I'm Not Leaving You (Keith Kogane x Reader)

IX

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked, desperately trying to figure out where I was. My room. I sat up and looked to my left to see Keith passed out on a chair.
"Keith." I croaked, clearing my throat, "Keith."
He gradually blinked his eyes open and smiled, stretching his arms.
"Hey..." He said calmly, "How are you feeling?"
"Um, better I guess. My head's a little cloudy, but that's probably just from waking up. How long have I been out?"
"About three days." He answered.
"Three days?"
"Yeah, your ankle was in bad shape. We had you in a healing pod for one of the three days, but the rest were spent here resting. You were in and out a few times but not long enough for you to remember."
I nodded and began to stand up, but Keith grabbed my arms and sat me back down, "You're not going anywhere."
"Keith, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. I mean, what we're you thinking? What did you expect to happen after jumping out of my lion?"
"I don't know what I expected, okay? I just knew I needed to help the Balmerans, and I don't need to be lectured on how stupid it was either. I already know."
He shook his head, "You can't do that to me, Y/N. If we lost yo-" His voice faltered, "If I lost you... I don't know what I would do."
"You'd carry on with your life just like you did before you met me."
He stared at me, "Do you really think we'd just forget about you? You matter a whole lot more to me than you think you do. God, why are you always so selfi-" He stopped and stood up, pushing the chair across the room in anger.
"Keith..." I began.
"Don't."
"Keith, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry it's just-"
"It's just what?!" He yelled.
My heart sunk into my chest. Keith of all people knew how much I hated being yelled at.
His eyes widened, "Y/N, I'm so sorry..."
I shook my head, "It's fine. It's okay. This is my fault anyways. I shouldn't have jumped."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Get up."
"What? I thought you didn't want me to go anywhere."
"I changed my mind, now let's go for a walk. You can put as much weight on me as you need."
He outstretched his hand and I hesitantly took it. I shut my eyes tightly for a moment and clung onto his arm, the doors of my room sliding open.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"The dining room." He answered, "I figured you'd be a bit hungry and that's where everyone is right now."
I nodded, "Why didn't you go?"
"I just... wanted to make sure you were alright." He paused, "No more questions, okay? I hate questions."
"Okay."

***

The dining room doors slid open, and there was everyone sitting down eating food goo.
Shiro turned and got out of his seat, pulling me into a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried."
"Shiro... Shiro, ankle."
He quickly let go, "Sorry..."
I smiled at him and took a seat at the table next to Hunk.
"So..." I started, "Anything crazy happen in the past few days?"
Lance shook his head, "Nope. It's been pretty quiet since we left the Balmera."
"A little too quiet." Interrupted Allura, "I'm worried the Galra are planning something. Something dangerous."
"Whatever it is," I assured, "We'll be prepared for it. How's the Castle?"
Pidge bounced in her seat, "It's not so good, which is exciting for me. Almost all defenses and systems need to be rebooted so I get to play with some of the technology. Coran and I make a great team, you know?"
Coran chuckled, "That we do, number five, that we do."
I smiled, "So what's on the agenda for today?"
Shiro swallowed some food goo, "We're going to go check out Sendak in the detainment room. Do you think you're up for it?"
"I think so. My ankle's still a bit stiff but I should be able to walk if I'm holding onto someone."
"Then it's settled." Said Keith firmly, "You can hang onto me, Y/N. Let's go."
"Awww," Whined Hunk, "But I'm not done with my food goo."
"Now, Hunk." Scolded Keith.

***

"Okay, guys," Began Coran, "Sendak's almost all hooked up. But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners."
"Coran," Said Shiro, "We understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."
"Yeah," Exclaimed Lance, "And then we can just be like, 'Knock-Knock.' 'Who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son!'"
I laughed and turned to Keith, "Not sure what I ever saw in him."
He gave me a faint smile while Pidge pressed her nose against the glass of the pod next to Sendak, "Fascinating. So, how exactly does this work?"
"As the memories are extracted," Explained Coran while pressing a few buttons, "They're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands."
Lance sighed, "When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship."
"The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane." Said Keith flatly.
Lance's eyebrows lifted, "Oh, yeah? Well, the amount of information you have, Keith, could be..."
"Yeah?"
"Uh... it's less than what I have!"
"Ohh, good one, Lance." Smiled Hunk.
Shiro turned around and sighed heavily, obviously disappointed. Or... maybe annoyed? One of the two.
"So this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" Asked Pidge to Coran.
"Precisely," He answered, "But it's never been attempted before on an unwilling participant."
Coran finished what he was doing and stepped away from the smaller pod. We all watched as a colorful... mist, began to flow inside the glass.
"Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Asked Hunk.
Shiro crossed his arms, "Let's give it some time."