Don't Ask, I'll Never Tell

Something Wrong

The Paladins returned to the Altean ship control room with varying levels of defeat on their faces.

"How'd it go, Paladins?" Coran asked.

The Paladins responded with sighs.
"It didn't go well." Lance crossed his arms and squinted at Keith.

Keith turned away and staggered to the wall. He stumbled and fell with his right shoulder against the wall. Panting slightly, Keith allowed himself to slide down in a sitting position facing away from the others.

Lance's eyes widened and rushed to his side. "Whoa, dude. Are you alright?"

The rest of the Paladins rushed to Keith's aid as well.

"I-I'm fine." Keith replied stubbornly.

Pidge held a hand up to Keith's forehead. "No, you're not alright. Your face is clammy and you're hot to the touch. Why haven't you told anyone that you're sick?"

"Because I'm not sick."

"Keith, it's important that you don't keep anything from us. If there's anything going on, we need to know. It could be a matter of life or death."

Keith turned to Allura.

"She's right, you know. It's important for us as a team to trust each other." Shiro added.

Keith's head lolled to the side as the room began to spin around him and his ears rang to the point of deafness. "I know..." Suddenly the ground rushed up to him and his vision went black.
___________________________

Keith woke up lying in his bed. His eyes wandered the room to rest on the figure of none other than Lance who leaned against the far wall looking at nothing in particular.

"Why are you here?" Keith asked in annoyance.

Lance turned to Keith. "Nice to see you too." He responded sarcastically. "Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk are out."

Keith sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Where?"

"Who knows?" Lance replied with a shrug of his shoulders before coming to sit at the foot of Keith's bed. " I overslept so by the time I got to the control room, Shiro told me to just stay behind to watch you. You drool in your sleep, by the way. Like a little baby." He teased.

"I do not!"

"Oh yes you do."

Keith groaned into his hands before turning back to Lance with annoyance. "Well, now that I'm definitely not dying, your work here is done. I don't need a babysitter."

"I wish I could. Believe me. But you have the capacity to do stupid things."

"You define stupidity." Keith answered, rising to his feet unsteadily.

"Hey! I'm trying to bond with you."

"I didn't ask for a bonding moment. What I am asking for is to be left alone!"

"Baby's having a tantrum now."

"Am not!" Keith stumbled into the headboard and narrowly missed a blow to the nose before Lance swiftly caught him.

"Are too." Lance argued back as he helped Keith into a sitting position on the bed. "So what's going on with you? Not that I care or anything. Pidge wanted to know."

"Nothing's wrong."

"You sure? 'Cause, I mean, normally you don't suck at fighting as much as you have in the past couple of weeks."

"Gee, thanks." Keith responded, attempting to stand again.

Lance pushed him back down. "Seriously, would you stop trying to act like a tough guy for one moment?"

Keith scowled. "I'm not acting like anything!"

"Lance, stop tormenting Keith." Allura walked into the room.

Lance moved to allow the princess to sit on the bed in his place. " I wasn't tormenting him." Lance muttered almost to himself.

Allura ignored him. "We're all worried about you, Keith."

"I've heard." He responded with a deadpan expression. "You guys have nothing to worry about." He shuffled back until he rested against the headboard. He shut his eyes tightly as another bout of dizziness began to take over. A light ringing in his ears obstructed his ability to hear Allura clearly. "It's nothing I can't handle." He mumbled. "I've had worse."

"Well regardless of what you have the capacity to handle, you have people here who are concerned for your wellbeing."

"Oh he knows." Lance replied with a dull tone. He crossed his arms. "But that's not gonna do any good, now is it? You couldn't get Keith to talk if you tried."

Allura stared at Lance. "I'm sure that all Keith needs is a bit of rest and something to eat. Lance could you--"

Lance had already made his way to the door long before she started her sentence. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Watch Keith. Feed Keith. I've become a glorified nanny."

Keith watched Lance go, glad to have a bit of peace for once. Allura turned to Keith and pulled him toward her in order to adjust the pillows. She then laid him back gently and pulled the blankets over him.

"Really, I'm okay." Keith insisted weakly.

Allura reached out to touch his forehead. "You're still clammy, but the fever seems to be going down at least. However, I know that this isn't all that's going on. There is definitely something you're not telling us. It's okay if you don't want to tell us right away. If you're worried about how we would react, understand that we are all in this together. You can tell us when you're ready." She swiped his hair out of his eyes absentmindedly almost like a mother trying to comfort a child.

Keith nodded and looked to where Lance disappeared, unable to keep eye contact with the Altean princess. "I know that. It's just... not a problem that the rest of the Paladins should have to deal with."

Allura frowned slightly but then caught herself and smiled warmly at the sick Paladin. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. For now, I would suggest getting some more rest." Allura rose to her feet and walked to the door. "I'll talk to you later." She said with a smile before shutting off the light and closing the door behind her.

Keith blinked in the darkness for a few moments, allowing his thoughts and worries to churn in his head. Could he ever tell them? He has told them countless times in the safety of his imagination. In some scenarios, they accepted him with open arms. But in most scenarios, they treated him like a liar; a traitor even. No, he could never tell them. And it was for that reason that he vowed to deal with it on his own.