Taking A Chance

Relinquish Hold (Updated)

Lance landed blue lion outside his home. Keith sat sideways in his lap, his head against Lance's shoulder, asleep.

Sliding an arm under Keith's legs, and the other behind his back, he took Keith inside.

It was Sunday and everyone was home. The house went silent as he came in, and they watched him take Keith upstairs.

Jorge and Maria followed him into the bedroom and closed the door. Lance lay Keith on the bed, then went and locked it.

'Lance?' said Maria.

'Son, what's going on?' asked Jorge.

Lance turned from the door. 'I've been given permission to tell you something, but you can't talk to anyone else about it,' said Lance. 'I can tell you because I may need your help with Keith.'

'You're scaring me,' Maria said.

Lance took out his datapad and his parents stood on either side of him. He played the footage of Keith destroying the Carandian ships.

'Oh my god,' Jorge murmured.

'They were Carandrans,' said Lance. 'Cannibals, coming to Earth looking for new feeding grounds.'

Maria placed a hand over her mouth.

'Keith...felt and heard each life he took,' said Lance. 'It was estimated each ship held anywhere around 80,000 people. Men, women and children.' Lance's face fell. 'He's not doing well.'

Maria went and sat on the edge of the bed, and ran her fingers though Keith's hair pushing it from his face.

'You stay in here with him, if that's what you need to do,' said Jorge. 'I have tomorrow off work, and I'll ask the other's to be quiet when they get up. We can sit down tomorrow and work out if there's anything we can do to help.'

'Thanks, papa,' Lance murmured.

When his parents left, Lance locked the door again. When he turned back, he saw Keith watching him.

'Hey, baby,' said Lance, sitting on the edge of the bed. 'You hungry or anything?'

Keith shook his head.

'I wish I knew how to help you,' Lance said, running his fingertips over Keith's cheek.

'Make me feel something,' Keith said.

'Sure, baby. I can do that.' Lance stood, kicked off his shoes, and slipped off his jacket and lay on his side next to Keith. Propped up on his elbow Lance looked down into Keith's troubled eyes.

Lance leant down and kissed him. When he turned his attention to Keith's throat, Keith topped his head back to give him more access. Lance slid his hand down between Keith's legs and slowly palmed him. A few minutes later, Lance realised Keith wasn't responding to his ministrations.

Keith pushed away from Lance and off the bed. Before Lance could stop him, Keith unlocked the door and ran out.

'Keith stop,' called Lance, chasing after him.

The rest of the family was shocked to see them fly down the stairs and outside, and rushed after them.

In the middle of the front yard, gold threads of quintessence swirled around Keith, and he collapsed to the ground. More gold threads swirled around him until a dome of gold covered him.

'Jaya, no,' Lance called when Jaya ran forward, and reached out to the dome, and cried out and drew his hand back, a cut on his palm.

Lance picked up Jaya and handed him to Maria, then plunged into the dome.

'No,' cried Jorge.

The threads attacked Lance, cutting his exposed skin, and shredding his clothes. It was like walking through fast flowing water. He fell to his knees a foot from Keith and had to crawl the rest of the way.

Lance sat next to Keith, and pulled him into his arms.

Keith's breathing came out in pained gasps, blood ran from his nose and mouth.

'Leave me,' Keith croaked.

'Never,' said Lance. 'I'm not living without you.'

'The kids.'

'They need both of us.'

Lance cupped Keith's face with his hand. 'Please...try.'

'Keef,' called Jaya. He'd run around to the other side of the dome, and Keith turned his face to him. 'Please, Keef, don't leave me.' Tears shimmered in his yellow eyes, then fell down his cheeks.

Keith's left hand fell to the grass, and his fingers dug into the ground.

'Come on, baby,' said Lance. 'Stay with me.' He ignored the cuts and the pain inflicted by the threads. Leaning down, he placed his check on Keith's. 'Use my strength to help you.'

Keith drew on Lance's strength to help him fight against the Carandian souls that inhabited him. From the outside of the dome the panicked voices faded into silence, and the boys were trapped in their own pain.

Maria put a frightened call through to Shiro. It seemed only a few minutes later all the lions surrounded them, and they watched the young men fight for their lives in a battle they couldn't help with.

A tremor shook the ground beneath their feet and they looked at one another in alarm. The tremor became stronger, and stronger, and they clung to each other to stop from falling down.

The grass beneath their feet became lush and green. The trees in the yard grew, and flowered before their eyes. Flowers of every colour grew in clumps in the grass, their fragrance filling the air.

While all this happened, the gold threads in the dome began to thin, then finally faded away to nothing, leaving Keith and Lance in the middle, huddled together unmoving.

Jorge and Adam were the first to reach them. Adam pulled Keith onto his lap, while Jorge held Lance. Jorge placed his fingers on Lance's throat. He searched for a pulse but couldn't find anything. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he looked over at Adam who broke down and cried, holding Keith closer.

'Are you sure they're...' began Pidge, but she couldn't finish the sentence. She turned to Hunk who held her as they both cried.

'Nooo,' sobbed Maria, as Jaya clung to her and cried.

Veronica held Molly. 'Da, Pa,' she said, pointing.

'You need to stay with me,' Veronica said, wiping away her own tears, as her younger siblings clung to her.

'We should take them inside,' Shiro said, as he unsuccessfully fought back his tears.

He tried to take Keith from Adam, but he wouldn't let him go.

'Adam, sweetheart,' said Shiro, gently cupping his cheek. 'We need to take him inside.'

Adam relinquished hold of Keith and they were taken upstairs and lay on the bed next to each other.