I'm Yours And You're Mine

Part 1

A/N: The bold text in parentheses is me dropping in little commentary

"So we're getting harbulary batteries, right," Lance spoke into the comms. He and Keith were covering Hunk, keeping the Galra from intervening with the mission. They stood in front of a metal door at the end of a hallway.

"Well, technically I am getting the harbulary batteries, and you're standing guard." Hunk replied, "Pidge I'm gonna need you to open th-"

"Got it," Pidge said.

Lance was spacing out, this was one of the less engaging parts of the mission. Keith was looking particularly good today, he had his serious face on, which Lance could just stare at all day (he did). He was trying to subtly check him out, but he was not one with subtlety. Keith pretended not to notice.

Today's mission, they were stealing back some of their supplies from the galra, and one of these things they were getting now were the harbulary batteries. Coran needed them for something, but neither Lance nor Keith remembered what it was. Keith scanned his surroundings, a wall, a glowing purple control panel, Lance staring at him, some funky looking machine, and a pair of galra guards hurdling around the corner. Wait, guards? Shit, we've been spotted! Lance hadn't noticed them. "Lance, look out!" Keith shouted. He dived in front of him as the guards started to shoot, and before Lance could react, a blast connected with Keith's shoulder. (It's always the shoulder) Finally realizing what's happened, Lance activated his bayard and shot the two guards in an instant.

Keith was lying on the ground unconscious. The armor on his shoulder had been broken off, and his burnt skin was exposed to the air. Blood oozed from the place where he had been hit. "Keith? Keith!" Lance tapped the boy's face. "Oh nononononononono." He knelt beside the unconscious body, Don't panic, you're not supposed to panic. Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. Repeating that was certainly not helping. Lance took a shuddering breath, and his eyes watered. He had to figure out what to do.

"Hunk, you're on your own, I need to help Keith, he's been hit, I'm turning off the comms" he said.

"Lance? Lance! Wai-"

Lance turned them off.

He picked up Keith and started walking down the hallway.

Sometimes Lance liked the silence, he thought it was peaceful. This silence was different, though. It was awfully loud and painful, this was a silence where it shouldn't have been silent. He and Keith should've been playfully bantering, they way they usually did on a good day. But Keith was not awake to talk to him, and that was his fault. So instead, Lance filled the silence by talking to Keith, or rather to himself, because Keith wouldn't hear him anyway.

"I can't believe I let this happen to you! I mean, friends ("friends") are supposed to protect each other. Now you're hurt and I don't even know if you're gonnabeokay andohmygodI'msuchahorribleperson." Lance started to tremble and he felt his heart beating in his throat.

The last time his heart beat like that was when Keith came back. Back at the garrison, he had masked his crush on Keith as a rivalry. He was so competitive in training because he wanted to show him that he was enough. He relished in seeing him each day, and when they were chosen as paladins of Voltron, he was over the moon (badum tss). Until Keith left the team for the Blades, he had taken his presence for granted. Just another day of my one-sided feelings for Keith, he'd think all the time. But when Keith was gone, it was like something from him was just missing, he didn't have anyone to joke around with because they all had people they preferred someone else over him, he felt so alone. And when he came back? That fucking heartbeat, it was his tell-tale heart. He felt so much relief just seeing that boy's face on the screen, he wasn't even sure it was possible something so good could happen ("Are you sure it's not Keith's cooler, older, GRIZZLED brother").