This takes place some time around season 2, I don't really know and I'll be extending the timeline of events a bit and moving some things around, plz work with me Voltron purists 😂

~ Keith ~

I was running and running through this pitch black void of nothingness, gasping for breath. It's cold. It's dark. Why am I here?

I looked around, trying to see through the darkness. I was alone. Always alone. No one to hold close. No one to call my own.

I turned to see Shiro standing there. I usually would have been glad to see him. But he was glaring at me. As if I was a monster.

"You're not one of us. You're one of them. The people who took my arm."

His words felt like a stab to my gut.

I stepped back shakily. "N-No, Shiro, I'm not. You have to believe me, I'd never do anything to hurt you!"

I walked into someone behind me. I whipped around to see Allura. She had this look of disgust on her face and angry tears were streaming down her face. "You're one of those who killed my people. How could we ever trust someone like you?"

I couldn't...I couldn't be...

"No...I'm not..." I raised my voice to a yell. "I'm not! I'm not one of them!"

Pidge was there, staring at me with huge eyes. "You don't belong here."

She raised her bayard, stepping forwards and my eyes widened in fear. "P-Pidge, what are you doing? It's me!"

My words didn't reach her. Does anyone hear anything I say? If I was screaming, would anyone ever come?

I whipped around to run away but Hunk was there blocking my path, holding his bayard too. "You don't belong here."

If I was crying, would anybody ever hold me?

I desperately turned to run but Lance was behind me.

If I opened up, would anybody accept me?

"You don't belong here."

No...no...

Shiro stood in front of me, his shadow looming over me. "You're one of them."

"You're one of them."

"You're one of them."

"You're one of them, you're one of them, you're one of them you're one of themyou'reoneofthemyou'reoneofthemyou'reoneofthemyou'reoneofthemyou'reoneofthemyou'reoneofthemyou'reofthem..."

If I was broken, would anybody ever carry me?

Their words were slowly crushing me until I became nothing.

There was a loud pounding noise in my brain and I wanted to scream, I wanted to yell, I wanted to cry.

But would anybody care?

The banging grew louder and louder.

Someone...please help me...

I covered my ears with my hands, shaking madly, breathing jagged.

"I'm not!" I screamed. "No, I'm not!"

I woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Fear and adrenaline were still pumping through my veins and I could still hear that banging noise inside my brain. I pressed my hand against my aching head and gritted my teeth. Why couldn't I stop having nightmares? They kept on happening and wouldn't go away. I needed to get a grip and pull myself together. It was okay, Zarkon wasn't tracking us through me. I knew that at least.

Wait...

Hold on...

That banging noise was still there but it wasn't in my head. Someone was knocking on my door.

"Keith! Are you getting murdered in there?"

Lance's voice.

I buried my face in my pillow, praying he'd just go away. I wasn't in the mood for him and his antics.

He didn't.

"You alive?"

He wasn't leaving.

"Ke-ith!"

Oh, for god's sake.

I heaved my heavy bones out of bed and dragged myself over to the door. What could he possibly want at this hour?

I opened it and expected to see him standing there with his dopey looking blue slippers but no, he was still fully dressed. Weird. I didn't know what time it was but it was late. It was weird enough for him to even be awake at this hour.

I gave Lance a look with my tired, dry, crusty, Aizawa eyes. "What do you want?"

He squared his shoulders and looked all offended. "Oh, yeah, nice to see you too!"

"I'm not playing these games, tell me what you want and leave me alone."

"You were shouting. I came to what that was all about."

"Well, I'm fine so go away."

"Is this the thanks I get for checking to see if you were dying?!"

I glared at him, still groggy and grumpy from lack of sleep. "I don't need your help. And besides, why do you care?"

He got all up in my face. "Well, it's kinda hard for me to sleep when you're screaming in here-"

I clamped my hand over his mouth. "Jeez, stop yelling!" I hissed. "You'll wake everyone!" I grabbed his hand and yanked him inside. The door shut. "Now, what the hell do you want?"

"I just wanted to see if you were alright. You were screaming in your sleep. Havin a bad dream, huh?"

"No," I snapped. Like I'd tell him about my nightmares.

"So you were just yelling to yourself?" He grinned. "That's pretty weird."

"No, I wasn't."

"You should release your inner anger in other ways than just yelling to yourself in the middle of the night-"

"I said I wasn't."

"Whatever, mullet."

"Get out."

"You're the one who made me come in!"

"Because you were yelling and were going to wake everyone up!" I glanced at the clock. 3:23. I heaved a sigh and flopped onto my bed. "What are you even doing up so late? Why're you still dressed?"

He shrugged and leant against the wall. "Couldn't sleep. You weren't helping so I decided I'd see what was up with you."

"Any specific reason?"

He blinked. "For what?"

"For why you couldn't sleep."

He hesitated before he spoke. "I was thinking about my family. I miss them."

"Oh."

I remembered from seeing inside his mind when we first came here that he had a huge family. Maybe that was why he was such a people person. He'd probably never been alone once in his whole life.

"They're all probably worried about me and wondering where I am...like, don't get me wrong, it's really cool being a paladin and all but I hate being so far away from them. It really, really sucks."

I raised my eyebrows. "That so? Your poor achy breaky heart can't take that?"

"Excuse me?! Well, you and your-"

"What's it like to have a family?"

He blinked at me. "What's it like?"

I hugged my knees to my chest. "Y...yeah."

He thought about it for a second and then his face broke into a grin and he started walking back and forth, one foot behind the other, as if he was walking on an invisible tightrope. Honestly, he was such a child.

"It's the best thing in the world. You come home and there's a house full of people and everyone is smiling and talking-"

"Doesn't that give you a headache? That'd drive me insane."

He rolled his eyes and went into a handstand, resting his legs against the wall. "No, it's a nice atmosphere, Keithy boy. And I like it. I love my home. The sun is always shining there and the water by the coast is so, so blue. I'm never alone there either, there's always somebody beside me-"

I threw a pillow at his face. Hard.

He lost his balance and fell to the floor with a bang. He shot up in outrage, pressing a hand against his forehead. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"Get out of my room."

He got to his feet, still all offended. "Why'd you throw that at me?!"

I shoved him out the door. "Goodnight."

~ Lance ~

I stared at the closed the door. Friendly. Thanks Keith, real friendly.

I sighed and began heading back towards my room. To be honest, I'd kinda known going there would be a wasted effort. That he'd just get mad. Knowing him, he probably hadn't wanted anyone around. But my brain does this weird thing where I can't just stand by and ignore someone when they're in trouble. Not always a good thing. It had almost gotten me sucked out into space once and had just gotten me a mark on my forehead.

I sighed and rested my hands behind my head as I walked. "Jeez, what's his problem? Always acting like he's superior to me when he's not." I cleared my threat and put on a voice. "Hey, I'm Keith, I'm all emo and I think I'm so much better than everyone else, just because I have a mullet." I scoffed and stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Humph! He's so annoying, him and his patronising attitude and that mullet of his. What is this, 1970s?"

I walked inside my room and fell onto my bed. I was tired and my eyes were aching but I couldn't sleep. My brain wouldn't shut off, pointless and random thoughts kept running through it. I wondered what Keith had been having a nightmare about. He'd said he hadn't been but come on, no one is that stupid. He'd obviously been having a nightmares, he was just too stuck up and proud to admit that.

Still, I really hoped he was doing okay.

Not because I liked him or could stand him in any way or anything.

Just because he was part of team Voltron and important and stuff.

That's all there was to it.

At least that's what I used to tell myself.

___________

Absolutely no My Hero Academia references were made in this chapter.

Updates every Monday babas 😂