Marked For Death | klangst

Ten.

"You can't treat him like he's a child," someone was saying. "He's just in shock, like the rest of us are." It seemed far away... distant and lost.

"He seems to be taking it harder than everyone else, though... Even Hunk -- and that's saying something," a second voice answered in defense.

"I really think you ought to leave it alone for right now. Let him rest. He's been through a lot in the past few hours," the first voice spoke again, becoming softer with every syllable.

Keith sat up groggily, groaning as his head began to pound and his wrist, throb. Through the tangle of fragmented thoughts and images in his mind, he pinpointed the two voices: Pidge and Shiro. They were talking about him right outside his door, still oblivious to the fact that he had awoken. He decided to remain silent -- half because he was curious about the direction their conversation was heading, and the other half because he was still in pain.

"Pidge, I know Keith has been like a brother to you these past few months, and I know you're just trying to protect him, but we need to understand what's been bothering him lately. If we can't rely on each other, trust each other, understand each other's moves and motives, our chances of finding Lance lessen. We need to act like a team, and you know better than anyone that that means no secrets," Shiro said authoritatively, his tone dismissive and final.

Keith could imagine Pidge looking at her feet in defeat, blinking furiously to prevent tears from falling onto her glasses. "Of course I know that... But think about how he must be feeling right now. He and Lance... Yes, they have their so-called rivalry, but being members of the same team, living in close quarters, having to depend on each other in desperate times... It made them closer. I don't think he'd ever admit it, but I think Keith cares about Lance in a way that can't be described in words. It's more that friendship and comradery, more than partnership and unity... It's empathy and dare I say affinity. They understand each other in a way that no one else can, and I think that's why he's so torn up about Lance's disappearance. He lost the person he was understood by, and he's unravelling because of it."

Shiro was dead silent, trying to comprehend every word that Pidge had told him. Lance was the only person who understood Keith? Didn't he understand him? "If what you say is true..." The Black Paladin was at a loss for words, his mind scrambling to piece all of the puzzle together.

"Just let him be for now. I think he needs time alone to rest and to come to terms with reality," Pidge finished for him.

"Come to terms with... You think he doesn't realize that Lance isn't actually here -- that we don't know where he is?" Shiro asked in clarification, confusion lacing his voice.

Keith heard Pidge sigh on the other side of the metal door. "I'm not saying that he is stuck in one of those Grumgan illusions. I am saying, however, that if he doesn't accept the fact that Lance is gone for the time being, it'll destroy him."

Again, Shiro was quiet. "You're right." He paused, and Keith could feel his worried eyes stare at the door, weighing his potential options. "He need's to rest and recuperate his energy."

Pidge managed a half giggle. "R & R, Voltron style."

Shiro chuckled lightly, but his heart wasn't into it. "C'mon. He might wake up soon."

"Yeah," Pidge agreed, turning on her heel. As their footsteps began to fade away, their voices echoed down the hallway. "I wonder how Hunk and Allura are doing..."

"Hopefully they're having better luck than we are," Shiro answered with a downcast sigh.

Keith listened to their voices growing smaller and smaller until all he could hear was the pounding in his head. It didn't help that two new questions entered his mind and bounced across his brain, slamming into his skull every other second. Where were Hunk and Allura? And what were they doing?