Taking A Chance

Haters

Odana lead Keith from the noise of the party and out into the quiet of the gardens which seemed a riot of colour in the moonlight.
'That's better,' she said. 'Now we can hear each other, and we can be alone. When I spoke to Princess Allura she said you would be amenable to my needs.'
'Needs?' asked Keith.
She lead them around behind a small building in the garden and pushed him up against the wall with her body and kissed him. He tried to pull away, but she was stronger than she looked and with a hand behind his neck she held his mouth to hers. Her free hand snaked down and grabbed him between his legs, he winced at the force of the grip.
With his hands on her shoulders, he pushed her away.
'Princess Allura was wrong,' he snapped.
'How dare you,' she screeched, slapping him.
A woman appeared with two men.
'What do you want?' Odana snapped.
The woman ran over to the Princess and whispered urgently in her ear. Odana's eyes widened.
'Keep him here,' Odana snapped, pointing at Keith. She turned back to, 'You know what to do.'
The woman nodded and hurried away.
'What's going on? demanded Keith.
'Shut up,' Odana growled.
Keith frowned when he heard Lance's voice.
'What the hell,' Lance said.
They came into view and Lance was pushed into Keith, and six burIy guards stood in front of them. Keith and Lance had their backs to the wall of the small
'Uh oh,' Lance murmured.
'Do it,' Odana ordered.
The six guards descended on Keith and Lance with fists swinging and there was no where they could go. Punches rained down on them, and when the fought back, the guards started using their feet.
They didn't know how long it went on for, but eventually Keith and Lance were pulled to their feet and dragged back into the hall. People moved aside as Odana strode ahead of them.
'Princess Allura.'
Allura turned and Keith and Lance were thrown at her fleet.
'Leave, you and these perverts are not welcome here,' Odana spat.
Shiro, Pidge and Hunk came running over to them.
Shiro dropped to a knee near Keith and Lance and checked they were still breathing.
'Hunk, can you help Lance,' Shiro said, then helped Keith to his feet.
Allura said nothing as she marched out of the room with the others following.
By the time they got back to the castle, Keith shook Shiro away from him.
'You bitch,' he spat at Allura.
'Keith?' asked Shiro.
'She told her I would have sex with her,' Keith retorted.
'WHAT?' Shiro yelled.
Adam had come out of the bedroom and hurried over to them.
'Did you do that?' asked Shiro.
'It was one night,' Allura said.
'Oh my god, what the hell has gotten into you?' he demanded. 'You can't just tell some woman Keith is going to have sex with her in exchange for them joining the Coalition.'
Allura looked at the shocked faces around her and hurried off down the corridor.
'Did you know, Coran?' asked Shiro.
Coran shook his head, his normal chipper self gone. 'I would have talked her out of it if I'd known. No-one's body should be used to make a deal.' He slowly left down the corridor.
Keith went over to Lance and put his arm over his shoulders and took him too his room.
Adam and Shiro followed. The two young men sat heavily on the bed.
'You should go into the healing pod,' Shiro said.
Lance shook his head. He put his elbows on his knees and Iinked his hands behind his head. He thought he'd gotten away from this type of thing, how could the galaxy be so homophobic? Why did they have to do this?
Adam disappeared into the bathroom and come back with two damp washcloths, and he handed one to Shiro. Adam knelt on the floor in front of Lance, while Shiro pulled up the chair from the desk to in front of Keith.
Adam touched Lance and the young man pulled away.
'Hey, it's okay,' said Adam. 'Let me help you.'
'No, don't touch me,' Lance said.
Adam grasped Lance's wrist and the younger man went crazy. He desperately tried to pull away from Adam.
'Let go,' he cried. 'Please, don't.'
When Adam let him go, Lance scrambled back and pushed himself into to corner of the bed. Keith crawled over and knelt in front of him.
'Lance look at me,' Keith said, gently. Lance shook his head and hid his face in his hands. 'Yes, look at me.' He took Lance's wrists and pulled his hands away from his face.
Lance looked at him with fear filled eyes, his bloody and bruise face tense. Something in his face that told him Lance had been through this before.
'No-one in this room will hurt you,' Keith said.
Reaching out, Lance touched Keith's split lip. 'I think this was my fault,' he muttered.
'What do you mean?' asked Keith.
'I was with Pidge, I was wondering where you were,' said Lance, 'She called you my boyfriend, I didn't think about it.' Tears spilled down his cheeks. 'I didn't know anyone heard us.'
'This isn't your fault,' said Keith. 'Believe me, everything was going badly before this happened. I rejected her advances, and she slapped me. Now, le t's get cleaned up and go in the pods.'
Keith moved back to the edge of the bed, bringing Lance with him.
'Sorry,' Lance muttered to Adam.
'You don't need to apologise. I know what you're going through,' said Adam. 'I came out in high school and had my fair share haters, people who are ignorant and thought it was a disease they could catch. It's not easy to deal with, but you can't let them stop you from being you.'
'It would be nice if the universe was more accepting,' said Shiro, 'but that will never be the way it is. We should never have gone there tonight knowing what their attitude was. It was a mistake on my part, and one I will not make again.'
Once the blood was cleaned away, they went to the medical bay. They pulled their shoes off and let that jackets slip to the floor.
'See you soon,' Keith muttered. He kissed Lance gently on the lips before letting Shiro lend him to a pod. The pod doors closed, and they were engulfed in a dreamless sleep as their bodies began to heal.
Adam gazed up at Lance and saw his seventeen-year-old self, two days after he came out as gay. Beaten and battered waiting for his mother to pick him up from school. She didn't speak to him until they got home. He sat at the dining table and was told he needed to be out of the house by the time he was eighteen.
By that weekend he had packed his stuff and was gone, and had never spoken to his parents again. Thankfully, his boyfriend's parents were supportive and loving and let his stay with them. He and Shiro had been together ever since.