AN: So, this takes place before Shiro 'dies' and gets cloned and everything. And I mean way back. Like, before Ulaz and the Blade of Marmora back. So, no Matt. No Sam. And um, before Keith really starts suspecting the whole Galra thing. We're pretty much in season 1ish or whatever. Anyway, sorry if I make any timeline mistakes. If you see one feel free to let me know.
Also, sorry if this upsets anyone, but I'm not shipping any of the characters. There were no romances at the begging between any of the Paladins or Allura and Coran, and they're pretty much the main characters for this fic. I apologize if that's upsetting, but this is going to be primarily focusing on friendship. And I like the whole brother-like relationship idea between Keith and Shiro. So that'll be kind of in this.
One more thing, I'm sorry if I get any characterization wrong. Coran's gonna be tricky.
Reviews, follows, favorites, whatevers are totally appreciated! And constructive criticism is welcome...but if it's actually constructive that would be helpful. Kay. Let's get started!
Lance POV...for now.
Lance shook his head, trudging forward aimlessly.
"I don't know what to tell you, it's pretty much a ghost show out here."
For a moment his only answer was silence, before the sound of Pidge scoffing drifted from his closed helmet. "Try turning your lights on, genius."
"They are on!" Lance defended. He turned his lights on. Twin beams cut through the swirls of dust trailing after him, the airborne grains stirred by his movement settling on nearby collapsed structures. All built from a smooth malleable material similar to Earth's plastic. Nothing else moved.
"Yeah, I think Lance might be right, guys." Hunk agreed. Always reliable. "I'm not getting anything in my sector. This looks like it's a bust."
"Same for me." Shiro put in.
Lance nodded, ignoring the fact that no one would be able to see him. Without anyone mentioning any sign of life they would be heading back soon. They just had to wait on confirmation from-
"What about you, Keith?" Allura asked from the castle. "Anything?"
Lance waited for a quick biting remark to come from his self-proclaimed rival, feeling his confusion mount as the seconds ticked on.
"Keith?" Shiro asked. "Keith, are you there?"
"Oh no." Hunk said. "Oh no. This is bad. This is very bad."
"Alright, nobody panic." Shiro commanded, sounding like he was panicking himself. "Pidge, do you have his last known location?"
"Gimme a sec."
"Seriously, Mullet. If you can hear us, now would be the time to say something." Lance glanced around again, this time fighting a bout of nervousness. As annoying as it was to admit, Keith was one of their best fighters. His competition being Shiro, their leader. If Keith wasn't answering, and was lying incapacitated somewhere, Lance couldn't help but think about what could have done him in.
The grey horizon and crumbling remains of the planet's leading city weren't helping him calm down.
"Got it!" Pidge announced. "I'm sending it over now."
A sudden image blinked to life in the corner of Lance's visor. Five colored dots were spread out in approximately even intervals around the city.
"Lance, Pidge. You two are the closest. Both of you diverge on Keith's location while Hunk and I catch up. And, everyone, keep your eyes peeled."
"Okay." Lance said in affirmation, lifting his bayard slightly and transforming it into his gun. "I'm on my way."
"Me too." Pidge added.
"Um, is anyone else wondering about what happened?" Hunk asked. Lance could tell his buddy was nervous from the way his voice wavered threateningly. It had quivered in the same way when Lance and Pidge carted him off to laser tag back in their Garrison days.
Lance forced an unsteady laugh. "Hey, it might end up being that Keith just fell and hit his head or something. He'll probably be fine."
Either way, Lance forced himself to move faster, climbing over rubble and ducking under twisted frames. More dust floated up to obscure his vision but he plowed through. Hoping that a face with glowing red eyes and an appetite for humans wasn't about to pop out of the gloom.
"Allura, how are Keith's vitals?" Shiro asked. They all waited for a moment for the Altean to respond from the Castle. Lance imagined her face, pinched with confusion as Coran hovered nearby.
"I'm sorry. It appears that something is blocking Coran from the data."
"Tech?" Hunk asked. "Is there something blocking the signal?"
Coran's loud and bubbling voice suddenly streamed from the communication line, causing Lance to wince and lose his footing on the sandy ground. Minerals sliding under his feat and jostling his firm position. He skidded backwards down a slight slant. "I would think that there's something currently wrong with Number Four's equipment. I can definitely get a reading on everyone else."
"So, no signal blocking." Hunk deduced. "Okay. Still not good."
"Guys, I'm going to be delayed." Pidge announced suddenly. "Some unstable streets are in the way. I'm going to have to double back."
"Alright." Shiro replied, not sounding happy about the update. "Lance how are you?"
Lance looked at the map in the corner of his helmet. A blue dot, clearly his, was slowing approaching the red blip that continued to blink.
"Nearly there."
"Stay sharp." Shiro reminded him. "If something attacked Keith it could still be lurking around his position. Don't just run in blind."
"Why are we running in at all!" Hunk protested. But Lance knew there wasn't that much complaint behind his words. If he could help Keith, or anyone else, Hunk would be plowing through an army of Galras in a second. It was just the way he was.
Lance kept walking. Checking in occasionally with the rest of the team as the minutes inched by unbearably, until he passed under a crumbling ceiling cautiously. The blue dot was nearly on top of the red.
"I'm not seeing him..." Lance updated, knowing everyone was waiting. "There's just a lot of ruins and stuff."
"Keep looking." Pidge ordered.
Lance sighed. "I know! That's what I'm doing."
He shuffled under an overhang and came into a less cluttered area. Basking in the free range, Lance used his suit's jet packs to propel him forward. Dipping down here and there to push off of the ground.
Another minute passed, tenser than the last.
"I'm still pretty far out, have you guys found anything yet?" Hunk asked.
"No." Lance huffed. It didn't make sense. According to Pidge's map, he should have been right on top of Keith. "I can't find an-There!"
Ignoring the hasty questions and requests for progress reports, Lance flew through the air, cutting a line through the gritty fog shouting, "Keith!"
"Lance what's happening?!"
"Is he okay?"
"Did you find him?"
"Lance!"
But he ignored it. He was too busy skidding to a stop, the sand that spanned the city and the rest of the planet displaced under the angry efficiency of his movements. "Keith, c'mon man, wake up!"
He gripped the shoulders of his fri-rival. He gripped the shoulders of his rival and tugged Keith's upper body onto Lance's lap. Keith's limbs were limp. Easily pliable to Lance's will. He checked his pulse through the gap in the outer armor, feeling his own heartbeat flutter with relief at the steady pressure. "Keith! Wake up!"
"Wake up?" Shiro asked. "What do you mean wake up? Is he unconscious?"
"That tends to be why people say 'wake up!'" Pidge pointed out. Their bickering gained Lance's attention.
"Guys?"
"What is it, Lance?" Allura asked. "Can you tell us Keith's status?"
"Um, yeah. He's out. I don't know why..."
Lance scanned Keith for injuries. "There isn't any blood. That I can see, at least."
"Is it his head?" Pidge's voice sounded different than usual. Tighter and higher.
"I can't tell." Lance admitted. "His helmet's intact though. He's still wearing it."
"Well of course!" Coran put in. "That's paladin armor!"
They ignored him. It wasn't personal.
"Lance." Shiro sounded serious. Lance didn't blame him at all. "What are your surroundings like right now?"
"Uh, we're in the open." Lance glanced around. "There's some sort of blueish/grayish building in front of us. It's mostly intact. Other than that everything else around us has fallen over."
"You mean the tower with the spiral thing?" Pidge asked, causing Lance to go ramrod straight.
"Yeah, that's the one. Why? Can you see it?" Lance carefully lifted Keith up and glanced at his back. No sign of injury.
"Uhuh. I'm on the other side I think. Probably a minute or two out from your location."
"Wait!" Shiro said. "Be careful, Pidge. And you, Lance. Whatever attacked Keith could still be out there."
"Let's not dismiss the 'Keith tripped and knocked himself out' theory yet." Hunk begged.
Lance tuned them out, focusing on dragging Keith away, and under an overhang. All the while talking nonsense words to his unconscious teammate. He waited, but no reply came. Under the glare of his visor Keith's complexion was paler than ever.
"Lance." Shiro said.
"Yeah?"
"Besides the buildings, do you see anything else? Like an indication of a struggle or a fight? Or even someone else?" Shiro asked seriously.
Lance propped Keith against a wall, ignoring the way his head lolled against his shoulder, and turned back to examine the wreckage. He left one hand against Keith's shoulder to steady him.
The strange, nearly flexible, plastic material used on the city's buildings was utilized in other objects. Weird contraptions Lance didn't know the use for were lying, abandoned, on the ground. Unknown pieces sticking out in rods and ledges from piles of trash.
Everything was alien. Which, Lance reminded himself, was to be expected when the planet was previously home to a different species from those known to Earth, or any other Lance had encountered with Voltron.
But despite the unkempt surroundings, Lance didn't notice anything that indicated a fight had recently taken place. Besides, the only real disturbance to the constant layer of dust was the trail he'd dragged Keith away on and the footsteps from his, and previously Keith's, arrivals.
"Sorry. I don't see anything." Lance reported.
"Um, that's a good thing." Hunk reminded him. "No need to apologize."
"Lance!" The mentioned teenager glanced up as he realized the cry hadn't originated from his helmet. "Lance!"
It was short. Green. And aggressively crawling over the rubble.
Pidge had arrived.
"Pidge!"
The girl skidded to a stop next to him under the overhang. She immediately turned to Keith.
"He's still not up?"
"I would have told you if he was." Lance reminded her.
"Allura! Can you send down a pod?" Shiro asked.
"Already on its way. It should arrive at Pidge, Lance, and Keith's location in moments."
"Last time we go anywhere without the lions." Pidge vowed darkly, already looking Keith over the same way Lance had. She spoke directly into the communication line. "Guys, Lance is right. I can't see what's wrong with Keith. We're going to have to figure it out when he's not relying on this suit for oxygen."
"It's alright Pidge. We're nearly there. Just hold tight for a minute." Shiro said. Lance looked at the map to confirm it. The black and yellow dots were quickly arriving at the multicolored blob where Pidge, Keith, and Lance were camped out. Hunk was a little further. Shiro must've been booking it.
"Lance! I can see it!" Pidge declared. She stared up into the grey clouds as a light craft sped towards them, gliding to a stop that kicked up waves of sand in the nearby clearing. A door unhitched from the spherical ship and slid down to create a ramp.
"Ship's here." Lance said while Pidge tipped Keith forward and tried to hoist him up by wrapping her arms around his chest.
"Lance, help me with Keith. Unless everyone wants me to kick him up."
Lance assisted Pidge with supporting their unconscious red paladin, somewhat carrying and somewhat dragging him, over to the alien craft. At least Keith was shorter than Lance.
"I can see you." Shiro reported from their voice line. Lance glanced up and noticed Shiro jogging in their direction, using his jet pack to push himself forward when he wasn't in the remains of buildings.
"Well hurry up!" Pidge called, already in the ship.
Lance ducked inside with her, while speaking into his helmet. "Hunk? Where are you buddy?"
"Um, got a little held up. This terrain is kind of messing with me."
"We'll swing by and pick you up." Shiro told him as he climbed into the ship, immediately racing over to Keith, where Pidge had dumped him (in a somewhat careful manner) on a table in the back. Clear shelves filled with glass tubes of liquid and various substances surrounded the space. Apparently Coran and Allura had sent down a medical pod.
"How is Keith?" Allura asked over the line. "Has he regained consciousness yet?"
"No." Shiro answered, tightly.
Lance glanced around. The sudden lack of something glaringly obvious catching his attention. "Hey guys, where are the controls?"
"The pod is currently on auto-pilot. I've re-programmed it to stop at Hunk's location and return each of you to the Castle of Lions." Allura answered. As she spoke the door closed, sliding back into place. A low hum from the engines and the ship began to move, trembling beneath their feet.
"Sounds good." Pidge muttered.
Lance turned back to Keith. Shiro had removed his helmet and was currently running his hands through Keith's dark curls, searching for any sign of blood or bumps. Lance walked up next to him and began to help strip off Keith's outer armor, glancing at the suit he wore under and not finding any sign of tear or injury.
"Thanks." Shiro said distractedly, eyebrows scrunched together.
"Find anything?" Hunk asked from the helmet. His voice was still wavering.
"Not yet." Shiro answered. He shook his head. "I don't understand. There isn't any sign of his head suffering any damage."
Lance clenched his teeth. Enemies were one thing. He could fight them. Injuries another. Even with the little first aid he'd been taught at the Garrison and the small amount of medical knowledge he'd picked up with Voltron he was normally able to help somewhat with wounds if the need arose. But this? What could Lance do to help if he didn't know what was wrong?
Pidge walked up beside them. "Did he get hit anywhere else? Maybe he passed out from...blood loss?"
Lance didn't think that was likely, and he doubted anyone else did either. After all, they would've seen the blood pooling around his limp form, through his uniform by now.
"Hey! I can see you guys!" Hunk interrupted suddenly. "At least, I hope that's the pod from the Castle."
The ship jolted out of the blue.
"You've begun to descend." Allura told them. Lance imagined the pod dropping down to where Hunk waited, the sand swirling dangerously. It reminded him of helicopters landing in old action movies. Dirt scraping and scratching at the protagonists.
"Alright," Pidge said. "Let's make this quick, Hunk."
"Got it."
And Hunk was fast. As soon as the door slid open, he scrambled up the ramp and hustled over to Keith's side along with the rest of them. The door closed and the ship began to move again.
Lance turned back to Keith, staring down at the grimace his rival adorned in his immobile state. Sure, they had some rough interactions. It was only expected with them going head to head since the Garrison. But he never wanted Keith to get hurt or...whatever had happened to him. A sour taste burned his throat.
"What's that?"
POV...Um...SHIRO!
Keith wasn't a kid anymore. Shiro knew that.
But looking down at his friend, lying on a sterile table, unconscious, Shiro couldn't help but remember the boy he'd met at the Garrison. The kid so socially damaged from his years in the system that it took months for him to warm up to Shiro's helping hands.
And now.
Shiro stared at him and his chest ached.
It seemed so unfair. After everything Keith had gone through, both on Earth, and so far up in space, for him to be injured. Shiro just hoped it was nothing serious, nothing that couldn't be fixed by a chunk of time in the med bay.
If it was...
"What's that?" Shiro looked over at Pidge, jolted from his thoughts, as she pointed towards Keith's collarbone.
They all noticed the small scratch that sprouted from underneath his outfit. Shallow, but vivid red against his pallor.
"Probably from all the training he does." Hunk theorized. "He's bound to get beat up sometimes."
But Shiro hesitated. Some instinctive feeling in the pit of his stomach urged him to reach over and grab Keith's collar, pulling the fabric down a few inches to reveal what it had previously hidden.
"Oh god, that's not normal." Hunk said, completely changing his tune, and backing away from the table.
Shiro agreed.
Keith's skin was covered in scratches. Beads of blood gathered in areas where lines intersected, somewhat deformed by the way the uniform smothered the cuts.
But the thing that got to Shiro the most was the way the scratches were etched into his skin, forming deliberate lines and circles.
Shiro glanced over at the blue paladin, noting that he was looking down at Keith with wide eyes. "Lance, pass me one of those blades." Shiro pointed his chin at a shelf with a tube filled with small scalpel-like knives.
"What? Why?" But Lance was already opening the glass door over the shelf and reaching into the clear tube for an instrument. He passed one along to Shiro's awaiting Galra hand. His human one busy resting on Keith's shoulder.
"Hunk, Pidge, you guys mind?" Shiro nodded towards the other side of the craft, where a bench was protruding from the ship's side. "It's getting a little crowded."
And it was, with all four of them squished over around Keith and the table, Shiro hardly had room to move his elbows.
"Uh, yeah." Hunk agreed. He and Pidge both shot one more worried look at Keith, then turned around and went to sit on the bench. Pidge pulled out one of her devices and started clicking away as Hunk watched.
"I'll go-" Lance began.
"Wait." Shiro held out an arm and held him. "I might need some help."
Shiro reached forward and used the scalpel to cut through Keith's upper uniform to just above his navel, peeling the fabric back gently to eye the designs scratched into his skin. They spanned from his collar bones to the bottom of his rib cage in shallow cuts. Shiro's hand tightened around the scalpel.
"What the quiznak is that?" Lance asked.
Shiro wanted to know too.
"Huh?" Pidge came over, her usually bright eyes dimming at the sight of the cuts. She used her handheld device to snap a quick picture and nodded back to where Hunk sat, waiting anxiously. "We'll start on this."
"Thank you."
She walked back and the two dived into research using the alien records Coran and Allura had gathered.
Shiro sighed. It was that or break something, and the atmosphere felt fragile and tight as it was.
Lance awkwardly waited beside him, and Shiro shook his head. Get back into the moment. Something was wrong and everyone needed him to be a leader. C'mon Shiro, keep it together.
"Okay. Lance, do you see a flashlight of any kind?"
"Flashlight?" Lance rifled through the shelves, clicking buttons and wincing as liquid splashed onto the ground around his feet. Shiro pulled the top of Keith's uniform back together, covering the symbols. Some blood smudged against the fabric and leaked through in small dots. "Got one!"
Lance held out a device. Shiro clicked a button and some light gushed out of the edge. "This'll work."
Shiro pulled back Keith's eyelids, gazing down at the distinctive purple color that had baffled so many over the years Shiro had known him. Shiro used the light and shone it at his eyes, feeling relief as Keith's pupils contracted dutifully.
"No sign of brain damage." Shiro reported, withholding a negative yet.
"That's good." Lance said, nodding, and swallowing thickly. "I mean, sure we're probably going to have to put up with mullet's annoying self a while longer, but at least he won't be raving mad."
Shiro ignored him. Instead, he stared down at Keith, noticing sadly that even unconscious his expression was twisted into a frown. He went to cover him with a silky fabric from the shelf, better a blanket than nothing, when-
The floor suddenly shook, the engine cutting out and the craft descending for a moment before stopping.
A moment of silence.
"Are we back?" Hunk asked. He held a hand against the wall warily. Preparing for the possibility of the ship maneuvering unpredictably again.
A side of the craft began to slide out, and down. Recreating the ramp and answering Hunk's question with the two silhouettes that awaited.
"Indeed." Allura answered briskly, Coran already climbing up to join Shiro and Lance at Keith's side. He pulled back the neck of Keith's suit to eye the cuts.
"Bring him to the cryopod." Coran ordered, already shoving Keith into Shiro's arms, all harsh and serious. The bubbly tone from earlier put away now that it became clear Keith was in real trouble.
Shiro didn't waste a second, already curling Keith closer against him in a bridal carry and whisking them both out, in the direction of the medical bay. Everyone followed behind, but Shiro hardly spared them a glance. He was too consumed with purpose.
The distance seemed longer than he was used to, but finally they made it to the doorway. Turning sideways and slipping through the entrance with Keith, Shiro's attention immediately latched onto the cryopods. He hurried over.
Behind him the others were talking quietly. More importantly, Coran readied the pod.
He readjusted his arms and as Keith's unconscious features twisted and his breathing quickened Shiro felt his heart tighten further then it was already grasped. Each glance down only strengthened an angry burning deep inside.
Whatever was going on, Shiro would find a way to keep Keith safe, and then he would find whoever did this and hold them responsible.
The thought was rigid and stuck to his mind like glue. Shiro knew at once he meant every word with a burning sincerity.
"Place him inside," Coran said, backing away from the pod abruptly.
Shiro walked up and reluctantly stood Keith up in the capsule.
"I need to close it," Coran warned when it became clear Shiro wasn't going to back away unprompted. Shiro shook his head, soaked in the image of Keith's face without a pellucid cover in the way, and managed to leave the younger alone in his pod.
Barely. He barely managed.
For a couple minutes Shiro just stood there.
Coran spent the time fiddling with controls and arranging things on the medbay, probably in preparation for when Keith woke up. At some point Shiro distantly heard Hunk asking Coran questions and Pidge relay some information, gesturing at the screen on her hand-held tech in the process.
Shiro wrung his hands together. Tried not to bite his lip.
The collar of Keith's uniform had flipped down to reveal a few extra inches of inflamed skin, his complexion had lost a couple hues, transforming from his normal pale to ghostly white. He looked smaller without his usual jacket. Softer without his usual scowl.
Shiro swallowed thickly.
Keith's POV
Keith clawed his way forward on hands and knees, reaching out into the sprawling darkness in search of the familiar feel of his knife's handle. Overhead a wet howl overwhelmed the sound of papery wings slicing through the thick, muggy air. The brittle aching scent of copper hung in the stairwell.
He drew in a rattling breath, the aroma of blood choking his lungs, and tried to scurry further into the void, only for his hand to slip out from underneath him. He went crashing to the concrete below and found himself lying in a pool of cooling liquid.
He didn't want to know.
Everything burned. His arms, his legs, his torso. His head was pounding with a spiking pain and Keith forced his eyes open against the itch scraping against his eyes.
Bright spots enveloped his vision from keeping his eyes squeezed shut too long.
He shook and heaved for oxygen and waited for the last of the lights to dissipate-
Four.
Three?
Three.
Two.
Still two.
Keith shook his head and studied the two warbling spheres of brightness. He watched as the shaky silhouettes solidified into two pinpoints symmetrical to the other, gaining a red hue.
Keith's hand found his knife, he drew it close and waited.
The two eyes stared back at him from the shadows.
And scene. Officially dooone. I said pretty much all I needed to say at the beginning of the story, so there's nothing left I guess...except, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the reviews? Pleeeease guys? Anyway, that's all.
Toodles!