Don't Ask, I'll Never Tell

Under Attack

Keith sped up to match Lance's long stride. As he did so, he felt his surroundings go fuzzy once again.

"Lance." Keith cautioned. "Lance! I need to stop for a moment."

Lance turned to Keith and guided him the the wall when he noticed Keith struggling for balance. "Are you feeling dizzy again?" Lance asked.

"Yeah." Keith tried to continue but stumbled into Lance's shoulder.

"Come on, buddy. I've got you." Lance slung one of Keith's arms over his shoulder and continued at a slower pace. "Do you know what brought it on?"

"I-I really don't know."

"Have you been eating properly?"

"Of course."

"Get enough sleep?"

"Usually."

Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not the recommended eight hours, but I still get a decent night's sleep."

"Do you think it has something to do with... you know." Lance whispered to prevent their words from echoing in the corridor.

"I don't know. Maybe." Keith's eyes darted to the floor.

Lance nodded as if he understood. "We're almost at my dorm. Are you okay to walk?"

Keith nodded quickly. "I'll be fine."

"If you feel faint, don't be afraid to hold onto me, okay?"

"I said I'll be fine." Keith replied firmly and staggered ahead. Keith stopped momentarily to wait for Lance to open the door.

As soon as they were inside, and the door was securely locked, Keith flopped back on Lance's bed. He draped his right arm over his eyes. "I tried to fly Red again."

"You... what?"

"Silly, I know."

"So what happened?"

"Red doesn't seem to recognize me as it's Paladin anymore." Keith replied, sitting up with his hands resting in his lap. "I wanted to know why. I thought that if I spent more time with it, then I could figure out what's going on. But Red hasn't spoken to me in a long time. We seem to have lost our connection and I don't know how to get it back."

Lance sat cross legged on the floor and looked up at Keith. "I can't imagine what could have caused the disconnect. I mean, Blue and I don't usually have any issues."

"Of course not. The Blue lion is much easier to handle than the Red lion."

"Oh really?" Lance challenged.

"Yes, Lance. Allura went over that on day one." Keith droned.

"I--well-- Shut up, Keith!"

Keith tched in annoyance but watched Lance with curiosity as he reached under the bed to retrieve articles of blue cloth and sewing materials.
Keith cocked his head to the side, watching the way Lance's nose scrunched up ever so slightly as he worked. "What are you doing?"

"It's a stress reliever of mine. Don't worry, we can keep talking. This doesn't take much concentration."

"It looks kinda like your blue lion slippers."

"Well those slippers are green now, thanks to you."

Keith scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

Lance shrugged. "It's no problem, really. The stitching was starting to come undone anyway. That was my first attempt. I'm a lot better now, as you can see." He held up one of the slippers.

"How long have you been working on that?"

Lance shrugged. "A couple weeks, I guess. Anyway, that's beside the point. You were saying something about the Red lion?"

Keith watched Lance's hands as he answered. "If the issue is me, then there's no denying it; even my lion is sharing this uncertainty that I have."

"You think so?"

"Why else would it change its behavior so drastically? It must sense my hesitation. I can't be certain, but I think it's reflecting my own views of myself. After all, if I can't accept myself for the way I am, what makes me think that the Red lion ever would?"

Lance paused. "So you're saying that it's not so much that the Red lion lost its connection with you but that the Red lion is bonded so closely to you that it shares your thoughts and emotions?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking."

Lance set the unfinished slippers aside and stood up. However, just as Lance opened his mouth to speak, a jolt sent him sprawled on the floor. Keith held his hands over his ears as piercing alarms assaulted his eardrums. Their surroundings were bathed in blinking red lights.

"Paladins! Command Center! Now!" Allura shouted frantically into the loudspeakers. "This is not a drill! I repeat, this is NOT a drill!"

"I think we're under attack!" Lance shouted over the blaring alarm.

"You think so?!" Keith yelled back sarcastically.

Lance shot to his feet and ran from the room. Keith stumbled after him. Lance paused in the doorway to glance over his shoulder. "Keith, you should stay here. You're not fit to fight." Lance said with concern.

"I'm fine!" Keith insisted, marching forward with both hands slightly extended for balance. Another jolt sent Keith flying into Lance.

Keith dragged himself to his feet and pushed him away. "Come on, Lance! We can't afford to waste any time. I may not be able to pilot the Red lion but I can still fight."

Lance reached out to seize Keith's arm.
"Are you insane? You can't even walk straight!" Lance called after him.

"Let go of me!" Keith balled his hand into a fist and tried to force his arm out of Lance's grip.

"I won't. You're gonna get yourself killed."

Keith scowled. "You can't make me sit around and do nothing while we're under attack!"

Keith and Lance braced themselves as another jolt threatened to knock them over again.

Lance hesitated for a split second then nodded once. "Fine. You're stubborn as heck. You'd probably find a way even if you were tied down. But I hope you know that I'm not letting you leave my sight."

Keith returned the nod. "Fine." He replied simply. "Can you let go of me now?"
___________________________

As Keith and Lance drew closer to the command center clad in their Paladin armor, Keith's head buzzed like a colony of angry bees took up residence in his head. With every step, another wave of dizziness threatened to take over but, still, he pressed on. Keith paused beside the door to take a breath and pulled out his bayard to prepare for battle.

Lance did the same. "You okay?" He mouthed silently.

Keith nodded and motioned with a hand to the sensor beside Lance. Lance followed Keith's direction to open the sliding door, all the while Keith held his bayard close and instinctively switched to his battle stance. He tried to ignore the buzzing that was steadily increasing to a deafening volume as the door slid open.