(( Sorry for the late update. Literally every time I sat down to write, someone or something would stop me. But fINALLY I got it done.))

By 12:45 in the morning, Keith was hysterical. Every time he called Lance before, he at least got a dial tone, but now it had transferred into going straight to his voicemail.

Ronny and Keith were on the couch, and she was doing her best to stay strong for him. Lord knows what could've happened if they were both temporarily insane.

" Keith, you need to breathe. This isn't good for the babies." She tried to say, urging him to drink some water.

Keith was inconsolable. His alpha would've never just not come home. And his bonding mark was weakly palpitating, almost like a heartbeat would've been. But it didn't seem very strong.

He shot up when the doorbell rang, and once he saw blue and red lights flashing outside the house, Keith's face sank.

" We're looking for the legal guardians of Lance McClain..." A man-someone who looked like a police officer- said. " Are they here?"

Keith felt his eyes practically leaking with tears.

" Th-they're not... I'm his boyf- fiancé. Please... is he okay?!" The omega's lip was quivering as he tried to keep from buckling over in a fit of sobs. When the cops showed up in the middle of the night, it was never good.

" Mom... the police are here and they're looking for you..." Veronica talked on the phone in the back.

The male officer sighed, taking off his beige colored cap. Delivering bad news sucked for anyone who was tasked with it. But it became ten times worse once the guy's clearly pregnant omega answered the door.

" Lance has been in a car accident."

Keith seemed to be frozen at first, not able to exhibit a reaction due to shock. He placed his hand on the doorframe, leaning on it heavily for stability.

" Sir?" The officer asked. " Do you need to sit down?"

Keith exhaled in a shaky way, looking up at the very tall man.

" Is he o-okay?" He questioned, not prepared to hear any word other than yes.

" He's alive. But he was unconscious when first responders arrived. That's all I know, I'm sorry."

" What happened to my brother, asshat?" Ronny coldly asked, covering the phone so her mother wouldn't hear. " Just say something before Keith has a heart attack!" She clearly had no regard for who he was.

" Ma'am, the tone is unnecessary. Lance is in the hospital, being treated for his injuries following a car accident." The cop repeated. And Camila could hear from the other end of the phone.

" WHAT?!" She wailed. " Oh God! My poor baby!" She sobbed loudly.

" Officer... can you please take me to the hospital? I need to see him." Keith was completely monotonous while mumbling and looking down. He couldn't begin to fathom what had just been thrown at him.

" I'll get my charger." Ronny said, turning around.

" No, you're staying here to watch your brothers." Keith told her, snatching the phone and seeing that Lance's mother was still on the line.

" -tell me something!" She was yelling once he brought it up to his ear.

" I'm going to the hospital. C-can you meet me there?" Keith stuttered, sniffling while asking in a broken tone of voice.

" I'll be there as soon as I can! Please get there and call me the second you know anything!" Camila rambled.

...

Keith was dropped off at the hospital after pressuring the officer to speed the whole way there. He was numb, wondering if Lance would even be awake.

This had all happened so suddenly. Car accident?! That was all he got?! This was his alpha! His fiancé! And all he knew was that he'd been hurt, but still had a heartbeat. And that was the most dreadful, indescribable feeling Keith had ever felt before.

With the extra weight he was carrying, Keith really couldn't run. He'd been advised against it because it was a high risk factor for the babies if he fell. So he was very, very, swiftly walking through the emergency room entrance.

When he saw the front desk, being manned by two receptionists, he felt his breath hitch. He was almost too terrified to ask about Lance, not knowing if he could handle news about his condition. But he continued forward, panting and drenched in tears as he approached them.

" Sir...?" One of the receptionists looked up from their computer screen, immediately concerned. " Are you hurt?"

Depends on what you mean. Keith thought to himself.

" N-no..." He whimpered. " Lance McClain... m-my fiancé... where is he?"

The two people behind the desk looked at each other, and one began typing something into their computer. After apparently figuring out something, one picked up the phone and entered an extension.

" Hey, is there any new information on the patient in room 420?" The receptionist asked, and Keith watched while trembling and letting his lip quiver. " Alright. Is he fit to have immediate family in the room?"

They hung up the phone.

" Please. Please tell me I can see him?" Keith leaned over the counter a little. He knew normal visiting hours had ended long ago.

" He's awake, and he's just been stitched up. You can head back."

" Stitches?!" Keith exclaimed. " Oh God! Oh God-" His voice went higher pitched and cracked as he tried to remain calm. " Th-thank you..." He told them after taking a deep breath and going further into the hospital.

There were plenty of rooms back there, as well as winding hallways and a maze of waiting areas. But there weren't many people, given the very late time of night.

416... 418... 420. Keith kept following the room numbers until he was finally standing before the room his alpha was in.

" -no! You don't understand! I need a phone! I have to call-" Lance was in the middle of yelling at his nurse when he saw Keith in the doorway.

If the omega would've had anything in his hands, he would've dropped it. He came in, wanting to just tackle Lance in a hug and cry all over him, but he stopped himself, unsure how hurt he was. His face had a few cuts inflicted from what Keith assumed was glass, and Lance's wrist had turned a very dark shade of purple from bruising.

" Keith, come here." Lance smiled weakly, trying to open up his arms, but wincing as soon as he tried to lift his wrist from the bed.

Keith felt more tears dripping from his cheeks as he watched Lance's face contort in pain. But it was even more disheartening to see him still attempting to smile.

" I love you so much!" Keith wailed, burying his face by Lance's neck. And the nurse that had been in there took the hint and slipped out.

" Shh... it's okay..." Lance whispered, using his right hand to hold him. It was alarming to see how much he was shaking. " I'm fine."

Lance wanted to be the strong one for his omega and their twins. He knew that he couldn't show how much pain he was in, or tell Keith that it hurt just to breathe thanks to the bruised ribs he had.

" No you're not." Keith sniffled, calming down a little due to Lance's scent entering his nose. But he was nowhere near passive yet.

Lance just stayed cool on the outside, waging war against his anger. His car was destroyed, and after all the trouble his parents had gone through to buy it and make him happy. And the person responsible for it had just sped off, escaped the consequences. Though the police were looking for them, Lance knew chances were slim that they'd ever be able to prove anything. He wanted to just punch and punch and punch until that person was mush. But he couldn't.

" What happened? Who did this?! I will fucking gut them!" Keith hissed. " Wait-where did this happen?!"

" Babe..." Lance mumbled. " Sit down and take a breath. The babies can't handle this." He nodded his head to an adjacent chair.

Keith panted a little bit. It was kind of pathetic how easily he could wind himself, even when he took being pregnant into account. He pulled the chair over, but kept watching Lance as he slowly eased into the seat.

" Who did this?" The smaller boy repeated. " I will end them." His voice went deeper, into an almost demonic tone. Keith was bad enough on his own. But add pregnancy hormones into the mix...? Someone had better start running if he was coming after them.

Lance frowned while watching his fiancé. He didn't know if he'd even be able to tell him without there being a huge freak out. What was he supposed to say? 'Some fucking psycho is after me and tried to murder me?' Keith would fucking miscarry for all he knew.

" And another thing! Stitches?!" Keith whimpered, looking over Lance's body and not seeing anything. His hospital gown could've been covering it, but all his skin that was currently showing didn't appear to be sutured. There was just an IV poking into his left arm.

" Oh... um... yeah." Lance chuckled. " I got a piece of the windshield stuck in my abs. I'm so ripped that it didn't puncture my organs or anything." He smiled a little, not wanting to scare Keith any more.

Keith looked horrified.

" Show me!" He exclaimed.

Lance sighed.

" Please don't flip out, I don't want to get you more upset..." The alpha said, and Keith kept staring at him with beady eyes. He reached down, lifting up his hospital gown to reveal the wound.

Keith gasped, covering his mouth and feeling more tears pool in the corners of his eyes.

" It's tiny." Lance tried to say. It was only about two and a half inches long, but it was deep. He was lucky it missed his softer tissues.

Any cut or scrape was too large for Keith. Somebody had nearly killed Lance. His chest was bubbling with anger as he ran his hand over the taller boy's abs.

Lance's immediate coping mechanism was to make jokes about his insecurities. Even though he was pissed, livid even, he didn't want everyone else to feel the same way.

" Hey, Babe... wanna know something? They cut off my clothes, and I swear that the only person who could undress me faster is you." Lance sent another smile toward him.

Keith could only stare at the stitches and get more steamed.

" I'm going to kill whoever did this to you." He coldly said.

" Keith-"

" No! Don't try to downplay this to make me feel better!" Keith barked. " What happened, Lance? Please!" He desperately looked to him for answers.

" Keith..." Lance stared down. " I-... someone ran me off the road. I led them away from town to keep whoever it was away from you..."

Keith's eyes were huge, and his teeth were grit so tight that he feared they'd break off or grind into dust.

" Why didn't you drive to the police? Or call me?!" His voice cracked as he frantically asked. A panic attack was on his back burner, ready to jump into action if he didn't get his breathing under control.

" Keith, the police station is all the way across town, and I would've been too close to our house. I couldn't do anything, you don't understand! I was going like 130 miles per hour to get away from the car..." Lance explained. " It was stupid, I know! But I was so scared..."

" What did the car-"

" Lance McClain?" Someone asked from the doorway. There were two police officers standing there.

" Yeah...?" Lance said.

" We have some follow up questions for you regarding the accident."

" Oh hell no, he's been through enough. Just leave him alone." Keith growled. The police looked at each other, then at the omega.

" Do we need to escort you out, omega?" One of them asked, and it was obviously a derogatory remark. Some cops were good, don't get Keith wrong, but others were just egotistical assholes.

" Excuse me?" Lance narrowed his eyes. " Don't talk to my fiancé like that." His inner alpha felt protective of Keith, on edge from the sexist remark.

" Then get him under control. We need to ask you some things."

Keith scowled and looked to the side. At this day in age, he would've assumed that people could get past things so trivial as gender. But apparently not. Fucking dickheads.

" Son!" Camila exclaimed, barging through the wall of cops and coming into Lance's room. And Keith was relieved that she'd made it, and that there was another omega in the room.

" Mamá!" Lance smiled. He looked beyond her to see Ronny, his father, and his little brothers rushing in as well.

Veronica was in tears and hugging André while the twins seemed utterly confused. Marco glanced at his mother questionably when she prevented him from pouncing on Lance like he otherwise would've.

" Ahem." One of the cops cleared his throat. " We need to-"

Camila turned around, and she poked her index finger to one of their chests.

" I need a minute with my son. So you can wait." She sassily said, not willing to take shit from anyone right then.

" Y-yes Ma'am." An officer stammered, honestly scared of her mom face. Once they were gone, Camila closed the door. " Good riddance."

" Lance? What's that?" Luis pointed to his wrist, which was battered and bruised. He'd definitely need x-rays on it.

" Nothing." Lance smiled, hiding it beneath the thin hospital blanket.

" Lance, what happened?!" Ronny exclaimed.

Keith kept staring at his alpha, thankful that he'd made it out alive. It would've killed Keith if someone had managed to take Lance from him.

Lance lifted his uninjured hand, taking Keith's into it. His omega was still trembling, even if it was barely noticeable.

Lance's parents looked down at him, not even mad about the car-which was undoubtedly totalled. All that mattered was that their son was okay.

" Someone was after me..." He said.

" What do you mean 'after you'?" André asked, and Ronny's face sank into a less frantic one as she listened.

" There was this black car... and its windows were tinted and I couldn't see inside of it." Lance began, and he felt Keith squeeze his hand more. " And after I left work, it started following me. I tried throwing it off by turning and signaling the wrong way, but... it just kept coming and speeding up." Lance looked up at his parents, and Camila was heartbroken while picking up on the fear in her son's eyes. " I didn't want to put Keith or anyone else in danger, so I drove to the backroads and tried to get the Cadillac lost in there. But it just kept cornering me and pushing me to go faster-"

" Did someone put a hit on you?!" Ronny exclaimed in sudden realization. And Keith's eyes bulged.

Camila and André's heads whipped to look at each other in horror.

" Somebody spanked you?" Marco asked Lance, clearly too young to get it.

Keith felt like he was about to get sick.

" Listen... I tried everything I could. I'm so sorry about the car." Lance mumbled, feeling ashamed.

" Enough about the car." Camila said. " Don't worry about it. We have insurance, and we'll figure everything out later."

" What else happened, son?" André asked.

" It rammed me off the road from the side. I think I rolled the car and hit a tree-but... I really don't know. It all happened so fast. I just remember the glass shattering and the windshield-" He cut himself off, not wanting to get into the gruesome details with his little siblings right there. Lance just gestured to his abdomen that hid inside of the gown.

" Lance, who would hate you enough to want you dead?" Veronica sniffled, wiping away some mascara that had stained her under eyes.

" Lotor." Keith snarled.

" He's in jail." Lance tried to say.

" That place is probably swarming with people who have connections." Keith had his hand clamped in Lance's tightly, taking his anger out and using it as a stress ball.

" Ronny, take your brothers in the hall for a minute." André said, ushering them toward the door.

" No. I want to-"

He looked at his daughter seriously.

" The adults need to talk about this. Just-please."

" So you're suggesting that someone is after us?" Camila inquired after the kids were outside. " None of us are safe."

" God... this is all my fault." Lance squeezed his eyes shut to keep from crying.

" No it's not. Don't you dare think that." Keith told him.

" Yes it is! If he'd just killed me you all would be in the clear!" Lance exclaimed.

" You don't know that." André folded his arms.

Keith felt the tears from the corners of his eyes dripping down his face.

" Maybe he's just trying to get rid of you so it'll be easier to get me next..." The omega lowly spoke.

" What kind of demented fuck would go after someone's pregnant omega?" André spat, letting his inner alpha come out for a moment.

" That's Lotor for you." Lance hysterically laughed. It hurt his lungs to an extreme degree, and he was soon coughing. " He won't stop until we're all dead!"

" I won't let that happen." Camila assured. " Please, calm down before you hurt yourself even more."

" What if he gets me, Mamá?! What if I'm not here to protect Keith?! He'd probably-" Lance broke down, beginning to sob. " I thought this was over!"

Keith felt his lip quivering again as Lance pulled him over.

Why couldn't they just have a normal, happy life? Apparently it was too much to ask.