DerpyDino511 – Yea she is a bit… lol

Lala Norisu – They will try their best to find out what happened

The Best Guesst – Yea, I figured I'd put a small element of season 2 in the story.

TheChosenOne260 – Thanks so much! I'm glad you think I've gotten better! I love descriptive writing and trying to create a visual for the scene!

Guest – 'cookbook intense'? I've never heard that phrase before

Juststrolling23 – I know, I know. It's not the best logic, but for the sake of the plot, that's what happened… :)

StellaLuna – 'will he turn full Galra' you'll just have to read and find out :) 'forget who he is and attacks Lance' yea, I want to incorporate something like that soon. 'altean Lance' sorry, I don't really care for that theory. :) 'was Keith still undressed' yes he was 'pidge/shiro fluff' well… I'm not really a fan of them (more for shiro/allura) but if an opportunity comes to put in some fluff between them, I will do so :) And, your reviews are never an inconvenience!

KnightOwl247 – Yes! I love Red rescuing Keith!

Sky Cat – I do enjoy writing this! And yes, I try to update regularly. I am late sometime though. XD

Guest – oh yes! I have a lot of plans for this story and a sequel.

LadyLienDa – well, I'm glad you are enjoying it despite the klance factor.

Hbri04 – Thanks!

Well, guys, sorry it took so long. I was gonna update on Wednesday but I had a bit of technical difficulties with my tablet (which is where my stories are saved) and didn't get it working until now.

Chapter 21: Panic

When they arrived at the Castle of Lions, Coran and Allura were waiting just outside the main hangar. As soon as the air lock closed, Shiro was the first out of his lion carrying Keith. The others were right behind them. Shiro ran right out of the hangar and kept going, making his way to the med bay. Coran and Allura followed as well.

"What happened?!" Allura called as she followed beside Shiro.

"It's a long story, but Haggar got ahold of him! I don't know what all she's done! Why couldn't I get in contact with the castle from the planet?!" Shiro spoke between breaths as he continues to run.

"Sorry, Shiro!" Coran was running along the other side of him. "All the connections to the castle were cut due to a malfunction with the repairs! I haven't been able to get them back online properly since that intruder destroyed them!"

"What about the healing pods?! Have those been repaired?!" Shiro rounded a corner.

"No, unfortunately we don't have all the parts we need." Allura spoke quietly but Shiro heard every word. "That intruder certainly knew what to destroy to hinder us the most!"

They all made it to the med bay. Shiro laid Keith on the medical bed. He also sent the others to wait elsewhere. They didn't need to see this right now.

"Luckily," Allura continued, "We have stocked up on some medical supplies."

Shiro stood back, catching his breath, as Coran examined Keith to determine the extent of his injuries. "How is he?" Shiro finally asked when Coran was done.

"Not good. He has a fractured ankle as well as cuts around his wrists and ankles from his bindings. There are scrapes down his back; they're covered in dirt and looks like he was dragged. Not to mention whatever the quintessence may be doing to his body." Coran began wrapping the cuts around his wrists and ankles. He cleaned the dirt covered scrapes on his back and wrapped his whole torso. He also put a cast on his fractured ankle. "There also seems to be a good chunk missing from one of his ears."

"Yea…" Shiro suddenly looked angry. "I'll explain that later."

"What exactly is the quintessence doing to him?" Allura finally asked.

Coran dropped into a chair. "I'm not entirely sure. I can't get a proper scan without the healing pods."

Shiro heard stirring and looked to see Keith waking up. "Woah! Take it easy."

"S-Shiro, I'm fine." Keith sat up, with the help of Shiro, and realized he was still naked. "W-w-where's my clothes?" He stammered out.

Shiro showed a small smile before handing him a stack of clothes. Coran and Allura left for the moment as Shiro helped him dress. After, Shiro helped him to the lounge room to meet with the others, Coran and Allura followed. Everyone stood up when they saw them enter. Keith was had an arm around Shiro's shoulder and limped as he walked. His wrists and ankles were bandaged and overall looked like hell. Shiro walked him over to the couch and dropped him into it.

They all opened their mouths to say something but Keith intervened before they could get a word out. "Before anyone asks any questions, yes, I will tell you what I remember." His voice was heavy and tired. They all closed their mouths and sat back down, ready to listen. "Once I got outside the town barrier-" he began but was interrupted anyway.

"Wait! Why did you leave the barrier? Why were you even separated from the other paladins?" Allura couldn't help but interrupt with those questions.

"Oh, right. I guess I'll start from the very beginning." He explained the whole story: how the mission was a success, everyone was celebrating until they saw him without his helmet, how they ridiculed him for being Galra and threw stones at him taking a piece of his ear, he felt scared and ran off, eventually making it past the barrier, he passed out in the cold, how he later woke up naked on Haggar's ship, she was talking to Zarkon but he didn't hear much, she dropped him causing his fractured ankle, dragged him to another room causing the scrapes on his back, how she plunged him in and out of the pool of quintessence several times, then Shiro and the others showed up.

There was silence for a moment. "Oh… the witch also mentioned something about trying to make me one of Zarkon's strongest soldiers." Keith stared at his lap as he spoke. He hated the thought of becoming an enemy soldier.

"That will never happen!" Lance blurted out. There were loud agreements from the rest of the group as well.

He gave a small smile to Lance but a sudden pain caused him to double forward. He felt pulses of pain running down his spine. Bending forward like that also stretched the scrapes on his back, which didn't help any. The pulses ran from the base of his neck to the base of his back rhythmically like a heartbeat. He felt hands on his shoulders as the others called to him worriedly. Then the pain just… stopped. He slowly sat back up but the others were just staring at him. "What?"

"Look at your arms," was all anyone could think to say and Pidge was the only one to say it.

Keith looked down and his eyes widened. The violet coloring of his skin started spreading again: it is now up to his shoulders. He lifted his shirt find that it has also spread to his torso. He couldn't tell how far, exactly, due to his bandages. He looked up at the others with wide eyes. "I really am becoming one of them." He spoke at barely a whisper, but everyone heard him. "Why is this happening now?"

Coran was the first to speak this time. "It seems the quintessence may have restarted your transformation. Until now, your transformation had stopped and it looked as though that was as far as it would go. However, after being submerged in the quintessence, it may be forcing a full change on your body."

"N-no. NO! This can't be happening! I-I'm not a full G-Galra! I shouldn't l-look like one!" Keith's hands began to shake and his vision began dot at the edges. His mind is going a hundred miles an hour and his chest feels like it's tightening. It's is suddenly getting harder for him to breath. His eyes are wide and frantic.

"Oh my God, he's having a panic attack!" Hunk begins to panic.

"W-what do we do?! We need to calm him down!" Pidge voice was starting to shake.

Shiro stayed composed but he was certainly worried. "Calm down guys. Panicking ourselves isn't going help him."

"It needs to be quiet and we need to get him focused on his breathing." As he spoke, Lance softly sat on the couch next to Keith. He grabbed his hands to keep them from shaking and began to speak calmly and softly. "Alright, Keith, focus on my voice. I need you to count to ten with me. Can you do that?"

There was no response from Keith and his eyes were squeezed shut. However, his panicking seemed to only speed up the process. As his breathing came out short and shallow, the purple spread up his shoulders and torso, up his neck, and finally… his face. The others' eyes widened but Lance put a finger to his lips to keep them quiet.

"Alright Keith, repeat after me if you can." Lance took a slow audible breath, hoping Keith was listening. "One… Two… Three…" He counted slowly, taking deep breaths in between. By the time he reached six, Keith was repeating the numbers, slowly. They finished counting to ten, but Keith wasn't calming down much. His hands were gripping his hair. "Keith, I need you to focus on breathing. In… out… in… out…" Lance continued repeating as he reached up and cupped Keith's uninjured ear in his hand. He began to rub his thumb up and down the edge, smoothing the fur. This seemed to work. Keith's breathing began to even out and his face relaxed. He dropped his head forward, eyes still closed. Lance looked up to see the others all staring at him. "What?"

"How did you know how to handle that?" Pidge asked.

"Oh…" Lance brought his hand down to his lap. "Well, my sister used to have panic attacks sometimes. I got pretty good at calming her down and bringing her out of it. It's just a matter of figuring out what sooths them, really. I know rubbing his ears helps Keith to relax." He looked at the now fully purple Keith, concern crossing his expression.

Hunk's mouth opened and closed a few times. He wanted to ask how Lance knew that about Keith but decided to just let it be. It seems the others did as well.

Keith's ears flicked and Lance took that to mean he needed more. He reached up and continued his stroking. Soon, Keith fell asleep into Lance's lap.

I hope I wrote that well. There is a bit more Klane in here than I exected but there is still an actual plot, promise. There is so much more to come after this! Until next time,

NyteXade