One More Night || kidge au

Alt. Ending: You Trust

Will you go for the knife or the gun?

> Gun                     Knife

But that's not what happened. It was as though Pidge had watched the biggest "what if" scenario of a lifetime. When she would think back to this time, she would've said that it resembled the flashing of her life just moments before she died. The risk was too great that instead—almost as if reactionary—Pidge shouted, "Keith!"

The moment Lee lunged for where the gun landed by the door, Keith moved faster than her words could've. Once more, he tackled Lee into the door and right into the rain. Pidge shifted her attention from Rick to Keith, fighting in the rain and hissed when she spotted the glint of metal.

"Go," Rick gasped, gesturing with his head to help them.

The rain was heavy, slicking everything outside that Pidge couldn't help but hold her breath. She pressed a hand to her arm as she watched Keith struggle in the rain.

Keith struggled with the knife, held against him that the initial attack sliced through his right cheek to his neck. It looked like it hurt, and he flexed his arms to grip and push against the other. Using some of his momentum, he slid out from underneath and the knife was sent flying in the surprising lurch.

There was a curse and Keith quickly rose to stand. He panted, briefly pressed a hand to his neck and cheek, pulling it away to find it covered in blood. He winced but looked back when Lee angrily roared.

He took off into a run the moment they stood. Lee grabbed the knife and tackled them to the ground, forcing them to roll. Keith was victorious this time, straddling him as he grabbed the hand that held the knife again, and slammed it into the ground repeatedly until Lee was forced to let go. It fell away with a clatter amid the rain.

"Stop!" Keith shouted.

There was a strangled noise, mixed between a sob and a frustrated grunt.

"Please, Lee, stop," Rick begged from his place in the shed.

Lee covered his face, sobbing, and Keith sighed, his hold on him loosening.

"Keith!" Pidge shouted.

Keith reacted faster than Lee did, the swing of his arm flashing by where his head was moments ago. Rolling off, Keith kicked away the knife and braced for impact. But, it never came. Instead, he glanced back to see Pidge holding up the gun, pointing it straight at Lee.

"Lee, stop," Pidge warned. The rain didn't make it easy to see that she was holding the gun, but Pidge gritted her teeth, bracing herself. "Don't make this harder than it is."

"You don't understand—you'll never understand." Lee raised his hands, his eyes on her, but it continued to bounce between her and Keith.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he moved again before they could react. Keith was too far and missed Lee by mere inches when he made a dash for Pidge. "No!"

She side-stepped, loosening her grip of the gun in surprise. It was enough for him to yank the gun out of her hands and escaped to a good distance away. Without a word, he pointed it at her. As though everything was in slow motion, Pidge tried to turn to run inside the shed for cover.

Bang!

The sound of the gun firing in the night echoed despite the pouring rain. It wasn't as deafening Pidge expected, but she looked down to find that she wasn't shot. She turned around to find Rick laying in the rain. Slowly, she moved to kneel beside him, turning him to find he was shot again.