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

Keith's perspective starting from when he began having the nightmare

He was alone. Well, the Dwellers surrounded him, but he was completely alone. No Clat, no Lance, no Shiro or Hunk or Pidge. He was trapped inside his cell back at Zynad. All of a sudden, his cell began to shift around. The small window on the door began to get bigger and bigger until the whole room resembled an animal cage with thick metal bars. Now the Dwellers surrounded him from all sides, their rocky arms reached out to him, scalpels and gas masks began to clatter to the floor, the metallic clang echoing around the room. Keith scooted to the center of the cage so that none of the Dwellers could touch him. But then Korgon stepped through the crowd. His hands were bloody and his cold eyes met Keith's.

Keith screamed, Korgon reached through the bars and Keith hadn't gotten away in time. Korgon started to pull him out of the cage. That's when everything flipped upside-down.

Keith was blinded by a white light, and there was noise everywhere. It sounded like bickering. He whipped his head around to see Korgon push Keith roughly. He started to fall, the ground beneath him disappeared. Keith shut his eyes and collided with something soft.

It was a familiar feeling, Keith felt safe, wrapped up in someone's arms. The bickering continued, and he felt whoever was holding him tense up. Then there was a loud noise, it was like garbled speech. Keith couldn't make out anything, but all of a sudden, the bickering stopped. The silence only lasted a few seconds before a mob of Dweller doctors came running at him.

Keith felt whoever was holding him tense up again, their grip tightened and Keith got scared. Whoever had caught him made him feel safe, and now the Dwellers were going to take that safety away from Keith! Keith tried to warn his savior but found he couldn't move or speak. It was as if he were paralyzed. Before they could do anything, a large Dweller pulled Keith away. He was slung over their shoulder and the teen managed to catch a glimpse of the person who caught him.

It was Lance. He was standing there, looking stressed and worn. He followed the Dwellers, yelling at them. Keith was put on a hospital bed and went rigid. He knew what was coming. More surgery, more operations. He was going to be poked and prodded again, dissected again. He couldn't move, fear overtook him and he laid down as still as possible. The Dwellers around him rushed around, yelling at each other the whole time.

Keith could have sworn he saw the top of Lance's head pop up a few times, but soon Keith stopped seeing his friend, and the Dwellers closed in.  

*

Lance retreated to the healing pod. He stood there, watching from across the room as his friends swarmed around the bed. He continued to listen to what they yelled at each other, discovering that Keith was slipping in and out of consciousness, that his breathing kept hitching and his heart rate was extremely high. They were all puzzled, and Lance made his way over. He squeezed past everyone, ignoring the shouts for him to 'get out of the way'. 

Lance turned to everyone, raising his voice again. "He's having a nightmare! That's why his breathing's fast and why his heart rate's so high. If you listened to me he could've gotten help already!" Lance hadn't noticed how his own breath had hitched, or how he couldn't seem to get enough oxygen with these short fast breaths. It just didn't seem important at the time.

Shiro put a hand on his shoulder and steered Lance away from everyone. Not even ten seconds after Lance left the group again, a monitor started beeping. Someone shouted that Keith was getting more panicked, Lance tried to push through his friends again, but Shiro pushed him away.  

*

Keith had just seen Lance again. He had pushed through the Dwellers and faced them, yelling something unintelligible. Keith was comforted by his mere presence, but then Korgon took Lance away. Lance protested, gesturing to Keith. Lance was having some sort of fit, his breathing was fast and he seemed really stressed. The red paladin was dragged away, and the Dwellers continued to bustle around, preparing for an operation. 

With Lance gone, Keith felt his panic rise. He needed Lance to be there, he couldn't do this again, not alone. Soon he was shaking so hard he couldn't see straight. The Dwellers closed in, no doubt fascinated by Keith's fear. 

*

Lance tried to control his breathing, but all he could hear was yelling. It took Lance a minute to regain his breath, and as soon as he did, he could hear more than yelling. Keith was breathing heavily just like Lance had been, and no one noticed apparently. Lance supposed they all suspected it was Lance. Said teen began pushing his way past Hunk, he saw Keith on the bed, obviously terrified. 

"Help him! Do something!" Lance yelled at them. But no one listened. Coran had a syringe ready with a calming medication inside. He was making his way towards Keith when Lance stepped in front of him. 

"Don't you get it? He's having a nightmare! He's not conscious! He doesn't recognize us! All you guys are doing is freaking him out more." It took a few seconds for everyone to let that sink in. 

Allura stopped what she was doing and put a hand to her mouth, realizing just what Lance was suggesting. Coran stared at Lance, then let his eyes shift to Keith. He dropped the syringe on the nightstand. Hunk looked downright horrified, and Pidge bore a guilty expression. Shiro was looking at Keith as if seeing him for the first time. 

They all backed up a bit, and Keith visibly calmed down. His muscles relaxed and his head sunk into the pillow. His breathing didn't slow down but he wasn't as scared as before. 

*

The Dwellers were closing in, Keith thought he was goner for sure. One of the doctors on his left pulled out a syringe. Keith shook even more, he knew there was no point in trying to get away. All Keith could do was shut his eyes and bite his lip. But the pain never came. Keith looked up, puzzled as to why they would stop. 

Lance was standing between Keith and the doctor, he threw his arm out, shielding Keith from the Dweller. Keith felt himself naturally calming down. Lance yelled at the Dwellers, and they looked sorry! Keith couldn't believe it, he looked up at Lance, but the paladin was walking away. Keith felt fear and hopelessness rise inside of him. It grew harder to bear the farther Lance went.

* 

An awkward silence filled the infirmary, Lance took a shaky breath and mumbled something about being in the way. He started to walk away and grimaced when he heard Keith groan. Lance hated seeing his friends in pain, it hurt him. But the farther away Lance got, the more restless Keith became.

Allura was the one who connected the dots. She called Lance back over and, just as she expected, Keith calmed down more. 

"Keith seems calmed by Lance's presence, he should stay." She waved him over and Lance stood awkwardly next to Keith's bedside. 

*

"Hey, look, I'm sorry we didn't listen to you. We-I was so caught up in what was happening. I was worried about Keith and I didn't think to actually be there for him." Pidge nodded, content, and got back to work. Hunk patted Lance on the back with a whispered 'thank you man.' 

Lance felt more useful, especially after he was actually given something to do. He and Shiro were replacing Keith's bandages. The wounds had opened up when he was moved. Lance gently cleaned a rather nasty cut on Keith's shoulder. He turned to Shiro.

"How do you think he got these cuts and stuff anyway?" Lace gestured to the injuries that littered Keith's body. 

Shiro sighed, "I don't know. We assume it was some form of torture. He did land in a bad part of space."

Lance looked down at the cut sadly. Keith had been through so much, and he most certainly didn't deserve it. Keith was kind and selfless, he was brave and smart. Keith always had his friends in mind. 'Okay Mclain, stop gushing, you're not supposed to like boys.'  Lance yelled at himself, he shook his head slightly. Looking up at Keith, Lance saw that the teen had fallen asleep, he was facing Lance, and the Red paladin noticed that Keith's hand had inched closer and closer to his own, they were almost brushing. Lance quickly pulled his own hand away before anyone saw.

I won't be able to post for another week :( I'll try to get a chapter out when I get back but school's starting for me soon and it's gonna be insane. Hope you liked the chapter!