Klance: Truth or Dare

Part 19

"Internal injuries take longer to heal than superficial wounds," Allura said. "Our technology still has trouble reaching into bodies to fix the damage, so it has to rely on the victim's own ability to recover."

The team hummed vaguely, though most of them barely heard it. They'd taken shifts, guarding Lance one by one, not leaving him alone for one second. Not that the boy was in any danger, no, but each of them felt responsible for getting him hurt. Lance could have died, and no one could cope with that concept. 

Pidge and Hunk sat on the floor in front of the pod, bent over some strange looking blueprints, talking in low voices, as if at a sick person's bed, though Lance couldn't hear them anyway. They looked up when Allura entered, deep in conversation with Shiro, still carrying dark rings under his eyes. 

"But he'll get better soon, right?" he asked, pulling a hand through his hair and looking up at the quiet blue paladin in his shell. He turned back to the woman at a soft hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine," Allura soothed. "It should only take a day or two more before he wakes up."

"Good." He stepped forward and lay a hand on the illuminated glass. "I don't think I can look Keith in the eye until then."

Allura raised an eyebrow. "You don't blame him, do you? Because Keith has nothing to do with this." Her voice turned defensive. "He didn't mean for Lance to get-" But Shiro cut her off with a shake of his head. 

"No, of course I don't. It's just... He blames himself. And it hurts to see that, to see the pain in his eyes. I think he believes Lance will blame him too. I should never have... I thought it was just a crush, that we should get it out of the way before it became a problem. I didn't expect it to run so deep in Keith." He took a deep breath. "I just... I need him to be okay." 

Allura and he turned back to the door, the deep weight of guilt laying over them, something that wouldn't be lifted until their team was completed once more. 

"He's still sleeping," Shiro sighed. "I carried Keith to bed yesterday, but I doubt he'll wake up for another few hours. I've rarely seen him push himself this far, and that's saying something when it comes to Keith. I hope he'll be able to forgive me, as soon as-"

"Shiro!" Pidge's voice sounded, and Shiro had never turned around that quickly. He just caught the protective glass sliding to a halt, the body within stirring and falling into Hunk's outstretched arms. The black paladin shot forward, helping Hunk lower the boy to his knees as Lance got back his sense of balance, holding two shoulders to keep himself up.

"Lance?" Shiro called, grabbing his waist when Lance swayed on the spot. The boy scrunged up his face and then opened his eyes, looking around the the four worried faces close to his. "I just had the weirdest dream," he groaned, rubbing his eyes. The people around his answered in a chorus of sighs, chuckles and 'classic Lance's. 

"Are you okay?" Hunk asked, and Lance smiled at him, though they could all see the weariness in his eyes. Everyone knew how much getting healed drained your energy, and they could only imagine how tired the boy must be, having been in there for longer than any of them. 

"I'm great," he said, looking down and trailing a hand over his ripped suit. "Nearly dying is my jam." Pidge frowned and nudged his shoulder. "Hey, asshole, we were worried for you." 

"I'm fine, really," Lance mused. "A few hours in the healing pod fixes everything, even stabbing wounds apparently." He looked down, feeling his own bare skin beneath his fingers. "It barely even left a scar." 

"You were in there for nearly three days, Lance," Hunk remarked, and Lance's smile faltered. His friends had waited for him for three days? He'd gotten used to these pods as being able to heal everything withon hours; how bad must his injuries have been to stay here for three whole days? "I- I..." he stammered, but Pidge interrupted. 

"You nearly died, idiot. You go get yourself shot, stabbed and tortured, and expect us to be okay with that? Expect us to pick up your-" Her voice faltered, but she pushed through. "-your lifeless body, and magically fix everything?"

Lance couldn't hold her gaze, and his blue eyes fell down. "I didn't mean to-"

"What? You didn't mean to act so fucking recklessly? Didn't mean to get shot? Didn't mean to put us all through days of misery, or even years of it if you truly had died?"

Lance stayed quiet, avoiding her tearstained face, and Shiro motioned her to calm down. After a second of hesitation, she obeyed and sank back to her knees, worry for the boy overtaking her anger. "You scared the shit out of us, Lance. Never do that again."

Lance nodded softly, clenching his arms around his abdomen. He hadn't meant to die, truly. He'd just felt so.. so frustrated. He'd acted out because he couldn't fix his personal - romantic - life, he could only make a real difference in battle. 

Why wasn't Keith there by his side? One moment he confessed his eternal love, and the next he couldn't even be bothered to check whether his best friend was still alive. Lance clenched his teeth, nearly forcing himself to look up at Shiro, the question lingering on his lips. 

But someone interrupted. "Shiro!" a voice croaked from the other side of the room, the thrown open doors banging against the walls. "I heard noise. Did something happen? Is he alright? What is-" 

Keith stopped in the middle of his sentence, searching eyes coming to a halt on the lanky boy kneeling amids his teammates. His face paled, eyes wide and lips parting, a silence falling over the room like fresh winter snow, cold and yet so welcoming. Their eyes met, quietly speaking so much louder than any words could have. 

"Lance..." 

----------------------------------------------

Hello my friends. 

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, there's only a few more left (I think, my planning's all over the place). There will be laughter, there will be pain, there will be love, and I hope you'll stick with me through all of it. Tell me what you think, expectations you have or anything else you wish to share, and give the chapter a vote :)

Love, 

Me.