Avatar Voltron AU book one: the revolution

Chapter six: reconections

"Keith!" Lance shouted, "stop!" He raced after the fire bender. Hunk pelted after both of his friends, worry gripping his insides. Keith didn't slow down until he got to the door to his apartment. It seemed to be the source of the dreading feeling that felt like it was growing and eating him from the inside out. Lance caught up with Keith, panting trying to get air back into his lungs. It was even worse for hunk, who was clutching his chest and gasping for breath.
"What's wrong with you?" Lance grabbed Keith by his shoulders, "you don't just run off like that. Not with everything that's going on right now."
Keith shook Lance off and put the key in the door. "Lance, I think something's wrong with Shiro. I don't know what it is, but I'm almost certain of it."
"Keith..." lance trailed away. a vase that had been sitting on a side table in the living room laid shattered on the ground. There was a hole in the wall in the hallway leading to Shiro and Keith's rooms.
"Okay..." hunk said uneasily. Keith stood wide-eyed in the doorway. The first thing he thought to do, he did. He ran down the hallway in a mad dash. His footsteps pounded on the hard floor as he reached for the door handle, he stopped, and knocked twice in case Shiro was conscious and okay.
Shiro had his face pressed into his pillow; he was a lump curled up under the blankets on his bed. He heard knocking at his door and froze. Not Keith... not now... not when he was like this.
"Yes..." he said in a drained voice.
The door swung open and Keith walked in. He walked over to Shiro and sat on the bed. "Hey, you okay? I saw the broken vase and the hole in the wall. Did...did someone brake in or something?" Shiro emerged from his nest of blankets, His eyes were red and puffy.
"N-no... that was me..." he said miserably. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you like that..."
"Well...what happened?" Keith asked. "If something's wrong, you know you can talk to me." He reminded him.
"Keith... I lost... they took all of them..." fresh tears started to fall from Shiro's eyes. "When I got home I lost it... I failed them.."
Keith pulled Shiro into a hug, rubbing his back. "You didn't fail. We will get them back. I'm sure Hunk and Lance would be willing to help." He said. "Also, we won the match tonight."
Shiro shook his head, "Keith you can't get involved in this. If anything happened to you or the others... I'd never forgive myself." He held his brother closer, "I'm proud of how far you've come, but please... let me do this on my own."
Keith sighed and shook his head. "I can't let you do this alone. At least let me help you. If you were to get hurt again, I-I would loose it. I have to help."
"Keith, Amon hasn't killed anyone. He only takes their bending." Shiro pointed out, he winced remembering the resent loss. "He's probably already taken it from my unit..." he looked Keith in the eyes. "If anything happens to me... if they do..." he couldn't bring himself to say it. "I want you to stay with Lance and Hunk. Don't look for me, don't get involved."
"Are you crazy? I don't care what you say, if you get taken, I'm coming to find you, no matter what. I would rather my bending get taken away than have anything happen to you." Keith said in an almost upset tone.
"Please Keith." Shiro pleaded. "I don't want you to get involved. This isn't your job it's mine. Please just stay out of it."
"No Shiro, I can't promise that. I'm sorry, but I won't do that." Keith said. "If you get in trouble, I will go after you."
Shiro sighed, "why?" He asked, "why are you so protective of me? I'm the older brother. I should be protecting you."
"Because you're my only family member and you were already hurt before. I can't let it happen again." Keith explained.
Shiro gripped the blankets gritting his teeth in repressed anger. "Not the only one living..." he muttered.
"Shiro, I can't bear to see you in another hospital bed or wheelchair!" Keith said and hugged him tighter.
Shiro hugged his brother tightly. "I know... I won't let it happen again... I promise..." he rubbed Keith's back. "I won't leave you alone..."
"And, what did you mean by not the only living one?" Keith asked and looked at him.
Shiro froze... no... he had actually said that. "Keith... I..." He growled. "She... she's not worth it. She left us..."
"She? Who's she? Shiro, I should know. Tell me." Keith pleaded and let go of Shiro so he could look at his brother.
"Your mom... Keith... the fire bender dad married after... after..." Shiro couldn't finish, "I don't have many memories of her... I was really young when she was still around. "She left after you were born. I didn't understand at the time... but... she abandoned us. She left dad and she left you..."
Keith's eyes widened in shock. "You...you and dad told me she died...why did you lie to me?" He asked in a slightly angered tone.
"Keith... I... we thought she was dead..." shiro pulled away, slightly scared by Keith's tone. "Dad... He was heartbroken... I didn't want you wasting time looking for someone who just left our family. She never even said goodbye."
"Where is she?" Keith asked. "If she's alive, I should see her. Even if its been eighteen years, I deserve to see my mother."
Shiro sighed, "You're right... I can't say exactly where but..." he got off the bed and went to his dresser. There was a carved out nook in the back of it with many small things hidden inside. He pulled out an old picture from a house catalog.
"Before she left she wanted us to move." He handed the clipping to Keith. It was a picture of an apartment building in the business district of republic city.
Keith looked over the clipping. "I know where this is.." He murmured and looked up at Shiro. "So she is still alive?" He asked. "What was she like before she dissapeared?" He didn't mention going to the apartment later that night to see if his mom was there.
"She was... well... it seemed like she really loved dad..." shiro said, "But I don't know... Keith... it was so long ago. If she wanted to be with us why hasn't she returned? She wasn't at dad's funeral. She knew me and she didn't show up when I was injured." He shook his head. "I'm just trying to ask you to be careful."
"Maybe she had to leave...maybe it was to keep us safe or something. There has to be a reason for her leaving.." Keith sighed. "I'm going to this address tonight. The others will probably be asleep soon if they aren't already."
"I'm coming with you." Shiro said getting up from the bed. He picked his prosthetic arm of his side table and reattached it.
"Shiro...I should do this on my own. I'll be safe. I won't let anyone hurt me." Keith said and looked down. "This is something I need to do alone."
"Keith... I..." Shiro bit his bottom lip. "I'm worried about the equalists... they're getting bolder... if they took you..."
"If they try, I'll burn them alive before they get me. I won't get captured that easily and I if I did, I wouldn't want you to get caught too." Keith sighed.
"Fine..." shiro relented, "go... just please... be careful..." he hugged Keith tightly.
Keith hugged Shiro back. "I'll be careful Shiro. I should head out, it'll be a pretty long walk to that place."
Shiro nodded. "I know you can take care of yourself... but... I want you to take this just Incase." He handed Keith a small loaded hand gun. "Incase those chi blockers do get to you." Keith hesitantly took the gun and nodded.
"I should be back either later tonight or tomorrow morning." He told his brother and turned to the door. "I will make it back."
Shiro nodded. He still didn't like it. But he knew there was no point in arguing with Keith.