Don't Forget About Me (Previously, Keith Isn't Dead)

Chapter 6

"I'm sorry. You're right, I- it was wrong for me to react like that." Lance looked up at their leader.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you." He mumbled, breaking eye contact and looking down.

When Shiro didn't respond right away, Lance opened his mouth again.

"It's just, I don't- I don't get it, Shiro. I don't know why it's bothering me so much. He hasn't even been gone that long and he's probably fine but, I don't know. Why do I care so much about it?"

Shiro pulled him into a hug, "You care about other people, Lance. I mean, look at how attentive you were while he was visiting. You were the first to suggest including him, always the one to make sure he wasn't left out. It's part of who you are."

They broke apart, and Shiro patted him on the back.

"I'll round up the rest of the team. Meet us in the hanger in twenty minutes, we'll fly out to the nearest planet to look for him at."

Lance nodded and swiped at his eyes, nodding at shiro. "Thank you."

*

Lance walked to the hangers in silence.

As he continued on his trek, Keith continued to worm his way into Lance's thoughts.

Why do I miss him so much?

Maybe it was his laugh. Keith's laugh always brightened the room just because it was so rare to hear. In fact, Lace was quite proud of himself, he had made Keith laugh a lot during his visit, a feat not easily achieved. Lance wouldn't say he missed Keith an unreasonable amount. He supposed he missed Keith's laugh. And his smile, though it was just as rare. And he definitely missed the friendly banter. And the sparring, Keith was fun to spar with. And he missed the sleepovers and movie nights.

Lance sighed and bit his lower lip as Red came into view. He stewed in his thoughts until the rest of the team arrived, looking up as Shiro's voice carried across the hanger.

"Alright team. Pidge sent us all the coordinates for the nearest planet we can start our search on. I got in contact with Kolivan and we have a video meeting with him set up in six vargas. That way, if Keith finds them or gets in contact with them, we'll know."

He motioned for them to board their lions, and they were off.

*

After his failed attempts to rid himself of the ankle bracelet restraint, Keith switched tactics, pulling himself to his feet and walking as far forward as the chain allowed.

He was able to pull himself up to the bars, not close enough to put his face near them, but close enough to wrap his hands around the cold metal. Other aliens did the same, continuing to speak in languages Keith couldn't recognize.

He gained a bit of knowledge from moving forward. For one, it appeared the other prisoners were organized by species. He spotted a cell of Balmerans, and even one of Arusions.

"English, do any of you speak English?" He called out, and the fuss died down slightly after he spoke.

"Yes, some of us do. Not many." Came a voice from directly across from him. The cell was one full of Balmerans, and the voice came from a shorter male. He, like the other prisoners Keith noted, was battered and bruised, with some bloody bandages wrapped around his arms, legs, and tail. His cellmates shuffled so that he could be more towards the front.

"Alright, where am I?"

"This is Zynad. It's a medical testing facility run by the Dweller government. They seek to learn of all species. But to us, it is a prison."

Keith swallowed, a pit settling in his stomach.

"I am sorry, human, but they are fascinated by you." He really did sound sorry, and Keith did his best not to shrink under the grief-ridden gaze.

"How do we escape?"

His question was met by laughs as it was translated for the other prisoners. The kind Balmeran gave him a sad smile.

"Your will is strong, but I'm afraid no one's escaped this place. We are deep, deep underground. The only ways in and out are monitored by Dwellers. We have tried, and we have lost."

He wanted to punch the wall. Before he could demand the Balmeran tell him everything he knew about the prison, a door on the far end of the hallway banged open, and all the prisoners leapt away from the bars as though they'd been burned.

The Balmeran looked to Keith with wide, scared eyes, and he made a shooing motion, silently begging Keith to back up like the rest of them. He compiled, moving to the side of his cell so he could get a better glimpse of what was rattling on down the hall.

He never saw anything, but soon after the rattlings came to a stop, a scream broke out, anguished and shrill. Keith clapped his hands over his ears, backing up into the far corner of his cell with widened eyes. He glanced across the way, seeing the Balmerans huddled together, comforting one another and keeping warm.

The screams continued on and off for what felt like hours, quickly being muffled as the person was apparently brought into a separate room. Keith shuddered, inching forwards once more until his hands were wrapped around the metal again.

He gave a tug, and another. Tried sticking his arm out and feeling around for a lock or keypad. Anything to open the bars. He found nothing.

*

The paladins search of the first planet didn't go well.

The thick vegetation made it difficult to search through, and the lions had trouble finding a place to touch down.

Pidge was flying Green around the surface, scanning for recent shifts in soil, or any signs of recent disturbings. Her scanners picked up nothing.

Shiro and Allura visited with locals, asking if they had seen a ship go down. They too returned empty-handed.

They arrived back at the castle dejected, and Pidge marked the planet with an X, sighing as she flicked through the rest of the map.

Lance just hoped Kolivan could help them.

*

"To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting on such short notice?" Kolivan asked, peering at the paladins with a raised brow. Behind him, Blade members bustled about.

"Kolivan. There's been- an incident of sorts, and seeing as Keith is now part of your organization, we felt it appropriate to inform you." Shiro stated, hands folded neatly behind his back.

Kolivan's eyes narrowed, and his face creased in concern. "What kind of incident?"

"Keith has gone missing. He sacrificed himself and was hit by a wormhole. We're unsure of where he ended up."

Kolivan spoke to a Blade member off screen, before replying. "I'm coming by, if you don't mind. I have important information to relay to you which will help us track him down. Pidge is your head of technology, yes?"

The woman herself nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Brilliant. I'm sending you a copy of what I'll be discussing with you all. I will be on my way soon, so long as it's alright."

Shiro nodded, thanking the officer and ending the call. By the time he had, Lance, Hunk, and Coran were all crowded around Pidge and her computer, curious as to what top-secret code Kolivan had sent.

Pidge let out a watery laugh, and Lance grinned ear-to-ear.

"Oh my god, we can't let him live this down."

Shiro and Allura joined in now, both equally curious.

"It's a tracker. Kolivan's got a tracker for him. And get this," She looked up at Shiro over her laptop, grinning, "His is labeled 'Kit'."

Rewritten November 2021. im shuffling the sequence of events here so sorry if things seem a bit repetitive in the next chapter(s), im not really rewriting this in a very organized way. Apologies.