one shots

purple

Lance was a failure.

That's what he told himself, at least. It was a thought that echoed in his mind when he least expected it. It kept him up at night, clutching the sheets as he tossed and turned with nightmares of his teammates voices, belittling him to make him feel like nothing. Whenever the other paladins took to the air, lions soaring up in a rainbow of colors, Blue always left a few moments later. In battle, Lance would take the brunt of the Galra's attacks, not responding to Shiro, or Keith, or even Allura when they told him how idiotic the idea had been in the first place. He was a part of Voltron, the only weapon in the universe capable of defeating Zarkon. He was one of the members of a symbol viewed across the universe as one of hope, a reason for them to unite as one and fight back at the ones who'd held them prisoners for longer than they could remember.

It was impossible for him to believe that.

Lance was a teenager, a seventeen year old who'd happened to be put in a piloting team with someone who'd been studying the sky above them in secret. It was mere coincidence that, the night he wanted to take Hunk and Pidge out on the town, the ship with Shiro in it had come hurtling towards Earth with a light that attracted not only his eyes, but his heart as well. It was chance that when they found the Blue Lion, sitting tall and proud above Lance, that he would knock on the forcefield. He happened to be drawn to it because of the personality he was born with, one that he knew someone else in the Garrison could've had. Someone else could be sleeping in the bed he was right then, someone that he might never have met before. They could be here, helping the team in ways Lance felt he was incapable of doing. He sighed and turned away from the emptiness that laid in his field of vision, facing the bland grey of the castle walls. It looked like nothing but darkness in the dead of night. Just like his heart felt, empty.

Morning came without warning, as they called it. Lance didn't even know what morning in space was. All he knew was that somebody was awake, pacing just outside his door, meaning it must've been time to eat. He wasn't hungry. He rarely was, nowadays. The person's footsteps stopped when Lance rolled out of bed and onto the floor, landing with a thump. He hadn't meant to fall. Somehow, during his restless slumber, his legs had intertwined themselves with his sheets. As Lance tried to untangle them, an outstretched hand appeared in front of his face. Looking up, he saw Keith, smiling slightly with a major case of bed head.

"Somebody didn't get enough sleep." Lance chuckled as he tried to prop himself up off of the floor by himself.

It wasn't working. Everytime he tried, the sheets would slip underneath of his palm and he'd fall right back to the cold metallic floor once again. After about five attempts and many frustrated cursings from Lance, Keith had had enough. He do his hand without warning but Lance wasn't about to give up. He tried to pull his hand out of Keith's grasp but couldn't. His hold on him was as strong as concrete, solid and secure. Keith looked into Lance's eyes with gaze hard and serious. They were the eyes of a soldier, one who would never let his comrades down. It was amazing to Lance how much strength he held with just one look. They sat there for a moment, Lance still on the floor and Keith knelt down in front of him, until he pulled him up off of it and close to him, right into a hug.

"Sometimes we all need somebody to help us." Keith said as Lance wrapped his arms around him. It was a moment of weakness, Lance tried to tell himself, a pity that Keith couldn't control. There was no way that he had actually wanted to hug him but Lance took advantage of the situation, arms squeezing Keith tighter, just to make sure he wasn't a figment of his imagination in one of his dreams. "It's not something you can control. We're all here to help you up when you fall. Only if you let us."

"But you all have talents that I don't." Lance's voice was soft and broken. Keith could feel his weight shift into him as he held him up so he wouldn't fall. "There's another alien out there somewhere who would kill to be where I am right now. They'd do a better job flying Blue than I ever could."