Vital Part 2 -

Keith had retreated to the training room after Shiro had all but kicked him out of Lance's room once his shift had ended. Though Keith had wanted to protest, to demand an answer when he'd asked Shiro what he'd meant when he'd mumbled that he knew it wasn't the fever. Keith had known from the guilty look on Shiro's face that he hadn't meant to say that bit out loud but all he'd said was he needed to speak with Lance first. At least Shiro had looked apologetic when he'd told him that, Keith thought as he vented his anger on the training robots in front of him. His bayard and knife made short work of them and he soon lost count of how many he'd taken out and how long he'd been training. He cut down the last robot before calling for the system to end the training session as he leaned against his sword to catch his breath. A glance at the clock showed he'd only been hacking at the robots for two hours. After a moment of thinking, Keith deactivated his bayard and headed for the shower, hoping the warm water would help him figure out what to do.

After spending a few minutes under the warm spray, Keith groaned as he admitted defeat and stepped out of the shower to dry himself off and get dressed. Despite Lance's continual insistence of their rivalry, Keith knew he and the Blue Paladin were slowly growing closer and becoming friends, becoming brothers, like he and Shiro were. Because of this, Keith couldn't stop going over what Lance had said to him after he'd taken that painkiller and before he fallen back asleep. Keith supposed Lance could've meant that staying with him when he was no longer sick wasn't important because he was no longer sick. However, Keith didn't believe that because there was also the fact that Lance had said Keith didn't need to be there anymore and to leave because Lance was sure he had more important things to do. That made Keith think that maybe Lance thought he wasn't important enough to warrant people helping him when he was sick?

Another groan escaped Keith as he leant forward in his seat, placing his head in his hands as he tried to puzzle through what Lance had meant. Keith would be the first to admit he wasn't that great at figuring out social cues, often missing things like hidden meanings, and that he usually had to rely on Shiro to explain things to him but he had a nasty feeling that he was right about Lance thinking he wasn't important. Suddenly sure, Keith stood quickly. He knew that he really needed to talk to Lance about this, but first, Keith thought, he needed to talk to Shiro.

Keith stormed towards Lance's room, pissed off with himself. Of course Shiro was still there. The Black Paladin had said he was going to talk to Lance and Keith should've realised that might take a while but no his brain told him to check everywhere else for the Black Paladin first, wasting nearly an hour of his life. He'd made it to Lance's closed bedroom door and hit the button to open it when he realised the polite thing would have been to knock first, just in case Shiro wasn't in there and Lance was sleeping.

Thankfully, Shiro was in there and his startled eyes snapped up to meet Keith's. Lance was curled up next to him, head on Shiro's shoulder with one arm thrown lazily over the older man's waist. The Blue Paladin didn't so much as twitch when Keith opened the door, the comforting feel of Shiro's fingers carding through his hair ensuring Lance's continued sleep. Shiro raised a finger to his lips and Keith nodded in acknowledgement.

Keith watched as Shiro carefully shifted himself sideways, making sure to catch Lance's head when it slipped from his shoulder and lowered it gently on the pillow before he managed to slip completely out of the bed. Lance screwed his face up and started stirring but Shiro leaned over him, whispering something, carding his fingers through the brown hair once more and Lance settled again. This time though, when Shiro shifted so he wasn't blocking Lance's face, Keith caught a glimpse of the dried tear tracks on Lance's face and blanched slightly. Had Lance had been crying?

The next thing Keith registered was Shiro gently pushing on his shoulder, trying to get him to move out of the room so they could talk without disturbing Lance. He hadn't even noticed the older man cross the room. A glance at Lance showed him the teenager had turned over so his back was now facing them and he had his blankets pulled up so high that only the top of his head showed. Keith stumbled back a couple steps, allowing Shiro to shut the door behind them, leaving Lance in his room to sleep off the exhaustion that came with recovering. Shiro hadn't said anything yet, apparently deciding to lead them a couple doors down until they were standing outside of Shiro's own room in silence. Shiro placed his palm on the electronic pad and permitted them entrance, flicking the lights on while Keith shut the door before either of them spoke.

"Is Lance okay?" Shiro had opened his mouth to talk only to find himself cut off by Keith. "He looked like he had been crying." Shiro swelled with pride. Keith had rarely shown his emotions even in front of Shiro and he couldn't have been prouder of the teenager. But now was not the time to tell Keith this, not with him so worried about Lance.

"Physically, yes, Lance is fine. Like I said before, it'll take him a day or two to get over the tiredness but he's over his space flu," Shiro assured him and gave him a look when Keith opened his mouth that told the Red Paladin to zip it. "You remember what you told me Lance had said before he fell asleep?"

"Yeah," Keith said, a little confused what this had to do with why Lance had been crying. "He told me that he was fine and that I could go and deal with more important things." Shiro nodded.

"And then I asked you to leave it until I'd spoken to him." Keith couldn't stop the small scowl on his face from appearing at that. Shiro gave him an equally small apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that but I needed to talk to Lance without an audience, especially after what you told me he'd said." Knowing what Keith was going to ask, Shiro continued. "When I found him and realised he was so sick, I tried to get him to stay in bed and recover. He fought me on it and told me he didn't want to because he'd be even more useless if he missed training." Silence reigned for a moment before Keith finally managed to get a word in.

"Why would he say something like that? He doesn't actually think he's useless, does he? He can't, not with all the bragging he does," Keith asked, barely stopping himself from scoffing at the idea. The look on Shiro's face was enough to answer his question. Keith felt himself get angry. "How could Lance be that stupid?! Of course he's not useless or unimportant! Why would he even think that?" Shiro was a little stunned to see Keith shaking with barely contained anger. Placing his hands on Keith's shoulders, Shiro forced the younger boy to look at him and waited for him to calm down a little.

"I don't know why he thinks that. I didn't ask him when I spoke to him," Shiro told him a little regretfully. He'd wanted to ask Lance but the Cuban had fallen asleep before he could. "I told him how important he was. I explained to him exactly how much we needed him. He couldn't stop crying." Shiro didn't miss the worried look that flashed across Keith's face. "I don't think Lance has heard anything close to praise for any of his efforts or accomplishments since we got thrown into space. From what I've been told or overheard from Hunk, Pidge and Lance, the Garrison and Iverson were even worse." Shiro and Keith both grimaced from the stories they'd been told about the year after Keith dropped out.

Lance didn't tell them many stories from that time but Hunk and Pidge did. Iverson had always been an arse, in Keith's humble opinion, but the way he'd treated Lance after Keith had dropped out made Keith and Shiro wish they could go back to the Garrison and punch Iverson in the face. Shiro sat heavily down on his bed, startling Keith slightly since the Red Paladin hadn't noticed Shiro move at all and sighed as he looked at his clasped hands.

"I just wish I had realised what was going on with Lance before now. Maybe I could've helped him," Shiro muttered as he placed his head in his flesh hand. He felt a tentative hand land on his shoulder at almost the exact same time the bed dipped on his left and he looked over to meet Keith's insistent and firm gaze.

"You couldn't have known. I doubt even Hunk knows how bad Lance is feeling. It's not your fault, you know," Keith told him sincerely. "I know I suck with all this feeling and social crap but I know we couldn't have done anything to help Lance until now because Lance wasn't able to keep up his act while he was so sick." Shiro blinked at him in surprise before grinning softly.

"You don't give yourself enough credit there, Keith," he said as he knocked their shoulders together gently, causing Keith to flush slightly with embarrassment. Shiro grinned a little more at the reaction before turning serious. "The whole team needs to do better, I need to do better, when it comes to helping each other out. I don't ever want someone to feel as bad about themselves or their abilities and suffer through it alone like Lance has." Keith could only nod his head in agreement but Shiro didn't seem to be looking for a vocal answer anyway. They sat there in companionable, if not a little subdued, silence and all Keith could think of was how much he wanted to talk Lance.

Lance blearily opened his eyes and looked around his dimly lit room while he tried to figure why he was so tired and, more importantly, why he was awake if he was this exhausted. He was quickly able to answer the first question when he remembered he'd been really sick and then he remembered Shiro had come into his room. Lance felt his face grow red with embarrassment as he remembered crying in front of Shiro while Shiro was trying to be nice. He remembered everything Shiro said to him and he wanted to believe it but he'd spent so long being told and believing the opposite and it was hard to ignore all of that.

Lance had almost drifted back to sleep when he heard the noise that must have been responsible for waking him in the first place again. Someone was knocking at his door. Groaning, he sat up quickly and immediately regretted the action as his head spun violently and his vision started getting spotty. A few deep breaths later, he was able to stand and walk to his door to greet the very insistent person on the other side of it.

Ocean blue eyes widened in surprise as he recognised who was trying awfully hard to beat his door down. "Keith?"

Keith had stayed with Shiro until the older man had decided he should go tell the rest of the Castle's occupants that Lance was awake. When Keith asked, Shiro had said he wasn't sure if he was going to tell the others about Lance's problems. The Black Paladin wanted to since it was something that could affect the team but he also didn't want to say anything unless Lance said he could. He was just going to play it by ear.

Keith watched him leave the room before he followed him out and headed for Lance's room. He knocked heavily on the door, knowing the Cuban was a heavy sleeper, and waited. After a few seconds, he knocked again and heard some slight movements from inside and he froze. He had absolutely no idea what to say. He heard Lance hit the button to open the door and his internal panic rose immensely. The next thing he knew, he was locking eyes with startled blue ones and his name seemed to stumble from the Blue Paladin's lips. Instead of answering, he invited himself into Lance's room, pushing Lance back and hitting the button to shut the door behind him before he flicked the lights on. Lance was forced to shield his eyes as the sudden brightness blinded him.

"Sorry." Keith winced as he watched Lance blink rapidly as his eyes struggled to adjust.

Lance rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears that had been summoned by the sudden change in light. When he lowered his hands, Keith internally winced as he saw just how tired Lance looked. His normally flawless skin was marred by dark bags under his eyes and his face was still a couple shades too pale. The thought that he should've left Lance to sleep crossed his mind and he mentally facepalmed at the fact that that thought crossed his mind now.

"What did you need, Keith?" Lance asked, so tired he barely noticed how whiney he sounded. He just wanted to sleep. It hadn't really clicked in his mind how worried Keith looked right now as Lance half-heartedly glared at him.

"What is wrong with you?" Keith honestly could've bashed his head into the wall in that moment. Lance just openly gaped at him, his brain trying to figure out if he'd really just heard that.

"What?" Lance asked, voice uncharacteristically small and unsure. His eyes were staring at the ground, flicking back and forth as he tried to think about exactly what he'd done wrong this time.

"Why do you think you're not important?" Keith did not know how to beat around the bush.

Lance's shoulders drooped. "Shiro told you." It wasn't a question, merely a resigned statement, like Lance wasn't surprised they were talking about him behind his back.

"Well, yes, but he didn't have too," Keith told him, a little confused. "You told me when you woke up, remember?"

Lance's eyes widened slightly as he recalled what he'd said to Keith when he'd woken to find the black-haired swordsman sitting next to his bed. "Oh," was all Lance managed to get out before he tried to figure out a way to convince Keith to drop the subject. Mind settled on a tactic, Lance flashed Keith a smile. "You don't have to worry about anything. Shiro talked to me and it won't affect Voltron so it's okay," he said, only slightly less convincing than he was aiming for but he hoped Keith hadn't noticed as he walked back to his bed and flopped gracelessly onto his bed so that once he heard his door swoosh open and shut, he could go back to sleep. What he did not expect is Keith to follow him and perch himself precariously on the edge of his bed. Lance sat himself up, more surprised than annoyed at the moment.

"I think you're lying," Keith said and Lance's surprise was overtaken by his annoyance. Keith didn't give him the chance to voice that annoyance. "You're not okay. I know Shiro talked to you and I don't care about Voltron right now. Why do you think you're unimportant?" Keith asked bluntly and Lance's expression became stony.

"Don't worry about it." He kept his voice level and refused to look Keith in the eye.

Keith didn't accept the answer. "Why do you think you're unimportant?" he asked again and he saw Lance's jaw tighten.

"I said 'don't worry about it'." Lance repeated but Keith kept pressing the issue.

"Why do you think you're unimportant?" Keith asked again, refusing to give up. Lance's fists were attempting to strangle the blankets.

"Leave it alone, Keith." Lance's voice lost its neutrality and became a warning growl. Keith knew he was getting close.

"Why do you think-" Keith started asking again but it seemed Lance's limit had been reached. He'd honestly thought it'd take longer since Lance had so many siblings and Keith had honestly been mimicking a random pair of children he'd seen in a park a few months before he started at the Garrison.

"Because I'm not!" Lance shouted and Keith flinched back slightly at the anger but mostly at the strength of the conviction in Lance's voice. The Cuban genuinely believed this with practically his entire being. "The only important thing about me is me being Blue's Paladin! You guys would be better off finding a new Blue Paladin and it honestly wouldn't be difficult with how low I've set the bar! I mean, come on! Pidge and Hunk are freaking geniuses! You and Shiro are ridiculously good at everything! We'd never have made alliances without Allura or Coran! I bring absolutely nothing to this team except as someone to pilot Blue!" He opened his mouth to keep ranting but his brain caught up with what he was doing and his hands flew to his mouth to physically stop the flow of words. Lance's eyes widened and he could feel the top of his hands growing damp from the tears he hadn't even realised he was shedding.

Keith couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Had Lance really been feeling like this the entire time? Did he really think he was basically a seat warmer for Blue? That the team really didn't think he was useful? Lance looked so ashamed of his outburst and Keith felt his heart squeeze painfully. And then there was the fact that he was now crying. Keith was so far out of his element right now but his friend needed him and he'd be damned if he didn't try and help. His resolve hardened when he heard Lance's barely whisper, "I'm sorry."

Keith grabbed Lance's wrists and pried them from his mouth so that Lance couldn't keep hiding behind them. He locked eyes with the Cuban and refused to let him break it as he started talking. "Stop apologising, shut up and listen to me," Keith ordered, internally cursing how harsh he sounded. He felt Lance flinch slightly and he unconsciously tightened his grip on Lance's wrists.

"You're right. You're not as smart as Pidge or Hunk but no one else on this ship is. You can't cook as well as Hunk but neither can anyone else. Trust me when I say neither Shiro nor I are as good at everything as you think we are. Shiro still has flashbacks and PTSD and I'm not the best at controlling my temper. The amount of times you or someone else has had to cover us or save our arses because Shiro froze or I made a stupidly reckless decision is ridiculous. No one is as good as the Princess or Coran at diplomatic situations. Allura literally grew up learning all of those skills and Coran was the one of her teachers." Keith couldn't remember the last time he spoke this much but he wasn't going to stop until Lance realised what every single person on the Castle already knew. Lance was looking a little confused like he couldn't see Keith's point so the swordsman got to it.

"But, Lance, no one can shoot like you. You have made shots that none of us could even think about," Keith told him, "and you always make us laugh when we need it. Like after a tough mission or when someone has a bad day," he said. "You push me to be better by challenging me all the time but you also make sure that I don't overdo it. I know you do the same for Pidge whenever she decides to stay up all night. And you're always there whenever Hunk seems to be having a tough day. Seriously, it's like you've got an inbuilt 'Hunk's upset' radar. And I hate to admit it but your flirting and over-the-top compliments always make Allura and Coran relax a little. Even though Allura knows you're not seriously hitting on her, she appreciates the comments and Coran loves how shameless you are about complimenting someone."

Lance had nearly stopped crying by now, only a few stray tears still found their way down his cheeks as he listened to Keith talk. He'd never heard the Red Paladin say so many words, yet alone so many nice words about him. Keith was still holding his wrists but his grip had loosened enough that Lance wasn't worried about bruising anymore. Lance had to admit that he hadn't seen where Keith was going at first but then Keith had started talking about what Lance could do that no one else could and Lance had found himself crying again. When Keith had stopped to take a breath, Lance went to talk but Keith cut him off and resumed talking.

"Shiro hasn't said anything but everyone except you has pointed out how much better he seems to be doing so I know you have something to do with that. You even manage to help the Lions! I honestly don't know how you haven't noticed how essential you are to this team but you are so you need to stop talking like you aren't!" Keith told him. "We don't want another Blue Paladin and neither does Blue! Trust me, if she wanted someone like me or Shiro, she would've opened for us back on Earth but she didn't. She chose you and she's a very smart Lion. If you ever feel like you don't matter, tell me or Shiro or Hunk or anyone 'cuz we will tell you how wrong you are, okay?" Keith asked, finally finished telling Lance exactly what he thought, a little nervous that he may have overstepped a line somewhere in his impromptu speech. He felt his cheeks growing slightly warm as Lance continued to stare at him, mouth slack and tears still slipping down.

"You –" Lance started saying before he had to try and steady himself. Breathing in shakily, Lance tried again. "You really think that?" he asked, sounding so small and vulnerable but he looked one sentence from believing Keith so, instead of rolling his eyes like he normally would've, Keith placed his hands on either side of the Cuban's face and looked him dead in the eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"Yes."

One simple word. It was just one tiny word but that was all it took. Lance's face crumpled before he threw himself at Keith so he was practically in the startled boy's lap. He wrapped his arms around the Red Paladin's torso and fisted his hands in the material of his red and white jacket before he buried his face in Keith's shoulder and sobbed. To Keith's credit, it only took him a few moments before he returned the unexpected hug just as tightly, one hand on Lance's back and resting the other on the back of his neck. He gave in to his feelings and started running his fingers through the ends of Lance's hair softly, just like Shiro had been earlier, and tucked his head so his cheek was resting on Lance's hair.

They stayed that way for a while. Keith was honestly surprised he didn't feel as uncomfortable as he'd expected to feel from having someone crying on him. He focused on Lance's breathing and offering any comfort he could remember from the rare times he'd had someone comfort him while he was crying. He stayed quiet but kept up with carding his fingers through the brown hair and rubbing soothing circles on Lance's back. He wondered how long it had been since Lance had told someone what he was feeling and cried like this. Keith waited patiently and was eventually rewarded with Lance's sobbing transitioning into normal breathing. After a few moments, Lance pulled himself away from Keith and Keith let him though he did rest a hand on Lance's knee as he watched him wipe away the tears Keith's jacket hadn't absorbed.

"I'm sorry," Lance said as his cheeks lit up with embarrassment. He seemed to cower slightly, like he was expecting Keith to tease him.

"You don't need to apologise." Keith shook his head at him and Lance looked back up at him, posture relieved. "Next time, leave the emo stuff to me, okay?" Keith's lips curled up slightly and he was rewarded with a watery chuckle from Lance so he certainly considered it a win.

"Okay, Mullet," Lance said, mustering up the best smile he could and Keith returned it. Suddenly, Lance's demeanour changed and he was fidgeting slightly. "Um, thank you. For, you know, what you said and stuff." Lance didn't quite mumble but if Keith were sitting any further away from him, he wouldn't have heard it. Keith didn't think, he just did what felt right. Raising his hand, he cupped Lance's face and stroked his cheek with his thumb. Lance leaned into the touch and his expression became almost peaceful, though Keith did see all that exhaustion come back into focus.

"You don't have to thank me for that," Keith told him sincerely. He pulled his hand away as Lance yawned widely. "Maybe you should get some more sleep," Keith suggested, concerned and a little guilty. Afterall, he was the reason Lance wasn't still asleep. He went to get up but Lance's arm shot out to grab him before he could. Lance looked slightly stunned at his actions but Keith settled back into spot with a questioning noise.

"Could you- could you stay here? With me? Just until I fall asleep, please?" Lance's cheeks felt like they were on fire as he spoke but he really didn't want to be alone right now. The only reason he'd been able to sleep after Shiro told him what he thought was because Shiro was still there. He just needed the warmth of another person next to him after such an emotional breakdown.

Lance knew he was handing Keith all sorts of blackmail material by asking him that but that was something to worry about later. However, to Lance's surprise, Keith didn't say anything. He just kicked his boots off, shrugged himself out of his jacket and lay down on Lance's bed before looking at the Cuban expectantly. Mentally shaking his mind clear, Lance lay himself back down and, after a moment, shoved his embarrassment aside and snuggled into Keith's side. He felt the black-haired teenager stiffen when he did so but he loosened up before Lance could wriggle away, wrapping his arms around Lance and pulling him even closer. One of Lance's arms snaked over Keith's waist and the other stayed tucked up in between the two Paladins as they relaxed together.

Keith had not expected Lance to ask him to stay but he couldn't help but feel honoured that the Cuban had trusted him enough to. He knew that the thought Keith would somehow use this against him in the future was bouncing around in Lance's head but he didn't take any offense. Instead, he kicked off his boots and took his jacket off so he could be as comfortable as possible. He'd almost moved to take his knife off out of habit but remembered quickly he hadn't strapped it on since he hadn't been in his room since before his last shift looking after Lance. Keith made himself comfortable on Lance's mattress and looked up at the Cuban questioningly. It took Lance a couple seconds for his brain to catch up on the fact that Keith had agreed before he lay down next to him.

Keith watched Lance as an internal debate seemed to go on inside his head before Keith suddenly had Lance curled up right next to him. The unexpectant contact had Keith do a good imitation of a statue for a heartbeat however he managed to relax before Lance could pull away. When he felt Lance nuzzle into the crook between his neck and shoulder, Keith responded by wrapping his arms around Lance. Once of Lance's arm found itself draped over Keith's waist but the other stayed tucked between them and though Keith worried Lance would be uncomfortable, Lance made no move to shift it. He was almost convinced Lance was asleep when he heard a whispered 'thank you' from the Blue Paladin. Instead of replying with words, Keith just tightened his arms to give Lance a brief squeeze.

After a few more minutes, Keith knew Lance was definitely asleep and that he could leave without upsetting the Cuban but he was so warm and comfortable and having someone cling to him like Lance was felt surprisingly nice. Eventually the mixture of Lance's warm breath on his neck and the tiredness he felt from the whole day had him falling asleep without even realising it.

A couple of hours later found Shiro approaching Lance's room after he realised he hadn't seen Keith for a while. When a search had failed to turn up the Red Paladin in any of his usual haunts, Shiro decided to check Lance's room, knowing how upset Keith had been when Shiro had explained why Lance had said what he did. When he opened the door and saw the scene in front of him, it took all of his self-control not to make any noise at the heart-warming sight. Lance and Keith were curled up together and Shiro had never wanted a camera more in his life than right now. Neither teenager so much as twitched as the door opened so, after turning the light off, Shiro shut the door and left to find Coran and Allura so he could make sure no alarms sounded unless the Galra attacked. He wanted both of them to get as much sleep as possible. He knew today had been a big day for both of them and he couldn't dampen the prideful feeling trying to burst of his chest.

A/N- So I wrote a second part to this story after a few people had asked for a Keith/Lance scene. I had wanted to write it so I was more than happy to comply. I did have a lot of trouble starting this story so a massive shoutout to IcyPanther for being an awesome author and letting me bounce my idea's for this story's plot off of her and giving me advice. If you're into having your heart completely destroyed and rebuilt, go check out her stories because she is phenomenal! If you guys enjoyed this story, please let me know by leaving me a review! If you think I could've improved it anywhere, please leave me a review! I do have a couple more VLD stories I want to write so keep an eye on my profile for new releases. I am focusing on Spirit Animals now so the new VLD stories won't be posted for a while. Anyways, thank you for reading and please review! *EDITED 19/06/2020*