Keith paced back and forth in his bedroom. He hated going out of his room now. It had been 4 quintents since Lance had gone missing. The castle felt... empty. Nobody was themselves. Pidge was glued to a screen at all hours of the day, searching for any scraps of information she could find. Hunk probably took it harder than anyone. He usually sat in the kitchen, not cooking or eating like he used to; just sitting. It was creepy. Shiro was usually training, seeming to take his frustration out through the physical exertion. Keith would usually train with him, but he couldn't take it anymore.
It was just too quiet.
He sat on his bed, curling himself into a ball.
The silence was deafening. He smirked to himself, amazed that he could actually miss Lance's obnoxious comments. Lance's ridiculous jokes. His lame pick-up lines. His stupid laugh.
He felt a tear run down his cheek.
"Quiznak," he muttered, rubbing the tears from his eyes. What was wrong with him? He didn't cry, especially not over LANCE of all people. He didn't even LIKE Lance. Always in the way, whining about one thing or another. He was like a child.
Keith sighed, rolling onto his back.
This room was suffocating. The very walls seemed to be closing in on him.
Keith knew it was his fault Lance was gone. He was the one who let the stupid Galra onto the ship. He was the one who opened the freaking front door, just inviting all their enemies to come aboard. He wanted to scream, throw something, anything.
Instead, he stood up abruptly. He had to get out of that room. Stepping into the hallway, he took a deep breath.
His eyes fell on Lance's door. He knew the room was empty, but... he felt himself walking towards it. The door slid open, and before he knew it, he was standing in Lance's room. A sharp pain hit his chest as he looked around the abandoned room. His eyes fell to the pair of headphones lying on the cold floor. Slowly he reached down, scooping them into his hands. Tentatively, he placed them around his ears. Lance's music was still playing.
Keith sunk to the floor of the room, eyes glazed over. The soft, melodic music flowed through his body, filling every inch of him with warmth. Tears dropped into his lap unheeded as he curled onto the floor.
Keith finally could admit something to himself: He missed Lance.
---
The door to his cell swung open. Lance cried out, the bright light blinding him. Rough hands pulled him out of the dark cell, dropping him to the hard ground.
The soldiers yanked him to his feet, and he stumbled. His legs felt like jelly. Half escorting him and half carrying him, the soldiers shoved him along the hall.
Lance opened his eyes slowly. It still hurt. On both sides of the hall, he could see cells like his own. Crying and screaming filled the air as they walked by. Lance shuddered, turning away from the desperate sounds.
A door opened in front of them, and the guards threw him in unceremoniously. Lance weakly lifted himself off the ground. His arms shook, and his stomach tightened. One meal a quintent wasn't much.
"Ah, the blue paladin." Lance turned to the source of the voice, anger burning in his eyes. Haggar.
"I've waited for this moment," she hissed, stepping behind him.
"Yeah, well, so have I," Lance growled. He swung a leg behind him, knocking her over in one fell swoop. She grunted, surprised, collapsing to the ground. Lance forced himself to his feet, stumbling to the door. It slid open, and the two guards turned in surprise.
"Grab him!" Haggar shouted, her voice hoarse and sick sounding. Lance swung a fist at the first guard, but his swing was blocked easily. Grunting, he shoved the sentry into the second guard. Stumbling to his feet, he took a single step down the hall. Blackness crept from the edges of his vision, and he slid slowly to the floor.
Not now, he thought to himself. A single tear slipped from his eye as he curled onto the floor.
Darkness took him once again.
(687 words)