The Secrets Within Ourselves (KLANCE)

24: Set Me Free

Song Of The Chapter:
What if I Told You - Jason Walker

Lance backed up, and he was shocked to her the low warning growl Keith was making.
"My deepest apologies ma'am, but that isn't happening."
The sheriff was obviously surprised Keith was refusing an order.
"Stand down, Slate."
"No."
The sheriff's eyes narrowed.
"Think about who you are siding with. Frost isn't a trusted ally."
Keith and Lance exchanged glances at each other.
Lance stepped forward and leaned in to whisper into Keith's ear.
"Back up into to me the moment I make the area hazy. Trust me."
Keith nodded, tensing beside Lance.
Lance had hoped his actions didn't put anyone on edge, but of course they quickly set off red flags. If they weren't already prepared to fire, the squad was now. The guns were raised, and every sense in Lance's body told him to run.
Run, before they fired.
But Lance stood firm, remembering the call he had with his father on the way home from visiting his mother.
"I was informed by the doctors that you probably will gain more resistance to fracturing after a day or two."
Maybe that meant Lance was more bulletproof than before?
He sure hoped so, because standing up to all these officers, he sorely needed the extra protection.

"Well Frost? What is it going to be? Will you surrender without a fight?"

A few long seconds passed, a period of tension on both ends.
Lance lifted his chin and gave the sheriff a hostile glare.
"I will not give up that easily."
Before the sheriff could respond, Lance gave Keith a signal in a low hiss.
"Now!"
Keith backed up, and Lance wrapped one arm around Keith, blowing out a gust of fog to haze the officer's views. There was uncertain shouts.
Gunshots.
Lance formed a shield out of ice and turned his body toward the group to protect Keith. Keith was pressed against Lance's chest, yelling out something Lance couldn't process. One guard came running up, firing at Lance's back. A series of high pitched clattering was heard as the bullets hit Lance, and he only felt his back chip slightly.
Thank god.
Lance ran forward, still holding onto Keith. He took a flying leapt into the air, forming an ice slide to get himself higher until he landed on the roof of a building.
Lance hunched over, breathless.
Keith was crouched, but was looking back at the angered policemen below.
"We can't stay here. Let's keep going."
Lance nodded, closing his eyes for a second.
He wanted rest.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea," Keith grumbled as they started off again, leaping from roof to roof.
"Yeah yeah. I felt like it was something I had to do."
Keith was quiet for a second. When he spoke again, it was gentle.
"Was it because of what Pidge said?"
A pause.
Lance leapt to the next roof before responding.
"Pidge said some truthful things. I feel bad about killing people, I really do. I think I might have wanted to come with you to show my sympathy for those two people. To make a statement of some sort? Maybe to prove I'm not as heartless as I often have to pretend to be? I don't know."
Keith didn't reply.
They moved in silence, making sure they weren't being followed.

Keith finally decided to break the silence when they reached the roof of their dorm. Somehow they hadn't been noticed.
How? They weren't sure.
Lance had let out a long exhale, leaning against the edge of the building. The sun was setting, the sky a canvas filled with a splashes of vibrant colors.
It felt as if the day had never happened.
Keith walked up, joining Lance to stare at the sunset.
"Thank you for protecting me back there."
Lance looked at Keith, and they locked gazes for a moment. Then Lance looked away, shy.
Keith's nearness was putting him on edge.
"You would have gotten shot if I didn't," Lance reasoned.
"And that's why I'm thanking you."
Lance nodded, blushing.
"How are you? You got shot in the back a few times."
Lance shrugged.
"Not bad. It didn't affect me too much."
"That's good. We should probably patch up the areas that did chip though."
"Maybe if I...."
Lance shifted back into his normal form. He put a hand gingerly against one of the areas he had been chipped, before removing it to look at it.
Just as he suspected, blood lightly coated his hand.
"I guess if I change back before I am pieced together again the wounds automatically turn into regular wounds."
Keith pondered that for a moment. "Well you should be careful not to transform back when a limb is missing."
Lance laughed, but it quickly died off.