Right Hand Man

"KEITH! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"Lance... I'm here."
~~
Keith walked into the castle's control room. Everyone was crowded together waiting for their next orders.
"Keith, I don't think this is a good idea," a nervous Hunk started. "What if Lotor already has the comet made into a weapon? It's probably just another death trap? I don't want to go out like this!"
Pidge chimed in.
"Yeah Keith did you really think about this?"
"This is our only time to strike. We have to take Lotor out now."
"But Keith," Lance started. "you said that before and we nearly died."
"Are you one hundred percent sure about this?" Allura asked.
Shiro instantly replied.
"Keith is the new paladin of the black lion and I trust that he knows what he's doing. I trust he has this under control."
"Keith..." Lance softly said.
"We need to attack him as soon as we can. We don't have much time left okay?"
The paladins all reluctantly nodded.
"If we really are going through with this, I'll be by your side the whole time." Lance placed his hand on Keith's shoulder.
"Now, everyone get ready and get to your lions," Keith yelled.
The paladins all geared up and got in their lions, grouping in front of the castle.
"Everyone can hear me?" Keith said over the radio.
The other paladins replied, "Yeah."
"Okay, when we get close to Lotor's ship, I'll go and check everything out. You guys will have to spread out around the ship and trigger the defense system. I'll stay towards the back of the ship waiting for the fighters to fly out so I can enter the ship through the hangar and find the ship's central control. When it's clear, I'll call Pidge in to hack their defense system. One Pidge finishes, Hunk, Allura, and Lance can get in too. But while Pidge is getting that done, we'll need you three to keep Lotor distracted. Got it?"
"Are we sure this will work?" Allura asked, scared of what was next. Keith sighed.
"We can't back down now."
Lance started, "Keith, you aren't going in there alone."
"Lance..."
"I'll not leaving you."
"Okay then. But everyone else, got it?"
The rest of the paladins replied with an assured "Yes."
"Coran, Shiro, we'll need you as back up." Keith added.
"We have you." Shiro radioed.
"Wait," Coran began. "once you all get close to the ship, you'll be cut from the radio. I'll keep eyes on you from the outside but, Lance, Keith, I won't be able to see you."
Lance and Keith radioed back, understanding the situation.
~~
The group of lions began dispersing as they arrived at Lotor's ship. Weapons charged, they fired at the space craft. Slowly, fighter ships started flying out. Everything seemed to be according to plan.
"The fighters are drawing out so Lance and I will be heading in."
"Rodger." Pidge replied. Lance and Keith flew their lions away and to the back of Lotor's ship, staying far enough away not to be detected. The two paladins exited their lions and jetted their way to the side of the spacecraft. They carefully snuck their way into the hangar, drawing their weapons along the way. Instantly, galra bots caught them on their sensors and began firing. Easily the boys shot and stabbed their way through the hoard of metal, exiting the hangar.
"Stay back!" Keith quickly pulled Lance into a nook right before a pack of guards passed by. Before they could even catch a breath, footsteps approached again. Suddenly they paused. Lance was squished against wall with Keith in front of him trying to survey their surroundings.
"I can't see what they're doing." Keith said, trying to peek around the corner. Soft thuds crept through the hallway from the other direction. Quickly, Lance pulled Keith back in, afraid they'll be seen.
"Keith, I think we should just attack. I don't think they'll be leaving anytime soon."
Keith nodded. Wearily they emerged from the corner, Keith brandishing his dagger and Lance welding his gun. Mere seconds passed before they were bombarded by a group of galra soldiers and their officer. Keith and Lance initially stood back to back fighting but it only took a few shots to separate them. Then Keith noticed a guard aiming at Lance's back. Instinctively, Keith pushed Lance down.
"Hey!" Lance yelled.
He pulled up his shield, absorbing the shot just before he could be shot. Lance swiftly got up and shot at the guard, knocking him down.
Keith yelled, "We have to run! More guards will be coming!"
Pidge suddenly came in through the comm.
"Is it clear yet? We're struggling a bit here!"
"Hey Pidge, it's Lance! We're getting closer! Hold up for a few more minutes!"
Keith and Lance ran through the hallway dodging soldiers, nearly reaching the central control room until a shot rang just a bit too close to their faces. Lance turned to look at the direction of the shot and saw a mane of long white hair.
"Keith! It's Lotor! Get down!" The blue paladin's shield went up as they ducked. All of a sudden, their arms were pulled and locked behind their backs. Acxa and Zethrid snapped restraints around their arms and pulled the paladins to their feet.
"Do you ever learn?" Lotor hissed. "You should know by now I'll always be 10 steps ahead of you. Your friends outside are slowly being picked off while their so called leader is being held captive by a measly group of half bred galra." A smirk grew across his face. Lotor continued talking at an attempt to intimidate the two.
~~
"Hunk, Pidge, Allura. Retreat. Get back up now." Keith whispered into the comm.
Allura tapped in. "Keith what's going on?"
"Lotor. Get back up now. Please." He hurriedly whispered again.
"Rodger." Hunk said. "We're flying out now. Allura and Pidge will stay hidden nearby while I get Coran."
"Got it."
Lance looked over to him after listening in on their conversation. His eyes screamed worry as he tried to think of something. Lotor was still droning on, though Lance and Keith had blocked his voice out. At least until Lotor spit four words.
"...your lions, they're gone." Dread spread through the boys' minds as they were brought back to the situation around them.
"You two are stupid for leaving them like that. Unguarded in the open I mean. The galra empire will be happy to have the black lion back along with an extra surprise."
Lance tried to break free from Axca's hold but was instantly yanked back.
"Zethrid. Narti."
"Yes sir." Zethrid replied.
"Take them to the holding cells. We'll initiate the plan on my word."
A nod as received by Lotor briefly before Zethrid began dragging the new hostages to a row of holding cells, Narti trailing close behind them. Not a word was spoken by Zethrid until they were thrown into a cell.
"It'll only be a few ticks until this is all over." Zethrid sneered, removing the paladins' helmets. Narti gracefully stepped forward, placing a hand on each boy's head, putting them into a deep sleep.
~~
Hours later, Lance woke up with a pounding headache.
"Keith. Get up." He started shaking the sleeping paladin. "Keith!" He finally woke up.
"Lance?" He groggily muttered. "What happened?"
"Narti. I think she put us to sleep." Lance paused, giving Keith time to process. "Keith, how are we gonna get out? We have no idea what's going to happen next."
"I-I don't know. I screwed up. This is all my fault. I should of listen to you guys. I'm going to get us all killed and-"
"Keith. Calm down. I'm here to protect you like you protect me okay? We'll get out of here alive and together. Now get my bayard."
"What?"
"On my belt."
"Okay..." Keith awkwardly maneuvered to reach Lance's bayard.
He carefully pulled it off. "Here."
As Lance took it, the red bayard shifted into a gun.
"Put your cuffs against the tip of my gun."
"No! You're gonna shoot my hand off!"
"Please trust me."
Reluctantly, Keith held his hands out against the gun. He heard Lance fire and felt the metal on one hand loosen. With a shake, the restraint came off.
"Give me the gun." Keith stuck out his hand. He carefully aimed at the metal and with a few shots, the cuff came undone. Lance took back the gun and it shifted back into a bayard.
"Do you have your dagger? We can destroy the cell's control panel with it."
"No. It's gone"
"Do you think you can make the bayard change into your sword?"
"I'll try."
The bayard landed in Keith's hand and in a few moments, it became his sword. Quickly, Keith stabbed the control panel on the other side of the bars. As the bars of the cell retracted, the ship violently shook.
"Lance what was that?"
"I don't know but we need to look for our lions."
They both ran out into the hallway, ready for a fight but it was eerily empty. Not a single guard could be seen or heard as they searched for their lions. The entire ship was empty. Lance and Keith ran to the front of the ship, trying to see where they were. Only stars were present for as far as they could see. As they looked for any clue of where they were, Keith found their helmets.
"Lance, put this on and let's try to radio someone." He threw Lance's helmet to him. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello?" Keith radioed.
Slowly, static could be heard, along with Pidge's choppy voice.
"Ke-th, it p-dge."
"Pidge!"
"We a try-ng to ge- you lo-ati-n."
"Okay. But something is off, Pidge. There is no one on this ship. So please, be careful."
"R-ger."
"Our lions are also go-" Keith's sentence was cut off by a loud explosion.
"Wh- was th-t?"
"Pidge, I don't know. Lance, we need to find a way off this ship."
"The fighters." Lance responded.
Hurriedly, they ran to the hangars. As they trekked the length of the ship, more explosions could be heard. Suddenly, the ship tilted. A wave of blasts rang from the inside of the ship.
"Pidge, just send anyone as soon as you can," Keith commanded.
The temperature grew within the hangar as flames from destruction grew nearer. They ran through the large room trying to find any sort of spacecraft. Keith was growing more worried and started yelling.
"Where are the fucking fighters?"
"I don't know! But I can hear the explosions coming nearer!"
"Let's just keep look-"
Both of them were sent flying out of the ship as a blast rang close to them. It wasn't big enough to kill them but enough to destroy the paladins' oxygen making device and combust nearly all of Keith's emergency O2.
~~
They were both dazed after the explosion, just for a few minutes. Lance regained focus before Keith.
"KEITH! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" His voice rang worry. Lance was scared, vaguely remembering a fire that ran up Keith's back. Long moments passed with out a response with dread seeping deeper and deeper into Lance's mind.
"Lance... I'm here."
"Where are you?"
"Towards the tail of the ship." Instantly, Lance propelled himself towards the end. Keith sounded out of breath, only making Lance more concerned.
"I'm almost there Keith. Can you jet yourself towards me?"
"I can try." Lance could hear how shallow Keith's breathing was becoming. "One of my jets is broken but I think I see you."
They could finally see the blue and red of their suits. As soon as Lance could, he took Keith in his arms.
"I was so scared you were dead." Keith was struggling to hug Lance back, but as the blue paladin was squishing Keith, he could feel burn marks on Keith's suit. They ran along his back where his emergency oxygen would be.
"Keith, how well can you breath?"
"It's a bit thin bu-"
"Give me a second, I'll hook my emergency O2 to your suit okay?"
"Lance," Keith's voice was raggedy as he struggled to take a breath. "don't. What if you run out? I can't lose you an-"
"I can't lose you. WE can't lose you. As of now, you're the black lion and Voltron can't lose you." Tears started to well up in his eyes. "I need you Keith." Lance waited, and hoped, for a reply from Keith but all he could hear was raspy, shallow breathing and his heart froze. Scrambling to detach the pumping mechanism from one of the O2 suppliers, he removed the cartridge and hooked it up to Keith's suit. Then static came through the comm."Lance? Keith? It's Pidge. We've found your coordinates and will be there soon. Just hang on guys."
"Hurry. Please."
~~
Steadily, Keith's breathing became stable while Lance was struggling. It became harder for him to stay awake as his body received less and less oxygen. As Lance was blacking out, Keith started to wake up. His head was pounding as he regained consciousness.
"Lance? Lance! Oh god. LANCE!"
"Keith I'm here..." Lance could hardly speak. Each word taking too much breath, bringing the shadows around his eyes closer together.
"Lance, why? You didn't have to do this? I need you Lance..." This was only the second time Lance had ever seen Keith cry. The first time for Shiro, now for him. He couldn't help but show a weak smile.
"Oh, hah, you're crying for me..."
"Lance, god you still joke."
"Still have to leave a good impression and look good. Just like how you look good in red."
"Lance," Keith couldn't hold back a broken giggle as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I really can't believe you sometimes."
"Well would you believe me right now if I told you that I love you?"
"Lance, now is when you tell me?" Keith's heart was shattering as he watched Lance.
"From the day you held me in your arms, I've wanted to protect you. To pay you back for saving me." His voice softened as his air supply drained. "That gradually grew into wanting to love you. And now, I do get to return the favor of saving you. Though, you still get to cradle me in your arms."
"Lance, god you didn't have to do this. I love you too and I don't want to lose you. I just," His voice broke. "Why didn't you tell me before? I really do need you now Lance. I love you and I can't lose you, especially now."
"If I didn't do this, I'd lose you. Im just returning the favor."
"It's all my fault Lance. I dragged everyone into this mess. This isn't the first time I've nearly killed someone. Now I care about someone enough to really listen to them and," Keith could hold back, sobbing harder. "I might lose them."
"I'll make it Keith."
"Will you promise me?"
"I promise."
The two of them floated in their little bubble of space, Keith holding onto Lance, tears rolling down his face. His helmet started to fog up with his eyes burning. Suddenly a yellow beam of light encased the two. Keith focused into it and saw the green lion.
He struggled to compose himself and could only mutter, "I love you Lance."
With his last measly breath, Lance whispered, "I love you too."