The Ghost of You (klance)

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, paladins. It was too late to put him into the pods. It was already too late before he even made it onto the ship. I'm so sorry."

Keith had been dreaming about that day for the past 4 months. The love of his life was suddenly taken away from him, without so much as a goodbye. The only reason he was barely functioning himself was because of his position as the Black Paladin. But he was only doing it for Lance. If Lance knew the thoughts that circulated through his mind, he'd be very upset.

He thought about all this as he panted in his sleep. Tired eyes looked at the ceiling as they welled up with tears. Keith let them fall. He had learned already that there was no use in stopping it. But the pain never seemed any easier. Nor the guilt he felt.

He sighed and sat up in his bed, swinging his feet over the side and letting them hit the cold floor. He wiped his cheeks and face and got up to put on a shirt before going to the training room. He didn't care what time it was. He knew he wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. His already sore muscles ached as he walked down the corridor and halls to the familiar room. He sighed softly as he stood in the middle of the room with his bayard in hand, cracking his neck as he went into a defensive stance. He told his aching muscles that he'd stretch after.

This was usually how Keith would spend every night until everyone else woke up. He'd be a sweaty mess at breakfast before going to train more. If there was a job for Voltron, Keith would do it with giving little instruction and trying to get the job done as quick as possible. He'd be back to training, sometimes for hours, until he'd collapse in exhaustion or Shiro would force him to sleep. Keith had barely spoken a word to anyone about Lance. Or anything else, for that matter. Even Shiro. And as much as it scared the team, they had no clue what else to do. Yes, they all had lost him, but Keith had lost the person he loved most in the most horrific way imaginable. No one even knew what to begin to say, let alone how he felt.

Everyone was hurting over Lance's death, but they couldn't ignore the elephant in the room any longer. Without him, they knew they needed a new Red Paladin. They couldn't keep going on these missions without one. They barely made it out alive when there was a sudden ambush from the Galra. But no one knew how to bring it up. No one knew if they should bring it up. It had only been 4 months, but while they continued to mourn over Lance, there was a war to be won. And they were falling behind.

"We need a new paladin." Pidge had said it first. Hunk lifted his head up quickly to eye at her and Keith, before signaling at her to stop. She only shook her head. "I'm sorry. I know it's way too soon for this, but it's true. We barely got out of there alive, we can't just-"

"Pidge is right." Keith's soft voice interrupted, the crack in between barely audible. Everyone looked at Keith immediately, giving their undivided attention. It would be the first time he would speak more than a few words to them since Lance died.

"We can't keep ignoring the fact that we need to form Voltron. Lance... he's gone. And we can't do anything about it. We need to get back into this war and get back to work. Starting tomorrow, we look for a new... a new Red Paladin...I'm going to train." Keith hadn't looked at them the whole time. His voice would become soft before it got loud again, trying to hide the cracking in his voice and letting his hair mask the forming tears. But the team heard every word he said. Shiro hadn't been able to look away from him the whole time. His heart ached for Keith. He had some idea of what Keith was going through. But Keith wouldn't even glance at him, let alone talk to him. For once in all of Shiro's life, he had no clue how to approach Keith and it left him frustrated and upset. All he wanted to do was help him, but he simply didn't know how.

-

True to his word, Keith was training, panting as he swung his sword skillfully and strategically at the Gladiator with full force, screaming as he plunged the sword into the robotic body. He had been training for hours already, but Keith could only tell by the way he felt his body burning out. He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. He dropped his bayard and fell to his knees as the Gladiator came back in perfect condition, ready to fight again.

"Level 100. Kill me." Keith croaked as he bent all the way back until his head hit the floor. He let his knees up and sprawled the rest of his body on the floor in front of it, still panting slightly as he stared at the ceiling. As always, whenever Keith told the stimulator to kill him, it only went away and turned itself off. Keith let out a heavy breath and he felt his eyes well up in tears again.

He didn't bother getting up when he heard footsteps coming into the room, only shifting his weight to his elbow and wiping his face when he realized it was Shiro. A new wave of tears hit him when he realized he was hoping for Lance to walk through the doors. He did nothing to stop the shaking of his shoulders as a sob racked through him. He only lifted a hand up to his mouth to stop what would be a broken cry of pain.

Shiro observed Keith. His heart clenched at the sight of him. He heard what Keith had asked of the Gladiator and he let tears fill his own eyes as he sat on the floor next to Keith, wrapping his strong arms around him. He rested his legs, one behind Keith and the other in the space underneath his bent knees. He put his hand to Keith's head and pushed it to his chest. Keith only cried harder and pushed his face further as he sobbed in the middle of the training room, Shiro crying with him as he stroked Keith's hair. They stayed like that until Keith had no more tears left to cry in him. Even then, he was a trembling mess, his shoulders and body shaking as he tried to regulate his breathing. Lance's name would keep running through his mind which only spurred on the trembling boy more. Shiro had the words "panic attack" drifting in the back of his head.

"How about he go back to your room and we get you to sleep, okay? I'll even carry you." Shiro said softly, trying his best to be as nurturing as possible. Keith nodded his head before he stood up on his own and wrapped his arms around himself as his body continued to tremble. Shiro made note of his trembling legs and decided that it wasn't because of how fragile Keith was feeling, but more to the fact of his daily visits to the Gladiator.

Shiro wrapped his hands over Keith's and steadily walked him to his room. Keith removed his shirt, shoes and socks before he lied down in what used to be his and Lance's bed, throwing their blanket over him self. Shiro stood next to the bed and made to leave when he heard Keith's voice, hoarse and soft from crying so hard for so long.

"S-stay. Please. You...he...you remind me of h-him." Shiro looked at Keith stunned. He let out a small breath and nodded his head before he sat up in Keith's bed and ran his fingers through his hair. He was still sweaty, but Shiro would let it slide. As long as Keith felt okay.

Shiro stayed, even after Keith had fallen asleep. He looked around the room, not yet wanting to get up when he saw a familiar jacket on a hook. He let out a small sob when he had realized who it had belonged to. It was Lance's jacket.