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Lance isn’t really sure what happened. One minute they’re Voltron and then the next he’s spiraling away from the others. It takes him longer than usual to regain control since he’s still not quite used to Red; but apparently, those few seconds are vital. Before he can right himself, he’s hit by a Galra blaster, then again, and the third one sends him crashing down onto the planet below them. Rough, rocky—Lance can already feel a little bit of Red’s annoyance at the new scratches she has.
He’d never gotten into any car crashes on Earth, so he doesn’t really know what whiplash feels like, but he’s willing to bet it feels like this. He’s dizzy. The control panel, blinking red alerts everywhere, goes in and out of focus. And quiznak his neck hurts.
“Lance!?” He hears Hunk cry out in concern, and he musters up the strength to respond.
“Hey, buddy. I’m alright. Uh. Just had a rough landing. I’ll have Red back up in a second.” Except no amount of desperate button-pushing and handle-wiggling does anything.
Another blast, Red scrapes along the ground from the impact, and then goes completely dark. Lance slams his fists on the dashboard, but then strokes the spots apologetically.
“Alright, change of plans,” he announces, getting out of his seat, bayard in hard, and climbing out of Red’s head. “Red’s unresponsive. I’m outside, laying down fire. Anytime someone wants to pick me up, that’d be great.”
“What?” Keith’s voice now, and there’s some kind of emotion there. Lance can’t tell if he’s angry or just stressed from the battle. Probably both. “No—Lance, get back in Red now. It’s too dangerous!”
“I’m not just going to sit here while everyone else—“ Lance cuts off with a cry as he’s hit, his shoulder armor tearing.
“Shit—alright, I’m heading to you,” Keith sighs. “Just hold on!”
And to be fair, Lance really does try. But he’s downed, injured, and surrounded. It’s a miracle he lasts the few minutes that he does, but right when he sees Keith in the Black Lion start to get near him, he’s hit again from behind, and everything very quickly flickers to black.
---
Lance hears everything before he sees anything. Laser gun firing. Rocks breaking. The distinct sound of metal scraping against each other—he really hopes that’s one of the lions taking down a Galra ship. And shouting. Specific shouting.
Keith.
Lance groans as he manages to open his eyes. Keith’s got him in his arms, looking around desperately, shouting orders. His eyes land back on Lance, and for a brief second he looks relieved.
“….me? Lance? Can you hear me?” Lance actually focuses on him, now, and nods his head. He can’t quite make his mouth work, but he manages to do a thumbs up; it earns him a scoff that almost sounds more amused than annoyed. “Come on, I’ve got you. Can you stand? We need to get back into the Black Lion.”
It takes another few seconds for Lance to be able to stand up, and even though the world spins while he does it, he stumbles with Keith into the Black Lion, only to collapse on the first surface available. “What about… Red?” he gets out.
“I’ve got her, too,” Keith says, getting the Black Lion into action quickly. He scoops up Red, avoiding most of the blaster shots. “Everyone, get back to the ship!” Lance hears a few questioning voices, and looks over to Keith. His hands tighten briefly, and he sighs. “I know. But we can’t take them. Lance needs a healing pod. There’s just too many of them. We need to get back on the ship and do a wormhole jump—anywhere. As long as it’s away from here. We need to regroup. Coran, can we do that?”
“Aye-aye!”
“Great.” Keith glances back at Lance with a worried frown, and that’s the last thing Lance sees before he passes out again.
---
When Lance wakes up again, he’s thankfully more aware of his surroundings. He recognizes the cool air of the ship, the sight of the cryo pod. And he even recognizes the arms around him, holding him up after he fell from the pod.
“You really do have a thing for cradling me in your arms, don’t you?” he jokes, still sounding a little tired.
Keith actually laughs, but it’s soft and tinged with worry. “Yeah, guess I do,” he mumbles, and helps Lance straighten up, keeping a hand hovering behind his back. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got blasted out of the air in a giant metal lion and then hit twice with Galra guns,” Lance says, stretching, testing how sore his neck is. Not at all, thank goodness.
“Yeah, pretty much.” They both share a small smile and then Lance goes to sit down on one of the steps.
“So, how long have I been out?”
“Not too long. Only a day. We’re… uh. Well. Floating in space,” Keith shrugged. “Allura seems to know where we are. We’re laying low for a little bit. Figuring things out.” He leans against the pod Lance had just been in, arms crossed over his chest, frowning.
Lance looks at him quizzically. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just… Why did you do that?” Keith sighs. It sounds like he wants to be mad, but he’s simply too tired for anger. “I told you to stay in your—my—the Red Lion. Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“Because everyone else was fighting,” Lance frowns. “I couldn’t sit while everyone else was in danger. That’s not cool.”
“But I gave you an order.” Keith stares off to the wall and is silent for a few ticks. “I know… that I’m not Shiro. That I’m not the real head of Voltron. But I’m doing my best. And I need you—and everyone—to actually… act like it,” he huffs, and Lance’s eyes widen.
“Oh. Keith… Hey.” He waits for the other paladin to look at him. “You are the real leader of Voltron. You’re in the Black Lion, you’re the head—that makes you the leader. Maybe just a temporary one, but still. I didn’t not listen to you cause it’s you. I didn’t listen cause I never listen, right?” he tries to joke, smiling and reaching out to punch Keith’s leg lightly. He earns a tiny, half-hearted smile in return. In a softer voice, a little more serious, he continues, “Shiro being gone is hard on all of us. And I know you two were—are close. But we think you’re doing a great job. ‘kay? I promise.”
And much to his surprise, Keith actually seems comforted by that. He lets out a breath and nods, and then sinks to sit beside Lance, chin resting on his knees. “Yeah. Okay.”
Lance nudges him with his elbow, but ends up scooting closer and staying pressed right there. “You shouldn’t worry so much. You’ve gotta pilot the Black Lion, yeah, but we’re still a team. It’s not all on you, buddy. Don’t think you’re so important,” he teases, and he gets another little chuckle. “We’re always gonna have your back.”
“Yeah.” Keith looks at Lance with a smile so soft that Lance feels his stomach flip a little and—quiznak. “Thanks. I’ll always have your back, too.” Lance forces a casual smile and swallows past the sudden lump in his throat. He can’t think of anything else to say, so he doesn’t. He just sits there, pressed again Keith, enjoying the brief, peaceful silence.