Langst One-Shots

Just Go (Part One)

I've decided to stop numbering these things. It makes it very confusing for me when I do two-parters bc I have to do them right next to each other. I'll leave the numbers on the old ones but the new ones will just have the title.

Keith was not expecting this. He expected to find some sort of major rebellion leader. He expected to find an alien that would thank him and add to the Voltron alliance.

He didn't expect to see Lance, strapped to a table covered in his own blood. A lot of it was dried, old. But too much of it was still wet, still coming from his battered body. The red paladin didn't even want to know what Lance had gone through in the year and a half since he'd been captured. Keith remembered the night so well, too...

The paladins had just saved the planet Elcar from galra spies, and they had been invited to the royal castle for a ball in their honor. Lance and Keith got to know many of the children from the royal family and the surrounding cities. For some reason, Lance had gotten along with them so well. He made jokes, played silly games and interacted with the kids with a dedication that Keith would never know.

When he had pulled Lance aside to ask about it, he said that they reminded him of his siblings. He wasn't the oldest sibling, but he definitely had some younger brothers and sisters that he played with whenever he could. Keith felt a pain in his heart when he had said that, as the red paladin had never had a family. Not a big one, anyway. Keith was an orphan, had been for almost as long as he could remember.

He couldn't even imagine how a big family like that would be like. Would everyone fight? Would they laugh and joke? He just didn't understand. But Lance sympathized with him. He couldn't understand, but he didn't dismiss Keith's pain and confusion.

Later that night, all of the kids had gone out to watch the stars rise. Some sort of tradition - afterwards, they were all supposed to go to bed so that their parents could have some peace and quiet.

They were supposed to watch the stars and go to bed. That's what the plan was - but the Galra had a different plan.

Lance, Keith, Hunk, Pidge and Shiro spun around as the children began to scream. The tiny aliens all started to run towards the castle, but they were too slow. The galra sentries were on top of them in seconds - but all five paladins were there just as quickly.

They fought off sentries, ran groups of children back to the castle or to terrified parents. They did their job carefully - if they messed up at all, a child could be killed.

It was Lance who ended up taking the shot to the shoulder, then to the back. He had grabbed a small child, one of the last ones on the "battlefield" right as a sentry shot at it. The others tried to run over and take out the sentry before it got a shot out, but they just hadn't been fast enough. Lance knew that the only way to save the child was to put himself in the way of the beam. He would get shot even if he just pushed the child out of the way (the child was so short that even aiming for its legs would end in injury in a more vital place, like his stomach.)

Keith let out a screech of horror as Lance fell to the ground. A small group of sentries dragged him off, despite the best efforts of his teammates to get him back. Keith fought and fought every day since that day, never forgetting the numb feeling he had gotten from watching Lance get dragged away.

That was how he felt now, seeing his lost teammate in such bad condition in front of him. He felt horrible, like nothing mattered. Like nothing existed except for him and Lance, two paladins who had gone down two different and scarring paths. Keith was scarred emotionally from all the things he'd seen, all the battles he'd nearly lost without Lance. Lance, on the other hand, was scarred probably physically and mentally.

There was no telling what Lance was feeling. Keith couldn't begin to understand what Lance had gone through. Had he fought against them? Submitted to them? Ignored them? Had he broken down? Did he miss his team? Oh, God, did he remember his team?!

Keith didn't know what to do, what to say. So he said nothing, and simply unstrapped his friend from the table. Lance groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"K-Keith?" He muttered. His eyes widened, and he groggily tried to push himself up. He gasped in pain as his palms hit the table, and again as he started to move. He quickly slumped back down. "Y-you're here."

"Yeah, I am." Keith confirmed, shushing him as he slung him over his shoulder. He still couldn't believe that he had found him, after all this time spent searching, he had found him. He had actually found him.

"S-stop! Keith, please just leave, now!" What? Leave?! Why would he do that?

"Lance, I don't-"

"Keith, just go! Leave me here, please! If they find you..." Lance gulped, pushing himself away from Keith's careful hold. "This is a trap, Keith. If they find you here, they'll kill you. He wants Votlron. He wants all of you to die! I'm..." Lance gasped in pain as Keith set him on the floor. "I'm the bait."

"Lance, we're going to get you out of here and I don't care if I die trying! I can't leave you here - I won't leave you here." Keith tried to be soft, because every time he said a word, it looked like Lance was being stabbed.

"Keith, they probably already know you're here. Just go!" Lance grabbed Keith's hand and put some of his blood on it. "This can be proof that you found me. Allura might even be able to track me with it. Just go!"

"I... I can't..." Keith was starting to tear up. He couldn't leave, not after all this time spent searching. He quickly changed his mind as footsteps echoed down the hall. "You'd better not die. If you die, I'll kill you myself." Lance chuckled at that - it felt good to make him laugh.

"Stay safe, mullet. I..." Lance looked pained for a moment. Keith stood up and started to run. Lance took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"¡Te amo!"