Not a Participation Game

The Aftermath

When Lance touched down in the Castle of Lions, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He got out of his chair and looked at Shiro, who was still unconscious. He's not doing too well, Lance thought. I need to get him to a healing pod soon.

Lance lifted Shiro and did his best to drag him painlessly out of the Black Lion. It was a slow and difficult process, and Lance's own exhaustion was starting to kick in already. Luckily, the rest of the team was there waiting for them along with someone who looked a lot like Pidge, (must be her brother, Lance thought) who arrived with a bed to carry Shiro to the infirmary. Keith's attention was divided between Lance and Shiro. He kept looking from one to the other, wanting to go to one of them but not knowing which one or what he would do.

Lance hadn't had the time to explain anything, and with the dizziness he felt when he walked, he wouldn't be able to anytime soon. "Shiro needs to get to a healing pod. He's been through a lot," Lance said before he was bombarded by one of Hunk's bear hugs. Hunk mumbled something Lance couldn't quite understand, but he got the message. "Missed you too, buddy." Lance replied. He felt his eyes gloss over and he laughed. He was finally safe again-finally home.

At some point everyone else joined in the hug. Even Matt, who didn't know Lance. Tears were now falling freely down his face. He thought back to his performance on Lotor's ship, and how hard he had to work to make it convincing. Every insecurity he had felt was a thought that had plagued his mind for however long they'd been in space, but now, surrounded by his friends and feeling their love, every doubt in his mind was washed away.

Lance was eventually put in a healing pod next to Shiro. When he was well enough to stumble out, Keith was already at his side, helping him get his footing. When he could stand by himself, Lance looked up at Keith and met his loving gaze. He smiled. "I missed you," Lance said.

Keith choked out a laugh, tears falling down his face. Lance took Keith's face in his hands. He wiped the tears away before finally kissing Keith.

*

Lance waited for Shiro to wake up before catching everyone up with what happened. He figured that it would be easiest to explain everything at one time rather than getting the details confused between explanations. Instead, he met Matt, and the two of them together made Pidge roll her eyes more times than they could count.

When Shiro finally awoke, to everyone's surprise, Keith was the one to initiate the group hug. 

Shiro started talking first, telling of how Lotor found his body and made a clone that was programmed to disrupt Voltron. He told them that he could see through the clone's eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop its treatment of the team. When he wasn't forced to watch the team fall apart, he was fighting against his captors, who were doing experiments on him, trying to get him to give in to their plan.

"That's when Lance found me," Shiro finished. He looked to Lance, who looked to Keith.

"Tell them about before we met up," Lance said.

Keith started with the elephant in the room - that he looked Galra. He explained how the changes came one after another, and how he wasn't sure how the team would react, which led to him calling the Castle less and less.

Keith told the team about Kolivan's order of anonymity. He was at the party, but he couldn't reveal his identity to tell them he was alive. "That's when Lance showed up," Keith said, smiling fondly at him. Lance squeezed Keith's hand, and only then did he realize that they had been holding hands this entire time. If he blushed, nobody said anything. Keith only said that Lance had talked to him for the rest of the party. Lance remembered the rest, though. Kissing Keith for the first time and promising to meet again.

Then Keith talked about him and Lance's mission. He laughed as he explained how Lance had almost immediately recognized him from the party but had no idea he was Keith. Then he talked about the mission and his broken communicator, and then about his mask shattering. Keith said that Lance had distracted him before giving him the helmet and bayard and forcing him outside. Lance and Keith shared a knowing smile.

Finally, it was Lance's turn to speak.

He told them how he woke up in a cell, fully healed. He explained how he gradually earned Lotor's trust thanks to his self-doubt and Veronica dragging him into theater. Eventually, Lance was able to get to a place where he could signal SOS. Then he was taken to Shiro and was asked to help subdue him when he woke. Lance told them about how he helped Shiro escape instead.

Nobody said anything for a few moments. After all, it was a lot to take in. Without a conversation to keep Lance from getting distracted, he started looking around the room and eventually looked down to his and Keith's intertwined hands. He felt a wave of heat wash over his body, and he knew his face was probably becoming more and more red.

Lance hadn't ever really been in a relationship before, so everything was new to him. Not the touching, necessarily. Growing up in a family as large and close as his, he was used to group hugs and people touching him. What was so special about this was that it was Keith, who rarely had physical contact with anyone that wasn't Shiro. Here he was, holding Lance's hand. Keith was holding his hand because they were together. Keith was holding hands with him because he loved him. 

Lance felt a brand new wave of heat as he thought this. Keith loves me, and I love him. Lance looked up from their hands and stared lovingly at Keith. After a moment, Keith noticed Lance's eyes on him and returned his gaze. Keith smiled, and Lance had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

Somebody started talking. Lance wasn't sure who it was. A conversation started up again, and eventually everyone was leaving the room to get food. Keith and Lance followed, still having not let go of each other. They walked slowly, enjoying each other's company. For the first time in a long time, Lance was at peace.

"Hey, Lance?" Keith asked quietly. He looked away, and one of his fingers tapped nervously on the back of Lance's hand. Lance looked ahead, and the others had just entered the dining room, leaving the two of them alone in the hall. Lance stopped walking.

"Yeah?" Lance asked, a little nervous himself. Is he uncomfortable with this? Of...us?

Keith chewed on his lip before finally turning to Lance. "I think..." he started, then he glanced away. Lance squeezed Keith's hand reassuringly. Keith took a deep breath before finally meeting Lance's eyes. "I think...I love you," he said.

It was a while for Lance to remember how to breathe. He let go of Keith's hand and hugged him. Keith was still for a moment before melting into Lance's embrace.

"Me too," Lance whispered. "I love you too."