Taking A Chance

Attack

'PALADINS, TO YOUR LIONS WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!' Allura said as the alarms jolt everyone from their sleep.
The paladins stumble out of their rooms and into the corridor and head for the hanger bay.
A blast rocks the Castle, knocking them from their feet. Lance collided with Keith and they crashed to the floor with Lance on top.
Lance's eyes wider as he looks at Keith beneath him. With cheeks burning hot, he leapt up and muttered an apology in a shakey voice before running down the corridor.
Keith frowned and followed, wondering what made Lance so jittery.
They pull on their armor and ziplined down to their lions. All the lions burst form ther hangers, except Lance.
'Lance?' Shiro said. There was silence. 'LANCE,' he yelled.
'I'm here,' Lance said.
'Get your head in the game,' Keith snapped.
'Keep your shirt on, Mullet,' Lance said.
Keith rolled his eyes.
'Keith, you and Lance take the ships on the left,' said Shiro, 'Pidge, Hunk, you take the right, and I'll go down the middle.'
'On it,' Keith said.
Blue paladin is distracted.
Keith frowns at Red's comment as he blasts his way through the oncoming Galia ships. As he swings around, he sees Lance taking hits.
'Lance, what's going on?' asks Keith.
'Nothing,' snapped Lance. 'I don't need you checking on me.'
'I'm not checking up on you,' retorted Keith. 'You're taking a lot of hits and I wanted to know if you need help.'
'What, so you can rub my face in it?' Lance said.
'I have no idea whatyou're talking about,' Keith muttered.
'Will you two quit arguing for once,' said Shiro, 'and fight the Galra insted of each other.'
'Then tell Keith to get off my case,' growled Lance.
'Whatever, sharpshooter,' Keith retorts.
He expects Lance to fire back another comment, but he remains silent.
Keith is about to swing back around, when he sees Lance take a series of hits and starts diving for the planet below them.
'Lance?' said Keith. 'Lance do you read me?'
There was silence from Blue as it continues to fall towards the surface.
'Shit,' said Keith. He put Red into a dive and follows Blue's decent, picking off the Galra fighers that were in pursuit. 'Lance, pull up.' The ground was rushing up to meet them as Keith picked off the last fighter. He knew there was no way to stop Blue hitting the ground.
'LANCE,' he yelled moments before Blue hit the ground.
'Keith what's going on?' Shiro demanded.
'Lance is down,' said Keith. 'I'm going to check on him.'
'Keep me updated,' Shiro said.
Keith landed near Blue and ran out of Red's mouth. He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there, it wasn't as if he could get into Blue without Lance's permission, something he wouldn't get if he was unconscious.
When he arrived at Blue, however it opened his mouth to let him inside. Keith was fuming, he was going to give the idiot a piece of his mind.
Entering the cockpit, his harsh comments were forgotten when he saw Lance's unconcious body slumped in the chair.
Keith stood in front of Lance and removed his helmet and put in on the contol panel behind him. Lances brown hair stood out in all directions, and his tanned skin looked pale. He took Lance's face in his hands and tipped it up.
'Lance, can you hear me?' asked Keith.
Lance gave a soft groan and his eyes flickered open.
'You okay?' asked Keith, letting his face go.
'Fine,' Lance said and looked around. 'How did you get in here?'
'I don't know, Blue just let me in. I assumed you told him to.'
Lance shook his head.
'What happened?' asked Keith. 'Red said you were distracted.'
'No,' Lance replied a Iittle to quickly making Keith peer at him with his beautiful purple eyes. He didn't realise how clear and bright they were until now. Lance felt his face burn and looked away. 'We should get back,' he muttered.
Keith moved out of the way and Lance gripped the controls.
'Shit,' said Lance as an electric shock zaps his hands. He pulls his hands away from the controls and frowned.
'I didn't even take any hits before Blue started to malfunction,' Lance muttered.
'Coran can run a diagnostic when we get back,' Keith said.
'Keith, is Lance okay?' asks Hunk. They could hear the worry in the big man's voice.
'Yes, but Blue is malfunctioning,' replied Keith. 'We'll have to carry him.'
'We'll meet you back at the Castle,' Shiro said.
'Come on,' Keith said.
Lance hesitated before picking up his helmet and followed Keith to Red. Lance fell the heat rise in his cheeks as he watched the seductive way Keith moved his hips as he walked. He tore his eyes away as they entered Red.
Keith slid into the seat, while Lance gripped the back of the seat as they rose into the air and collected Blue.
They were half wayback to the castle when Keith realised Lance hadn't said anything.
'You okay?' asked Keith.
'Why wouldn't I be?' Lance demanded.
'I don't know,' snapped Keith. 'You were quiet so I thought something was wrong.'
'Why do you care anyway?' Lance said.
'Oh my god, what is your problem?' asked Keith.
'I don't have a problem,' Lance said.
Keith was going to retort, then thought better of it. Lance was not his usual upbeat, annoying self and there was no way he would talk to him about anything. Lance only saw him as a 'rival', even after everything they'd been through as team.
'Red Paladin, please take Blue lion to the main hanger,' Allura said. You could hear hatred ooze with each word.
'Yes, Princess,' Keith said.
Ever since finding out he was half Galra, AlIura treated him with distain. Keith had stopped eating with the rest of the team in order to distance himself from her revulsion of who he was. He had always been a loner, but now he felt isolated and unwanted.
Lance watched Keith's hands tighten on the contols after Allura's words and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. He didn't deserve the way he was treated by the Princess. God, he didn't deserve the way he treated him, but he'd treated him as a rival for so long he didn't know how to stop.
Looking up, he realised they were entering the hanger. Keith lowered Blue to the floor and landed Red near it.
Keith followed Lance out of Red and met Coran and Pidge next to Blue.
'What do you think the problem is?' asked Lance.
'Do not worry, Pidge and I will give him a good going over,' Coran assured him. 'For now, go and enjoy the food Hunk is preparing for your breakfast.'
Lance glances over his shoulder to see Keith already leaving the hanger.
'Let me know what you find,' Lance said.
'We will,' Pidge said as she set
By the time Lance got to the change room, Keith was already gone, his armor back in its place.
Changing, Lance went to the dinning room. Lance took his seat and stared at the empty one across from him where Keith used to sit, and found himself missing him, and not for the first time.
Allura was tearing the team apart with her hatred and inability to see that Keith was the same person he always was despite his Galra heritage.
Hunk broke him from his thoughts when he placed plates of pancakes and waffles on the table. Lance was amazed what Hunk could do with alien ingredients. While the pancakes and waffles had a green tinge to them, they tasted as good as those on Earth. He'd even managed to find an amber liquid with a similar taste to maple syrup.
Lance took a waffle and poked at it distractedly with his fork.
'You feeling okay, Lance?' asked Hunk.
Lance nodded.
Hunk frowned and looked across at Shiro.
'It's only natural you feel sad because Blue Lion is malfunctioning,' soothed Allura. 'I'm sure Pidge and Coran will have him up and running again soon.'
Lance shoots a withering look at Allura before jumping to his feet and heading
'Lance, you need to eat,' Shiro said.
'Not hungry,' he said on the way out the door.
'Did I say something wrong?' Allura wondered out loud.