The New Champion

Chapter 18

Shiro stopped infront of Lance's bedroom door and carefully lowered him onto his leg. Making sure to not let go so he didn't fall.

Lance started at the metal door infront of the two and let out a small breath he didn't know he was holding. Reaching up Lance put his hand on the panel and unlocked the door. It slid open with a soft swish. Much quieter than the angry sounding hiss of the Galra ship doors.

He leaned forward and grabbed the door frame and hopped into his comfort space with the help of Shiro. His eyes scanned the slightly cluttered room. His signature outfit strewn around on the floor from the last time he was in here.

It felt like so long ago now but he remembers scrambling to get into his Paladin armor and didn't have the time to toss them in his hamper.

Despite what people may think about Lance, his room was never dirty, unless he was currently occupying it. When he was in the room doing something it could get cluttered quickly, but he would rush to put things in their place when he was to leave his room. That's why he was late for most meetings when they were called.

Shiro helped Lance over to his bed and sat him down on top of the blankets.

"Shiro, can you do me a favor?" Lance asked softly as he looked up to him from his seated position.

"Of course Lance what do you need?" Shiro immediately went into butler mode, ready to do what ever was asked of him by the man in front of him.

Lance pointed to the clothes on the floor. "I have a basket in the closet. Would you be able to put them into it? It's bothering me seeing them on the floor." As he spoke he fidgeted with his hands. A quick nod in response Shiro stepped away from Lance and gathered the discarded clothes on the floor and dropped them into the dirty basket that was hidden in the closet. While Shiro was already in there. He searched through the clothes that hung up on the Altean equivalent of hangers.

"How about we get you into something a little more comfortable than the cryopod suit." Shiro's calm voice spoke to Lance from inside the closet. Lance kept his eyes on Shiro's back as he carefully rummaged through the clothes he had accumulated while in space.

An amused chuckle could be heard from the man as he spun around with a black shirt in hand. Holding it up he showed the designed shirt to Lance, who's face went bright red in embarrassment.

"When did you buy this?" Shiro said with a smile on his face, as he motioned to the t-shirt. The design consisted of a printed cartoon version of Shiro in his Paladin armor standing in front of the Black lion.

"God this is so embarrassing" Lance mumbled through his hands that he had covered his face with. Trying to hide the redness of his cheeks.

"No no no I think it's cute. Your definitely wearing this. No getting out of it now" Shiro teased as he spun back into the closet with a chuckle. "Pants situation..." Shiro turned back around and looked at the one legged man sitting on the bed, his cheeks red which made the freckles on his cheeks pop. Drawing Shiro's attention away from the scar that went between his eyes and over his cheek, and dried blood.

"I can just do boxers and the shirt for now. I'd like to start making a leg tomorrow, I'm just too tired to do it right now. Boxers are in the top drawer of the dresser in the corner." Lance pointed over to the corner of the room next to the long mirror that was built into the wall.

Shiro walked over and grabbed a pair of blue checkered boxers and carried the small bundle of clothes over to Lance.

"I don't want to upset you Lance. But I'm going to get a damp rag to wipe the blood off of your face." He set the clothes down next to him and made his way to Lance's bathroom to dampen a rag.

While Shiro wasn't in the room Lance shimmied himself out of the cryopod suit and slid his bottom half into the boxers so he wasn't exposed. His body felt kinda gross but he wasn't in the mood for a shower at the moment.

Shiro waited till the water was warm until he went the rag. Hearing some shuffling he brought the cloth out and saw Lance had managed to get himself into his boxers. Stepping over Shiro knelt down in front of lance and rested his right hand on his cheek.

"Am I okay to wipe your face?" Shiro spoke softly as he looked into Lance's eyes. He received a small nod in response so he brought the cloth up and tenderly dabbed it against the crusty blood on the opposite cheek.

It didn't take long before his face was blood free and the rest of his freckles were visible to Shiro. His eyes scanned over the long jagged scar that weaved it's way through Lance's features, then slowly scanned down his body to see where else he had been scarred.

As Shiro's grey eyes traveled down Lance's body, Lance tensed up, knowing what he was looking for and it made him feel self-conscious.

Along Lance's tanned skin were many pale scars. Some small ones and long ones. Shiro could tell that the more bumpy of them were from being stabbed. Because he had dealt with the same thing. His hands reached out and touched one of the larger ones that trailed from his right hip up to the middle of his stomach.

The gentle touch made Lance tense more and inch away and throwing his shirt on to cover his body.Making Shiro reel his hand back and mutter many apologies.

"I'm sorry Lance I didn't mean to..." His voice started to crack as he spoke, staying knelt infront of him he rested his hands on the bed on either side of Lance. "F-fuck I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I wouldn't have wished that kind of pain on any body. I wish I could take all of the pain away for you"

Shiro lifted his head up to look at Lance's now tear ridden face with his own.

"It's not your fault Shiro. A-and if it meant saving another teammate I would rather it be me then any of you guys. You all are so important to me that I would be helpless if and of you got taken.... I mean it was probably a good thing I wasn't around. You guys probably got so much done without me in the way..." Lance pulled his hands away from where they rested on Shiro's shoulders and twisted them together as he stared into the floor while he spoke.

"No Lance. We were falling apart without you. None of us could function because a piece of us was missing. You Lance. You are such a vital part of this team... No this family that we couldn't... We... We all broke down. The only thing that kept us going was knowing we were going to find you. And god.. you were so strong Lance. The awful videos they would send to us..."

"W-what videos..?" Lance asked softly.

"Of you, fighting.... being the new champion. The torture they did to you." Shiro swallowed the lump in his throat. "They did so much worse to you than me..."

"Okay okay, can we just shut up about it now. Get up in her and lay with me so I can sleep." Lance wave dhis hands to end the conversation, then pushed himself into the bed farther to make room for Shiro to fit.

Lance rolled on his left side as he felt the bed behind him shift down and warm body press against his back. The bionic arm wrap around his waist and pull him closer. In less than a minute Lance had fallen fast asleep. Leaving Shiro awake before he closed his eyes to nap along side of Lance.