The Garla somehow broke into the Castle in massive forces, and where quickly overwhelming the Paladins. Keith and Lance had been separated from the others, forcing them to fight the onslaught of Garla back to back, desperately trying to guard the others back while not getting hit themselves.

Sweat dripped down Keiths face, his arms shook from exhaustion, but more Garla kept coming at them, viciously swinging their weapons at the exhausted Paladins. Keith was struggling to keep up with the onslaught of attacks, only able to barely block swing after swing. His arms shook with the effort to swing his own weapon, but he refused to stop.

Keith prayed to whoever was out there that some form of help would come, either in the form of one of the other Paladins or that the Garla would just stop coming. His prayers were answered seconds later in the form of a familiar blaster fire.

"Lance!" Keith shouted.

"Keith!" Lance responded, blasting his way through the enemies. "You holding up okay?"

"Oh yea," Keith said, whipping the sweat off of his face. "I could do this all day."

"Oh good," Lance said, pressing his back against Keith as he continued to fire. "I was worried you were getting tired."

"You were worried?" Keith asked, slicing down a Garla.

"Well yea, you can't die before I find out how many more Garla I can take down then you," Lance cockily declared.

"Want to put your money where your mouth is?" Keith asked.

"Bring it!" Lance declared.

"You're on!" Keith shouted, taking down another Garla. The thought of beating Lance once and for all gave Keith a much needed boost of energy to keep fighting. He could take down all the Garla, and he'd take down more of them then Lance would. One Garla swung viciously down at Keith and without thinking, dove out of the way, leaving Lance's back completely exposed.

"Lance! Look out!" Keith cried, but Lance couldn't react fast enough, turning to face his opponent just as their weapon hit its mark. Lance was thrown against the wall with a sickening crunch, collapsing onto the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Lance!" Keith cried, mortified. Lance was hurt because of him. He hurt his teammate. He wanted to run to Lance's side, to beg him for forgiveness, but a half dozen Garla stood between him and his heavily injured teammate. His vision turned red and with a roar of fury he charged, slicing down enemy after enemy, determined to make sure none of them laid a hand on Lance.

Not a single Garla came close to reaching Lance, Keith practically flying through the room tearing down one after the other in a vicious fury. When the Last Garla went down, Keith dropped his bayard without a second thought and raced to Lance's side, dropping to his knee's beside Lance's lifeless form.

"Lance! Lance!" Keith cried, gently shaking him.

"Keith…." Lance groaned, eyes fluttering open. "Did I….do good?"

"You did great." Keith gently assured, tenderly laying a hand on his cheek. "Fantastic."

"Not as good as you…" Lance mumbled. Keith ducked his head, face flushed. Lance was clearly delirious from pain that was it. There was no way he just complimented Keith. Right?

"You must have hit your head hard," Keith mumbled. "You're being nice to me."

"Mistakes happen," Lance groaned, wincing in pain.

"This is all my fault…." Keith mumbled, unable to look him in the eyes. He hurt Lance, the person who, if he was honest to himself, meant more to him than anyone else in the castle. Lance drove him absolutely insane at times, be he also somehow with his humor and joking around kept Keith from losing his mind.

"Nah," Lance said, gently gripping Keith's arm. "Not your fault."

"Yes it is," Keith whispered, eyes prickling dangerously, "I wasn't thinking when I jumped out of the wa-"

"I would have done the same," Lance teasingly said.

"Gee thanks," Keith deadpanned, trying to not let his worry show.

"Anything to win you know," Lance mumbled. "But you probably won by a long shot."

"I'll be willing to say it was a tie," Keith gently said.

"But don't you want the prize?" Lance asked.

"We never agreed to a prize…" Keith slowly said.

"No….but you could claim one…." Lance said, giving Keith a pointed look that he couldn't decipher.

"I don't follow…" Keith said.

"I could spell it out," Lance breathed, hand drifting up to curl around Keith's neck. "But I really want you to figure it out. You're smart right?" Keith's face flushed as realization hit him. Lance wanted to kiss him, Lance the man who swore they were rivals, wanted to kiss him. With a start, Keith realized he also wanted to kiss Lance.

"Y-yea…" Keith stammered, swallowing thickly. Lance flashed him a dazzling smile that send Keith's heart fluttering, and found himself slowly leaning forward, freezing just before their lips touched, and giving Lance a change to back off. Lance's eyes fluttered shut, his head tilting to the side a hair giving him the courage to press their lips together in a soft tentative kiss.

"How was that?" Keith whispered, breaking apart rather quickly.

"Too short to say," Lance breathed, pulling Keith down to kiss him again with more passion, holding it for a full minute before letting him go. "Much better."

"I was wrong," Keith breathed, eyes wide. "You hit your head really hard."

"Nah, I just finally seduced you with my charms and good looks," Lance declared. "About time really."

"Do you always have to ruin the moment?" Keith deadpanned.

"It's a part of my charm," Lance said, grimacing slightly.

"Apparently," Keith sighed, leaning down to kiss him again. Keith pressed his forehead against Lance's, whispering,

"We should get you help…"

"I'll live," Lance mumbled, pressing his lips against Keith's.

"Serious-" Keith mumbled, Lance pulling him down to kiss him again.

"Keith? Lance are you gu-…..ooooh," Hunk tauntingly said, Keith pulling away from Lance, face bright red. "I knew it! I so knew it!"

"Hunk!" Lance groaned, mortified. "I thought we were buddies!"

"We are," Hunk drawled. "But I've known from the start you've had a major crush on Keith. I mean you were always like 'Oh stupid Keith with his stupid mullet and stupid face- on and on about him it was not hard to figure out Lance. Didn't even take Pidge long to figure out!"

"Great, did everyone know?" Lance groaned.

"Not everyone…" Hunk slowly said. "I mean Coran bet you didn't like Keith-"

"Wait you guys where making bets!" Lance exclaimed.

"…uh….maybe…." Hunk said, hunching over, trying to make himself as small as possible. "If I did Coran would owe both me and Pidge twenty bucks or the equivalent in Altea…."

"Can you collect that after we get Lance some help?" Keith asked, gently helping Lance to his feet.

"Whoa wait what happened?" Hunk cried, running over to help support Lance.

"Nothing I can't handle," Lance declared.

"Sure," Keith drawled, holding him close. Lance flashed Keith a weak smile that Keith wholeheartedly returned.

"Could you guys keep the mushy gushy stuff to a minimum?" Hunk grumbled as he helped Lance through the castle that was now littered with bodies.

"Where's the fun in that?" Lance asked, smirking at Keith, who pressed his lips against Lance's temple. Even a week ao, Keith would have laughed if someone told him he would have a mini make out session with Lance, he'd never been happier to have been wrong.