Langst One-Shots

Paralyzed

"Goodnight, guys." Lance said, the first to leave the room. His farewell was met with a few "Goodnight!"'s and smiles. Content, he walked out of the dining room and down the hallway towards his room.

He yawned as the door slipped open, chuckling to himself quietly. Just ten minutes previous, he had assured everyone that he never got tired. He could just imagine the grins that would appear on Keith and Hunk's faces if they had heard him yawn. He momentarily sported a grin of his own as he walked into the dark room.

Upon turning on the light, Lance noticed that his bed was still messy from the morning, when they had to rush into a mission minutes after waking up. There was stuff strewn all around his room, but he knew for a fact that it was nowhere close to as bad as Pidge's. She had the messiest room on the castle - but it didn't seem to bother her.

Lance pulled off his jacket and shirt, flinging them to the floor. He would take care of it in the morning - all that mattered now was getting to sleep. He tugged on a simple black tank top and sweatpants, taking note of the alien toothpaste stain by the neckline of the shirt. He really did need to do some laundry - he would talk to Shiro about it in the morning.

Finally, when he was all ready, he slipped into bed and clapped his hands twice, turning off the sophisticated alien lights. Despite his exhaustion, it took what felt like hours for him to drift off to sleep, and even then, it took a lot of mental and physical relaxation.

Lance shivered slightly in his sleep, unaware of the events the morning had in store.

°•°

Lance's eyes flittered open, though he wouldn't have been able to tell from the difference in light. It was pitch black in his room, one of the downsides in living in space. He had no way to know whether or not it was morning just from light levels.

He clapped his hands twice - or, he tried to, at least. He couldn't get his hands or arms to move. Gingerly, he tried moving his muscles - any of them - in hope that it would trigger something and he'd be able to move again. No such luck.

He tried then to take a deep breath, but found he couldn't. This mixed with the terror of not being able to move was enough to send Lance into a panicky haze. He tried to call out for help, but couldn't move his mouth.

And when he thought that it couldn't get any worse, he felt the eyes staring at him. He couldn't tell where they were, but he was sure - as in, bet-his-life-on-it sure - that there was someone, or something watching him. Even if he could have, he wouldn't have dared to move.

Lance squeezes his eyes shut as a wave of nausea rolled over him. Tears were streaming down his face, but he couldn't move his hands to wipe them away. His heart was pounding in his chest, signaling to him that he was alive, but for how long? How soon would that thing in the shadows pounce on him, rip his helpless body apart? Would he be able to scream if that happened? Would he be able to call for help?

Was there any help? What if he wasn't on the ship anymore? What if he had been abducted by the Galra, and they had done this to him to torture him?

Shit, were they watching him right now?!

Lance opened his eyes again and did his best to scan the room. He gained no new information - other than the fact that someone was walking outside the door.

"Lance?" They called. "You're going to be late for training! Are you awake?" Relief flooded Lance's senses as he heard Keith's voice. The tears still streamed down his face, but he felt safer.

Lance tried in vain to say something, but he couldn't get his vocal cords to work. Thankfully, was feeling pins and needles in his right arm, but he still couldn't move it.

"Look, I'm coming in. If you're awake, make sure you're decent." After a moment, the door swished open, revealing Keith already in his armor, sans helmet.

"Help." Lance choked out after a moment. Feeling was slowly returning to him, and he could twitch his muscles, but, for the most part, he couldn't move. Keith's eyes widened as he saw Lance, petrified on his bed. He ran over to him, hesitating as he reached him.

"What do you want?" Keith asked. "How can I help you?" Lance, too, hesitated. He didn't think he would ever be in this situation, and thus had no preparation.

"Hug." Lance said after a moment. Keith wrapped him in an awkward embrace, wiping away his tears as they dripped down his armor.

"What happened?" He asked softly, with a gentleness Lance didn't expect.

"Couldn't move." He said after a moment. His arms were still disobeying him, but his voice was getting easier to use, and he could finally breathe.

"I think I know what happened. You'll be okay, just focus on me." Keith pulled away from Lance and propped him up on the wall. "Did you think anyone else was in the room with you?" Lance nodded. How did he know this?

"Okay. Lance, I want you to tell me how many people are in this room."

"T-two."

"Good. You're safe, okay?" Keith pulled Lance back into the embrace, this time much less awkward. Lance managed to return the hug, as almost all of the feeling had returned to his arms.

"Do I have to do training today?" Lance asked, his voice scratchy with sleep. Keith shrugged.

"I can ask Shiro, but honestly, I think it should be up to you. If you don't feel up to it, you shouldn't have to." Keith helped Lance onto his feet, catching him as he almost fell.

"Thanks." Lance said. Whether he was expressing gratitude for the wisdom of the help, he didn't know. But he wanted Keith to know he appreciated it.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome."

Look up REM Paralysis or sleep paralysis if you want to know more about what happened to Lance! I didn't describe it completely accurately, but we were talking about this in STEM and I had the idea for the one-shot.