Taking A Chance

Kalgar

The corridor was dimly lit, with only every fourth ceiling light on. The air was breathable, but stale and their boots clicked loudly on the metal floor.
‘Do we even know where we're going?’ asked Lance.
'About the only way we can at the moment,’ said Shiro. ‘Why doesn't this corridor have any turns?’
‘It's strange,’ Keith said. He took off his glove and ran his fingers along the wall. The lights overhead flared, and blue lights lit up door frames and corridors on either side of the corridor they were in.
Down one of the new corridors came a sound. A low, rumbling growI, and the thump of heavy footsteps.
Keith froze, and listened. Shiro and Lance followed suit.
‘What's that?' asked Shiro.
‘A kalgar,’ said Keith. ‘Imagine an ape, 10 foot tall, grey fur, long razor shape claws on his hands, and pointy teeth that can rip the flesh from your bones.'
‘Sound like a guy I went on a blind date with once,' Lance muttered.
‘How did that turn out for you?' asked Keith, as they started down the corridor again.
‘Thankfully, him passed out drunk on the bathroom floor, and me legging it out the door,’ Lance said.
Shiro grinned. ‘Only you, Lance.’
‘Not all of us are lucky enough to meet the person we're going to marry at age 10,' said Lance. ‘Most of us have to date our fair share of assholes before we meet The One.’
Lance watched Keith walk ahead of them. Somehow, Keith Kogane ended up being the most perfect lover he'd ever been with, and he was amazed every time he woke up next to him that it wasn't all just a dream. Oh, and how many wet dreams he'd had about him.
They reached an area where another corridor went off to the right. Down that corridor, lights hung shattered from the ceiling, door were ripped off their hinges, and Iong claw marks tore open the metal walls. Half way down the corridor was black where all the lights had been ripped out of the ceiling.
‘How long do you think this thing has been down here?' asked Shiro.
‘Hard to say,’ said Keith, ‘They can hibernate for 90-100 years at a time. One things for certain, if it has hibernated that long, it will be hungry. I think the question we should be asking is, where is it now?'
‘Hopefully, snacking on Lotor,’ Lance said, as he checked the corridor behind them. He turned back to see two red eyes blinked into view.
‘Shit,' Keith muttered, bringing his sword up.
The kalgar roared, and ran forward on all fours, like an ape. It was fast and agile as it dodged Lance's blaster shots.
Lance stepped forward next to Keith and brought up his blaster and fired hitting the kalgar in the shoulder. It's shoulder jerked back, and it roared, but it didn't stop it. The kalgar rammed into them with the force of a steamroller, while swinging its long arms.
Pain shot through Lance's side when he hit the wall. He rolled onto his stomach and fired again, hitting the creature in the back.
At the end of the corridor, it skidded and turned, charging back the way it came.
Shiro ran forward, his mechanical arm activated. The kalgar decended on him and Shiro punched it in the chest and if flew back against the the wall on the other side of the corridor. Keith leapt into the air and plunged it into the kalgar's chest. It screached them slumped down onto the floor unmoving.
Lance stood then collapsed to the floor again, blood dripping from his side.
‘Well, damn,’ Lance said.
‘No, no, no,' said Keith, running over to him, and dropping to his knees. ‘I'll heal you.’
Lance shook his head and pushed Keith's hands away.
‘Lance, don't,’ Keith said.
‘Baby, I sent the footage Marco took of you healing yourself to Pidge. According to Allura, you used the Earth's quintessence to heal yourself. The moon has no living organisms on it. You would be using your quintessence to heal me, draining yourself in the process, if you use too much it could kill you. We need your strength to fight Lotor, healing me can wait.’
‘What if it can't?’ asked Keith.
‘We'll think about that when we need to,’ said Shiro. ‘Lance is right, we need you at full strength.'
Keith hung his head and closed his eyes, unable to stop the tears rolling down his cheeks.
‘I will make the decision when to heal you,' said Keith, ‘and I don't want you to stop me, either of you.’
‘Okay,' said Shiro. ‘Let's pack and bandage the wounds for now.'
From a compartment in their suits they removed the small amount of medical supplies they had, and hoped it would be enough.
Keith helped Lance stand, then removed his chest plate and jet pack and placed them on the floor. Pulling up the under suit the saw one of the kalgar's claws had stabbed him through the side and went clean through, front to back.
Shiro held gauze dressing over the wounds while Keith bandaged them in place. Once done, they got his armour back into place.
‘Tell me if it gets worse,’ Keith said.
'Sure,’ Lance said.
‘I mean it,' said Keith, ‘don't put your life in danger.'
‘I won't, I promise,' Lance said.
‘How will we find Lotor?' asked Shiro.
Keith pulled off his helmet, and changed into his Galra forrn. His ears twitched as he listened, then he suddenly turned and looked toward the corridor where the kalgar lay.
‘Wait here a minute,’ Keith said, handing his helmet to Lance.
They watched him disappear from view.
After a couple of minutes, Lance started getting agitated.
'Calm down,’ Shiro said.
‘I am calm,’ Lance snapped.
'Lance, you need to learn to put you feelings aside,’ Shiro said, gently.
‘I know,’ murmured Lance. ‘I'm trying to, but it's becoming harder.’
'It's not easy,’ said Shiro, ‘but feelings can be used against you.’
Lance nodded. ‘I understand that, I do, but I can't hide behind a stupid rivalry anymore. It made it easier to distance myself from him when I pretended to hate him.’
Just then Keith appeared. ‘I found Lotor,’ he said. ‘He's in the control room.’