Voltron One Shots

Claustrophobic

Prompt: Can you do Lance having a panic attack because of Claustrophobia, and being comforted by Keith?

A/N: I'm really claustrophobic so this one was kinda hard for me to write because it kept freaking me out to think about where they were aslkdjalskjdals.

Trigger warnings: clastrophobia, panic attack

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"Dammit!" Keith exclaimed, pounding his fist against the solid wall of fallen rocks in front of him. "I think we're stuck" he sighed and backed away, looking for some weakness in the wall. "The avalanche must've been caused by the blast earlier" Keith continued, not noticing that Lance wasn't responding to anything he was saying. Keith kicked at the base of the pile of rocks, but nothing budged. "We might just have to hang out here until the others finish their mission"

"U- Uh-huh" Lance was sat in the middle of the room, his head down. He was doing everything he could not to freak out. The two of them had been chasing a rogue Galra sniper around a mountain. They followed him into a cave, but then quickly realized that the alien wasn't in there. It had been a trap. The next thing they knew there was a loud explosion and rocks came tumbling down, sealing the exit of the cave.

"I wonder if it was his plan to separate us from the others" Keith mused as he paced back and forth. He turned and marched to the backside of the cave. It wasn't really a cave, more of an indent in the mountain side. There was no tunnel in the back, the room was barely big enough for Keith to stand up. He had to duck when he walked from the front to the back of the room. Keith circled the room, walking the perimeter of it. "Yeah, we're definitely trapped in here" he sighed and sat down on the floor next to Lance. "Have you tried your headset—" Keith cut off abruptly when he heard the whimpers from Lance. He was rocking back and forth with his head between his knees. "Lance!? What's wrong? What's happening? Are you hurt?" Lance inhaled deeply and then cried out, like he wasn't get enough air.

"Can't- Breathe—" Lance gasped, tugging on the collar of his armor. Keith started at him in shock.

"Wh- A- Are you hurt? Did you get hit?" Keith couldn't move. He was paralyzed in fear.

"N- No. I C-Can't breathe" Lance clumsily tried to get his helmet off, but his hands were shaking too much. His fingers fumbled over the latch. "H- Help" he gasped. Keith's arms shot forward without another thought and he pulled Lance's helmet off. Lance sucked in a deep breath. He was still panting like he couldn't breathe.

"Lance what's happening?" Keith asked in confusion. He didn't appear to be hurt, so why couldn't he breathe?

"P- Panic attack" Lance said, still rocking back and forth, his arms wrapped around his torso protectively. "Claustrophobic. I can't- I can't- I can't- breathe!" Keith's hands instinctively fell to Lance's shoulders, holding him as the boy struggled for breath.

"Oh god" Keith said, panicking. "Okay, um, I don't- I don't know what to do. Fuck I don't know what to do! Lance, what do you want me to do" Lance shook his head.

"I just- I need to—" Lance pulled desperately on the armor covering his chest. "Get it off, please" Lance whimpered. Keith set to work undoing the snaps to peel Lance's armor off. He tossed it to the side, and Lance had a brief moment of freedom before the panic set in again. "I don't know what to do" Lance cried, a sob stuck in his throat.

"Lance, hold still. I'll get us out of here" Keith jumped up and frantically began clawing at the wall of rocks, searching for another way out. He worked tirelessly for several minutes, digging his fingers into the crevices between the rocks. They wouldn't budge. The whole time, Lance was quietly crying in the middle of the room, squeezing his chest like he was trying to hold himself together. Keith discarded his armor, so he could cool down and then went back to work. He didn't stop until Lance was gasping so hard for breath the Keith was worried that he was going to pass out.

"K- Keith" Lance said, tears continuing to pour down his face. Lance had opened his eyes to see what Keith was doing, and quickly realized that it was a mistake. He glanced all around him in panic, at the close walls, and then up at the ceiling, which seemed to be getting lower with each passing second. Lance felt like he was being suffocated. There wasn't enough air. "Kei—" He cut off, not having enough oxygen to even finish the word. Keith immediately stopped digging and rushed to Lance's side.

"What can I do?" Lance slumped forward, and Keith caught him helplessly. Lance cried into Keith's chest. Keith had to do something fast. If Lance kept panicking he was going to pass out or worse. Keith needed to get him to calm down. "Lance, I need you to breathe. Can you do that?" Lance shook his head. "Yes, you can, it's easy. Watch" Keith took a slow deep breath and then blew it out. "Come on, I'll do it with you. In," he breathed in. Lance attempted to follow his breaths. "And out" he repeated this a few times until Lance's breathing was calmed down a bit.

"I hate this" Lance cried. Keith began rubbing Lance's back to try and calm him down.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Lance. I tried everything" Lance tightened his grip on Keith's undershirt. "Shh... you're okay" Keith said, weakly. "You're going to be okay" Keith continued to whisper to Lance that everything was going to be okay for several minutes, until Lance's breathing evened out. He had been keeping his eyes closed, and finally calmed down. Keith stared down at Lance's serene face and sighed helplessly. He hadn't even known Lance was claustrophobic until that day. Lance had never mentioned it before. If being in confined spaces freaked him out that much, Keith figured he would've said something at some point about it.

But there was no point in worrying about it now. It was too late for that.

It wasn't until Lance had fallen asleep on Keith's chest that the others finally came for them, ending what was certainly one of the worst days of Lance's life.