x

The Purity of Sin

Nineteen

They'd been rescued. They'd been rescued. The thought was stuck in a loop in Keith's head, making him dizzy, but he couldn't seem to stop it. They'd actually been rescued.

They were both alive.

Well… for now.

He gasped as Pidge grabbed his shoulder, jolting him forward and sending a wave of pulsing agony through his stomach. Blood gushed, spilling down his navel and he blinked at it. That's right. He'd been stabbed.

How had he forgotten that part again?

Pidge and Hunk's voice were echoing dimly now over the thudding of his heartbeat and he swore he heard Allura and Coran shouting too.

Large arms were suddenly wrapping about his shoulders and Keith found himself being scooped against Hunk's chest. The numbness that had started to settle in disappeared as the wound flared again and he hated the weak keen he felt being pulled from his throat.

"I've got you, easy man," Hunk murmured as he carried Keith into the cockpit and towards the large pull-out wall bed. Lance was already lying on it and Keith blinked again, wondering when Hunk had left to put Lance there.

He found himself settled down opposite Lance, feet brushing Lance's shoulder, and Hunk's worried face peering over him. The Yellow Paladin shouted over his shoulder and a second later Pidge was there, something in her hands.

And then pain.

Keith thought he might have screamed, but he wasn't sure as everything was ringing and his stomach was on fire. A large hand pressed against his chest, holding him down while the other held something to the gaping wound.

"I'm okay," he tried to say, anything to get the fire to subside, but all that came out was an unintelligible grunt. Somehow Hunk translated it.

"You are not okay," he replied, voice shaking. "Keith...there's a hole in you!"

"L-Lance—"

"We've got him," Hunk assured. Keith saw Pidge in his peripheral, another towel in hand as she headed towards Lance.

But Keith weakly shook his head. "His n-neck…" he trailed, off coughing and tasting blood on his teeth. That probably wasn't good.

"I'm staunching it now," Pidge said, her voice steady. "We'll be at the castle in three dobashes. We'll get you both in pods and—"

"No pods," Keith choked out, and he definitely felt something dribble down his chin. Hunk gasped in alarm above him.

"Keith—"

"No pods," he repeated. "C-can't."

"You're dying," Pidge said bluntly, and there was a shaky quality to her voice now. "Damn it Keith, you… you…" He heard her swallow back a sob. "You're going into shock," she said, calmer. "It's okay. The pods will—"

"No," he all but snarled. "N-no."

"Leave it," Hunk said to Pidge, pressing back down on Keith's wound and making the smaller boy groan. "Coran will handle it when we land."

"Hunk—"

"Just… just keep putting pressure on his neck, okay?"

It was silent for a few moments and then Pidge spoke, her voice but a whisper. "It won't stop. Hunk, it won't stop."

She entered Keith's view again and he felt his own eyes widen as he saw her hands, gloves coated in blood. Lance's blood.

Keith struggled to sit, to get to Lance. He had to do something. He had to—

"Whoa, easy there," Hunk murmured, pushing Keith back down without any trouble. "No moving, okay? It's going to be fine. We're almost to the castle."

"Number Five," Coran's voice crackled over the comms. "Direct the Green Lion to the main hall, please. The Princess and I are waiting there."

"On it," Pidge responded and Keith saw her leave Lance and head for the cockpit.

"If I let you go will you stay?" Hunk asked and it took Keith a few seconds to realize the question was directed at him. He managed a nod, relieved when all Hunk really did was shift to the other side of the bed and took over Pidge's role of holding a towel to Lance's neck.

The last few minutes of their journey passed in silence, the only noise the harsh, wheezing breaths that Keith belatedly realized were coming from him. When he tried to stop them though he only choked and Pidge ended up rushing over, pulling him to sitting as he coughed up blood.

He was still hacking and coughing when they landed, unable to draw a full breath to get it to stop. He wished he could. Every gasp was sending ribbons of agony through him.

But more important than that, he needed to talk to Coran. Before… before…

And as if summoned the advisor was hurrying up the ramp that Keith hadn't even heard come down with Allura right behind.

"Oh Alaaran," Coran breathed. He stood in shock for a moment before he strode forward, voice controlled. "Number Two, if you could please assist Number Four. The pods are prepped and—"

"No," Keith coughed, spraying spittle and blood and Hunk's hands descended on his back.

"He keeps saying no to the pods," Pidge explained, trembling off to the side as Coran strode over to Lance.

Coran's sharp gaze landed on Keith. But rather than dismissing the words as delirium he asked with all seriousness, "Why can you and Number Three not go into the pods?"

Keith struggled to speak, tongue heavy. "M-magic," he finally managed, slumping and only Hunk's hands on his shoulders keeping him upright.

"Magic," Coran repeated and Keith saw him exchange a glance over his head, likely to Allura.

He weakly nodded. "L-Lance they… they did…s-someth—" he broke off as more blood crawled up his throat.

"Magic was used to wound Lance," Coran said. "And you feel that the pod will not be able to heal it?"

"C-can't," Keith gasped, dark speckles starting to creep across his vision. "They t-took…"

And why were words suddenly so hard to come by? He couldn't seem to find the right ones and time was running out.

"Can't," he said again, desperately.

And Coran nodded. "All right. And you, Number Four? Can you go into a pod?"

Keith's head tipped down even as he managed, "Shouldn't." He did not deserve to be healed, not while Lance continued to suffer.

"Shouldn't is not a cannot," Coran said. He looked serious, more so than Keith had ever seen before. "Very well. Number Two, escort Number Four to the infirmary and into a pod. Princess, could you please take Number Three and bring him to the infirmary? I'll do what I can to stabilize him until he or Number Four can provide more answers."

"Coran," Hunk pleaded, hands tightening uncomfortably on Keith's shoulders. "Lance needs a pod! He's dying!"

"He does, lad, but right now we shall heed Number Four's warning." Coran looked pained at the declaration but firm. "He would not give it if such a course of action would do more harm than good."

Keith wilted in relief, even as new guilt flared. He was subjecting Lance to more pain and fear this way, but he couldn't ever live with himself if the pod made Lance's handicaps permanent.

He needed to tell them about those, he realized. If he was still in cryo when Lance woke up… His heart seized with fear. Lance wouldn't be able to tell them what happened. He didn't know if Lance would even remember he was safe now.

But the blackness was stealing up more of his vision, creeping in on all sides and the voices around him were growing fainter.

"L-Lance," he tried, the name nearly a gurgle. He felt the odd sensation of falling while sitting then as the world tipped over. There were muted cries of alarm and he caught Allura's jewel-bright eyes widening as she reached for him before he knew nothing more.

xxx

Lance came to slowly.

He noticed the pain first. It wasn't the white-hot piercing spasms of before. It was still there, but it was dulled.

Bearable.

He followed it along his body, feeling the spikes in his hands and his neck with every rapid breath he took. His chest hurt, little pricks of needle-like agony that seemed to only worsen as he became more aware and he desperately tried to steady his breathing, feeling his heartbeat race and worsening it.

He shuddered out an exhale, throat aching and the faint taste of copper tickling his tongue. He swallowed it down, sending a new pulse through his abused neck.

A frown pulled at his lips in confusion as he came to the realization that he was not lying on rock. He pressed his left hand down, feeling what could only be described as soft and some sort of material.

He blinked open his eyes, forgetting somehow that he could not see but that little detail coming back as he stared into unending blackness. Against his will he felt his heart pick up tempo again as he turned his head to the side, straining to hear something and only silence sounding.

Where was he? What had happened?

Where was Keith?

Just thinking the name brought back the flood of sensations; a body thrown across him, painful but comforting all the same. Hot tears stinging against his neck. Hands clenched tightly around his shoulders. The rapid pulse of Keith's heart beating with his own.

He struggled to sit up, hands groping blindly at the soft surface for leverage. His mind was firing off sensations mixed with memory and he flailed harder, trying to find purchase.

There had been paws. Fur. Claws. He struggled harder. Then there were… hands? Was that right? He recalled a hand wrapping about his arm and squeezing. Hadn't that been the signal for the rescue? Or had that been something to do with the Mackans?

He couldn't remember, he couldn't' remember, he couldn't—

The thought came to a screeching halt as something touched his arm.

He recoiled from it, sightless eyes widening with fear.

It touched him again and this time he let out a wordless shriek that tore at his throat.

And then there were more. There was something pressing on his shoulder and another on his head and yet a third holding down his upper right arm. Something else crossed over his legs and he screamed again.

He thrashed against them, but he had no strength. All he managed was a pitiful little roll of his hips that didn't dislodge any of it and tears burned his eyes.

What was happening? Was it the Mackans? Where was Keith? What had happened to Keith?

He cried out Keith's name, throwing his head back against the soft surface. 'Keith!' he screamed silently again, desperately trying to free himself. 'Keith!'

But despite his attempts he could not free himself from whatever was holding him down. More tears rolled down his cheeks as he realized he was not getting out of whatever this was. 'Keith,' he whispered again, tasting salt now.

The thing pressing his head back lifted up but Lance did not try to move again. It was useless.

He was useless.

It came back, but without the harsh pressure. It glided against his face and cupped his cheek before tenderly brushing his bangs back.

Lance's breath hitched in his throat.

He knew this… this hand. This human hand.

The gesture repeated itself, caressing his face and then carding through his hair. He turned into it, inhaling. It was faint, but somehow there was still the scent of grease and honeysuckle.

Hunk.

This was Hunk's hand.

'Hunk,' he breathed out, feeling the large digits brush his cheek again. 'Hunk.'

A gentle squeeze was applied to his shoulder. Hunk's other hand. All about him the pressure started to retreat as what he was able to identify now as other limbs – humanoid limbs – released him.

That meant… that meant they had been rescued. Tears formed again, but this time of sheer relief. They were okay. Keith was okay.

At least… at least he hoped he was. What if… what if…?

He repeated Keith's name soundlessly, hoping somehow that his best friend would understand.

Hunk's hand shifted on his head and a second later there was the sensation of something being drawn on his forehead. A… circle?

The finger shifted and it was drawing lines now; one straight and then two more also straight but angled sideways. Lance furrowed his brow, trying to piece it together. Hunk repeated it.

Okay. Hunk was tracing the letters 'O' and 'K' on his head.

'Okay,' Lance murmured, lips tugging up into a smile. 'Okay. Keith is okay.'

Well, he knew okay maybe wasn't the right term. Clearly Keith was not with him right now, but that had to mean he was in a healing pod then. And he was going to be fine.

He let out another breath of relief which morphed into a grimace as previously tight limbs relaxed and reminded him that despite the dullness to it he was still really, really hurt.

A soundless whimper escaped him then as he shifted ever so slightly against what was apparently a bed and it sent new ribbons of fire through him.

Hunk's hand returned to carding through his hair and he closed his eyes, concentrating solely on that.

A tiny prick against his forearm had him wincing, but the rush of numbness that flowed down his hand from it was most welcoming indeed. He vaguely felt someone pat his arm – Coran, maybe, based on the size of the hand – before the same tiny poke was made on his other arm.

The pain was receding completely and leaving him feeling like he was floating. It was a little scary, but Hunk's hand continued the soothing motion and he allowed that to ground him in this otherwise near weightless world.

He felt the bed dip and another set of hands, tiny ones, come to rest on his upper arm. 'Pidge,' he tried to whisper, his tongue heavy, and he got a tiny squeeze in answer.

Whatever Coran had injected him with was making him pleasantly drowsy and pain-free and Hunk's ministrations to his hair were beyond soothing. They were even easing away the lingering fear, the 'what ifs' regarding his senses. He was surrounded by his family now. He was safe. And he knew, beyond a doubt, that they would figure everything out.

Lulled by all of those Lance allowed himself to give into the bone-deep exhaustion and drugs and slept.

xxx

Keith stumbled out of the pod, mind a jumbled mess of thoughts. 'Cold' was at the forefront, followed closely by 'exhausted' and if whoever wasn't holding him up he knew he'd be flat out on the floor. But above all of those was 'Lance.'

His feet moved on autopilot forward although it took him a few seconds to realize he was not actually moving as arms tightened about him and nearly lifted him off the floor.

Hunk, he realized, slumping against his will into the embrace, so tired it was hard to actually keep his head up. But he'd powered through exhaustion once and he would do so again. He couldn't rest until he knew Lance was safe and to do that he needed to alert the others as to what had happened so they could fix it.

He realized a tick later that Hunk was actually speaking to him and he forced himself to pick apart the comforting hum.

"—just warm you up a bit first, okay? Keith? Buddy? Hey, you with me?"

Keith tried to make an affirmative to that, but all that came out was a muffled groan and despite his previous aversion to such touch he found himself pressing further against Hunk's broad chest, trying to soak up the heat as shivers wracked him.

"Yeah, okay, that's not normal at all," Hunk muttered above him and Keith was far too cold and tired to care if he was coming off as abnormally clingy. After all the contact he'd had with Lance in the freezing desert this barely even phased on his radar now.

A silent snort exited from him as he realized what he'd just acknowledged. He, the anti-social, walls up twenty-four-seven loner, no longer had a personal bubble. And he didn't care.

"Is everything all right?" Allura's regal tones were laced with an undercurrent of worry and her footsteps were quick and light.

"He's good," Hunk rumbled above him and Keith found that he liked the vibration the sound made. No wonder Lance loved to use Hunk as a pillow so much. "Just a little… cold."

"Let us get him warmed up then. Come, we have gathered blankets on the other bed."

And that was all the warning Keith got as suddenly those large arms were lifting him up to where his feet cleared the ground and his face was pressed almost uncomfortably into Hunk's neck. Still, it was warm.

The ground moved dizzyingly below and Keith closed his eyes as he waited for it to stop. He felt disoriented, more than normal when he came out of the pods. It was probably the exhaustion. He knew from previous experience the pods couldn't replenish the sleep cycle so he had to be running on his absolute last reserves. But it was almost over.

And all of the exhaustion disappeared the second he laid eyes on Lance as Hunk set him down on a bed next to the other Paladin. Lance appeared asleep, relaxed in a way that Keith hadn't seen since the nightmare began. A blanket covered his lower half, warm and thick by the look of it, while his upper half was exposed save for a large swathe of bandages wrapped all about his chest.

Keith traced over every bandage; one was pressed against Lance's cheek hiding the claw marks, while a few smaller ones peppered his shoulders. Another one was wrapped about his neck, but even now Keith could see that it was lightly stained with blood and his gut clenched with worry.

His hands were lying next to his sides and had also been bandaged although like his throat there were the faintest signs of the weeping injury that would not heal. But a thin tube was inserted into Lance's left forearm and Keith followed it to a bag of blood hanging next to the bed along with what appeared to be another bag full of fluids.

He remembered then that after a particular scare when a lucky piece of shrapnel had lodged in Hunk's thigh and he'd almost bled out before they could get him to a pod, that Coran and Shiro had insisted that all of the Paladins carry onboard their Lions several pints of blood for emergencies.

Keith realized with a jolt that he had never transferred his collection to the Black Lion, which meant that the Blue Lion still had Lance's and she was still aboard the castle. It was a shame Black was down below because she would have had Shiro's blood and he was a universal donor,

Still, the fact they had any at all was good and even under the overbright infirmary lights Lance seemed to have a bit of color back in his cheeks. He was still much, much too pale but he no longer looked like he could fade away at any moment.

Pidge was sitting in a chair next to the wheeled bed, one of her hands moving rhythmically through Lance's hair while the other clenched and unclenched a tightly fisted blanket.

Her honey eyes left Lance's face though to land on him and the smile of sheer relief and whispered 'Keith' would have bowled Keith over if he'd been standing. As it was, all he managed was a slow blink as Hunk draped a blanket about what he realized were his bare shoulders.

Color flooded his cheeks then and he glanced down, revealing very, very frayed but thankfully still intact boxer shorts. He pulled the blanket tighter about him, making a tent, as he heard Hunk let out a low chuckle and offer him another blanket to put across his folded legs.

"We didn't have time to put you in a cryo-suit," the Yellow Paladin explained, mirth fading. Keith had been dying on them after all. Coughing up blood as his already pale skin turned nearly translucent all while his suit continued to grow dark. Hunk had practically thrown him into the pod, so scared that that the smaller boy was going to die in his arms just feet from help.

"'s okay," Keith rasped, coughing at the sound of his voice. He sounded like he'd gargled glass and he tried again. "Is Lance—?"

"Lance is stable for now," came Coran's voice, the mustachioed Altean entering the infirmary from the far door and bearing a tray full of steaming cups. "How are you feeling, Number Four?"

Keith didn't get a chance to respond as a hot mug was shoved into his hands and he barely managed to wrap chilled fingers around it before he dropped it. "Drink," Coran ordered, passing out cups to the others. "You need the fluids."

Giving it a tentative sniff and not sensing anything too out of the ordinary, Keith took a small sip. No onion, he was pleased to note. Almost a strawberry and ginger mixture and he felt it warm him from the inside out and he took another heavier sip.

He drained the cup in a matter of seconds and gratefully accepted a second that Coran offered him, although he held this one mostly in his hands to warm them.

"Lance," he tried again, wanting answers even as his brain sluggishly chugged along.

"He woke up," Pidge cut in, knuckles whitening on the blanket, "while you were in cryo. He…he…" she looked up and Keith felt the all too familiar guilt flare at the sight of tears in her eyes. "What happened, Keith? What…?"

It was unusual to see Pidge at a loss for words and it made Keith feel all the more rotten. He should have explained more. He should have—

"Now, none of that my boy," Coran said gently and Keith didn't even startle at the hand that descended upon his blanket-clad shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "There is no blame to be found here. You have clearly both been through something beyond what we can envision."

To that Keith nodded, throat suddenly tight. "Yeah," he managed, swallowing past the lump.

"To your question and all of our concern," Coran continued, "Lance is currently under the effects of a light sedative and painkiller. When he awoke he was…" Coran pursed his lips, seeking the right word. "Disoriented. And I would hazard that in addition to the effects of the blood loss that could also be explained due to the fact he seems to have lost the ability to see or hear us as well as speak."

Keith could sense the fear that observation brought on He could only imagine what it must have been like, both for Lance to wake up without any sense of where he was, and for his friends to be trying to console him without any idea that Lance could not hear or see them.

"He was fortunately able to recognize Number Two and calmed down," Coran continued, releasing the sharp prickle of fear, "but I felt sedating him would be best until we are able to get more answers, hopefully from you. You mentioned magic earlier, yes? Is this what you were referring to?"

Keith nodded again, feeling every eye on him. "They did something to him," he said. "For some ritual of theirs. The Purity of Sin," he all but growled out the cursed name. "They… they wanted to sacrifice him."

Horrified gasps met his garbled explanation.

"Sacrifice him?" Hunk repeated, paling. "Like as in kill him?"

Keith gave a short nod.

"I do not understand," Allura murmured, aghast. "Macka was Altea's ally… they are a peaceful race. They would never have…"

And yet Keith saw that even though the princess was struggling to believe this of former allies, the proof was clear in front of her. And the guilt that plagued him stole across her features as she glanced between him and Lance. She had sent them into that situation after all. And just like Keith knew all too well she would hold herself responsible.

"Please," Allura begged, turning jewel-bright eyes to Keith, "tell us what happened so we can fix this. So Lance…"

As one they all turned to look at the unconscious figure on the bed, unaware of everything happening around him.

Keith gave a halting account of all that had happened since the touched down on Macka. He spoke of how Lance's offer to help the Mackans had been grossly distorted and the two of them had found themselves offered up as sacrifices for their goddess. He had seen Allura and Coran exchange a look at that, but they did not interrupt.

He explained that they had been separated and he'd been able to rescue Lance partway through the ritual thanks to his luxite blade, which had made him pause in a silent panic as he realized the knife was gone. Dropped, he remembered. It was a small price to pay for their lives but it was all he had left of his parents and he felt a stab of pain at the loss.

But Pidge had grinned at him and held out the blade; sheath missing but otherwise intact. He'd taken it in trembling hands before carefully putting it on one of the small medical table trays for now. He picked up from his previous point in the story, noting that after they escaped they discovered that Lance's voice had been stolen – purified, he'd said bitterly – and they later found the cut inflicted on his right hand would not clot or stop bleeding.

He skipped over the personal pieces and discussions, picking up instead that they'd been forced to run given the fact they were greatly outnumbered and nearly unarmed. He'd calculated the timeframe and knew they had around forty varga until the others would notice something was wrong and come to find them and so they had to hold on until then. But Lance had been getting weaker from the blood loss and it was here Keith found his voice trailing off.

"You cauterized it," Hunk put in gently.

"It didn't even work," Keith trembled. "Not for long. I… I hurt him and it was for nothing."

"Not nothing," Pidge interrupted. "Keith, you saved his life." Her tone turned clinical."The human body can only lose so much blood and even temporarily stemming it would help. And you said you got him to eat and drink too, right? All of that helped him, Keith. That kept him alive."

"Lance knows you were helping him," Hunk added, "There's nothing to feel bad about, all right?"

And Keith knew that. Lance had tried to tell him the same. Hearing it from someone else – especially someone like Hunk who Keith knew knew Lance the best – eased some of that blame but still, he couldn't let it go entirely. Not until he'd made it up somehow to Lance.

"This cauterize," Coran said, sounding out the word, "that is the burn mark then? It was made to seal the wound with heat?"

"That's the gist of it," Hunk said, sparing Keith from having to explain the process.

Keith tried his best to finish the rest, explaining how that second night Lance had lost his eyesight and gained another unsealable wound. He tried his best to skim over what he'd done to the Mackans that had been sent to retrieve them but he hadn't missed though the small gasp from Pidge as she realized what had happened from the omission and he'd lowered his eyes.

"Keith," Allura's voice was strong and he felt her place one of her slender hands along his back. "You did what you had to to protect both yourself and Lance. There is no shame in that."

And she would understand, he realized. She and Coran. They had seen war, had seen the sacrifices one had to make sometimes for the greater good. Still, he wished Shiro was here. He closed his eyes tight to keep the tears at bay. There was no use in wishing; it would lead nowhere.

So he blinked them away and continued. He explained how they'd taken to the relative safety of the cliffs to try and get some semblance of rest because they were both flagging. They'd been found out and Keith then had the idea to scale the cliff for the height advantage and the fact the Mackans hadn't yet seemed to realize they were capable of going up.

As he'd calculated, Lance's last sense of hearing had been taken from him later that evening and gave him the near-fatal slice to his neck. As he spoke, he watched as Coran placed another layer of bandages along with some light yellow salve that smelled vaguely of mint along with it, likely to help stem the wound.

The Mackans had found them after and they'd tried, he scowled, to bargain with him for Lance. He'd had no choice but to engage them after that and that was when he… he gestured weakly towards his stomach.

"If you hadn't come then…"

"Thank Hunk," Pidge said, shooting him a grateful smile. "We'd just gotten to the rendezvous point and you all weren't back yet. When we couldn't reach you by the comms Hunk said he felt something was wrong because it was unlike you, Keith, to not respond, and you should have been headed back at that point and wearing your helmets. So Allura wormholed us to Macka and we took Green down in stealth mode to see what was up. And…"

Keith managed a small smile. "I'm glad you did."

"We all are," Allura said. "If it had not been for Hunk's instincts…" Her hand, which had not left his back, rose to squeeze his shoulder.

"That being said," she continued, "I more than owe you and Lance an apology. I would have never sent you to Macka had I even a hint that their culture and ideology had changed so much. I am so, so sorry, Keith, for all that I put you and Lance through."

Keith colored. "Princess—"

"I was not finished," but there was no bite to her tone. Only sadness and she moved to place her hands around Keith's. "I am truly sorry for what you had to endure. Taking a life is never easy and yet my decision to send you and Lance to Macka forced you to make that decision time and again. I hold myself fully responsible. I am sorry you had to suffer for my mistakes—"

"Allura," Keith interrupted her this time. "It's not your fault."

Saying those words released something inside of him. If it wasn't her fault then it wasn't his either. The only ones at fault were the Mackans who had twisted an offer of help so terribly that they had only caused anguish for everyone.

Lance had told him time and again that he didn't hold any ill will towards Keith for what he'd been forced to do. Keith's stomach did clench again then though as he knew that there was one person Lance would still blame for this mess. Because that was what Lance did. He took on the blame and the hurt and the guilt so others wouldn't have to. From what Keith had seen he knew Lance was going to try and do it again, blame himself for the turn of events that none of them could have predicted.

Well, he scowled, he'd just have to knock some sense into that thick skull then. And he was certain the others would be more than happy to help.

Allura gave a slow nod. "All right then. What we should concentrate all of our efforts on now is Lance and how to return his senses and heal him. Coran?"

The advisor stroked his moustache. "Number Four, you said all of this stemmed from a ritual called the Purity of Sin, correct?" Keith nodded. "That rings a dophenhagern to me. Hold tight while I retrieve some items from the library."

"Let's get you lying down," Hunk said kindly to Keith as the Altean hurried away. "You look a second away from keeling over."

"'m not tired," came the protest before Keith even realized what he'd said, the response automatic from all the times he'd tried to convince himself of that. He flushed as the remaining three all exchanged looks.

"Keith, how many hours would you say you've slept since the mission started?" Pidge asked.

"Um…" he tried to count as Hunk gently tilted him so he was lying lengthwise on the bed and his head was cushioned by a pillow. Like this he found it even harder to concentrate as sleep tugged at his eyelids and a blanket was pulled up over him. "Five? Maybe six?"

"Five hours," Pidge repeated incredulously. "Sleep. Now."

"But—"

"Keith, buddy, sleep," Hunk encouraged, draping another blanket over him. "You need it."

"But Lance," Keith protested, even as his eyes drifted closed. "Have to… keep watch…"

"You must sleep. We shall keep watch over Lance for you," Allura promised.

He made another mumbled protest, mostly for the sake of protesting as his body was yelling at him to please let it rest but he was nothing if not stubborn.

"We shall wake you if something changes," Allura's voice sounded far away, but the words calmed him. "Now sleep."

And Keith finally did.

xxx

Author's Notes:

All the sleep for Keith. Well, not all of it but the most restful sleep he'll have had in a while. And he's all healed up now too. One down. One still to go.

And gosh, wow guys. Thank you so much for the incredible response last chapter. I apparently need to have declarations of family, near dying scenes and then last minute rescues every chapter! (Haha, I kid, I kid. Sort of). I know this chapter was on the softer side (well, as soft as this fic gets) but I hope you all still enjoyed it!

From last chapter, love to: Skiewrites 2.0, Wolfwind97, Ralyssene118, dragoscilvio, Guest, Subtle Shenanigans, geekyglamour413, imagine forevermore, Alexa, TheTheoryofFangirling, LishaChan, hobbes101, Justanangryfangirl, The Striking Storms, TheFullmetalbitch, ChocolateMonkey, ASleepDeprivedPineapple, Genni C, PaintedWings45, WhiteSakura59, WindGemini, WhiteTails, KarleighH, Midnight 0racle, Elikapeka, Guest, someonethe3rd, Alzion, Pfeh, Adrianna Agray, HarleeT, MandyRaccoon, Wolf of the Demise, Guest, Belletiger BT, Jack Overland Frosti, Jennyfish26, migrane, An Amber Pen, Someonecallhere and Arivoctix!

Also, self promotion time :p I wrote a (rather fluffy for me) group bonding one shot titled "A Name By Any Other" if you're looking for some feel-good team moments. You know, without anyone being fatally injured and traumatized. :p

Please do drop a comment below with your thoughts on this chapter! Share what your favorite part was, your feelings on a particular scene, what you're thinking of for the future. Thank you so so much!