VOLTRON ONE-SHOTS

Keith - Beyond

Word Count: 2,021

Unfinished, but I don't want it to just sit and rot..

...

War.

It wasn't as easy as they seemed to make it in the movies that Keith would watch with Shiro before this whole chaotic mess even happened.

War wasn't clean, it wasn't split up into sections of people sitting behind tables plotting their every move, before they even took that first step. Where even was the time for that in the real thing? Keith wasn't sure he could even go back to that, sitting down to watch some over the top, war-styled movie without think of everything real he's been through up until this point.

The cape pinned loosely to his shoulders swayed lightly as the air conditioning kicked on in the room, and Keith blinked as he continued to look out over the Garrison property crossing his arms tighter over his chest.

But the war, this one at least, was over, and he honestly wasn't sure what to think now.

Hard wasn't a strong enough word to describe their final fight with the Galra, Keith remembered every single time in that fight alone that he almost came face-to-face with death only to be pulled away again to continue fighting, and there were even some times that death seemed like a much better option, that way he could be sure the team would be safe.

From him and other things.

It was a ferocity that only the witch could manage to pull off in leading an entire colony of Alteans to their destruction.

Nobody had expected the army of Alteans to come flooding over the Earth only weeks after their battle with Sendak and the massive robeast no one still had a name for. Keith had to admit, he was still recovering after that blast, it only made sense since the black lion seemed to be closer than any of the other lions, and a part of Keith was glad it had been him instead of any of the other paladins, he didn't want anyone to get hurt after an idea that was clearly his in the first place, even if everyone else had agreed with it.

Krolia had managed to pull him aside the moment Keith was finally able to at least walk around his room without falling over, just to question the second decision that almost got everyone killed in the process, and she wasn't exactly wrong. Now that he had time there were more than one option to prevent that explosion, it didn't have to end with all five of them laying in a hospital bed.

Instead of recovering, they could have been preparing for the final wave of battle that they all knew had to be coming.

Allura was the most distraught when she found out that Haggar was intentionally putting her entire race against her, Allura had more of a right than anyone to refuse to fight, and Keith was honestly surprised that she chose to continue after finding out.

After what felt like days of trying to push the Ateans off Earth while still trying to evacuate as many people as possible out of the way of the battle, Keith had finally slipped up.

He had gotten too close to Haggar's grasp, and, as a result, he was taken hostage, and Haggar had wasted no time to start to play with Keith's Galra heritage.

He looked down at his hands clenched in fists on the windowsill, his fingers were an array of purple and pale skin, a sick patchwork that continued to grow and spread as the days continued to pass and would eventually complete itself over time. His tongue slid over his sharpened canines, at the same time, his eyes slid up to meet his own gaze staring back at him through the reflection of the window.

The patchwork continued up his face, a large portion of his skin already a light shade of violet.

Eventually, Lance had rallied together a plan to get Keith out, he almost died in the process, and Keith did scold him for it later, but Keith had been secretly happy that the red paladin had been able to save him from that battle cruiser, because Keith was sure that he wouldn't have made it much longer if they hadn't busted in there to save him when they did.