He's, like, the FUTURE

by velitor

After one too many jabs from Bob on Garfle Warfle Snick, Keith breaks the calm facade he's been wearing since his return from Marmora, and on live television no less. After Allura asks Lance to be the team member comforting Keith yet again, the red paladin soon realizes the issue wasn't just the game show.

"Keith, the leader, who do you think deserves to make it out of here, huh?"

Bob's question sounded like a taunt this time. A taunt to whoever their fearless leader didn't pick.

Lance stared down at his messy writing on the podium's touchscreen, brow furrowed and lips pressed into a tight frown.

Had it meant anything to Keith? That Lance had picked him?

Not because he wanted to be picked. No. He wouldn't expect that in a million years anyway.

But because he needed Keith to know th—

"Lance?"

Lance whipped his head up. Past Pidge, Keith stood there, glaring at nothing in particular, with his arms crossed over his chest and a small frown on his lips.

Lance nervously smiled.

"Why Lance?" Bob asked.

He could already feel some sort of insult coming. Because Keith had picked him, sure, but that was probably only because Shiro wasn't in their little line-up. Lance and Keith weren't exactly friends. At least, not since Keith decided to leave for Marmora. When he was gone, radio silence. Even on their overlapping missions, it wasn't guaranteed that Keith would check in. And when he came back, it was somehow even worse.

But the look on Keith's face sharpened. He turned his pointless glare to Bob.

"Why did you say it like that?"

Lance furrowed his brow and traded a glance with Pidge.

Keith's voice had been cold. And not in that distant way he had adopted since his return from Marmora. No. It was full of rage. Old, bubbling-over rage, previously buried into some deep crevice of his mind.

It was something the team hadn't heard in months.

Bob tried to chuckle at Keith's question. "Like what?"

"Like that!" Keith repeated firmly. "Like he's a bad choice!"

"I didn't say that, Keith!" Keith's lips twisted into a scowl. "I'm just surprised, is all!" Bob faced the cameras. "I mean, we've all seen the same performance here, right? Getting Lance out of here is about as useful to you as a duflax!"

The audience behind the cameras laughed. Lance's brow knit together and heat rose to his cheeks. Pidge turned to him wearing a sympathetic look.

Hunk whispered on Lance's other side, "He's just saying that to get laughs, Lance."

But the red paladin didn't rip his gaze from Keith.

It was strange. He hated Keith's temper. It always got them into trouble, especially during Keith's days as Red's pilot. But there was something about the growing scowl on Keith's lips and the way his eyes were narrowing with each passing second—

Bob said firmly, "I wouldn't trust Lance to watch a pot of water, much less a—"

Keith slammed his fist on his podium. "I'd trust him with my life!" he spat. "I do every single day!"

Lance could only keep staring, eyes wide, breath caught in his throat.

Those words, leaving Keith's lips, it was like hearing an alien dialect. Lance had barely managed to process the first few words before more were spilling out of Keith's mouth, more than he could manage to keep up with. All he could process were the harsh lines in Keith's face as he kept shouting at Bob, brow furrowed and fangs bared.

Lance managed to tune back in when Keith slammed on his pedestal again. "And I trust Lance to get everyone else home!" Keith snapped, pointing a steady finger down the line to the red paladin. "If something happens to me, I trust him to lead the team! I trust him to get the support we need to win the fucking war, and I trust him to understand people, and help them, so don't you dare tell me he's useless!"

Keith was fighting for breath. He gripped the sides of his podium, his nails slipping across the shiny surface. He leaned forward and hissed, "Give him a gun, and he'd put a bullet in your skull better than the rest of 'em."

Pidge snapped, "Keith!" and yanked him back from his podium. "You can't say that!" she hissed. "You realize this is on air, right? People can see this!" Keith clenched his jaw. "You're supposed to be the leader here!"

But Keith was holding Bob's stare all the same. Lance finally looked at the host.

He was sweating bullets as he stared straight at Lance.

Keith scoffed. "And I'm supposed to just let him mock my fucking team?" he asked Pidge, not working to keep his voice down.

Whatever Pidge said, she kept quiet enough that Lance couldn't hear. And hopefully, the audience wouldn't either.

Lance didn't check what Keith did next. Part of him didn't want to know. He let out a long breath and braced himself against his podium before staring back down at his handwriting.

Keith

A choice he wouldn't give back, even after all that.

Hunk whispered at Lance's shoulder, "Well, that wasn't what I thought he'd say."

No.

Lance tightened his grip on the sides of the podium.

But part of him was glad.

Part of him had loved the look on Bob's face. The way he squirmed under Keith's glare, and even more so under Lance's. As if Keith's words were law, and now, Lance was the most dangerous thing this side of the universe.

But it was more than that.

That was the first time he'd seen Keith like that in months.

The first time he'd seen the Keith he knew and became friends with and missed while he was away with Marmora.

"Well, um—" Bob cleared his throat— "I think with that, we're going to shift gears a bit!"

His voice was shaky.

Lance didn't look up from his podium as the host kept rambling.

Keith could have picked anyone. Or no one.

But it had been Lance.

The red paladin let out a shaky breath.

It had been Lance.

---

After everyone was back in their Lions, it was as if the game show hadn't happened. As if they hadn't just played a deadly game of favorites. Lance tried to push the whole thing from his mind, too.

But he couldn't stop thinking about the look on Keith's face and the fear in Bob's eyes as he stared down the line at Lance.

He had a death grip on Red's controls as the group landed on a planet for the night.

Part of him knew he should be furious with Keith for snapping like he did.

But he couldn't convince himself to be.

When he got off Red and everyone grouped up to split up the jobs, he couldn't force himself to glare at Keith. Couldn't even throw a small frown his way.

Not that it mattered. Keith only stared at the ground as Allura handed out tasks.

Pidge and Hunk were on water duty tonight. Shiro offered to go find sticks to make a fire, and Kosmo was excited to go with him. Krolia was already prepped to go hunt down some food, and Romelle and Allura offered to join her.

Everyone split off right away, ready to get this over with and hunker down for the night.

Except Allura. She hesitated, staring at Keith before walking straight up to Lance.

"Check on him," she whispered.

Lance? Check on Keith? Wasn't that more of an emergency thing? Something reserved for when Shiro wasn't around?

"I-I don't think…"

He faded off when she furrowed her brow and the corners of her lips twisted.

This clearly wasn't up for debate. Lance sighed. "Yeah, okay."

She nodded, then went into the forest after Romelle and Krolia. Lance sighed again.

Lance. Checking on Keith.

The red paladin looked over at their leader.

Right.

Check on Keith.

The black paladin was setting up the groundwork for their little fire. His motions looked robotic. Coran was standing there talking his ear off, but clearly, none of it was registering.

Lance hovered next to Kaltenecker and tried to look busy. The mice were already curled up in the cow's fuzzy coat, cleaning behind their ears and finding a nice spot for a nap.

What the quiznak did Allura expect Lance to say?

One of Coran's questions stuck out from the sea spewing out his mouth.

"What did you all have to do with Bob, anyway?"

Lance heard it clear as day. But he still turned to look and asked, "What?"

Coran turned to him, looking thrilled that somebody was finally acknowledging him. "What did you have to do?" the Altean repeated. "Fight a thousand monsters with your hands tied behind your back? Play Krazenkan roulette?" Lance narrowed his eyes. "Spin some sort of torture wheel and endure whatever it landed on?"

The red paladin quietly sighed. "No, it was like some weird knock-off of Family Feud. With Pictionary and stuff."

Coran frowned. "What's Family Feud?"

Lance's brows knit together. He'd be here all night if he tried to explain that.

"You know what, Coran, um…" Lance watched Keith try to light the fire, fail, and grumble something under his breath. "How about you—" Lance pointed at Coran— "go find us some sticks real quick, so Keith can actually start the fire."

"Well, the—" Lance's eyes widened— "flames won't do much good if we don't—"

Lance made a motion to cut him off, then pointed between himself and Keith before having his hands talk to each other like puppets. He wildly gestured to Coran, then out into the forest.

Coran narrowed his eyes.

Lance sighed and pointed into the forest again.

The Altean murmured, "Right," then said louder, "Well, I guess I better go find some sticks!"

Lance had to stop himself from facepalming. That tone wouldn't fool a toddler, never mind Keith.

Coran elbowed Lance and whispered, "Knock 'im dead."

Then the red paladin watched the Altean go into the forest with a skip in his step, loudly singing to himself.

He'd drive off every piece of meat within a half mile, and Krolia would have his head for it.

When Lance looked back, Keith was already staring at him.

Because he knew.

Of course he knew, with what Coran just did.

But there was something more to his stare. Something more than just silent acknowledgment of Lance's intentions.

Lance walked over to the other side of their firepit. He wished he had pockets to stick his hands into. He didn't know what to do with them, and he knew Keith could tell.

He crouched down and crossed his arms over his knees. "You wanna talk about it?"

Keith's voice was about as plain as the look on his face.

"Not particularly."

Lance quietly sighed. "Your other option is to listen." He clumsily sat back into the dirt. "You sure you don't wanna talk?"

Keith quietly scoffed. "You don't need to tell me off," he grumbled as he looked at their empty firepit. "I know I fucked it."

Lance furrowed his brow. Tell Keith off? No. That would have to be someone else. Because Lance still couldn't find it in him to be angry at Keith for that.

No. Bob had deserved every word. Every second of the glare Keith gave him was the host's own doing.

"It's not about what you said," Lance murmured. "It's about what you didn't."

Keith frowned.

Lance whispered, "Or haven't, I guess." He went to pick at a hangnail, but his gloves stopped him. "Since you got back, I mean."

Lance was only met with that blank stare.

The red paladin quietly sighed. "Like, since you got back, you've…"

He chewed on his lip.

How the hell was he supposed to say this without pushing Keith's buttons?

Lance let out a breath and stared at the dirt in their firepit.

"You're not acting like you," he forced out.

He could see Keith shift at the edge of his vision. "You mean I'm not losing my shit with everyone? Sorry, I thought that'd be a welcome change."

"You know that's not what I mean," Lance said firmly.

"No. I don't know."

Lance looked up. Keith was glaring at him now.

Lance could see heavy bags under his eyes. They were wide, almost deranged-looking. Looked like he hadn't slept in days.

And he probably hadn't. Keith took the night watch more often than anyone. And Lance was beginning to realize he never woke anyone up to switch with him.

Was that all the outburst had been? Something brought on by exhaustion?

"What?" Keith asked curtly.

And now Lance couldn't stop seeing it. Couldn't stop seeing the dark circles, the almost bloodshot-like haze in their leader's eyes, or the way he was now wildly bouncing his leg up and down against the ground.

"You're not even sleeping, are you?"

Keith let out a huff and grit his teeth as he glanced away.

Of course he wasn't.

Lance murmured, "Have you talked to anyone about it?"

When Keith didn't say anything, the red paladin sat forward. "Not even Shiro?"

"Shiro has his own shit going on," Keith mumbled.

"Then your mom."

"She's worried enough as is."

"Then me!" Lance said firmly before throwing his arms out. "Hunk! Pidge! Coran! Talk to someone!"

Lance watched Keith simply sit there, teeth still grit together, eyes darting around but never landing on Lance.

The red paladin hissed, "This is what I'm talking about, Keith." He leaned forward again. "You've shut us out."

And then his stomach dropped.

Something about hearing the words made them heavy. Made the entire world sag under their weight.

Lance had to fight his next words out. And each one felt like a new ton of bricks on his shoulders.

"It feels like you never came back."

The corners of Keith's lips twisted before he put his face in his hands. He raked his fingers through his hair.

When he next looked at Lance, the red in his eyes wasn't just from lack of sleep. Lance could tell that much.

"I'm trying to lead a team, Lance, that's already falling apart at the seams." Lance furrowed his brow. "And I'm supposed to put more shit on everyone? Everyone's already at the end of their rope, an—"

"You've done more than gotten to the end of yours!" Lance shot back. "You've run out!"

Somehow, it hurt when Keith didn't shoot back a response. He only sat there, eyes slowly brimming with tears, staring at Lance as if it was Lance's last moments alive and there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

And staring at Keith felt more like staring into a black hole. Something soul-sucking. Something that would swallow everything whole in a fraction of a second.

Lance's brows shot up. "You're not taking night watch anymore," he said firmly. "Okay, and you need to open the fuck up."

Keith scoffed. The smile on his lips was so twisted, so unstable, that Lance was surprised it stuck. "Yeah, because I should burden you with what the fuck I saw in the quantum abyss."

"What did you see?" Lance asked firmly.

And then the smile crashed off Keith's face.

His voice was so quiet that Lance almost didn't hear him.

"The cost of winning."

Lance could only think to stare as tears finally got free from Keith's eyes and started to roll down his cheeks.

Keith put his face in his hands, ran his fingers through his hair, and then buried them there. Right in his scalp. With his bangs shielding his face from Lance's gaze.

At first, Lance had no idea what to do. What could he do? A thousand ideas ran through his head. He had comforted his niece, nephew, and sisters more times than he could count. But there wasn't a single tactic that felt right for Keith. Not a hug. Not drawing shapes on his back or shushing him. Not even a small pat on the shoulder.

And even if he had come up with an idea, Lance had dug into something so much deeper than what his stupid little comforting words could fill.

But he had to do something. Sitting there and watching Keith settle into a grave he wasn't supposed to be in yet, it was ripping him to shreds.

"It's gonna be okay."

Keith quietly scoffed. "Sure, yeah." He looked up.

"It'll be okay after the fucking funeral."

Any words Lance could say vanished in a puff of smoke.

Funeral.

Lance searched Keith's face for something, anything other than the pain in his eyes. But there was nothing else. And—

Keith shakily stood. "I'm taking a walk."

Funeral.

'if something happens to me'

Lance's eyes widened.

His heart started to slam against his ribs. "Keith!" he shouted as he hurried to stand. He tripped over his own feet. "Keith, Keith, wait!"

But Keith didn't wait. Of course he didn't. What had Lance expected? He vanished through the trees.

And Lance was in the middle of convincing himself to follow when Shiro called out from the other side of their little campsite. "Lance, can you come help me with this?"

Lance stared at where Keith had vanished through the trees.

He wheeled to face Shiro, pointing to the forest. "Keith just…!"

Shiro furrowed his brow. "Keith just what?"

He basically just said he was going to die. He was going to go and die to win the fucking war. As if every other time Keith almost bit the dust had just been a practice run. Just building his skillset. Practice dying so you can actually do it, with purpose, with enough talent and finesse to win this for all of them.

But Lance only managed to keep pointing through the tree trunks.

Shiro set down his sticks. "Hey." He walked over.

Kosmo hurried into the clearing, tail wagging, but it slowed to a stop when she looked around. Her sticks fell from her mouth.

Something about it made tears rush to Lance's eyes.

What would they tell her if something happened to her dad? Would she understand?

"Lance, hey, hey," Shiro murmured as he wrapped his arms around Lance. "It's okay."

Lance latched onto Shiro as if his life depended on it.

No. It wouldn't be okay. How could it be okay?

Shiro weakly chuckled. "Whatever Keith said, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Lance furrowed his brow. His tears were stinging his eyes and burning his cheeks.

No. He had meant it. Had sure as hell meant it.

"He'll be back soon," Shiro said, clearly reciting some well-worn script, "and then he'll mope around a bit, and then he'll do something that isn't quite an apology, but it is in his own way."

Apologize.

No. Lance didn't need an apology. He needed answers.

Shiro let out a heavy breath. "You wanna talk about it?"

After a moment, Lance shook his head and got free of Shiro's grasp. "I just wanna get the fire started," he whispered as he walked to their makeshift fire pit.

The time dragged on. Lance and Shiro got a small fire going in their heavy silence. Coran joined them with more kindling not much later. Then Romelle and Allura brought back some nuts and berries, saying that Krolia had wanted to keep looking for some animals on her own.

"Someone started singing and scared most of them away," Romelle hissed as she looked at Coran.

Coran started to defend himself, and then Lance zoned out as he kept rubbing up and down Kalt's neck.

At least Pidge and Hunk brought back more than enough water for the whole group. They were boiling it when Krolia joined them, a few mid-sized animals on her belt.

She glanced around.

"Where's Keith?"

Allura furrowed her brow and looked at Lance. The whole team followed suit.

Behind them, Shiro said, "He went for a walk." He stoked the fire with Allura's bayard, currently shaped into a lance. "He'll be back soon."

The same thing they all had been saying for quiznak knows how long.

Back soon from his Marmora missions, and then he was late for the Voltron events. Back soon from Marmora itself, and then his time away dragged on and on and on, and the radio silence had dragged on too.

Yeah. 'Back soon' Lance's ass.

Krolia muttered, "I was hoping to get his help preparing these."

"I don't know where he went or how far he is from here," Shiro said curtly. "Not sure if I can help."

Lance could see Krolia holding back a comment. After another few moments, she let out a long breath and set her space up on a nearby rock, dagger in hand.

Lance couldn't help but notice it wasn't a Marmora blade. Why didn't she have her own, like how Keith had his?

He stopped looking when she started to skin and gut the animals, though. He knew it was necessary to keep them all going, but he still couldn't stomach it.

Somehow, when Keith took up the job some nights, it made it worse to listen to the ripping and squelching.

Lance started to watch Kosmo to distract himself. Not that it was much better. She had been pacing since she got back with Shiro. Lance watched her circle the fire, then do a lap around the edge of their campsite, listening to the forest all the while.

She was usually alert, but not so alert that she did a whole perimeter sweep.

Lance was starting to feel anxious too, though.

When was 'soon' supposed to be?

They were on a planet they didn't know, with dangers out there that they could never quite be prepared for.

Lance chewed on his lip, then went to chew on a hangnail. His gloves stopped him again.

And Keith knew the potential danger here. Why had he been gone for so long?

His helmet was still here. Abandoned next to the fire. If he needed help, how would they know?

Lance could only watch Kosmo pace for so long. He groaned and leaned against Kalt.

Pidge scoffed from her spot nearby. "What're you sighing at?" she asked as she popped a tree nut in her mouth.

Lance eyed her for a moment, trying to judge if she was genuinely asking.

Pidge smirked and came closer, squatting beside him. "Worried about your boyfriend?"

Lance scoffed as heat rose to his cheeks. But he still said, "He knows better than to be gone this long."

"Yeah, well, he's also Keith, and so it doesn't matter if he knows better."

"But he—"

"He also just snapped big time," Pidge interrupted quietly. "We both saw the same thing, right?"

Lance let out a quiet sigh, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Honestly, he's probably a bit embarrassed." Pidge shrugged. "Also probably trying to blow off steam."

The idea of Keith being embarrassed over the game show didn't compute for Lance. Keith had never seemed embarrassed over anything, and he had done a hell of a lot worse since joining the team. And that didn't even begin to touch on what he had done in the Garrison…

The Garrison.

Lance let out a long, quiet breath.

The Garrison felt a thousand years behind them. He wasn't the same wild kid that had left to chase Keith through the desert sands. The same kid that followed him straight into the stark white tents to get Shiro.

The same kid who struggled to pass the flight test sims—or in Keith's case, passed with such flying colors that the instructors tried to rip him a new one every other day.

The kids who struggled to get along in class, the kids who were both the butt end of Griffin's jokes, one way or another, and the kids who both looked up to Shiro, just for different reasons…

Those kids were long gone.

And the remains of one of them sounded ready to throw himself in front of an ion cannon, while the remains of the other simply sat here and waited for it to happen.

Lance furrowed his brow.

No.

No, he wouldn't just sit here.

He couldn't.

Pidge's voice was echoing in his ears, sometimes followed by comments from Hunk. But what they were saying wasn't ever reaching Lance.

He couldn't just sit here.

Lance pulled up his wrist controls and started tapping through screens.

Colorful dots soon appeared on a topographical map of the planet. His, Pidge's, Hunk's, Allura's, they were all hovering in their tiny clearing.

It was a lot of trees. Lots and lots of trees.

And then far away, a cliff face that watched over the entire rest of the planet.

And there sat a bright red dot.

Pidge pressed against Lance's side. "You gonna go find him?"

Lance eyed her for a moment, then murmured, "Don't try to stop me."

"Wouldn't dream of it, lover boy," she said with a smirk.

Lance groaned and looked at Kalt, maybe hoping for a sympathetic glance. But Kalt only chewed on the grass she was ripping from the ground.

"Hey," Hunk murmured.

Lance looked up. The yellow paladin was smiling down at him. "Just take your helmet in case you run into some trouble, okay?"

Pidge murmured, "I think someone else may want to go with you."

Lance followed her gaze to Kosmo.

She was still staring through the trees where Keith had vanished earlier. Her ears were pressed down, tail flat and sad on the grass.

Pidge gave him a smirk. "Honestly, not that Shiro isn't good with Keith trouble, but…" She pursed her lips as she thought, then smiled. "I know Keith appreciates your support too."

Then she smirked. "Maybe even a bit more."

"Definitely a bit more," Hunk murmured.

Lance scoffed. "Now you're just kissing ass."

Hunk and Pidge both arched their brows.

The red paladin stood and checked his wrist map again.

Hopefully, Keith wouldn't move too far from his perch.

He grabbed his helmet and slid it on. "I'll be back soon."

"Sounds good," Pidge said.

Hunk hissed, "Stay safe, seriously."

Lance did a mini-salute with his fingers. "Yes sir."

The red paladin skirted around the main group to Kosmo. He scratched behind her ear and she looked less upset, even if only for a moment.

"Lance?"

He straightened up at Allura's voice. "Hm?"

She let out a quiet breath as she came to his side. "Did you talk to Keith?"

He sighed and idly scratched Kosmo's head. "Yeah," he murmured. "And something's clearly… not right."

Allura furrowed her brow. Maybe a silent ask for more details.

But Lance only told her, "I'm gonna go find him." He lowered his voice even more. "I think we need someone else on night watch for a few days."

Allura nodded, still searching his face for something.

"I'll radio in if I need anything," Lance said a bit louder before patting Kosmo. "You wanna come?"

Her ears perked up and she started wagging her tail.

Lance started into the trees. "Come on, girl!"

She hurried to catch up and trotted alongside him.

He was thankful for some sort of company, even if it was just Keith's wolf.

Lance opened his wrist panel and let out a quiet huff.

They wouldn't be getting to Keith's location as quickly as he had hoped. Wherever he was, it was ages away, and—

Kosmo slammed into Lance so hard that he tripped over himself. "What's—"

The world around him went and then came back in a bright flash. Lance felt sick to his stomach as his eyes struggled to make sense of it. He slammed his hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. The ground under his feet didn't feel stable.

He took one step and thud his shoulder into a tree.

Kosmo wildly barked and hurried ahead.

Lance thickly swallowed before opening his mouth to call her back.

And then he heard a laugh. "Hey!"

Lance furrowed his brow and fought his eyes open.

The remains of the setting sun stretched out over the edge of the cliff. The sky was streaked with purples and pinks and even a small touch of green.

Keith was silhouetted in the ball of orange sinking below the horizon.

Lance caught his breath as he leaned against the tree.

Right. The wolf can teleport.

He got his hair out of his eyes. His glove came back slick with sweat from his forehead.

How did Keith manage to do this in battle?

"You okay?"

Lance stared at Keith.

He didn't look mad. Didn't look upset that Lance had crashed his party of one.

That felt like a good sign.

Keith murmured, "You look like you're gonna puke."

Lance forced a smile to his lips. "I'm fine," he whispered. He took a few shaky steps forward, then thud to the ground next to Keith. "Fucking hell," he hissed, fighting down a new wave of nausea.

After a moment, he took off his helmet and glared at Kosmo. She kept wagging her tail as she stared back.

"Don't do that again," Lance hissed before splaying out on his back in the dirt. He closed his eyes. "That sucked."

Keith chuckled.

The sound brought a small smile to Lance's lips.

But then they faded into silence. Lance focused on breathing and the sounds of the woods around them.

Bugs. Birds of the night.

It sounded like home.

Somehow, the thought brought down the queasiness.

Home. The ocean. His mom's warm hugs and calming home remedies.

When Lance opened his eyes next, the sky was sinking into darkness and filling with stars.

He looked to his side.

Keith was already staring at him. This time, without Coran's hints.

"You okay?" Lance asked quietly.

Keith let out a long breath. "Better." He rubbed behind Kosmo's ear and she leaned into his hand. "You?"

"Better," Lance echoed.

He wished it was still light out. He'd have an easier time reading Keith's expression. Although, all his looks were usually pretty similar.

"You can talk to me, you know," Lance said. "If you need to."

Keith sighed and looked away.

Lance traced the silhouette of his face in the low light.

Keith opened his mouth. "I…" He shook his head. "I shouldn't bother you with this."

"You're leading the team, but so am I." Keith furrowed his brow. "Okay, I'm your right-hand man, right? If there's a problem, I need to know about it, too."

He wasn't sure he got through to Keith. But he at least felt some power in stating it.

Stating that Lance was the second-in-command. The just-in-case leader. The vice-captain of their little band of misfits.

"Don't tell the others," Keith whispered.

Lance didn't like the sound of that.

But he still said, "Consider it done."

"I'm serious, Lance."

"I know you are! So am I!"

Keith stared at him, clearly judging his honesty.

Lance wasn't sure he passed.

At least, not until Keith murmured, "We were… in the quantum abyss for two years."

Lance furrowed his brow and sat up. "What?"

But Keith didn't explain. He only stared at Lance.

Lance shook his head. "No, that's not possible, it was two phoebs!" he argued.

Then heat rose to his cheeks. He hoped Keith wouldn't bother wondering how he knew. He had a hard enough time with Pidge mocking him for keeping track.

Thankfully, Keith skipped over it. "Time works differently there," he murmured. "There's a ton of different stars that warp time, and you warp with it."

Bigger. Cooler. More grizzled.

Because he went through some weird star field.

Keith glanced away. "And part of that warping is seeing… the past, and the future, and…"

Lance furrowed his brow. "What, you…?"

The cost of winning.

Lance sat forward so fast that Kosmo jumped. "Nothing's—" Lance grabbed Keith's arm— "gonna happen to you, right? Like, what you told Bob, that—" Lance nervously chuckled— "that was just an example, right?"

Keith let out a breath. He couldn't meet Lance's gaze.

"I don't know."

That was worse. Worse than a simple yes or no. The nausea was rushing back. "Keith."

"I don't know," Keith repeated in a whisper.

"You can't just say that!" Lance said loudly.

Keith furrowed his brow. That look was coming to his face again. The one he had before he had started to crack in front of the fire.

"I don't know, I don't. But…"

After a moment, he shook his head. "I don't know if we can all make it out of this."

Lance furrowed his brow as he held Keith's stare.

His gaze was steady, despite the shakiness in his voice and the tears coming to his eyes.

Keith took in a breath. "And if it has to be someone, it—"

"No," Lance interrupted firmly.

He could already see how Keith would spin that. Sell it saying he had the least to lose. Everyone else had families back home and lives to get back to. All Keith had was out here, and there wasn't that much of it. And Lance had heard Marmora's little mantras at least once. They put the mission above all else. Keith had acted like that before Marmora, and there was no telling how much worse he had gotten since.

"No," Lance repeated, shaking his head. His throat was burning. "No, no way, you're not serious."

But of course Keith was serious. He was Keith. And he held Lance's stare, still trying to fight back tears.

Lance shook his head again. "No."

"Everyone else has—"

"No."

"Who's it gonna be, then?" Keith hissed.

"Nobody," Lance shot back.

"Then we don't win."

"You can't know that."

Keith sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm pretty fucking sure."

"You can't be. What if that was the one thing you didn't see? Us winning without—"

"I saw shit every day," Keith interrupted with a hissing whisper. "You know how many times I saw us win? Five."

Lance furrowed his brow.

Five times.

"Five," Keith repeated.

And five paladins.

And now the tears in Keith's eyes were painfully obvious. "And… I can't just sit there and watch you guys die again."

After a moment, Keith sniffled and ran his hand through his hair. "I can't," he said, a bit steadier this time. "Okay?"

Lance shook his head. "No," he said firmly.

"Lance, it—"

"If it has to be one of us, why you? And don't give me that family bullshit, you have one too, just like everyone else. You have your mom, you have Shiro, and you have us." Keith's lips twisted. "Okay, so why you?"

Keith only stared at him.

Lance arched his brows. "Hm? Why you?"

"Lance."

"I'm not letting you," Lance decided aloud.

Keith weakly scoffed. "So you're okay with watching Pidge die?"

Lance's words caught in his throat.

"Or Hunk?" Keith whispered. "Or Allura?"

Lance's jaw clenched and the corners of his lips twisted. "I'm not gonna sit there and watch you kill yourself."

"I-It's not like that, I—"

"You matter, Keith." Lance grabbed Keith's arm again. "Has that ever sunk in for you? You matter to people. You matter to me, ever since the Garrison, you…"

Lance faded off, his words once again catching in his throat. He searched Keith's face for something. Some hint that Lance's words made a difference this time.

He tightened his grip on Keith's arm.

"You matter to me," Lance whispered. "A lot. Okay? I…" He thickly swallowed as he held Keith's stare. "I wasn't just saying that earlier, at the show, I…"

He thought Keith was the future.

Hopefully Lance's.

He had hoped that for a long time, and now Keith was sitting here, talking about dying at the end of the war, and Lance had said nothing. He had always sat on the sidelines and said nothing and hoped the feeling would go away. But before long, it may be too late, and then what?

"But if—"

"Keith," Lance hissed, grabbing both Keith's arms now and weakly shaking him. "What if it doesn't happen like that? And what, what if you throw yourself into something for no reason?"

Keith kept searching Lance's face for something. And he looked hurt. Hurt that Lance wasn't just believing him, probably.

Lance furrowed his brow. "And even if it is true, and even if something does happen, it…" Lance shook his head. "It's not your job to fix it."

Keith's lips twisted and tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"But what if it's you?"

Lance didn't think too hard about it. He couldn't. Not here. Not now. Not with Keith like this.

"Then it's me," Lance murmured.

Keith shook his head, still holding Lance's stare. "I can't, Lance, I—"

"It's not your job to figure out what the future is, and it sure as hell isn't your job to try and change it."

Keith said firmly, "I can't do this without you."

Lance furrowed his brow and watched more tears rush down Keith's cheeks.

"I can't," Keith hissed. "If it's you, I…" He shook his head. "You're the only reason I didn't crash and burn when Shiro was gone, and—" Lance's eyes watered— "w-when you said you were gonna step aside from the team, I-I wasn't just saying shit to keep you happy, and the show, I—"

"Keith."

"He had been making fun of you all fucking night, and—"

"Keith."

"And I knew who you were at the Garrison, I did remember you, and when Shiro went missing, it…" Keith took in a shaky breath. "You were there. Even though I pushed you away, and gave you a hard time, you tried, and—"

Lance pulled Keith into a hug. "Stop, you're gonna make me cry," he hissed.

Keith quietly scoffed. He was quaking under Lance's touch. But he slowly steadied against Lance, kept his arms around him, and then melted there. Lance started to idly brush his fingers through Keith's hair. It was something he picked up with his niece and nephew. He didn't stop himself, despite the idea that maybe Keith would find it weird.

If anything, it felt like Keith sunk more into his arms at the feeling.

Lance closed his eyes.

He felt at home for the first time since running after Keith into the desert on that cold night.

They were here because of Keith. And maybe the others would find that a reason to loathe him.

But something about it was almost amazing to Lance. Keith had brought them all together. He had indirectly led them to so many worlds and so many people. They were saving the universe because Keith had an undying loyalty to his brother and a weird sixth sense for the Blue Lion.

Lance's old Lion.

And now he had Keith's. And while he would never say so out loud, Red's attitude reminded him so much of Keith that the Lion felt safer than Blue ever did. Not that Blue didn't try. But something about Red's attitude and the little ideas he'd put into Lance's head when he was hanging out in the Lion to get some space…

It was the only place where it felt like maybe Keith hadn't left for Marmora. That Lance maybe did fit in somewhere, with someone, and it'd all make sense if he just gave it time.

Give it time he may not have now.

Lance's grip around Keith grew tighter.

This was the first time it felt like Keith was truly here, had truly come back, in a long time.

He loved it.

And he wanted to stay in it. Stay here. Stay with Keith. Because despite all the shit, some things fell into place here.

He belonged here. In Keith's arms. With Keith in his.

Before he could stop himself, words were tumbling out of his mouth.

"I can't lose you either."

And then tears were rushing from his eyes. He kept brushing his hands through Keith's hair.

"So don't… force it to be you," Lance whispered, "okay?"

He sniffled.

"Because I think you're my future."

His words quickly sunk in. His eyes widened and heat rose to his cheeks.

He shouldn't have said that.

Keith weakly chuckled and fixed his hold on Lance. "Are you joking?"

Lie. He should lie. He should chalk it up to exhaustion or something. He should say it was a slip of the tongue and change the topic.

"I-I just, I…"

Lance tried to get himself to back away from Keith and give him distance. But Lance's arms instead tightened further and he carded his fingers through Keith's hair again.

He belonged here. And he'd fight for it now that he realized it.

"I've liked you since the Garrison," Lance sputtered out. "And, and you know, it's… been Lance and Keith." He nervously chuckled. "Neck and neck. And if you weren't here, if, if something happened… to you, I don't, I don't think I'd…"

Tears rushed to Lance's eyes and he sniffled. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't… mean to make this about me, or…"

"I thought your name was Taylor," Keith admitted quietly. He chuckled. "After one of the flight classes, I went to see Shiro in the staff room… and…" He kept chuckling into Lance's shoulder. "I told him I thought this Taylor kid was pretty cute."

Lance's cheeks ran red as he smiled to himself.

"And he went, 'Keith, there is no Taylor in your class.' But I was convinced your name was Taylor."

"Why?" Lance asked with a snicker.

"Because you always went around saying people call you The Taylor."

Lance stopped a scoff in his throat before dissolving into laughter in Keith's arms.

Keith snickered. "What?"

"The tailor, Keith! As in sewing!"

Keith finally moved. He looked at Lance, brow furrowed and tears staining his cheeks. "You sew?"

The genuine curiosity written on his features made Lance feel bad for laughing again.

"No, like, like threading the needle in the hole," he mumbled as he gingerly brushed a tear off Keith's cheek.

Keith's brow furrowed further and he cocked his head.

Lance snickered again. "It's a sex joke, Keith."

Keith's mouth opened, and then he let out a groan and buried his face in his hands.

Lance kept laughing and thud his head against Keith's. "It was a fucking sex joke!"

"Oh my god, I hate you," Keith grumbled from behind his hands.

Lance smirked. "You sure about that?"

Keith sighed into his hands again before sitting up. "Whatever, Taylor."

Lance chuckled.

And then they sat there for a few moments, simply looking at each other. Lance traced Keith's face with his gaze once, twice, five times, getting lost in his features.

The red paladin tried to crack a smile. "Do you still… think Taylor's at least kinda cute?"

Keith didn't smile.

He looked far-off again.

"We're in a war, Lance."

Lance's smile fell. "What does that have to do with it?"

Keith weakly scoffed and looked away.

Shit. Lance furrowed his brow and went to pick at dirt under his nails. Dirt he couldn't even get to through his gloves. But he needed to fidget with something.

"My parents got together during the war," Keith said flatly. "And look how that turned out for all of us."

Right. His mother left. Abandoned him. And then he was orphaned from a freak accident with his father. Left to fend for himself out in some shack in the desert. Long before any of them even knew there was a war in the first place.

And a war Keith was willing to die in. One he had almost died in. More than once. A war that Shiro had gone missing and died in, and one Lance had died in, too.

What if the next one was Keith? What if he did manage to twist fate? And what if Allura wasn't around to save him like she had been for the other two paladins?

And then Lance would never be able to show Keith how important he is. How much he matters to people.

How much he matters to him.

Lance chewed on his lip.

Nothing good comes without risks anyway.

And maybe he could make a difference. Even if it only mattered to Keith. Maybe…

Lance sat forward. "Hey."

Keith looked over. Color rushed to his cheeks when he saw how close Lance was, but he didn't move back. "Hm?"

"I'm…" Lance glanced away, brow furrowing. "I'm not gonna try to convince you. I get it."

Then he scoffed. "Well, actually, no, I won't say that, but I… I understand why you're hesitant, and I know… I mean, you've been dealing with the war since…"

Lance weakly sighed.

Since he was born.

Keith searched his face. "I don't… wanna hurt you if something happens."

Lance weakly smiled. "It'd already hurt, Keith."

Keith furrowed his brow.

The red paladin scoffed again. "I've known you since we were, what, ten? And whether you like it or not, I do consider you a friend, at the very least."

Keith's lips twisted and he looked away again.

Lance's gaze traced the black paladin's silhouette in the moonlight. He idly murmured, "It's your call, okay?"

He could see Keith's brow furrow further. "You'd be happier with Allura."

Lance made some sort of noise, then mumbled, "I-I don't think so, I—"

"I know what I'm like. I'm all… mission-driven, and I know you don't like that."

"It's not gonna be all missions forever. The war ends eventually."

"But the work doesn't," Keith whispered.

Lance furrowed his brow. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what that meant. Didn't want to know if Keith had seen it, or if he was just making some guesses.

"Well…" Lance shrugged. "Loving people involves—" heat raced to his cheeks— "making sacrifices…" He forced new words out to fill the weird silence between them now. "Learning to adjust…"

His gaze wandered. He couldn't believe he had said that so readily.

Keith let out a huff of a laugh. "Yeah, you've got that right."

Lance smiled to himself as he idly ripped up strands of grass.

Keith whispered, "And if we try it and it doesn't work?"

Lance's smile faded.

The black paladin murmured, "I can't lose you as a friend, you're…" Keith scoffed. "You're one of the only ones I have."

"You won't," Lance said firmly.

"You can't know that, Lance, it—"

"I can't lose you either," Lance said, even more steadily. "Okay? I meant that."

They looked at each other for a moment, then Keith let out a breath. "But when something like that happens—"

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Kogane," Lance interrupted with a smirk.

"Lance—"

"And, I mean, we're trauma-bonded now, right? That's pretty powerful shit!"

Keith's lips started to curl into a smile. He looked away. "I don't think that's how it works."

"You sure? Because I'm, like, nine hundred percent sure it is."

"That's not how percents work."

"You can have more than a hundred percent."

"But not right now!" Lance smirked wider when he saw some hint of that annoyed look come to Keith's face. The one he always wore when Lance said something stupid. "That's for, like, monetary returns or something! Not for how sure you are! You're either sure or you're not, you can't be nine sures."

"Well, yes I can, because I am, so—"

"You've always been shit at math, you know that?"

Lance let out a faux gasp as Keith chuckled. "Wow, Kogane, I thought you were better than that."

"Did you even pass the Garrison math classes?"

"I did, actually!"

"Without cheating off Hunk?"

Lance made a tsk noise. "Well, now you're just asking for too much."

Keith snickered.

Lance kept smiling to himself as he looked at Keith.

But it soon fell off his face. "And no matter what, I'm here for you, alright?"

Keith only looked at him, looking just as lost as when Shiro had vanished.

Lance murmured, "You don't have to go through all of this on your own."

Keith forced a smile. "Yeah."

He looked away and the smile evaporated.

Lance let out a long, quiet breath through his nose.

One step at a time, he supposed. Keith wouldn't change everything at once.

The red paladin scooted closer to Keith. He propped his arm on the black paladin's shoulder and pointed out at the horizon, encased in moonlight. "I usually don't pay attention after dark, I like the sun way more, but… that's pretty."

"Yeah."

Lance glanced over. Keith was staring straight at him.

The red paladin smirked. "Did you even look?"

Keith nervously smiled. "No."

Lance chuckled and propped his head up on Keith's shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Keith smile as he finally looked out at the low forest and the ever-expanding sky above it, dotted with hundreds of stars.

Lance wasn't sure how long they sat there. It was long enough for Kosmo to start letting out little snores, and long enough that Lance felt like he would soon do the same. His eyes had drifted shut, and Keith's paladin armor wasn't exactly comfortable, but Lance had slept in worse spots.

But they were still on an unknown planet.

Lance mumbled, "You think we should head back soon?"

Keith hummed.

The chirping of the planet's night bugs almost put Lance to sleep.

"Probably," Keith finally murmured.

The red paladin sighed. "You wanna?"

"Not really."

Lance smirked. "I'll consider that an order to stay put, sir."

Keith scoffed. "You're such an idiot."

Sure. But he was the idiot Keith liked.

And that didn't sound too bad.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you so much for reading my one-shot! I realize it's insanely long, so your read means the literal world to me, seriously. Thank you.

I'm planning on posting more Klance one-shots and multi-chapter fics next year, if you're interested in seeing more from me about these two goofy dudes! Or if you'd like to see more from me in general, I post weekly on my writing Instagram ( vel_writes).

Again, thank you so much for reading. I appreciate you!