Love, Loss and Everything in Between. Klance AU

Chapter 8 - Tension

"Lance, Keith, I know you hate each other but please think about Voltron for a moment. We can't fight when you two refuse to work together." Shiro commanded, standing over the pair with folded, agitated arms. His face was stern: his lips straight and his eyebrows lowered.

"It's not my fault that Keith tried to rape my girlfriend." Lance quipped, glaring at Keith with eyes full of hatred. He went as far as to step to the side to increase the space between them. Keith chose not to say anything: he hadn't actually done anything wrong. He could feel Allura's glare on his back, burning through his skin, but he repressed the urge to snap.

"Lance, you need to put that aside for a moment. The fate of the universe is in our hands."

"You're asking me to work with a rapist?"

"He didn't do anything!"

"Yeah, right. I'm sorry but back at the Garrison he was an undisciplined kid with anger issues. Nothing has changed. I blame the Galra in him and the fact that his parents both left-"

"What did you just say?" Keith growled, finally turning to look at Lance with a murderous expression on his face. His hands hovered over his pocket where his knife was sitting, ready to attack the blue paladin for making such a comment about his heritage.

"I said that it was your parents' fault. What, have I hit a nerve? Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that you struck a nerve when you permanently scarred my girlfriend!"

"I didn't touch her!" Keith shoved Lance backwards, tackling him onto the ground. As their bodies came in contact, Lance fidgeted and tried to get out from beneath Keith. Having practiced hand-to-hand combat so much, Keith knew to grab his wrists and pin them above his head. His legs were either side of Lance's slim body, leaving Lance without any room to move.

"Get off of me!" Lance screeched, tugging at his wrists as much as possible. Keith used the hand that wasn't pinning Lance down to grab his knife.

"Keith, Keith, calm down. I know you're angry but don't hurt Lance. Both of you need to snap out of it." Keith gritted his teeth before standing up and facing Shiro. He was breathing heavily, his hands clenching into fists and unclenching repeatedly as he tried to calm himself down. Lance scrambled up onto his feet, dusting himself off as if he hadn't just been rendered a weak, desperate mess. "Keith, you need to calm down and Lance, don't you dare say anything about Keith's family again. You know it's a sensitive topic for him."

"Why does he deserve sympathy? You know what he did, Shiro. He should be kicked off of the team."

"No, Lance, he shouldn't because he didn't do anything. I know it's wrong to react in such an angry way but it is also wrong to lie about a crime so serious. We all know Keith isn't capable of something like this."

Lance shook his head rapidly, muttering, "This is unbelievable. Imagine how Allura feels." They all turned to look at the princess who was biting her lip and staring down at her feet. Lance headed over to her and pulled her into a long hug. Keith let out a soft sigh before walking out of the training room, stomping his feet like a toddler as he did so.

He headed back to his room where he pulled his bed covers over his head to block out the rest of the world. He scrunched his eyes shut and tried to focus on his breathing. When he had just been an angry kid, Shiro had taught him relaxation techniques designed to subdue anger and anxiety. He inhaled slowly before holding the breath and exhaling.

-

"Hey, Shiro?" Keith called as he knocked on the door of Shiro's room. The door flew open to reveal the black paladin, greeting him with a welcoming smile. Keith followed Shiro over to his bed where they both sat down, side by side. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me."