2019 Voltron Whumptober Collection

17 "Stay with me"

Word Count: 1,093

Poison.

It had been poison that had coated the blade.

The blade that had cut into Keith's shoulder, the boy jumping back with a muffled scream.

Keith's shoulder that was slowly turning a paler as the poison ate away at his system, making Shiro's heart clench in panic as time seemed to literally suck the life from the teen's skin.

No.

No, no, no, no.

This kid was not going to die on him, not here, not now.

He could fix this.

"Come on, bud, just stay with me a little longer, please."

The still form in his arms only groaned, burying his face further into Shiro's chest as he ran towards the black lion, the red paladin clearly unable to pilot his own as blood continued to smear against his chest plate, his hands already slick with it as he finally made it up the ramp, feet thudding across the metal, sentries firing off shots behind them before Black's ramp closed, plunging Shiro into temporary darkness before the deep purple lights switched on.

He stumbled as the floor moved under him, relief and surprise taking over as Black moved on her own, most likely shoving away the last of those pesky robots before launching into space, shooting forward with the jump of her thrusters, most likely moving off the fear running ice cold through Shiro's veins as he finally stumbled into the cockpit, the doors sliding open to reveal that void of space staring back, stars and planets rushing past as Shiro knelt, setting Keith's still form on the floor, a small cough leaving the teen's lips, violet eyes just barely cracking open to fix him with a stare.

"Y-you're worried."

The words took him by surprise, his tense shoulders softening as Keith's words finally sunk in, and he shook his head with a tired sigh.

Still on death's door, and the kid could still read him like an open book.

"No," he lied, "I'm not, because you're gonna pull through this, okay?" Because, if that poison attacked his heart before they got to the castle, it'd be game over.

For both of them.

Because Shiro wasn't sure what he'd do with himself if Keith disappeared from his life.

If he was being completely honest with himself, his-

His soul would probably die right alongside him.

Keith gave a weak cough (no blood on his lips, thank God), not even trying to go along with the lie as he frowned, repeating the statement, violet eyes just as lidded as before and he shivered, "You're w-worried."

Dammit, there was no point trying to lie to this kid, was there?

"I am, Keith. I- I am," he said a moment later as he moved to run his human hand through the teen's hair, the sweaty black locks sticking to his skin, making Shiro's heart give a painful lurch at the state he was in.

It was bad.

But he should probably do something about that instead of standing there like a clueless idiot, shouldn't he?

Black rumbled they were about seven minutes from the castle.

Yeah, probably.

He braced himself for the sight as fingers fumbled against the red paladin's chest plate, the thing mangled and torn from where he'd been hit in the shoulder, blood sliding between his fingers as he slid the thing over thin shoulders, Keith trying to heft his arms over his head with a wince, the action jarring his injury.

The undersuit didn't look much better than the armor, most of the black fabric torn and already wet with blood, and Shiro paused, fingers grasping the hem Keith's shirt, mentally preparing himself for the sight as Keith gave a weak cough.

Ready.

Three, two, one-

No, nope he wasn't ready. He'd never be able to prepare himself enough for the sight that greeted him as the black fabric was slid away from the wound with a whimper and gasp from Keith, the teen squeezing his eyes shut in some attempt to escape the pain.

Despite the fact that he'd only been hurt maybe not seven minutes before, there was already blood everywhere, pooling on the ground under him, Sticking to his fingertips, his knees, his armor.

And the skin around the wound was white.

And he wasn't overexaggerating either, it was a literal white.

Every second that seemed to pass in slow motion Shiro could see, the blood, heck, the life, drain out of the teen's skin as time stretched on.

Hesitantly, Shiro brought a finger up to the gash, not even having to touch the skin to feel the cold radiating from it.

The poison was literally sucking the life out of him.

And with the heat of Keith's forehead, the sweat dotting his skin, and the way the teen was shivering, he was simultaneously burning up and freezing to death.

Dammit.

"Shiro, I- I'm hot."

"Shh, don't talk, buddy, I know, I know," he went back to rubbing his fingers through the teen's sweat-soaked hair after wadding the bloodied undershirt up in some attempt to stop the bleeding, the teen wincing as the fabric made contact with his skin as he mind, not letting up on the pressure as his mind raced for some way to keep the kid from bleeding out before they got there.

Come on, come on.

He hated how he could do nothing, nothing but hold the shirt to the teen's wound, with one hand, stroke metal fingers through sweat-soaked hair with the other, and pray they somehow got out of this okay.

They needed to be okay.

"Stay with me, Keith, don't close your eyes," the teen's eyelids were beginning to droop.

With a groan, violet eyes opened again, the blood on his shoulder making him look so pale, "'m tired, Shiro."

Shiro's heart broke at how soft the teen sounded.

Despite Black flying as fast as she can, they needed to pick up the pace-

He was fading fast.

Curse this damn poison-

"I know, but you can't close your eyes yet, buddy, you have to stay awake for me until we reach the castle, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Tired eyes began to droop again, "'kay."

Shiro pushed the wadded shirt tighter against the teen's shoulder, watching as Keith gave a breathy gasp at the action, screwing his eyes shut at the pain, not nearly as loud or aware as before.

He was slipping into shock.

Dang it.

Hurry, Black, he thought as Keith continued to grow paler, please.

The lion's deep, reverberating rumble was her only reply.