We're Going Home

9

WDYWFM ~The Neighbourhood

"Getting out." Keith's fingers were inches away from the book.

"By reading a book?" He asked. "You don't want to read that. It's boring."

"I think I do."

"Oh, but the plot is so much less romantic. And in it, the two main characters hate each other. Which creates just way to much drama." Shiro tried to convince him.

Keith shook his head. "If it matters this much then why would you make it so obvious?"

In every universe, every world, you will always find each other, and you will always save each other.

This time, they wouldn't.

Keith looked over to Lance who was clutching his head. But Keith had heard that too. So, he didn't have to be afraid of leaving because he might lose this, with this idiot who was terrified out of his mind right now. This time, it was his turn to save Lance's life.

In that moment of distraction, Shiro pounced, tackling Keith and causing him to roll away from the book. Keith wrestled with him to get up. Shiro had turned purple with sickly yellow eyes. "You'll never leave."

Lance still sat uselessly in the corner, having a breakdown, and Matt was cowering scared, which left this to Keith.

He stood and decked the Galra across the face. The Galra spat blood and then got up slowly. "You have the resilience of a Galra." He commented.

"Shut up!" He brought the Galra's face down on his knee. The Galra audibly growled and took a step back, holding his nose. With his free hand, he grabbed Keith by the neck and held him against the wall, dangling limply. Keith had no fight left in him, everything was so strange, so wrong, as if it was triggering something in him, like a memory.

Lance had noticed this, and while Keith was pinned to the wall, Lance was picking up a chair.

The Galra didn't turn around until it was too late. The hard sound of wood hitting skull sent the Galra, fake Shiro, flying towards the floor. Keith dropped and gasped for breath, feeling bruising forming around his neck.

He felt paralysed. Everything that he'd denied was coming back to him, and it was terrifying. It was so much easier to be a crazed suicidal mess. To have to be an outcast, and a paladin of Voltron, he wasn't ready for that.

But he had to get out. He couldn't just stay here and pretend that none of this was real and keep loving Lance. He had to face the real world.

Matt stared at Keith expectantly. "You gonna open it or what?" He prodded.

Keith stared at the book hesitantly, then switched his gaze to Lance who was panting with his arms at his sides, then Lance who was putting the chair the rest of the way down.

Lance looked over his eyes filled with terror. "I mean, I'm attractive, but at what cost?"

Lance focused on other Lance. "They cloned me!"

Keith's eyes widened. "What the actual hell?" He had to figure out which was the real Lance so he could take out the other, and do that all before other Shiro woke up. He took the prosthetic arm off the ground, which had fallen off the Galra when he assumed true form, and brandished it like a sword. He wished so badly that he had his bayard right now. Keith shivered at the thought of his bayard. The thoughts came to him so naturally, like they'd always been locked away there, even his combat training was slowly returning to him.

Lance looked at the clone, terrified. Was it real? He had no idea. He didn't trust his mind, even after finding that he was right. The room had taken any feel for reality that he had once had away.

Something about finding out all of this was real was crippling. Keith had been tricked. His mind had been completely convinced that none of this was, or ever could be, real. But it was, and now he knew that he was nothing more than a pawn in the Galra's bigger plan, and he would do nothing but bring harm to the others.

Keith racked his brain for a way to find the difference. He then recalled a moment in the past. It came easily, like he was just reaching into a closet and pulling out an old sweater. The memory was a bit musty in the same way, like it needed a good clean, but in dire circumstances was still usable, hopefully. "Great job with the chair, sharpshooter." He said with a smirk.

One Lance didn't respond, but the other lit up like a tired Christmas tree. Keith hit Galra Lance hard with the prosthetic, then grabbed the real Lance and signalled for Matt to follow, who was watching with amazement.

Right before he touched the book Galra Shiro reached up and grabbed his ankle. A coldness ran up his body and his mind went blank. The moment he finally touched the book, no memory as to why he was reaching for it, everything went black.