Chapter Text
Keith lay on his bed, just staring up at the ceiling. He was trying to ignore the headache steadily pulsing behind his eyes, and the growing sense of dread settling in his gut like lead. He groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light. Keith lay still for another moment, just breathing slowly.
He was just drifting off when a knock resounded on his door. Keith let out another groan and rolled over, burrowing deeper beneath the sheet. He was hoping that if he ignored the person long enough, they might eventually leave him alone. Another knock came before Keith heard the tell-tale swoosh of his door opening.
"Uh, Keith? You okay? You missed breakfast this morning." Oh, it was Hunk. At least the yellow paladin was talking quietly. Keith rolled back over to face Hunk.
Hunk nearly jumped back in shock, his eyes widening a bit. He squeaked. "K-Keith! Are you okay?! You're really pale." And he was right. With a sickly pallor to his skin and dark bruises beneath his eyes, Keith looked exactly the opposite of healthy. By this point, Hunk had already shuffled over to Keith's bedside, hands hovering as if he wanted to check Keith's temperature. Keith nodded silently and closed his eyes once more. He felt Hunk rest a cool hand against his forehead.
He had the sudden urge to lean into the touch, to chase the pleasant coolness against his heated skin. He only now realized how tired he was, how fuzzy his head felt as if it was stuffed full of cotton.
"You're running a slight fever, Keith. I'll bring up a tray for you to eat something. I'm gonna tell Shiro that you shouldn't train today." As Hunk turned to exit, Keith jumped up with wide eyes and grabbed onto his wrist. Hunk looked down in alarm and used his other hand to stabilize a swaying Keith. "Um, Kei-"
"I'm fine, Hunk. You just can't tell Shiro! He worries too much." The sudden movement had thrown Keith's entire world off balance.
Keith scrunched his eyes closed. The world was spinning and his headache was now pounding against his skull. He raised a hand to rub his temple, while the other hand gripped tight to the sleeve of Hunk's shirt. Once the ache dulled into a more ignorable throb, Keith looked up at Hunk.
The yellow paladin looked at his teammate, an uncertain frown creasing his brows. "Keith...You're really not fine." Hunk paused as Keith's wide, purple-gray eyes stared forlornly up at him. He tried to stay strong, he really did, but he knew he was weak when other people asked something of him. Hunk released a deep sigh. "Okay. I won't tell Shiro..." Keith almost smiled. "But," Keith's almost-smile faded again. "You will stay in here and rest. I will also be bringing up some food and tea. You need to finish everything I give you...And no training today. I'm serious, Keith! No training!"
Properly chastised, all Keith could do was nod at Hunk's instructions, eyes averted to the floor. Hunk sighed in relief that Keith was actually gonna listen to his advice. He helped walk Keith back over to the bed and tuck him in. Keith only huffed in half-hearted irritation, but was content to settle back beneath his blankets.
...
When Hunk returned with the tray, Keith was already in a light doze. Not having the heart to wake the red paladin, Hunk set the tray on the bedside table. When Hunk glanced back at Keith's face, he found hazy, purple eyes staring right back at him. He startled, nearly knocking the tea over. Hunk gripped at his chest, right over where his heart thudded.
He hissed out a breath. "Dude...please don't do that to me." He also forgot how light a sleeper Keith usually was. Keith just blinked uncomprehendingly for a second before giving Hunk a slow nod. Satisfied for now, Hunk helped Keith sit up before handing him a bowl of soup. He had been able to scrounge up some ingredients from the last planet they visited.
When Keith only stared down at the soup in his hands, Hunk cleared his throat. Hunk just crossed his arms and stared at the red paladin expectantly. Understanding that Hunk wasn't going to leave anytime soon, Keith picked up the spoon and ladled some soup into his mouth.
Humming at the burst of flavour, Keith continued sipping at the liquid food.
Content that Keith was now eating something, Hunk sat cross-legged against a nearby wall. Since Keith was occupied, Hunk took the chance to look around the room. Nothing really stood out to him. It looked just like his before he decorated. Keith's room only held the bare essentials - basically what was already in the room from before.
The clink of the spoon against the bowl brought Hunk out of his thoughts. He glanced over to see that Keith had set down the empty bowl in favour of the tea. Hunk could only sigh in exasperation when Keith knocked-back the cup and almost finished the tea in one go.
Hunk stood back up and collected the empty cup from Keith's hands. Picking up the tray, Hunk turned to leave, only pausing to throw a casual "I'll check on you later" over his shoulder.
Keith watched his friend leave as the door swooshed close once more. Alone in the dim light of his room, Keith snuggled down in his blanket to catch a few more minutes of sleep. 'At least my headache's almost gone.'
------
A few hours later found Keith being thrown to the ground for the sixth time.
"Stop simulation." With the drone deactivated, Keith finally had time to breathe. He laid on his back, just trying to catch his breath. Wiping away the sweat with the back of his arm, he could feel the headache making a reappearance. And the dread he felt from earlier never really settled either. Maybe he should have listened to Hunk and stayed in bed today.
With a pained grunt, Keith pushed himself up into a sitting position. He took in another deep breath-
"Keith?"
-And choked on his spit. He thumped a fist against his chest, erupting into a coughing fit. 'Shiro's gonna find out.' Keith knew that he was in for it now, so with a resigned sigh, he stood up to face Shiro.
When the black paladin stopped right in front of him, Keith couldn't look Shiro in the eyes. Trying to keep the guilt off his face, Keith averted his gaze to just over Shiro's shoulder. He could only imagine how he looked with too pale skin, dishevelled hair, cracked lips, and deep shadows under his eyes.
Shiro just pinched the bridge of his nose above his scar and sighed. Running his fingers through his hair, Shiro cleared his throat to gain Keith's attention. Keith hesitantly shifted his gaze to lock with Shiro's. "I shouldn't even be debating this but...do you feel like you can carry out a mission?"
With a determined stare, a purple flame ignited within his eyes, Keith nodded at Shiro's question. "I'm okay, Shiro. Just a small headache. It shouldn't get in the way."
Already having years of experience dealing with Keith's stubbornness, Shiro chose the path of least resistance - and the one less likely to give him a headache of his own. Another long-suffering sigh slipped past Shiro's lips. "Alright. Just...make sure you be careful. If it gets worse, you turn your Lion around and head right back to bed. No buts, Keith. I'm serious."
Keith nodded in understanding of his leader's words.
"Okay. Get changed and head down to the Bridge for a debriefing."
...
"Keith, I want you, Pidge, and Lance to head down to an abandoned Galra station. You'll need to report what you find in there. It should be a relatively simple mission. Take your respective Lions and head there. Hunk, you're with me. We need to patrol the area while they're inside. Everyone clear?"
Everyone nodded and headed to the Lions' hangar. Hunk lagged behind the others, catching Shiro's attention. The Black Paladin turned to face him. Hunk bit his lower lip and fiddled with his fingers. "Umm, Shiro? Should we really let Keith go out there? He doesn't look any better than he did this morning."
Shiro chose to ignore the fact that Hunk knew Keith was feeling unwell from earlier. "We both know how stubborn Keith can be. If I don't let him go, he's just gonna sneak out and get himself into more trouble." Hunk nodded unsurely but continued on his way to the Yellow Lion's hangar.
Once everyone had been seated in their Lions, Shiro gave the signal to head out.
------
They had been exploring this base for over an hour now, and still haven't found anything worth reporting about. Pidge had occupied herself with figuring out the Galra's tech in the control room. So here he was, scouring the station with Lance trailing behind. Thankfully, Lance was staying quiet. Now don't get him wrong, Lance was his friend-rival-thing, but his headache had been a constant pulsing in his temples.
He was also feeling unnecessarily paranoid. He just couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was in this base besides them.
A faint yellow glow illuminating the purple walls around them caught Keith's attention. As he sidled up to the room emitting the light, he could feel Lance leaning over his shoulder. Throwing the blue paladin an annoyed look, Keith peeked around the corner. With a cursory glance, he could see shelves upon shelves stocked with containers of a yellow liquid.
He felt an inkling of déjà vu at the back of mind.
Keith was uneasy with this situation. The dread that he felt from earlier hit him with such intensity, he nearly stumbled. Seemingly ignoring Keith's agitated state, Lance practically strutted into the room. Keith stared in disbelief for a second before hissing under his breath, "Idiot".
When the druid showed up out of literally nowhere, Keith decided that he really should have stayed in bed that day. I mean, he knew that something was going to go wrong today. 'This is why you listen to your instincts, Keith. Good job.'
...
When the third container close to him exploded, Keith was pissed. "Lance! Stop shooting over here or so help me-" Keith was cut off when another glass container broke right next to him. With an enraged yell, Keith threw himself at the druid.
After a few of his swings were dodged, Keith feinted an attack. Seeing the opening, Keith jabbed his sword forward. At the same time, the druid released a concentrated energy blast. The ensuing force of the blow threw Keith into the largest container at the center of the room.
"Keith!"
Glass rained over him as the raw quintessence inside flowed out.
The déjà vu hit him full-force as the liquid drowned him. Unlike the last time this happened, Keith accidentally swallowed some of the quintessence as he struggled to get out of the liquid's hold. Keith choked, his throat felt like it was on fire. His eyes started to water and all he could hear was a loud ringing.
Keith barely registered when Lance pulled him out of the quintessence. He tried to focus on Lance hovering worriedly over him. 'What was he saying?' A roar resounding through his mind disrupted his concentration. 'Red'.
And no sooner that he called her, the Red Lion barrelled through the metal walls of the base, Blue and Green not far behind. Keith was distantly aware that Pidge had arrived at some point and had placed her hand on his shoulder.
Lance carefully scooped Keith up in his arms. Trying not to jostle Keith, both Pidge and Lance hurried into the Red Lion when she lowered her head and opened her mouth. Setting Keith in the pilot's chair and strapping him in, Pidge and Lance held onto either side of the chair as Red sped back to the Castle-ship.
Keith was now light-headed, a cold-sweat having broken out. A wave of nausea that he had to swallow down nearly overcame him. He knew in the back of his mind that shock might be setting in.
A worried purr echoed through their bond. Keith attempted a small smile, resting a hand on Red's console to comfort her. 'It's okay, girl. I'll be fine...probably.' Keith allowed the encroaching darkness take his consciousness.
Red roared in distress and flew faster.
...
"Shiro! He's not waking up and Red's freaking out! What do we do?" Lance was about to follow Red's lead and freak out himself.
"Get a hold of yourself, Lance! Just get Keith to a healing pod as soon as possible. Hunk and I will meet you in Red's hangar." With that, the three paladins were left in an agonizing silence.
Pidge spared a glance to her teammate, only to find Lance visibly shaking, eyes darting around in quiet agitation. "Uhh, Lance? You o-"
"It's okay, Pidge. Just stay calm. Keith will be fine. Don't panic!"
She deadpanned. "Lance, you're the only one who's panicking."
Lance quieted down and looked at Pidge. Though her brow was pinched in obvious concern, she wasn't on the verge of hysterics. Keith was unconscious so he didn't count. Lance blew out a long sigh to settle his frayed nerves. 'Okay Lance...you're fine. You're better than this. Remember to keep a level head. Panicking won't help anyone.'
His gaze met Pidge's when he turned to face her. His eyes still held a gleam of unease, but his expression had smoothed out some. "Thanks. I'm calm and collected. No need to worry about me." He shot a sparkling grin and two finger-guns in her direction.
Pidge just rolled her eyes in mild exasperation. 'And there he is. The old Lance is back.' She wouldn't admit it to him, but she was pleased that he could still joke around with her. Sure the situation was dire, but there was nothing they could do right now, so no reason to brood over it. Pidge pushed her glasses higher up her nose and glanced ahead. The Castle of Lions was now insight.
She glimpsed Keith's limp form from the corner of her eye. Her hand clenched tighter on the back of the pilot's chair, resolve tightening her expression and gripping her heart. They were going to save Keith.
He was going to survive this.
------
Shiro stared worriedly at Keith's still figure in the healing pod. He had been sitting here for hours now, not knowing what to think about the situation before him. Could this whole mess be his fault? He knew Keith wasn't feeling the greatest, but he still allowed him to go. Could he have prevented this from happening? Or better yet, could he have stopped Keith?
Shiro shook his head. That wasn't gonna happen. Keith could have a single-minded focus on something and nothing would stop him.
"Hmmm..." A perturbed hum brought Shiro out of his reverie. He glanced over his shoulder where Coran had been typing away on the center console for the past few hours. The Altean had been trying to diagnose what could be happening to Keith. Other than some bruises and deep cuts from broken glass, there seemed to be nothing physically wrong with the red paladin.
The black paladin did not like that expression on Coran's face at all. "Did you find anything?" Coran just glanced up at Shiro for a moment before looking back at the display. His brows were pinched, his eyes squinting in concentration. Coran just slowly shook his head and stood up straight.
Twisting his moustache between two fingers, Coran gave Shiro a pensive look. "I am not too sure what the readings are telling me, but they certainly look out of the ordinary. Then again, I'm not exactly an expert in this field. The information to use these medical instruments has been lost during our cryo-sleep. I will just have to monitor the pod's vital readings." With a firm nod, Coran turned his attention back to the console's screen.
Shiro just sighed quietly and turned back to Keith. He stared at Keith's chest for a moment, waiting for the teen to take a breath. When Keith's chest finally rose and fell again, Shiro released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Keith's complexion was even paler than that morning, clammy and sallow, the shadows beneath his eyes standing out in stark relief. His brows furrowed even in sleep as if in pain.
...
Keith stayed unconscious within the confines of the pod for three days. Though there was no dramatic change with his vital readings, the team had noticed something...different. Even nigh comatose, Keith would grit his teeth sometimes, the hint of what looked like fangs would be revealed for a moment. He would also clench his fists often. The nails on his fingers would frequently cut into the skin on his palms and make them bleed.
The pod always fixed up the damage, but the team was getting concerned.
Coran had a theory on what may be happening, only telling Shiro for his input until he was more certain. The Altean, after scrutinizing the data received from the pod, suspected that the quintessence kick-started the expression of Keith's latent Galra genes.
...
His mind felt as if it was in a fog, his eyes heavy and unwilling to heed his demand to open. Before he could figure out where he was, he heard a distinctive whoosh and felt a sudden chill before he was free falling. For a moment, Keith thought he was gonna hit the ground.
A pair of arms caught him and pulled him against a warm chest. Keith inhaled deeply and immediately regretted it. A startled cough wracked his frame. Keith's body shook with exertion and his throat burned. He took a shallow breath and leaned back against the person's chest. The feeling of pins-and-needles had spread throughout the entirety of his body.
"-eith? Hey, Keith! How are you feeling?" Keith struggled to open his eyes. When he finally managed, he had to squint against the room's lights. His eyes stung and were watering a bit.
With some difficulty, Keith managed to sluggishly turn his head to face Shiro, who he also just noticed that he was leaning against. He absentmindedly noted the presence of the others, standing not too far.
"Keith?" He realized that he must have just been staring for a while. Keith opened his mouth and closed it again. His brows furrowed in slight confusion. His mouth felt fuzzy and his tongue felt unusually heavy. There was also a constant ringing in his ears.
How come he didn't notice it earlier?
Coran came into his line of sight and crouched in front of him. "Number 4? I'm just going to give you a quick check-up. Okay?" Keith stared for a bit before slowly nodding. Coran gave the paladin a bright smile and pulled out a bag of medical supplies, snapping on a pair of latex gloves.
"Can you please open your mouth and stick out your tongue?" Keith complied as best as he could, the process slow-going though. Coran pressed something like a popsicle stick on his tongue and used the Altean equivalent of a flashlight to peer at the back of his throat. For now, he chose to resolutely ignore the sharpened canines gleaming dangerously in the light. "Hmm, your throat looks a bit inflamed and your tongue is swollen."
Coran then shone the light in Keith's eyes. Not expecting it, Keith jumped back into Shiro, hissing a bit. "Sorry, my boy. Didn't mean to startle you. I just want to check your eyes."
Keith blinked rapidly to clear the spots of light dancing in his vision. With a soft grunt, he opened his eyes and let Coran examine them. His eyes were watering and were starting to itch. "The iris is slightly red. I'll get you something to relieve any discomfort and to bring down your tongue's swelling."
"Hey Keith. You feeling okay?" Keith looked up to find Hunk nervously wringing his hands. Doing his best to calm the yellow paladin, Keith nodded his head and attempted a smile. It didn't come out quite right, but Hunk seemed pleased with the effort anyhow.
Pidge came out of nowhere and crouched in front of him, a shit-eating grin already planted on her face. "Yo. I'm glad you're out of the pod. But you should have seen Lance! He was freaking out the entire time! Wish you were awake to see it." Here she got closer, ignoring Lance's indignant spluttering and denials in the background. Lowering her voice, she let a devious gleam brighten her eyes. "Don't worry though. I got it on video. What you say about a little...blackmail? Hmm?"
Keith couldn't stop the amused snort from escaping. Pidge gave him a victorious smirk while dutifully pretending to listen to Shiro's lecture that she shouldn't blackmail her fellow paladins.
Lance sidled up to Keith's side. Keith opened an eye briefly to glance at him before closing it once more. Still, Keith was curious as to what happened after he passed out. "What...happened to the druid?"
"Well, you kinda skewered him on your sword like a shish kabob. Then Red literally brought the house down and destroyed the facility in a rage while you were in the pod. So all-in-all, the creep is probably dead."
Keith was satisfied with the answer, so he let his mind wander.
After a few minutes, he noticed Lance just keeping quiet as the other paladins were promptly distracted. Keith lethargically turned his head to face Lance, raising an eyebrow in silent question. Lance heaved a deep sigh, fidgeting in place. "So...you're okay now? You're not gonna fall over and die on me, right?" A glare was the only response he got. Lance laughed at the death stare he was given. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, Lance shot Keith a confident smirk. "Good. Who else would be my rival if you were gone?"
Keith just huffed and rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, relaxing further against Shiro's broad torso as he started feeling drowsy once more.
------
Keith was hoping that would have been the end of that.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Keith was tired more often than not, so he slept...a lot. And when he wasn't sleeping, he was in constant pain. Though his tongue swelling had finally gone down, the ringing in his ears never did stop. To add insult to injury, he got random aches around his body with his lower back being a major source of discomfort. Nose bleeds were also a frequent occurrence.
Some days, even just making it down to the dining hall to eat with his team was a chore.
Keith was just tired of it all.