So, here is the next chapter! Yay!

***

Every second Keith spent on the road was another second for Lotor to torture Lance in some way, be it physically or emotionally; he let that thought sink into him over and over again, never letting his fire die out as he pulled into the Holt's driveway.

He didn't know what exactly he was after, but he knew that he needed some sort of plan to help Lance, and right now Katie was the only one who he hoped could help him. The entire family must've been asleep right now, but desperation and intuition told him to ignore that fact as he knocked on the front door, unable to stop his hands from shaking. Lotor's last text message was still very fresh in his head.

Not even ten seconds passed before the door opened, revealing a smaller version of Matt that must've been Katie.

He rose an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting his shaking.

"...you...answered the door pretty fast."

"Is that a problem?" She asked, eyes observing him while her arms crossed. When he didn't answer, she tilted her head down approvingly. "Didn't think so. So, are you here for Matt? I can go get him—wouldn't be the first time I woke him up late at night."

"Actually, I'm here for you." Keith cleared his throat, realizing he must've sounded pretty strange, and maybe straight up creepy.

Katie raised an eyebrow at him, but other than that, she showed no opposition, and even stepped back to invite him in.

Keith was taken aback at how conveniently things were going. He was pretty sure this wasn't how Katie should be reacting to a random guy showing up and asking for her.

"Um...you're willing to invite a strange man into your house just like that?"

Once again, she looked him over before shrugging. "It's whatever. If you try anything, I can probably kick your ass." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a needle that must've been filled with some strange sort of paralysis drug. The mere sight made Keith shiver.

"We can go up to my room if you really wanna talk." She lead the way upstairs, not even waiting for him to follow.

He shut the door behind him on his way in, since it seemed Katie wasn't concerned about it, before following her up to her room. This was already off to a much better start than he'd been expecting, which did help with his anxiety a little bit.

"Uh, thanks a lot, Katie."

"Call me Pidge." She ordered, sitting back on her bed as he tentatively entered her room. She had a lamp on a table that lit up the deep orange shades of the room, like sunsets painted on the walls, and there was a bookshelf against the back that was impressively well organized and neatly arranged. Keith didn't have time to take in the full aesthetic of her room, though, as classy as it was.

"Alright. Pidge. So..."

"What do you want?" She lifted a leg onto her bed so she could rest her chin on her knee, watching him curiously. "You must've come here for something."

Keith gulped and nodded, glad that she seemed better at getting to business than he was. Then again, he didn't really know how to bring this up to someone he didn't even know.

"Right. Well, I'm Keith. I'm a..." he paused. "...a...friend...of Lance's."

She nodded. "You're his boyfriend, I know."

Keith stumbled back a bit at the blunt statement, staring at the girl's unbothered face in shock. Surprise quickly turned to grief, however, and he found himself sitting opposite her on the bed, shoulders deflating.

"...maybe I was, once. But I'm not anymore. Lotor's back."

Pidge lifted her head in alarm. "He's back? So then that means...Lance is with him now?"

Keith nodded, teeth pressing together dejectedly. "Yeah. But if you know as much about Lotor as I do, you probably know why I'm here." He held her gaze, fists clenched. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Lotor."

Pidge's eyes traveled from side to side, as if she were collecting her thoughts or deciding how much to tell him, before she sighed.

"I'm aware of who Lotor is, but I'm sorry to tell you that I don't know all that much. When I first met Lance, Lotor was already out of the picture and had been for a while. I suppose that's something? He only really started talking to people a few months after Lotor mysteriously disappeared."

Keith did his best not to grumble in frustration, but it was hard when he wasn't getting any useful information. Luckily, Pidge wasn't done.

"Also...since you and him were around each other for a while, you probably noticed, but, Lance isn't exactly the most open person. He's sort of...always seemed kind of distant, just in general. And sometimes it feels like he forces himself to do things..." She trailed off, a faraway look in her eyes, and Keith suspected she wasn't even talking to him anymore for a second before she reeled it back in with a quick shake of her head. "What I'm trying to say is, a big part of who Lance is is because of Lotor, I'm sure of it. Nobody is just like that. Of course, that's not even factoring in the family issues..."

Keith's ears perked up at that, and he vaguely remembered Matt mentioning something about his sister having information about Lance's supposed family issues, but that wasn't his focus right now. Pidge was practically confirming that Lotor was dangerous for Lance, if his earlier text message hadn't already confirmed it, and that was only making his anxiety peak.

"Like I said...Lotor...he's back. He came back for Lance, and...oh god, what should we do?" His emotions began to slip out, getting the better of him as his breaths picked up, and he even felt tears prick at his eyes as he imagined Lotor scarring Lance even more than he already had. "Shit...I hate feeling useless..."

"Then be useful." Pidge suggested simply, leaning back against her headboard.

Keith was slightly taken aback by her bluntness, but he knew she was right. He didn't have time to get all emotional about it; he could do that after Lance was safe.

"Sorry," he apologized, rubbing at the corners of his eyes with his palm.

Pidge had her arms crossed now, watching as he worked to get ahold of himself. "So how much have you seen of Lotor? I've never even seen the guy outside of pictures, but I'm assuming he's a lot worse for Lance than you are."

Just being compared to that monster was almost enough to empty Keith's insides as he scrunched his face up.

"He's awful. The way he treats Lance is unforgivable. He fucked Lance on stage twice. Twice. And he hit him and...in front of all those men..." He sighed, resting his face in his hands just at the memory. "Then he caught Lance talking to me, and now it's my fault something bad might happen...especially after that last message..."

"What?" Pidge stood up suddenly, drawing Keith's attention to her alarmed face. "Let me see. What 'last message'?"

Keith wasted no time in digging for his phone, desperate for an ally in all this. Pidge seemed pretty reliable.

After tonight, Lance will be gone, don't worry. But still...I'd watch my back if I were you.

She stared at the phone screen for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed angrily, as if she were about to slap Keith. Instead of any sort of violence, though, she ran to bring her laptop to the bed with her.

"Why didn't you mention any of this from the start?!"

Keith winced; one, because her tone of voice was incredibly harsh, and two, because her tone of voice was stressing him out even more.

"Is something wrong? What's going on?"

She grumbled while typing into her laptop. "Well I don't know what's going on. All I know is that that was a blatant threat and Lance could be in danger. I can track his phone and find out where they are."

Keith rose an eyebrow at that, but he only had about a second of spare time to waste being shocked before he scooted closer to look at her laptop screen.

"Do it." If he couldn't do anything, he at least needed to know if Lance was somewhere safe.

Pidge stopped typing momentarily to look up at him, unimpressed. "I wasn't asking permission."

In just a few more clicks, the screen began zoning in on the position of Lance's phone, leaving both of them watching with bated breath.

"It's...some sort of weird bar, next to another bar. Strange; if it's alcohol Lotor wanted, they could easily just be drinking at the Web. It's possible he's just picky about what he consumes, but I don't see super high ratings for either of these places." Pidge observed.

Keith chewed on his bottom lip, unable to keep his toes from shuffling and tightening in a constant fit of motion.

"Should I...go see if he's okay? I mean, just in case...we never know what could be happening."

"It's your call." Pidge shrugged, although the lines beneath her eyes clearly gave away that she was more stressed about this than she was letting on. "Don't you think that's a little stalkerish, though? Just going after him and—"

"Aren't you the one with a tracker on his phone?" Keith pointed out, eyes never leaving the screen for longer than a second. He didn't need to as Pidge just rose an eyebrow before following his eyes back to her screen.

"Eh. Fair point."

Keith didn't get a straight answer, so he ended up just waiting and watching. He couldn't sit still and ended up pacing back and forth in the room while Pidge glared at him judgmentally. He always found himself dropping back by her side to stare at the screen, though. "They haven't moved? Not even once?"

Pidge's eyes were narrowed, chin resting against her fingers as the light of the screen made her glasses light up. "No. Not once."

Keith gulped, eyes drifting from the dot on the screen to Pidge and back again as sweat fell down his forehead. That bad feeling from earlier hadn't disappeared one bit. In fact, it had only grown—especially now that he knew Lance was at a bar and apparently had been for a while. He could only stand by for so long until...

"That's it. I have to go see for myself." Keith decided, pressing a hand to his chest to try and slow down his pounding heart. Before he could walk out, however, Pidge stood up.

"Wait."

He turned on her, eyes wide and strained in the reflection of her glasses, but instead of stopping him, she just took out her own phone.

"Give me your number. That way you can have the address on your phone, and I can text you if the situation changes."

Keith pursed his lips together, but didn't argue. This would be much easier if he wasn't alone.

They exchanged numbers quickly before Keith was immediately out the door, rushing to leave the Holt's house as quickly as he'd rushed to get there. He thought he heard Pidge whisper a "good luck" on his way out.

His fist was tight around Red's steering wheel as he sped down the road, praying that the ugly feeling in his gut was just from stress. Praying that his intuition was wrong for once.

Most of all, though, he just prayed that nothing bad would happen to Lance, and that if something was happening, he would make it there in time to prevent it.

***

By the time he parked near the two bars, his anxiety had expanded into a bottomless pit of dread. He didn't have a plan, and Pidge didn't give him one since he had been the one to make the decision to go find Lance. He was only here to make sure Lance was okay, anyways, so a plan probably wasn't necessary.

Before he could barge into the bar, his phone buzzed with a text message from Pidge.

Pidge: Be careful. That text message you showed me told you to watch your back, too, so in case you can't do the math, that means he was threatening both of you. Don't be an idiot. You can't help anyone if you're hurt.

As belittling as her words were, Keith found some comfort in the stern reminder. He was quickly discovering that Pidge was right about most things.

He silenced his phone and slowly approached the bar door, pressing his face against it to hear voices and laughter. There were curtained windows that showed light, but Keith didn't even want to try looking in, cautious of being caught. He felt like some detective in a movie or something, adrenaline on an all time high as he opened the door as quietly as he could. The longer he waited the worse things could be.

The inside of the bar looked about the same as any other stereotypical bar, with the majority of the population being crowds of men sitting together, roaring with laughter and spilling beer over the sides of their cups. There was a shady group of younger-looking guys in a corner whispering to each other, but Keith only spared them a quick glance. They almost looked like a young gang, and that wasn't something Keith wanted to have to see right now.

He scanned the bar counter, still cautiously backed up against the door just in case. Lance would look pretty small in comparison to all the men here, so he focused on the different body structures in the room to see if he could find Lance; instead, he ended up spotting that long, white hair that was impossible to miss.

Heat began clouding his head just at the sight of Lotor drinking and smirking at the men sitting next to him, but Keith held his muscles tight. He wasn't here for Lotor—he was here for Lance.

Keith didn't know much about Lotor, but from what he could tell, the dude was a possessive maniac who didn't even let Lance talk to other people. If that was the case, Lance probably wouldn't be far from him...but even as Keith walked farther in to look for Lance, he couldn't find any trace of him. That was when the worst case scenario hit him; if Lotor had sent him that last text, then Lotor probably had the phone, and that was why the tracker sent him here. It had sent him to Lotor.

So then...where was Lance?

His heart was pumping fearfully again, and he had to clutch his chest to try and calm himself down as he looked over the room one last time before slowly backing out back into the night. A part of him wanted to just run up to Lotor and strangle him until he told him what he did with Lance, but he didn't want to put Lance in even more danger than he could already be in. He had to keep playing detective.

He wouldn't put it past Lotor to want to punish Lance for doing literally nothing wrong, and while he didn't know what exactly 'punish' meant, he associated it with danger, and he associated danger with the empty, abandoned bar next to the one Lotor had been in. He didn't know how much sense it made to check there, but desperation moved his limbs as he ran over to the other building.

The outside of it alone made it significantly less energetic than its neighbor bar, and Keith found goosebumps running up his arms—although he wasn't sure if it was from the creepy atmosphere of the bar or if it was because of his own anxiety.

His muscles were already tense, and like a cat ready to pounce, he was ready to go ballistic if he saw Lance in any kind of danger.

When he reached the front door, though, he quickly found that it was locked and wouldn't budge for him no matter how hard he prodded it. Granted, he didn't ram against it or anything, since he was still trying to stay under the radar.

He tried twisting the knob four or five times before throwing his arms up in frustration, seized by a sudden desire to scream. Breathing was becoming harder and harder, and his chest was a hot mess as thousands of emotions struggled to come through all at once. In the end, he could only stare at the door hopelessly while fighting to prevent himself from breaking down.

The thought that he was wasting time was the only thing that managed to move him as he headed back towards his car with his phone out, chewing the skin off of his bottom lip and typing furiously to Pidge in hopes of soothing his nerves. And then, that was when he heard the scream, bursting out of nowhere in the night with desperation and exhaustion.

"Stop! Please!"

Keith's body moved faster than his brain as he bolted in the direction of that piercing sound, heart bleeding just from hearing it. Within seconds, he rounded the corner of the bar and was suddenly gazing upon the sight of a half-naked man crouched over what appeared to be a dead body, which was disturbing in itself, but the truth of the situation was even more disturbing to Keith as he stomped forward with red clouding his vision.

None of them had time to comprehend what was happening as Keith yanked the man back and up off the ground, immediately casting the light of the moon down on his helpless target. Keith felt something inside him snap at the sight.

"You sick fuck!" He growled, slamming the man against the ground several feet away and rendering him seemingly comatose. It could've been from the force behind Keith's throw or his already drunk brain, or both. Keith didn't care.

"Oh god...Lance? Lance!"

He knelt down next to Lance's lifeless body, vision already blurring over in tears. He couldn't see Lance either way; he was too busy bending down to make sure he was still alive, and when he felt Lance breathing, it was like he could finally breathe, too.

"Oh god, Lance...I'm so—" Shock cut him off as his eyes trailed down Lance's body, and the further down he looked, the worse things became.

First there was his hair and face, completely disheveled and uncharacteristically unkempt with dried and recent tears, and his eyes...they were just slits, but they were so devoid of life. Then there was his chest, which was covered in what seemed to be urine that continued covering the rest of his stomach down to his limp legs. But worst of all was that disgusting word embedded on Lance's bottom in large, bold letters. 'SLUT'. Keith could already guess some of what had happened, and the mess pooling beneath Lance only confirmed and fueled the inferno in his stomach.

That would come later, though. For now, he bent down and quickly covered Lance in his jacket, reaching behind his knees and neck to pick him up. His heart clenched at the way Lance's body just dangled in his arms, and only when he heard his name slip from Lance's mouth did he notice the heavy flood of tears rushing down his own chin.

"Lance...just...just hang on..." He swallowed hard, tasting the saltiness of his own tears as he hurried back to his car as quickly as he could while trying to keep Lance stable and comfortable in his arms. It felt like the body would just blow away in the wind, like a leaf, if he didn't hold tightly enough.

As soon as he had Lance secure in his back seat, he sped down the road, stiffly wiping his eyes with his arm.

He expected the drive to feel long, so that he had a longer time to drown in his regrets, but it seemed like he hadn't even had a chance to blink yet before he was already parked in front of the house.

"Come on," he whispered in both a gentle yet hoarse voice, delicately lifting Lance in his arms and kicking at the door to knock. He was far past the point of caring about how late it was.

He didn't even have time to impatiently kick a second time as the door opened to reveal Shiro.

"Keith, you're home! I—" All train of thought drained from Shiro's eyes as he saw Lance knocked out in Keith's arms, head twisted unnaturally with bruises and dry liquids covering him.

"Shiro..." Keith whimpered, unsuccessfully trying to manage his shaking voice. "Shiro, please..."

"Come inside." Shiro nodded without hesitation, stepping aside so Keith could hurry in. "The guest room. Go."

Keith didn't need to be told twice as he brought Lance to Shiro's guest room and set him down in the unmade bed, immediately rolling the blankets over him and adjusting his head on the pillows. Tears were falling down his face all over again, but it wasn't just in fear anymore. The sight of Lance in one of Shiro's beds had Keith crumbling in relief, and he had to pull a chair over to sit next to the bedside so he didn't just fall over.

"Lance...I'm so sorry..." He wrapped both hands around one of Lance's, burying his face into the bed beside him.

He looked so vulnerable beneath the blanket, like the life was gone from his body. Keith could only sit beside him, grieving as if he really was gone.

Shiro stood in the doorway, watching him, but Keith paid no attention to him. He just squeezed Lance's hand, shaking and praying to take away some of his pain in his sleep.

***~Lance~***

Pain. That was the first thing running through Lance's mind and the first thing grasping his body as his eyes slowly parted open to reveal an unfamiliar room.

The muscles in his face strained and tightened in pain just from him trying to open his eyes more, but he somehow managed to glance down at the weight against his waist to see a clump of black hair resting by his side.

Confusion lingered for just a few more moments before Lance's entire body ignited in panic, and he was immediately scrambling to get away—only, the best he could do was push off the bed with enough force to lift his legs before he was crying out in pain, falling back against the mattress helplessly.

Keith's head shot up as soon as his voice escaped him, sending Lance into shock. His muscles froze, not that they were working in the first place, and his chest started to heave with painful puffs of air as Keith's eyes fell on him.

"W-what's going on?" Lance croaked, whimpering from the back of his throat. Just shaking was making his body ache. "Where am I?"

"Lance...hey, it's okay, it's okay. Breathe. It's me, Keith. I found you last night and...hey, it's okay."

He squeezed Lance's hand as Lance's eyes continued flickering around the room. The sleep in his muscles was quickly being replaced by ache, which only allowed him to feel hands grabbing at him from every direction all over again. Almost immediately, his heart leaped into his throat, and new tears began chasing the old.

"Oh god...I...!" He tried moving his hands up to cover his mouth, but the simple action sent electricity dancing up his nerves, leaving him falling back and crying out in helpless pain.

"Lance! Hey...it's okay! Listen...it's okay, I know...I'm here for you now, okay? You don't have to go back there, I'm here..."

Lance whimpered through the pain of shaking his head, cowering and sinking down away from Keith with tears spilling.

"Stop...stop...! Please stop..." He whispered scratchily, unable to stop his trembling. He could still feel it...hands all over him...he could feel his body being completely covered and marked and humiliated.

"Lance..." Keith scooted closer. "Lance, I promise, you're saf—"

"Stop!" Lance cried out, thrashing in an attempt to free his hand from Keith's hand, but he could only yank with the force of a child before he felt like his arm was being pulled from his body, rendering him a weeping mess in his pillow.

He just wanted to get away...he just wanted for it to all be over...he didn't want to be used anymore, he was so tired of getting hurt but now he was just going to be used again...

"Lance, please, I promise you're safe!"

"Just do it!" Lance cried, going limp against the bed, forgetting the prospect of fighting back. "Whatever you're going to do...j-just do it...and get it over with..." A part of him hadn't yet registered that it was Keith he was here with, and another part of him didn't see how that made any difference as he peeked at Keith through soulless eyes, resigned to his fate.

"...I just want to help you." Keith whispered, but Lance could only hear lies as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"...stop...please...I just..." He didn't know what he was trying to say, and he didn't know what he even wanted to say. When he felt the bed dip from Keith's weight as he joined Lance on the bed, though, all he could think was, I knew it.

Instead of tossing the blanket from Lance's defenseless body, though, Keith wrapped his arms around him and pulled him towards him in a gentle sort of hug.

Lance blinked his eyes open in slits, shivering in Keith's lap as the other spoke to him softly.

"I'm so sorry, Lance. I am. I'm sorry...I don't know what you went through last night...but you're safe now. You're safe here. I promise. I won't hurt you, Lance...please, I want to help..."

The tone of Keith's voice was familiar and yet so unfamiliar simply because he hadn't heard it in what seemed like so long. He longed for it...had forgotten how it made his insides spin...but he could only lean his head against Keith's chest and sob.

"You don't want to help me...you don't even know me..."

Keith cradled Lance closer to him, adjusting to keep him comfortable as they made eye contact, and his eyes fell open a little wider when he saw tears slipping down Keith's cheeks, too.

"...you're right, I don't know what you've gone through in life, but I promise you're safe...okay? I promise I want to help you, Lance. No matter what."

Lance couldn't roll away from Keith and didn't even know if he wanted to, so he just leaned against him more with each word as his sobs shook painfully throughout his entire body.

"That doesn't make sense...please, you don't need to pretend..."

"Lance..." Keith held him even tighter. "I know what it's like to be in a dark place alone...I don't want that for you. I don't want to see you like this. You don't have to be scared...let me protect you."

They scooted back towards the headboard of the bed more as Lance fought the pain and curled up more in Keith's lap.

"Do you remember what I said back at the Web, Lance? I want to understand you...I want to be here for you...I know you're scared, but please let me keep you safe now..."

Lance leaned his head back so they could make eye contact again, and as soon as they did, he crumbled against Keith's chest in a mess of raspy tears, unable to stop his broken voice from escaping him in hiccups. His body throbbed, and his insides throbbed, and he honestly didn't even feel alive. Only Keith's body warmth gave him a sense of life.

"You won't want to help me...not when you've seen me...I can't do anything...I can only be used for other men...that's it, Keith. That's the one thing I can do..."

He turned his face down into Keith's stomach, cuddling forward in search of more warmth as Keith helped guide him.

"...you made me happy on our dates together, Lance. Just by being yourself."

Lance slowly looked up at Keith, nose still buried against him.

"I liked spending time with you, racing and going out, because I liked you." Keith's hand cupped Lance's face gently. "You're more than whatever Lotor or anyone else says. You deserve more."

His lower half began vibrating in particularly intense pain at that moment, causing Lance to whimper and cling to Keith.

"But...it's there...it says 'slut'...right on my...Keith, it's right there...that's all I am..."

"You're wrong." Keith answered quickly, voice steady with conviction. "That doesn't mean a thing about you. You have fun racing. You know all the best shops at the mall. You like music and you can play the guitar."

Lance was shaking even harder now and he didn't quite know why as Keith's hand tilted his face around to look at him more.

"You're not a 'slut'. Okay? I'm here for you, I promise...shhh..." His thumbs gently wiped at Lance's tears, and he rocked back and forth gently enough so as not to cause any pain.

Lance couldn't believe what he was hearing no matter what, squeaking and crying and burrowing against Keith frantically.

Lotor didn't love him. Lotor left him for the gang to rape because he was just a tool...Lotor just left him. And if Lotor didn't love him, no one could love him...no one could want to help him...but even though he was sure that he was beyond the point of help, he could literally feel the cracks inside of him, and he was in desperate need of comfort, so he clung to Keith like a lifeline.

He wanted to believe the other boy, he really did...but he could still hear Lotor whispering in his head. He knew this was impossible...but he went along with it, because he didn't want to hurt anymore.

After a few minutes, he finally cried out everything he had to cry, for now, and just curled against Keith's chest like a lifeless corpse.

"...hey." Keith spoke again after having fallen silent to let Lance cry. "I promise I'm here for you...yeah? You don't have to rush anything. You don't have to tell me anything right away or rush to heal, just take your time, and I'll still be here, yeah?"

Lance was sure that, in the end, he would just be used again...but he nodded anyways. What Keith was suggesting sounded magical...

They were interrupted as another, much larger man entered the room, and the moment Lance saw him, he found himself whimpering and clawing at Keith's shirt in an attempt to get closer to him.

"Hey, hey! It's okay!" Keith urged, readjusting his arms around Lance to make up for his shuffling.

Lance squeaked again, but slowly managed to turn his head when Keith gestured for him to.

"Lance, this is Shiro. We're actually in his house right now. Shiro's a TA at my school, and he's the kindest person you'll ever meet, I promise. Don't be scared." He whispered the last part.

Shiro made no move to get any closer, smiling softly and nodding at Lance, who was observing him again. He looked pretty scary...not because of his prosthetic arm, but because he was very large, just like Sendak. His face did look pretty kind, though, so Lance gave him a small nod back before twisting back around to hug Keith, wincing in pain.

"There's a warm bath waiting in the bathroom. I'll fix the bedsheets in the meantime while you clean up, then it's straight back to resting. Understood?" Shiro ordered.

Keith glanced down at Lance, as if asking him for confirmation, but Lance just stared back at him. It wasn't his choice to make, after all. He would do whatever they wanted him to.

"Whatever you say, Shiro. Come on. Can you walk on your own?"

Lance's brows furrowed a little as he looked down, trying to move his legs from Keith, only to end up whining in pain and clinging to him again.

"I...I can't do it..." He bit his trembling lower lip, tears welling up in his eyes again. "I'm sorry...I can't do it a-alone..."

"Yeah, it's okay. Here." Keith gently lifted Lance up, not needing to do much adjusting since he had already been in his arms before. "Tell me if it hurts."

Lance rested his head against Keith, barely even able to feel his own body.

Keith and Shiro gave each other nods of acknowledgement as they passed by before he brought Lance into their bathroom, where there was indeed a bathtub filled with water.

The moment he was lowered into the tub, he could feel the warm water soothing his aching muscles and soaking the grime off of his filthy body.

"Don't leave me," Lance said quickly, sinking into the water and looking up at Keith with large, pleading eyes. "Please...I don't want to be alone..."

He felt so pathetic, and he knew he had no right to be asking Keith to do any more for him, but he spoke anyways, shaking just at the thought of being left alone.

Keith reached down into the water to hold his hand. "I'm not going anywhere, don't worry. I won't leave you for a second. Just speak up if anything hurts a lot, okay?"

Lance squeezed his eyes shut and gave a small nod. All he could do was believe Keith.

They sat in silence for a while as Lance let his body soak in the tub before he let his head fall forward.

"Um...thank you...I know this is probably troublesome, so...if you want to know what happened to me last night, I'll tell you." Keith deserved at least that much from Lance. He had taken him in and was now dealing with him even though he was such a burden, and it was possible he was still just waiting to reveal what he wanted in return, but Lance figured he was at least obligated to tell Keith what happened and why he was like this right now.

"You don't have to say anything if you're not ready," Keith assured, moving their hands together beneath the water. "You don't have to say anything...but I'll listen if you really want to."

Lance didn't really want to, but he gathered his scrambled thoughts to speak anyways.

"Okay...it was because...because I told Lotor that I wanted to talk to people...so he brought me to that bar...but then...it was just a punishment, and..." He had to pause to sniffle, already reliving the events as he quickly retold them. "The men at the bar...they told me Lotor wouldn't love me if I didn't do as they said...so then they..."

Keith reached into the water with his other hand, squeezing Lance's tighter when his voice broke off into a quiet sob. "Lance, it's okay...I get it. It's okay, you don't have to say any more."

Lance was back to being a crying mess as his throbbing limbs gave him constant reminders of last night, and even with Keith talking and holding onto him, he couldn't shake off the shame.

"I didn't want to...Keith, I didn't want to, b-but they...!"

"Hey, it's okay...it's okay. None of it was your fault, okay? It was all them...what they did was horrible, and...I'm so sorry. I am, Lance. But you never have to go back there again, okay?"

Keith flashed him a reassuring smile, and in that moment, even more than before, Lance desperately wanted to believe in Keith. He wanted to believe in that smile. But it was like he was being physically held back as the ache in his muscles spread to his heart.

"B-but...it's right there, Keith...they put it on me...'slut'..." He tried moving to touch his backside, where the tattoo was, but the movement was more painful than it was worth. "It was my fault...it's because my body...I..." He was suddenly afraid to talk, afraid that Keith would grow disgusted with him if he wasn't already.

"Lance...that thing that they put on you, it doesn't mean anything. The things they said, and the things Lotor said, they don't mean anything, either. They've just been lying and manipulating you...but you get to decide what the truth is. Who you are and who you want to be is your choice."

There was no way Keith actually knew anything Lotor ever said to Lance, but yet, he spoke with complete confidence as his thumb rubbed over Lance's knuckles soothingly, melting Lance's insides.

"Who do you want to be, Lance? That's the only thing that matters."

Lance bit his lower lip, shaking his head as much as he could. "I...I don't know...I can't. I can't be anything...they said I was just a slut..." He looked up at Keith with frantic eyes, because even though his words rang like bells in Lance's chest, he couldn't comprehend them.

Keith's smile cracked a bit, but he didn't show any sign of annoyance as he reached for a nearby towel. "You don't have to rush yourself, okay? Healing takes time; it's a process. Just know that me and Shiro will be here for you every step of the way." He dipped the towel into the water, but held Lance's gaze. "So take as long as you need, because you aren't alone, Lance. Okay?"

Lance nodded as if on reflex, and he could feel warmth invading his chest and spreading up to his face. He didn't know what to think or believe anymore...but he did know that he wanted to believe Keith. And he wanted to believe that, maybe, if Keith was telling the truth, if he really did stick by Lance...then maybe he could get better.

"...thank you," he whispered, eyes falling back down.

They fell silent for a few seconds again before Keith grabbed some soap and poured it on the soaked towel.

"We should get you cleaned up—you'll feel better. Do you need me to do it, or...?"

Lance tried lifting his arms a bit, but ended up biting back a squeak of pain. Predictable.

Keith got the message and began gently pressing the towel to Lance's shoulder, scrubbing. He didn't complain, and nothing on his face showed that this was a burden for him, but Lance couldn't imagine this was what he wanted to be doing right now.

"...I'm sorry..." Lance muttered. He didn't deserve this much good treatment, even if it was just a ploy.

"You don't have to apologize. Here." Keith reached over to scrub at his chest, stained with Sendak's urine. "You know, I got this lavender-scented soap for Shiro for his birthday, but he never uses it. I can't imagine why. Doesn't it smell nice?"

Lance subconsciously inhaled the aroma of the lavender soap, observing all the bubbles forming around him. He hadn't noticed when Keith had applied the soap to the water. Something about being in a bubble bath had Lance's lips curling up, just a little. "Yeah. It does smell nice."

"That's a relief. I'm glad someone thinks so." Keith continued as he brought the wet towel down Lance's arm with just enough pressure to properly wash him without causing too much pain.

Between the casual talk and his gentle care, Lance found his heart swelling in a very familiar fashion; one that was very specific to Keith. Only Keith made him feel like this.

As he began getting lower down Lance's body, he began scrubbing with more hesitation.

"Hey, uh...did you want to try to wash down there? Or...are you okay with me doing it? Sorry if I'm too rough, by the way..."

Lance shook his head. "You're not too rough...and...I don't think I can..."

Keith nodded in understanding, bringing the towel down the side of Lance's leg. "Alright. If you want me to stop, just yell at me and I will."

Soapy water shimmered on most of Lance's upper body now, and he could only marvel at how much cleaner he was already feeling.

Shiro poked his head into the bathroom out of nowhere, and Lance found himself immediately reaching to hold Keith's wrist. The man's eyes weren't on him at all, but it still made him feel better to be holding Keith.

"All we've got for breakfast is leftover pizza from last night, so I hope that's okay with you two. I'll heat it up right now, how does that sound?"

Keith nodded without turning around, still focused on cleaning Lance, and that was all the indication Shiro needed before leaving them.

"Shiro can't cook to save his life," Keith informed him with a grin.

Somehow, that simple line helped Lance relax a little as he stared at the spot Shiro had been earlier. It was humanizing, in a way.

When Keith finished wiping down his body, he turned his attention to Lance's hair, running his fingers through the normally-well-combed locks, disturbed.

"They...um...pulled a lot..." Lance muttered.

A dangerous glint flared up in Keith's pupils, but it only lasted for a moment before he seemingly willed it away. "Okay, one second."

He turned the shower on so he could gently wash Lance's hair, smoothing it out and rubbing shampoo into it before letting the rest of Lance's body get a quick wash down. Once they were done, he unplugged the tub to let it drain and dipped his elbows into the water to lift Lance up.

Lance frowned and hung his head as water dripped from his body all over Keith. "I...I'm getting you wet...I'm sorry..."

Keith blinked in surprise before bringing Lance closer to his body, getting more water on his clothes and causing Lance to gasp while Keith just chuckled. "I don't mind. Come on, we should get you dressed. Uh...Shiro!"

"Clothes are in the room!" Shiro shouted back from elsewhere in the house, as if reading Keith's mind. "And have his mouth cleaned, first, too!"

Lance did his best not to lean towards Keith, not wanting to get him too wet even if he didn't seem to mind as they entered the room he'd woken up in. The bed had been made completely anew, and there were two towels on the mattress with a bundle of clothes right next to them.

Keith set him down on one towel before picking up the other to dry him. After that came the clothes, which Keith slid onto his body only after getting permission multiple times. Everything he did, he did with utmost gentleness, until Lance was fully cleaned and dressed. They then made another trip to the bathroom, where Keith fumbled around for mouth wash that Lance could only stand to have in his mouth for a few seconds. It stung the inside of his mouth, but it certainly helped wash out the tangy taste of morning breath, not to mention the excess musk from having a dick in his mouth last night.

"Alright. Ready to head to the kitchen?"

Lance nodded, immediately leaning his head towards Keith's chest as he was picked up once more. Before they left the room, though, they both tilted their heads to look at each other at the exact same time, causing them both to freeze.

He'd never noticed it much before, but Keith's eyes were breathtakingly pretty up close. They were some mix between a smoky violet and dark grey—he wasn't sure. Whatever color they were, though, they were unlike any other pair of eyes he'd ever seen. And then, of course, there was that emotion in them that had confused Lance for so long when they'd first met...that constant look of concern and consideration for Lance.

He found himself drawing closer to Keith—no, Keith was lifting him up towards him...and Lance had no complaints. His cheeks grew hotter, and his eyes began fluttering shut, zeroed in on Keith's soft-looking lips until...

"Hey! I'll have to reheat the pizza all over again if you two don't come soon!" Shiro's voice sounded throughout the house, immediately tearing their faces away from each other.

Lance's cheeks flushed with heat as he curled into himself in Keith's arms more, suddenly trying to ignore how gentle Keith felt, holding him up as if he was so delicate.

That's right—there was a reason he and Keith had been a thing before Lotor came back...Keith was so strange, in a way that made Lance's heart race. He couldn't predict or understand the other boy—the most he knew was that Keith acted as if he truly cared about Lance above himself even though he knew nothing about Lance.

No, it was because he knew nothing about Lance. Because if he did...if he truly knew how hopeless Lance was, he wouldn't be like this. He wouldn't treat Lance like this.

Lance let that sink in all over again as Keith cleared his throat to shake the red from his cheeks.

"Let's go, shall we?" He suggested, carrying Lance through the bedroom hallway and a living room to the kitchen.

"There you are!" Shiro exclaimed, already setting down plates of pizza that were clearly meant for them. "I was beginning to fear that you'd fallen asleep again! Which is fine, since you should be resting, but, I'd hate to have to reheat the pizza, and you need to eat, so...maybe sleep after breakfast!"

All morning, Shiro had been off putting to Lance due to his size, but he couldn't help but smile at his awkward attempts at being classy. It was sort of endearing. Usually, men of Shiro's size only spoke to Lance in gruff voices and bossed him around and tossed money all over his naked body, so there was something amusing about seeing someone like Shiro act awkward.

"Here," Keith offered, sitting down with Lance on his lap. He grabbed a slice of pizza for him, but Lance found himself cowering away into Keith's chest.

He felt like he hadn't eaten in days, which was rare for him since he was trained to not be too bothered by hunger, but everything in his body must've been hyper sensitive right now, because his stomach was aching from the inside out. Still, one look at the oily pizza had him cringing away into Keith's body more.

"I'm...um, not hungry."

Keith frowned, trying to hand him the pizza. "Lance, you have to eat. You can't get better if you don't eat."

He looked up at Keith before turning his face into Keith's chest, shying away from the hand with the pizza. "Is...is there anything else I can eat? I don't feel so good, so...I don't want to eat anything too junky..."

Keith exchanged a look with Shiro before the taller man brought a banana over from a counter, peeling it and leaning down for Lance to take it.

"...thank you..." Lance bowed his head a bit, accepting the yellow fruit from Shiro, who suddenly didn't seem as scary to him anymore, before resting his head against Keith's shoulder again. He could eat a banana.

His muscles were feeling much more relaxed after that warm bath, and though it still sent waves of pain through his nerves when he tried moving too much, he could at least raise the banana to his mouth if he took it slow and steady.

"Hey, does this count as another date? I mean, we're technically eating together..." Keith mused, biting into his slice of pizza.

Lance's lips curled up at that as he squeezed his eyes shut. He remembered going on dates with Keith...he remembered being able to just focus on having fun together. He missed it...

"Maybe. I don't know if it counts as a date if you're just taking care of me the whole time, though..." He laughed lightly, still only nibbling at the banana.

Despite his hesitancy to eat, he could feel his chest swelling with genuine cheer. He was glad Keith was trying to lighten the mood. All the bad stuff, the dark thoughts and memories and nightmares, all of it would eventually catch up to Lance, and he would be forced to drown again...but for now, he just wanted to hold onto his lifeline; he just wanted to breathe with Keith. So, that was exactly what he did. He took deep breaths and rested against Keith's body as Keith and Shiro talked.

"Alright, well, I'll be around the house, then," Shiro said, drying his hands off with a towel. "Oh, and..." He crouched down again, locking eyes with Lance. "I don't know your full story, and I don't need to know...but just know that you're safe here. If anyone makes you feel threatened while in my house, they'll answer to this." He raised his prosthetic arm, which Lance had noticed but had completely dismissed.

"Shiro's robot arm has a crazy strong grip," Keith informed, as if trying to reassure Lance that he was safe. "And I've also taken self-defense classes. It's helpful when I'm a top racer with dozens of enemies who hate me, after all. But anyways, point being, I'll protect you, too."

Lance's lips curled up into a weak smile, which was strong by his standards. He wasn't sure how he could forget that Keith was a racer...and just remembering that brought back a rush of fun memories.

"...thank you...I don't deserve this..." He whispered for what must've been the thousandth time that day, resting his cheek against Keith's chest once more and turning to look at Shiro. "Your arm is cool."

Shiro lifted it more to show it off, smiling at the compliment. "Thank you. It can be pretty handy at times."

"Shiro, stop." Keith ordered, rolling his eyes.

Lance couldn't stop himself from laughing, even as he felt Keith cringing against him—Shiro was clearly very pleased with both of their reactions.

"Anyways, if either of you need anything, just shout for me," Shiro said, disappearing into the hallway and leaving them alone together.

Lance's heart warmed as he watched Shiro go. He was still on alert, but on the surface, what he saw was two people who were genuinely trying to be there for him...of course, he knew this could all very well be a ploy and that they could have something planned for him, but he almost didn't care. He was smiling right now, and that was more than he ever thought he would be able to do after last night. Besides, this stirring in his chest when he was with Keith was familiar...and comforting.

"Hey, glad to see you managed to eat. You feeling okay, still?" Keith asked.

Lance looked down at his hands, shocked to find that he had indeed eaten most of the banana. He hadn't even realized—he'd been too busy talking and laughing with Keith and Shiro to pay attention to his nibbling.

"I...I'm okay. Um...is this good enough?"

Keith's brows furrowed silently for a second before he slowly nodded. "...yeah. If you think it is."

Lance took that as a 'yes' and set the remains of the banana peel on the table as Keith grinned down at him.

"So, what did you want to do? We could watch cartoons in bed all day?" Keith suggested, gently lifting Lance with him as he stood and walked them back to the bedroom. "I've heard about this super cool one called 'Voltron', it's supposedly pretty popular. What do you think?"

Lance managed to default to a smile. "I don't know it. That sounds fun."

Keith gently set him down on the bed before pulling his laptop and blankets over, setting up the perfect little spot for them. "Voltron it is!"

Once the pillows were set up behind them to Keith's liking, he pulled Lance close to his stomach again, and Lance immediately snuggled his back up against Keith's chest while the show was brought up on the laptop screen.

He felt so cozy and secure in between Keith's legs like this, snuggled up against him, like he was surrounded by comfort and warmth. It made his skin dance with electricity, and he just kept scooting back more, getting as comfortable as possible with Keith. They were cuddling like a genuine couple, and there was something so wonderfully domestic about it that made it impossible for Lance to pull away, not wanting to be separated from Keith for even a second. Keith didn't pull away, either, so that was a good sign.

"Alright, the first episode is like an hour long, so bear with me," Keith said, covering them in the blanket and smoothing it out around them to make sure Lance was even more warm and comfortable.

He turned his face around to nuzzle his nose into Keith's chest, unable to stop a larger smile from spreading across his face. "Thank you Keith..."

Keith's body stiffened as Lance glanced up at him to show him his smile, face reddening when he saw Keith's face do the same. Feeling fingers stroking through his hair was the cherry on top; Lance preened into the touch and beamed at Keith even more.

"Don't mention it. I'll protect you." Keith promised, again.

Lance could feel himself getting caught up in the moment, emotions sweeping through him and making his heart burst as he and Keith stared at each other. They were definitely not paying attention to the colors flashing on the laptop screen, because Lance was too busy focusing on the color that was seeping back into his life, even if he didn't deserve any of this.

He couldn't stop himself; every muscle in his body strained in movement as he propped himself upwards and pressed his lips to Keith's, eyes falling shut. It took Keith a few moments to understand what was going on, but within seconds, Lance could feel him kissing back.

At first his chest was just fluttering from being able to kiss Keith again, but the longer their lips stayed connected, the more he could feel Keith pouring everything he had into Lance, hand cupping his cheek with feather-soft touches and caressing him. The kiss became a conversation, one that said, yes, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere.

Lance melted into Keith's chest, laying himself bare with his kiss, too. Again, maybe he was just getting caught up in the moment, but he couldn't help it as his walls came down, and he pressed his lips against Keith's with a desperation for the comfort he offered, baring his broken soul, begging for Keith to patch it up, because he was so tired of being hurt...

Keith's arms came around Lance's sides, embracing him tightly and squeezing him full of warmth, assuring him that he was wanted, and just that feeling alone made Lance want to cry...he felt so protected, so safe, and he just wanted to sob in relief, but he forced himself not to. Instead, he just kissed Keith harder.

He knew this could still all be fake; after all, happiness never lasted in his life without some sort of catch. Even if it was, though, he wanted to at least relish in this moment while he had it.

They kissed for as long as they could before pulling away for air, inhaling with heavy gasps while staring at each other with red, sweaty faces. Lance's smile never left him as he leaned into Keith's palm more, and even as his breathing began stabilizing, his heart continued to pound against his chest. When Keith hugged him close to him again, he could feel that Keith's heart was in a similar condition.

"...I guess we should probably pay attention, huh?" Keith chuckled, gesturing to the screen.

Lance readjusted himself in between Keith's legs so that he was leaning back against Keith comfortably again. "Yeah. Okay." He smiled up at him before paying attention to the show. He'd always enjoyed animated shows, so he was sure this one would be no different.

As they watched together, though, all Lance could think about was Keith's body pressing up against him from behind, acting as his shelter and his safe place. He kept cuddling closer and listening to the sound of Keith's breaths more than anything the characters in the show were saying, and eventually he had to interrupt again.

"...it's weird..." He started, hugging himself a bit. "I mean, you barely even know me...you treat me so well, and yet, you don't know my history or anything, none of it...but I guess that's why you treat me so well..." Right. If he knew how hopeless I am, he wouldn't...

"Lance." Keith spoke sternly, immediately seizing Lance's attention as he tilted his chin up to look Keith in the eyes. He held Lance's gaze steadily, refusing to waver or blink. "You're human, same as me. What more do I need to know about you to treat you well?"

Throughout the entire morning, despite his doubts and fears, a piece of Lance had still immediately latched onto Keith's words of comfort; he had allowed himself to cling to Keith even though he should know better than that...and only now did he understand the reason why.

They hadn't been apart for long, but Lance had honestly forgotten just how good of a person Keith was. This boy was always going out of his way to be there for Lance and always doing things for others even when he didn't know them...and this was no exception. It was perfectly in character for Keith to do something selfless like this for Lance...it was perfectly in character for Keith to be telling the truth.

Lance was positive his insides would just burst at this point, and yet, no matter how much it felt like the tears would start overflowing, they didn't; he could only beam stupidly at Keith while shoving his forehead into his chest, shivering when arms wrapped around him once more so Keith could cradle Lance in his arms.

Keith was a good person...and Lance was a broken person. But for the first time that day, Lance began to truly believe that maybe, if Keith stuck to his word, if he could just stay here with him, then maybe Lance could learn how to get better.

Just maybe.

***

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