TW: Glorification of self-harm and suicide

Lance was tired. Tired of opening his eyes, tired of living. Even though he felt like he had died many times, it had only been twice. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, and he didn't want to.

He just wanted to rest.

So he just lay there, his back completely flat on the hard surface underneath him until a voice startled him.

Welcome. I hope you like it here.

The odd thing was that he heard the words in his mind, and not aloud.

After all, you will be spending a vast majority of your time here. Just open your eyes and you'll see it.

When Lance followed the voice's orders, his eyes were met by a vast field of white that seemed to stretch into infinity.

He inhaled deeply, breathing in the calm that he was so unused to. It was far away from the chaos of his usual life, and he enjoyed it.

He didn't feel the unease or pain that had come from waiting nervously in Haggar's cell. All he felt was calm. He was all alone, and for once, he didn't mind.

Isn't it nice here?

Lance nodded and smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in a long time.

The voice asked him slowly, Do you want to stay here? This will be yours. Forever.

His face was still streaked with dried-up tears as he contemplated this. Deep down, he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to care, let alone look into it.

He had always wanted something like this - a place free from his pain and doubt, and now he had found it. So why would he let it go?

Suddenly, a knife appeared in the air in front of him, oddly beautiful and inviting. The voice only whispered, You know what you have to do.

The urge to hold the knife moved his hand and he plucked it from the air, marvelling at it with the curiosity of a toddler.

Its hilt was a navy blue with lightly colored water droplets flowing down it, and the blade was a shiny silver. It looked almost ethereal but still held imminent danger, as the blade's edge seemed sharp enough to cut through skin with ease.

It's so easy, the voice said.

Lance nodded, still smiling, and put the knife's tip onto his left wrist.

Good, it soothed him. Just finish.

He took a sigh of relief and raked the blade horizontally down his wrist, cutting long and deep. Then he moved to his left, completing the same process.

He ignored the pain. After all, it was easy for him now, almost second-nature, and he watched as his blood dripped onto the pure white floor. There was so much of it, and until then, Lance had never realized how pretty blood was up until then.

Now wait, the voice said, and you'll be free.

. . . .

(Back to reality)

Lance's ears rang but a voice was still able to cut through. "H - hey! Lance! Can you hear me?! Wake up! Snap out of it, please!" He didn't recognize the voice, but he opened his right eye slowly anyway, pushing through the grogginess.

A red and white form took shape as his vision cleared, showing the source of the voice to be a teenager with dark hair that was styled into a mullet. For some reason, that particular fact stood out to Lance, as did the boy's distressed expression as he waved his hand in front of Lance's face.

"Thank god, Lance," the armored teen said, relief lighting up his features, "you really scared me." His purple eyes took in the blue paladin's appearance, saddening at what they saw. "We really need to get you into a pod."

He bent down to release the bonds on Lance's wrists and ankles, but his ocean-blue eyes widened in fear and he shied away, ending up against the wall.

"S - stay away from me," Lance warned, shivering and shaking his head. "W - who are you and what do you want?"

"What do you mean?" The boy asked, confused. "It's me, Keith. The paladin of the Red Lion and your 'rival'? How do you not remember?" After a brief pause, he inquired, "What about Hunk? What about Pidge? What about Shiro, Allura or Coran? You remember them, right?"

Lance shook his head again.

He couldn't remember anything. Not even how he had gotten into his current position, trapped in a metal cell and with his legs and arms bound.

Keith looked at him once again, his face laced with concern. "What did they do to you?"

A large Galran man abruptly grabbed Lance by his feet and dragged him out of the cell - He smiled at Haggar as his own words replayed in his head: I'll take responsibility of what happens to them - The pain that ripped through his mind took over every thought, leaving him no place to hide - He had to do something - I just wish. . . . it would. . . . stop. . . . I wish that. . . . she would. . . . just leave me. . . . alone - !

How long have I been here?! Lance thought frantically. Days? Weeks? Years?! I can remember everything except that! I can't remember! Why can't remember?!

He was already afraid, tired, and weak, but the sudden onslaught of memories was what sent him over the edge. He completely lost it.

He wrapped his hands around his head, screaming and sobbing. A rush of panic flooded his senses, blocking everything else out. Nothing and no one could reach him.

. . . .

Keith was genuinely afraid of Lance. His blue eyes were mad with panic, and when his screams eventually tapered off, they were replaced instead by one sentence that he repeated over and over: "Estoy bien, estoy bien, Estoy bien".

(A/N): Just in case you don't know Spanish, he's saying "I'm fine", cause he's totally sane right now (haha not really).

Even though Keith had no idea what he was saying, he did know one thing: I need to get him out of here. But. . . . how?

"Lance, I know you're scared and I have no idea what you've been through, but please, help me," the red paladin pleaded. "Our friends are fighting out there to give me time to help you escape, but I can't do it with you acting like this."

Lance lifted his arms from off his head slowly, still shaking like a leaf. Despite this, his eyes met Keith's, and when they did, Keith didn't move. He didn't want to startle him even more. Then, out of nowhere, Lance's eyes rolled back in his head as he blacked out.

Immediately Keith rushed to his side, pulling him over his head in a fireman's carry that he had learned from his father, trying to avoid the numerous amd terrible burns that seemed to cover every inch of skin. Shouldering his friend's weight, he could tell that Lance was much lighter than he should've been.

Keith ran out of the cell and into the dark hallway that was outside of it, ears searching for sounds of the fight that he knew was going on nearby. Even though he had faith in Shiro and Allura, he was worried about them.

They can take care of themselves, he assured himself. There's no way that witch can beat them. They will stop her, I just know it.

"Hey, Keith? Have you succeeded?" Pidge asked through his helmet.

"Yeah. Just give me the Green Lion's location and instructions on how to get to it, okay?" He responded.

With her help, he navigated his way through the maze that was the Galra base. Every turn looked exactly the same, so there was no doubt in his mind that he would've gotten lost without Pidge's directions.

"I still think that I should've gone with you," she complained. "I don't like sitting here in the safety of my lion while you guys are risking everything. It just doesn't sit well with me." She huffed. "Even Hunk is off distracting the fighters in his lion while I'm just sitting here."

Keith nodded. "I get it, but you still have a very important job too. You need to be there to advise everyone of where the sentries and generals are so they can avoid them, and also waiting to pick us up. We couldn't have you get pinned down while you were out there fighting, because that would leave us stranded without a means of escape."

Pidge sighed. "I guess you're right, since Coran and Hunk are both trying to distract the fleet from the fact that the Green Lion's butt is sticking out of the ship."

"Exactly."

"Anyway, how is Lance? Please tell me that he's in better shape than I think he's in."

"Well. . . ." Keith looked over his right shoulder at Lance's face. While he was unconscious, there hasn't a trace of the panic attack he had had earlier. "He's not dead, at least. But you'll see him when we get into the lion."

"Oh, alright. . . ." He could hear the apprehensiveness that colored her tone. She wanted to know what had happened to him, but then she didn't, because it was partially her decision to leave him behind in the first place, a decision that she obviously regretted with all of her heart.

"Don't worry, Pidge," he consoled her. "He'll be okay." Eventually.

Only a second after the words exited his mouth, he heard Shiro's voice shout from behind him, "Keith!"

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and instinct made him activate his shield and spin around, holding it in his free left hand. He was lucky that he did, because the shield protected him from the burst of Haggar's magic that soared at him.

"Keith, we need to go now!" Shiro yelled as he and Allura sprinted up to him, Haggar in their wake. When they reached Keith's side, he continued, "Even though we could defeat her, Lance is our main priority. We need to get him out of here, so Allura and I will escort you to the Green Lion."

"I thought you were going to keep her at bay until Lance and I got on the castleship," Keith said.

Allura answered this time. "Originally, yes, but plans change."

They began running again, Keith in front and Allura and Shiro protecting his back.

Sensing the urgency, Pidge relayed the directions with renewed vigor, warning them of obstacles in their way so they could avoid them.

Even though Keith was incredibly strong and agile and Lance was worryingly light, he only had so much energy to give, and he was reaching the end of his reserves. Lack of sleep had finally gotten to him, and both Shiro and Allura noticed it.

Come on, Keith, he urged himself. Just a little bit farther. The Green Lion is just in front of you. This is for Lance, remember? He needs you. You can't let him down.

He pushed himself, his only focus on keeping his legs moving and keeping Lance on his shoulders, trusting his teammates to stop Haggar's magic from reaching him.

"I see you," Pidge stated to the paladins. "Now brace to the sides of the walls and put your shields up - I'm going to fire at her. It's going to be a constant stream that will pin her down, so you'll have to edge along the walls to avoid the blast until you get to me. When you do I'll stop firing at her so you can jump in Green's mouth."

"Copy that," Shiro answered, and did as he was told, making sure the others did the same.

Immediately afterward, a beam of blue light shot out of the Green Lion's mouth, heading straight and true towards Haggar. Unfortunately, she saw it coming and erected a shield of her own that swirled around her, deflecting its energy. The good thing was that she was unable to progress any further, like Pidge had expected.

Keith, Shiro and Allura walked along the walls, using both their armor and shields to guard against the searing heat.

Finally, they made it to the Green Lion's head, and Pidge said, "Be ready to jump in her mouth. I don't know how fast Haggar can move, but I'll be giving her a brief window of time between when I shut off the lazer and when you three - four - get inside and I shut her jaw. Obviously I wouldn't give her that window on purpose, but I can't prevent it, so just in case."

The blue light cut off, and a second after, a walkway unfolded, leading into the Green Lion's mouth. Each one of them headed up it, Shiro and Allura taking up the rear, carefully watching Haggar for any other movements.

Little did they know that she didn't need to move to get what she wanted.

Even though she would have preferred to keep Lance with her as long as possible, she knew she wouldn't be able to push through into the lion's mouth. She would just have to deal with getting him back later, and until then, she could settle for the suffering and confusion that she would get by leaving a message. It was a message she hoped would haunt them for the rest of their days.

Keith heard her voice inside his head, and it sent tingles down his spine: "You may have saved him from me, but can you save him from himself?"

And, even though he couldn't see her, as she watched the Green Lion's mouth close he knew that she was smiling to herself. They might have won the battle, but she had had the last word, and that was satisfactory enough for her. For now.

(A/N): Here's something that I hope will help you with the depression that is this chapter - while I was typing "Even though Keith was incredibly strong" the word "strong" auto-corrected to "sexy" and I swear that I was dying from laughter for a few minutes. It was great and also true, but since this chapter is supposed to be serious I couldn't keep it there (unfortunately) but I wish I could've. It was awesome, though 😂