I need you //klance

Part 43

A/N: Sorry, this one accidentally got deleted.

Lance had been passed out for a while now. The guards may have separated them into different rooms but instead of a solid wall keeping them apart, there were instead metal bars blocking the way but allowing them to see into each others cells.

Once Keith had managed to calm down, he began to notice how easily Lance was breathing. While the former Blue Paladin had been left in a growing puddle as the water left his clothes, he looked at ease, sleeping painlessly. Although the two has been 'platonically' sleeping together for months now, it had still been a while, Keith's mind, since he's seen Lance sleep anything bit fitfully.

He had originally tried to wake Lance up, but after seeing him resting so calmly, he decided against it and chosen to bask in the rare peaceful moment while Lance slept. He propped himself up in a corner between his cell wall and the bars between their cells, not quite enough at ease to allow himself to sleep, and watched the steady rise and fall of Lance's chest, smiling whenever he mumbled mismatched sentences in his sleep.

Despite the shockingly different situations, Keith couldn't help how his mind wandered to the cozy mornings they shared back at the castle. Going all the way back to when he'd first discovered Lance's Altean heritage. He remembered how when Coran left, Lance had been too tired to stay up but he hadn't wanted to leave just yet so they'd both ended up curled up in Lance's bed, fading in and out of consciousness as Lance's features faded painlessly back to his usual ones.

He'd asked Coran about it later and discovered that now that, for Altean's, the first time shape shifting is incredibly painful but after that the body adjusts to the process and allows them to do it effortlessly.

His attention drifted serenely back to Lance's face when he started groaning and his face scrunched up in discomfort. Violet eyes lingered over chapped lips before wandering up to groggily opening eyes. Lance's head rolled slightly to rub against his his arm, flinching and jumping up when his face came in contact with the puddle gathered beneath him.

He stumbled in his haste to escape the water, reaching around him for something unknown but only becoming more panicked when he couldn't find it.

"Lance. Lance!" The Cuban stilled and locked eyes with him, the lack of a mask making the fear on his face clear. He lowered his voice and softened it, pushing himself off the wall to the bars between their cells to reach through - he's learned earlier on that there wasn't anything stopping them from reaching through. "Lance... everything's fine. We're still together. We'll get through this." They linked hands and they let themselves relax and gaze at each other.

Lance dropped his gaze and his face became solemn again, "...Keith... How are we going to get out of this?"

Keith pulled his hand closer, tugging Lance along with him, and fiddling with it, "...I don't know yet. I think our safest bet is holding out until the team find us but when that time comes we'll have to be ready to do our part too." Lance let his hand go limp so Keith could play with it more, thoughtlessly twisting it around his own hands in a loose hold, "If we have an opening to get out then we should take it - but no leaving the other behind. It might put us both in a worse situation if we get caught again but it's better than leaving the other to suffer alone." He looked up the length of Lance's arm to meet his gaze, half-forgetting that he'd even lowered his eyes to begin with, to find Lance beaming at him. A warm pride filling his eyes and flowing into his smile.

The Cuban voice dropped to a whisper, making their exchange feel private and intimate, "Keith...This is what Shiro meant when he said you should lead us. You're getting better already. I'm so proud of you." Lance dropped his head against the bars, pushing their interlaced hands onto Keith's side and gazing at him adoringly.