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Chapter Text

BOOM.

The crash of thunder shook the whole forest ground beneath Keith's bare feet. His wide violet eyes scan the area, looking for a way to escape, a way to find his way back home but he saw nothing but miles of trees and darkness.The only light he was given would be a bright flash of lightning up within the gray clouds as the storm seems to grow more and more angry by the second.

"Little Boyyyy" called a chilling voice of a woman and Keith turned around quickly.

"No!" he thought as he gripped his head, "It was her, she was here again for him." The thunder crashed again above him, causing him to jump and then the rain began to fall down upon his cold skin. He stood perfectly still, hoping if he didn't make a sound that the witch wouldn't find him but he knew deep down that that was a lie, she always found him.

"Come here" came her voice and it was much closer now. Keith just wanted to curl in upon himself. "Why" he thought, "Why does this keep happening to me?"

All of a sudden he heard a stick break near him and he looked up, standing near him was a cloaked figure, who was reaching out for him. Keith jumped back but not fast enough, her long claws scrapped his wrist, leaving 3 bloody lines behind. Keith cradled his arm to his chest with a hiss of pain and turned and ran. He ran and ran, dodging tree after tree. The stormy night's sky kept thundering along with his quicken heart beat and fast breathing so he couldn't tell if the witch was following him.

Just then as he made a corner, a black mist appeared and there she was.

The Witch.

She lashed out at him and scratched his cheek, causing him to fall down upon the dirty forest floor. Keith kicked away from her and grabbed a nearby stick and began to swing it at her. He managed to get one good hit on her before she leapt towards him. Keith screamed, closed his eyes tightly, when just then a tingling wave washed all around him and he swore he heard a roar.

He could feel the witch's hand upon his shirt but before anything else could happen a flash of lightning made everything go white.

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Keith shot up in his bed, breathing heavily.

"SHIRO!!"

His eyes darting all around the dark bedroom of his. He pulled his knees up to his chest and began to cry. He hated this, he hated all of this.

Keith could hear his door to his room being thrown open, he could faintly hear footsteps coming near him, but he just couldn't lift his head up from his knees, he just couldn't get his breathing under control. His whole body was trembling with fear and he was so numb, he wasn't safe.

The bed dipped before him and he could hear the muffled sound of someone's voice but he didn't know who it was, but he tried to focus on it over the ringing sound in his ears.

"-In for 7....5..out for..breath in...out for...keep going...4...in...Keith..."

"That was Shiro, his big brother" Keith thought as he raised his head up. As soon as he did he was met with a warm smile from his brother. Shiro slowly opened his arms up for Keith and Keith threw himself at his brother, holding onto him for dear life as he began to cry again.

Shiro began to rub soothing circles on his trembling back, "It's okay Keith, I got you. You're safe now'' said Shiro as Keith tighten his hold on his brother.

''I-I...I..'' Keith tried to speak but he just couldn't get anything out.

"Hush, it's okay. I know'' said Shiro as he pulled away from Keith.

He moved from Keith a bit and turned on the lamp beside his bed to get a good look at his little brother. Shrio brushed a piece of dark ebony hair out of Keith's eyes and looked down at him. He sighed at seeing his teared stained face along with the dirt and the bloody scratch.

"Oh ototo. (Oh little brother)" whispered Shiro as he cupped Keith's face in his hand. Keith tilted his head in Shiro's hold and closed his eyes, he finally felt safe now.

"I'll be right back" said Shiro as he got up and headed to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit that they kept in there for stuff like this. They were used to this by now.

When it first happened, it scared Shiro and his family to death, they couldn't believe it or understand what was going on and Shiro's parents truly never really did. They thought he somehow must have hurt himself in his sleep, so Keith began to hide it but that just made things worst.

So Shiro came to him, he told him that he believed him for he was his little brother whom he loved and would never turn his back on.

Shiro spent a whole night in his room keeping watch while Keith slept. Keith was just begging for someone to see that he wasn't doing this to himself. The only person who ever believed him was his father, but he was gone now, dead. No one at the orphanage or any of the foster homes ever believed him.

So half way through the night while Keith was asleep, Shiro was on his phone, he heard Keith's breathing pick up, a sign that he was in distress, a nightmare, but Keith told him not to wake him because he had to prove it. So Shiro bit his tongue and waited. He watched for a while and before his eyes he saw a bloody scratch form upon Keith's forehead while his arms were laying on his belly. Shiro's eyes grew so wide, he felt like they were going to pop out. He wasted no time in waking Keith up then and after that, he believed everything Keith ever told him and it scared him.

For all the stuff he has heard and learned from and about Keith, it just didn't seem fair for someone to go through all of it. Keith was an innocent, kind boy with a huge heart but he had to put these walls up to protect himself, had to push others away and was always full of anger, mostly at himself. He just wanted to be loved and wanted but with how his life has been for him it seemed like everything and everyone wanted the exact opposite for him.

It seemed like the universe was against him, but was it really?

Chapter Text

Keith gasped and shot up in his bed. The first thing be did was check his body for any new injuries, all he could find was a few new bruises covering his left arm and stomach. He closed his eyes as it came back to him. The witch was there, once again. She gripped tightly onto his arm and threw him against a tree when he refused to go with her.

She chuckled at him and a wicked smile formed upon her face. She then formed a glowing purple light ball within her hands. Just as she was about to shoot it at him, Keith woke up to a start.

He shook his head. He needed to get his mind off of it. So he pushed himself from his bed to go to the training deck. The night lights in the hallways were still on as it was still the middle of the night cycle. Being up in space had changed things, many things. And with those many things came many feelings and secrets.

The first of his secrets was him hiding the fact that he had mental health. It wasn't like many people didn't suffer from it but in his experience, everyone who Keith has came into contact with who learned he suffered from it only made things so much harder on him, making fun of him, trying to trigger him, pushing him to want to take his life. It was horrible. So he just got so used to hiding it, not reaching out to anyone for any help. Only Shiro knew about it and then Coran found out. He had finally ran out of the last of his anti-depressants that he had with him when they all went up into Space in The Blue Lion and things were becoming really hard for him. He had 1 broken pill left in his bottle but knew he needed the whole dosage for the medicine to work, taking the wrong amount wouldn't help him out at all. So Shiro began to notice signs of Keith acting off, distant and memories of their times before him being imprison with the Galra came rushing back. He sat with Keith and spoke with him, he knew he had to find Keith some kind of help because he just couldn't sit back and watch his baby brother fade away before his eyes...again. So Shiro brought them to Coran and told him everything, much to Keith's dislike, but Coran explain that they had something similar to Depression on Altea. It was called: Moon sadness, were Alteans would grow sad, distant and not be themselves anymore and at the worst of this sadness, they would disappear and never be seen again. Shiro explained that people on Earth would kill themselves and that shocked Coran who rushed over to Keith, taking his hands in his, promising to help him. So he analyzed the contents of the broken pill Keith had and with the Altean tec to synthesise an Altean version of his anti-depressants. Coran told Keith that the others would understand and except him but he just couldn't face the possible rejection or being abandon once again.

Just as he was feeling more welcomed and comfortable, everything got turned upside down.

He learned about his past.
That he had Galra blood. He was part Galra, the very race they were all fighting against to save the whole universe.

Keith pulled away from everyone, and curled into himself. He didn't think there was anything else that could make him hate himself even more but yet here he was, hating himself so much.

Thinking of himself as a monster, as evil.

Then it hit him, maybe that's why the witch was always after him in his dreams. Keith just wanted to disappear and be no more.

The looks upon everyone's face was something that sent ice into Keith's veins. He cared so dearly about them, he thought of them as family even if they didn't think of him that way.

Shiro had remain calm and collected but Keith could swear he saw something shine within his grey eyes, but he couldn't tell what it was. Perhaps his mind was just playing tricks on him in this fearful and stressful time.

Hunk's eyes widen and he took a step back with a flash of fear over his face. Coran looked surprised but his main focus turned towards Allura, which is should have.

Pidge looked shock and then a few emotions flowed over their face. Surprise, fear, anger, hate and curiosity.
It looked as though their mind was running, working through many questions and wanting to discover it all.

Lance glance at him for a second before he looked away, just staring down at the floor. And that hurt Keith for he had feelings for Lance and in a way that felt like some kind of rejection to him.

But Allura, her face, her reaction was the worst. At first it was shock and then it morphed into hate and disgust. She began to yell and come towards him.

Coran rushed over towards the princess while Keith backed away, his whole body shaking in both fear and pain.

But before anything else could happen, the pain became too much for his weak body and the world went black.

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The doors of the training deck swoosh open before him and Keith let out a sigh. The bright lights in the room blasted on before him, blinding Keith for a moment.

"Begin training sequence 10" Keith shouted out. He knew that he should be resting like the others but his mind was wild with thoughts and a part of him wanted to punish himself for being different, for being the broken and unwanted being he was.

Keith got into his fighting stance as three bots appeared before him, his knife, his mother's blade in his hand, at the ready.

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The cling and the clashing sounds from the training room could be heard from down the hallway as Pidge and Lance began to walk that way. Pidge sighed and shook their head, for they know who it was, it was always Keith, no matter what. He was always in there at any hours of the day or night.

"I wonder who that is? You think it's mullet?" asked Lance and Pidge hummed in agreement.

Just as they were passing the doors by to turn the corner to go down another hallway they heard a loud crashing sound come within the training deck, causing them both to stop were they were. They waited for a moment, waited to see if it was maybe the robots in the training simulation that Keith was taking down but then they heard a continuous beating sound, over and over again. But what finally got their attention, what got their feet to start moving was the wince of pain. That wasn't from the bots, that was from Keith.

The doors to the training deck swooshed open to reveal to them a scene that neither of them thought they would ever have seen on the training deck. Keith was laying unconscious on the floor while two of the training bots were beating him with their staffs.

''Whoa Keith!"

"End Training Sequence!"

Both Pidge and Lance race into the room and to Keith's side as the bots faded away into the floor. Lance was the first to Keith, laying his hands gently onto Keith's form. He could feel the rise and fall of his breathing from his back. Lance looked directly at Pidge.

"Go Get Shiro! Someone!" shouted Lance. Pidge got to their feet and was dashing out the doors before Lance could even blink. Lance turned his attention back down to Keith.

"Okay, come on Mullet'' said Lance as he gently took Keith into his hands and rolled him over so he could see his face. He winced the moment he did though. He took his tan hand and brushes some of Keith's black hair out of his eyes and sees a few bruises forming upon his too pale skin.

"Keith?" Lance asked but he got no answer. He glanced up at the doors, hoping that any minute someone would be there to help because he had no idea what to do, how to truly help.

He didn't have to wait long before Shiro came rushing in with Allura and Pidge behind him. Allura was saying Coran and Hunk was in the med bay but Lance wasn't really listening to her words, he was focused on Keith and Shiro.

Shiro came straight to Keith, his grey eyes scanning over his little brother's body before he pulled him up into his arms and headed for the doors, no words leaving his mouth, he was on a mission, to get Keith to the med bay. Lance was on his heels, he wanted to know if Keith was going to be okay. Yes they fought a lot and bickered here and there but they were friends and he did care about Keith, more about him than Keith would ever know he did but, Lance put that thought out of his head right now.

Once they entered the med bay, Lance stood towards the back alongside Hunk so he didn't get in the way. Hunk said something to him but he just shrugged his shoulders, not truly paying attention as his ocean blue eyes were fixed on Keith's limp form, waiting for his bright violet eyes to open up once more.

Shiro laid Keith down onto a cot and smoothed his hair out and then took his hand within his as Pidge began to tell all of them what they and Lance found. Shiro's eyes landed on Lance for a second before they returned back down upon Keith.

Coran scanned Keith and stated that nothing serious was done, and that he just needed to rest, no pod needed, which to Lance's dislike Allura clapped at. Hunk placed his hand upon his shoulder and asked him if he wanted to go to the kitchen to help him with breakfast but all Lance could do was shake his head 'no' and he knew that Hunk understood, for Hunk, his best friend knew about his secret crush on Keith.

After a few moments, once some filed out of the room, Lance made his way closer to where Shiro and Keith were. Coran was placing an IV into his arm, saying that Keith was very dehydrated. Which Lance figured was due to him training so freaking much, which he could never understand. Keith was already so amazing. Why did he keep pushing himself?

"Hey Lance" said Shiro as he glanced up at him for a moment.

"Hey" said Lance as he stood at the foot of the cot, looking up at Keith, he still looked too pale to Lance.

"He'll be alright, you know?" said Shiro with a smile as he sat back in his chair.

"Yeah, I know'' Lance said with a little sigh.

Shiro ran his human hand through his hair and gave out a little chuckle which made Lance looked at him strangle. He shook his head before he stood up and began to pace around the room.

"He never changes'' Shiro said with a sigh and Lance wasn't totally sure if he was truly talking to him or just out loud, so he remained quiet. "He is so stubborn. I just-" said Shiro who turned back and walked over towards Keith and placed his hand upon his brother's shoulder.

"It's mullet we're talking about here Shiro, he's always stubborn" said Lance with a small smile on his face. He was trying to lighten the mood cause he could feel a heaviness within the air and within Shiro's tone of voice that didn't settle well with him right now, not especially with Keith laying unconscious before them.

"Yeah, it's just...you don't know everything he's been through Lance'' said Shiro and Lance looked over at him real quickly. As soon as Lance looked over at him, Shiro realized what came out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said any of that. I'm going to go check and see if breakfast is almost done. Don't stay too long in here, okay?" he said and walked quickly past Lance and out the doors.

Lance stood there staring after him as the words played over within his mind.

''You don't know everything he's been through"

And that was true.

A piece of him yelled at him, saying that it was mullet's fault for being a lone wolf, emo and so distant. Pushing everyone away, being so damn angry all the time but another part of him stopped and thought of those words, thought about how Shiro had said them, how he looked when he did. They had a deeper meaning to them.

As if they were telling him that Keith has been through some crap and that stuff is what shaped him to be how and who he was now and that he shouldn't be blaming him of all people.

Lance wanted to scream right now. Scream at himself mostly for trying and wanting to understand, for freaking caring at all. He sometimes wondered why he couldn't go back to when he though he hated Keith, was just jealous of him because of how awesome and easily he got things, how he was friends with Shiro. But then he stopped and a smile came across his face as he thought of the reasons why he didn't want to go back to that time, to why he was happy his feelings changed.

That once in awhile pure smile that comes upon Keith's face. His laugh that he smothers all the time but it slips out on a few occasions. The way his eyes light up when he is near The Red Lion, the love you can see in them. The small glimpses of being vulnerable and soft with Shiro. The uneasiness he has with wanting to touch or hug someone, to show he cares but afraid on how the other person will react to it, to him. The passion he has in all that he does.

Lance shakes his head, breaking himself out of his thought when he hears a small wince of pain. He glances up to see Keith sitting up and pulling the IV out of him arm.

"Oh Hey! I wouldn't do that!" says Lance, as he moves forward to stop Keith from taking it out but Keith doesn't listen to him and yanks it right out.

"I'm fine" says Keith as he pushes his self off the cot. He brushes past Lance and head for the door, just ready to leave with no questions or concerns as to why he was even in here.

"Where are you going?" Lance asks.

"Out of here" Keith says as the med bay doors swoosh open and Lance is moving before he can even think. He is suddenly standing before Keith with his arms out wide, blocking him from going anywhere.

"Move" says Keith.

"No can do buddy" Lance says and sends him a smile but Keith just glares up at him and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Lance I-" begins Keith but Lance cuts him off.

"No. You are either going back in there to rest or to the dinning room with me to join the others for breakfast. No ifs or buts'' said Lance as he put his hands on his hips and gave Keith a stern look. Keith huffed and rolled his eyes and stood there a moment just looking at Lance before he gave him a little smirk.

"Fine'' said Keith as he pushed past Lance and began to walk down the hallway. Lance jumped up and down with a cheer. "Yes!" and he turned around to walk right beside Keith with a huge smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Everyone was in the dinning room, eating their breakfast. Lance and Hunk were talking and laughing, Pidge was typing away on their laptop and Allura was talking with Coran and Shiro about their next faze they were heading into when all of a sudden the alarms went off, sending everyone to their feet. One second was spared as Lance glanced over at Keith, he knew that he looked and acted like he was okay and if asked he would say he was but he hoped that he truly was after what happened this morning, hoping that whatever was about to happen next this morning wouldn't make things any worst for them. They all raced out to get their armor on, Coran and Allura rushed straight towards the bridge as the alarms kept blaring on and on.

Once all were seated within their own Lions, they began to fly towards a small green and pink planet that set out a distress call. There were some Galra ships attacking and one of those very ships had taken the Queen and her 3 children on board, flying off that world at hyper speed.

With Red being the fastest lion, they headed directly after that ship that had the royals. The Green Lion was not far behind the Red Lion for within the lion it had Pidge who was super smart and could be able to hack into the ship easily and allow Keith to get in there with their help to get the royals and any information that they could, that could be useful.

Shot were being fired here and there. A small asteroid field appeared before them and with how fast they were going, along with the firing shot from the Red Lion, the Galra ship came to a slamming stop. This stop gave Keith enough time to jump from his lion, with Pidge close behind, both ready to enter, to save the lives of the royals and to fight.

At first entering, the purple lights within the ships were flickering a bit before they suddenly went all out, they both were stuck in complete darkness. They turned the lights on their helmets on as they made their way farther in. Pidge typed quickly as Keith held his bayard out, his eyes scanning the area for anything or anyone.

"Got it" said Pidge as they pulled the map up, showing where the cells were and where the main frame was.

Both on different sides on the ship.

Keith gave Pidge a look, it was a look that was full of concern and warning with some fear. He knew that they were going to the main frame for that info no matter what because there could be some kind of hope of any information on their family on it. Plus they were stubborn and even if he said no to them, they would find somehow to manage to get their way in the end. He was giving them a warning look, to say be careful, to watch where you are at and to keep an eye out and that came with the fear that shinned within his violet eyes. For he didn't really like the thought of being split from them for how knows long, without any eyes on them and no back up. It was just him and he would be on the bloody other side of the ship with goodness knows how many Galra soldiers or sentries.

Keith nodded his head, took a good look at the map and placed his hand upon Pidge's shoulder before he watched them dash off down the hallway and take a turn towards the left. He exhaled before he ran off into the direction of where the cells were located at. Down the hall however he wasn't alone, he was met with 5 sentries. Keith got into his fighting stance as he narrowed his eyes, preparing to fight his way through each and everyone of them. As soon as they saw him they charged at him and he smirked at them and rushed for them as well, his bayard at the ready.

The fight between The Red Paladin and the sentries took a good couple of minutes, minutes that Keith frankly didn't truly have. He needed to get to the cells, save the royals, then get to Pidge and get the hell out of here before any of them could get hurt. His ribs were hurting him a bit as he was breathing in but he ignored that as he kept slicing through the sentries, making his way closer and closer to his goal.

After a bit, they were down and he was dashing down the hallways.

"Pidge, do you copy?" called out Keith as he rushed down a few steps and kicked a door in that led to the cells.

"I'm here. Almost done downloading everything. How's things?" said Pidge.

"At the cells now, had a few sentries but they're down. You?" Keith said as he looked at the cells.

They had no keys on door knobs but what look like a hand scanner. Keith pulled off his glove and looked down at his hand for a moment in thought before he slowly placed it down upon the scanner, hoping it was just a hand scanner like he thought and nothing else.

"Nothing. It's been quite. A few beeps and shooting sounds but that's it. Not a soul around here for the time being" Pidge said as they kept typing. Keith hummed at them as he felt a low vibration rush over his hand as a green light flashed over his skin. After a moment pause the bars of the cell popped open. Keith pulled his hand back and enter with his bayard, ready, just encase.

"Hello?" he called out in a low voice. His only response was a small cry and then the sounds of chains being moved around. Keith looked towards the noise and saw two small orange children, chained up.

Keith caused his bayard to vanish for the time as he held his hands up to try to show the children that he was no threat to them.

"I'm a Paladin of Voltron. I'm here to help you and find your mother" said Keith. The bigger of the two children seemed to understand him and tapped on the smaller child, they waved their hands around and then pointed up at Keith which caused the smaller child to smile.

"H-Help please" said the bigger child as Keith made his way over towards them. He glanced at the chains and saw a button on them. "We pushed them but no come off" they said but Keith had a feeling that it might work for him. So he took his ungloved hand and pressed his index finger to the button and it beeped for a moment before the chains fell from the kids wrists. They gaps in surprise and hugged one another.

"We thank you kind sir'' the bigger one said who then hugged Keith. "Our mother and sister we need to locate'' they said.

As soon as they got to the exit of the cell they all froze at the sound of a gun shot and a loud cry. The smallest child went to run out the door but Keith grabbed them and held them back, placing his finger to his mouth to tell the children to remain quiet. The crying never died down, it was heart breaking to hear it. The bigger one of the children began to have yellow dots glow upon their skin which then made then fall to their knees in tears. Seconds later the one Keith was holding had the same dots form on them.

"What's happening?" Keith questioned, he was concerned that they were injured.

"It's...it's our sister. She's.... she's passed" said the bigger one who then took the smaller one from Keith's arms as it cried. Keith looked up from the two and stood up. The gun shot, it was a Galra killing the sister and it must have been the Queen who was still crying over her child.

"Okay, I need you 2 to stay here so I can get your mother. You have to stay, to be safe. Okay?" said Keith and the biggest one nodded their head and held tighter to the smaller one. Keith made his way down the hall, he looked into the next cell but it was empty. As he walked farther, the cries grew louder.

"I can't tell you what I do not know! Release my children!" someone yelled who Keith could only figure was the Queen.

"Keith...Keith come in" it was Pidge but Keith had no time to answer them, he was about to enter the Queen's cell, fight who knows how many Galra and try to save the Queen and then the other kids.

"Okay Keith I need you to listen. I'm done but there something in the system, it's set to go off soon. A self destruct, I triggered it somehow, I don't know but we need to get out Now!" said Pidge, "I'm close to Green now! Where Are You?!?"

"Busy. Get Out!'' called Keith as he pressed his hand against the scanner and entered the cell quickly, everything was a blur after that.

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Far from the Green Lion, Pidge is watching the Galra ship in flames and holding their breath for they aren't sure that Keith made it out or not. They never heard him say if he actually reached Red yet or not when he and the royals were racing against the ticking clock.

"Keith? Keith?" called out Pidge, at the time only hearing static before finally hearing a small, winded voice.

"Heyy"

"Oh my gosh! You idiot, you scared me!" shouted Pidge, receiving a broken chuckle on the other end of the coms.

"Let's....go.. *cough*... go.." Keith said as he coughed out all the inhaled smoke he took in.

"Home. Yes I couldn't agree more with ya" said Pidge which had Keith smiling.

They began flying back to the castle but what Pidge didn't know was that Red was the one flying for Keith right now. He had a deep cut on his side, his arm was possibly broken, he totally had a few broken ribs.

But the worst of it all was the strange needle he pulled out of his arm, it still contain some of the bright green fluid in it. Around where the needle was, the spot burned and itch, his whole left side was starting to tingle and feel numb and he was beginning to feel sleepy.

But the unknown fluid wasn't the worst of it, it was who was in the room who gave the Galra the order to stab Keith with it.

It was the witch from his dreams.

Chapter Text

The castle finally came into view and Keith sighed in relief. Red purred to her Paladin just as his eyes were slipping closed against his will, darkness swallowing him all up, a calmness to it all.

As soon as the Green Lion touched down, Pidge jumped out and went towards the others. They moved closer towards Red when she touched down, she lowered her head, allowed the royals out but as soon as their feet left her ramp, her particle barrier went right up. Confusion rushed over the whole room.

"The Red Paladin is unresponsive" cried the queen as she held he two child close to her, Allura hushed her and lead her out of the room while everyone else ran closer to Red.

"Keith?" called out Shiro, but he got no response.

"What's going on?" questioned Lance, worry taking its hands and gripping tightly upon his neck.

"The ship exploded but Keith got out, I thought he was fine'' said Pidge. They looked down feeling guilty for not making sure that their teammate, their friend was alright. Hunk placed his hand upon their shoulder and glanced up over at Shiro for answers.

"Keith can you hear me? Keith!" shouted Shiro, he just wanted his brother to answer him. He looked directly into Red's golden eyes and thought for a moment. If Keith was unresponsive as the queen had said, then Red had put thier barrier up to protect Keith.

"Red, listen" Shiro said as he took a step forward. He placed his human hand upon the barrier, he only wish it would open right there and then for him but it didn't.

"I know that you're trying to protect Keith. He's hurt and you want to keep him safe, but we need to see what's wrong with him, to get him help. Do you understand? We aren't going to hurt him, we want to help him.'' Shiro said and after a second, the barrier disappeared. Shiro sighed before racing up the ramp, with the other paladins hot on his heels.

There was a quietness that didn't sit right with any of them as the enter the cockpit.

Shiro was the first to enter and he only saw was one of Keith's arms hanging over the side of the pilot seat.

"Keith!" shouted Shiro as he raced forward. He fell to his knees before Keith and glanced up at his little brother. Keith's skin was pale but his cheeks were flushed. Shiro raised his human hand up and pressed it against Keith's cheek to feel his temp. He pulled his hand away quickly and glanced over at the others.

"Keith's burning up!" said Shiro as he went to gently scoop his brother up but then his grey eyes landed on something strange laying within Keith's lap.
In was a needle with some bright green liquid in it. Shiro grabbed it quickly then Keith and rushed passed the others and made his way quickly off towards the med bay.

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The med bay doors swooshed opened but they seemed to not move fast enough for the others liking.

"Oh Number one, bring him here!" yells Coran.

Shiro lays Keith on the cot as Coran gets the scanner and quickly scans it over Keith's body. Everyone is on their toes, waiting to find out how Keith is.

"Oh my! He has multiple injuries plus there is something else that I'm not sure what it is" said Coran as he looked lost in thought as he twisted the end of his mustache.

"Here," said Shiro who quickly pulled out the needle and held it out towards Coran who's eyes widen when he saw it and then glanced down at Keith before taking the needle for Shiro.

"This can't be. I haven't seen this in ages'' said Coran as he began to rush around the room. Then he started to shout at them to strip Keith of his armor, put him in a pod right away.

As Lance pulled down the black suit sleeve, he noticed small lines, scars upon Keith's wrists. His eyes darted up and they met Hunk's eyes who were probably just as wide as his were. They both had an idea of what they were.

Self harm scars.

"It'll be okay" whispered Hunk as they continued to get Keith ready for the pod.

"Coran!" yells Shiro, making everyone in the whole med bay freeze, for he usually doesn't raise his voice. "What is going on?"

"This liquid, if I am correct can be deadly to Galra" said Coran and a coldness rushes inside Shiro's veins.

Just as the others have Keith dressed into the pod suit and are about to place him into the pod, Keith begins to convulse, having a seizure.

"Put his on his side! Hold his head still!" yells Hunk.

Keith's shakes for a good minute or two and once he stops, Coran makes sure Keith is placed directly into the pod. The door on the pod closes and the glass fogs up. Allura enters the room now, glancing around for answers.
"What happened?"

They explain to her what happened and Coran talks about the liquid but since Keith is part Galra, there is no telling if he could survive this, only a rare few Galra do survive through this drug.

"Coran, what I don't get is why the Galra had this drug on their ship in the first place?" asked Pidge, causing Lance to look at them then to look over at Keith.

"Well number 5, this drug is dangerous to Galra but to the royals that you just saved, it could be used as a way for them to spill their secrets" Coran said.

"So like some kind of truth serum" Lance said and Coran nodded his head 'yes'.

Just then the pod began to beep with a flashing red light and they all rushed over towards it. Coran and Pidge looked at the tablet and the look on both of their faces told the others that it wasn't good news.

"I think we might need to contact The Blade" Pidge said as they pushed their glasses farther up their face.

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Allura, Coran and Shiro were alone on the bridge contacting The Blade while the other three paladin's stayed in the med bay with Keith.

A fear was buried deep within their chests for the unknown of whether Keith would be alright or not.

Lance kept pacing around the room, the words Shiro told him before coming back loudly in his head.

"You don't know everything he's been through"

Those scars on his wrists were just one sign of that, if not knowing everything that Keith has been through.

"Oh man. Do you think that the blade will have some answers?" Hunk asked.

"Well they should. They are Galra and know way more about things like this then we ever do and could possibly know if Keith's mixed heritage will play in all of this" said Pidge as they glanced at the tablet, keeping a close eye on Keith status.

"They have to have the answers. This is my fault" they said.

"It's not your fault Pidge" said Lance.

"Yes it is!" Pidge screamed. "It was me who wanted to separate! It was me not Keith! He knew it was a bad idea but did it anyways because of me."

"You were care about your family, you were looking for them" said Hunk.

"Yeah, and what about this family?!?" they yelled as tears ran down their face. Hunk pulled them into a tight hug which Lance wasted no time joining in on.

Off on the bridge, Allura and Shiro were speaking now with The Blades Doctor Ulaz. They were going over the situation when suddenly a question came up, that changed everything.

"And how old is Keith, this hybrid?" asked Ulaz.

"He's should be 18 years old by now due to how long we've been in space" Shiro said.

Ulaz's golden eyes widen and he shook his head for a moment before picking up a tablet.

"I'm sorry. Did you say 18, as in 18 deca-phobes?" said Ulaz and Shiro nodded his head.

"No. This can't be right" he said. "I have to speak with Kolivan at once. We will be in contact with you very soon Princess and Black Paladin" Ulaz said as the screen went black.

"What just happened?" asked Shiro.

"I'm not sure," said Allura who turned to face Coran.
"Coran?" Allura asked him.

"It's possible that Keith's age he is a...kit" said Coran and Allura gasped.

"A kit? Is that bad?" Shiro asked.

"Oh no!" Allura said.

"No, a kit is a small child in Galran culture. Galra can live for thousands of years, so for them to see someone of Keith's age is amazing especially since of this world. For Galra, kits are so precious and for Keith to be inflicted with this drug is most likely very disturbing for them" said Coran.

A hour passed and Keith's vials remained the same and they received no word from the blade. Everyone was on edge, worried about the unknown and super worried about Keith

All of a sudden, there was a hailing signal being sent, someone was trying to contact and ask for permission to land aboard the castle.
It was a Galra ship.

Allura addressed it and it was a Blade of Mamora ship, that included the doctor they spoke to before, Ulaz, along with the leader Kolivan and another blade. Knowing that the leader had came along this ship to come for Keith was alarming, making everyone feel uneasy and like only bad news could come of this. Allura allowed them to dock their ship as they all headed down to greet them, leaving only Coran and Lance alone in the med bay with Keith.

"Hello Princess and Paladins, we are here about the kit. Take us to him at once" said Kolivan. Shiro looked from him to Allura then back to the leader, there was something within his voice. It was different from the last time they meet and spoke.
To Shiro, it seemed like his tone of voice, his words held a heavy sense of... guilt to them, but he couldn't play why that was.

Chapter Text

The swooshing sound of the med bay doors allowed Lance to know that the others were there and he was thankful for that because he was freaking out about what was going on.

Not five minutes after they went to meet the blades, the pod began to freak out, sending many alarms and alerts that something wasn't quite right with Keith inside it.
Coran had to remove Keith from the pod because he said he wasn't receiving enough oxygen and his body temperature levels were decreasing extremely low. But it didn't make much sense to Lance because the pod was providing enough oxygen and heat for Keith, something else was up.

Then it clicked.

It was the drug.

It wasn't just affecting his human side but his Galra side as well. The pod knew how to take care of human beings now since Lance and a few others has had to be in them. With the help of Pidge, they got so much human based knowledge set up in the machine that it was almost second nature to it.

But with Keith being the only known Human/Galra hybrid ever, plus with this deadly drug in his system, the pod wasn't sure how to calculate it all correctly and the worst part of it all wasn't that the pod wasn't working correctly but that Keith's body itself wasn't functioning properly with this drug in him.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked, panic tied within his voice.

Before either Coran or Lance could say a word, Keith began to have a seizure again. Both Shiro and Lance jumped into action and placed their hands upon Keith's body.

His skin felt like it was on fire but that confused Lance for the pod said his body temperature was extremely low.

"Coran! He's warm! He still has a fever!" Lance yelled as Coran brought the scanner over towards them.

He quickly scanned Keith and gave Lance a confused look of his own.

"By my readings, this says he has a fever of 103.1°F but this core body temperature is at 37" said Coran.

"How can that be?" questioned Shiro.

Before Coran could come up with some kind of reason, one of the blades, the doctor they spoke with earlier stepped forward.

"If I may. The hybrid shows no Galran traits, no fur on him, thus making his core temp less. This drug requires heat and contact as a possible solution to it" said Ulaz.

"But humans with a fever that high is dangerous" said Pidge.

"He needs his pack" said Kolivan, causing everyone in the room to share a look.

"What the hell is a pack?" Lance asked the leader of the blades.

All the Galra looked at each other as if the Paladins had said something foreign.

"You don't know what a pack is?" said the biggest blade who was still wearing their mask.

"Uh no. That's kinda why I asked" said Lance only to get hit in the side by Pidge. "Ow."

"A pack. The members of his...how do I word this?" Ulaz said.

"Family'' Coran jumped in and a sad look appeared upon Shiro's face at the word.

"Yes, that word would do just fine" said Ulaz. "A pack is a family group that cares for one another. Galra are social beings, we need touch and one another in our lives, especially in moments like this. So we ask, where is this kit's pack members so they can provide care, warmth and comfort to him" said Ulaz.

"Keith doesn't have a...pack" said Hunk.

"No pack?" asked Ulaz, a sad look formed on his lavender face as he turned to face the leader. He then spoke to him, but it wasn't in English, it was in Galran.

Kolivan then stepped forward, a determination kind of look shinning within his brightly colored golden eyes.
"That is unacceptable. Especially for a kit of his age" said Kolivan as he walked over to Keith as he laid on the medical bed with a breathing mask upon his extremely pale face.

Kolivan laid his clawed hand gently on top of Keith's head as to try to give him some kind of comfort. At the moment of the touch, Keith let out a small chirp sound, causing Kolivan to remove his hand and jump back.

"Oh, the kit is also touch starved" said Ulaz and the biggest Galra standing behind him let out a small growl.

"We will do our best to help him, but we can only do some much for him as much as he is willing to allow us to. He is unfamiliar with Galra, and his body may not welcome us. Ulaz has some painkillers and fever reducing medicine but he needs to go over the Human beings biology to try and figure to right dosage to administrate it to Keith" said Kolivan.

"I can help with that!'' said Coran.

"Me too!" Pidge jumped up and said. With that, Ulaz, Coran and Pidge went off to the corner of the med bay and began working.

"I'm going to go and head to the kitchen to start on something for everyone" said Hunk as he patted Lance's shoulder before looking down at Keith for a second then over to Shiro.
"He'll be okay" said Hunk.

Shiro nodded his head at him.

"Princess, we probably should discuss somethings" said Kolivan.

"Of course, follow me" Allura said, sending Shiro a look, silently asking him if he was coming with but he looked back down at Keith. Allura sighed and walked out of the med bay with Kolivan right behind here.

Shiro pulled a chair over and sat beside Keith and held his weak hand within his. Lance stood there for a moment then looked over at the biggest Galra that was just simply standing there behind them and staring at them all.

Lance didn't know what to do. It felt like everyone had a place besides him. Pidge and Coran was working with the doctor on the medicine that could help Keith. Hunk was taking care of everyone by making them food so they wouldn't all go hungry. Allura and the leader of the blade were talking about important stuff and Shiro was sitting beside his little brother giving him comfort in his time of need. The biggest Galra was clearly keeping watch and Lance, well Lance was just standing around. Just being there not helping or doing a thing.

Lance felt useless.

He then began walking over towards one of the closest in the room, grabbed a couple of blankets and brought them back over to Keith. He slowly laid them down upon him and smiled down at Keith.

"Thanks Lance" said Shiro.

"Yeah, no problem. Gotta keep mullet head here warm" Lance said.

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So many hours passed and very little changed. Hunk had made food and everyone joined to eat in the dinning room except for Shiro, Ulaz who continued to work on the medicine and the biggest Galra. Lance offered to stay but Shiro told him that he would be alright by himself.

Lance paused at the med bay doors for a moment before heading out and joining the others to eat.

While everyone was eating, Pidge was busy on their tablet looking up Galra things and if something popped into their mind and they couldn't find it fast enough they would ask Coran or Kolivan. Coran knew a little bit about Galra, saying before the war he had a few Galran friends.

As they sat and ate, Lance was quite. He was consumed with worry but his active mind was also taking in the conversation being held before him, learning more and more about Galra and wondering if any of it could possibly help Keith.

After a bit of not feeling hungry anymore, Lance got up and headed back towards the med bay but before he could get there he ran into Shiro in the hallway.

"Shiro? What are you doing out here? Is...is Keith okay?!?" Lance said.

"Calm down Lance, Keith is alright. I was heading to his room to grab his pillow" Shiro said.

"That's perfect!" shouted Lance, causing Shiro to give him an odd look.
"I mean it's just...I overhead Pidge, Coran and the leader dude umm...."

"Kolivan" said Shiro.

"Yeah him. Talking about Galra stuff and they do something. It's called a nest, it's what they sleep in. It is made of blankets and such, with different scents of their pack fellows. It helps calms them and I was thinking we could maybe do that for Keith. I mean....I-I know that he doesn't really have a family and your like a brother to him but we're a team and I just.... do you think we're close enough to him to help him, to bring him comfort like a p-pack?" Lance said.

Shiro stared at him for a moment, he seemed to be lost in thought and Lance was about to apologize for the stupid idea he had when Shiro reached out and placed his hand upon his shoulder.

"Lance, I think that's a great idea. Keith does trust you guys a lot even if it doesn't seem like it, he just doesn't know how to show it. Life has been hard for him and to let down his walls, to let others in and to trust them hasn't always worked out. So this idea, it's good and it could help him" said Shiro which made Lance smile.

Lance turned to go and get the others to tell them of this plan and to gather up some things but before he could get too far, Shiro said something that stopped him in his tracks.

"And Lance, thanks for caring about him. I know it's difficult but know that your feelings matter, they are important" said Shiro as he turned and walked away.

Lance's eyes widen at Shiro's words. He allowed them to play over in his head.

"your feelings matter, they are important"

Lance wanted to go after him to ask Shiro to explain more about what he meant but he didn't, his feet seemed glued to the white floor.

"Did Shiro know that he cared about Keith as more than of a friend? And if so, did he support it by saying it was important?" thought Lance.

But before he could stress out too much over Shiro's words he had a mission to complete, he needed to get the others, get things and make a nest for Keith. To make him better.

-------------------------------------

The doors to the med bay opened and the four Paladins came in with piles of blankets and such in their arms. They were going to be making a nest for Keith.

What they saw when they got in there was strange and alarming to them.

They tossed the stuff aside and made their way towards the medical bed that Keith once laid on but what they could see wasn't on it no longer but the biggest Galra was sitting on it. Before anyone could ask where Keith was, they walked around and saw Keith curled up against the Galra's chest. Due to the size of the Galra and Keith's size, Keith looked so very tiny.

"Aww" said Hunk.

"The Kit's core temperature drop dangerously low and contact was the only form to rise it" said Ulaz as he walk over with a needle and placed it into an IV that was now in Keith's arm.

"This dosage of medicine for the fever should be correct for his hybrid form. In a varga, he shall be at normal human temperature. We still need to find an answer for the pain medicine I'm afraid" said Ulaz.

And just as he said that Keith moaned in pain, curled tightly in on him self, beats of sweat rolling down his forehead.

The biggest Galra rumbled to Keith and brushed his clawed hand over his shaking back and at that touch and sound Keith seemed to relax a bit. A small whine came out of him a second later though and the biggest Galra looked up at Ulaz.

"Ulaz, his fever isn't decreasing" said the biggest Galra.

"We just have to give it time I'm afraid Antok" Ulaz said.

The biggest Galra, Antok, frown and looked down at Keith and ran his claws gently through Keith's sweaty black hair.

"He's in pain" said Antok.

"I know" said Ulaz.

Shiro turned to face the others. "Okay team! Let's build Keith a nest."

"Yeah!" Lance said and off they went to grab the items they came I with.

"Since you human beings never built a nest before, may I offer my help to you?" Ulaz asked.

"Of course, more the merrier" said Hunk, causing the lavender Galra to smile at what he said.

So the team and Ulaz went to setting up the nest while Antok wrapped his arms tightly around Keith's shaking form. There was something in Antok that was telling him that the kit wasn't getting better but worst.

Keith let out a pain whining sound.

"Shhh kit, it'll be alright. You're safe and protected now, just rest little one." said Antok as he brushed Keith's sweaty bangs out of his face.

"Rest."