A/N Rated T because I'm paranoid and it's a sensitive topic. This story is based on a picture I saw on Instagram. I can't find it again though : ( If anyone sees it please tell me so I can give proper credit to the artist because their art really is amazing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron. Never have. Never will. Although I wish I did.

Trigger Warning: Past Child Abandonment! Don't like, don't read!

"Why would you leave me?"

Those five words were spoken with such heart-wrenching emotion that Lance had to look away for a second. He glanced to his left to where Hunk sat, Pidge folded neatly in his lap. Neither moved or made a sound. They just sat there staring at the scene unfolding in front of them with a kind of morbid curiosity lingering behind their teary eyes.

All of a sudden, Lance felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He jumped a little and spun around, coming face to face with Shiro, the Black Paladin, also known as the head of Voltron. Lance let out a quiet breath once he realized it was only Shiro trying to reassure him and perhaps distract him from what was happening on the other side of the vent grate that they were looking through. Lance smiled at Shiro, reassuring him that he was fine or he would be fine in a minute after his heart stopped racing a little.

Lance sat down quietly and leaned against the back wall of the room they were hiding in, turning his attention back to the situation at hand. He immediately saw two figures in the room both very different from each other except for one thing that stood out to Lance. Both of their body languages were the polar opposite of their facial expressions. One stood tall, shoulders drawn back and looking as if she was ready for battle, but her ears were drooping and she looked like a kicked puppy that lost it's chew toy. And the other looked very small, thin and frail with hunched shoulders and bent knees. However, his eyes were full of determination, lips drawn back in a snarl and eyebrows scrunched in extreme hatred towards the person standing in front of him. It was unsettling to Lance.

He watched as a hand, belonging to the taller of the two figures in the room, slowly reached up with the intent to comfort, or at the very least calm down the other but she quickly got swatted at, the male letting out a quiet growl in warning as the taller one slowly lowered her hands and took a few steps back to give the other some space. She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt giving anyone watching the impression of nervousness.

"Keith, please listen to me. It's not what you think. I had to leave for the mission. You wouldn't understand but-"

The shorter, now Identified as Keith, took a step back curling into himself even more. He looked small and Lance briefly wondered if he would break something if he made himself smaller than he already was. He quickly brushed away that thought and turned his full attention back to Keith and the other person. Keith was shaking his head rapidly from left to right, as if trying to get rid of some nasty thought or image that just popped into his head. His neck was bent so far his chin rested on his chest and some of his collar bone. Lance watched as Keith's tongue darted out of his mouth and spread saliva over his lips, moistoning them and making it easier for him to talk. Keith opened his mouth once, twice, three times, until it looked like he was a fish gasping for air. Apparently he was trying to say something but he couldn't decide on the right words.

Finally, Keith looked up and stared the figure right in the eyes. His face had changed from a determined, self-reliant, sturdy face to a dead, disappointed, and broken one. Suddenly, Keith smiled and that in itself was enough to send Lance reeling. Keith almost never smiled. It was like a rule! Keith was the serious one. The hotheaded one who had no problem sacrificing everything for what he believed in. But, the fact that Keith had smiled wasn't the only thing that had him on edge and suddenly worried. It was the way he had smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. Anyone could see that. But, it also wasn't a completely sad smile. It was a smile that said "I finally figured out the answer to a question I've been asking myself but I don't like the answer", and, quite frankly, it scared the crap out of Lance. Lance knew something was wrong and he decided that whatever Keith said would definitely make Lance wanna cry.

Still, no matter how prepared Lance was for what Keith was about to say it wouldn't have made a difference to the shocking realization Lance had the moment after Keith uttered that sentence that changed the way Lance thought about everything concerning Keith. It still came as a shock to him that Keith was an orphan that was raised in foster care. And Lance was still upset that he didn't know until two weeks ago. It made him mad that Pidge, Shiro, Allura and him had all bared their heart and souls to Keith, along with their secrets, yet Keith didn't tell them anything until four months after they had met and decided to fight the Galra together. It pissed Lance off. And now Lance finds out that Keith has more secrets to share? It makes Lance extremely mad yet, somehow, very sad at the same time.

"No, I get it - mission first."

Lance watched as the tall figure stopped, nervous hands frozen, back straight. The figure's head snapped up to stare at Keith, eyes filled with desperation and regret. Lance didn't understand what the figure looked regretful for. Actually, Lance didn't understand anything about the conversation that was taking place in front of him. What mission? When did she leave? How did Keith even know this person? And why did she look so regretful while Keith looked so hurt? Keith. The unstoppable brick wall that plows through dozens of galra in only a few minutes. Keith. The emo paladin of Voltron that acts like he doesn't care but would actually do anything for the other paladins. Keith. The paladin that trained harder and longer than anyone else to make absolutely sure that NO ONE would get hurt. Keith. The most useful paladin on the castle who was so absolutely needed on the ship yet looked like he thought he was worthless. Thought he was useless. Thought that he wasn't needed.

No, Lance had absolutely no idea what was going on but he planned to fix it, no matter what. Eyes, hardening in determination, Lance focused back on the conversation happening between Keith and the other figure. Maybe Lance could figure something out by the end of it. He hoped so.

The other figure looked desperate now. Even more desperate than the last time Lance had looked at her. Her arms were flailing, moving anywhere and everywhere, and Lance winced slightly as she hit her hand off a metal pipe that was positioned directly up and to the right of her. But, the interruption and obvious pain that must of caused didn't stop her. She continued to move her hands about, as if trying to convey something to Keith using only her arms. She was frantically shaking her head back and forth, eyes wide and staring straight at Keith, who had his head bowed and was staring at his feet.

"No, Keith please. I did it to protect you I-"

Keith look up slowly and Lance could see the pure anguish on his face. Keith had tears rolling down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking, and Lance wondered why he didn't notice that before. His eyes looked dead. Devoid of any emotion yet sad at the same time. He suddenly looked older too. Like just this conversation had made him age 10 years. Lance saw his mouth move and realized Keith was speaking again.

"Guess I wasn't a good enough reason to stay, huh?"

A sharp gasp came from his left but Lance had no clue who it was from. He was trying to figure out why none of this made sense. He knew that some foster kids had trouble believing in their self-worth so it wasn't that hard to believe that Keith felt that way too, but it doesn't explain who the other person was and when she left-

Oh. Oh. It all suddenly made sense to Lance and he cursed under his breath for not figuring it out sooner. The figure was Keith's mom. Lance knew how Keith had become an orphan. Everyone on the ship knew. Keith had told them right after he had revealed that he had no family. Keith's mom had left to supposedly go on some "Mission", which lance believes is a load of crap, and Keith's dad had died a few months later of Alcohol Poisoning. Apparently, he hadn't taken Krolia's absence very well and he ended up drinking way too much.

Lance turned his head to look at Shiro. Shiro looked defeated. Like he had known this would happen and had tried to delay the inevitable but it happened anyways. He knew, Lance realized with a start. Of course he knew! Keith tells him everything. It's no wonder he knew about this too. Lance stopped suddenly. What else did Shiro know about Keith that he wasn't able to tell anybody? What secrets were those two hiding from the rest of them? What could possibly be worse than having one parent die and the other one leave, resulting in Keith being an orphan? Lance would definitely find out. One way or another.

A sharp movement from Shiro had Lance refocusing on the leader of Voltron. He looked straight at Shiro for an explanation, but none ever came. Instead, Shiro was staring, transfixed, on something in the other room. Turning, to face the vent again, Lance's eyes widened in surprise as he stared through the slits in metal. Keith was staring directly at them. But that was impossible unless, he had x-ray vision or something and Lance was pretty sure one of the paladins would have figured that out already. But, the way Keith was just staring at the vent made Lance believe that he actually did know the rest of the paladins were there.

However, instead of addressing the rest of them, Keith simply turned from the vent towards the door on the far side of the room and started walking. He walked slowly and carefully yet with a purpose. Like he was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. He probably is Lance thought with a grimace He's also probably trying his best not to cry. Lance could tell because of the way Keith's shoulders shook when he walked. No sound came out when he cried, and Lance couldn't help but wonder if any of his foster families had something to do with that, but, Lance could still tell that he was on the edge of bawling his eyes out. He could hear Keith's steps getting quieter and quieter until he had opened the door and closed it behind him. Out of Lance's sight.

The other figure, Krolia Lance remembered, sighed and ran a quick hand through her hair. She closed her eyes for a second, shoulders hunching as she drew in a slow breath. Then she straightened up a bit and turned on her heel towards the door on the opposite side of the room Keith had exited from. She walked faster than Keith, clearly wanting to get out of the room and not caring who saw her brisk escape. It was such a vast difference that it had Lance wanting to cry all over again. Querido señor*. What were they gonna do now? How could they possibly repair the damage that has been done?

*Quierdo señor is Dear Lord in Spanish. At least I think. My Spanish is a bit rusty (I haven't watched Dora in a while ; )) so it might be wrong. If it is please tell me!

I am sooo sorry for all the angst! Unless you're into that ; ) Just kidding! But, seriously I didn't plan for this to break my heart so much! All I wanted was a cute Hurt/Comfort fic. But alas! That didn't happen. Oh well.

There IS going to be a second part of this story. I promise! And it's gonna be really fluffy and full of Hurt/Comfort. So, till next time! ; )