Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started out one morning with Keith giving him the cold shoulder. Lance didn't know what the fuck he did wrong. Sure, he had been a little more aggressive towards Keith lately but hey, they were both alphas and rivals so it was to be expected, right?

What he didn't expect was Keith utterly avoiding him. Every time he would walk in a room, Keith would make up some excuse to leave. If he asked to train with him Keith would suddenly pretend he didn't feel well and go sulk in his room, like he did today.

"The fuck is his problem?" Lance grumbled, crossing his arms and stalking out of the training room behind hunk.

Hunk gave him a sympathetic look, and shook his head. "I don't know buddy, he's just really weird lately I guess. You know he started hoarding food in his room? Like seriously, if he wants more he can just ask he doesn't have to be so secretive about everything."

Lance hummed in reply, his mind distracted, that he didn't even notice he almost walked into Pidge.
"Hey! Watch where you're going numbskull!" The beta growled, sidestepping Lance to reach for the various circuits they had dropped in their rush to protect their tech from a dastardly collision.

"Sorry Pidge, guess I'm just kinda distracted is all."

Pidge glanced at Lance, and then Hunk, raising their brows with a silent question, a slight smirk playing on their lips when Hunk nodded.

"This distraction wouldn't happen to be a tiny mullet-haired man, would it?"

Lance sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, entering the common room and slumping onto a couch. "I just don't know what's wrong Pidge, it's like everything he does lately is just putting me on edge! One second I'm fine and then I see him over with you guys and I'm pushing him away! I'm not an aggressive alpha Pidge! I don't know what's going on!"

Pidge frowned, pondering over it for a moment. They knew exactly what Lance was talking about. This morning Pidge had been showing Keith some cool new tech, and he seemed to be really interested, laughing at Pidge's jokes and everything. Yeah, Keith had definitely changed the past few months, but it was a good change. He was finally opening up more and spending time with the team, he wasn't just the lone alpha anymore, he was a part of their pack. Something definitely was different this morning though, that Pidge could tell. It was almost like Keith was holding himself back, like he wasn't allowing himself to touch anyone or interact with them much. Pidge suddenly remembered how Keith had smelled that morning. Still alpha, but like something was below it.

"Come to think of it, Keith did smell kinda off today? I mean, you're really aggressive with him Lance, maybe he's going into rut and your hormones are kicking in?"

Lance opened his mouth to argue, then closed it, then opened it again. "That.. actually makes sense. I'm just protective of you guys so I push him away since he's another alpha."

"Yeah, but try and control yourself a little, okay Lance? Keith is tough, but it'll start to wear on him, and it's not his fault you know." Pidge pushed their glasses up and tinkered with some wires, seemingly done with the conversation. They knew there was more to this, but they picked up some stuff from olkarion that they still hadn't figured out the mechanisms of and it was eating them alive.

Lance smiled, happy that this was only temporary and that soon he'd be back to his regular, laid back self and he and Keith could just go back to being friends. "Thanks Pidge, and yeah, I will, I know Keith's no threat and you guys aren't in danger."

"Yeah no offense dude, but Pidge could probably kill you in your sleep and make it look like the mice did it." Hunk replied nonchalantly, poking at one of Pidge's creations before he was swatted away.

The alpha laughed, though he knew what hunk was saying wasn't a joke and that Pidge very well could kill all of them. They wouldn't, but they easily could. "None taken, I know it's true and that's why I never get on Pidge's bad side."

Pidge grinned at that, looking slightly murderous, and Lance shuddered in fear. "Don't worry Lance, if it's too much for him I'll let you know. He'll be fine, just grumpier than usual."

Lance sighed for a moment. "I know. Thanks Pidge, really." He said before going to his room to listen to some music and wind down before dinner.

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Dinner that night was awkward. Keith was staring at his food and barely looking at Lance, while Shiro was glaring at him and stabbing his pasta like he wished it was Lance.

He knew something was up between them. Shiro didn't know what was going on but he knew his brother was quiet and avoiding everyone and he most definitely did not like that. After he disappeared, he had heard Keith had lived alone, in the desert, for an entire year. An entire year. God, did Shiro feel bad about that.

Keith had chosen to hide his dynamic at the garrison. It wasn't safe there for omegas, and Keith was the only one there in the past five years. Shiro knew, because he had been a student, and then he was teaching there. What he didn't realize was that Keith had also chosen to keep his dynamic hidden from the team as well, and when he did find out, he lost it.

"Hey Keith, pass me the salt?" Lance asked, beginning to reach for it himself but even with his gangly limbs, he couldn't quite reach it. Keith jumped in his seat and practically threw the salt at his face, before making yet another excuse to leave and cut dinner short.

Lance frowned and stared at Keith's plate. He had barely touched his food, yet again and Lance was beginning to get worried.

Hunk was nearly in tears as he stared at the uneaten food. He provided for the pack through his cooking and it gave him great joy when someone complimented him on it. This was like a slap in the face to him. "W-was there something wrong with it?" Hunk whimpered, and Lance nearly jumped out of his seat to go and punch Keith for making hunk feel bad. Instead he sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"No buddy, your cooking is amazing Keith is just being an emo fuck." He replied, patting his friend's back comfortingly.

"Did he look sick to any of you? Like he was sweating and pale and yeah, Keith's pale, but not that pale." Pidge voiced their thoughts aloud and everyone but Shiro hummed in agreement. Pidge looked to him expectantly. "Is something wrong with Keith, Shiro?"

Shiro sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "I don't know, and he won't tell me anything. He hasn't even been training lately. This isn't like him I'm seriously worried."

And with that silence fell on the room. It was one thing for Shiro to admit he didn't know what was wrong, but another thing for him to admit he was worried. Shiro was never worried, or at least didn't show it. For Shiro to say that, well, it scared Lance, to say the very least.

"God I hope he's okay. I don't hate him, you know." Lance stated, slumping further in his seat.

Shiro's jaw dropped, and he just stared at Lance before snapping it closed with a glare. "Well you sure could've fooled me! Do you know how bad he feels when you yell at him Lance?!" Shiro yelled, posture reverting to it's 'I'm angry as hell don't even answer me' pose.

Lance cringed and opened his mouth to say something but Shiro slammed a hand down on the table as he stood up, effectively cutting off his response.

"I'm going to go check on him, don't follow me." He practically growled the sentence and pushed his chair back sharply, the material scraping on the floors.

He could deal with Lance later. Right now, he had to make sure his little brother was okay.

Chapter Text

Shiro cornered Keith after dinner. He demanded to know what was wrong, but Keith brushed him off and told him there was nothing to worry about. Shiro knew his brother. He knew when his brother lied. The shifting and refusing to meet his gaze told him that his odd behavior was most definitely something to worry about. Keith was pale, he looked sick, and his arm was shaking as he touched Shiro's shoulder before turning around to head into his room.

Shiro stayed in place until the door shut. He slowly crept over to the door, careful to keep his scent in check and make sure Keith didn't know he was there. He heard a groan, and inwardly face-palmed, his suspicions that Keith was hiding his pain was confirmed, though what the pain was from he didn't know.

He was about to leave and go back to his room to think when he heard a rattling sound. Shiro knew that sound. Pills? Why the hell would Keith need pills? Unless he really was seriously sick, and hiding it from the team. Shiro shuddered at the thought and slammed his good hand on the control panel, pushing his way through the half open doors.

Keith's mouth gaped and he struggled to say something as the pill bottle dropped to the floor. Shiro was across the room in two strides, swiping the pill bottle off the ground before Keith could hide it. His heart dropped when he read the label.

Heat suppressants.

Keith was reaching for the pills as Shiro struggled to comprehend what he had just read. Keith. Keith was taking suppressants. A thing known to harm and even kill omegas. Shiro had thought Keith had come clean to the team. Shiro was wrong.

"What the fuck Keith?!? You can't just keep doing this!! You KNOW suppressants can permanently damage your system!" Shiro yelled, gripping the pills in his hand even tighter, holding them away from his younger brother and crushing the bottle in his anger.

Keith fumed and clenched his fists. He didn't need his brother to tell him he was fucking up his body, he felt the effects himself. "I know Shiro!! God, don't you think I know that?! I can't just stop Shiro you don't understand! What if it happens again?! I can't go through that Shiro, I can't I just- I can't. Lance already treats me like shit and he thinks I'm an alpha, Shiro, can you imagine what he'd be like if he knew?" Suddenly Keith was crying, curling in on himself and backing away, and Shiro finally understood.

He dropped the container of suppressants and quickly moved to his little brother, gathering him in his arms and shushing him softly. "Shhh Keith it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay I won't let that happen to you again I'm here I won't let anything happen to you."

Keith's sobs gradually quieted down to whimpers, and then sniffles, until his grip on Shiro's shoulder relaxed and his breaths grew even. "It's gonna be okay Keith, I don't like it but it's your decision, and I'll support you. Just promise me no more suppressants, okay?" Keith nodded and slowly pulled back from the hug, gritting his teeth as a feeling of sharp pain overcame him when he did. Shiro stared at him until it clicked. His brother hadn't had human contact for a year, believing his only family was dead. Shiro's eyes widened and he gripped Keith's shoulder as he slumped against him again.

"Keith. Are.. are you in a drop?"

When Keith nodded again Shiro squeezed him tight and picked him up, much to Keith's protests.

"Shiro I'm fine, okay?! You can put me dow-SHIRO WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!?! TASHI DONT YOU DARE!!" Keith yelled and pummeled his fists weakly, but to no avail. Takashi Shirogane was taking his younger brother to the med bay and that was that. Keith's fists didn't bother him at all. When normally they would be strong and painful to be hit by, it felt like raindrops on his shoulders, and he knew he had three things to do.

First, get Keith to the infirmary and explain to Coran what was going on.

Next, steal a shit ton of clothing and blankets from everyone and bring them back to the med bay for Keith to make a nest from. He knew Keith was definitely going to need a nest. After hiding this from the team for so long, the drop would only be worse. He had to hope to god Keith wouldn't go feral. Shiro would have to remember to ask Allura to lock the hangars.

Then he had two options. Somehow get Lance to apologize to Keith without letting him know the truth, or tell the entire team Keith's secret and betray his trust. He could decide later though.

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Coran smiled and turned around as he heard someone enter the medical center, where he was running maintenance to make sure everything was in tip-top shape and ready for use at a moments notice. "Hello number 1! What can I do for-" His sentence cut off and his smile morphed into a frown as he noticed the now passed out Keith on Shiro's shoulder. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, twirling his mustache thoughtfully as he surveyed the boy. He didn't seem to be bleeding, and had no visible injuries, but Shiro's face was grim as he shifted Keith around to hold him under his shoulders and knees.

"Coran, I don't know how to say this, but... Keith's in a drop." He stated, looking the older man in the eyes.

Coran gasped and quickly took Keith from his arms, rushing him to the biggest bed and closing the curtains around it. He turned back around to look at Shiro again. "Number five is an omega?" He asked, though it was more of a statement than an actual question. He had suspected something was up, but never something that drastic.

Shiro nodded. "He didn't want anyone to know. He had some... problems, at the Garrison, so he decided to hide it, apparently by using suppressants." Shiro spat the word out in anger. Just thinking about what had happened to him made his blood boil, and thinking about what could happen to him now made his stomach drop. "I don't know how long he's been like this but he passed out on the way here. He doesn't want anyone to know, but it's killing him Coran."

"Oh dear, I am so sorry to hear that. Don't worry Shiro, he'll be safe here." The altean stepped back into the curtained-off area, strapping a monitor to Keith's upper arm and turning it on, the machine picking up his heart rate and oxygen level. He read the numbers and shook his head. Why would the paladin hide something like this when it was obviously hurting him? He sighed and inserted a small IV, face falling even more when Keith made no sign as to feeling it. Alteans had dynamics like the Paladins. Coran himself was a Beta, and a nurse back on Altea before he became advisor to Alfor. He certainly had seen his fair share of omega patients, some even in a drop, but none this bad. He typed some commands into the monitor almost cried when he read the results. He had been hiding it for this long? Coran sighed and continued with the checkup, gradually feeling worse as Keith had no reaction or sign of awakening.

When he was done he closed the curtains with a frown. "It appears he has been in these stages for a few months. He could go feral at any moment. It does seem like it has progressed more rapidly in the past few days, however. Do you have any idea what brought this on?" He pushed Shiro back slightly as he reached out for his brother. He felt bad, but Coran knew that Keith needed a comforting presence, and as much as Shiro would be comforting, he was also a worried brother and his anxiety would rub off on Keith. He told Shiro as much with only his facial expressions, lips pursed together tightly.

Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to think about it, his little brother forgetting him and lashing out at everyone and everything. There was the possibility Keith would flee, and then he would hide away and it would be impossible to find him if he didn't want to be found. "I have.. an idea. Lance has been really aggressive towards Keith lately, and it's been taking its toll on him. He really- I mean- I.. Don't tell Keith I told you this but he's been in love with Lance since the Garrison." Shiro closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. God, he was going to kill Lance when this was all over.

Coran tsked and hummed as he thought. "So you are saying, he has affections for him and Lance has been pushing him away?" Shiro nodded. "Seeing as he is an omega, it is basically a rejection for him." Coran murmured, peering at the sleeping boy.

Shiro's jaw dropped and he face-palmed for real this time. "I am going to fucking kill Lance when this is over." He hissed through gritted teeth. He breathed in deeply, and then out. "Ok. So what do we do?"

~

Chapter Text

What he had to do consisted of stealing every article of clothing Lance owned, along with the entire teams' blankets and a few pillows. Yeah, he could do this. Sneak around and rob them blind without getting caught. Shiro could do that. He had already gotten through Hunk and Pidge's rooms, grabbing assorted sheets, an apron of Hunk's and a pillow from Pidge's room. He had them stashed away in his room, along with Keith's entire bed and the stuffed hippo had given him for his twelfth birthday. Keith had his jacket with him, so Shiro didn't have to worry about finding it in the bare void that was Keith's room. Seriously, how did he do it? Keith had practically nothing and yet he couldn't find anything. Shiro sighed and thought of the knife hidden in Keith's room. They knew Keith was galra, and that was fine. Shiro knew that Keith wasn't really his brother, but finding out about his heritage only made that all the more real.

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Shiro's parents had adopted Akira Kogane when he was sixteen years old and Keith was ten. He was quiet and shy, never speaking to him and it drove him mad. After yelling at the boy for awhile for not answering, his mother took him aside and calmly explained to him why he acted that way. Keith had gone through two orphanages and twenty different foster homes before the age of six, each more horrible than the last. His mother spared him the details, but he could guess what she meant. Suddenly, the scars made sense. Suddenly, he had an overwhelming urge to protect.

He sat down next to Keith carefully, crossing his legs and making sure to give the dark haired boy some space. "I'm sorry, Keith. I didn't know." He sighed, running a hand through his hair and staring at the ground. Now he felt like a bad guy.

Keith turned his body slightly, looking up at Shiro's towering frame before shrugging. " 'S'kay." He answered, before going back to fiddling with his knife. The Shiroganes had learned early on not to mess with that knife. Little Keith may have been an omega, but damn he was strong. "What's with that thing, anyways?" He asked, hoping to come off nonchalant. He expected Keith to brush him off, maybe not answer him at all. What he didn't expect was for him to start sniffling and curl in on himself, tugging his too-big cropped jacket tighter around his shoulders.

Shiro leaned in instinctively, moving to hug the small boy before he could stop himself and think. Keith tensed under the touch, breathing quickening and Shiro quickly withdrew, settling for a firm grip on his shoulder that was hopefully non-threatening. Keith seemed to relax at that, and Shiro filed the information away. Keith liked affection, but he wasn't sure how to receive it.

"It-it was my mother's." The raven answered, leaning into the touch slightly.

"Tell me about her?" He phrases this more as a question than a demand, careful not to upset him anymore. Keith nodded and started speaking about her, about how she give the best hugs when he felt sad, or make the best nest, or how she would take him to the zoo sometimes and let him gawk at the hippos there for as long as wanted. He moved his hands around when he spoke about hippos, and he was rattling off facts about them like how they could live up to forty years, sleep underwater, and run 19mph on land and jesus that did not freak him the fuck out.

Suddenly Keith stopped talking, and dropped his hands into his lap. "Sorry, I must be bothering you." He whispered sadly and nope, nope, Shiro was NOT gonna have that, not when Keith actually looked genuinely happy for the first time in the three months since the Shiroganes had adopted him. "No!" He yelled out, both of them wincing at his loud volume. Shiro tried again, making sure to keep his voice in check. "I mean, no, you're not bothering me, it's actually pretty cool how much you know about hippos."

"Re-really?" Keith hiccuped and Shiro nodded again. Suddenly Keith was launching himself at him, and bony arms wrapped around his waist tightly. "Thank you." Keith murmured and Shiro's heart broke and grew three sizes all at the same damn time.

Shiro smiled at the memory, before returning to Keith's room to grab the knife. That was the first time Keith ever opened up to him, and the day that Shiro vowed to protect Keith, and kill anyone who harmed him. Seeing as that someone harming Keith now was Keith himself, Shiro didn't know what to do. He knew there was chance of Keith never forgiving him if he told the team, but he also knew that Keith would only get worse if he continued to hide it. Shiro made his decision.

With a sigh he deposited Keith's knife in his room, along with all the other Paladin's things. He felt bad for stealing from them, but he also didn't because Keith needed it. He walked the short distance from his room to Lance's, the door sliding open and allowing him in. He immediately busied himself with stripping Lance's bed, tucking the pillows under his arms as he looked for something else, before his eyes landed on it. Lance's coat. He grinned before picking it up and putting it on top of the pile of other things before gathering more. Lance wouldn't miss it that much, and it's not like he would caught, right?

"Shiro, what the fuck are you doing in my room? And why the hell do you have my jacket?"

Chapter Text

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Shiro provided eloquently to the confused and slightly pissed off Lance, who had come back to grab his forgotten sweatshirt, only to find a wild Shiro lurking in his bedroom.

Lance looked around the slightly darkened room and his eyes widened as he took in the mess. "Shiro?? What the fuck???" He asked, more confused than irritated now because there was literally no reason he could think of as to why Shiro was standing in his decimated room with arms full of his clothing and blankets.

Shiro sighed and shifted the bundle from both arms to just one, running his free arm through his hair in resignation. He had to tell Lance, even if it meant Keith hated him. There was a brief pause before he looked to Lance and pointed at another pile of extra blankets. "Pick those up and I'll show you." He answered, halfway through the door before Lance could respond. He honestly didn't care what Lance thought at this point. Shiro knew it wasn't fair to blame Lance for something he didn't even know about, but he was a protective big brother and had the overwhelming need to crush anything and anyone that even looked at his brother wrong. He had avoided crushing Lance though, mostly because Keith would be sad if he did, but also because deep down, he knew Lance was a good kid. Sure he could be annoying and flirted shamelessly, but like Keith said, he really did hold the team together. Shiro made sure to remember to apologize to Lance when this whole shit show was over. Shiro looked back to see Lance following him to the infirmary.

Lance still had no clue what was going on, but as they walked further and further away from the main rooms and closer to the infirmary, Lance was filled with a sense of dread. He had been looking for Keith earlier, him, and the whole team, but they came up with nothing. The look on Shiro's face could only be described as pure worry, and Lance was struck with the sudden thought of Keith actually being sick. They stopped in front of the door of the med bay. Well, more like Shiro stopped, and Lance had to perform a quick maneuver that would make his dance instructor proud in order to avoid running into him.

Lance peeked up over the mound of fabric he was holding and looked at Shiro questioningly. "Ok, so now can you explain why you have my stuff, and why we're at the med bay?" He questioned, lifting an eyebrow up as he waited for an answer.

Shiro sighed. It seemed like all he had been doing lately was sighing and contemplating his life. Keith probably wouldn't be happy with him, but he knew it was necessary to tell Lance the truth. He sat down and patted the spot next to him as he crossed his legs. He waited for Lance to sit down next to him before he opened his mouth to explain. "Keith isn't an alpha." He stated bluntly. Yeah great job Shiro, nice explanation.

Lance's confusion only grew and he furrowed his brow. "So he's what, a beta?" He asked, needing some sort of clarification. He didn't know what Keith actually being a beta had to do with the infirmary and a pile of his blankets. None of this made any sense.

Shiro purses his lips and shook his head slowly. Lance's brows furrowed even more and he squinted at Shiro as if that would make the information given to him make more sense. Suddenly his pupils were blown wide and his jaw gaped as he suddenly came to terms with it. Not an alpha. Not a beta. An omega.

"Wait YOU MEAN HE'S?!!??" He let the question hang in the air and Shiro nodded again.

"Oh my god I'm an idiot." He whispered to himself. Suddenly, everything made sense. His own aggressive behavior towards Keith was really his jealousy. This whole time he had been protective of Keith and he didn't even know. He knew he admired the mullet-haired boy, the shitty anime gloves and all. The time they were speaking to each other and actually friends, Lance had always felt like something was missing, like something was wrong. He had lashed out at Keith because of it, but now he finally understood what it was. He liked Keith. Enough to literally shove people away when they were too close to him, their close proximity making his blood boil. Lance liked Keith. Fuck, he liked Keith. All he could think between the constant stream of 'Keith's an omega Keith's an omega Keith's an omega' was a single sentence.

" I HAVE TO APOLOGIZE TO HIM!!"

Shiro winced, wishing for Lance to keep control of his volume so his screeching wouldn't bring the entire castle running to them. Unfortunately Shiro never got his wishes.

"Hey guys, what're you doing over here?" Pidge questioned, stopping at the door next to them with Hunk following shortly behind them.

Lance jumped up so fast he swore he got whiplash. "KEITH'S AN OMEGA." He blurted heedlessly.

Pidge's reaction was much more restrained, and they only blinked a few times before answering. "Yeah that makes sense I guess. He's always been pretty cuddly, even if never lets himself join in on our movie nights. I'd be more surprised if he really was an alpha."

"Wait YOU KNEW?!?!" Lance screeched and that had both them and Shiro wincing. They shook their head and fiddled with bracelet on their wrist. "No, not exactly, but I suspected he wasn't an alpha. I thought he was just a beta, but I guess not." They stated and looked to Hunk behind them.

Hunk, Hunk was going through the five stages of grief behind the rest of them. His face contorted into confusion as he tried to process the information. There was no way Keith was actually an omega, right? But something always did smell off about him, and he did hoard hunk's food. He always was quiet and withdrawn, not at all like the typical boisterous and aggressive alpha. The more Hunk thought about it, the more it made sense. But why would Keith hide that from them?! They were a team! A pack! And pack never hid things from other pack members!

"W-why would he hide that from us? We wouldn't have ever hurt him." He whispered, closing his eyes as he tried to come up with reasons as to why Keith would do that.

Pidge looked to Lance, and Lance looked to Shiro. He startled under their gaze, but his shoulders slumped as he knew he would have to say something. "Keith he's... been through a lot. It's not my place to tell you what happened, but he was hiding it at the Garrison, too." Shiro mumbled sadly.

"So what, he's just hiding in the infirmary to avoid us?" Pidge growled under their breath, uncrossing their arms and making the last few steps to the door. "I'm going to talk to him." They muttered through gritted teeth. Keith couldn't just keep a secret from them like this, especially when it was one that affected the whole team. That wasn't pack way.

"Pidge, wait!" Shiro yelled, scrambling to get up and stop them, but it was too late.

The door slid open and they all saw the wreckage. The curtains separating Keith's bed from the rest of the infirmary were torn, and one lay shredded on the floor. Multiple machines were lying in pieces on the ground, and Coran was attempting to coax a hissing and growling Keith out from behind an overturned table.

Pidge's eyes widened and they stopped inside the doorway. Lance and Hunk were behind them, holding their breath. Shiro's heart plummeted.

"He's..." Pidge breathed. Lance finished the sentence, voice barely above a whisper.

"Feral."

Chapter Text

The sound of the door to the medbay opening had Coran whipping around, hands in the air as he dropped the blanket he had been trying to drop over Keith to calm him down.

As he got a good look at the intruders, the altean slowly backed away from Keith, a relieved sigh escaping his lips as the omega visibly relaxed. Without the stress of being cornered, his scent was beginning to clear, no longer tainted with the sour smell of agony and fear.

Coran carefully ran to the door, strides long but quiet, afraid of setting Keith off again. He really hadn't meant to do it, but Coran did have to check the Paladin's vitals again as he waited for Shiro to return with suitable nesting materials. Of course, that was the very moment that Keith had woken up. The sensation of a needle being jimmied around in his skin and the harsh scent of cleaning supplies had been too much for him, and he had immediately jerked away from the altean.

The sudden movement ripped the IV from his arm, and the pain combined with the confusion and loss of his brother had scared him. With his hormones already out of wack, the fear was enough to turn him to feral instincts, a repeated mantra of 'not safe not safe get out run not safe run' repeating in his head as he tore the curtain walls away from him. He knew that, logically, the altean beta would never purposely hurt him and he was fine, but his repressed hormones were too much and all logical thought was cut off.

When Keith had bolted, Coran had immediately followed, not thinking of how the omega may interpret that as him being chased. As he struggled to find an exit that was not barred by the beta, he became more and more frantic, and there were many, many mechanical casualties in the struggle between the two.

As Coran neared the exit, he glanced back to find the paladin curled into a ball, trembling with fear. His face softened for a bit before it hardened again as he turned to address the group of Paladins outside.

"Shiro?" The altean's eyebrows raised as he noticed Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were in the door way as well. "What's going on? I thought you were bringing back his nesting materials?"

Shiro frowned and turned to glare at the three other Paladins, though it held no true contempt, just disappointment and worry.

"I have them, but apparently I have acquired the rest of the pack as well."

Coran couldn't help but snort, raising a hand to hold against his mouth. "Well, it would appear you have. I don't think Keith would react well to all of you right now, so just hand me his things and we'll get him settled, all right?"

Shiro peeked around Coran to see his brother rocking back and forth, muttering to himself, though what he was saying he couldn't make out. Shiro's heart broke.

"Yeah, yeah I think-let's do that." He replied, handing Coran Keith's blankets and a pillow, as well as the stuffed hippo. He contemplated for a moment whether to give him the knife or not, but he knew that even though Keith may have been in a drop right now, giving him a weapon would not bear well for any of them. He slid the knife back into it's sheath and attached it to his hip, giving Coran a firm nod as he put his hand against the doors controls. The door slid shut and he turned around to address the three behind him.

Hunk had sat down, looking like a kicked puppy. Pidge was resembling a fish, their mouth opening and closing as they struggled to find something to say. And Lance? Lance just looked guilty.

Pidge finally got ahold of themselves and managed to mutter an "oh" before turning their eyes to the floor.

"Yeah." Shiro replied hesitantly, careful to keep his voice low, so as not to spook Keith again.

"We've... we've failed him as a pack, haven't we?" Lance said, turning his head to meet Shiro's eyes, though it pained him to see the fear and sadness reflected in them.

Shiro nodded, it was more like it was to himself, but it was all the answer they needed. "It's not completely your faults, though." Shiro looked up to the ceiling as he spoke, as if he was praying to, or cursing out some higher power. "I tried to get him to come clean, but I can't force him to do something he isn't comfortable with. We have to figure this out now."

Hunk stood up, a look of acceptance on his face as he readjusted his headband and closed his eyes for a brief second before opening them again. "What do we do?" He asked, firmly yet calmly.

Pidge mumbled something under their breath and Lance turned to them.

"What?"

"I said, we need to get him to feel safe again before we can do anything else. If we screw up he'll try to run, so we need to lock the exits." They crossed their arms and frowned in thought. "Hey Shiro? Do you know what set him off? If we can remove that he'll feel better and we might be able to get through to him."

Shiro frowned at that and restrained himself from pinching the bridge of his nose. He had already betrayed Keith by telling the paladins about his secondary gender, there was no way he was going to tell any of them about Keith being in love with Lance, especially not Lance. "I don't know Pidge. He won't tell me, but he's definitely in a drop." He responded nervously, refraining from engaging in his nervous tics, as much as he wanted to brush his hair floof around and fiddle with it. Keith would probably kick his ass for even doing this, he wasn't going to risk it. He just had to hope he wouldn't need a coffin when this was over.

Hunk narrowed his eyes at him and furrowed his brow, as if he could tell there was something Shiro wasn't telling them. Whatever, if it was important he would tell them, right?

Pidge studied the alpha for a minute, before deciding it was good enough. "I'm going to go lock the hangar doors, I'll be back in a bit." They murmured quietly before turning and walking down the hall, breaking out into a run as the gravity of the situation truly hit them.

Lance pursed his lips before excusing himself to go follow Pidge. “I’m gonna go help them with that.” He mumbled, awkwardly backing away to leave Hunk and Shiro alone.

Hunk steeled himself before looking at Shiro. “Hey Shiro? Can we talk?"

At this, Shiro looked surprised. Although honestly he shouldn't be, Hunk was the most observant of all of them. After all, he [i]had[/i] been the first one to voice his distrust of Nyma and Rolo, but they had chalked it up to his anxiety. Maybe they should start listening to him more...

Wait shit Hunk was speaking the entire time. Shiro shook his head to clear it and focused on listening to what Hunk was saying.

"So what I’m asking is, does Keith like Lance?"

Shiro blinked several times, his mouth gaping. "I uhhh, what uh— I" Hunk held a hand up to cut him off and resume speaking. "It's okay you don't have to say it, I figured Keith probably had you under some blood oath or something anyways, I just thought since Keith's in a drop and there's only a few things that can trigger that and Lance [i]has[/i] been really mean to Keith, although I don't know why since he’s basically in love with him-" At that Hunk caught off and slapped his hands over his mouth, his eyes widening with terror. He looked around, thankful that Lance wasn't nearby.

Shiro’s mouth gaped , he struggled to make any sort of noise in response to this jaw breaking revelation.

“Wait- you mean-“

Hunk hurriedly stepped forward, waving his hands around desperately trying to quiet him. “SHH! He might hear you, and if he hears you that means he’ll know I told you and I’ll be dead!” He whispered, looking behind his back once again, as if he expected He Who Shall Not Be Named to be right there behind him, creepily staring and plotting his death.

Lance, of course, was way too sweet to hurt anyone. That and Hunk was a literal ray of sunshine who you could never say anything bad about or face the wrath of the entirety of team Voltron. Once a Hunk Stan, always a Hunk Stan.

Shiro nodded his head in understanding, whispering his next words quietly. “They’re both oblivious idiots. Although, I can’t say much since I didn’t know Lance liked Keith back.”

“Tell me about it. I kept trying to drop hints to Keith secretly but Lance refuses to let me go near him.” Hunk responded, sighing in frustration as he relived the times that Lance had stuck himself between him and the omega to prevent him from telling him. Needless to say after that Lance was pissed, but Hunk really thought that it would be best if Keith knew.

Shiro snorted. “I tried to get Keith to tell him, you know what he said? ‘When I’m on my deathbed.’ They’re giving me grey hairs.”

Hunk doubled over laughing. “I can imagine him saying that! You know, for all we joke about Keith being the emo loner he’s just as dramatic as Lance.” Hunk mused enthusiastically, finding it nice to have some bonding time with Shiro, even under less than desirable circumstances. At the Garrison he was put on such a high pedestal he was untouchable. Meeting his and Lance’s childhood hero was amazing and confusing, seeing that Shiro wasn’t much different from the rest of them.

“I feel like I live in an anime sometimes, getting abducted by evil aliens and then fighting said evil aliens in giant semi sentient cat robots.”

Black purred in shiro’s head, startling him enough that he jumped a bit.

“You okay there Shiro?” Hunk asked, looking at the older man with concern.

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, laughing kind of uncomfortably. “I’m fine, black just caught me off guard for a second there. She’s been really moody since keith.. yeah.”

Hunk nodded, silently sharing in his concern and mulling over what to say.

“He’ll be fine, Shiro. We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure of it so we can get team oblivious together.” Hunk stepped forward, tentatively patting the older man on the back.

Shiro managed a smile, turning his head to stare at the door.

“Yeah... he’s gonna be fine.”

Chapter Text

Soft murmurs through the door slowly grew quieter, with the sound of footsteps slipping away. Coran sighed softly, closing his eyes and breathing. In 5, out 4. In 5, out 4. As he relaxed his frazzled nerves he opened his eyes, immediately noticing the boy in front of him had calmed down as well, sitting on the ground and blinking up at him curiously.

“Keith, are you here with me my boy?” A hesitant nod in reply.

Coran hummed to himself as he contemplated the situation. It seemed the young paladin had calmed down considerably and was beginning to come out of his feral state.

“Are you able to speak right now?” Coran asked tentatively, lowering himself down to the floor softly to show he was no threat to the omega in front of him. Keith opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. At that, he became increasingly more distressed, and Coran knew he had to put a stop to it before the boy worked himself into a Frenzy again. “No no, it’s alright number four, it’s quite normal for omegas coming out of a feral state to be unable to speak for a good while.”

Keith slumped at the words but hummed his recognition. He really didn’t plan to end up in a Frenzy and winced when he noticed the metallic carnage around them. I did that. Bad omega. He clenched his fists, the crescents of his nails digging into his skin and grounding him.

Coran observed with a sorrowful expression. It was obvious the Paladin was feeling guilty for the mess, but he didn’t blame him one bit. After all, the Altean knew omega behaviors like the back of his hand. That was why it was so surprising when it was revealed Keith was an omega.

“Can I tell you something, number four?”

Keith looked up, eyes wide as if he did not expect to be addressed with such a kind tone. He shifted, tending his shoulders on reflex before forcing himself to relax. This is Coran. Coran Coran the worm man, he’s not going to hurt you. Just calm down. He nodded stiffly, still unable to fully let down his guard while still technically Feral.

The Altean’s eyes softened, and he carefully extended an arm. When Keith made no move to escape it, he let it drop around the boy’s shoulders. “I had a son, back on Altea. He was a little bit like you, actually. Always running headlong into danger, brushing off our concerns for the next reckless adventure. I didn’t notice how much pain he was in until it was too late.”

Keith frowned, settling into the arm a bit more and opening his mouth. “What...what happened to him?” His voice cracked on the sentence, hoarse from his enraged and terrified growling earlier.

Coran smiled wistfully, tears forming in his eyes but refusing to shed. “He lost his life in the first siege of Altea, fighting against an old friend who had sided with Zarkon’s army. It was a senseless death. It could’ve been avoided if he had waited for the rest of the guard. He was too used to doing everything by himself and pushing everyone away.”

Coran suddenly removes his arm and turns, placing his hands in the shoulders of the boy in front of him. His face falls still, tone gravely serious. “Promise me, my boy, promise me you won’t do that.”

Keith’s eyes blow wide, bewildered by this calm and serious side of the man. He nods, wetting his lips before whispering “I promise.” though not really sure what he’s promising.

Coran nods, seeming satisfied with the answer and settles back down against the healing pod with him. He fiddled with his fingers, an old rusted ring on one that Keith had never noticed before.

“You have people who care for you here Keith. I am not an exception. I don’t want to see harm fall on you because you didn’t know that. You remind me of Lucien so much and I do not want to fail again, but you are more to me than just a replacement for him. Please, my boy, stop hurting yourself like this.”

Coran is only half aware of what he’s saying, lost in thought about the omega child of his that he failed to recognize the way he needed, and the omega child in front of him well on his way down the same path. The similarities between the two were stunning, but the differences were there. He had a chance this time.

Grunting with effort, the Altean heaves himself up and disappears from the omega’s line of sight for a few minutes before reappearing with a hefty pile of fabric. Keith’s eyes light up as he eyes the mound, and Coran’s mouth twitches with amusement.

“Well now number four, how would you like to build a nest?”

Chapter Text

When Lance returns hours later to the med bay from helping pidge with securing the castle, the last thing he expects to see when he opens the door is a smiling, giggling Keith, and Coran covered in a multitude of blankets and various articles of clothing. He barely holds back a giggle of his own as Coran stomps around, proclaiming he is now Keith’s protector and will smother anyone who dares hurt the Paladin with the weird, shiny piece of fabric that Lance still can’t figure out how it’s worn.

Shiro nudges Lance and he steps through the doorway, leaving the relieved brother room to barrel through the door and smother his younger brother with affection.

“Keith!!” Shiro flings himself at the omega and Keith blushes, obviously not expecting being caught in his joyful attitude. “Hi, Shiro.” He murmurs, grabbing a shirt and folding into the corner of the huge nest on the floor.

Shiro smiles, dampening his boisterous reaction, and lowers himself to the floor before slowly scooching over to the nest. “Hey, buddy. Can I come in?” At the nod of affirmation, he carefully crawls in, surpassing a smirk when he spots Lance’s jacket on the lap of the omega. “How are you doing Keith?”

Keith only burrows further into the nest, his embarrassment growing as he notices the others in the room. “I’m. Fine.” He grits out through clenched teeth. He turns his gaze on his brother, slightly angry and tinged with hurt. “You told them, didn’t you?”

At the lack of reply from Shiro, he pulls a blanket over his head and huffs. Shiro winces, before carefully putting a hand on his shoulder and nudging him. “Keith, please can you take that blanket off your head and talk to me?”

“No. You weren’t supposed to tell them! Now everyone knows how weak I am.” Keith suppresses his tears, grumbling sadly and trying to cover up further.

Shiro steeled himself at the words. “Akira Kogane you stop that right now. You are the strongest person I have ever met and I will let you talk bad about yourself over my dead body.”

Lance observes the exchange, glancing at Pidge and whispering “...Akira?” though they are just as perplexed as he and give a noncommittal shrug. Lance really wants to go comfort the omega, but hesitates. It’s kind of my fault in the first place he’s like this. What if I just make things worse?

As if sending his internal struggle, Hunk puts a strong, grounding hand on his shoulder and gives it a quick squeeze, jerking his head in the direction of Keith. Lance shakes his head and Hunk shifts his weight, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at him. Lance sighs and he slumps, looking at the gloomy paladin he’s been observing for years. Keith didn’t deserve to look like that. He didn’t deserve to feel like that.

He slowly walks over, smiling softly and hands out to show he wasn’t a threat when Shiro squints at him. He kneels at the edge of the nest, putting a light hand on the omega’s shoulder. “Keith..hey.” He whispers, as if afraid that speaking any louder will cause him to flee. Knowing Keith it possibly could.

“Keith, you’re not weak.” Keith sits up abruptly at Lance’s comment, pulling the blanket off of his head and leaving a case of bedhead. Cute. Keith is gaping now, and glaring at him in distrust.

“Oh, really? Well, I would’ve thought you thought that considering the way you’ve been acting the past week.” Keith hissed. Which, ouch, hurtful, but he didn’t blame him. He has been a bit of a dick lately. Even if he didn’t necessarily mean it, his actions had obviously hurt Keith and that wouldn’t be going away at the drop of a hat.

“That’s-“ Lance winced. “That’s, fair, all things considered. I’ve been really awful to you lately and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to I didn’t know what was going on. I just thought you were an alpha and I’m an alpha so I was just reacting to you being one or something but turns out I may kinda like you or something and I was just being protective because you’re an omega and all but that doesn’t excuse the way I acted-but anyways I’m getting off the point. You’re not weak Keith. You’re so strong. Like you could bench press me and never break a sweat.” Which is super hot. His brain supplies helpfully. “Also emotionally. You’ve dealt with a lot of stuff I could never dream of, like your parents and losing Shiro. And you were still the best guy in the Garrison!”

Pidge budges in at that, seeming to almost teleport when they sense an opening to comfort their big brother-like figure. “Yeah, not to mention you hid being an omega for so long! Not that I blame you or anything. Just that when I had to pretend to be a boy for a while it was really hard. So I know forcing down your omega instincts probably was shit.”

“Language, Pidge.” Shiro reminds the younger. They stick their tongue out at them in rebellion. “Oh shut it, space dad, I heard you had a few choice words when you were thieving from my room.”

Shiro gawks, staring at the all-knowing pidgeon with awe and a tiny bit of fear. “but- what? How? How did you?” He sputters.

Pidge grins evilly at him before pushing their glasses up their nose. “I have my ways.” They suddenly stop, seeing the mound of blankets next to them trembling. They let out a concerned trill, only momentarily embarrassed by the pup noise they made, before gently pulling the blanket off of the omega who had once again burrowed during their petty squabbles.

Keith looks up at them, before bursting into full-on laughter. “You-they-oh my god Shiro what did you even say? What was even bad enough for you to break your ‘I’m the adult here I must be the good example’ farce by swearing?” He laughed even harder, clutching his belly and near rolling with the laughter imaging his big brother finally being caught with his potty mouth.

“Booby traps!! Why the fuck do you have booby traps in your room Pidge!?” Shiro accuses with a glare, turning his wrath on his brother when he cackles even louder. “Oh no, you don’t!! I swear Keith I WILL tickle you!” Keith shuts you at that, looking thoroughly chagrined and Big Brothered™ enough that Shiro is satisfied he will cease his mockery. Though if the amused glint in his eye is anything to go by, it won’t be long before it will be brought up again.

“Reasons.” The gremlin mutters, suppressing the evil grin in favor of turning back to the omega. “Now move over you big oaf I want nest time.” They declared confidently. Being barely out of pup age they could get away with it and fought the urge to pump a fist in the air when Keith shifted, leaving room for them to climb in. They took the invite, burrowing in and latching onto the omega’s side before humming in contentment, a quiet pup purr filling the air.

Hunk watched in amazement at Keith’s acceptance of the affection, before moving closer to offer his own. “Hey, Keith.” He murmurs, waiting for his attention to turn to him before he continues. He sits down at the lip of the nest, crossing his legs and looking seriously at the paladin in front of him. “You know you can tell us anything, right?” Keith hums a non-answer and Hunk sighs. “I know I didn’t react the best when we found out you were galra, and I’m really sorry for that-“ He remembers of the ignorant jokes he made about the paladin, breathing deeply to put away the guilt and continuing after Keith’s whispers a soft “it’s okay”. “-but we aren’t going to hurt you for who you are. You don’t have to hide anything from us anymore, we’re a pack. Right, guys?”

“Right.” Everyone murmurs in agreement. “Besides, I think it’s kinda cool that you’re an omega!” Keith looks up at him in confusion, so he continues “You know, with the super-strength and the super-secret language, and I can take care of you too!”

“I don’t need to be taken care of.” Keith grumbles, crossing his arms and mood souring just a bit.

“I know, but I want to.” Hunk replies, still chipper despite the almost-refusal. Keith nods then, relaxing further into the nest. One of his hands finds Pidge’s hair, stroking it gently as a mother would to a pup. Hunk coos and decides then and there he’s going to give this boy all the affection ever.

“Keith, can I hug you?” Keith startled a bit but nods near enthusiastically. Hunk envelops him in a bone-crushing hug while Keith laughs, joyful and relieved tears falling down his face.

Shiro joins in on the hug, not one to miss the opportunity to show his brother the affection he deserves. “See, Keith? We all care about you, and we just want you to be safe and happy.” Keith smiles, cuddling with part of his pack and enjoying the touch after so long of none.

Lance stretches his arm behind him, not quite in the nest but still obviously wanting in on pack cuddles. Keith had already dragged Hunk in the nest after the hug they shared, so really it was just his own worry keeping him from joining now.

Keith breaks slightly from the cuddle fest and looks at him, unamused. “Get in the nest, Lance.” He orders sternly.

“But I-“ Lance stammers, not wanting to intrude on the omega. Sure he was accepting affection now, but Lance was the one who had hurt him first so he wasn’t sure he would be welcomed.

“Lance. Nest. Now.” Keith insisted, pointing his finger at the alpha and then a spot in the nest right next to him.

Lance smiled, giving up easily and with glee as he crawled into the nest, careful not to disturb the others or the many, many articles of his clothing on the top of it that he couldn’t help but notice with a slightly smug grin on his face.

Keith purred when the blue paladin found his way to his side, head resting on his shoulder as he played with Pidge’s hair and Hunk sat in the back, Shiro to the other side having a whispered conversation with the gremlin that had nearly taken his other arm with their booby traps.

All of them stopped their motions and words, awwing in delight at the sound coming from the normally grumpy galra. “So cute...” Lance muttered affectionately.

“Thanks, guys.” Keith snuggles into the group hug, his purr growing louder before it abruptly cuts off. “Wait-did you say that you like me?!” He directs at Lance, almost dislodging the small pidgeon attached to his side in his surprise and excitement.

Lance blushes a deep pink, hand going up to scratch the back of his neck and head ducking down in embarrassment. “I mean well uh yeah. Yeah, I like you, Keith.”

Keith blushes even harder than Lance. “Oh. I uh. I like you too.” They both settled into silence, embarrassment causing them to lose their words entirely. Neither planned on doing this as a group spectacle, but gee if biology didn’t have other plans for Keith today.

Pidge sits up abruptly, whacking a hand at Hunk “see I told you! You owe me 50 gak Hunk!” Hunk sighs in resignation “Okay yeah you win this one. Really thought he would’ve picked it up sooner.”

Pidge looks at Keith. “Na, never underestimate the obliviousness of this emo.” Keith crossed his arms in mock anger, although the even louder purring and the smile on his face betrayed how he really felt.

He was happy.

————————————————————-

Okay, Lance. Okay, you can do this. Just ask the guy out, it's no big deal right? You just really really like him and probably have for years and just had a bonding moment and now he knows you like him and he likes you too and you don’t wanna fuck it up oh my god-ok no. No. I can do this. “Hey, Keith?” Lance calls out, approaching the boy dismantling the nest, his steps hesitant but determined. After the whole shitstorm of emotions, the pack spent the rest of the day and night cuddling and telling stories, laughing at Coran’s impression of the ‘wimbletruck’-whatever that was-and just enjoying the company of each other.

Keith wasn’t completely better yet, far from it, but Coran had deemed him stable enough to move the nest to a more comfortable place, and so the omega was picking out the best pieces of fabric for his room while the rest of the Paladins were gathering extra fabrics to create a pack nest in the common room, or as the alteans called it “the gathering place of the living” implying there was one for the dead? No one really knew and not one of them wanted to think about that too long.

Keith folds the blanket in his hand with care, smiling fondly at the memory of all his friends barging in with worry over him. He had thought for years that he was all alone, forced to hide his very nature. He was wrong though, and he is so glad that he was. He turns at Lance’s approach, giving the paladin a blinding smile that has the calm, cool, collected Lance nearly losing his cool entirely. “What is it Lance?” he inquires.

Lance breathes. Ok. Now or never. “Would you maybe want to go on a date with me sometime?” He fiddles with the bracelet on his wrist, not prepared for rejection and equally unprepared for acceptance. This was the first crush he ever truly cared about this much, and while he wouldn’t say he loved Keith yet, he could definitely fall in love with him.

Keith has known he loves Lance for months, liked him for years. It was his little secret, shared only with Shiro and one he was teased about often and mercilessly. Now that they had confessed to each other-more or less-he knew that teasing would only get worse. Still, he smiles bashfully, tucking a piece of his hair behind his ear before looking up at Lance with adoration in his bright purple eyes.

“I’d like that very much.”