keith was to go to that base, and now…whoever was in there betrayed and attacked them…Lance was sure of it.

He wished Keith wasn't so impulsive. He wished he knew what he was thinking about so much before he and Shiro went on this mission…

•

When Keith finally woke up from the hallucination, he realized the blasts he was hearing were really occurring around him. He didn't know what caused them, but something made the asteroid rumble.

Shiro rushed in then and help him up. "Keith, are you okay?" he asked him hastily.

"Stop what you are doing!" one of the members then ordered.

Keith groaned before he asked, "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Call off your beast!" Kolivan told him, not answering his question. The base was falling to pieces beneath their feet and over their heads; there was no time for explanations.

"Move out of the way! We're leaving!" Shiro told him firmly.

"You're not leaving with that blade! It doesn't belong to you. You failed to awaken it!" Kolivan then shouted.

"What does that mean!?" Keith ordered, an annoyed anger weaving his words.

"Give up the blade." Another member then said, and ran to attack Keith, but Shiro activated his robotic arm and fought in his place.

Back at the castle, tensions only rose as the clock ticked down. "How much longer until we can get in?" Allura asked.

"Just a few more ticks!" Coran replied.

"Get ready." she ordered sternly.

Lance braced himself as though for impact. He noticed his leg bouncing up and down then. He wondered how long he'd been doing that for.

•

"Wait!" Keith then shouted out, stopping them before they could swing at each other. "Just take the knife." Shiro and the Blade of Marmora member disengaged and looked at Keith, puzzled. "It doesn't matter where I come from. I know who I am." he said confidently. "We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon." Keith's expression lifted then as he added, his words solemn, "And if that means I give up this knife, fine…take it."

Something glimmered in his eye then, and it took him a second to realize the light came from his blade. Once he looked down, it began to shine brightly, so bright it was almost blinding. But Keith's eyes were wide in awe and shock, and he glared at the knife until it grew into a sword.

"The only way this is possible…is if Galra blood runs through your veins." Kolivan then stated, awestruck as well.

Keith could hardly believe his ears. He thought he passed out again and was fantasizing all this. Nothing felt real anymore, not even the pain he felt throughout his entire body. Not even the blade he felt in his hands; it felt like it was connected to him, spiritually rather than physically. He was afraid to move, afraid to do anything other than admire it in all its glory.

Back at the castle-ship, Coran began to count down the final seconds. Lance was sure he was ready enough to go through with their plan, but as the seconds dwindled down to zero, he began to second guess himself, and how Keith and Shiro might have turned out… He looked to Allura for comfort again, but he was afraid to say anything in the heat of the moment.

But then, just as Coran called out the last tick, the Red Lion came up on the monitor and Shiro spoke through the intercom. "Princess! We're coming back, and we're bringing someone you should meet."

"They're alright!" Coran cried out in joy. Everyone swore they felt an actual wave of relief wash over them then. Lance nearly turned to putty as he leaned back in his chair, exhaling audibly. 'Thank god…' he thought to himself. A small giggle then escaped his throat. He felt stupid for worrying so much, but he also felt such joy knowing they were okay.

Allura then ushered them to follow her, and they gathered at the Red Lion's hanger and waiting for them to return.

During their flight back, Kolivan apologized for his rude and almost hostile behavior toward them. "I must protect the values of the organization. Otherwise, there will be no hope in defeating Zarkon."

"Don't mention it." Shiro almost laughed. "We completely understand." He then glanced over at Keith, piloting the Lion as they stayed at the back of the cockpit, and whispered, "If anything, those guys who fought Keith should apologize."

Kolivan looked at the red paladin as well, and agreed with slight embarrassment. The members had just beaten Keith down to the bone, and now here they were being rescued by him. "Yes, it shall be done. Later on, of course."

"Yes, o- of course." Shiro agreed.

After they landed, Kolivan stepped out and introduced himself as the leader of the organization Ulaz informed them about. The holographic mask that covered his face now vanished as he greeted Allura, kneeling down on one knee respectfully. She then asked, not planning to waste any time, if she could consider him and the others allies in the fight against Zarkon.

He then rose and replied, "Yes, but we have little time to discuss this." Everyone gave him a puzzled look then. "I just received word from our spy inside the Galran hierarchy. They have become aware of our presence, so the time table for our plan has been moved up." he informed her sternly.

"How soon do we need to begin?" Shiro inquired.

"Now." Kolivan replied firmly. Allura then noticed the state Keith was in after he grimaced in pain. She told him and Shiro to get cleaned up and rest while she and Kolivan discussed the matter of things. Once everyone separated, she asked what happened while the other paladins were away, and Kolivan filled her in on that, and then about the spy he mentioned before.

Shiro helped Keith walk when his legs gave out every now and then as they made their way to a cryo-pod. He then whispered something to Shiro and asked him to relay the message to the others as he continued on.

"Guys, Keith would like to have some space for a while. He- went through a lot at that base. I'll explain it all later." he told them in a hushed tone. They all nodded and began to walk the other way.

Lance hesitated at first, worry for Keith still broiling in his stomach, but he understood and forced himself to walk away. He wondered what happened that Keith was so hushed-up about. Maybe he'd find out later. Hopefully he'd find out later.

Shiro then stopped Coran and asked him to help prepare Keith for the cryogenic healing process, explaining the battle he went through and his various wounds. "Why did he have to go through battle with the Marmorans?" Coran then inquired, genuinely curious.

"It was a trial…" Shiro began, but quickly realized he couldn't reveal the complete truth to Coran, since Keith asked him not to tell anyone. "A trial to see if we were worthy enough to know the secrets of the organization. I had to fight some of the members too, but Keith took the hardest hit."

The Altean understood and eagerly prompted himself over to Keith's side. The paladin held his shoulder again; the pain was getting worse.

They went into the infirmary and cleaned the wound out before Keith dressed himself in the suit. As much pain as he was in, he was hesitant to step into the cryo-pod again. He didn't want to go back in…it felt too soon. He became upset then, upset about having to live through such horrible things; upset that Kolivan couldn't have just told him his past…tested his blood or something… Keith eventually stepped in and closed his eyes, letting himself relax into the healing process.

After Shiro had changed out of his armor, he sat down with the others in the living room and explained things. He made sure to exclude the fact that Keith was part-Galra, at least for now. He figured if Keith wanted them to know, he'd say so himself. Pidge could hardly believe the story, Hunk broke into tears and dramatically wept, "How could they do that to him?! He just wanted to know where the knife came from! Such cruelty!" And Lance…well, he didn't say a word.

He was too furious; he figured if he said anything, it would either come out as a slew of curse words or he'd break into tears and cry with Hunk. He didn't want to be rude, or make them experience either of those options. Lance was truly a mess when he was mad.

They then separated and did their own things, Shiro heading to get some rest, and Pidge, Hunk and Lance heading over to the control room to meet up with Allura and Kolivan. Pidge told them they should probably be there to hear about the plan Kolivan was coming up with and such. Hunk wiped his face and agreed. Lance only nodded.

He wanted to go to the infirmary and sit with Keith until he came out…but he needed his space, like Shiro said. He tried his best to relax and get over things.

After a Allura and the others, excluding Keith and Shiro, were caught up on things and a small plan was devised, they separated and went to rest. Allura showed them to a grand room, designated especially for guests, where Kolivan and the other Blade of Marmora members would be staying. He thanked her earnestly.

Things were mellow for the next two days. The members that fought Keith apologized to him after he was healed, like Kolivan promised Shiro they would. Literally, each and every member that swung at him came up and apologized. They formed a single file line and all. He accepted their apologies, but things were awkward for a short while afterwards.

The member that slashed Keith's shoulder apologized twice, but Keith brushed it off and told him not to worry. The cryogenic process healed it nicely, but Keith still tried to hide it. Not that he walked around with his shirt off too often, but when he showered, he made sure to use two towels; one to wrap around his waist and another, smaller one to drape over his shoulders.

He also made sure to avoid bumping into Lance afterwards, since their bedrooms shared the same hallway and all. He knew the blue paladin liked to shower and pamper himself for at least a half hour before he went to bed, given he had the energy. So, Keith waited until he was done and asleep to wash up. He continued this for the next few days, even though he knew his wound wasn't going to heal any more than it already had. He just didn't want to be asked how he got the scar.

Then he would have to explain the battles he was put through, and naturally Lance would ask why he was put through them… He didn't want to talk about his Galran heritage, to anyone. He figured Shiro hadn't said anything, since everyone was acting as usual around him. But he knew he couldn't hide this from them forever; one way or another the truth would come out, like it always did.

Then one night as he laid in bed, a thought crossed his mind. What if he started to think like them, like the villainous Galrans on Zarkon's side? What if he started to look less human and more Galra? How would he be able to hide that?

'What if I lose my mind one day, worse than I had when I had Lance's thoughts mixed in with mine?' The thought made him cringe and curl up into a ball on his side. He was afraid he'd lose all control and attack the others, attack Lance… He would never forgive himself if that ever happened…

Keith ended up staying awake nearly the whole night that day, tossing and turning and crossing himself in thought.

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