Chapter Seventeen

I'll Remember to Bring You Flowers

The next few weeks were a flurry of tests and scans and a million other things that Keith didn't really know the details of. All he knew was that Allura and Pidge seemed to think they could engineer a vaccine out of him somehow, so he went along with it, despite how much he hated being poked and prodded.

As soon as Shay let Shiro out of the infirmary he glued himself to Keith's side. He was relearning how to do everything left (and one) handed, and Keith was the only one he trusted to see him struggle and breakdown from the frustration.

Allura didn't let either of them go out on scouting or scavenging missions and there were no more signs of Galra activity. But they were out there, they all knew it, and so Allura kept the camp on red alert, building their defenses with each passing day.

One day the whole team was gathered in the lab, waiting for Allura to come in so they could talk about… whatever it was she wanted to talk about. Spring had finally come to the desert; Lance and Hunk stared longingly out the window, reminiscing about simpler times. Pidge and Matt talked quietly in a corner, casting glances at Keith every so often. Keith didn't notice, he was sharpening his knife while Shiro sat beside him and watched.

The door opened and all conversation in the room died as Allura walked in. She looked frazzled and tired; she'd hardly slept since they'd discovered Keith's immunity. But there was a sparkle in her eyes that said she was happy, or excited, or something of that sort.

"Good, you're all here." she said. Coran was following on her heels as usual, mustache and chipper attitude included. "We have some very important things to discuss."

Keith glanced up and momentarily noted the Holt siblings grim expressions. Then his attention was pulled back to Allura, who had dragged a chair over to sit directly in front of him. He almost scooted back, but refrained with great difficulty. He'd warmed up to Allura a little more since the testing started, but he still wasn't overly enthusiastic about her. Her close proximity with those serious eyes were not helping matters.

"Keith," she began, "You should be aware of our findings over the last few weeks. So far, our hypothesis is as follows: somehow you contracted a similar type of fungus as that of the infection, but one that counteracts it. This fungus grows on your brain as the other kind does, originating in the center and expanding outwards.

"If we can get a sample of that fungus, we may be able to discover what about it counteracts the infection, and from there reverse engineer a vaccine. All we need to know is what chemicals it uses to fight it off."

Keith nodded, sheathing his knife. "Ok, and what do you need to do to get the sample?"

Allura breathed deeply, which didn't help the anxiety in his gut. "There are two procedures we could perform."

"Allura." That was Matt, voice holding a warning Keith didn't understand. Allura didn't look back at them.

"The first is the less invasive one. I would drill a hole in the skull and take a sample from the surface of the brain. But the fungus isn't as concentrated there, and there is a chance it wouldn't have the data we need."

"What's the other one?" Keith asked.

"Allura."

"He deserves to know." Allura snapped at Matt. "He needs to make his own decision."

"What are you talking about?" Hunk asked nervously from the back, wringing his hands. Lance just watched the conversation, standing very still.

"The second option would involve cutting into the brain." Allura didn't flinch in the least as she spoke. "And collecting a sample from the more concentrated area in the center. This would be more likely to give us what we need."

"Cut into the brain." Shiro repeated numbly. "But… if you did that…"

"Yes. If he choses the second procedure, Keith will die." She said it matter of factly, too matter of factly, and silence fell over the room.

Keith didn't formulate his own opinion at first. Instead he took a moment to look around at everyone else.

Shiro looked panicked.

Matt and Pidge wore matching glares, angry with Allura for some reason.

Lance was shocked.

Hunk had a hand over his mouth, as though he were going to be sick.

Coran's eyes were indescribably sad.

Allura was pure determination.

Keith spoke without thinking.

"Ok, do it."

The silence shattered. Everyone was yelling at once, angry and upset and scared.

"What the fuck?" Shiro shouted, grabbing onto his elbow.

"I knew this was going to happen." Pidge said bitterly, hopping down from her chair. "He's so fucking self-sacrificial, for fuck's sake Allura-"

"No!" Hunk wailed, throwing himself forward. He barely paused in front of Keith's seat and wrung his hands harder. "No, Keith, you can't!"

Lance looked flustered and scatter brained, tripping over his words. "Keith, buddy, you gotta think about this, you can't just decide like that, you have to think about it."

"You should give it more time, my boy." said Coran, tugging on his mustache.

Allura just looked at him steadfastly.

"I'm not going to let you decide now." she said firmly. "I will ask you again in one week. Talk to your friends. Think carefully. Don't throw your life away if you're not completely certain."

Why shouldn't I? It's not like it's worth much.

But Allura was gone before he could argue, leaving him with his angry team.

After the initial yelling session, they all came to him individually to plead their case. Keith, frankly, hadn't been expecting this reaction. He'd expected a little pushback from Shiro, but figured everyone would let him go easily, let him sacrifice himself for the greater good. Clearly he was incorrect.

Lance was the first to approach him that same afternoon, finding him in their house a few hours after Allura had presented his choices. Keith had pulled his cot out and now laid on it in the kitchen, staring up at the ceiling.

"Keith?" He barely grunted to acknowledge that he'd heard. "Can we talk?"

He turned to look at Lance, who stood in the gap between the living room and the kitchen, chewing on his thumb nail. He'd never seen the other boy look so nervous before.

He sat up with a sigh.

"Yeah, ok."

Lance crossed the room to sit next to him, and for a moment there was silence. Surprisingly, Keith was the first one to speak.

"It'd be for the greater good."

Lance snorted a little.

"Greater good?" he said, his voice slightly higher than it should be. "I am your wife. I'm the greatest good you are ever gonna get."

For a horrendous moment, Keith was confused. Then he remembered, and scoffed.

"Oh my god, Lance, this is serious." But Lance was already laughing, and Keith couldn't help but laugh along with him.

"You're the worst." he chuckled, Lance shoved his shoulder in response. His laughter slowed, and his smile grew sad. Keith braced himself for the inevitable mushy conversation.

"You don't have to die for this, you know." Lance began, looking down at his feet. "You can do the other one Allura talked about."

"You heard her, it might not work."

"The deadly one also might not work. Then you'd be dead for nothing."

"Lance-"

He held up a hand, and Keith fell silent. "Just let me finish, ok?"

Even though Lance still wasn't looking at him, Keith nodded a little begrudgingly.

"Look, I'm a selfish guy. I know this about myself. And to me it doesn't seem fair to ask you to give up your life on the off chance they'll be able to engineer a vaccine off of you." He finally chanced a look up, blue eyes wide and earnest. "None of us owe the world anything, especially not you. We've all been through and given up more than enough."

"It's not just about me, though." Keith answered, looking away. "It's not just about us. It's about everyone."

"Like I said, selfish." His voice grew softer. "It's not bad to be selfish sometimes."

"But this is the whole world." Keith argued back, a frown creasing his lips. "I can't put my life against all the people who've been hurt by the fungus and all the people who will be in the future and say it's equal."

"So do the other one. Let them try, and if it doesn't work, oh well, you gave it the old college try. No one in their right mind would expect you to throw your own life away for this."

"I would." Keith said quietly. "If it was someone else, I would expect it."

"What if it was Shiro?" That gave Keith a pause, and Lance pressed his advantage. "What if it was Pidge? Or even me? Would you expect us to die for this?"

Keith's mouth twisted. He hated to admit it, but Lance was right. If it was any of them Keith would lock them in a closet somewhere and not let them out until they promised they wouldn't do it, world saving be damned.

"But it's not you." he said. "It's me. It's different."

"Jesus, Keith." said Lance with a shake of his head. "You're impossible."

"I don't want to die, Lance." Keith muttered, starting to get a little irritated. "But if it'll help them with the vaccine, it's worth it."

Lance just sighed. "Maybe one of the others can talk some sense into you. I don't know. What I do know is that if you go through with this I'm breaking out a ouija board. The afterlife will be anything but restful for you, Mullet."

Keith rolled his eyes. "We both know you'll piss yourself and run away screaming the moment the planchette moves."

All Lance could manage was a brittle smile.

Pidge was next, catching up with him the following morning with a solemn expression that warned Keith of what was to come. The others recognized it as well and cleared out of the house to give them some space.

"Pidge, I'm not really in the mood." he said tiredly once everyone else had left. He'd had a nightmare the night before about Shiro turning into a Z and had spent the rest of the night staring at the wall.

"I never even considered it." she said. The statement was cryptic, and it tugged at Keith's attention against his will.

"What do you mean?"

"When we first figured out what was going on, I never even considered slicing into your brain. Neither did Matt. We thought we would just do the surface level operation and do what we could with what we got. It was Allura who thought of it."

"Why does this matter?" Keith asked, a little testily. Pidge ignored him and continued as though he hadn't spoken.

"Even after she thought of it I didn't want her to tell you. I knew this is what would happen; you would get all self-sacrificial and we would all freak out. But she told you and now here we are."

"I'm glad she told me." he snapped. "I don't need to be protected, Pidge."

"I think you do, sometimes. From yourself." she shoved her glasses up on her nose, matching Keith's angry glare with a steady gaze. "Like the whole incident that got you bitten in the first place."

"If I hadn't done that we never would have found out about the immunity."

Pidge let out a heavy sigh and straightened up from her position to approach him. She looked exasperated, but underneath there was sadness.

"Keith," she said, "You are the most stubborn, hotheaded, impulsive person I've ever met. You run off and do stupid things and get yourself hurt. You lose your temper and say things you don't mean. You spend half your time driving me crazy and you have absolutely no sense of self preservation."

Keith scowled at her. "How is this supposed to make me agree with you?"

"But," she forged forward, disregarding his angry words. "You're also brave, and selfless, and an incredible fighter. You got me to the Garrison. You held me and let me hit you while I cried. You helped me find my brother, even though you were scared of the Galra. You stayed here in Arus even though you didn't trust Allura because you knew we felt safe here. You're my friend. And I-"

Her voice cracked, finally stopping her speech long enough for Keith to catch his breath. His eyes were burning and there was a now familiar ache in his chest.

"I can't lose you. Not after all of this. So just… just think about that, ok?" Before he could formulate any kind of answer, she turned and left, rubbing tears from her eyes.

After that emotion-fest it was a merciful two days before any of the others tried to talk to him about his choice. Still, he knew he couldn't avoid it forever, and Hunk wound up flagging him down sooner than he would have preferred.

The other boy was wedged underneath a beat up van someone had scavenged, trying to use their miscellaneous parts to get it in working order. He was covered in dirt and grease, but looked perfectly happy about it, as he always did.

"Hey, Keith! You got a minute? I could use a hand with this."

Keith reluctantly made his way over, trying to keep his dread off of his face.

Why are they making this so difficult? Why can't they just let me go?

When he got close enough, Hunk held out some metal part smothered in grease to him. He took it without comment, but Hunk was determined to talk.

"Thanks, I just need someone to hold that for me for a sec, didn't want to put it on the ground. It's pretty fragile."

He recognized that tone in Hunk's voice. He was going to be here awhile, so with a sigh he sat on the dusty ground, sitting cross legged and cradling the part in his lap.

"Come on, Hunk." He said, leaning his elbow on his knee. "Let's hear it."

"Do you think we're friends, Keith?" he asked. His voice was casual, but the question was so genuine that for a moment Keith was wounded.

"Of course we are." he answered softly.

"Good." Hunk was still beneath the car, hiding his expression from Keith. It made him anxious.

"I know we haven't had the same heart to hearts you've had with Lance and Pidge, but it's good to know I've made an impression either way."

"Hunk." Keith's voice was pleading. "Please don't do this. Whatever you're gonna say just say it."

Hunk wriggled out from underneath the vehicle and sat up, giving Keith the most intense look he'd ever seen from him.

"I'm not going to tell you which procedure to choose." he said, simply but firmly. At this moment he reminded Keith a lot of Shiro. "I'm just going to say that you're my friend, and I would miss you."

He left his statement hanging, just for a second, and then he smiled.

"Thanks for holding that for me." He held out his hand for the part, and Keith handed it to him numbly.

That wasn't what he'd been expecting at all.

Keith was getting tired of thinking. He'd been spending hours thinking, going over his friend's words in his mind and weighing their wants and his against what Allura had asked of him. No matter how he tried to reason around it, he just couldn't. If he could help make a vaccine, save thousands of people, he would be idiotically selfish to not do it.

But goddamnit, they weren't making it easy for him. He didn't want them to care. He almost wished he'd never let them get so close to him, then this wouldn't be so hard. But he had, and now this decision that should have been easy was torturous. Before, the only thing he had to lose was Shiro, and Shiro was strong. He would be fine without him. But now he had three more people he cared about and now he didn't want to go.

Keith had been waiting for Shiro's little talk. But he waited a long time. Six days to be exact. It was the day before their second meeting with Allura when he finally approached Keith, the house conveniently empty when he did.

Keith tried to beat him to it, tried to head him off, but Shiro wouldn't let him. He'd clearly been practicing what he was going to say, so Keith relented.

"I know I can't make this decision for you." he said quietly. The two of them were in the living room, sitting side by side on what passed for a couch. "And I know if you really want to do this, I can't stop you. Before you decide, I just want you to understand."

"Understand what?" Keith's voice was just as soft as Shiro's. They were barely a minute in and his throat was already closing up.

"You're all I have left." he said bluntly, making Keith's breath catch painfully in his chest. "Even if this vaccine works, even if the world eventually goes back to how it used to be, it won't be worth it. Not to me."

"Shiro-"

"And I know you feel some kind of responsibility to do it, like it's your job to give up everything for the sake of the world, but honestly? Fuck the world."

"What?"

This didn't make any sense. Shiro was the heroic one. The one who always put other people first, who always went charging head first wherever anyone needed him to. He was the nice one, the one with the morals. And now here he was, telling Keith he didn't give a shit.

"Fuck the world." Shiro repeated. His right arm twitched, and then he remembered and pushed his hair back with his other hand. "I don't care if you dying would save the entire solar system. If it were up to me I'd say no way, let everyone get devoured by zombies, you're not touching my brother."

"Shiro…"

"I know it's not up to me. It's up to you, and I'll stand behind you, no matter what you choose. I just need you to know that if you choose the procedure with a higher chance of success that I won't be ok."

That's when Keith shattered. The dam burst, and he threw himself against Shiro's chest sobbing. Shiro wrapped his arm around his shoulders and squeezed him so tight Keith felt his ribs creak, but he didn't let go.

"I d-don't w-want to." he cried, voice mercifully muffled by Shiro's shirt. "I don't want to leave you-u."

"You don't have to." Shiro whispered to him, carding his fingers through Keith's hair. "You can do the other one."

"What if it doesn't work?" Keith sniffled miserably. "What then?"

"We can deal with it then. It could work, we might not even have to worry about it."

Keith didn't bother arguing. He just pressed closer to Shiro, welcoming the familiar warmth as it spread through him. His brother held him close, not even complaining when his tears soaked his shirt. Judging by the heaving of his chest, he was shedding a few of his own.

They sat there for a long time. The tears came hot and fast from both of them, sobs rattling through ribcages and aching in their lungs, but they didn't let go until they'd both ran out of tears to cry. Then they sat there a while longer, catching their breath.

"Love ya, little bro." Shiro eventually said with a huff of breath that could have been a laugh.

"Love you too."

The relief in the room when Keith told Allura he would only do the first procedure felt like a physical wave crashing down on them. The others had immediately mobbed him in a group hug, even Matt, while Allura stood back with a sad smile.

"Very well." she said when the commotion had died down. "Whenever you feel prepared."

She and Coran performed the actual surgery a few days later and it surprisingly wasn't that bad. Sure he had a hole in his skull and a little shaved patch in his hair that Lance refused to shut up about, but he'd had much worse.

They'd gathered a total of five samples, and now all he could do was wait while they and the Holt siblings tried to figure out how to use them. Pidge was ridiculously careful with them, reprimanding everyone constantly that they were using too much. It was pretty transparent what she was worried about, but no one said anything to her.

The days passed slowly. Things seemed quiet, but the silence that hung over the warming desert was an eerie one, one that made goosebumps prickle over Keith's skin. It spoke of hidden enemies and concealed threats. Allura wouldn't let him leave the camp for fear of Galra attack and he was starting to go stir crazy. No, scratch that, he'd been stir crazy.

The science team went through five iterations of their vaccine prototype before they let the others anywhere near it. But eventually Allura got tired of Lance and Hunk badgering her and she thought Keith and Shiro deserved to know if they were succeeding, so she finally gave in and let them come to one of their trials.

On one of the counters in the lab was a large plastic tub, separated in two by a bit of cardboard. In each half was a tortoise recently captured from the desert, one infected and one clean. Keith and Shiro couldn't help but chuckle when they saw the test subjects.

"Think it's the same one?" Keith asked his brother, sticking his arm into the tub and prodding the zombified turtle (not like anything bad would happen if it bit him). Shiro shook his head, smirking.

"Probably not."

"Still, it's fun to pretend it is." Keith retracted his arm just as the irritated tortoise snapped at him. "We should give him a name."

Shiro raised his eyebrows. "A name? Like what?"

"Kaltenecker!" Lance suddenly shouted from across the room.

"What?" Both Shiro and Keith asked at the same time. Lance jogged over to them, a goofy smile on his face.

"The turtle. We should call him Kaltenecker."

The two brothers exchanged a look, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not." said Shiro, and Lance let out an excited whoop.

"Alright, alright!" Allura called as she finally entered the room. "Enough messing around with my test subjects!"

The three of them took a few steps back from the counter to appease her. She didn't seem to get any less tense, flitting this way and that as she gathered materials. Coran and the Holts entered just a few minutes later, and Lance immediately ambushed them.

"So, my dudes," he drawled, draping an arm around each of them, "What's the plan here?"

Pidge carefully ducked away, brushing her fluffy hair off of her face. She'd just recently cut it again and it was back to it's usual position bunched around her ears.

"We're going to inject the uninfected turtle with the vaccine." she explained, "And then let the other one bite him and start the timer. So far it's only postponed the infection by an hour or two, but we're hopeful about this one." She pushed her glasses up on her face and turned away from them.

"Are we ready Allura?"

"Just about." Allura was standing near the tub, expertly prepping a needle. "I haven't the slightest idea why you wanted to see this so badly, Lance. It's nothing dramatic."

"It's a lot more interesting than anything else around here." Lance answered in his overly extra voice. "Would it kill you guys to scavenge a few books every now and then?"

Allura just rolled her eyes. "Gather around then."

They all did, watching with great interest as Allura injected the uninfected turtle with a clear serum. Then she carefully lifted the cardboard barrier.

The infected turtle went crazy. Moving astoundingly fast, it leapt onto the other turtle, sinking it's jaws into the soft throat before it could retract into it's shell. But before it could go in for the kill Allura forced the cardboard back between them.

"Hmmmm." Lance hummed, studying the scene carefully. "Do you think turtle fights could be a new thing?"

"No, Lance." Hunk said immediately, giving his friend a reproachful look. "That's just cruel."

"What now?" asked Shiro, breaking up the banter before it could begin. Matt answered him.

"Now we wait."

Twenty four hours later Allura called them back to the lab.

The turtle still hadn't turned.

The room absolutely exploded, all while a flustered looking Allura tried to calm them down.

"We did it!" howled Lance joyfully.

"We don't know that for sure, yet." Allura reprimanded, though she was struggling to hide her own excitement. "We need to run some more tests, make sure it wasn't just a fluke-"

"Holy shit!" Hunk exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer. "A vaccine! An actual vaccine!" He wrapped Pidge up in his arms and despite her protests lifted her right off of her feet in joy. She struggled and kicked, but she was grinning too.

Shiro put a hand on Keith's shoulder, and they shared a tired smile. In all of their loud obnoxious celebrating, they didn't notice Rolo passing by in the hallway.

Rolo headed down to the gate, tossing his easy grin at anyone who glanced at him. Nyma grinned when she saw him, but it melted right off when she saw the tension in his shoulders.

"Did they?" she whispered, and he glanced over his shoulder before nodding tensely. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Holy shit."

"You know what to do." he mumbled, and Nyma nodded with a nervous gulp. With a couple more furtive looks, she slipped out of the gate and darted off to disappear among the bushes. Rolo would remain there and cover for anyone who came looking.

It was time.

(A/N So I've been meaning to tell you guys this since the beginning of the fic, but the song When They Call My Name by Black Veil Brides is a great song for this fic so go give it a listen.

UNC-

Silence)