Hey y'all I'm back! Thank you for all the kind reviews, its much appreciated!

Now onwards with the Angst! We all know we're masochists for it...

Enjoy;)

V:LD

And he screamed

V:LD

And he woke

V:LD

And he woke with a gasp

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His chest burned. An uncontrollable fire consuming him from the inside out. Licking his ribs with its melting touch.

God but he could BREATHE

He gasped and gasped until his throat couldn't pull in anymore air and then some. But still his chest burned and ached.

And he could remember every moment of not breathing, of being crushed until his eyes slipped shut and he dove into oblivion

He slowly peeled his eyes open but slammed them shut when the piercing light awaiting him pounded fractures into his already broken skull. He groaned and went to grasp his head, pull his hair out, anything to distract from splits in his head and the nails scraping his throat with every gasp he continued to pull in desperately.

He knew he could breathe but he just...couldn't...get...enough...of it

Then he tumbled forward onto the awaiting cold metal floor when the pod he'd apparently been occupying released him with a hiss and a thump. He released another groan when his already aching head and chest hit the hard surface, unable to catch himself.

He breathed and gasped, coating the surface at his face with a foggy mirage with every exhale. His limbs trembled with the sudden chill, shivering and shaking and aching and he just couldn't stop.

And then, from nowhere, and everywhere he could feel himself heating, loosening the hold the cold had on him until he could move without jabbing every piece of body on the floor.

And by God, if he couldn't recognize that warm, rejuvenating touch in his mind.

Red. It was Red. God it was Red, but why? why why why how

A low, warm growl filled his head, his heart, everywhere.

-How could I not save, come always my One-

Keith hissed and clutched his ears. No, it couldn't be. He wasn't Red's anymore. Howhowhowwhywhywhy

But that would mean...

He flung his head around, gaze bouncing and jumping from object to object in his field of vision. Red purred what was supposed to be a comforting rumble in his mind.

He was on the Castle

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Keith finished pulling on the clothes -his clothes, his, his, mine- left for him on the table in the middle of the med bay. He winced when the movements sent jackknifes through his skull and down his neck but pushed on. He looked around until he found his knife that he knew would be there, and sheathed it to his belt. He stood and twisted looking and looking. He just couldn't find his Blade uniform.

-Why would you need that hideous uniform my One?-

Keith cringed and pushed Red away. She'd been trying to talk to him the whole time, and he could feel the splintered remains of their bond pulling together, stitching themselves back together. Could be almost perfect.

He couldn't let that happen. Not again. He couldn't survive it.

Red growled and pushed and he pushed back, back, back until she conceded. Cowered away. Docile

She wasn't docile, never ever ever. whatwhywhy

Her answering growl echoed, and when he went to push again he realized that he heard that. With his ears.

"Really, Red?"

There was another answering growl and he shook his head, but couldn't help the smirk that curved the edges of his chapped lips.

She wasn't docile. Just biding her time. Biding her time til he accepted their connection, til he wanted to talk.

The smirk slipped and his eyes hardened.

Well that wasn't going to happen

He pushed forward and stepped into the hallway. He froze, not sure what to do almost. It was hard being back, and harder leaving when all he wanted was for time to go back so he could feel at home here. Hold onto those moments just a little longer before they dissolved into water in his hands, sliding away and leaving him aching and dry and abandoned.

He needed to get out of here. Now

And The coast was clear.

He walked down the hall, ears pricked for the sound of approaching footsteps. He stepped softly, carefully. Making no sound as he moved through the labyrinth that was the hallways of the Castle of Lions.

De ja vu, everywhere. He knew the route. Back of his hand.

He let out a pent of breath, throat still scraping, raw.

He knew he should probably tell his apparent saviors thank you for coming to him in what he knew was the knick of time but he just..couldn't face them. Not now, not ever. Their faces, their colors, would rip him apart and he was already barely holding on by a thread, one that was just barely holding his seams together and fraying at the edges.

He couldn't unbury all that hurt, that pain, that anger. Not when it was wedged between his ribs and lungs and veins, in every nook and cranny of his body -his soul- that it could find.

He continued on his path to the hangar. Feet carrying him the path they'd done a million times before.

He'd have to steal a pod. The thrum beneath his feet and his steadying hand on the wall told him they were in space, floating God knows where heading to anywhere. So he'd have to steal a pod if he wanted off this ship.

Which he did even with his heart beating, no stay home home

So he'd steal a pod, and get to the nearest planet he could til he could contact Kolivan to have someone pick him up and take him back to the base. He could debrief and pray that the intel he'd sent had made it through and they could finally, finally finish Lotor's reign before it really begins. Then he could arrange to have the pod returned with a note of apology and gift to make it not chafe and burn and turn to ash.

And when he next saw them it would be over video call and he'd have his mask on and pretend it didn't ache when he thought about before, and them, and Red and complete happiness and calm before the storm that destroyed everything dear to him.

So he persevered through the nostalgia and the thoughts and the apparent lead in his shoes slowing him down. He pushed himself onward, forward, moving towards the hangar. Away from his past that wouldn't stop haunting him, twisting the knife deeper and deeper with every breath away, and every breath they didn't thinkn about him. Away from this. Away from the heartbreak.

He just needed to get there. Everything else could be after. He just needed to get there.

Distantly he could pick up the sounds of running footsteps, pounding the path towards him.

V:LD

She could feel when her One woke up.

It was with a gasp and a grunt and more gasping and she could feel the pain burning through his chest and head. She could feel his shaking and jittering against the floor he'd fallen against -and why wasn't one of the others there to catch him, hold him?shouldbeshouldbeshouldbe- until she couldn't take it anymore and sent warmth and heat and love over the bond. She felt it when he recognized her touch. Felt a different sort of tremor and felt the whywhywhy

-How could I not save, come always my One-

The answering bombardment of how and why and howwhyhowwhy spun through her mind in a swirl of hurt and confusion and pain, and why would she come after him when he wasn't hers and she wasn't his and they weren't them and it hurt and stung but that didn't matter cause he was panicking and he needed to calm and breathe.

So she purred and he pushed and stalled and froze and she knew he knew where he was. And he just stopped and it was blank between her and him. And then he was up and moving and dressed and looking for that hideous -hideous replacement he didn't belong in that- uniform.

-Why would you need that hideous uniform my One-

And he pushed against her. Tried to block her.

Now Red's One was stubborn. She'd known that from the moment she'd accepted him and the moment he'd accepted her and they'd been happy. They both were. They were one and the same.

But right now she wished he could not be quite so much as he continued to push away her attempted at picking up the shards of their shared mind and stitch them back together with love and warmth and home but he just wouldn't let her

So she pulled back, waiting and waiting and she could feel the concern and the distress but that wall was still there so she roared. It rang through the castle and her sisters questioned but she blocked them and ignored their questions and confusion.

They didn't understand

"Really, Red?"

She heard it, knew he knew she heard it so she growled again. Felt the answering mild humor. Slight warmth. Hope

And then it was blank again and there was nothing and it was empty.

She felt him move through the castle, knew where he was heading, knew she had to stop him but she couldn't so she called and called and finally she was let in and growled and roared until she made herself understood and she was waiting and waiting.

V:LD

Pounding footsteps skidded to a stop.

V:LD

Hands grabbed his arms and pulled