One Last Time

Part 3

Iverson, Curtis, Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran sat gathered around the long table in the briefing room. Sam stood at the front of the room with the glowing orange screen behind him.

"Thanks to Curtis, we found that the message was sent from XX, XX in the XXXX quadrant." A large map of the XXXX quadrant appeared behind Sam. He gestured to the highlighted planet. "This is where the transmission originated. We don't know much about the planet. Our long range scanners can't reach it and it's barely visible on the map. This doesn't feel like a coincidence."

Iverson frowned, "This feels risky."

After receiving the transmission, Curtis and Sam had made sure to contact Iverson and explain the situation to him. He came to Atlas to discuss what their next moves might be. 

"We have to go on this mission," Shiro argued. "Adam was one of your best pilots and you're just willing to leave him out there to die?"

"I never said I'd leave him to die. We will rescue him but we have to be careful and think this through. Just keep in mind that there may be large consequences from the board."

Shiro nodded, "Of course."

Sam studied the map. "I think that we should see if the Blade of Marmora has anything on this planet."

"I can contact Kolivan and go through the logs," Keith offered. 

He nodded and continued, "We'll need to see if we can alter one of our long range sensors to reach that planet. Pidge and Hunk, you'll work with me on this."

Hunk nodded and Pidge added, "Of course Dad! By the way, was the transmission double modulated or single modulated?"

Hunk groaned at the mention of their age old argument while her father chuckled softly. 

He ignored the question, clearly not wanting to start another one of their fights, and turned to Shiro. "Shiro, I'll need you, Coran, and Iverson to make sure that the IGF Atlas is in good condition if we need it."

Sam turned back to the screen before nodding. "Alright, I don't think I missed anything. That's all we need to do at the moment."

Lance hesitated. "Um, Sam?"

"Yes?" He looked at Lance.

"Is there anything I should do to help out?"

Sam tapped his chin, thinking. "You could probably ask Curtis if there's anything you could help him with. I don't think he'd need much assistance seeing as it's more of a one person job."

"Oh, okay. That's alright."

Keith knew that Sam wasn't purposefully trying to single out Lance or make him feel useless. He had to give it to him, Lance was a good actor but he could tell that Lance just wanted to help out feel useful. For some reason, it hurt him to see Lance like that, he wasn't sure why.

I just want to be a good friend to Lance. 

The voice in the back of his head hissed, Liessssss

Keith put a hand on Lance's shoulder, "Hey, Lance. If you want to do something, you could help me go through the Blade's logs. The logs are probably going to be really long and I could use a hand."

Lance brightened up. "Sure thing, Keith."

It was dumb but it made Keith inexplicably happy to see Lance smile like that. He tried to assure himself it was because he wanted to be a good friend to Lance. A small voice in the back of his head hissed, Liar. 

Keith ignored it as they disbanded the meeting, walking in separate directions. Of course he just cared about Lance as a team mate, a friend. He used to be their leader after all, it was his job to take care of the team. It had taken him a while to learn that he had to be there for all of them and, in turn, they'd be there for him. They were family. Lance especially had taught him that and Keith was incredibly grateful for that. 

He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Lance walk up to him. 

"Hey Keith," he gently nudged Keith's ribs. "I've been calling your name for the past three minutes."

He blinked and glanced over at Lance. "Oh, hey Lance. Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" 

Keith cleared his throat. "Um, nothing. What did you want to tell me?"

Lance stopped. "Keith . . . thank you."

Keith stopped as well and looked straight at Lance.

"For what?"

"For letting me help you. It means a lot to me," Lance sounded so sincere that Keith really believed him.

"It was nothing."

Lance looked skeptical. "Alright. Just saying that "

"We should probably hurry," he advised, slightly afraid of what staring into Lance's gorgeous blue eyes for too long would do to him.

Lance nodded and they started walking again. Keith couldn't help but glance down and Lance's hand. His fingers moved slightly towards Lance before he quickly recoiled them. 

Just a friend, Keith firmly told himself. Just friends wouldn't randomly hold each others hands platonically. That would be too romantic. He'd be crossing the lines that separated friendship from romance and Keith doubted Lance would want that. After all, Lance had really loved Allura.

Keith found himself wondering what could've happened if he had taken Lance's hand. He found himself fearing Lance's rejection more and more as his feelings grew stronger. The excuse of wanting to be a good team mate became thinner as they had stopped spending time together fighting the forces of evil.  

But . . . could they really be more than just friends?