VOLTRON ONE-SHOTS

Keith - Hold on to Me

Word Count:  1,303

Yes, I'm aware that the majority of my stuff is angsty stuff

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And involving Keith

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*shrugs* Oh well

...

"Come on, Keith, you have to hold on for a little longer, please!"

"I- I can't." And it was true, he didn't know how much longer he could cling to consciousness.

His abdomen felt like it was on fire, the witch's curse spreading at an alarming rate had Keith sprawled out on the floor of the blue lion, clearly in no state to pilot his own.

He was hardly able to shift in time to send acid bile running up his throat and onto the floor. He moaned, feeling his eyelids droop as he collapsed back onto the floor, the action itself sending another low moan of pain echoing through the cockpit.

"Don't you dare close your eyes."

Keith squinted the back open again, a low whine of pain running past his lips and Shiro's already worried expression grew even more worried. Keith wasn't doing good at all, and he appeared to be getting worse as the seconds ticked by. Blood spattered his white paladin armor staining it a deep shade of red. The gaping wound in Keith's middle sent Shiro's own stomach doing backflips as he tried to keep the bleeding at bay, but blood was rushing past his fingers, collecting on the floor around him, making Shiro's knees sticky. Deep red rivets were running along the corners of Keith's mouth standing out in bright contrast against chalky white skin, violet eyes barely staying open as he struggled for breath, each one, at least in Shiro's ears, sounding weaker than his last.

Shiro looked back up at Lance who was currently pushing poor Blue to her limits, hunched over the controls like he was driving in a race, which, in a cruel twist of thought, he was. Lance was racing against time, and losing. "Lance, how much longer?"

"Five more minutes, Shiro, and Blue can't go any faster, I'm so sorry!" The Blue paladin himself felt like he was going to break down and cry, and he would have if it wasn't for him being the one who was piloting them all to safety.

But he knew that this whole thing was his fault.

He just had to go against Shiro's orders and check things out, the base they had conquered only had a handful of threats left hiding away, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that he would be alright and handle any situation by himself.

Bullshit.

The next thing he knew, Haggar had Lance in a death grip, preparing to hit him with a spell that would end his life...

...until Keith jumped in the way of the blast, taking the blow for himself.

He had been so stupid thinking that he could handle it, that was why he didn't call for back up, because he thought he didn't need to.

But now he had to deal with the consequences.

Had to deal with the panic.

Pain.

Terror.

And Lance can swear, he'll never forget his Keith's scream that ran through the room as the blast made contact with his skin.