Chapter Text
The desert wind brushed through Keith's hair as he took in the view of the sunset. The so called 'failed Kerberos mission' was about a month ago and Keith refuses to believe it was a pilot error that caused the mission to go south.
He put his helmet back on and rode his bike back to his shack. When he arrived he looked at his board full of scattered papers pinned to its walls with different colored strings connecting some papers. A weird... sensation came from a cave that he knew he could feel but couldn't get through it. With pictures taken of strange carvings on its walls, old articles that date back centuries of weird signals from radio stations and satellites, more pictures of strange air crafts with more words and pictures that he couldn't keep track of and it was driving him crazy!
Moments later he would hear something from outside, he knew he was a fair distance away from the garrison and the small town that was even further so there was hardly any noise except for the small creatures and coyotes that usually came out at night.
He quickly plucked the build board off the wall and hid it underneath a secret compartment underneath the floorboard that he found in his time living in the shack. He didn't exactly know why he hid it but something in the back of his mind told him it was for the best.
After safely storing the board away he caught a quick glance at his knife, the one his dad gave him. He didn't know what was outside and a part of him told him to bring it with him but a much larger part of him didn't want to lose the remaining part of his dad and mom and have it taken away so he stored it away. He placed the board pieces back in place and took the axe hanging from the wall and cautiously made his way outside, he wasn't ready for what awaited him.
"Let me go!" Keith yelled, weird purple robots handcuffed him and held his arms tight he was sure they were going to bruise if they held on any longer. He was shoved into a room and made to kneel in front of someone, glancing up there stood a purple figure with white hair and red marks that went down their eyes to their cheeks looking down at him.
Something about their yellow eyes and the way they looked down at them sent shivers down his spine.
The robot spoke in an unfamiliar language and left on what seemed to be on command from the other alien.
"So-" it spoke earilly, making Keith hold back a shiver, from the way it croaked out it's words and that it magically knew how to speak English. "You're human?" They asked, Keith stayed silent.
"So be it, take it to the prison, I'll be seeing you in a while, human." They spoke before another pair of robots came in and took him away, making him feel helpless and defenseless walking down unknown hallways knowing his life was in danger if he stayed any longer.
The robots threw him into a cell and the door slammed shut behind him, he threw himself at the door to try to break it to no avail though he expected that.
"Damn it!" He yelled before flopping down and laid on the cold floor. "Keith?" A familiar voice called out to him, and he sat up immediately. "Matt?" "Keith what the hell are you doing here?!" Matt said, panic present in his voice. "What the hell are you doing here?!" He asked back, "I got abducted obviously!" "We there's your answer!" "But you should be back on earth!" He stressed, Keith stayed silent looking down at the floor. "God Shiro's going to lose his shit when he comes back." Matt grumbled, "Shiro's here too?" Keith asked, "Of course, everyone on the Kerberos was taken by the galra, dad was taken to a different prison." Matt growled, "... sorry." "It's not your fault, don't apologize."
Minutes later footsteps approached near Keith's location and a door opened, grunting from someone being shoved inside, door slamming shut, and the footsteps faded away as they left.
"Shiro are you ok?" Matt asked, Keith flinched when Shiro responded, staying silent in his cell and buried his face in his brought up knees, holding himself together until another pair of footsteps came and opened his cell, two purple aliens who he could give a name too, and picked him up.
He fought back of course, punching and kicking them around as best as he could but they were too strong and held him down. "Let me go!" He yelled struggling to free himself from their grasp. "Keith?" Shiro's voice wavered, Keith stopped struggling for a second which gave the galra the opportunity to put a muzzle around his face taking him by surprise.
They roughly pulled him up to his feet and shoved him forward to keep moving, for a split second he caught sight of Shiro staring at him with terror in his expression before they turned the corner and he was gone.
"Shiro-"
"We need to leave Matt, we can't stay here any longer." 'We can't let Keith go through this too.' Was silently spoken between them.
Being brought into a room that seemed like a lab they strapped him into a table and got rid of the muzzle, seconds later the figure he saw when he first arrived came into view. "Who are you?! Where am I?! Why did you take me?!" Keith asked, the figure ignored him and took a syringe that laid on a table next to him and extracted his blood, he hissed. "You are in the galra empire, here to serve for research purposes. You humans are quite a fascinating species." They responded, taking the blood samples and taking other samples, making the other galra in the room take it away once they finished.
"Now to start experiment number 1."
He woke up back in his cell, muscles feeling contracted and pain pulsing through his whole body as his body spasms every once in a while from their previous 'experiment'. He didn't have the energy to get up, just lay on the floor while occasionally groaning in pain.
"Keith?" Shiro called, Keith hummed, not having the energy to speak. "Are you ok?" Keith hummed again but later groaned as another wave of pain washed over his body. It stayed this way for the rest of the day until he passed out once more against his will.
Time passed on the ship. Every day he went in and out of that lab coming back to his cell in withering pain or passed out until the pain brought him back, in some cases he came back feeling find but his body always felt weird in those instances, he knew it wasn't a good sign and somehow he dreaded the day he back feeling fine than come back in pain.
Occasionally he would speak to either Shiro or Matt if the guards weren't there, they mostly started the conversations and he'd chime in once in a while but it never lasted long until they either slept, Shiro was taken to what he found out was the gladiator where he was forced to fight for his life or Keith was taken to the lab, nothing more than an experiment to be tested on by the witch that he now acknowledged as Haggar.
He started noticing white strands of hair occasionally appearing and Shiro also started getting white hair, Matt joked about them getting old faster while he maintained his youth and Shiro smacked him in the back of the head which brought a small laugh out of Keith. One of the few good memories he made coming out of this hell hole.
For a period of time they didn't bring him back to the lab and that worried the three of them but it also gave them the opportunity to try to hatch up a plan to escape.
Before the plan could take place Matt was transferred to another prison and they never heard or saw of him again, ruining their escape plan with one member down.
More time passed after that and both Shiro and Keith were transferred to different cells that stood across from each other with see-through panels. Keith noticed they were closer to the lab than the gladiator.
"Shiro?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry."
And he was, he was terrified for Shiro, both for the reason of why they transferred him closer to the lab and for what he might hear.
The next day they took Shiro to the lab and the screams Keith heard will haunt him till he dies. When Shiro returned back to his cell he came back with a metal arm, the druids came to his cell and opened the door, "you're next mutt."
The sound of something inhuman woke Shiro up, grunting in pain. He placed his hand on his forehead to help subdue the pain slightly before flinching and pulling back his hand. His body shook at the sight of a metal arm that replaced his flesh one. Another scream jolted him back to the present and he looked to his side where it came from, for a second he could have swore he could see blood seeping from under one of the doors before blinking and it was gone.
The screaming continued for 3 more hours before it stopped. A door opened from the end of the hallway and two druids came out dragging Keith by his arms and throwing him in his cell.
Placing a hand across the purple wall separating them he saw Keith twitch occasionally as he laid on the floor. He clenched both hands, frowning. He didn't know how much more of this he could take, how much more Keith could take.
After replacing his arm for a metal one they took him to the gladiators more than before, making him kill more and more creatures for the sole purpose of survival and entertainment. And everyday he could come back to Keith being changed somehow.
He noticed purple marks around Keith arms, at first he thought they were bruises but then it started spreading like a virus and he came to the realization that Keith was transforming, his eyes started taking on a yellow hue and the sclera started was beginning to glow, his fingernails grew sharper and his ears were getting pointer. "You're... galra." Shiro finally realized, Keith had his back facing Shiro, he glanced back at him, Shiro being able to catch a glimpse of his yellow eyes before he turned back to facing the wall. "Do you hate me?" He asked, Shiro pondered the answer for a while, "no, no I don't, you're still the Keith I remember, alien or not." "Half." "What?" "Half alien, turns out my mom was galra." They both sat in silence for a while.
"Hey shiro?"
"Yeah buddy?"
"Something's wrong."
At the moment he didn't know what to make of that statement, besides the grueling torture they both been through nothing seemed out of what could now be considered normal. At least, not to him and not at that time.
He began to put the pieces together about what he said when the druids took Keith away. He saw how he fought back, his thrashes became much weaker, and after they finished their experiments Keith never moved for the first few minutes which soon turned to hours as more time passed.
Claw marks scratched the surfaces of Keith's cell wall, small dents formed where he'd throw himself against the walls and punch them until he fell to floor exhausted and in pain. It tore Shiro apart seeing Keith go through so much. He hated how he could only watch Keith from behind the panel as he scratched himself endlessly, pulled out strands of hair and bruises formed on his already purple skin from the transformation and hits.
Silence was a common occurrence between them, between Keith's waves of violence and passing out there was hardly a time they could make small talk. "Shiro." Keith called, "what's up kid..." "if... if anything happens to me, and I end up hurting anyone... promise you'll stop me." It took a while for Shiro to process what he was saying, "Keith what are you talking about?" He took a deep breath, "if I ever get to the point where I can't control myself, promise me you'll kill me." He turned, looking Shiro straight in the eyes. He looked so tired for someone so young. "Keith... you- what are you talking about?" He was confused, he knew about Keith's violent outbreaks but he was still Keith, he wouldn't get so violent to the point where he would need to be killed, right?
"The witch, she's up to something, I don't know what's going on but sometimes it feels like I have no control over my body and everything hurts. I feel weak, it's a struggle to even lift my limbs whenever I'm somewhat normal. I'm tired, Shiro..." Keith said, leaning against the wall. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to curse , he wanted to punch something because Keith shouldn't have to go through this. He shouldn't be tested on like some sort of lab rat he was barely, god 17 years old? He so young, but then again so is he, in his mid 20's and already has a mechanical arm forced to fight in a ring for a form of fucked up entertainment.
They were both so tired.
After who knows how long Keith was transferred to a more confined cell that was near the lab and Shiro was moved back to the cells that were closer to the gladiators. He has never felt more alone than he has now.
Being strapped to a table with cuffs around his arms and ankles was never a good sign, he grunted and fought back as hard as he could with what little limits he had. "No, No!" He screamed as a fluid was injected into his system, " You took my hand, what more do you want?!" He never liked sounding desperate but he wasn't willing to go through another round of torture. "Stop!" A galra with white hair next to him ordered to the one injecting him. "I want him awake enough to feel this." He said, as the one with the syringe began to walk away, before the white haired galra smashed a guard's face into the wall and punched the other. If this wasn't a life or death situation he would have been amused by it.
"Listen to me, we don't have much time," the man began to speak but his words were starting to sound distant as he struggled to latch onto consciousness."wake up!" Feeling the sting of a slap across his face did the trick, "zarkon has located the blue lion of Voltron on your planet earth, you must get it before he does." He was struggling to catch up to the man's words, "what are you doing?" "I've planted a bomb to cover your escape, get to a pod, now!" "Who are you?" He asked, "I am Ulaz. Now, come on!"
Just as Shiro was about to follow him he remembered someone. "Wait!" The galra hissed "what now?" "I- I need to get Keith, he has to be around here somewhere!" He urged, before the galra could respond he took off to the closest cell near the lab he could find. His suspicions were correct, Keith was near the lab, but the sight was one that hurt the most.
Keith, a kid he took under his wing, a boy he practically saw as his brother, was laying on the ground, unmoved. He rushed into the cell and gently cradled him, lightly slapping him to try to wake him up. "Keith? Keith, buddy, wake up!" He called, Keith twitched a bit before slowly opening his eyes. "Shiro?" He croaked, Shiro wanted to cry, he shouldn't have sounded like that. "Hey buddy, I'm gonna get us out of here just hold on a little longer." He whispered.
"Shiro!" Ulaz hissed, standing near the doorway, "we don't have time for this the bomb is going to detonate any minute now! We must leave now!" "Not without Keith!" Shiro shouted, getting up to carry Keith but fell to the ground. "Shiro..." Keith said, "shh buddy it's ok we'll get out of this together everything's going to be fine." He soothed, carding his fingers through Keith's hair, though no matter what he thought he knew he was only saying that to comfort himself.
"Shiro!" He stopped, looking down at Keith. He was purple, dark purple marks traced down his cheeks, eyes completely yellow except for the iris which still remained purple, pointed ears, and a new tail. "Leave me." It took him a while to process what he said, " what? No Keith come on, get up!" He cried, Keith shook his head stubbornly, a tiny fire in his eyes. "Shiro, you have to leave now!" "No! No no no Keith I'm not leaving you here come on we can escape together-" "Shiro stop!" Keith cried, making Shiro pause. "Just go, please." He said quietly, almost a whisper, Shiro shook his head stubbornly, "we can leave this place together. You don't even have to do anything, just follow my lead and we'll be back on earth."
Earth, Not home.It wasn't home until he knew Keith would be safe with him.
"Shiro you know just as well as I do that I can barely walk so just go and escape while you still can," Keith said, Shiro still shook his head stubbornly, "I can carry you we can still escape together please Keith." Shiro cried. "Shiro, we need to leave!" Ulaz hissed. "Not without Keith!" "Shiro!" Shiro stopped and looked at Keith, "It's ok, I'll be fine. You know me I'm stubborn I can hold on my own ok?" Keith whispered, a small wobbly smile creeping up on his face, "then you can come back and save my ass, ok?" Tears swelled up in Shiro's eyes and he watched helplessly as Keith pulled what little strength he had left and pushed him out of his cell and Ulaz led him down the halls towards an escape.
Not freedom, freedom was knowing that Keith was going to be safe and with him not still lying in some cell what god knows what's going to happen to him.
The moment he was in a pod and he heard the bomb go off he fell to his knees and cried.
He regrets not forcing Keith to come with him after his escape from the lab, he regrets no making Ulaz carry Keith to safety, he regrets escaping. He regrets not trying to escape sooner. He regrets not staying by Keith's side. Not being fast enough, brave enough, strong enough to save Keith.
Because now he has to face the sight of a feral galra Keith who doesn't remember him, is ready to kill him on sight if not for Allura's bayard keeping him still with the help of Pidge's bayard electricity paralyzing him, with tubs connected from his back to his neck filled with quintessence that are the only thing keeping this husk of his brother alive. He wasn't strong enough to save him back then.
he still isn't strong enough to save him.
"...Keith?"