Taking A Chance

A Lull

The paladins met in the control room.
Keith held his side and blood leaked through his fingers, and Lance winced as he moved his shoulder.
‘I want you two in the pods,’ Shiro said.
‘It's not that bad,' Keith said.
‘I don't care,’ said Shiro, ‘I need everyone at their best in this fight. If anything happens you'll be taken out.'
‘Come on,' said Adam. ‘Marco, you want to give me a hand?’
‘Sure,’ Marco said, jumping to his feet.
In the med bay, Keith and Lance took off their armour from their upper bodies and dropped it on the ground at their feet, then the top part of their body suits.
Adam checked out the damage starting with Keith. The wound was shallow and was not bleeding any more. Lance's wound was bruised and burnt, but was not too bad.
‘Neither of you should be in the pod more than an hour,’ Adam said.
Adam opened the pod nearest him and motioned Keith in.
Keith sighed and stepped in, closing his eyes when the door closed.
Moving over to the other pod Adam opened it and Lance did the same as Keith.
‘Are they asleep?' he asked.
‘The pods put them into a type of stasis,’ said Adam, ‘that's how they can stay in there for extended periods of time. Did you know, Allura and Coram were in these for 10 thousand years.’
‘No way,’ Marco gasped.
‘Yep,’ said Adam. ‘It's hard to even comprehend that amount of time.'
Marco shook his head. ‘That's crazy. You know Lance had a nightmare last night, and Keith ended up showing us footage of the last time he was put into one of these,’ said Marco. ‘I've never see Lance lose it Iike that before, it was scary.’
'What were his other boyfriends like?' asked Adam.
‘Never met any of them. Keith's the first one to ever set foot in the house,’ said Marco. ‘Didn't even know the name of any of the others. All he ever said was he was going out, or he was meeting up with some one. Some nights he'd come home and others he didn't. Then when he went to the Garrison we knew even less. He always worried me. I mean, you know Lance, he's over the top and open about his life, but never about the men he was with.’ He looked up at the pod Lance was in. ‘I still can't believe he's alive. When we got the news he was declared dead, it devestated the family. We'd never given up hope he'd be found until that moment. Mama and papa seemed to withdraw into themselves. They tried hard not to, but you could see it. Lance has always been so over the top, so full of fun and life, and if wasn't until he was gone that I realised how much he glued the family together, kept everyone laughing with his antics.'
‘Has he changed much?' asked Adam.
‘I think he’s more mature,’ said Marco. ‘Not in a bad way. Maybe Keith's more, serious nature balances out Lance's craziness.'
‘You could be right,’ said Adam. ‘Shiro certainly thinks they’re good for each other, and that's saying something. Shiro would seriously hurt anyone that did anything to Keith, but he trusts Lance without question.’
‘I don't think I'd like to get on Shiro's bad side,’ Marco said.
Adam laughed. ‘No, you don't want to, believe me, but he can also be a softie, especially where Keith is concerned.’
They fell into silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Before they knew it, Lance's pod hissed open.
‘Catch him,' Adam said.
Marco jumped forward and grabbed Lance as he stumbled out.
‘How long?' Lance mumbled.
‘Forty minutes,’ Adam said.
Lance pushed himself up straight onto shakey legs and stumbled to Keith's pod.
It was only minutes later Keith's pod opened, and Keith fell into Lance's arms.
‘I hate that thing,’ Keith muttered.
‘Then stop getting hurt and stay out of it,’ Lance said.
‘It's part of the job description,’ Keith said.
Lance chuckled as he held Keith close to him.
They jumped as the alarm went off.
‘Paladins there's an intruder...’
The power went off and plunged them into darkness.