Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its associated titles. If I did, it'd be a lot angstier and we would've seen Hunk shirtless by now.

Red

Keith couldn't help but feel that this was his fault.

He had felt something off about this entire thing from the very beginning. He'd looked at Shiro, and his guts had just screamed at him that this was wrong, wrong, wrong. He'd ignored it though, because it was Shiro, the man he saw as his brother, his friend, his leader. So he'd shoved the feeling down though he knew that some of his doubts still leaked through.

He ignored the piling evidence. After all, why would the ever supportive Shiro, who'd asked him to lead in the first place, keep trying to step over him? Why would the Black Lion refuse her true Paladin? Why would –

Keith had started to take things a bit more seriously when Lance approached him about it.

Lance standing outside his door had started to become a thing. Though Keith was technically the leader, he almost thought of it as a co-leadership with the way that he and Lance would talk things over and strategize together. Sometimes, they'd talk about other things as well, unrelated to Voltron, and Keith could admit that he enjoyed those times. However, at that instance, Keith hadn't seen Lance looking this nervous about talking to him since the first time he'd come to his door.

"Hey, man." Lance had said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, this may sound weird but…" He had glanced over at him as if gauging his reaction. "Does something about Shiro seem off to you?"

And if the member of the team with the keenest eyes was noticing something up, then Keith couldn't ignore that something was wrong anymore. Especially as Hunk and Pidge came to Lance and then to him about it as well. He'd been a bit bitter that they'd approached Lance first, but he could also understand. But with every conversation the four would hold after that, they came to the same frustrating conclusion each time.

They had no concrete proof that something was truly off with Shiro. They didn't even know what the nature of the current circumstances were. Brainwashing? Fake out? Mind control? If this wasn't Shiro, then where was the real one? Or were they just paranoid? They had no clues.

It didn't help that Shiro seemed utterly oblivious that there was anything wrong. It's as if he didn't notice that he wasn't acting like himself.

So they had come to the decision that they had to be subtle with their probing. Hunk and Pidge tried to take the technology route to find something wrong. Keith tried to test Shiro's memories. Lance made it seem like things were normal by doing what he did best: being distracting.

And if they only talked about the bare minimum of their plans in front of Shiro or while on the general comm, then Allura and Coran never pointed it out.

Most likely the Alteans could tell that something was wrong as well, even though they couldn't pinpoint it.

All in all, it shouldn't have been a surprise when Pidge went rogue when she finally caught a solid clue about her brother. With the tension in the Castle, Keith would have done the same.

He had never expected her to show up with her brother and the real Shiro in tow though.

This was so messed up.

He should have done something sooner about this situation before it had led to this.

The appearance of the real Shiro had been the trigger. The one that had been with them this whole time was as confused as the rest of them. He'd started babbling, clearly having no clue what was going on. Then, suddenly his whole body shuddered, curling in on itself.

When he looked up, not-Shiro's eyes were glowing yellow. The sight made everyone take a step back. He chuckled, a voice not his own leaking out.

"I did not know of Lotor's plan with using this until recently." The unfamiliar growl taunted, an animalistic smirk on not-Shiro's face. "However, this works even better than I could have imagined. Literally having eyes within Voltron." He swung around to face the real Shiro, who went into a defensive crouch along with the Holt siblings. "It seems you could be of use to me after all, Champion."

Realization struck.

"Haggar." Shiro looked physically ill as he said the name, as the rest of them grasped what was happening.

They barely had time to activate their bayards before not-Shiro attacked, pulled along by Haggar's puppet strings.

He went for Shiro, Pidge, and Matt first. Pidge managed to catch his arm with her grappling hook, but a jerk of his arm sent her sprawling into her brother, the two of them landing on the other side of the room.

He and Shiro clashed, and that dragged Keith out of his shock. He drew his blade, but as he watched the two grapple, he couldn't see an opening to interfere. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hunk in the same situation, his canon really too big to be of help in this situation.

Allura felt no compunctions. Her whip flew through the air, snapping around not-Shiro's glowing prosthetic. He turned to her, a snarl falling from his lips at the sight of her. Suddenly, dark quintessence flowed from him and down the whip. Allura screamed as she released her hold of her bayard, Coran catching her as the dark energy blew her back.

But it had given Shiro the opportunity to gain the upper hand. Literally. Shiro grabbed not-Shiro's human arm, wrenching it up and back and trying to pin him to the ground. For a second, it looked like it would work.

Then not-Shiro kicked out, sweeping Shiro's feet out from under him. He quickly spun around, hand glowing, ready to land the final blow –

"No!" Keith yelled, throwing himself into the fray, but even before he could get close, not-Shiro was lurching back, just narrowly avoiding the laser blast that went past where his body had been mere moments before.

Of course, Lance would have his back.

And with the assist, Keith easily inserted himself between the two Shiros, catching the next blow on his sword.

Not-Shiro sneered. "Oh, so now you decide to join us. Has acting as the newest head of Voltron curbed your battle instinct? Not as up to fight as your true leader?"

Keith grunted under the weight of the attack. This isn't Shiro, not Shiro, not him – He couldn't let himself be affected by these words, even if they pricked at his insecurities. He hadn't wanted to lead, he knew he wasn't the real leader, but he should've known that something was wrong when Shiro didn't support him or let him do what he had asked him to do.

He should've known, but he had let himself be blinded by hope.

This was his fault.

Not-Shiro cackled, suddenly letting up his weight, the shift making Keith stumble. Because of that, he was unprepared for the human fist that connected with his solar plexus.

He staggered back, trying to refill his lungs as he choked for breath. Faintly, he saw several laser blasts make not-Shiro retreat slightly before Shiro threw himself back at him.

As he finally recovered from the blow, not-Shiro tossed Shiro aside, knocking him back into Matt and Pidge who had been about to reengage. Not-Shiro ignored his downed opponents, instead focusing on Keith. He smirked as he launched himself at him.

Keith thought he was ready, bringing up his blade, but as not-Shiro got closer, he found himself frozen.

Because technically he knew better, he had proof now of the deceit, but the person approaching him still was Shiro, his friend, his brother, the only person who hadn't given up on him…

Well, actually, that's not quite true now, is it?

"KEITH!"

That thought and voice registered just as Keith felt a hand pushing him to the side, out of not-Shiro's path that he had been stuck in. He found himself sprawling on the ground, somewhat confused as to how he'd gotten there.

KER-PLOOSH!

It took Keith a few moments to process what had happened.

The color was the first thing to register.

Red.

There was so much red.

Red painted the floor, more and more dripping down and joining the puddle that was already forming. As Keith looked up, he could see the streams of red originating where metal hand met the stomach of the person in front of him. Red stained the white parts of the armor, and somehow it was all over, covering up the original colors accenting it. Red spilled from lips twisted in pain and letting out strangled breaths.

But as Keith's wide, terror-stricken eyes finally came to gaze up at Lance's own, all he could see was blue narrowed in determination and as calm as the ocean on a calm day.

The pieces came together.

Lance had taken the blow for him.

And now he was standing there, coughing up blood from not-Shiro shoving his hand right in his abdomen.

No one moved. They were all frozen in shock, staring at the sight before them. Time seemed to slow down.

Not-Shiro chuckled. "I was aiming for one of the heads, but the heart works just as well." With that, the hand already embedded in Lance's insides lit up, finishing the journey and breaking out of Lance's back.

Lance choked back a scream as more blood fell from his lips. His left hand reached out and grasped the arm going through him, as if it could do anything to stop it at this point.

Time restarted and slammed into Keith. "LANCE!" He scrambled to feet, fully intending to end this.

He didn't get the chance.

A regretful smile, more like a grimace graced Lance's face. "Sorry, Shiro…" He croaked as he lifted his right hand, red blaster already formed, and set it right under where metal met flesh on not-Shiro's shoulder.

BLAM!

Crackles of electricity filled the air as Lance shot not-Shiro's Galra arm point blank. The force of the blast ripped right through the reinforced metal, fully separating the arm from him, leaving just the base still attached. And as the two disconnected, not-Shiro blinked, the yellow glow fading from his eyes and horror quickly replacing it. Before he could say anything, Shiro and Matt had pounced on him, dragging him away.

Keith was only vaguely aware of this as his attention turned to Lance.

Not-Shiro had gone one way while Lance had gone the other, staggering back and falling with the Galra arm still stuck in him. His bayard slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor, and he was following it.

Keith caught him before he could hit the floor. He quickly adjusted his grip so he was pretty much cradling him and he found that he couldn't quite drag his eyes away from that arm still in Lance's center and the red that was still pouring out. It was only as he heard a watery chuckle that he managed to drag his eyes up to Lance's face.

Lance was trying to smile at him, but it was empty of any happiness or contentment and the red staining his teeth and dripping from his mouth weren't helping his case. "Hey, is it… still okay to ask for a hand… when I've already got… an extra?" He tried to joke.

It was classic Lance, but that was what managed to snap Keith out of the stupor he was in. "Coran! Pidge!" He looked up and saw that the two and Hunk were hovering over them already. "Go get a cryopod ready! We'll need it as soon as we extract the arm!" Keith knew the arm was going to have to come out, but currently it was the only thing that was keeping Lance from bleeding out right here. Which seemed a bit ridiculous considering how much blood he had lost and was still losing, but Keith could only hope that it was having some effect on stopping the flow.

Coran and Pidge just nodded, faces pale, and they immediately took off. Keith turned to Hunk, and tried to soften his voice. After all, Lance was his best friend, and Hunk's body was already as tense as a piano wire. "Hunk, I need you to get the laser saw and meet us in the medbay." Hunk just blinked at him for a moment, clearly trying to push back the tears in his eyes, so Keith clarified. "We're gonna need it to get the arm out."

Hunk's lips trembled but he managed to pull himself together. "Okay. Okay. I got it." And then Hunk scrambled away, the mice following him.

Keith glanced over at Matt and Shiro, but they seemed to have the whole not-Shiro situation under control. It seemed like Matt was saying something about the sound of cameras. Keith ignored that and turned to the final member of the crew.

Allura's face was alit with worry but she met his gaze head-on.

"Allura, get us out of here." Keith ordered and she answered with a curt nod and immediately went to her station to activate the teludav.

And with all that taken care of, he could finally turn his attention back to Lance. Who, now that he thought about it, had been suspiciously quiet.

Looking down brought that panic right back to the surface. Lance's breaths were haggard, Keith could literally see the struggle with each inhale. His eyes were also blinking shut before being slammed open like he was trying not to fall asleep. And there was the ever-growing amount of red on him.

Keith had never contemplated Lance in red even after they switched lions, but he found that couldn't help but hate it. Such a harsh and bright color didn't belong on Lance.

"Come on." Keith said through gritted teeth, changing his hold slightly and picking him up fairly easily, even with the added limb in the mix. "Let's get you to a cryopod."

It occurred to Keith that maybe he should have let Hunk, Shiro, or Allura, the strongest members of the team, carry Lance to the medbay, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to let go of Lance.

It was oddly reminiscent of the first time Keith had ever carried Lance there.

"Hey," Lance's voice was soft but Keith was glad to hear it. A talking Lance was a conscious Lance. "Do you think… that if I live… I'll actually remember… our bonding moment… this time?"

Keith blinked down in surprise. It seems like they were on the same wavelength as had been becoming more common. It also seemed that Lance didn't remember that time with Sendak if he was saying this. He'd always assumed Lance was just being a pain by insisting he didn't remember.

Then the words fully registered in Keith's mind.

"It's not an if!" He hissed. "You are going to live! It doesn't matter if you remember or not."

"But if I don't… you'll look… all sad again…" Lance managed to get out, blinks getting slower with each passing moment. Personally, Keith couldn't believe Lance was wasting his limited breath on this.

Lance breaking into more painful coughs, blood bubbling from the corner of his mouth, only proved his point.

Keith held Lance tighter. "Look, it doesn't matter. As long as you're okay, it's fine."

"…Means that… 'snot fine… at all." Lance's words were slurring together more and more.

And Keith couldn't bring himself to respond to that. He could only increase his pace.

This was his fault.

If he had looked for signs earlier, had actually done something about not-Shiro as all of them were realizing something was off, then Lance wouldn't be bleeding out in his arms right now, leaving a trail of red in their wake.

But Lance would be fine; they'd fix this. They'd come through worse; he had to pull through. He had to.

"Though… guess…" Keith was glad Lance was still talking at least, "this's… one way… to solve the… math problem."

What?

Keith looked down at Lance in horror, blood draining from his face at his words. Lance almost appeared content at that thought, and suddenly, Keith was flung back to a conversation that he had thought had been resolved.

"Maybe the best thing I can do for the team is step aside."

No.

"No. Don't think like that." Keith said quickly, trying to keep the panic from creeping into his voice and face but knowing he was failing as Lance's gaze lazily drifted up to him and his eyes widened minutely at whatever he saw there. "That's not going to solve anything! Do you have any idea what you mean to us? To me? Without you, we'd – I'd – "

Not for the first time in his life, Keith wished he was better with words. Maybe if he'd said the right thing back then, Lance wouldn't seem so okay with the possibility of dying right now. And even now, the words stumbled and tripped over his tongue, nothing but a nearly incoherent mess that made no sense and couldn't begin to convey how he felt about Lance.

Because it was true that at one point, Shiro was the only person who had never given up on him. In his absence though, Lance had never given up on him since he had accepted him as Black's pilot.

Lance was different from Shiro's methods though. He wasn't afraid to scold him when he messed up, acknowledging that he'd done something wrong but assuring him that they could fix it. Not Keith by himself, but the two of them together. He had made sure that Keith knew when he'd done well. He made sure to reign Keith in, made him take a step back and think things through. Lance had been his unwavering support, on Keith's side ready to offer help whenever he faltered or one of the others questioned him.

Keith needed Lance.

Even if the real Shiro took over Voltron once more, he needed him. He needed Lance to try lightening the mood with his jokes and preventing any of them getting stuck within their heads. He needed Lance to offer him assurance, whether about his plans or his place on their team. He needed Lance to have his back in a fight, whether with advice, observations, or a shot to take out the enemy. He needed Lance to hold everyone together because he just doesn't have the skills to do so. He needed Lance to just be there.

And maybe he'd dropped the ball in being there for Lance, because he didn't seem to know how much he needed him.

"Don't talk like that, Lance." Keith's knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping Lance. "We need you. I need you. Without you, we would've fallen apart long ago." Those weren't tears pricking at his eyes. He was not about to cry. "So, don't… talk like it's better for everyone if you're not here."

Lance stared at Keith, and he wasn't even sure how much he was getting his message across, especially as Lance seemed to be getting closer and closer to falling unconscious. "Better me… th'n you." He mumbled, eyelids fluttering.

"No! That's not true!" Keith protested, ignoring the way his breath hitched in his chest. "I don't… you can't…"

"Jus' wanna… protect…"

"I know!" And Keith did know, because that's all Lance ever seemed to want. He threw himself in the fray to protect him, to protect the others, all without a thought to his own life. No matter what dark thoughts were going through Lance's head, helping others was the priority. "But you're important to us, Lance. I get you want to protect us, but don't you understand that we want to protect you, too?"

Keith waited for a few moments to hear Lance's comeback. He glanced down, and his heart stopped as he saw Lance's eyes were closed.

"Lance?" Still, no response. No no no no no! "Lance! Don't fall asleep!" He gave Lance a shake and hated himself when Lance gave a pitiful whine. "Stay with me, Lance!"

Luckily, Keith had finally reached the medbay.

"Coran! We've gotta hurry!" Keith dashed into the room, immediately going over to one of the infirmary beds that were rarely used in lieu of the cryopods. He gently set Lance down on his side. "C'mon, Lance just a little longer!" He begged, clasping Lance's hand which earned him a glimpse of blue through Lance's eyelids. His other hand went to pull off the plates of Lance's armor.

Coran came over, leaving Pidge to make the final adjustments to the already risen cryopod. He took over taking off the armor so Lance was left in the black bodysuit. At the same moment, Hunk rushed in, holding the laser saw. He took one look at Lance and all the color left his face.

"Here," he muttered, passing the saw to Coran and hurrying to the nearest trash can to puke. Keith winced in sympathy, his own guts churning.

Despite the worried expression on his face, Coran's worked swiftly and steadily. "Hold him steady, Number 4." Coran told Keith, and then his gaze softened as he turned to Lance. "This is going to hurt, Lance." Keith felt Lance squeeze his hand at those words before Keith reluctantly let go to hold Lance's body still.

With a slight screech of metal, the hand was cut off and it fell to the floor. Then Coran returned to Lance's front, and with only a small moment of hesitation, ripped the rest of the arm out.

Lance's entire body stiffened from the pain, gasping, choking sounds falling from his lips as a new rush of blood gushed from the wound.

He's not screaming. Keith thought distractedly. He hasn't screamed once. He didn't know if that was better or worse. How can he even have this much blood left? It felt like Lance should have nothing left given the amount of red that had coated everything and marked where he'd been.

Coran didn't waste any time. As soon as the arm was out, he lifted Lance into his arms and speed walked over to the open cryopod. Keith followed after, noting distantly that the others had come to the medbay. He could tell Pidge was watching with wide, scared eyes while trying to comfort Hunk. Allura was telling Shiro and Matt something while their gazes were on him, Coran, and Lance.

He barely paid them any mind as most of his focus was on Lance.

As the cryopod closed over him, Keith thought he could let down his guard down. The pods could fix pretty much anything after all.

The sudden red lights and alarms that blared on the control console made that a naïve thought.

"What's wrong?" He heard Allura shout as she, Pidge, and Coran converged on the console. Keith's gaze snapped between them and Lance as Coran immediately started tapping away.

"His heart stopped!" Coran's assessment was almost lost by the overwhelming twin roars that filled the air.

Keith didn't have to ask who was roaring as he sank to his knees, feeling like his own heart was shattering as he stared at Lance.

He didn't hear Allura say, "The Red and Blue Lions… they're…"

He didn't notice the uproar produced by the other members of their team at her words. He didn't notice Coran and Pidge hurriedly activating the processes to restart Lance's heart.

All he could hear was a single thought.

Lance is dead. Lance is dead! LANCE IS DEAD!

Haggar had said that Lance was the heart. That was true. He was the one who kept them together, who had brought them all together in the first place. Lance was the one who kept them going and lightened the mood when they all were at their lowest. With his jokes, his laugh, his determination, his sheer brightness…

He breathed life into the Castleship.

And Keith may not have known how he was supposed to go on without Shiro before, but he really did not know how he was supposed to do all this without Lance.

It was almost laughable how Lance didn't seem to realize how important he was when things were already falling apart without him.

He's dead!

And it's my fault.

At that thought, Keith noticed the extra red on his own armor. Red was drenched on the normally while plates. He held up trembling hands, and stared at how they were covered in blood.

Lance's blood.

Keith's breath stuttered.

It's my fault.

"-th."

Lance's dead and it's my fault.

"-eith."

I didn't do anything about the fake Shiro.

"-eith!"

He was protecting me.

"Keith!"

I might as well have killed him myself.

"Keith!"

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmy –

"KEITH!"

Keith started and jerked his eyes up right into Shiro's face.

Given the circumstances, he felt he was justified in following his instincts as he punched him.

It was in direct aftermath Keith realized what he'd done. "Shiro! I – Oh my god – " Keith went to help him but his mind stuttered to a halt as he caught sight of the blood on his hands again.

"It's alright. Probably should've seen that coming." Shiro tried to brush it off, rubbing his jaw.

"I – Lance – " Keith didn't even know what he was trying to say, but as he became aware of his surroundings, he noticed that the alarms were no longer ringing. Allura and Coran were still at the console talking in low tones, but there wasn't any –

Keith swung his gaze back to Lance, his eyes immediately latching onto the display showing a clear heartbeat.

"Lance will be fine." Shiro said softly, approaching him like one would an injured animal. "He'll be in the pod for a while, but he's alive and he's going to stay that way."

Relief poured through Keith like water soothing a burn. But even with the relief, it was just –

It was too much.

The Shiro they had thought they'd rescued not being real. Shiro actually coming back and Keith's instincts telling him things were right this time. Lance getting hurt, so badly, with so much red that Keith could hardly stand the sight of it. Lance apparently going to be fine.

Shiro looked at him with pure understanding. "It'll be alright."

Keith broke. "He – I – I can't lose him!" The tears finally fell. Everything that he'd been holding in since the fake had been revealed and Lance was hurt burst as he sobbed his heart out.

It was all too much to take in.

Shiro was the first to hug him, but it wasn't long before Keith sensed the others joining them in the hug pile as well. He could hear Hunk crying almost as loud as him. Overall, the hugs did bring him some measure of comfort while at one point he would've shied away from the affection.

However, it wasn't totally effective given that the person who probably would've called for a group hug was missing.

Keith looked back up at Lance in the cryopod.

Sure, things would be okay eventually. Lance would recover, and he probably would try to convince Keith that this wasn't his fault because somehow he'd take one look at him and know how he felt. Heck, Lance would probably forgive the fake Shiro just because that's just who he was.

So technically things would be fine.

Just not until Lance emerged from the cryopod, smiled at Keith with that brightness he shed like starlight, and dropped some sort of terrible joke. It'd be fine once Lance called for another group hug.

But Keith knew he wouldn't be able to look at the color red the same way again.

AN: Don't worry; Lance lives, everyone hugs, and things will begin to go back to normal as they continue fighting the Galra. This fic, of course, goes along with the Clone!Shiro theory that's been floating around (BTW, if the real Shiro isn't with them, I'm saying Shiro got teleported right on top of Matt) and is also based on Jeremy Shada's old comment that Lance sort of dies. FYI, Lance does all this because he wants to protect Keith; he was standing behind him to cover him when he noticed that he froze so, unable to get a clear shot at Not-Shiro through Keith, he decided to just push Keith out of the way. It wasn't due to his insecurities, this is entirely based on his personality Mr. 'Push-an-alien-I've-known-for-like-a-week-out-of-an-explosion's-way'. Yeah, this is pretty textbook move for him.

Also, I don't mind if you interpret this as Klance. I'm not sure it really counts as such, since it's not really romantic, but it does hit home for Keith how much he relies on Lance to be there and needs him. He was aware of it before but almost losing it, after getting used to him being there, is what makes him freak out. So this can be platonic or romantic Klance, whichever you prefer. I like both.