When Keith groggily opened his eyes, he was greeted with dim purple lights. Was this some sort of prank that Lance had pulled? He knew the lights were normally blue in his room, and he preferred them that way. He was going to kill that boy—

Lance.

The battle.

Quiznak.

Keith sat upright quickly, instantly regretting it as stars clouded his vision. He reached behind his head and felt a tender bump at the base of his skull. Blinking to clear his vision, he glanced around feverishly, trying to take in his surroundings. There wasn't much to take in. Black walls, purple lights, a couple blankets and a crumpled figure on the floor across from him. This was obviously a Galra prison cell. Keith crawled over to the paladin's body, almost too scared to feel for a pulse. He rolled Lance over onto his back and inspected his injury.

The normally dark-skinned boy was sickeningly pale. His brow was drenched in sweat, yet when Keith tentatively placed a hand on his cheek, the skin was cold to the touch. Keith breathed a small sigh of relief when he felt his pulse between his fingers. He was still alive. Gulping in a deep breath to steady himself, he began to unstrap the chest armor that had been blown through and covered in blood. As he did so, the injured boy flinched, and then his eyes shot open as a scream erupted from his throat. It startled Keith, and he jumped back, but as Lance's hands shot up in the air Keith regained his composure and leapt forward, grabbing each hand in his.

"Lance! It's me, Keith. Calm down, it's just me."

The blue eyes that were darting around feverishly finally focused on Keith's storm-cloud grey eyes, and slowly the thrashing reduced. He grasped Keith's hands tightly, as if they were the only thing that could ground him. Finally, a shaky laugh escaped his lips.

"Hey mullet. I win."

Keith blinked, and then smirked despite himself. He gave Lance's hands a squeeze.

"Hey buddy. I need to get your armor off and see how bad your wound is," he said, slowly releasing his hands and reaching down to the chest plate again. Lance nodded, now fully awake, and bit his lip as Keith shrugged the armor off. The black under suit had been torn, and there was blood everywhere, but despite the gruesome scene, Keith breathed a sigh of relief. The actual entry wound was in Lance's shoulder, far above his heart or lungs, meaning nothing vital had been punctured or blown apart. The blood loss, however, was alarming.

"Is it bad?" Lance asked through gritted teeth, "Because it doesn't feel great." Keith looked around the room, eyes resting on the blankets. He grabbed one and ripped a couple long pieces off the end, returning his attention to his teammate's arm. His friend's arm. His friend who took a bullet for him.

"It's not terrible, but I need to stop the bleeding," he said, as he folded up one of the makeshift gauze strips and pressed it firmly on the wound. Lance hissed in pain and grasped Keith's shoulder. Keith flinched, but did not pull away. He wasn't used to physical contact, but Lance needed him right now and he didn't dare deny him of that. Besides, he had to admit the warmth of another person's hand through his suit felt nice. Comforting, even. He shrugged his thoughts away and wrapped the other cloth strips across his chest and shoulder, holding pressure on the blanket lodged in the wound. He felt Lance shudder.

"Are you cold?" Keith asked, already moving to grab the other blanket. Lance shook his head, but his chattering teeth gave him away. The red paladin scooted closer, throwing the blanket over the brown-haired boy. Lance smiled at him.

"So I guess you're mad that I saved your ass," he quipped, sounding like himself. Keith chuckled. Leave it to this boy to make light of a situation like this.

"I'm furious," he said, trying his best to look serious as Lance wiggled his eyebrows. "But seriously, Lance…" all the laughter left his voice as he stared deep into the blue eyes across from him, "You could have died. And it would have been my fault."

Lance took a deep breath. When he returned Keith's gaze, there was a startling maturity in his eyes.

"I know. But I would never be able to live in a world without you in it. I would sacrifice myself for you again and again, you know. And the fault would be mine."

They stared at each other in silence for a while, neither one of them knowing what to say. When Lance visibly shivered again, Keith moved forward and wrapped his arms around him, pulling his body carefully against his own. Leaning back against the wall behind them, Keith rested his chin on the other boy's head, as he felt Lance relax into his embrace. He assured himself he was only hugging Lance for comfort, to help a wounded comrade, but the thumping of his heart in his chest and the heat rising up his face was telling a different tale. Feelings that lay dormant were now cascading around him like a tornado. It was hard to tell what was real and what was pure adrenaline. He felt Lance looking up at him and it took all his willpower to return the stare.

"What do you think will happen now?" the blue paladin asked, his bravado from earlier wavering. His lips looked cracked and dry, probably from dehydration. Wait, why was Keith staring at his lips? Focus.

"The team will find us. Our lions will find us," Keith said reassuringly. "Don't worry."

"I wasn't worried!"

"Of course you weren't."

Lance sighed in defeat and went to put his head back down, but then met Keith's eyes once more.

"I can lay somewhere else if you want…" he mumbled, "I know you're not comfortable with stuff like this." Truth be told, Keith wasuncomfortable… but not for the reasons Lance was thinking.

"It's fine, Lance." He said, wrapping his arms more firmly around the boy, one hand tangling in his hair to relax his head against Keith's shoulder. "Try and get some rest." Lance breathed outward as he snuggled into Keith, and the trickle of hot breath on his neck made Keith shiver. He stroked Lance's hair absently as the weight on his chest became heavier as the blue paladin relaxed, until gradually his breathing evened out into a soft snore. Keith was still surveying the room, trying to find a means of escape or communication with Voltron, but the cell was flawlessly designed. They weren't getting out of there until that door opened, and then god knows what came for them. Keith sighed, and felt his eyelids getting heavier, until he eventually rested his cheek lightly on Lance's head.

Whatever they were going to do, it would have to wait.