Don't Ask About My Demons

From Bad to Worse

Keith stood in his bathroom, gazing at his reflection. He grimaced, growling lowly before spinning around to claw at the wall in frustration and rage toward none other than himself. A series of ugly, jagged slashes marked the wall, recording the path in which his claws raked mercilessly. "Stupid!" He punched the wall. "Idiot!" He slammed his fist into the wall. "WHY COULDN'T I JUST SAY YES?" He practically roared, his heart clawing up his insides as he clawed up the wall. He jumped when he heard a knock at the door.

"Keith? You okay?"

"Shiro?" He quickly wiped his eyes and turned away as Shiro stepped into the bathroom.

"Hey..." Shiro's voice was quiet and soothing. "Lance said--"

"--I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay..."

Keith stared at his pitiful reflection in the mirror. "Shiro?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I messed up..."

"How?"

"Lance..."

Shiro put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Let's go sit down," he said gently.

Keith nodded, trying to calm himself down as he followed Shiro into his room to sit down.

"What happened?"

"Lance... proposed..."

"Marriage?"

"Well... Yeah... and I didn't give him a straight answer."

"What did you do?"

"I ran away."

Shiro's eyes widened in understanding. "Okay..." His mind went to Allura and what he would do in Lance's shoes. "Well..." He desperately searched his thoughts for something comforting to say.

"It shouldn't matter though," Keith continued. "I think I just have some walls up after... everything... I can't love anyone without losing them...First my mom... Then my dad... Then you... Then..." he breathed. "Then Lance..."

"And out of those four, how many of us are here with you... for you?"

Keith looked up at him.

"Keith, we may not always be there by your side, but we would never leave you. And I know for a fact that Lance would stay until the bitter end." He smiled warmly. "I know you'll make the right decision, Keith." He stood up

"Are you going somewhere?" Keith asked.

"Yeah... there's just some odd activity that I need to check out."

"What!" Keith stood up. "Why doesn't the rest of the team know about this?"

"We don't know if it's anything to be concerned about. We can't afford to rush into an unnecessary battle. I'll go and see what's going on."

"Shiro, no offense but that's a stupid idea."

"I'll be back before I'm missed."

"I seriously doubt that."

Shiro put his hand on his shoulder. "I doubt it's anything big, Keith. It's just unnecessary to bring all of Voltron for something so small... Allura doesn't want everyone jumping the gun if it's nothing."

Keith considered his words. "Fine..." He said finally.

Shiro smiled. "I promise I won't take long."

Keith watched Shiro leave before standing up and leaving the room. He walked down the corridor before knocking on Pidge's door.

Pidge answered, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah? What do you want? I was sleep--"

"I want you to help me follow Shiro. He's going on a secret solo mission and I want to make sure he's okay."

Pidge blinked, wide awake now. "Let's go!"
___________________________

The green lion, invisible to the eye, trailed behind the black lion carefully. Keith couldn't help but wonder if his worries of losing Shiro again were logical. Maybe everything really was okay and he was being paranoid. That was a possibility... he stared at the lion flying ahead of them.

"You alright, Keith?"

"I'm fine... it's just... complicated."

"Um... Okay..."

Keith felt the awkwardness in the silence. Pidge had difficulty socializing with other people just like he did. He knew that she felt more comfortable with a machine than a person... so maybe she would understand.

"Are you... worried?"

"Yeah."

"About Shiro?"

He took a breath before he continued. "...About everyone."

"Oh..." Pidge fought for words to say. "I worry too. I'm afraid I'll lose you guys... or I'll lose Matt again... It terrifies me..."

Keith looked to Pidge in surprise. She understood. She felt the same way. "Yeah..."

Pidge looked as though she was preparing to say more before she stopped Green. "That's odd..."

Keith looked to the enemy's fighter ships. "Why are they in a different formation? They never fight like that..."

"It's like the ancient romans' battle strategy!"

"What?"

"Yeah, One in front of the other... only they have all three dimensions at their disposal. When one goes down, the next immediately takes their place... Its ingenious, really... their defense is also their offense..."

"Later, Pidge! They're after Shiro!"

Pidge looked to the ships zooming to meet the black lion before she turned to focus on the controls. "Hang on!"

Keith held the back of Pidge's chair in a death grip as she rocketed forward, shield ready. He braced himself for impact as Pidge, still invisible barreled into the ranks of the Galra soldiers.

Pidge whirled around, not giving the galra soldiers enough time to regroup before she dropped the shield and shot at them.

"Pidge! What are you doing here?" Shiro demanded.

"We came to help."

"We?"

"Keith's with me."

"I couldn't let you go alone, Shiro."

"Thanks, you made a good call, but--" he groaned as he was hit by a wave of attacks from the galra. A bright purple light flashed. "....Just don't make a habit of-- wait... they stopped..." Shiro scanned the area, but all enemy attacks ceased.

Pidge And Keith paused, looking around as well.

"Hello, paladins!"

Keith and Pidge exchanged confused glances while Shiro only said one word. "Lotor..."