Don't Ask, I'll Never Tell

Race Against Time (Part 1)

"Keith! Where do you think you're going!" Shiro called after him as he sprinted down the hall.

As Keith rounded the corner, he collided with someone and fell back against the floor. "Lance!" He looked up expectantly then frowned.

"Sorry, it's just me." The Other Keith straightened up and helped Keith to his feet.

"I need to get to the hangar before Lance--" Keith tried to run off again only to be held back by the Other Keith. "Let go of me!"

"He already left."

Keith shook his head vigorously. "No! No! He can't! This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

The Other Keith watched him with sympathetic eyes. "He was always a hero, Keith."

"No, he IS a hero! He's not dead yet and he won't die if I have anything to do with it!" Keith snapped. "I have to go after him!"

"No!" He tightened his grip around Keith's arm. "Voltron cannot afford to lose TWO Paladins tonight."

Keith clawed at his hand in his attempt to wriggle from his iron grip. "If you would just let me--!"

"--I'll go after him."

Keith paused. "No, I can't ask you to do that."

The Other Keith released him. "You can. I'm expendable. I'm a copy, after all. I'm not meant to exist. But if I die today, I want to die on my own terms."

"You're not--"

"--I AM a copy, Keith! Don't you understand? I don't know how it feels to have earth under my feet or have a home to call my own. I have all of these memories of things I've never experienced but wish I had! I miss people I've never met and I cry over losses I've never experienced. More than anything, I want to BE you... or at least be a person of my own." His gaze dropped to the floor. "But I know that I never will."

"You're right," Keith said. "You're not me."

The Other Keith nodded solemnly.

"You're a much better person than I could ever hope to be."

His eyes darted back to Keith's before widening in surprise. The rims of his eyelids were still wet from the start of tears but he quickly wiped them away.

Keith held his hand out to him with a reassuring smile. The Other Keith took it in disbelief and they clapped their hands together tightly.

"I'll make Voltron proud." The Other Keith said with determination.

"I know."

"And Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"If I don't make it back," He smiled with an inner fire. "Give Zarkon hell for me."

Keith returned the smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Their handshake broke and they stood before one another. However, this time, they were no longer enemies pitted to destroy one another. They were simply two individuals with two separate destinies that just so happened to intertwine.

"I'll bring him back." The Other Keith vowed. He turned to run but now it was Keith's turn to stop him.

"Take Red. She's faster. I'll try to figure out the controls to get a wormhole ready."

The Other Keith nodded and ran in the direction of the hangar. Meanwhile, Keith doubled back to the control room.
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Keith's eyes scanned the controls. He never learned Altean and he supposed that it was too late to do it now. He thought back to the times he saw Allura set up wormholes and tried to follow that.

"Okay... um... triangle, circular thing, square, quiznak! That's not right." His fingers flew over the controls in growing anxiety. "Come on... come on! WORK YOU INFERNAL CONTRAPTION!" He slammed his fist against the board. Another page popped up. "Huh, maybe this..." He tampered with a series of shapes on the screen. He was instantly shrouded in darkness apart from the gentle blue tinted glow of the control panel. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" He tried again. The lights flickered on. He gave up and made a dash for the hangar where the escape pods were kept.
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"Allura!" Keith tripped over his own feet in his rush to meet her.

Allura looked up from the old women that she was helping into escape pod number 4. "Keith, I thought you were with the others."

"I need... your help." He panted. "Lance... he's trying to remove the bomb by himself."

Allura's eyes widened. "Coran!"

Coran was at her side in an instant. "You called?"

"Help the rest of the refugees into the escape pods. I have something I need to do."

"Of course, Princess." He turned to the refugees. "Come along, everyone! I need a single file line. No pushing!"

Allura and Keith ran back to the control room. Each step sent a hollow echo through empty corridors. As they drew closer to the control room, Keith grew more certain that his heart would leap out of his chest at any moment.

"You should have come to me immediately!" Allura said. Her fingers flew over the controls feverishly to make up for lost time. Keith tried to follow her movements with his eyes. He dared not blink for fear of missing just one keystroke.

"Okay," she said a moment later. "It's done."

They watched the stars expectantly.

"Where is it?" Keith asked.

"I don't understand. That should have worked."

"The hard drive. We have to remove the hard drive!"