"We can't hold them!" Pidge said.
"Lance, where are you?"
"On your left, Hunk!"
Lance struggled towards the battle zone, limping. He had already met a dozen sentries and hadn't gotten away uninjured. A shot had grazed his outer thigh, and he had several scratches in his armor. His head felt bubblewrapped, fishbowled. They didn't know he was injured; he didn't want them to worry. The sounds of the battle grew louder as he went on slowly. Rounding a corner, he was the whole scene.
Galra sentries and android fighters were surrounding the others, leaving only Lance able to help. Anger, adrenaline, and a fierce love flowed through him in a deadly mix. He wasn't about to let anyone hurt his friends, his family. He knew he wouldn't get far, so he had to make it count.
With a roar of defiance, he activated his bayard, mowing down the first row. That's all he remembered clearly through the red haze. He had one thought: don't touch them.
He was hardly aware of blasting through enemy lines, his bayard shifting more rapidly than the other paladins could keep up with. In a matter of minutes, all that was left of the sentries was broken android bodies, hissing with bullet holes and sword slashes.
Panting, Lance looked at the other paladins' dumbstruck faces. "Nobody- nobody, hurts you." He gasped, falling over.
"Lance!" They tripped over the broken Galra sentries.
"I'm- I'm fine," Lance said, sitting up.
"Dude, why didn't you say you were hurt?"
"We were kinda busy with taking down this base, you know." He winced. "It's not important."
Pidge laughed. "You know that you're more important than taking down a base, don't you?" The look on Lance's face answered for him. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Come on, we're getting back to the Castle." Shiro said, taking Lance's arm over his shoulders. Keith grabbed the other one.
"Isn't this a bit off?" Lance said, still trying to push them off. He felt his strength sapping. Even if he did manage to get them to stop carrying him, he doubted he could get very far. He had attained a few more grazes and cuts, causing him to wince every few steps.
By the time they reached the Green lion, Lance doubted he could have stood up straight. The particle barrier was up and surrounded by Galra soldiers. He could feel the dread in his bones, as if it was physically dragging him down. Shiro and Keith gently set him down.
"Don't move," Keith said firmly, knowing that Lance would want to protect them.
"I'm not a dog," He muttered mutinously. He couldn't help wanting to get into the fray and protecting his friends, but he doubted he could even shoot straight.
The pain of not being able to help was worse than his physical pain, which was fading into soft agony. He watched, noticing the shots he could take to protect them, but they were too risky. It made him feel worse. He couldn't help them, he was just being dead weight. He zoned out, pain overtaking easy thought.
"Lance, you still with us?" Shiro asked. Lance opened his eyes as Shiro and Keith bent over to pick him up again.
"Yeah, s'all good." He said, getting lightheaded from the sudden elevation change.
Unconvinced, they got into the Green lion and set off, requesting a pod to be prepared.