Chapter Text
Hunk had a bad feeling about the mission from the get go. The Galra ship appeared over the nearby planet almost out of nowhere, and of course interrupted him as he was in the middle of making lunch for the team. Fighting on an empty stomach was never a good idea. He tried to push down the nauseating anxiety, convincing himself it was just the usual fear of accidentally leaving the oven on, though the Altean equivalent of an oven was perfectly safe and not a fire hazard.
Shiro directed Lance and Hunk to the section where Pidge reported the most Galran soldiers to be, assuring them he’d join them as back up after he cleared Pidge from her sector. Her job was to infiltrate the Galran ship and disarm all their system’s weapons and hopefully shut down and drones while she was at it. Since most of the enemy was on the field, busy invading the planet, their own security would be more lax. Finding a way to slip in shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Allura dispatched the team to the planet in a tick. She’d be assisting the planet’s inhabitants in evacuating safely. Coran meanwhile would be keeping an eye on things from the ship.
And that left Keith. He’d be covering Shiro and Pidge, and would take over for Shiro as soon as he left to assist Hunk and Lance. He was frustrated being put on standby like this, but he was still in trouble from the last mission. As usual, he’d run head first into danger and banged up his Lion rather badly and even put Hunk in danger. So now he was on a short leash with the team.
Lance wasn’t sure what happened, but he felt a shaking in the ground from his place in his Lion. His visuals indicated explosions coming from where Pidge, Shiro, and Keith were located. Well actually, Shiro had gone to retrieve his Lion so he could join the two of them.
“Pidge? What was that?” he asked.
It was a good minute before he got a response, long enough for concern to tug at his chest. If anything happened to Pidge- well it’d be crushing. Despite being a green little gremlin with a computer addiction, she was the precious runt of the team. Once she’d gotten a broken nose, and the enemy soldier that did it had to face Hunk, ferocious as a bear. It was a fate Lance never wanted to face.
“Not sure,” was the curt reply. “Checking,” she added a moment after.
Hunk and Lance exhaled in relief. Shiro came up over the coms. “Made it to Black. Before I join Lance and Hunk- Pidge do you need me?” A pause.“And Keith? What’s your status?”
“It looks like they rigged their system in case of tampering. It was set to detonate in parts of the ship. I’m safe here Shiro. Keith, if you could get to my location quickly- I’ll send you the coordinates.”
Lance and Hunk continued to take down the enemy, covering each other‘s backs. There were just enough to warrant caution, but not enough to overtake them. Though it was slow going, the enemy was starting to thin out. It’d be a matter of time before they made for a retreat. Pidge and Keith would need to get out soon.
“Keith? Keith, come in,” Shiro tried again. Silence. Lance furrowed his brow. What was that mullet up to now? He was probably going to make everyone worry again.
After Keith’s continued silence, Pidge spoke up. “I can’t track him. I can’t get a signal unless he uses his com.” It seemed stupid, but it was a way to prevent the Galra from tracking their signals and finding out the Voltron members locations.
“Uh guys,” Hunk interjected. “Is it me or are they suddenly packing a little more firepower?”
It wasn’t just his imagination. Instead of retreating, the Galra forces were now focusing their attacks on Hunk and Lance in greater power. Even the Yellow Lion’s renowned armor was starting to feel the heat. “Shiro, I think we’re going to need your back up.”
“Pidge, how long can you hold out there on your own?”
“I should be good for a little while longer. I’ve got the doors on lockdown. I hacked a ‘bot to stand guard at the door. I’ll let you know if I need you. In the mean time, I’ll keep trying to reach Keith.”
“Got it. Hunk, Lance, I’m on the way.”
Pidge bit her lip, leaning over the alien technology as her fingers moved like lightning. She was hacking every camera she could find, but the explosion had knocked out a lot. She didn’t even know where to begin- Keith had kept quiet the whole mission. She knew he’d been sulking over the cold shoulder Shiro was giving him. The last she’d heard from him he’d been outside the ship letting her know he was on his way in. He didn’t use the coordinates she’d sent him because he was thick-skulled imbecile and had wanted to avoid Shiro who was on his way out.
The light voice of the Princess snapped her out of her thoughts. “Any luck with Keith yet? I don’t mean to be impatient. Do you need me to come over there as backup?”
“No. And, no, Allura. Thanks. Once the Galra retreat we’re going to have to high tail it out of here and it’ll be that much harder to evacuate everyone if we have another person in this ship blind.”
“Speaking of retreat,” Lance cut in, “With the Black Lion over here they decided to finally cut their losses.”
“Pidge, we have to find Keith. I’m on my way,” Shiro says.
She squeezes the bridge of her nose, trying not to panic. There’s only so much she can do from here if he doesn’t pick up. “I’m not having any luck finding Keith. I still haven’t heard anything from him. We need to go, where was he last?”
“I don’t remember, I think he said something about sabotaging their engines? Or was it their canons?” Hunk furrows his brow. Honestly what he’d heard was kitchen but now was not the time for that, because he was positive that was not what Keith had said.
“I bet he did something stupid again. That mullet…” Lance scoffed, hiding his fear for the red paladin. “Can’t that guy just follow orders for once?”
The coms crackled for a moment and everyone went silent. So faint they almost didn’t catch it, but they heard his voice. “…Shiro.” Lance winced, he sounded awful. Was now a good time to panic?
The whole team exclaimed his name: “Keith!?” Even Coran had joined in, listening all this time with baited breath.
“Keith. Keith, come in. Are you okay? What’s your location?”
“Keith?” Allura tried.
Pidge’s heart stopped at hearing her fellow paladin’s voice. Then it kicked into overdrive and tracked down his signal in a heartbeat. She found him! His location was just between her and the east entrance.
“Keith!” Hunk’s panicked voice boomed in their helmets.
Pidge cut in, “Guys, I’ve got his location. I’m heading to him now.”
“Be careful Pidge.” Shiro’s voice was grave. “I’ll catch up soon.
Lance’s voice was broken as he reached out for Keith again over the radio. “Hey, say something Mullet…”
While Shiro and his Lion made their way back to the enemy ship, Lance and Hunk covered him and worked to keep as many enemy drones from returning as they could. Pidge scrambled out the control room, baring her bayard in case she met unfriendly fire on her way.
Outside the Red Lion was roaring. It had travelled of its own accord outside the Galra ship, smashing anyone that came near before attempting to tear into the ship with its claws. Shiro’s fists clenched at the sight, recalling the last time the Red Lion had been thrown into a tizzy like this. He urged Black on faster.
Pidge was the first to reach the red paladin. Her face was bleeding from the bullet of a stray soldier- she’d quickly dispatched him with a fury in her race to reach her friend. But it hadn’t mattered. Chin trembling, she couldn’t help but look away.
She fell to her knees with a sob. The blood splashed underneath her weight, forcing her to cover her mouth in shock. She needed to check in with the team, let them know… What was she supposed to say? Maybe she should wait for Shiro… but that would just put them in more danger.
She switched to a private network between her and the black paladin. “S-Shiro… Shiro, Shiro I f-found him. I found Keith.” Trying to steady herself, she sucked in a quick breath.
“Pidge…? Is he… How is he?”
“He’s… dead,” she choked. “God, Shiro… There’s so much blood.”
Waiting for him to respond she risked another glance at Keith. His helmet was scuffed up and placed at a weird angle, as if his arms hadn’t had the strength to put it on all the way. Shaking, she pulled it off. His eyes were half-lidded, gazing into nothingness. But his face was peaceful, despite being pale as porcelain, and smattered in red.
“Shiro? W-what do I do?”
Shiro’s voice was broken, his soul shattered when he replied. “We have to leave him Pidge. The fleet has almost returned and I can’t risk anyone else.”
No. That wasn’t right. She couldn’t leave him here. Beyond where he lay was a trail of blood that stretched into the darkness of the halls farther than she could see. Who knows how far he’d dragged himself, dying and in pain, to reach her, to reach his teammates and his friends. She couldn’t leave him alone. She knows it’s the last thing Shiro wants, but because he’s the leader he’s making the tough choices.
“No. I’ll carry him out.”
“Pidge!” his voice is tired, but stern.
“I won’t leave him Shiro.”
“Damn it,” Shiro hisses. “Alright but don’t be stupid. If you have to leave him, get out of there. I’m coming in to help you.”
She switches back to the group radio before leaning down and hefting Keith’s arm over her shoulder. She’s much too small to carry him, but she’ll try her damned hardest.
Outside, the Red Lion had stilled for a while. Shutting down and putting up a barrier.
It feels like hours before she meets Shiro near the front, his Lion left guarding the entrance. He takes Keith’s dead weight from her shoulders. His eyes are shadowed and his face creased in grief. The way he sees her, she looks much the same. She’s smeared in blood and trembling from exhaustion. He wishes he could carry her too.
They load up into the Black Lion and call Hunk and Lance in for retreat. They have to blast their way out of the thick of returning Galran soldiers before they can head back to the castle. Shiro stops to let Pidge into her own Green Lion. The Red Lion would have to lay abandoned until they can regroup. At least for now the Galra were too busy retreating to be any threat.
When they get to the hangars, Shiro remains in his Lion, Keith lying behind him in the cockpit. It’s all he can do not to lose himself, his mind flashing back to terrible things. For the longest time he’d been Keith’s only family. He was like Shiro’s little brother. And now he’d have the memory of carrying his limp body for the rest of his life.
Now he had to break the news to the rest of the team. And make sure Katie was alright. But he couldn’t move. Face in his hands, he froze up till his mind went blank. He came back to himself when the doors to the hangar opened and a breathless Coran came running.
He wanted to go to him and inform him of what happened. But Keith’s body kept him firmly seated. Shiro was terrified to look at him again. He was a complete mess, obviously caught up in the explosions. Body bruised and bloodied, one of his legs mangled.
Shoulder’s shaking; Shiro covered his eyes as tears slipped down his face. Coran outside was begging for him to open up. And Shiro once again couldn’t move. He didn’t want to break the old Altean’s heart. Both he and Allura had already lost so much. Even if they hadn’t been as close to Keith, it would certainly be a painful reminder to them.
Next came Hunk, skidding to a halt next to Coran. Shiro couldn’t hear them down there, didn’t want to know what was going through their minds.
Afterwards Lance and Allura arrived. Lance had obviously been crying, but Shiro didn’t think he’d been informed of the news yet. The boy was always so empathetic though, and surely was hurting just thinking that something had happened to his friend.
Pidge was the last, still trying to hold it together. Somewhere along her way there she’d managed to clean off the worst of the blood- all but the wound on her cheek. He couldn’t let her be the one to tell everyone the grave news. With a pained sigh, he opened up his Lion.
Days after the Red Paladin’s funeral, the team was still quietly grieving. Pidge wouldn’t leave her room. Hunk was eating more than usual. Allura had found herself accepted by the Red Lion and spent much of her time inside it, possibly communicating with the Lion, or just thinking. Coran kept himself busy monitoring the nearby planets and scanning for danger, as well as helping the attacked planet and its inhabitants to recover. When Shiro wasn’t alone or training, he was reaching out to Allura to grieve together. She was familiar with his pain and he found it easy to talk to her. Lance had let himself go, foregoing his skin routine and skipping meals. Sometimes he’d train with Shiro, but the training room reminded him too much of the lost paladin.
Eventually their pain began to fade, and they started to return to their former selves. In fact, they became closer as they shared their feelings and comforted one another. They swore they’d work harder in the future to protect one another. No more going solo. They were all the universe had.