Keith rolled over onto his side shifting himself into a more comfortable position. He was normally a light sleeper, so it was no surprise when a muffled sound awoke him. He laid there for a while trying to determine where the sound was coming from. Slowly he sat up having guessed that it was coming from the other side of Hunk.
Rising as quietly as possible he found his way past Hunk's cot, only to find Lance's empty. Looking next to the bed he found Lance with his knees curled up to his chest. He had one hand gripping his hair tightly, the other placed across his mouth. He was shaking as he attempted to smother his cries.
"Hey," Keith whispered softly reaching out a hand to him.
In response Lance grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the bed. Keith didn't have a chance to respond before Lance was on top of him hands around his throat. He was shaking worse than before, tears still falling over his cheeks.
"I'm going to kill you," Lance screamed, "For everything you've done!"
Keith was entirely confused. What had he done? On either side of him he could hear the others waking from the commotion. At this point he was gasping for air as Lance continued to strangle him.
Then all at once Shiro pulled Lance off of him and had him pinned on the floor. Allura was right there with a sedative. She quickly administered it and Lance succumbed to sleep.
Keith was staring eyes wide at Lance, his hand was around his neck as he still felt the ghost of Lance's hands.
"I don't understand. Why would he attack me like that?" Keith asked. He thought that they had an understanding that they were closer than that.
"I don't know. All I know is that we need to make sure that we have someone watching him until we get this figured out." Shiro flicked his hands upwards signaling to Keith to raise his head so he could get a better look at his neck. "It's not too bad. There will definitely be some bruising though."
Carefully they moved Lance back to his bed, pulling the comforters over him. Quietly they made there way to another cot sitting on it or around it.
"We need to find Coran," Allura said, "He's the only one of us who would know anything."
"A couple of us can check the tunnels while the rest of us stay here in case he decides to show up?" Hunk suggested.
Shiro nodded, "We could do that," He rose to his feet, "Keith you can come with me. Allura, Pidge, and Hunk can all stay here."
"That won't be necessary."
They all whipped around to find Coran standing at the door. His clothes were covered in dirt and sand. Along the arms and torso as well as part of the legs were torn. He looked as if he had crawled through a narrow crawlspace.
"Coran!" Allura cried jumping up and rushing to the older man. This Altean was the last connection she had to her father. If he had died then she would've had nothing left.
Coran grunted as Allura slammed into him wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Still in the embrace he brought a fist up to his mouth covering it as he coughed.
Allura carefully backed away her eyes wide, "You're hurt!" She reached out for an arm, "Let's get you into a healing pod." She began to pull him towards one only to stop when he didn't follow.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm as chipper as ever!" he smiled striking a pose with his hands on his hips.
"Your coughing," That can't be a good sign, "we should put you in one just to be safe," she reached for him again.
He stepped back out of her reach frowning at her, "I told you I'm fine."
"If you insist," she says softly her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Coran are you sure that your okay," Shiro asked approaching the two, Pidge and Hunk were not far behind.
"Quite sure," He replied his gaze hardening when he made eye contact with Pidge.
Pidge shuddered having felt a cold chill down her spine. She gave Coran one last look before returning to her cot. Something was off with him, whether or not the others were thinking it too, she knew that the creature had something to do with it.