Marked For Death | klangst

Eight.

As Allura and Hunk left to retrieve the crystals, Pidge, Shiro, and Coran scrambled about the castle, rumaging through boxes of spare mechanical parts and cuppards chocked full with all sorts of engineered items. Pidge and Coran worked relentlessly, assembling every single part very carefully and deliberately. They worked through the night, only stopping to use the restroom and to get a snack.

Meanwhile, Shiro visited Keith. Contrary to what the Altean princess had said about his recovery time, the Red Paladin was still asleep and healing after three hours. Minor worry had started to formulate in the back of Shiro's mind before he shook off the feeling. Keith was strong. He was fine.

Shiro left to check on the progress of Pidge and Coran, his movements hesitant with concern. As soon as the doors to the med-bay slid shut, the chamber containing Keith opened, and the pilot of the Red Lion stumbled forward, his eyes unfocused and confused.

"Lance!" he called out, his hands scrambling to find something that wasn't there. "LANCE!" he screamed into the air, his knees collapsing under the weight of losing his friend. He placed his head in his hands, allowing the angry tears in his eyes to flow onto his cheeks. "It had to have been a dream... It couldn't be true... He isn't gone... He can't be..." he whimpered to himself, shaky breaths coursing through his body.

Blind with distress, he shakily stood, his legs wobbling beneath him. To steady himself, he grabbed the nearest thing he could reach: the healing pods' control panel. His fingers slammed down on a series of buttons, causing lights to flash about the room. A warning siren sounded over the intercoms, but Keith was too distracted to notice. He just pressed two fingers to his temple in frustration, his other hand starting to clench. The skin around his knuckles were turning white with anger and confusion, yet he still didn't notice. The only thing he was thinking about was the last thing he remembered seeing: Lance, walking away from him and him not being able to follow.

"No!" he yelled in greivance again, staggering towards the doors to leave the room. In his triblation, he tripped over his own boots and fell to the floor. But he screamed out in sudden pain. In attempt to cushion his fall, he had stretched his arms out in front of him, but his weight landed solely on his right wrist -- an event he did not anticipate.

Keith groaned in agony -- half in absolute torture from his freshly fractured wrist, half in shame from not being able to bring Lance back. He didn't have the strength to raise himself up from the floor. He didn't have the strength to call for help. He didn't have the strength to do anything. Instead, he simply laid there, cradling his hand and praying that Lance was okay, wherever he was.

***

"No, Coran. I'm pretty sure that goes there," Pidge was saying, sweat gathering on her brow. "If it goes anywhere else, we risk the device imploding when the crystals are activated."

Coran's face went white. "Of course! I knew that!" he tried to defend himself, but the Green Paladin was nowhere close to believing him.

As Pidge started to connect some wires together, Shiro entered the lab, his shoulders tense with apprehension. She instantly took notice. "Shiro?" she asked, her voice panicked. "What's wrong?"

"It's Keith..." the Black Paladin trailed off, his Galra prosthetic hand nervously tapping on his leg.

Coran looked up. "What's wrong with Keith?"

"He--" Shiro started to say but was interrupted by an alarm. The three looked at each other before running out the lab doors and towards the main deck.

As they were running, Coran suddenly stopped. "Hold on a tick..." he said, his eyebrows furrowing in thought.

"What is it?" Shiro asked, intrigued but impatient.

"It's my job to know eveything there is to know about the Castle of Lions, from every weapon it possesses to every alarm that sounds. We're not under any fire, nor is there another passenger loading... No, this is the alarm that warns of the healing pod ejections!" Coran recalled, snapping his fingers together.

Shiro's eyes widened. "Keith," he breathed and ran towards the medical wing. Pidge and Coran followed close behind, all of their breaths syncing together and forming a single gasp.

The doors slid open once again. The room was lit only by the flashing red light about the walls. As Coran rushed to the control panel to cancel the ejection system, Shiro searched for Keith. He wasn't in the pod he was in mere minutes ago.

"Keith?" Pidge asked from behind him, her eyes wide with worry and fright. Shiro unwillingly followed her gaze to Keith's body sprawled out on the floor at the far side of the room.

"Keith!" the two Paladin's raced to their teammate. Shiro knelt down beside him and urged him to talk. "C'mon, Keith, I know you can hear me. Please answer. Let us know that you're alright."

The Red Paladin groaned again, his broken wrist still in his grasp. He didn't know, but it was swollen and tinged with different shades of blue, purple, and hints of a sickly yellow. But Pidge noticed it. "Shiro," she said to gain his attention. "His wrist... I think it's broken."

With despairing eyes, Shiro glanced at Keith's wrist. Sure enough, it was bruised all around and twice it's normal size. He breathed a shaky sigh before weaving his arm across Keith's back in support. "C'mon, buddy. Let's get out of here." he said, helping the Red Paladin stand.

But Keith shook his head. "Not... going anywhere--" he coughed "--without... Lance," he managed to get out, his head hanging heavy on his chest.

Shiro and Pidge exchanged a bewildered look. "Keith, Lance is going to be alright," Shiro promised, starting to walk towards the doors.

Keith clenched his good hand. "So where is he?" he asked, his voice groggy with fuzziness yet firm and spiteful.

"Shiro's gonna take you to him, right?" Pidge jumped in, her eyes tormented from lying.

"Precisely," Shiro answered, continuing the lie. He physically felt the burden of dishonesty settle on his shoulders, his consciousness.

Keith swallowed a lump of emotions. "S'he's okay? He's back here...with us?" he asked, his slurred speech pure concern.

Shiro bit his lip, not wanting to lie again, but he knew it was the only way to get help Keith. In the end, he nodded slowly, guiltily. "Lance is just waiting in the lounge, eating some space goop... He's back home, Keith. He's back with us."

Keith had just enough time to smile in relief before his eyes closed, and he slipped into a comatose state. And Shiro had just enough time to realize that the relationship between red and blue was more complex than either of them were letting on.