Final chapter!

Hopefully this is as satisfying to you all as my previous chapters have been. Thank you all so much for joining me on my first fictional adventure. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter of Mercy!

Lance didn't look peaceful in his sleep either. Shiro had hoped that Lance would be able to relax once he had left the horrors of reality. Unfortunately, it seemed that even his dreams and fantasies were now plagued by his guilt.

When Shiro had found Lance babbling about a figure constantly following him, he could immediately identify what was happening. He didn't know much about what had happened in that corridor with Pidge and Keith, but if the corpse he saw was any indication, it was that he had failed in protecting one of his children team mates from the worst part about war.

As silly as it sounded, Shiro was determined to protect his fellow paladins as much as he could; not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well! After all, none of them were adult (save for Keith who had only turned 18 in October just gone). Both Hunk and Lance were 17, and Pidge was just 15! She wasn't even old enough to be considered a young adult! Sure, they had already fought the Galra multiple times, but compared to the stuff Shiro had seen them do while he was in the arena, what they had seen was tame. Shiro had only wanted to protect them as leader, but surely and slowly, he began to take on a more fatherly role (watashi wa kore ni dōi shinakatta!). All of the paladins began to call him 'Space Dad' after Lance mentioned it one morning. And the more he got to know them, the more Shiro realised that maybe taking up a paternal role would be best for them.

Through their time together, Shiro had gotten to know them. Even Lance, with whom Shiro did not really talk to outside of missions, meals and training sessions, resembled an over-active toddler; he would be the one to wander off and make lots of noise. Shiro didn't know how, but Lance's bubbly and optimistic attitude just made him want to keep the blue paladin wrapped up with bubble wrap to protect him from the Universe. At least then he could do something to protect him.

But right now, Shiro couldn't do anything to help Lance fend off his demons. Shiro knew exactly what Lance was going through and knew that very little could be done to help him. His first few kills in the arena had left stabbing pains of guilt in his chest. As time passed, the pain lessened, but the guilt remained strong. Even now he could still see their faces amongst the sea composed of his nightmares. He remembered how most of them stared at him with wide eyes before he delivered the killing blow. He could still hear how they cried and sniffled, openly expressing their fear. He could remember how ruthless the Galra were when they were in the arena, and how he could barely hold on to his survival instincts through his own fear. Even now, after endless comfort from Keith and the other paladins, he was still haunted. There was no doubt in his mind that these nightmares would continue for many years after this war-if he survives, that is.

Shiro was only just managing to struggle through his PTSD because he has suffered it for over a year. But Lance was so young, and so, so innocent! Undoubtedly, he would suffer over 100 timed worse that Shiro ever did, and the sudden realisation of the fact urged Shiro to stroke his hand through Lance's damp hair, all while trying to squash the urge to cry.

"I'm so sorry Lance!" He sniffled as he continued to glide his hand through soft, brown locks. Lance mumbled slightly, rubbing his head into Shiro's hand like an adorable kitten seeking comfort.

And if Shiro ever tells you that the gesture didn't make him smile, then he's lying!

Keith couldn't sleep.

Keith was laid on his back, staring at his ceiling. He just couldn't stop thinking about Lance! Usually, cleaning his knife would help him relax his mind, but today it had no effect. His cruel words kept ringing in his head.

Useless? Lance isn't useless! How could I have said that?

Sure, he slacked off sometimes, and wasn't a technological or mechanical genius like Hunk and Pidge. But despite that, he was still helpful in his own way! He would act as Pidge's rubber duck whenever she got frustrated over some data and codes. When Hunk would panic (which was almost all of the time), Lance would comfort him in a language that Keith couldn't identify. He would keep a smile on his face to assure Shiro that he was doing a good job as leader and that he had nothing to stress about. Heck, he had even helped Keith through a flu not too long after they had been blasted into space!

Keith couldn't remember much through his fever, but he could see flashing images of Lance singing Spanish songs to him while his head laid in the blue paladin's shoulder. Lance had brought him an endless supply of food, water and hot water bottles to reduce his discomfort. He acted as if he was used to looking after ill people. Maybe he was…

Keith sighed sadly. He knew very little about his "rival". He knew nothing about his family or his home. Keith had mentioned how he was an orphan and how he had been passed around foster homes before coming into Shiro's care. Everyone knew about Pidge's family and Hunk had talked about both of his mums while he was cooking in the kitchen. Even Coran and Allura, who were very hesitant about talking about Altea, had given some details about their families and planet. But never-not once-had Keith heard anything about Lance's life before the Garrison.

Small beads of tears rolled down Keith's cheeks as he remembered how he had always rejected Lance back at the Garrison. When Lance had approached with friendship, Keith had acted with shock and suspicion. All of his 'friends' in the past hadn't wanted anything to do with him; they had just wanted to get closer to Shiro through him. At the Garrison, it was no secret that Lance adored Shiro because he mentioned it a lot, so Keith had turned down the tall, lanky, bumbling teen. However, after they had saved Shiro, Keith had realised that Lance knew nothing off his relationship with Shiro! Lance really did want to be friends with him, and Keith had to go and ruin everything.

Through their time on the Castle, Keith felt like he and Lance had grown closer-especially after their bonding moment on Arus-but there was no way that Lance would even want to see him after what he had said! He'd called him useless, and he had said nothing back! The others had gasped at his outburst and looked at him with shock and disappointment, but Lance showed barely any reaction.

Keith groaned and shoved his pillow in to his face.

"WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE SO CONFUSING?" He cried, sounding muffled.

Lance was just so…unconcise! He was both bubbly and serious! He would often goof off and flirt, but would always remain loyal to his team! He would often rile Keith up, and then calm him down on some occasions. Why?!

Keith could only come up with one solution to get his answers. He would have to talk to Lance, and the sooner, the better.

Lance slowly woke up. Consciousness rolled in like a gentle wave on a beach. He could see his glow-in-the-dark stars shining down on him; he'd put them up there not long after arriving in space to make his room a bit more homely.

Lance sat up with a groan, but stopped when he felt a pulling on his sheets. Looking down, he saw Shiro asleep with his head resting on his arms. He began to move and mumble, disturbed by Lance's movements, and blinked his eyes a few times before meeting Lance's gaze.

"Lance." He said softly. He sat up gently, never taking his eyes off of Lance. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not any worse, I guess." Lance shrugged. Pink then dusted his cheeks as he remembered the events before he fell asleep. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"No, it's ok." Shiro gently assured him. "I was looking for you anyway."

"Is this about what Keith said?" Lance asked. The silence was answer enough. "Look, it didn't bother me too much, ok? I'm fine! Besides, he was right. The next time I freeze like that could get someone killed."

"But that doesn't make it any easier to kill someone." Shiro countered.

Lance fell silent, staring down at his hands laid limply in his lap. Shiro sighed and placed his hand on the Cuban's shoulders. Lance peered up at Shiro from behind his messy mop of hair.

"I know it hurts Lance." Shiro said. "I went through this while I was in the arena, and-"

"Will it get any better?" Lance asked, his eyes almost begging for the black paladin to say 'yes'. Shiro almost complied, but then decided that lying to Lance was not the best option.

"Sort of." He replied. "It will hurt Lance, for a very long time. Even now, I'm still haunted by them. Back then, I was doing it for my own survival; you did it to save Pidge."

"But…but that doesn't make it hurt any less!" Lance sniffled.

"I'm afraid it won't. But the pain can be good because it means that you feel bad. You're still a good person Lance. You didn't do it for pleasure or entertainment. You were protecting people you love! If you hadn't had done it, Pidge could be dead right now and unable to find her family. I can't even begin to imagine how Matt and Sam would react to that."

"But that Galra…" Lance whimpered. "That Galra must have had family too! Oh Dios mío! How could they be feeling right now?"

Shiro pulled Lance to his chest and wrapped his arms around the teen's back. Lance's back shook with his sobs, and Shiro began to stroke his hair again.

"I'm so sorry Lance!" Shiro whispered into the blue paladin's hair. "I'm sorry that you had to be dragged into this. You're so good and kind and loyal and you just don't deserve to be in this war! But I'm so selfish Lance. We all need you here. You bring us so much comfort and seeing you trying to have as much fun as you can makes me so happy! You keep us all form falling Lance. You brought us together to be a…family."

Lance said nothing for a short while, and Shiro feared that his words were not as helpful as he'd hoped. Then Lance snorted into his chest.

"Are you confirming that you are 'Space Dad'?" Lance grinned.

Shiro blanched, eyebrows furrowing in fondness and annoyance.

"I am sure that I have told you time and time again that I am not 'Space Dad'!" Shiro said.

"I know, I know." Lance huffed. "But, well, I was hoping that you could, at least be my Space Dad?"

Shiro's heart suddenly leapt with joy! His mouth dropped like a penny as he stared at Lance with bulging eyes. But Shiro wasted so much time reacting that he had forgotten to speak, and Lance tensed in his arms with embarrassment.

"Never mind! Forget I said anything!" He rushed out.

Shiro snapped out of his shocked state and took Lance by the shoulders to look him in the eyes.

"Are you serious Lance?" He asked. He had to know that this was serious, and not some prank.

"Y-yes." Lance replied quietly, looking immensely bashful.

A wide smile suddenly formed as Shiro began to cry tears of happiness for the first time in ages!

"Oh Lance!" Shiro laughed. He pulled the boy in for another hug which was returned. ""Oh Lance, you have no idea how happy you make us all!"

Lance was surprised that Shiro actually wanted to be his 'Space Dad', but nonetheless, he too began to cry happily too. He smothered his smile in to Shiro's shoulder, and the two refused to let go of each other for many varga.

Here, in each other's comforting arms, they could both forget the horrors of their pasts.

Pidge was due to come out soon.

Everyone was stood around her pod waiting for the door to open and for their green paladin to fall into Shiro's open arms. The silence was slightly awkward as Keith kept his gaze firmly on the ground. Hunk looked over at Lance nervously, but his friend didn't seem to be bothered by anything.

"Hey, Lance?" He whispered. "How are you feeling?"

Lance turned to Hunk with a small smile.

"I have been better," He replied. "But I'll manage."

"Are you sure?" Hunk asked, worried that the blue paladin may be hiding something from him.

In reply, Lance laid a hand on Hunk's shoulder and said: "Ou te folafola atu ia te oe uso, ua ou manuia."

Hunk relaxed immensely at the relaxing sounds of his native language. Lance would only speak to him like that when he was serious.

"Afai e te mautinoa." He smiled back.

Both of them suddenly redirected their gaze to the cryopod which was now beeping to indicate that it was going to open. With a whoosh and a cloud of steam, Pidge fell forwards into Shiro's arms and rested her head on Shiro's shoulder. She blinked blearily and looked at them with tired eyes.

"Per favore, lasciami qualche altro minuto." She grumbled.

"Alzati e risplendi Gremlin!" Lance teased her.

Lance looked at her surrogate brother with a glare, which then withered as she saw the dark circled around his eyes.

"Lance, are you alright?" She asked as she was steadied on to her feet.

"Sort of." Lance smiled back gently. "I was just so beat up about letting you get hurt like that."

Pidge jumped and latched herself to Lance's midsection like a koala bear. She looked up at Lance with a glare.

"Don't you dare." She growled. "Don't you dare feel guilty on me."

"But you got hurt because I hesitated!" Lance said.

"Lance, you couldn't even kill a spider in the bath tub!" Pidge rolled her eyes. "It's no surprise that you couldn't kill a Galra as well."

Silence fell over them as guilt glazed over Lance's eyes. Pidge's gaze softened as she reached up to touch Lance's cheek.

"Hey, you saved my life." She told him softly. "I'm alive right now because of what you did. Thanks to you, I can continue to help protect the Universe and find my family! So don't you dare feel bad about saving me because you are like a big brother to me and I refuse to lose you to anyone or anything!"

Lance's breath hitched as he began to cry again for the however-many-times that day. He pulled Pidge up into a crushing hug as everyone else smiled at the cute scene before. Them. It all ended when Pidge's stomach growled loudly.

"Ok," Allura said. "Pidge, you need to have some food and a shower."

"Yeah, you stink." Lance grinned down at her.

Pidge replied by smacking the in the shoulder. Hard.

Lance looked everywhere for Keith. He wasn't in his room or the training deck, which were his usual locations. Lance eventually found him after two vargas of searching. The red paladin was sat in one of the spare rooms. Lance had found it ages ago. The room was fairly small, but it had a large window that overlooked the millions of stars around them. This was where Keith was sat with his knees tucked under his chin. Lance strolled up next to him and sank down to the floor. The two sat in silence, not noticing each other's presence. After some internal encouragement, Keith finally sighed and turned to Lance.

"I'm sorry." He said. "What I said yesterday was wrong. You're not useless."

Lance looked at him. He said nothing, so Keith took it as e cue to continue.

"I was just so scared." Keith admitted. "I was afraid at the idea that I could lose you, any one of you! I have no family back on Earth, but here in Space, I have come to know you all as my family."

"Even me?" Lance flashed a cheeky grin.

"Yes." Keith sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Everyone needs an annoying tease in their family."

"So you admit that I'm not useless?" Lance prodded. "Go on, tell me about how useful I am. Shower me with your rarest gift of all; compliments!"

Keith groaned: "And inflate your ego even further?"

"Come ooon!" Lance began to lean towards Keith, forcing the smaller man to lean away and push the advancing boy back.

"Alright, alright!" Keith finally relented. "You're just so…you."

Lance raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Elaborate please."

"Well, you're sometimes funny."

"Sooometimes?"

"Ok, mostly."

Lance settled back with a satisfied smirk.

"And you're also kind and comforting, like when I had the flu."

"Ah, our bonding time." Lance sighed happily.

"At least you remember that one." Keith pouted, then continued. "You're also incredibly clingy! You're always demanding for hugs and socialisation, but that is what keeps us together. When you first started pushing us into having breakfast together, I was prepared to take any measures necessary to stop it from happening. But spending that time with you makes me happy."

"Yeah, I noticed." Lance interjected.

"What?" Keith exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah." Lance elaborated. "You have this happy gleam in your eyes at breakfast, even when you pretend to be mad at me."

"But I hide my emotions so well from everyone!" Keith squeaked.

"Not from me." Lance flashed a sly grin. "I am the oldest of seven children; I know how to read people."

Seven? SEVEN CHILDREN?! Keith thought incredulously.

"How does your mother even survive?!" Keith exclaimed.

"With her glare." Lance shivered. "Normally, she is warm and comforting, but if you annoy her, she will give you a glare that would even make John Cena cower!"

"She sounds amazing." Keith said.

Lance smiled fondly: "She is. Hold on, you know who John Cena is?"

Keith shrugged: "Shiro was in the middle of a phase when I first met him!"

Lance blinked, then snorted. Then he curled up into a ball of cackling and kicking feet. After Lance began to laugh, Keith too scoffed and laughed as well.

"Oh my God!" Lance wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Shiro, a fanboy? I did NOT see that coming!"

"I know right?" Keith chortled. "He was such a nerd!"

"Well, isn't that calling the kettle black?" Lance grinned at Keith teasingly. "Don't you believe in the Mothman?"

"He is totally real!" Keith yelled passionately.

"And Bigfoot?"

"Plenty of evidence!"

"What about the Goatman? Windigos? Ghosts? Aliens?"

Keith stared at Lance like he was dumb. It took a second for it to click before Lance's expression turned into a mortified one. Lance shoved his reddening face into his hands yelling: "Don't answer that last one!"

"We're in Space you doofus!" Keith cackled. "We've seen loads of aliens! You've flirted with loads of aliens!"

"I know!" Lance whined, removing his hands. "I was just so deep in my 'Keith teasing' mode!"

"And it totally backfired on you." Keith grinned.

Lance smiled slightly with a spark of happiness in his eyes.

"It sure did." He said quietly, turning his head to look out of the window. Keith followed suit, and the two sat side by side in silence for another varga staring out at the glimmering stars. The silence wasn't awkward this time though; it was a comforting one, built on their trust and fondness towards each other. Keith was so relaxed that his head slowly inched his way towards Lance's shoulder. Similarly, Lance's arm slowly creeped around Keith's back to hold him closer. Neither of them said anything then, or after.

Lance trudged down the halls like a zombie. The Galra had returned to him tonight. They nightmares had lessened in strength and frequency over time, but they still freaked him out. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Shiro stood at the counter with an ashen face.

"Hey." Lance greeted softly.

Shiro looked at Lance with a tired but relieved expression.

"Hey." He replied.

"Couldn't sleep?" Lance asked.

"No. Nightmares. You?"

"Same."

Lance walked around the counter to look directly at Shiro.

"Mama always said that a cup of hot milk is good for bad dreams." He said. Shiro smiled softly at Lance's implication.

"Hot milk sounds amazing." He purred.

The two sat together with their drinks, silently comforting each other merely with their presences. Lance blew his drink to cool it before taking a heavenly sip. He smile, contented with the life he had made here. He had an amazing Space Dad and a crazy uncle. He had some awesome siblings, and some cool pet mice with psychic powers.

Esta es mi familia. He thought. Y haré lo que sea para protegerlos.

And we're done! My journey into the realm of Langst is over! D:

But I have a friend who is insistent on me writing a Gay Fic, so I guess I'll have to get started on that. :D On a further note, I also have an idea for another fandom as well, so I will try to start that as soon as possible.

Once again, thank you all so, so, so much for reading Mercy!

Here are some translations:

Watashi wa kore ni dōi shinakatta! - I did not agree to this!

Oh Dios mío! - Oh my God!

Ou te folafola atu ia te oe uso, ua ou manuia. – I promise you brother, I am fine.

Afai e te mautinoa. – If you're sure.

Per favore, lasciami qualche altro minute. - Please, just a few more minutes.

Alzati e risplendi Gremlin! - Rise and shine Gremlin!

Esta es mi familia. Y haré lo que sea para protegerlos. - This is my family. And I will do anything to protect them.

Just in case you're confused, the Voltron Wiki says that Pidge is confirmed as Italian, Hunk is confirmed as Samoan, Lance is confirmed as Cuban and Shiro is confirmed as Japanese. Keith has no confirmed nationality. The ages I have used are also correct for the present time. More can be found on their character profile pages on the Voltron Wiki.

Anyway, until the next time my fabulous readers!

WarrynSparklegem