18

                                    

                                          
I LIVE BITCHES
                          
I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG I HAD TO DELETE WATTPAD OFF MY PHONE BUT ITS OKAY I GOT IT ON MY IPAD NOW! AND COLLEGE IS TRYING TO MURDER ME THROUGH WORK BUUUT....
                          
I HOPE YOU ENJOY
                          
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Lance stretched, yawning as he pushed his arms above his head. He hummed a nameless tune as he danced down the corridor. He danced past Pidge, who looked almost as grumpy as Keith. He danced past Hunk, who was mid yawn. He danced past Shiro, who was already awake in his paladin armour. He danced past Keith's room, which was as empty as ever.
                          
Lance reached the kitchen and, once again, felt blessed about his height. He could reach the plates, cups and the secret space cookie stash Hunk had hidden from Keith and Pidge. The gremlin and ninja were deadly by themselves but they had recently learnt to team up to get what they want, namly cookies in the middle of the night. 
                          
He used said height to reach the very back of the cupboard, where the cookies were and was about to grab them when he heard a bang and a shout which made him jump and stumble backwards into the counter. He shook his head to regain his bearings and then realised the bang came from Keith's room. What the heck? No one was in there! 
                          
He ran down the hallway back to Keith's room and frowned when he realised the door was closed. He opened it hesitantly, and blinked at the empty room. Had the sound come from Pidge's room? He was about to let the door close when he noticed the bathroom light was on.  Who could be in Keith's room?
                          
Lance blinked when he realised it was Keith, in his own room. Why the fuckwould Keith not be in his room? And why was he so jumpy? He turned to leave when he heard it, the quiet, childlike noise of fear. "Keith?" he asked, venturing further inside and biting his lip when he got a sob in response. Keith had never sounded like that before. Not even when he'd had a building fall on him that one time. Then again, he'd been unconscious for the entire duration of the extraction.
                          
Lance knocked hesitantly on the door and was surprised when it opened, revealing the pale teen. Keith looked a mess, with dark bags under his eyes, his hair sticking to his skin. He was shaking enough for Lance to visibly see and his entire expression screamed vulnerable. For once, Lance didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug. Keith fell against him burying his face into his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Lance. He didn't say anything when Keith started crying, sobbing quietly. He just held him tighter.
                          
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It took half an hour for Keith to stop crying, pulling away from Lance and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Lance led him over too his bed and sat down with him.
                          
"What was that about?" He asked quietly and Keith tensed slightly and sighed, then his shoulders slumped and he finally looked up.
                          
"I had a nightmare." He whispered hoarsely and Lance nodded encouragingly, urging him to continue. "... We were all fighting a robeast, and Red got shot down. I was calling for help and you all ignored me... A--After you beat that thing you all one by one told me that you didn't need me. That I was useless. Then you left me." Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
                          
"We wouldn't ever leave you. We're a team, a family. Right?" He asked and Keith nodded, looking uncertain.
                          
"But-" He began and Lance quietly cut him off. 
                          
"No but's. You're a paladin of Voltron and, more importantly, You're family. That makes you important, and someone worth fighting for. I don't care what others back on Earth say, as far as I'm concerned you're my brother." Keith looked at him, indigo eyes shining with unshed tears. He then smiled. It was small, breakable, but genuine and Lance found himself smiling back. He then fell back as Keith threw himself at him, face yet again buried in his shoulder as he cried. This time Lance hoped they were tears of happiness, not fear and sorrow.
                          
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A week or so later they were in a massive fight. The warship had a shield that neither Voltron or the castle couldn't penetrate it. That coupled with the amount of drones firing at them and Haggar's black lighting targeting the lions was proving to be a hard match. They'd tried forming Voltron but Haggar's magic had forced them apart. Now, Haggar seemed to be targeting Red, leaving the others scrambling to keep Red safe. That was until one hit connected. Keith didn't remember trying to dodge or falling after the hit. The only thing he could remember was screaming as fire burned in his mind until he passed out.
                          
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Lance could only scream Keith's name, unable to move Blue fast enough to reach Red and stop her getting hit.  Keith had screamed then, and the sound chilled him to the bone. Lane had never heard anyone scream like that, but what was worse was that Keith's voice cracked and Red's lights had flashed. The mechanical lion had roared and Lance paled as Blue's worry echoed through the bond they shared. Red then fell silent, floating aimlessly with no lights and no response from the Red Paladin. 
                          
It was Black who retrieved Red and brought the motionless lion back to her hanger. Lance, Hunk and Pidge were already waiting anxiously, hoping the Red Paladin would be okay and walk out. Pidge started sobbing when Shiro carried Keith out. He walked straight past the three younger paladins and straight to the infirmary when Coran was waiting. Hunk gestured for Lance to follow as he hugged Pidge tightly, the small girl sobbing almost hysterically. 
                          
When Lance arrived, his eyes widened at what he saw. Keith wasn't in a pod, but was instead laying on a normal bed with Shiro sitting next to him, with Coran and Allura talking worriedly in the corner, sometimes glancing back at Keith with worry shining in their gaze. He quietly walked over to Keith and Shiro, sinking into the chair next to Shiro and sighing.
                          
"They don't know what's wrong with him. There is nothing wrong physically, and he just looks like he's sleeping, but he won't wake up." Shiro explained in a hushed voice, steel grey eyes never leaving Keith's face. Lance frowned, unsure of what to say or do. What could he do except wait in this situation?
                          
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Keith woke up five days later. Weak, but alive, and Lance had never felt relief like this. When he had first noticed he hugged him tightly, burying his face in his hair and shaking. Keith had hugged him back uncertainty and seemed so confused, indigo eyes wide and his whole expression was open, vulnerable. 
                          
Keith got a hug from everyone, and after that Coran had told him that he still needed to  rest, as his quintessence level had become almost fatally low. He explained that they didn't know why, or how that had happened, but Keith needed to rest and allow his body to recover the quintessence it lost with help from Red. Keith had took it surprisingly well, and after eating a small amount of food he slept again. Shiro had been worried till Coran explained that Keith needed sleep to be able to replenish quintessence faster. It hadn't stopped Shiro sitting in the chair next to him.
                          
Later Allura had sat down with all of them and had explained that Hagger had found a way to distort and control quintessence levels in everything, including the lions. When her magic struck Red she used the connection Red and Keith shared to drain Keith's quintessence levels. She quietly said how Red has been the only reason Keith hadn't died, using her own quintessence to keep him alive until his were at a level that could sustain him safely. She stressed that they all had to be careful from now on, as there was no telling what Haggar could do with quintessence. The remaining paladins had all glanced at Keith, who was sound asleep and had nodded collectively. They wouldn't let that witch touch Keith, or any of there family, with magic again.
                          
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So I'm thinking of the next oneshot being what happens if someone's quintessence levels get too low and there lion is not around to help, would anyone want to read that?