When Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Not that long after that bonding moment between the two of them things changed on the Castle. Things between him and Keith were different to say the least, it was really hard for Lance to explain, they were closer, and yet at the same time they were just as much strangers as they had been the day they first met at the Garrison. It was weird for him, but at the same time it wasn't, it was hard to explain. But luckily that wasn't the only change that happened, and he had something to take his mind off of everything. They found Shiro, or more like Keith had finally found Shiro. Not that long after him and Keith had their little thing in the hallway, he had started going back out in Black to look for his adoptive older brother figure. About 2 weeks after this, Keith had rang the Castle in a panic, he had found a lone Garla escape cruiser floating in space. Pidge ran a scan on it and she found that there was someone inside, they were alive, but they weren't responding. Keith was able to tow it back to the Castle and when they opened it up there was Shiro. Allura, Coran and the rest of them had ran all kinds of tests on him to make sure that it was actually him and everything. While they did that, Lance hung back with Keith in the medical bay as they watched them buzz around their old leader.  

Lance kept his eyes on Keith and watched his every move while they were waiting on Shiro. He knew that Keith was worried, he could tell it by his body language, and his posture. Keith was leaning up against the wall, eyes scanning the room, watching every single thing that was going on with Shiro. Lance could feel all of the anxiety that was radiating off of Keith, he could tell that he was nervous, or anxious for a better description. Keith was watching everything, but at the same time he seemed to be lost in his own head. And Lance took note of the fact that Keith was scratching at his arms furiously. He knew that he was scratching at the scars that littered his arms, and Lance was afraid that he was going to reopen his wounds. So Lance cautiously reached over and grabbed Keith's hand in his own. The movement made Keith jump and he turned his attention away from Shiro for just a moment to see what was going on. Panicked violet irises were staring at Lance in question when they were able to make eye contact. Keith had a look of slight confusion on his face, like he didn't know what Lance was going to do. He was guarded and he, well Lance thought that he was going cray, but to Lance it looked like that Keith was afraid of him or something. But Lance wasn't going to push or anything, he was going to let Keith set the tone and go at his own pace. If he wanted to open up he did, if not then, Lance has some more work cut out for them. Keith eventually raised an eyebrow to ask what he wanted in a silent question. Lance looked down and hoped that Keith would follow his gaze, which he did and saw that Lance had his hand overtop of Keith's own. When Keith looked back up he was still confused, so Lance had to spell it out for him. "You were scratching at your arms man." Lance leaned in and whispered into his ear. "I don't want you to reopen your scars." And then it had dawned on Keith. He ducked his head down and he had a slight redness to his cheeks. He mumbled a small and timid "thanks" before pulling his arms away and wrapping them around himself. Well, at least this was making progress.

Eventaully, they ran all of the tests, and all of the results said that it was the real Shiro. Lance took a side glance at Keith to make sure that he was alright. Keith just looked shocked, Lance could see the tears pooling in his eyes, and at one point his legs were shaking so bad, that Lance thought that were going to give out on him. Luckily, they didn't, but Lance and everyone else in that room saw Keith cry, but he wasn't the only one. After all of those months of searching, they finally found Shiro. They finally had their leader back, they finally had their friend back. And more importantly, Keith finally had his brother, the only family that he had left back. And hopefully something like this wouldn't happen again, but no one was going to mention that around Keith anytime soon, if ever, more like never. That sounded better in Lance's head. Coran was going to leave Shiro hooked up to an IV for a little bit longer before putting him into a pod to take care of any additional injuries that they didn't find. He shooed everyone out to the room to give Shiro space so that he could rest and that Coran could work. Keith was the last one to leave, and to be honest Lance thought that he would put more of a fight, but the look of exhaustion on his face spoke volumes. He was probably going to pass out at any moment.