Word Count: 2,345
"What? Keith?" Lance said from behind me, I heard him come to my side, his eyes focusing on the dark corner.
Lance's eyesight must've been better than mine because a second later I heard Lance suck in a breath beside me, his eyes wide. "What are you doing out here, man? You're gonna be seen." He said in a low tone, quiet enough for the others not to hear us.
"I know," I heard Keith say, his voice sounded funny, probably trying to speak past the fangs that were now in his mouth, "but I need to talk to Shiro."
Lance raised an eyebrow, not getting why Keith needed the black paladin so badly that he would risk sneaking out of his room and being seen by the others. "Why Shiro?"
"Lance, please." I heard Keith say, most likely between clenched teeth.
Lance shrugged, eyeing Keith worrisomely before finally walking away from us to get Shiro.
Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark corner, I could tell that Keith was now full Galra, both of his eyes were now a solid yellow, his ears were on the top of his head reminding me a bit like a cat. I knew he was now a light shade of purple, covered in fur, but I couldn't yet see that detail with my eyes, it was too dark for that.
His eyes were downcast, staring at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with me. Of course, I didn't blame him.
"Do you want to go out in the hallway?" I quietly asked.
"Yeah."
I walked slow, giving Keith enough time to walk beside me against the wall, my body covering him while we slipped out of the room past Coran who still had his head under the console closest to us working on who the heck knew what.
Now that we were out in the hall, I could tell that I had been right.
Keith hadn't yet retrieved his jacket, standing there with his dark grey t-shirt on I knew he felt exposed. His purple arms were crossed as if trying to keep himself warm, his black hair was now a dark lilac, his light purple ears sticking out from the mess, and if I looked hard enough, I could see the tips of fangs sticking out from under Keith's lips.
In the awkward silence between us, I bit down on my tongue hard enough to draw blood. That's how hard it was to keep myself from running away screaming. Or from attacking him, I couldn't decide which one I felt more at that moment, they were two feelings fighting for dominance in my head.
But I knew deep down that this was still Keith, Galra blood or not. I forced a deep breath through my nose.
We both turned to the opening and closing of the door behind us, Keith's ears going up at the sound, but slowly dropping back down afterward. I looked up to see Lance and a stunned Shiro, staring at Keith like he was some kind of alien.
Well, he kinda was.
"Keith?"
His ears perked at his brother's voice and he finally looked up to look him in the eyes, but he didn't say anything. Yet.
"Shiro, did you know about this?" I asked, not wanting to swing my hand in Keith's direction like he was some kind of object and not a person. He's had enough of people treating him different already; I wasn't going to do it to him again.
Shiro took a deep breath, grabbing the bridge of his nose like he was trying to find the right words to begin with. "Lance, could you leave us?"
Keith was shaking his head before his brother even finished speaking. "No, he can stay, they'll all find out soon enough anyway." His voice was small.
Lance's brows furrowed. "Find out what?"
After a minute or two of neither boys saying a word beside shuffling their feet and suddenly taking an interest in the floor, I stepped in. "Keith and Shiro are brothers."
The Cuban's eyes widened, looking between Keith and Shiro at a rapid pace. "Brothers? Like actual, related brothers? Blood brothers?"
The two looked like they wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor at that exact moment.
"Look, can we take this conversation somewhere else? Allura's going to think something's up in a few minutes." Shiro uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes going to the closed door a few feet away from us.
We all nodded, turning and following Shiro through the short walk down the halls to his room.
It wasn't crowded at all, actually, it was pretty simple. A stark contrast from Hunk and Pidge's rooms. The bed was neatly made, a lonely dresser was shoved into one corner, a single piece of paper sat on the dresser, face down, but it was otherwise bare of any possessions.
Lance, Shiro, and I took a seat on the bed, Keith, choosing to remain standing, leaned against a corner of the room closest to the door, his yellow eyes never leaving Shiro who now looked like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin.
The black paladin took a deep breath. "I don't even know where to start."
"How about from the beginning?" Keith said, I could tell that there was a hint of impatience in his tone.
Shiro looked up at his younger brother, then back down again, struggling to get the right words out of his mouth.
"I was seven, maybe eight when mom died. Dad was beyond heartbroken when he lost her, he somehow managed to keep up his job, but it was all without purpose, like he was just doing it because he had to. But all of that changed when your mother showed up on our doorstep."
Keith shifted his position a bit, his ears perking us just slightly, clearly surprised that Shiro was going to explain his mother and if I had to guess, he didn't have any memory of the motherly figure in his life, which would explain a lot.
Shiro stopped, putting his head in his hands, continuing the story, his voice slightly muffled but still loud enough for the figures in the room to hear him. "She had said that she was in some kind of trouble, being chased by, something, and I guess dad just had pity on her, and he wanted to have a life again so he let her stay, not really surprised at how different she was from the rest of us, she was unlike anything I had ever seen on earth."
"She was Galra?" Lance gently asked, curious.
Shiro looked up at Keith, the same question in his yellow eyes clearly evident.
"Yeah, yes she was." His brown eyes dipped to the floor again.
I saw Keith stiffen out of the corner of my eye.
"The next thing I knew I was being told that I would have a baby brother." His hands reached out as if to grasp something. "I got to hold you in my arms for the first time and before, all I was wondering was if you were going to be different, like her, and if you were, I knew I was going to hate it. But you weren't. Keith, you were the most normal looking baby I had ever seen and I promised myself two things that day when I first saw you, one, that I would be the best big brother to you that there ever was, and two, that I wouldn't poke fun or treat you differently because of your background.
His hands fell back to holding his face and Shiro continued.
"Then one day your mom disappeared. Two years after you were born, she vanished without a trace and then-"
He swallowed, seeming to sink deeper into himself. "And then dad left without a word, I didn't know what to do, Keith, I was only ten, I-" He took a shuddering breath.
"I somehow kept us both alive, living off of food I could steal and later jobs that I could find here and there. I made myself promise to not tell you about who you really were, I thought that if I could hide fact from both of us that we would be just fine.
"When the Garrison came around, I knew that I had to find a steadier job, one that didn't have me only working what I could and then moving on to the next available one. I was excited when I realized that I could actually do something, that I could actually build a future for us instead of wondering from place to place, not knowing where my next paycheck was coming from."
I had never seen Shiro so upset with himself and something told me Lance and Keith hadn't ever seen him this way either. Some part of me wanted to reach out and comfort him, but I held back and listened to what he was going to say next.
Shiro remained silent for the longest time, and then Keith finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "The Kerberos."
Shiro visibly flinched.
"You didn't tell me about the mission, why?"
"Because." Shiro's sigh was heavy as he looked up, meeting Keith in the eyes. "Because I thought that I could change Iversion's mind. Keith, I didn't mean to leave you, I promise, I just couldn't find it in me to tell you that. What? You'd be out on your own for months without someone to look after you?"
"But you could've at least told me the truth, Shiro. I would've listened to you; I can take care of myself."
Shiro shook his head. "And you getting yourself pulled out of Garrison is taking care of yourself? Keith, I know it's my fault that you were kicked out, if only I had-"
"Stop." Keith suddenly pushed himself off the wall into a standing position, a hint of anger in his tone, his hands now clenched at his sides.
Shiro looked up, confused by Keith's sudden tone of voice. "Stop what?"
"Stop beating yourself up over this, it's in the past, Shiro, we're both still alive and that's nothing to be worried about."
"But."
"I know you don't need anything more on your plate." He continued, not at all paying attention to his brother as he took a moment, taking in a deep breath and letting it all out suddenly along with the rest of his sentence, "So I'm going to tell them as soon as we walk back."
"Keith," Shiro said, standing up from where he was seated on the bed, "are you sure you want to? We can figure this out without telling the others-"
"And what am I going to do? Lock myself in my room for the rest of my life? Live in my suit? Because you and I both know that there's a slim chance of us ever going back home."
I felt Lance stiffen beside me.
"I'm going to tell them." Keith said, firmer this time, almost on a growl, and without another word he walked out the door, Shiro getting up suddenly from the bed, exiting the room to follow Keith into the hall.
"Sure, forget the mind-boggled bystander, that's fine." Lance mumbled, standing up and absentmindedly stretching.
"Just, try to keep this secret quiet okay, Lance?" I said, standing up, being the last person to exit the room, looking ahead I saw Keith and Shiro further up in the hall.
"How can I just forget a thing like that? I find out all in one day that Keith's part Galra, he's related to Shiro, and my lifelong hero beats himself up over what he did in his childhood!"
"You knew Keith was at least part Galra when you first saw him, Lance." I deadpanned.
"Yeah, well, I'm just fully realizing it now!" He said, defending himself, then suddenly tapping his chin in thought. "Should I start calling him Furry?"
I groaned. "Seriously? Furry?"
"Yeah, I mean, he's kinda furry now, isn't he? I think-"
As Lance started to run his mouth on random things I looked ahead, letting my own brain run circles on what had just happened. Shiro's talk made me pity the black paladin. He was forced to grow up at such a young age taking care of his brother and himself after being abandoned by their father when Keith's mom disappeared. He had to take care and provide for someone who he knew was only part human. Keith never knowing his mother or his Galra heritage until now.
I hated to admit it, but knowing Keith's past helped me to feel a little better about my own, knowing that he had grown up with no parents, at least none that he could remember.
"Hey, 'cira?" Lance broke off of his mind rambling to look over at me, clearly noticing that I was no longer paying attention to him anymore.
"What?" I asked, still staring ahead at the duo in front of us. Still not really paying attention to the blue paladin.
"Do you think we'll ever get back home?"
His question caught me off guard and I looked over at him surprised at his softer tone, he wasn't just throwing it out there to get my attention, he was serious.
"I mean, we have to go back sometime, right?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck at my surprised expression as I finally turned to him.
"Sure." I looked back ahead of me and shrugged, getting my surprise in check. "I mean, I would think so."
"So, you don't think we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives?"
I looked over at him, lifting my head a little because he was taller than me. "No, we'll be able to go home soon, Lance, I'm sure of it." I smiled at him softly.
He smiled back, seemingly satisfied with my answer.
My head suddenly jerked up when a scream rang through the castle.
...
*repeatedly bangs head on table*