Marks of Changes -Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Not leaving you

Keith had been silent.

He was silent while he and lance donned the dark blade armor, he had been silent while they walked to the lions bay, and he was silent while Allura gave a last mission briefing. Ears attentive, eyes never flinching, his movements as graceful as they had been before... all of this, if not more so

He was silent as they walked past shiro, standing in front of his chamber door. Lance locked eyes with shiro's dull brown ones, searching his gaze for any sort of resentment or regret and found nothing.

Did he know they might be marching off to their deaths? Did he know that they might not come back from this? Did he realize that this might be the last chance he has to say something to Keith, to his brother?!

Lance pushed his questions and his emotions through his eyes hoping beyond hope that shiro would see it and say something. Desperately trying to stanch the flow of horrified questions that drifted into his mind, lance couldn't block a single phrase from resurfacing: Did he just not care enough to say goodbye?

Lance shifted his azure eyes to Keith. He couldn't see his face as lance had trailed behind slightly and now peered at the back of Keith's head. To anyone else it would seem as if Keith was un fazed by the fact that shiro was there, but lance had spent a lot of time with Keith lately and had learned certain tells that Keith himself my not have known about. His ears twitched slightly, dipping down almost becoming lax. His claws rested against his palm.

Lance found himself silently wishing that maybe Keith would say something or maybe just look at shiro one last time.

They stayed silent

Keith kept walking, Lance followed.

Now they sat in the slight wurr of the gliders wings as it cascaded away from castle of lions blue glow of security and into the soul sucking blackness of their up coming mission.

" Two minuets to dead stop, three minutes to intercept point" Keith murmured, his fingers ghosting over the controls as he switched from manual to auto pilot, Lance glanced into the raven hair that fell on the back of Keith's head trying to keep his mind focused.

There was always a chance that a mission could go bad and one of them might not make survive, but with the Paladins, even if you were captured or killed they would come back for you. They would rescue you from the clutches of the Galra even if you were just a corpse by the time they got to you. With the blade... there is no sentiment, there's no relationships, there's no one that's going to come to your rescue.

Lance knew that. He knew that. He could feel it Everytime Keith left for a mission, that overwhelming weight that pressed on your heart making it so you can feel every heartbeat in your finger tips, so you can feel your lungs expand with each breath that just didn't seem like enough for you to truly breath,the hatred that burned in your chest, that pain of wondering if you would never see that person again, wonder if you had ever said enough, didn't matter about what, could have been anything, but did you say everything? Did they hear every though you might have wanted to say but held you tongue against.

Lance knew that if someone was lost during a blade mission, they weren't coming home.

Lance just never thought he would be the one making other people wait to see if he would make it back. Lance could imagine Hunk cooking nervously in the kitchen, dishes and foods catching fire as he lets his thoughts get the better of him and he becomes distracted. Lance can see Pidge working tirelessly, her small form scrunched into a control panel somewhere in the castle walls as she tries to fix something that's not broken. He can see hunk laying down his ladle and starring blankly at the kitchen door silently willing lance and Keith to walk back in, smiles on their faces. He can see Pidge getting frustrated with wires as she hurls a tool at the nearest wall with all her force, before letting her shoulders drop in defeat.

In that moment lance realized what the worst part about not being with someone was, it's the feeling of not knowing, the feeling of waiting forever, the feeling that every second that passes by is a second to long, that feeling of 'he should have been back by now,.That was the blade of Marmora's worst punishment, making people wait, until there's nothing left to wait for.

Lance was yanked from his mind as the ship stuttered to a halt, the engine growing cold around them as the ship shut down. Keith shifted out of the pilots chair, only to sit back down to Lances left his eyes glued the the small area of glass that lance presumed was for surveillance, but lance found him self seeking comfort from the stars that shown through, and although he would never admit it, lance though he saw Keith doing the same thing, his purple eyes trailing from light to light across the void.

After a moment Keith spoke " We have two minuets of drift time before we hit the intercept point and the mission begins." His eyes never left the window "Once we are on the Galran ship all communication to the outside, except for the video log, must be terminated. After that we will use the ventilation system to investigate the ship and find the source of power. We are to stay silent at all times. If we are discovered our objective is to escape the ship as fast as possible to prevent the Galra from obtaining information."

Keith voice lost its malice slightly, his ears drooping tiredly, his eyes fixed but burning with a flame of hope he was to scared to share in fear of it being extinguished "This is your last chance to back out, Lance. Once we're on that ship we are alone, there's no back up. So if you want to go back to the castle say something now."

Lance hated himself for actually considering leaving Keith behind, even if it was just a second of doubt, he hated himself for that second. He would hate himself for that second for a long time to come. "I'm going with you, and I'm bringing you home too" Lance felt the weight of those words as if he had carved them into stone. This was a promise he was determined to keep. They would make it home.

Keith turned his eyes and locked his gaze with lance, his voice stern and demanding attention, as if the words he spoke could mean the difference between life and death. "You listen to me. Do as I tell you, no matter what. If I tell you to shoot, you shoot. If I tell you to shut up, you shut up. If I tell you to run and leave me behind,you run and leave me behind. Do you understand Lance?"

"I understand" Lance knew this was a lie. He would listen to Keith's every word until he asked him to leave alone. Lance wouldn't leave Keith behind. They might be blades right now, but they were Paladins first.

Keith flicked his eyes over Lances shoulder before standing abruptly, pulling his hood over his ears. His mask materialized across his facial features, shielding his emotions behind the black steel. "30 seconds to intersept point. Ready?"

Lance strained his muscles, willing them not to shake as he stood next to Keith. Lance allowed himself a moment to steady his heart beat before letting his fingers grasp the soft material of him hood. The purple- black vail fell over his hair before the cool metal of the face mask glittered into existence. His vision gained a purple tint, a small icon flashed in the corner of the display signifying Keith's vital signs.

The blade suits were so different than the Paladin armor. Paladin armor was big and bulky meant to protect you should you be separated from your lion. The blade suits were small and thin meant for stealth and speed, they offered little to no protection. Lance turned his attention to Keith once more realizing that blade members didn't need extra protection if they were detected they could demolish anything in their path simply using a dagger and if they couldn't... knowledge or death.

Lance steeled his nerves, crushing any lingering doubt or worries. He had to focus now, if he wanted this mission to be a success, no if he wanted to go home with his friend by his side, he had to keep his head. Lance drew his Bayard hoisting the blue and white weapon to his chest. "I'm ready"

"10 seconds" Keith tugged a leaver. The floor under their feet groaned before splitting down the middle, leaving only enough room for their feet to stand balanced.

Lance felt himself pale.

"5"

Lance clenched his fist, tightening the tendons inside his arms. His Bayard grew heavy in his hands.

"4"

Keith's ears flattened under his hood, his luxite dagger drawn and held in a Back handed grip

"3"

Lance crouched down his muscles bursting with tension ready to be released next a moments notice

"2"

For a split second, lance thought of the beach in Cuba, how the waves would exhale onto the pristine sand particles, the seemingly impossible clouds that drifted by on a sweet breeze and it lazily shifted his chocolate hair.

"1"

They dove

Time stopped. Lance couldn't breath. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't feel anything other than the throbbing in his finger tips as his heart desperately tried to prove that he was still alive.

As if a switch had been flicked, Lance felt his lungs expand, his vision cleared. He was crouched in a dark corner, his armor blending almost seamlessly.

Movement to his right drew his attention, Keith. He was balanced on the tips of his toes as his finger flew across the holographic screen that was embedded into the suits computer system.

"All outside communication had been terminated. The glider has been set to stealth mode and is currently following the cruiser at a safe distance" Keith spoke each word as quietly as if he had been breathing.

Lance quickly took the small operation to scan his surroundings. The room was completely metallic, a ghastly purple glow tinted the walls and flooring, reflecting hazardously across the wings of the smaller fighters ships the were screen across the floor in no pattern or organization. Most were charred or damaged, some still sparked slightly.

They had landed in a repair hanger.

Kieth holo-screen dissipated. He tilted his head to lance and somehow lance could tell, even through the mask, that their eyes met.

"We're in"