Lance saw the laser go flying through the air. He saw it leave the gun, he saw it fly towards Keith, he saw Keith not dodge it then –
Well, then he started to panic. Without really putting any thought into his actions, on autopilot, he scrabbled at Keith's chest. Not looking where he fired, he shot his bayard out, hoping it would hit. After a few minutes, the shooting goes quiet, so he assumed that he had hit the mark.
"Keith, Keith, Keith!" He chanted, holding him by the shoulders. "C'mon, buddy, this is a bonding moment, you have to be awake for it!"
A groan passed through Keith's lips, at that exact moment. Lance chuckled when he realized it was maybe Keith's subconscious hating being reminded of their bonding moment.
"Guys! Guys!" He heard his own voice yell through the comms, detached. "Keith's injured, I need help, now!"
"We're coming, Lance!" Pidge yelled back. He almost fainted with relief, hearing her voice. God, he thought there would never be a response, that he would be forced to sit here with Keith and watch him bleed out.
He snapped out of his train of thought, however, when he realised Keith was still bleeding out here. God, what was wrong with him? The others may be on their way, but that doesn't mean Keith was going to magically stop dying.
"Keith. Keith!" He prodded him, slapping him lightly on the cheek twice. "C'mon. I need to know you're responsive. Please."
Slapping seemed to prove effective, as slowly, slower than Lance ever thought time could pass, Keith came to himself. He wasn't focusing, he wasn't properly looking at anything, and didn't seem to understand where they are – this all combined almost sends Lance into a blind panic on its own.
"Keith! Keith!"
"Lance?"
"Oh, thank god, you're responsive. Listen, the others are going to be on their way soon, you'll be okay!"
Keith squints at him, not quite focusing. Then, a moment in which time freezes, breath hitched in Keith's chest, and he was terrified he'd stop bleeding. He didn't, he simply stutters, and the breathing continues – much less regular, however. This gives him a kick in the right direction, as terrifying as the situation is.
"Okay, okay, Lance, calm down." He forced himself to relax, taking a few deep breaths in and out. "Keith will survive. He'll take some time in the pods, but he will live."
Now. What did he need to do next? The injury had lodged itself in Keith's abdomen, not the best place, he knew, but at least away from the really important organs – if it had hit Keith's heart, he didn't know what he would do.
He had to put pressure on the wound. Or something like that? Wasn't it? Inspecting the wound, he almost fainted, seeing that it had torn parts of Keith's bowel on its way in. This was dire – he could bleed out, right here, or best case scenario, get infected. God, he hoped Shiro and the rest hurried up.
"Lance!" Speak of the devil.
"Shiro?" He called in response. He hated how weak, how terrified his voice sounded, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"Lance, Keith, oh my god." Shiro yelled, grabbing Keith's arm and swinging it around his own. Lance hurried to get the other arm, putting his round his own shoulders.
Nostalgic of when they'd saved Shiro, Lance and Shiro began to limp along, Keith half-conscious in their grips. Both of them terrified that Keith wouldn't make it.
"Keith will be fine." Shiro assured him, as the pod gently swished closed. He had lowered his voice, and there was a comforting presence of Shiro next to him. "We can't thank you enough, Lance. Keith might not be here were it not for you."
Lance only nodded, focused on Keith.
"We could hear you crying his voice from time to time. You sounded so heartbroken, Lance." Lance wasn't quite sure what Shiro was getting at, so he simply ignored him. "You feel towards Keith as more than a friend, don't you, Lance?"
"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!" Lance yelled, before he realised what he was even doing. "Keith wouldn't like me anyway!"
"Lance…"
"I'm useless! I'm not good enough for…for…Voltron…"
It was quick, but suddenly, Shiro's arms were round him. He couldn't help it. He cried. He burst into tears, hot and heavy, pressed into Shiro's shoulder. Shiro stroked down his spine, a gentle touch that made Lance just want to either fall asleep, cry more or simply collapse into Shiro's arms and never move.
"It's okay. It's fine, you'll be okay." Shiro muttered to him.
"I just…I've liked him for a while." Lance confessed. "This happening to him made me realise…"
"You need to tell him, Lance. I have a small…feeling he might feel the same."
"Uh…hi, Keith. Good morning."
"Uh…Lance?" Keith squints at him, appearing even slightly suspicious. "What's…up?"
"Shiro said I should talk to you – about – us."
"'Us'? What is 'us', Lance?" Keith snaps.
"I know you feel the same." Lance let his voice drop to almost a whisper. "Try and tell me you don't know that."
"Lance, I -"
"Goddamn it, you big, dumb mullet, I'm in love with you. Don't try and tell me you don't see it."
"Lance, I -" Keith groaned in frustration, then before he could let his brain catch up to his actions, he smashed his lips on Lance's.
Lance realised that day that Keith was not a good kisser. He was awful at it. Their teeth clanked together more than once, Keith had his eyes closed tighter than necessary, and clearly didn't know where to put his hands.
"Keith, Keith, my man, you need some practise in this." Lance grinned. "Luckily, I am just the man to teach you."