"No, I did not.", Lance confessed.
How was this a confession?
"What?", Keith's eyes widened and caused Lance to laugh at the bizarre response. "Why are you so shocked? Shouldn't you be glad I didn't do it?"
"But it's an obvious suicide! If you didn't kill yourself, then-"
Hunk interrupted him.

"He didn't? Lance! What happened?" Right, Keith was the only one capable of listening.
Kind of ironic.

Lance sighed, as Hunk stared at Keith. Apparently the guy was now his new voice.
"I guess it will look like suicide to everyone. Everyone but me and the guy who will be held responsible for it.", Lance started and Keith's eyes widened.

"The guy responsible? But who-"

"Lotor is innocent. No matter what they may tell you." Keith was caught of guard.

"Keith? Can you please tell us what he's saying? I'm dying over here.", Pidge groaned. She was standing close behind him, shivering in her position.

She did not mention how odd it was to her that Keith stood so close to the corpse. What about decency?

"Oh right, sorry.", he responded to the voiced question.
"He says, Lotor is involved. You know the pub owner of the Galra? That guy who spread the rumor of me being a ghost whisperer? We used to be friends, I mentioned him once.", Keith explained, eyes traveling between all of them.

Only Nyma seemed to recognize the name, as she gasped in shock and fear. In general, she already looked like a kicked puppy, ready to run anytime now.
"But, according to Lance, Lotor did not murder him."
He then continued to repeat everything Lance said as best as he could, while Nyma slowly released the breath she was holding.

"This corpse will be analyzed by the police soon. They'll find out how I died. But they will probably believe it was suicide, caused by immense drug use.
They will find drugs in both my pockets as well as my stomach.", Lance stopped at the memory that was suddenly clouding his vision. Flashing in his mind, clear as photographs.
And yet, he was the only one who saw them.

He remembered searching for papers at home.
He remembered finding the case Sendak hid in their garage. The stall they only used to put old belongings in. Well, until Sendak came into their life's and used it for his car.

It had taken Lance a solid three hours to crack the code to open it, trying each possible combination. And obviously, he had to start with four zeros, working himself up.
He'd been patient and it payed off.
When he opened the case, he found transaction papers. Various families who "donated" to his company.
He saw where he put his own money. Who he payed for what reason. How he corrupted everyone, especially his company, that was listed as ,charity organization'. He found old files on crime scenes from the past. Some more recent than the others. They were put in an old scrapbook. Someone, most likely Sendak had written comments on the pages. But the comments itself sounded, like he used them for writing purposes. Or as though he wanted to find out what happened himself. If Lance did not know better.
One of them stood out most to him. The article must be about ten years old. In bright red and circles, the word ,medium' was marked. Giant question marks next to it.

Lance shook his head. Now that he thought about it, the girl on the article looked vaguely familiar.

"Sendak, my moms boyfriend, was in debt. Still is, as much as I figured out. He regularly looses money. And uses his companies money for it.
His company is as good as bankrupt, while he saves money on his own account. His girlfriends are only a distraction to keep up his facade. He pretends to buy them everything they ever wanted, while secretly hacking their bank accounts and robbing them.
He gets off without ever paying rent. As soon as hes done with them, he stays at his friends pub. The Galra pub, by the way.

If anyone, ever, got too close to the truth, they mysteriously would disappear or die in an accident or something like that. I found old Newspapers and I am fairly certain that he has something to do with them.
I'm afraid, that he would even go so far, to kill of the husband of some people first, before even coming to town. He does that with certain, wealthy people. I know he has connections. Whatever happened, he was marked as clean. Too clean, if you ask me.

About the Galra. I have talked to Lotor and he has told me what Sendak did to him.
Lotor took drugs with his friends. And somehow, Sendak came to witness that. He stole the money they had on them and made videos and proofs of their actions.

When they woke up, he blackmailed Lotor for money and little conveniences, with the promise of leaving his friends alone. Lotor's friends all left him, because Sendak made it look like he'd took their money. It's a bit complicated, since I was not there. You may have to ask Lotor personally.
But I saw some very confusing video feats that Sendak send Lotor as a thread. But I get what they imply.
The entire conversation should still be on my phone.

Anyway, when Sendak found me searching for his stuff, he tried blackmailing me as well. When I told him about the video I had, I thought, he'd go mad. But he was so - calm
Then, he threatened me with something worse."

Lance took a deep breath, as he stepped forward to his own corpse, not looking at Keith anymore.

Keith stopped talking as well, all eyes on him, while he stared ahead. Being the only one who was not blind to Lance's tears and the struggle he had with keeping his voice calm.

"In the name and with the money of my mother, he put off a life insurance on me and my siblings. He said, and I quote, that he ,was afraid that anything may happen to us.'" Lance tried to mimic Sendak's voice to emphasize how heavy the implications lay.
, Our sister was already in the hospital, after all.', the police would buy it. He would make sure of that, I'm sure.
I'm certain we're not the first family, he pulled that bullshit with.

I told him, it did not matter. I would call the police anyway. I was an idiot to think I could threaten him like that. I just made him angry.
He then - he fought me to the ground and drugged me.
That was Sunday evening.", he did not look at Keith anymore and Keith felt shivers ran down his spine. His mind had not proceeded what this meant, but his gut warned him that he should know. And, as Keith knew his gut, it was probably right.

"I managed to escape on my bike. I guess, luck really was on my side then. Because in my delirious state, I crashed with a car. Who drives that late at night anyway?
I really should have talked to Shiro then."

Lance looked at Keith again. A pleading look in his eyes. An unspoken apology written in the heaviness of his voice.
Keith could not breathe, as realization settled in.

Pidge, the only one there who knew about his relations to Shiro, opened her mouth to say something. But she stopped herself, as she saw that Keith trembled and could not repeat what Lance was saying anymore.
She did not blame him. This was only between the two of them anyway.
She gave Hunk a sign to keep quiet. As he seemed desperate to get as much information as possible.
Nyma and Rolo were being quiet all the way. Eyes fixed on the ever so slightly moving corpse in front of them.
Maybe, it should be a relieve to Nyma that Lance's death was not her fault. But it was a given, that this did not make it any better.

"I always hated Shiro for what happened to Veronica.", Lance admitted, tears running down his face.
"He always seemed so calm and collected. So that I thought he didn't even care. That it didn't matter to him what he did. But when I saw him that night-
When he stumbled out of that car, he looked down right terrified. I could see, how he was almost ripping off his prosthetic in panic. I realize now that he had an anxiety attac.
I could basically feel, how the crash brought back the memories. Now that I know he has PTSD, I cannot be more ashamed of myself.

I couldn't talk to him then. Instead, I turned around. I was originally on the way to the police, but then. I thought of Shiro, how the police would treat him, if they found out he ran me over. I was still on drugs, a part of me thought that maybe Sendak would use this as an excuse and make Shiro responsible for everything that happened.
The bit of sanity I had left before the drugs actually set in told me to go in the opposite direction and hid where I thought nobody would search for me. And Sendak would be the last to figure it out.

But he tracked my phone. He found me here, pushed me down again. He -", Lance's voice was wavering with emotion now.

"He strangled me. On drugs, I could feel it even more. Every cell in my body reacted simultaneously, craving for air and screaming at me. All while he pulled me up that stupid swing set and put the tire around my neck. He heaved me up, as I felt my neck cracking at the intensity of my own weight. I couldn't move. While I choked to death up there, he deleted the video. He put drugs in my pocket and took my phone.
I- That is the last thing I remember."

Yet again, he stopped. Taking one breath after the other. Lost in the memory, lost in the fear. He touched his own neck, even the phantom of a touch sending shivers down his spine. Only now they could actually see the dark bruises in their full glory. Between the marks the tire must have left, you could see how the neck was crooked. As though it was broken. It was the perfect mirror image you could see on his physical form.
Lance closed his eyes as tears ran down his face.

"I don't know what he did to the phone. But I'm positive, he's going to use it as blackmail against Lotor. He's going to pretend Lotor murdered me and made it look like suicide. I could protect Shiro, but I couldn't protect Lotor, I'm so sorry."

He was done now. His last words but a whisper. Shaking with tears and regret. His eyes were still distant, caught in the memory.
This story was by far the heaviest Keith had ever heard. And he had heard a lot. Keith found himself crying too as he picked up his voice to tell the others how Lance died. He kept the long version for himself. Only telling them about the lost phone and the way Lance was hanged.
The visual image was too painful to repeat and Keith did not think he could do it justice.

He had not expected Lotor and Shiro to be a part of this story. Mostly because he wanted to exclude Lotor of his life and distance Shiro from any possible harm that may come his way. Much like Lance had.
Then again, Shiro never told him the truth about the accident. And now he understood why.

Silence settled over the forest as both Lance and Keith were looking at each other with tears in their eyes.
If the scene was somehow different, with both of them ignoring their audience, it could have been an intimate moment. If only it was not in this context.
So it was only creepy for the others, seeing a guy talk about a random story about the corpse they just found, all while crying about it.
It should have been different. Nothing of this should have happened. And anyone in this circle was convinced, they could have done something to prevent it.

And then, Keith went silent. Because, as you may remember, there was something else, he had on his mind. Ever since they got here.
Only, as silence seemed to stretch endlessly again, he dared to ask.

"Is this it?", he asked, worry all over his face, causing Hunk, Pidge, Nyma and Rolo to perk up at him.

In the distance, they heard sirens coming closer.
About time.

"What is what? Is something happening?", Hunk asked, still scared and just as confused as Lance was.

"Are you going to move on? To the after life? We- we found your body.", Keith asked. Feeling afraid.

It was strange, but he felt so drawn to this ghost. He knew Lance from when they were younger. The other boy always messing with him, making fun of him.
And still being kind, when they met on the streets or in class. Perhaps Allura was right. Perhaps the goodness of his heart made objects and people move to his will. Even though Lance did not realize how good of a person he really was.
But did he really have to die to become his friend? That's what they were, right? Friends?
And the fact alone made Keith shiver. He never had a ghost friend beside Allura. The chances were too high for them to just – leave.

Lance coughed, as a smile spread on his face at the shocked looks Keith received.
"No. I don't think it's time for that yet."

Keith let out a relieved breath and that action alone, relaxed the whole crowd that was standing around the hanging corpse.
"I take it, he isn't moving on?", Pidge asked as the probably only person in the room who knew of the tendency of ghosts to simply disappear after a while.

"I don't-", Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance in question, but the ghost in question only shook his head.

"I really don't want to talk about it. But let me assure you, it has nothing to do with my murder. I'm not here for revenge.", Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder in a gentle gesture.

Keith nodded.
"Let's talk about this another time.", he said. "I'd rather not know anyway. It's a bit – much."

Pidge sighed. "Right. Then – how do we get Sendak to confess?"

"How do you get me to confess what?", a dark voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Coming all the way from the police station, the police officers navigated their way through the thick leafs and branches. Of course Sendak had to be with them. Or rather the guy, Keith assumed to be Sendak. According to his sudden introduction.

Keith recognized some of the officers as well. Such as Coran, Curtis and Kinkade. And not far behind, Shiro was approaching, along a woman with long brown hair and an expression that made Keith wonder if she had seen a ghost. Then again, that was something that would really throw him off. Then he noticed, she had the same kind eyes as Lance had, the same tanned skin and the same sad look in her eyes.
She must be his mother. One look at Lance, who was staring ahead in shock and fear at her, proved him right.

Until Keith remembered what the first thing was that she saw as soon as they had reached them. The pain, shock and agony that settled in her features spread like poison through the small group of officers.
Mrs. McClain stormed over, screaming, while Shiro's eyes widened in distress and horror.

Sendak stood there, an admittedly convincing horrified expression framing his ignorance. His eyes, however, where not in it. But maybe, Keith only saw that because he had Lance's statement.

Coran gasped as they all took in the cruel scenery. In front of them, they saw a bunch of children, tears in their eyes standing next to a hanging corpse. Neck broken, eyes glassy, waving in the subtle wind that was the only cause of noise in this exact moment.

A corpse that was their age, who went to their class. The simple fact making them speechless. Even Pidge. And whats worse. All of them knew him personally. At least to some extent.
For his mother? This must be like entering a nightmare.

"Keith, what are you doing here? What happened to your eye?", Coran finally asked, sounding as professional as he could, still showing concern for his young partner. And Keith knew that part of his question was actually, "why are there children with you?" Though, he had to admit he had forgotten about the pounding in his head caused by the swelling.

Keith wanted to say something, but Mrs. McClain was screaming at her dead son, trying to rip his body of the tire. She shouted at him to wake up, as everything inside her her rejected the idea of her oldest son dying.
But Lance was not dying.
"Fuck.", Lance whispered and it was almost comical.

"Did he lead you here?", Coran specified his question.
Keith sighed. "He did.", he confirmed and earned a nod from the officer. Coran did not ask why he had not consulted him about this. Maybe he would have at some point, but now was not the time.

"Who lead him here?", Sendak asked, suddenly confused, as his eyes inspected all of the unknown faces. Keith knew, the man must be afraid that someone might have witnessed what happened. Or was he just asking who found the body?

"Lance, of course.", Keith explained with no remorse, hate clearly visible. It did not matter whether of not he'd hide this side of him anyway. Not anymore. And Sendak should be afraid.
"What?", Sendak's expression squinted, as he tried to comprehend what Keith meant.

"He means, this boy's ghost has led him here. Keith is a medium.", Coran explained and that got Shiro and Mrs. McClain to finally avert their attention from the corpse. Sendak's eyes widened in response. As though the word struck within him somehow. Any maybe it did.

The officers next to Coran only sighed.
"Can you please stop this? You're the only one who believes him. What if he murdered the boy? Anyone here is a suspect. His word is not the only one that counts.", Curtis hissed, crossing his arms, as he tried to get the remaining kids away from the body. "This is a crime scene, can we please be professional about this?"

That was, when Pidge stepped up.
"Mr. Coran, Sir, I have a question. Did you receive a phone, perhaps from this guy -", she pointed at Sendak, "Did he say it belonged to Lance and maybe there were text conversations on it that helped you find this place?", she wildly guessed.

Curtis opened his mouth, surprise mirrored in his gaze.
"We did, indeed receive a phone from him. Why are you asking?

Pidge smiled. "There is evidence on that phone that he deleted. If you let me hack the phone I could get it back for you."

Mrs. McClain's eyes traveled from her to Sendak, a shocked look on her face. Finally, she let go of her oldest son. "What evidence is she talking about? You cannot be implying that Harold is responsible for this... My boyfriend was with me the whole time, he-", she said.

Suddenly something was off, Keith felt it, as he Lance finally lifted his hand from Keith's shoulder. His eyes looked incredulous, disbelieving.

"That's a lie."
There was a disbelieving whisper in the woods. Loud and clear.

When Keith heard it, heard the birds escaping with a shriek from the sound, heard Mrs. McClain stumble back from the corpse and saw Coran visibly flinching, turning around to find the source, he knew what had happened.
It was the same sound that Lance had produced, when Hunk was about to punch someone.

Sendak visibly paled. His eyes suddenly fixed on the motionless corpse. The shadows on the swollen eyes speaking of a story that he thought was only known to him.
"Lance?", Keith turned towards his friend, the question mark might as well be printed on his forehead.

"What? I've told her multiple times now, NOT to trust him. He freaking killed me and she just-Speaks for him! Lotor also has the video I took, I have proof! And she's not even considering? Not even doubting him?", Lance was shaking again, not noticing how his voice echoed through the forest.

How the witnesses were cowering at the sound. Coran staring at Sendak, whose eyes widened in realization.
But Lance's focus was on his mother. She shuddered at the sound of the rumbling voice.

"Lance.", Keith tried again.

"You didn't even notice I was gone! What do you think happened to me mom? Do I look like I'm okay to you?", Lance now directly talked to her, even louder than before.
His mom – looked right back at him. Well, not exactly at him.

Keith opened his mouth, to say something, but he couldn't. He was not sure if he saw correctly.

"Pidge? Can – can you see him?", he asked in a whisper, unsure of himself. Pidge looked at him, slightly surprised. Shrugging with her shoulders, while shaking her head. "But – I – I can hear him."
"I'm taking it, you have enough proof now?", Keith whispered back. Pidge's eyes peered into his.

Mrs. McClain however, her eyes filled with tears.
"Lance-" That was, when Keith noticed, she was staring through Lance. Not at him. But she heard him. And she must feel his presence.
"I never meant to-"

Lance was full on sobbing now. "It took you three days to even notice I was gone! You're checking on Veronica almost twice a day. Even though it's getting less too.

But you didn't even think about me, until Shiro – the guy, as you remember killed my dad, pointed it out to you!
What is going on in that head of yours?
When did we even talk last time? When you send me home on Saturday on her death bed?
Did you know your so called boyfriend was robbing the money you so hard worked for? And blackmailed a boy whose parents just killed each other? Seriously? Do you even notice what's going on around you anymore? Are you blind? Or do you just not care?!"

He stopped, incredulous that he even managed to say all this. But it was not all. It was just all that mattered.

"I'm so – so sorry.", she cried. Lance eyes widened, as he realized that she had heard him.
He turned to Keith, the silent question taking over his features. Keith could only nod and watch as regret settled on Lance's face. He never lashed out like this before.
But perhaps all the years of watching his mother suffer and trying to help her out as much as he could had taken a toll on him.

Mrs. McClain was shook to the core as she turned to Sendak, if only to send him a look. It was not a begging kind of look. It was a disgusted one.
She did not explain herself to Lance. It would not feel right. But she did take actions into her own hand, as she realized how she had taken her sons independence for granted. Him for granted.
As she realized that her son had always been there for her, without her recognizing it. Realizing it.
"I should have been a mother to you, Lance.", she sobbed. "You and your siblings, I-" She could not talk.

Instead, she let actions speak for her.
She did not wait for Sendak's defense, as she turned towards Coran.
"Is the ominous voice of a dead person enough to get him to jail?", she asked. Suddenly her own voice was void of emotion.

Sendak's eyes widened. "You cannot be serious. I did NOT kill him! They must be using some recorder or something. I did not -
I bet it was this Lotor guy! He hooked up with your sons girlfriend -"

"And what would you know?!", she almost screamed.
Sendak stopped as he noticed his mistake. As he realized that he should not even know about Lance's girlfriend. But there was something he did not know.
Lance shuddered at the shrieking in her voice.

"I – I overheard Lotor talking to one of the officers. I came by as I heard my two friends had died and heard him say something about this girl he hooked up with who happened to have a boyfriend."

"Alright.", Lance's mom glared at him.
"And who exactly was his girlfriend?", she asked.

"Well, yeah. That is her.", he pointed at Nyma, a winning grin on his face. Clearly he was misunderstanding the situation. "He brought her home once, if I remember correctly, right?"

"Only that he never did.", Mrs. McClain's eyes turned dark.
"Huh?", Sendak blinked.

Nyma stepped from one toe to the other. "He – he made sure neither of you would find out. I never entered your house.", she admitted and Sendak froze.

Finally, Curtis interrupted them with a cough.
"May I ask you to stop this conversation until we're at the precinct? This is a crime scene.
Also, we'd like all of you to make a statement. If possible, we'd like -", he turned to Keith in embarrassment.

Only now did it occur to Keith that he as well, must have heard Lance's words. And while he surely must prefer the version of a hidden recorder that Keith had planted somewhere, it would not explain how the sound of Lance's voice surrounded them. Causing his fierce disbelief to waver in Keith's favor.
"We'd like his statement, too."
He pointed at the corpse that was still dangling in the wind.

Keith looked at the ghost version of the corpse, who was still crying.
"Lance? Are you – are you up to that?"
Lance wheezed. "I guess I could try.", he said. The emotion in his voice was ebbing down. Now that he said everything that bothered his heart.

"Isn't he going to answer?", Coran questioned. Keith shook his head, surprise in his eyes. They could not hear him anymore?
A guess manifested on his mind as he realized that perhaps, the ability to talk to the living was strongly connected to Lance's emotions.
"Well, he did say, he'll try. But I suppose you cannot hear him anymore."

Coran nodded, while Curtis went over to Pidge, bowing down because of the height difference. Pidge growled. She did not like it when people treated her as a child. But in hindsight on their situation. What could she possibly do?

"You said, you could bring back that evidence, right? Can you help us with that?"

Pidge smirked in mock defense. "Sure, nothing easier than that."

With that the crime scene was cleared.
The next thing they did, was follow the police to their cars that were parked at the schools front yard. Multiple students were staring through the windows, gossiping about what might have happened. Why the police was here. And so on and so forth.
If only they'd knew.

--------------------------

They found evidence in Sendak's car.
Despite his initial belief, Lance had done something to safe Lotor.
Because the evidence was stuck on the CD in Sendak's car.

It was Shiro who had mentioned that he had seen Sendak try to pick something out of it only hours prior. He found it suspicious and reason enough to take the risk.
Curtis had given him an admiring look as it turned out to be the correct guess. And it was not just evidence against Lotor, there was something else on it that Coran would inform Keith of later on.

When Lance heard it, he almost laughed. Almost. If only he was not still emotional about the whole ordeal that is.

His testimony, shortly after, was a bit awkward. He had to write a complete essay, since he was the witness and Keith's word was not enough to say it was the truth.
As Lance did not know how to reactivate his voice, they set him up in a room and a piece of paper and a pen, filming the whole thing. Not to mention it must have spooked the officers in charge, as the pen started moving by itself, though the camera showed a blurred version of something that was holding the pen.
Otherwise, who would believe this testimony except for the officers who had heard Lance's voice?
Those who still doubted his presence, were shown the video feats now.

To the public, they called him an anonymous witness. Like they did with Keith before. It preserved their credibility.
After that, Lance sat down in the waiting room with his mom trying to write her. Mrs. McClain did her best to make him forgive her. It did not take long of course, as Lance was already aware she had been busy with her (still dying) daughter. And still was. Still, she felt the need to apologize over and over again.

Perhaps it was better this way. That she understood that the lack of action may have consequences, too. Terrible consequences.
Lance made sure to make her understand that he needed time for himself now. He needed time to fee safe again. In a house, she had invited his murderer in, how could he feel save there? Regardless of the fact that he was already dead. Also, being unable to talk to people took a toll on his extroverted ego, so he rather stayed with the one person he did not have to write to.

It was hard for her to get home that day. Her children were waiting, after all. And, since they finally all sat together, she heard her children's questions for the first time in months. Because for the first time, she did not send them to bed when they did ask.

How is Veronica? What did the doctor say? How was she?
Did uncle Lance tell her where he is? Did she find him? Because Nadia had tried to take care of Clause in his stead and failed miserably.
Mrs. McClain had cried again, an obscure smile on her face at their naive innocence. If only she had talked to her children sooner.

-----------------------

Lotor had been called to testify as well. As he heard of Lance's death, he turned a heavy shade of ash.
Mostly, because he believed he was the prime suspect.
Because yes, that was his first and foremost concern. Would you blame him? He'd been afraid Lance had bailed on him for days. He had thought he might have been tricked and left alone by his sole companion. He had already anticipated a call from the police.

But when they showed him the corpse he had opened his mouth in shock.
Moreover, this was the moment he finally understood what must have happened. Why Lance had not talked to him after their first meeting. Why the messages had suddenly stopped.
Finally he had his answer. This was as far as Sendak would go. And this could have been him as well.

It was enough to make him crack and spill everything he knew. He told them everything. Every little detail about his own drug abuse. His connections to dealers all over town, his previous friends who helped him sell weed and so on. At some point it did not even have anything to do with the murder case anymore.

When they cuffed him for illegal drug possession, he seemed relieved.
He went by Keith, guided by officers. Keith, who was still waiting for Lance to be done with his testimony had send him a look of recognition. Not surprise. Not hate, not hurt for the pain the man had induced on him all those years prior. Not disgust, but also no pity.

Pidge stood true to her word. It took her five minutes to get the evidence back. It was a shacking video, but it matched the version Lotor had on his own phone exactly.

Nyma and Rolo had disappeared only a week later. What they were up to remained a mystery. But both of them wanted to get away from the haunted city. And Nyma wanted to never see a pub again, while Rolo made sure, she'd never get to drink again.

Hunk? Hunk would stay with Pidge until he'd get back to his aunts house until after the funeral.
Right, the funeral.

--------------------------

"Do ghosts sleep?", Shiro asked.
It was Sunday again, but Shiro had been home all weekend. Keith groaned. He wanted to eat his pancakes in peace. But Shiro kept asking questions.

Yet another reason why he never talked to Shiro about his "ability."

"They don't.", he replied, before Lance could write anything on the small chalkboard they bought for him.
Lance gave him a look. "No need to pout, Lance. I know more than enough about ghosts."
Shiro raised an eyebrow at the chalkboard. He still was not used to the random remarks Keith made then and again at someone and no one in particular. It was hard to distinguish sometimes.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask. How do you know so much about ghosts? When I died, I didn't even know I was dead.", Lance responded in thought.

"Oh, you've met Allura, haven't you?", At Shiro's questioning frown, Keith turned to him to explain.
"Lance just asked me how I know so much about ghosts. He said, when he died, he didn't even know he was dead.", he turned back to Lance.

"Allura is this ghost that has been around for quite a long time. She refuses to move to the afterlife for some reason. I don't know how she knows so much about ghosts, except for the fact that she used to be a medium. Like me. She's kind of my mentor.
Speaking of which, where is she? I haven't seen her since we found your body."

Keith looked around, as though she would just randomly appear out of nowhere. In his defense, she tended to do just that.
Shiro, like the fool he was, followed his example.

Lance sighed. "I don't know. I haven't seen her either. I wanted to ask her something, but I guess that has to wait. But I'm sure, she'll be back soon." Lance could guess why she was gone. Or where she was.

But it was just an assumption. A ghost feeling he recently had. It was more of a sensation that wanted to pull him in.
He had felt it when he died. But it grew stronger every day. And he knew it's source was Allura. Like a compass he felt drawn to her. Not in a romantic way, like he initially believed when he woke up that fateful morning. It was much more of a dreading sensation. Some kind of longing, like homesickness. And it was not exactly directed at her. But more to the guidance she offered him.

For some reason, the feeling left, whenever he looked at Keith. It was weird, but Keith grounded him in a way that nothing had before. Perhaps that was the reason he stuck so close to him.

"You're probably right.", Keith sighed and smiled at Lance. Lance smiled back, without even thinking. Keith smiled a lot around him lately. He liked it. Perhaps, because Keith was free now. Free from the burden to hide his ghosts.

Shiro opened his mouth, but closed it again.

"So, then. ", he coughed after a while. "Keith, ehm. Can I talk to you for a second?"
Keith and Lance exchanged a look. Which, to Shiro looked more like Keith turning his head twice. What an odd concept. You'd think he'd be used to this by now.

"Alone. Yeah. Lance, can you hold up that chalkboard of yours in the living room, so that I can check that you're not listening?"

The chalkboard moved up in response. Frantic skribbling, until finally – why? - it read.
Shiro sighed. "It's kinda private. A brother to brother thing?"
Now it was Keith who opened his mouth to say something. But he seemed to understand.
"Lance, could you please - "
But he did not need to finish, instead smiled at Lance's reaction. "Thanks."

Shiro watched, as the chalkboard moved up and left the kitchen. Leaving only him and Keith. Shiro lowered his voice, as he leaned forward to make sure, Lance was not overhearing them.

"What the hell is going on between the two of you?", he finally asked. The question being on his mind, ever since he woke up that morning a few days ago, listening in on Keith talking to himself. Which, as he now was certain, was actually Lance.

"Ehm, I'd say, he's dead, I talk to him.", Keith deadpanned.

"You know exactly what I mean.", Shiro hissed. Keith stared at him for another second. He leaned back in his chair and looked around as though the answer to this question may just randomly pop from the ceiling.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're implying.", Keith sighed.

"I mean, Keith. The smiles. The gesturing, the inside jokes. It's getting more and more with each day he's staying. He's practically living in your room. I haven't seen you this happy in – scratch that, I've never seen this happy."

Keith leaned back forward, curiosity now displaying on his features. "I don't understand?", he asked, slightly fidgety as he tried to really, really think of what Shiro was telling him.

Shiro sighed. Perhaps Keith had not figured it out yet.
"Nevermind then. Just, be careful around him alright? You said it yourself. He is staying here for a reason, which means, he'll move on eventually. I don't want you to be devastated when that happens. Also, he's a ghost."

Keith blinked, but his entire expression turned slightly embarrassed.
Sad even, catching Shiro off guard.
"Of course I know. And I'm used to it. It's not like I forgot. Ghosts tend to disappear all the time."
Everything he said was true. But his heart screamed of betrayal.
That Shiro noticed it was not even a mystery.
Shiro could read his brother like nobody else could. Keith was smiling at him a bit, but Shiro saw it upside down. He could look right through him.

Keith's eyes showed so much more about his feelings than any of his gestures. His real smiles were small, smaller even than that grin he just threw at Shiro.
But when he really smiled, his eyes would soften, glow even. It was a huge difference to the sadness they just displayed.

However, Shiro had a feeling that this was a feeling Keith could not quite place himself yet.

"Don't look at me like that!", Keith interrupted Shiro's worry.
"I'm not dying because of this. What are you so worried about? I'll be fine. You should consider worrying about Lance instead. The guy can barely talk to his own mother without feeling guilty or in pain. Not to mention he remembers ever second of his murder. " With that, the conversation ended.

The thing was, Keith knew exactly what Shiro was hinting at.
But he didn't want him to know that he knew. Keith had the feeling that his emotions were completely out of place right now.
It's been merely a week since he started talking to the ghost of Lance. And still, he had this feeling that in real life, they would never have gotten this close. In a way, he was glad that Lance died. But he also felt horrible of that mere thought.

Whenever Lance went out of his way to talk to someone, like his mother for example, he always seemed to wear a mask.
Lance had long forgiven her for the lack of focus she had on her children, but Keith saw the hurt every time he used the chalkboard.
When Lance talked to Shiro, he wrote jokes on the board, but Keith could tell he was ashamed of himself.

When Keith confronted Lance about it, he told him that he had always showed Shiro the cold shoulder when he visited his sister.
And he knew that Shiro could have helped him sort out some of his own messes. Like his sexuality for one. Something he was yet not comfortable to talk about. Maybe he would be, eventually.

But Lance also regretted not talking to Shiro the night he died. Perhaps he would have helped him. It was too late to know now. And it caused even more pressure on Shiro. Shiro never said it, but they both knew he was blaming himself for not finding Lance that night.
Perhaps he believed, he could have prevented the murder. But that was the one thing every single one of them had in common.

In short, the most honest Keith ever saw Lance acting was, when it was only the two of them. Though, he was afraid that perhaps this as well, was just another mask of Lance's.
Keith was well aware of the fact that Lance was an awesome actor.

Lance, around Keith was different. There was nothing they owed each other. No pressure, no judgment about a life Keith had been barely involved in. Keith was basically the only person he could talk to without being ashamed.
And Keith felt that vise versa it was not much of a difference.

Lance was, in a way, exactly the kind of friend Keith wanted in his life.
He respected his boundaries, but also managed to push him past them. He made Keith want to be a better person. To take care of more than just Shiro. He made him realize that understanding the pain a ghost went through in their life's as well as in their death's, made a huge difference. It made him understand why ghosts did not always want to move on. And that it was important to respect that wish.
It helped him get along with them better. At least that was the case with Lance himself. He had yet to encounter another ghost.

And briefly Keith wondered, if they could ever solve a case together.

Keith always hated helping ghosts with their past life difficulties. Furthermore, he hated digging into their life's, asking for personal information.
Lance, though. Lance was the type of person who would listen unconditionally. Who would help them without thinking of his own benefits.

That was something even Allura lacked. And Allura had made helping ghosts her personal mission.
It made Keith wonder, if deep down, he could be as much of a good person as Lance was.

Lance was crazy in some regards. His humor was stupid. He'd laugh about literally anything that Keith could not even make sense of.
Perhaps he only laughed because Keith did not understand but that was beside the point.
It was charming and nice and Keith liked it. And the more he heard it, the more he craved for it in this time they spend together.

Keith longed for this laugh. And he longed for the ability to make other people just as happy.
Maybe he was jealous. Or envious.
Still, at the and of the day, Keith was sad. Shiro said it before, but it dawned on him, every time they were quietly enjoying each others presence.

Lance would leave. It was only a matter of time. With each day that passed, Keith felt lonelier. Which was awkward, since Lance was still there. Making jokes, giving him ideas for his sketchbook, letting him draw him in difficult poses, etc.
Eventually, he helped him be a bit more social, as he practically forced Keith to hang out with Pidge and Hunk. If only to translate his silent monologues.

Keith liked his company. After some time, he started enjoying their little group nights, too. Only the four of them, like a bunch of old friends. And he was glad Lance stayed at his home, when he could have just stayed with his life friends or family.

They would talk until late night, without anyone noticing. About everything and nothing. Feelings and Jokes. Keith would lay in his bed, while Lance basically floated in the air next to him. They would point at the stars that shone into Keith's room through the window. Lance knew a lot about constellations and told him everything about them. And he told him stories. It did not even matter whether or not they were talking at this point. It was still nice.

The more time they spend together, the more used Keith got to his constant presence. And the feeling of waterfalls and rushing waves next to him. Until Lance calmed down and quietly, like a lake became the source of Keith's inner peace.

To Keith, the most surreal day that ever approached them was the upcoming Wednesday. The day of the funeral.