The paladins just came back from a mission. On the mission, Keith went missing but came back and none of the paladins knew where he went. He wouldn't tell the other paladins and every time Coran would ask, Keith would just shake his head at him and look angry. " I don't know what happened on the mission but it seems to have upset him..." Coran said as he was entering the kitchen where the rest of the paladins were. " Let me go ask him!" Lance, said and stood up but as he was going to walk out, Allura stopped him and looked him in the eyes with angriness. " Either of you is going anywhere until we figure this out. What if its something personal happened that he doesn't want to tell us about?" Allura continued. All the paladins looked at her, understanding that they couldn't force Keith to tell them.
training later," Shiro said and they all went to the kitchen to eat Hunks food. Allura told Keith that there was food for him if he wanted, and not sooner than that he was on the way to the kitchen. " Guys, when he comes, don't you dare say anything that could upset him, or you will go through a discussion with me..." Shiro said, looking over at everyone at the table to make sure everyone understood.
Soon Keith was at the table, and no one dared to look at him whatsoever. " Keith, do you want to try some of my Hunk specialty?" Hunk asked as he was gently pushing forward the tray of food towards Keith. He looked at the food for a long time but finally decided to take some, and as he took his first bite he looked a bit happier and kept eating. " Oh my god, this food is so yummy!" Pidge exclaimed as she was taking her second portion of food. Hunk knew everyone liked his food and that's why he was always happy when they ate together. "I'm going, but I want to talk to Shiro first..." Keith said before he left the table. A few minutes went by, when Shiro finally stood up, thanked Hunk for the food and left towards Keith's room. The paladins exchanged worried looks with each other as Shiro left but knew that Shiro probably would solve the problem and everything would go back to normal.
Shiro was standing in front of Keith's room, a bit worried to enter. He finally knocked and waited for a few seconds before the door opened and all he saw was a clean, dark room with Keith sitting on the bed. " Keith, you said you wanted to talk... " Shiro said gently as he entered the room slowly, not causing any sudden movements. " Yeah, I have to tell someone at least, " Keith said. Shiro sat down next to Keith on the edge of his bed and hugged him tightly. Shiro already knew what this was about and therefore he also understood him. " The reason I disappeared during the mission is that i- I found something..." He said, his hands were trembling. " I found a little storage unit on the planet so I went inside, and what I found in there reminded me a lot about my childhood..." Keith continued. He was on the edge of crying, Shiro could hear it in his voice but he remained calm for Keith's sake. " I know how much you miss your foster parents, and your friends back on earth but everyone does. Let's not worry so much about it and go have some fun, right?" Shiro said, standing up and lending Keith a hand. " Right..." He said and they walked out to the others.
When they entered the lounge where everyone where sitting, Keith was comforted by their presence and smiled. It made everyone cheer up and everything was almost back to normal now. Just as they sat down, the castle's defense alarm started and everyone got up quickly. " Get to your hangars NOW" Allura shouted as she and Coran disappeared to the control room. Once everyone was suited up and outside they saw what was coming, and everyone got ready to fight. " Put the castle defense barrier up now!" Pidge shouted over the intercoms. "Let's defend and fight!" She continued, as she and the other paladins entered the fight. The fight between the paladins and the fleet of galras went fine in the beginning until Keith was kidnapped and transported onto a ship and disappeared. They couldn't save him while they where fighting so when the fight was over they went back to the castle. " Keith was just kidnapped by the galra and we have to get him back!" Shiro said angrily as he entered the lounge where Allura and Coran were. " We have to have a plan and I think I know one! Shiro continued and everyone listened and agreed to the plan. The plan was to find the ship then go in from the bottom of the ship and find Keith, simple as that. What was for Keith himself, he wasn't in that much danger yet but if the paladins didn't come soon to save him, Keith would leave the ship with the information he didn't want them to tell him.
As Keith awoke from his unconsciousness, he found himself strapped down to a metal table in a galran lab. He didn't really remember what happened before but he knew the others would save him soon... Or so he hoped. " Oh so the paladin is awake now, is he?" A galran entered the room and gave him an evil grin, as he sat down next to where Keith was. " What are you going to do to me?!" Keith said as he was worried. " I was just going to tell you something, why are you so dumb..." The galran said as he stood up from where he was sitting. " While you were asleep, we did tests on you and noticed that you are half galra. Does it ring any bells?" He continued. Keith was in shock from hearing this and couldn't believe that he was half galra. The race that destroyed Alluras home planet Altea, and that no one ever told him before. " I don't believe you! Why would I be half galra when both my parents are from earth!?" Keith said angrily to the galran. He just stood there looking at the paladin, when he suddenly went over to a desk to get something. " Look at this... Your mom was galran and your dad was human. Guess what you are?" He said, shoving the information in Keith's face. Keith was so shocked he couldn't speak because he now knew his mom was maybe alive. " So what are you going to do with me now then? " Keith asked. The galran just gave him a grin and left, leaving Keith speechless and angry. " Great now what?".
In the meantime, the paladins found the base where they kept Keith, and now they were on the way there. " Guys how long is it going to take, I can't see it anywhere even though it says it's supposed to be here!" Lance whined. Everyone was probably tired but Lance was the only one who was complaining. " Its says its right in front of us?" Pidge said as she was looking outside to scan the area. Nothing. Of course. " Maybe it's invisible or it's in one of those voids we found when Ulaz..." Shiro started but trailed off of the memory of the only galran he could trust, who had sacrificed himself for the paladins. " I could check for any invisible barriers, yes," Pidge said, her keyboard beeing for any results. " Guys there is an invisible wall, but we could just go straight though! We have to be smart and enter lower down so they don't see us through:" Pidge continued and all the paladins went lower down and entered the barrier to save there fellow friend and red paladin. When they got inside Shiro went first in case anything came up to attack. They entered the base with Shiro still in the lead, and then Lance, Hunk, and Pidge behind him. "I and Lance are going this way, and you two take that way," Shiro said pointing another direction and they split up. After walking for a while Shiro suddenly got a terrible flashback from his time on this ship and they had to wait for a few minutes before he had calmed down.
" Dude you okay?" Lance asked helping his leader up. " Yes I'm fine now but I would like to hurry this up in case- you know - Haggar shows up..." Shiro said with a shaky voice.
" Well if she does, I'm going to kick some ass!" Lance said cockily and they continued. Soon they came to a corridor that Shiro thought looked familiar, to him. Then he remembered that this place was where he was kept so Keith had to be in the lab. " Lance, come on I know where he is!" Shiro said as he started running towards the doors that led to the lab. Shiro and Lance kicked some ass before entering and they found Keith but not in the state they wanted him in. " Shiro..." Lance started but was interrupted by Shiro's worries. " Lance not now, he is unconscious!" Shiro went to Keith and undid the straps, picked him up and they went out of the creepy looking lab.
When they got outside they met Pidge and Hunk, but also a small fleet of galra so they had to fight their way out, which was a bit complicated since Shiro was carrying Keith.
" Hunk I have to get Keith to the Black lion as soon as possible, so can you cover me!?" Shiro screamed as Hunk was backing towards him to cover himself. Once they were in the Black Lion and Keith was safe, Shiro went outside again to help the others. It took a really long time to fight off the fleet because there only came more but finally they had a chance to escape and they did.
Back at the castle, Keith was brought to the med-bay and Coran watched over him while the others rested. Shiro was very frustrated and couldn't fall asleep so he went up to check on Keith. When he got to the med-bay, Coran was fixing an EKG and IV for Keith just in case he would get worse. " How is he doing?" Shiro asked as he entered the med-bay. Coran turned around and pointed at the EKG, that showed Keith's heart rate. " It seems fine, so you don't need to worry. I'm going to stay here all the time in case he wakes up, but Shiro you need to sleep." Coran said looking worryingly at Shiro. He didn't want to be a pain so he went back to his room and tried to fall asleep again, only to find that it was pretty much impossible. As he was laying in bed, Coran popped his head through the door to see if he was asleep, which he wasn't. " Do you need any help to fall asleep Shiro?" Coran asked. The truth was that he did need help, so he sat up in bed and nodded. Coran entered the room and handed Shiro an injection. " What is this?" Shiro asked suspiciously. He didn't want Coran to drug him or anything but maybe it was for the best since he hasn't slept well since they the last mission which was 1 week ago. "It's just a mild sedative and it's not gonna hurt you," Coran said softly and then he left. Shiro considered taking the sedative and took the cap off and injected himself, slowly feeling more tired than ever. He fell asleep in a minutes time and stayed sleeping until late morning the next day. As Shiro was waking up he felt so relaxed that he wanted to stay in bed for like forever, but knew he had to get up and check on Keith. He sat up in bed and put his feet down on the cold floor when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right foot and quickly pulled his feet up. " Ow, what the hell was that?" He asked himself, looking down on the floor to see what caused him the pain. He felt so dumb when he saw it was the injection he took yesterday that was on the floor, with no cap on it. " Right... Now I feel stupid..." He thought to himself and picked up the injection and put the cap on. He limped to the med-bay with the empty injection in his pocket, and when he got there he didn't see Coran anywhere. " Coran, are you in here?" Shiro asked into the room. Out of nowhere, Coran came and was now standing in front of him. " I was just going to give this back to you, and also see how Keith was doing," Shiro said handing Coran the empty injection. Just as Coran was going to say something there was a small beep from where Keith was laying. " Keith?" Coran asked as they went to Keith side of the bed. " Ugh, where am I?" Keith asked groggily. He had only passed out since yesterday and now he was finally awake again. " You are in the castle med-bay, and you are safe here," Coran said patting Keith lightly on the shoulder.
Half an hour had passed since Keith woke up and now he and Shiro were talking when the rest of the paladins entered the room to greet their red paladin. " Keith we are so happy you are okay!" Hunk said and went to give Keith a big hug. " Oh be careful Hunk, your gonna kill me!" Keith laughed as Hunk let go. As they were talking Allura entered the med-bay and Keith imminently felt guilty and didn't dare to look at her. " Keith, I'm happy you are alright. How are you feeling?" She asked. Keith didn't look at her but politely answered. " I feel fine now when I'm back here in the castle, Princess." After some time they all left but Coran and Shiro stayed to keep Keith company. Keith fell asleep but only slept for 10 minutes because he got annoyed by the beeping of the EKG next to him. " Coran, can you turn it off, I can't sleep with the beeping!" Keith asked Coran angrily. He did turn off the EKG but he didn't take the IV out yet and that annoyed Keith as well but he understood he might need it for a few more hours. Now when Keith finally could fall asleep, he slept for a few hours before Shiro came in to check on him. " Hey Shiro, can you ask Coran to take this IV out now?" Keith asked and Shiro went to get Coran which went pretty quick because he was only in the room next door. " Yes Keith, now I can take the IV out but you cant leave the med-bay until tomorrow," Coran said as he was approaching Keith with a weird looking tool. " Now Keith I'm only going to use this to get the needle out, so don't worry," Coran said as he used the tool to get the IV out of Keith's arm.
" OW, what the fuck!" Keith snapped when Coran pulled the needle out. " Sorry, maybe I should have warned you..." Coran said, excusing. After that Keith had nothing to do so he asked the paladins to come and keep him company until he was going to sleep. They had fun playing games, talking and eating some cake that Hunk made. When they left Keith fell asleep and only woke up once in the night to go to the bathroom. In the morning Coran came to wake Keith up, but when he entered the med-bay Keith was already awake and he was fiddling with a knife, that Coran had never seen before. " Keith?" He asked and the paladin looked up, shocked to see Coran standing there. " I was just going to let you know that you can leave after I scanned you." Keith sat up and let Coran do his work and when he was done he got to get out of the med-bay.
" Everything looks good for now, so I'm going to help you get dressed and then Hunk made some breakfast for you in the kitchen," Coran said, helping Keith out of the bed and into his clothes.
When they entered the kitchen, no one was there because the other had morning training with Shiro but the breakfast was there and Keith ate a bit. " Coran when can I start training again?" Keith asked. He knew Coran wouldn't let him train right now after getting out of the med-bay so he was guessing not the first few days. " Well that will depend on how you are feeling but I can let you start training again in two days, is that alright?" Coran asked. Two days wasn't that much, so he was fine with it and nodded yes as an answer. He ate his breakfast and went to the lounge to wait for the others to come when he remembered what the galran had said about him being half galra. He didn't want to believe it of course but how would he know, except for seeing his own memories? " Maybe I could ask Coran or Shiro later..." Keith thought to himself. Keith was picking off his band-aid that was from the IV when the rest of the paladins came. He really wanted to discuss this with Shiro right now so Keith asked him if he had time to talk. " Well yes of course I do," Shiro responded. They went to another room to talk privately and Shiro got worried when Keith couldn't spit out what he was going to say. " Keith, did something happen on the ship that I should know about?" Shiro asked gently placing his hand on his lap. " Yes... Something did happen but everyone is going to hate me for it so I don't want to say it!" Keith exclaimed. " When I was there they told me I was- was half galra!" Keith said looking down because he didn't want to meet Shiro's face.
There was a long silence when Shiro finally spoke: " Keith, are you sure?" He asked. Keith knew Shiro would take the news badly and didn't dare to say anything so he just nodded. " I don't really know what to say here Keith but you need to tell this to everyone because they have the right to know. Right?" Shiro said standing up, ready to leave. They went together to the lounge, everyone looked at him and it made Keith feel insecure. " I have somethings to say..." Keith said, getting everyone's attention. " When I was on the galra ship they did some test apparently and they told me- that I was... Half-Galra..." Keith continued, looking down at his feet when he spoke.
He quickly looked at Allura but she seemed fine so Keith asked how everyone felt about it. " Allura do you hate me now...?" Keith asked and it brought her back to reality. " Keith, I don't hate you but I just need some time to process this new information. I think everyone does..." She said looking at the other paladins and then back at Keith.
" Keith, if you would like to see how galran you are I could help you?" Coran asked, bringing Keith's attention. Did he really want to know, or would it just make things worse?
" I guess it wouldn't hurt to know because it's only going to affect me right?" Keith said. Then he and Allura exchanged looks and she nodded that it was okay for her and the rest of the paladins too. So everyone headed for the med-bay to see the results, and so on. When they entered the med-bay
Keith got up on the edge of a bed and Coran got some supplies. The other paladins and the princess were in the chairs next to him, ready to either help or just watch.
" Okay Keith, the first thing is just a simple blood sample," Coran said taking Keith's arm and cleaning it. Keith didn't like needles that much but he wanted to know so he went with it. He thought it was a bit embarrassing that the others were there watching but he guessed they were just as excited. " OW! CORAN, That was the second time you did that!" Keith exclaimed as he noticed Coran didn't warn him again about taking the needles out with his tool.
" Haha, what you are whining for that, I'm guessing it didn't even hurt!" Lance teased. " What! Do you want a needle taken out of your skin?!" Keith snapped. Lance backed off and didn't say anything more after that. " Didn't think so either." Keith continued. " Okay Keith, there are a few more tests so get comfortable," Coran said, and Keith got annoyed but did get comfortable in the med-bay bed.
" Next test is a bit time consuming, but you have to change into this and then go over there," Coran said handing over a cryo pod suit and pointing to the other side of the room. Keith went to the bathroom to change, thinking he looked ridiculous in the suit but went to where Coran was and waited for further instructions.
" Okay, now lie down here and don't worry it's only going to take 10 minutes, but it will hurt a tiny bit," Coran said as Keith laid down on the table. When Coran strapped Keith down, that's when he got worried but he trusted Coran more than the galra so it was fine. " Now I'm going to start the scanner, but tell me if it's too much. As the scanner started Keith felt nothing, but two minutes into the process Keith felt a little pain but it was nothing compared to his experiences before. When the process was done, Lance was the one standing there instead of Coran because he had to go to the bathroom. " Lance, can you let me go?" Keith asked. Lance pretended that he didn't hear because he thought it was fun to have the power for a few minutes. Three minutes went by and Lance was the only one in the room when Coran came back because the others had gone training, cause they didn't want to wait. " Coran, can you let me go?" Keith asked. " Why are you still strapped down?" Coran asked confused as he was loosening the straps. Lance was laughing and once Keith was loose he regretted it badly. " Anyways, are we done now?" Keith asked. He though two tests would be enough for Coran to do his research. " We have one more test and its as simple as a skin sample," Coran said. A skin sample... Did that mean he was going to cut his skin? " Uh, Coran, what do you mean with that?" Keith asked. Coran explained that he only needed to scrape off some skin and that the procedure was super simple because Keith would be asleep. " Coran, I don't want to do that, can't you get the result with what you have?" Keith asked. Unfortunately, he needed that skin sample to get the right information and Keith agreed that he could do it but not until the next day.
" Of course Keith, I will see you tomorrow here." He said and Keith went to say goodnight to the others. The only people awake were Shiro and Lance, and Keith decided to tell them what was going to happen the next day. " Dude, that will be space surgery. That's scary!" Lance exclaimed and patted Keith on the back before he left. Keith and Shiro talked for half an hour more before Coran came by and told Keith that he had to sleep, so he would be ready for tomorrow. Keith understood and went to his room but didn't fall asleep that fast because he was worried.
The next day when Keith woke up, a wave of uncertainty hit him and he went to see if there was any breakfast for him. Hunk was in the kitchen, baking something and Keith felt how hungry he was. " Hunk, is there any breakfast left?" Keith asked when he saw Hunks worried look. " Sorry Keith but Coran told us this morning what he was going to do, and he said that you weren't- allowed to eat- breakfast..." Hunk said his voice on the edge of cracking into tears.
" Great, just like earth surgeries then..." Keith said grumpily. He went to the med-bay to see if Coran was there and he was but so was the rest of the paladins and the princess. Hunk arrived a few seconds later and when they were all there, Coran informed everyone about what was going to happen. " So as I told you yesterday, I'm going to put Keith safely to sleep and then take a piece of his skin so I can get the results ready for tomorrow," Coran said.
Keith was very nervous at this point because he only had one surgery before and that was on earth. This isn't earth, its space, and 10.000-year-old equipment but it shouldn't matter as long as it works. Keith changed into a med-bay gown and said goodbye to everyone before he and Coran left to the surgery room. When Keith entered the room, the lighting was sharper and it was creepier than the ORs back on earth. " Lie down, I just need to get ready," Coran said as he was fetching different things like gloves, and tools. Keith lied down on the table with was relatively comfortable but that didn't help the fact that Keith was super scared even though he trusted Coran. " Okay Keith, you have two alternatives for going to sleep, number one is an oxegyn mask and the other option is that I put in an IV. So what sounds better?" Coran asked. Keith thought for a moment and thought option one was better. " Okay, here we go... Just keep looking into my eyes if you're scared." Coran said gently as he placed the mask on Keiths face. Keith felt how scared and tired he felt, and soon he drifted off into complete darkness.
When Keith woke up again he found himself back in the med-bay. He had an IV and an EKG next to him and his friends were outside talking quietly. " Keith?" Shiro's voice entered his ears and soon he was right next to the bed.
" Do you know where you are?" Shiro continued talking as Keith was waking up from the anesthesia. " I'm in the med-bay... And I feel like shit-. He couldn't talk properly with the pain in his leg from where Coran took a skin sample.
" I see you're in pain, and I will give you some pain medicine," Coran said as he quickly went to get some. Coran came back and gave Keith the medicine and he immediately felt a bit better, but still felt a bit sick.
" Coran, how long time did it take?" Keith asked. Coran was fiddling with his IV and then he answered. " It took about 1 hour, and everything went fine but you will get a tiny scar on your leg," Coran said but Keith knew that already. Later the other paladins had a chance to talk with Keith, even though he wasn't very responsive so they all left him alone to rest after a short amount of time. Keith had checked the scar and wasn't surprised at all when it wasn't small. He fell back to sleep and Coran took the chance to do some scans, not to annoy the peacefully sleeping paladin. The next day when Keith woke up, he saw that Coran was sleeping in a chair further away from him and that he was done with the results. " Coran, wake up!" Keith hissed as he was trying to sit up in the hospital bed and feeling some pain in his leg. Coran was awake and went to him with the result which was proven. " Keith, It's true that you are half galra and that your mom was galra. You don't need to worry because it won't change anything about how much we care for you." Coran said giving Keith the screen so he could see the results himself. Keith felt empty and alone inside, and dint knows what to say. " Um- thanks for the help, Coran..." Keith said awkwardly as he lied down again. " No problem. You have to rest now and I will come to check on you later when you might be ready to leave." Coran said as he left. When Keith was all alone in the med-bay he felt even more lonely and unappreciated. He knew that wasn't true because he had people that cared for him. A few hours had gone by and Coran and Shiro came back to check on Keith and probably let him out. " You are good to go, so Shiro will help you to your room," Coran said handing him a bit more comfortable clothes than the med-bay gown. Keith put the clothes on and followed Shiro outside for some fresh air before going back to his room to rest. When they arrived at Keith's room he fell asleep fast and didn't wake up until lunchtime.
Lunch was very lively because not only were everyone worried about Keith, but they also had a lot to talk about. As they were eating and discussing Allura suddenly stood up and waited for everyone to be quiet before she spoke.
" As everyone now knows, Keith is half galra. I don't want us to think that he is an enemy or anything, so treat him just like you have always done," she said and sat down again. After some time the paladins would do some training and Keith would sit back and watch because his leg still hurt a lot. They had been training for about fifteen minutes when Allura told them over the intercom to get to the control room as soon as possible. " There is a female galran trying to get into the castle, and it seems she is alone," Allura said as the others were entering the room, all suited up in case of danger. " Let me see!" Keith said as he limped towards were Allura was standing. He did see the galran, but there was something about her that looked familiar. When he finally figured it out, he was speechless and the other paladins got very worried. " Keith, do you know who that is?" Pidge asked placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Keith got back from his memories and looked at the others for answers that only he had, so he started to explain. " I think that's my mom..." Keith said shakily. Everyone followed Keith as he started running downstairs to meet the galran, and boy he was fast. Once downstairs Keith stood in the front door, watching how the female got closer to him by every second. The closer she got the more Keith felt connected to her, feeling she was the missing part of his life. The others stayed behind a bit to keep an eye of what was happening, and Keith and the female got so close now that they were face to face.
" Who are you, and why are you here?" Keith asked drawing his knife out for protection. The female galran took off her helmet and under there was a face that Keith felt like he knew. " My name is Krolia, and I have just come here to see you my little kit..." Krolia said gently. Keith was right, this was his mom. " Mom..." Keith said and hugged her tightly, finally feeling whole again.
*THE END*