Keith wasn't sure where it all had gone downhill, but at some point, it had, and now what was supposed to be a rather easy infiltration mission to gather intel had turned into a wild chase that, frankly, didn't look like a very promising situation for him. He'd taken a hit to the head which resulted in black spots eating away at his vision, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take before he passed out.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to take on the large Galra that was chasing him in this condition, he'd decided to run for it, hoping he'd manage to shake him off somehow, but instead, the Galra was steadily catching up.

Rounding a corner, Keith stopped dead in his tracks and just barely managed not to fall when the path suddenly ended and he was facing a drop that was several meters at least. The sudden stop was too much for his scrambled brains though, and he fell to the ground right before the gap.

Glancing down the gap, he wished he was wearing his Paladin armour. The jetpack sure would have been useful now, but he had to find a different way down there if he didn't want to be gutted by the Galra still chasing him.

He could have used his knife to attach a rope which he could've lowered himself to the floor below with, but he wouldn't have been able to retrieve the knife once he was down there, so that plan was out of the question.

That only left one option. It was all or nothing now, he'd either be lucky enough to get out unscathed, or he'd end up unable to defend himself for good. He really, really hoped it wouldn't be the latter.

With one last glance back, Keith let himself fall.

The sensation of falling paired with the concussion he probably had caused his stomach to lurch uncomfortably, but he gritted his teeth and braced himself for the impact.

He landed off balance, and something in his left ankle gave way. A fierce pain shot up his leg, making him gasp in pain, but he managed to roll off and avoid any further injuries.

Shit. That wasn't good, not good at all, if he wasn't able to walk, he was pretty much dead already.

Determined to power through whatever he'd done to his ankle, he attempted to shift his legs into a position that would allow him to stand up, and wow, yeah, that really, really hurt.

Also his pursuer had caught up faster than he'd expected, and he was absolutely unimpressed by the height, apparently, for he didn't even hesitate after rounding the corner before jumping down, and what was even less fair was the way he just slightly bent his knees at the impact before making his way over to Keith like the jump had been nothing, while Keith had broken his fucking ankle jumping down there.

At this point, the word shit was playing on repeat in Keith's mind as he tried to push himself up into a standing position, but before he managed, the Galra slammed him back down on the ground with a huge hand pressing painfully on his throat.

With an ugly grin, the Galra eyed him. "Well, well, well," he drawled, "If it isn't an intruder. What were you trying to do? Gather information about us? And you seriously thought you could get away with it? Ridiculous!"

It was getting hard to breathe with the increasing pressure on Keith's throat, and he really wasn't sure how much longer he was going to last before losing consciousness. Desperately, he tried to reach his knife without the Galra noticing. That, at least, shouldn't have been an issue, the Galra seemed to enjoy hearing himself talk way too much to pay attention what Keith was doing with his hands. Now, if only he could actually reach the knife…

Just when he thought he might be able to pull it from where it was attached to his hip, the Galra pulled back and grabbed him by the ankle, his injured ankle. Keith bit back a pained groan as his opponent grinned maliciously.

"I'm wondering what the Commander will do to you. Intruders always bring him joy, but traitors to the Galra Empire are in for a special treat," he informed Keith proudly.

Keith only managed a pained huff, and the Galra glanced down at Keith's leg he was holding in his grip. "Oh, you hurt yourself? The Commander won't be pleased that you already took away part of his fun."

The Galra squeezed Keith's ankle even tighter for a moment before he started dragging him behind him by his leg, and wow, now Keith really thought he was going to pass out any second. But he hadn't entirely run out of luck, apparently, as he finally succeeded in grabbing his knife with his desperate fumbling.

Quickly transforming it into a sword, he threw it with all his remaining strength, impaling the Galra from behind.

His opponent didn't make a sound, only paused mid-step, and didn't move for a few seconds. Keith held his breath as the Galra turned slowly, and for a moment he thought that maybe it hadn't been enough to seriously injure him, but then the Galra was facing him, and Keith could see that his sword had gone all the way through him and was sticking out from his chest.

In slow motion, the Galra fell forward, towards Keith, who managed to roll out of the way just in time before the massive body could crush him.

Keith eyed him warily, who knew if he wasn't still alive after all, but the Galra didn't move again. Good. That was… good. As far as he knew, that guy had been the only one to know of Keith's presence on the ship; he hadn't seen him communicate with any of the other guards or his Commander, and they hadn't passed anyone on their chase. That meant he was, well, not safe, but at least not in any immediate danger right now.

That knowledge was enough to send his brain into shutdown mode again, and he only managed to pant into his comm he only just remembered now, "K-Kolivan. Kolivan, I'm down," before he blacked out for good.

When the world rapidly came into focus again, he wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it couldn't have been too long since he was still lying in the same place with the dead Galra next to him, and not in a prison cell.

The relief he felt was short-lived, though. It quickly morphed into something that was dangerously close to panic. Oh, no, no, no. He was- They'd leave him. He was unable to get back to the team by himself, and this wasn't Voltron. Nobody was going to come for him.

Keith closed his eyes. His head throbbed, and he couldn't even move his foot. He was breathing quickly, too quickly, close to hyperventilating, and he knew he had to get it back under control, but somehow it wouldn't happen. The enemies were going to find him, take him to the Commander, and the Commander was going to kill him eventually. He was going to die here.

When he'd joined the Blade for good, he'd known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was very likely to get killed somewhere along the way. He'd accepted it, sort of, because what other choice was there? But he hadn't wanted to die like this. Not without his death having any kind of impact. His death would be completely meaningless. If he had to die, he'd wanted to go out like Ulaz. Like Thace. Like Antok, or Regris. They'd given their lives for the greater good, while he wasn't even being killed in combat.

And… he hadn't seen the Voltron team in weeks. Had only talked to them briefly every once in a while, too busy for more contact, both him and them. And now he desperately wished he had made time for them. Being able to say goodbye was a privilege few had in a war like this, and even if he had talked to them more often in the past weeks, he wouldn't have said goodbye, because he hadn't intended to die. But he still wished he had cherished the time with them more, instead of taking it for granted, and brushing them off when they called with the excuse of a new mission, or Kolivan him needing him for something.

Keith hated himself for the tears that were starting to gather in the corners of his eyes, and for the way his chest felt too tight for him to breathe properly.
Wiping the tears away harshly, he propped himself up on his elbows and shifted closer to the dead Galra who was lying face first on the floor.

If he was going to die, he wanted to have his mother's knife with him, at least. Firmly gripping the hilt of the sword, he transformed it back into a knife and pulled it out of the Galra's back with some effort.

The moment he touched the knife, his chest loosened and the panic dissipated to make room for an inexplicable calm. And with panic no longer clouding his mind, he found himself aware of some kind of sound in the distance.

As he focused a bit more, he could make out the footsteps of someone rapidly approaching. One huge disadvantage of working with the Blade, compared to the Voltron Paladins, was that they were, despite everything, still Galra. Basically, even though the Blades and the Galra Empire couldn't have been more different, they still sounded the same when they ran. That meant right now, Keith didn't have a way to tell for sure whether the person running in his direction was a friend or a foe. His comm was eerily silent, too, and he didn't dare speak into it to ask about Kolivan's whereabouts.

But before Keith could either come up with some kind of plan or fall back into panic, the figure rounded the corner, and Keith relaxed instantly.

Kolivan .

"Keith," Kolivan said, his voice devoid of any emotion like usual. "Can you walk?"

Normally, Keith would've said yes, would have tried, and inevitably failed, but now, he really couldn't have cared less. Kolivan wouldn't judge him, wouldn't ask questions about the origins of his injury, either - honestly, Keith was a bit embarrassed that he'd pretty much done it to himself instead of having earned it honourably in combat - and time was precious, so he shook his head.

Nodding sharply, Kolivan bent down to collect Keith from the floor and immediately took off running again.

They didn't run into any trouble on the way back, but it looked like there had been trouble when Kolivan was trying to find him, from the way the floor was littered with unmoving Galra soldiers and broken sentries.

Only when they were back to safety, Keith dared to speak up. "You came for me…"

Honestly, Keith hadn't expected him to. He hadn't expected anyone to, but especially not Kolivan, who was always preaching that the mission was more important than the individual and that those who could not make it back in time were going to be left behind in order not to jeopardize the mission. All this talk, and now Kolivan had come back, for him ? Keith really wasn't sure what to make of that.

"It was an exception. There was still enough time, and nobody had discovered us yet. Don't get used to it," Kolivan spoke calmly. There was a long pause before he added, "Besides, you had the intel."

Keith couldn't help himself. He grinned, feeling like a lunatic, and once again he was glad for the mask covering his face. He wasn't sure if it had been Kolivan's intention, or if him having the intel really was the main reason for the rescue and Kolivan had just thought it would be worth mentioning, but for some reason, it felt like an inside joke between the two of them.

...aw, damn, maybe he really did have a concussion, although his head felt a lot better than it had before he'd passed out on the floor of the Galra ship.

The rest of the flight back to the Blade headquarters was silent, and Keith found it increasingly hard to keep himself awake. Just when he was about to nod off, Kolivan announced that they had reached their destination.

Without wasting time by asking, Kolivan picked Keith up again and carried him out of the jet, heading towards the infirmary. "How fast do you heal?" he asked.

"My head's gonna be fine in a few days, I think. If I have a concussion, it's not too bad. Uh, broken bones take a few weeks to heal for most humans, maybe around six to eight weeks to heal fully? But I've always healed a bit faster, probably because I'm half Galra, so it's around three to four weeks for me if the injury isn't too bad." He'd really had his fair share of broken bones, and the regular breaks had all healed completely within four weeks at most. The only time it had taken longer to heal was when he had snapped his arm completely at the elbow. The doctors had told him he had to expect at least half a year to make a full recovery, and they had been astonished when they'd declared him fully healed after just three months.

Kolivan stopped walking.

"What did we stop?" Keith asked, confused.

"That's… a long time," Kolivan said thoughtfully. "We can't afford for you to be grounded for that long, but we do not have anything to speed up the recovery process. Galra heal naturally fast, our broken bones are back to normal after a week."

That was… kind of cool. Keith knew he was lucky when it came to his healing abilities, but he hated nothing more than not being able to do as he pleased due to an injury. Only having to deal with that for a week sounded great, and he found himself envying the full-blooded Galra for their enhanced healing.

Kolivan spoke up again after a few moments of silence. "The Alteans have healing technology, correct?"

Keith nodded.

"Alright," Kolivan said, "I will contact Princess Allura." He started walking again, into the infirmary and deposited Keith on one of the cots. "Check for a concussion," he instructed the doctor who appeared by their side and immediately shoved a flashlight into Keith's face.


"Greetings," Kolivan said as his call to the Castle of Lions was accepted and the Princess' advisor appeared on the screen. "May I speak to the Princess, or Shiro?"

"Ah, my apologies!" The advisor - Coran, Kolivan remembered - replied dutifully. "I'm afraid neither of them is available at the moment. Is it a matter of great importance, or can you tell me so I can forward it to them?"

Kolivan shook his head. "No, it is nothing of the sort. I merely wanted to inform you that I intend on taking the former Red Paladin to the Castle of Lions to put him into one of your cryopods. He has been injured in our last mission, and we cannot wait for him to heal naturally."

Coran's professional expression slipped for a brief moment before it became neutral, and only the hint of worry in his eyes betrayed it. "Is he alright?"

"Yes, he will be. But his recovery will take too long, and time is precious in times like these, but we don't have healing technology like you do."

Coran nodded. "Unfortunately, there has been an, ah, slight mishap that caused quite a few problems with the cryopods, and they're not currently functional. But I'll work on repairing them as soon as possible, though I cannot say how long that will take."

"I understand," Kolivan replied. "I will take him to you anyway. He'll return to us once he is fully recovered."

He and Coran said their goodbyes, and Kolivan ended the call, making his way to the infirmary again.

The doctor was already done with the checkup of Keith's head and had moved to his ankle. Keith's jaw was clenched tightly, and he looked a bit pale.

Kolivan cleared his throat to make his presence known.

"Oh, you're back already," the doctor said, turning towards him. "He took a pretty bad hit to the head, but he doesn't have a concussion. It should be all good in a few days. But he broke his ankle, I had to set it."

Ah. That explained the pained expression Keith was wearing. "Thank you, doctor. He'll come with me, now."

"Are you sure?" The doctor asked, sounding surprised. "He's nowhere near healed."

"I'm aware. I'll be taking him back to the Paladins of Voltron. Rest assured, he will receive adequate treatment there," Kolivan explained. Addressing Keith, he added, "Coran has informed me that the cryopods are not currently working. But I still think you should go home until you're healed. After all, one heals best when surrounded by family."

Keith blinked. Home… and family. It sounded strange, and he'd never actually thought about it before, but… he guessed, in a way, Voltron had become his family somewhere along the way. And as someone who hadn't really had a place to call home in a long time, he'd always thought of people as home than of actual places. His dad had been home. Then, nothing for a long time. Then, Shiro. Now, the entirety of team Voltron. Yeah, he supposed they really were home.

Smiling, he slid off the cot and let himself be helped out of the infirmary and back into the jet by Kolivan.

He was going home.


I didn't intend for this to be split up, but then this sounded so much like the end of a chapter, so I'm posting this now, and the rest later, and I sure hope I can make the second chapter about this length too omg.

Tell me about errors please, logic or anything else.

Comments absolutely make my day!