XXX

Physically reaching out to console someone as they break down is not something that comes naturally to Keith, but the idea isn't necessarily foreign, either. It isn't so much that he doesn't know how to comfort another human being in a moment of vulnerability, but rather he doesn't particularly know how to comfort someone like Lance.

Lance, who seems able to connect with others with frustrating ease. Who feels things overwhelmingly with his heart but still somehow manages to think with his head. Who, even now, locks eyes with him as he cries big fat tears, unashamed to be seen as anything other than what he is in that moment.

But Keith just stands there, arms crossing over his chest in a way that makes him feel a little more shielded from the raw emotion pouring out before him, Lance crying mutely in a collection of wet gasps and shaken sighs that show no sign of slowing down. The noiselessness of it only seems to make Lance cry harder, which in turn elevates Keith's discomfort. It goes on like that for a few long, dragging minutes. Keith watches Lance hug himself in an attempt to pull himself together the way he always seems to do. Occasionally, between soft hiccups and inaudible whines, blue eyes flit up to look at him as if searching for something, but in Keith's mind he has nothing to give.

"Lance," he eventually breathes when he feels a little too much time has passed. Lance's eyes are on him, having never left, and Keith is unsettled that someone can be so comfortable holding someone's gaze for so long and with such intensity. Keith's jaw hangs open but the words don't come. What is he supposed to say?

Thankfully, Lance acts first.

His crying subdues a little and his eyes soften as he raises his good hand to press against Keith's chest, thin brows lifting in a silent question.

As if summoned, an ache returns to Keith's chest, a nagging discomfort when he breathes deeply. Keith is no idiot; waking up cold and wet with his chest on fire and coughing up water, coupled with a very distraught, near frantic Lance…

"You saved me," he acknowledges aloud. The tightened lip and minimal nod from Lance confirms it. Carefully, Keith takes Lance's wrist to slowly pry it away from his chest. "I… thanks for… thanks."

At that, Lance points to him, then to himself, followed by a firm thumbs up and a tired, mirthless smirk. Saving people is what they do.

"We need to get back to the others. Figure…" he pauses, then gestures to Lance bodily. "…all of this out." And here is where the eye contact is hesitantly broken, and while Keith is no expert on all things Lance (nor does he have the desire to be), he is mindful of the obvious lack of agreement. He almost regrets asking, "Lance… why did you come here?"

Immediately Lance opens his mouth but only a small puff of air comes out. He brushes his fingers against his throat, face knitted in total grief at the loss, but a steely determination flashes across his face as he reaches out to take Keith's hand.

Such unexpected contact from Lance startles him, so much so that he allows Lance to drag him through the trees. Keith says nothing at first because Lance is finally back to his resilient self and soon they can return to the castle and this nightmare will be over, but Lance actually passes the lions, at which point Keith rips his arm free.

"Where are you going? The lions are right here," he whispers harshly, doubling back. Red is still prone on the ground behind Blue's barrier, which flickers under Keith's hands when he presses against it, but does not dissipate. Lance doesn't miss the way Keith hunches forward, his shoulders going rigid.

"Let down the barrier so we can leave," he growls, but the protective wall remains strong and unyielding, and Lance makes no attempt to make it otherwise.

The guilt Lance feels for not being able to give Keith what he wants is quickly nudged aside by a sensation of Blue pressing in the back of his mind, supportive and all-knowing. She refuses to put the barrier down because she knows her paladin has no desire to return home yet.

'Thanks, gorgeous,' he pushes back, thankful that at least that form of communication hasn't been taken from him.

If only he could speak to Keith the same way.

He jumps when Keith slams his fists against the shimmering blockade, and again when Keith spins around to glare hotly. An angry finger jabs at the bag still dangling around his torso and Lance finds himself instinctively clutching it closer to him.

Keith's lip twitches. "I hope you thought to bring a pen and paper in that damn thing so you can tell me what the hell is going on."

At that, Lance raises his hands in a placating manner, wishing desperately that he had .

A beat passes. Lance stares as Keith shakes his head as if to clear it, voice softening. "It isn't safe here. We need to go. We…" But Lance is shaking his head again, needing Keith to understand, even without context. Keith is making that face, the one he makes when trying to understand things like how to partake in the Voltron team cheer, but can't. That unintentional disconnect. He finds himself wishing desperately that Shiro was here. Shiro wouldn't panic. Shiro would soldier on and find a way to make it work. Shiro has that deep-rooted connection with Keith that Lance doesn't even dare try to emulate and it puts him at an unexpected disadvantage.

...Shiro is also better at reading people and isn't as quick to give into frustration. Shiro has a voice and Keith always listens to it.

Lance doesn't mean to give Keith such a pleading look but without a voice he supposes the expression is instinctual. Not that it matters, because Keith looks about ready to pop.

"Well? Do you?"

'What,' Lance mouths, taking a step back to mirror Keith's step forward. He sees Keith's eyes dart to the bag before glaring at him again. Oh. Right. The pen thing. He had been serious about that. Sometimes Lance has to remind himself what a literal person Keith is.

For a fleeting moment, it dawns on Lance that, while he and Keith work remarkably well in the heat of battle, there appears to be very little cohesiveness outside of that. But-he bites his lip, pushing the observation aside-there is no pen. He didn't prepare himself for this particular situation. But...

Quickly he rummages into the bag and pulls out the lone Plexia Crystal, still pulsing in loneliness. It's as good a starting point as any.

Keith's reaction does nothing to make him feel better, but he does notice the other boy's irritation fade into something more akin to exhaustion. He can practically hear Keith's brain replaying patience yields focus over and over in his head to find a forced sense of calm. Once the crystal is in the open, Keith's entire demeanor changes.

"...where did you get that? And… why is it glowing ?"

At his roots, Keith is risky and stupidly brave. A hot-headed but good soldier. If a chance comes up to get something important done, he takes it. This? This is important. This is the thing that will put Voltron in Decibon's good favor again. This is what will make things right . This will prove that he isn't some sort of regrettable screwed-up mistake of a paladin, so Lance is counting on Keith to be all of those admirable, sometimes foolish things right now.

Keith hesitates before saying, "The rest are here."

Yes! Yes, yes, yes - Lance taps wildly at his nose to confirm, his excitement dwindling only when Keith narrows his eyes, his voice dangerously low.

"You're sure ." It's a statement more than a question. Perhaps the guy is teachable after all. He runs his hand through his hair, a signal of exhaustion for Keith. "But, Lance, how ? How could you possibly know that?"

Instead of trying to explain to Keith that the crystal is sentient enough to react to the absence of its counterparts, he stuffs the crystal back into his bag and instead starts dragging Keith by the arm through the trees, away from the lions. There is tension there, a very slight resistance as Keith is dragged the opposite direction he wants to be, but he does not pull away. At least, not until he sees the hover-bike come into view. The Galra hover-bike.

Keith looks at him as though he's grown a second head, like he can't understand what Lance is implying they do with the unmanned, conveniently two-seated vehicle. An empty hover bike just means two already suspicious Galra are still wandering around out there, looking for them, and could be back any tick.

"Lance," Keith scolds, similar to the way Lance remembers being reprimanded as a child. But Lance proceeds to swing his leg over the bike, settling himself into the oversized seat and tapping the space behind him as an invitation.

Lance can see the gears turning in Keith's head. They both know that the Galra coming back to find their bike missing will just raise red flags or worse, an alarm, but ultimately it's a moot point. They've already seen their two very big, very not-subtle lions sitting on their turf - proof enough that there are a couple of paladins afoot.

With that logic, Lance can't help the shit-eating grin from blooming across his face. So he waits for Keith to come to terms, because risky, instinctual, act-in-the-moment Keith, at his core, is an opportunistic softie. No way he's going to let a chance like this slip by. Besides, he has no choice. Communications are down, Red is offline and Blue, the beautiful soul, is refusing to budge until her human does what he came here to do. Even now he can feel a brush of concern and protectiveness echoing in the back of his mind, but there is also a pridefulness there. Pure, unfiltered faith and an unconditional love that Lance never in a million years expected to be on the receiving end of. And the lions aren't going anywhere. No one is getting through that barrier.

There is a soft but audible growl from Keith and if Lance is honest, he's jealous of the sound.

"We aren't done talking -uhh, I'm not done talk... We aren't done sorting through this. But let's get somewhere safe first," he grumbles, glancing back into the thick of the trees for any sign of the two hulking purple figures from earlier. Surely they'd be back soon when they didn't find the lion's pilots.

Lance pats the open seat behind him again with a wry grin, but Keith looks anything but amused.

"Move," he orders, stepping up to the bike and gripping one of the handlebars. He waves his free hand at Lance to encourage him to scoot back. "I'm driving."

To which Lance pouts but makes no attempt to move. No sympathy for the broken, apparently. In a very mature fashion, Lance shimmies up closer to the handlebars to claim control, which very noticeably frustrates the other boy.

"Why does everything have to be so difficult with you?"

For whatever reason, that single statement has Lance faltering, enough so that Keith seizes the opportunity to throw a leg over regardless of the lack of space, wedging it between Lance and the controls, shoving him back with bodyweight alone. Lance instinctively latches onto Keith's waist to keep from falling off entirely, not missing the way Keith tenses under the unexpected touch.

But, albeit hesitantly, Keith revs up the motor and says, "Hold on."

Lance does, pressing his chest against Keith for stability because he's seen the way Keith drives and it seems wise to latch onto every anchor point he can. Shut up and trust me comes to mind and Lance smiles secretly and fondly at the memory, only to frown a moment later when he is reminded how right now, Keith doesn't even have a reason to tell him to shut up.

He just needs to focus on the task at hand. Do what he set out to do, even if Keith stumbled into the picture. If everything works out, Lance doesn't even mind sharing the glory, as long as it does work out.

The turf beneath them bursts into dust, motor humming uncomfortably loud even though Lance knows it doesn't matter. In a perfect scenario, they'll be in and out and back to the others in no time anyway. The crystals will be restored, Decibon will be free to move about the galaxy and Allura's alliance can happen without reservations, and then maybe Unma can-

"There they are!"

The words are barely out of the Galran's mouth before Keith reacts to it.

Lance's stomach rolls with how fast they are jetted into the air. His hands go from Keith's waist to wrap around him fully, hands clasping at his own forearms lock himself into place. He closes his eyes and buries his head into the tangles that are Keith's mullet until the dizziness stops.

He hears Keith curse and that is when he opens his eyes. They are in the open sky now; Lance can see small lakes scattered in the distance, as well as some barren land that looks to be uninhabited. Directly ahead, however, looks to be the makings of a small settlement or the start of a city. At a glance, it appears to be the only sign of life for miles. In the dimming sky, the lights gleam purple.

A gasp comes from Keith as white hot beams shoot past them, pelting the underside of the commandeered bike. Clearly the two sentries below are not happy to see their property stolen.

It becomes rapid fire then, just as Keith cranks the gear and shifts them into a speed so fast and so sudden, Lance does not want to think about what would happen had he not been holding onto Keith so tight.

Shots follow them even as the shouting grows distant. Lance begins to relax, feeling they are essentially in the clear, and dares to turn around to look.

The laser beam coming straight at them gives him little time to think. His grip on Keith tightens, pulling a soft 'oouf' from the other boy, and straddles the bike as tight as he can with his legs. He cannot warn Keith, not without a voice, but even then it might not be enough of a warning. So he throws his weight to one side, grip on Keith so tight it hurts, and hopes.

A piercing hot sting flares across his calf, and the hover bike completes two full rotations before Keith, very much also not dead, regains control of it. Keith pushes the vehicle to its max, distancing themselves from the danger, and it is only after he feels Keith relax under his hold that he does, too.

It is silence then as Keith focuses his sights on the structure ahead, flying fast through the air but skimming low and along the tops of the woodlands so as not to be too obvious. A glance behind reveals a trail a smoke billowing out of the engine. Lance can feel a rumbling underneath him, their mode of transportation struggling to function. Looks like they got a few good hits in. Damn.

A strange sensation slides across his torso then, and it is only after Pidge's satchel slips from his side and plummets to the ground that Lance realizes the strap has been severed, likely hit by a stray shot.

He makes a grab for it without thinking, the way he's done once in the kitchen when Hunk lost his grip on a piping hot metal pan, simply reacting to the moment only to be burned a moment later. He misses, hand snatching around empty air, but the momentum is clearly something Keith isn't expecting. It throws them off-balance and Lance, no longer secured to Keith for stability, topples sideways.

"Wha- Lance!"

Gravity yanks him downwards but his fingers manage to catch the side panel near Keith's foot. The sudden shift in weight only tilts the bike further, enough to clip the top of the forest, throwing them into a pinwheel before Keith can even try to redirect them.

Lance closes his eyes as the impact violently rips him away from the bike. Branches smack against him bodily, tossing him around and knocking the wind clean out of him before he hits the forest floor with a heavy thump . A second later he hears the whine of metal as the bike is battered amongst the trees before it explodes, shrouding him in an intense heat. Amidst the pain, he tries to scream Keith's name, but nothing comes out.

XXX

A/N:

Hey, so, I'm nervous to post this chapter? Lol, I had a REALLY hard time with this chapter and if I'm honest, I really had to force it (only because I want to get to the meat of things but I had to set things up first). Apologies for the short length, especially after you've all been waiting so patiently. I actually took a good chunk OUT of this chapter. My eyes are BURNING from looking over this chapter so please, if you do see errors/mistakes, kindly let me know! Also for some reason, ffnet messes with my formatting and puts spaces in weird spots?

Anyway if you're still turning up for this, thank you! If I could hug you all, I would - and I'm told I give amazing hugs.

Don't worry, we will be addressing Lance's muteness soon!

I'm not necessarily in the fanfiction game for the comments, but they DO help a girl want to get things done, if you know what I mean.