A/N: Thank you guys for the support on the previous chapter! You punched out 3 In'aroans! There were some great reviews, which I unfortunately can't answer directly since they came from guests, but please know that I loved reading them!

I hope everyone enjoys this last chapter. We may be starting the road to recovery, but don't worry, there's plenty more angst left ahead.

Cold.

It was the first thing that Keith became aware of as his consciousness gradually returned. That wasn't surprising, though, seeing as how cold had been his companion for a while. He didn't have time to register that this cold was not accompanied by the burning of fever before there was a sudden burst of warmer air and he was losing his balance and tumbling forward. A pair of hands caught him by the arms.

"No!"Keith threw himself backwards away from the unknown assailant, colliding with a wall and falling to the floor. He was trapped. There was nowhere to run, and there was still someone there, in front of him, trying to get to him. Turning his face toward the wall, he curled up into the tiniest ball he could make, his arms tucked in between his chest and his legs. "No, please, don't hurt me, I'll be good, I promise!"

He was shaking all over and tears were pouring down his cheeks, and he knew that they hated it when he cried, he knew that the punishment was just going to be that much worse, but he couldn't help it. Minutes ticked by, and nothing happened. He hated it when they made him wait. He wished they would just get it over with. But instead, a voice slowly started to filter in through the roar in his ears.

"You're safe, Keith. It's just me, it's Shiro. You're back at the Castle, you're safe."

Sucking in a uncertain, shuddering breath, Keith squeezed his eyes shut, not yet wanting to look. "Shi...Shiro?"

"Yeah." Relief flooded through his brother's voice. "Yeah, it's me."

He opened his eyes, setting free a few more tears to run toward his chin, and his surroundings started to become more clear. The wall he had fallen against was actually the back of a pod, the floor of which he was curled up on. A pod. The Castle.

Shiro.

Whipping his head around, he met charcoal grey eyes that crinkled from the tired, sad smile underneath them. "Hey, bud. You with me?"

Keith clenched his teeth against the new onslaught of tears that threatened and gave a wobbly nod. "I'm sorry," he croaked.

"No." Shiro shook his head. "You know you don't have to be." It had been years since he had been on this end of one of these moments, but yes, Keith remembered that Shiro would always say that, and he, in turn, had said it to Shiro several times more recently.

Shiro hesitated for a moment, then held out his arms. "Do you wanna...?"

Freezing in place, Keith considered the offer. Did he want it? No, he really didn't. Just the thought of any more hands on him made him want to start hyperventilating. But he knew that he needed it. He needed that grounding, that reassurance that only a hug from Shiro could give him.

Slowly, he rolled onto his knees and inched forward to where Shiro knelt just outside the pod, his arms still open wide. Holding his breath, he leaned into the broad chest, and Shiro held still, letting him be the one to initiate the contact and waiting until he was settled before moving his arms. Keith stayed stiff as he was wrapped up, shutting his eyes as the alarm bells started again, but as the familiar arms began to apply gentle pressure he finally allowed himself to breathe and relax into the embrace.

"You're safe now." Shiro's voice was barely a whisper in his ear. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that."

"How...how long...?"

He could feel Shiro's throat move on the top of his head as he swallowed. "You were there for about six quintants. In the pod for five."

A shiver went through him at the thought of being locked in the pod for that long, despite knowing that it was over now and he hadn't felt a thing. Shiro lifted one hand and pressed it into his hair.

"I'm sorry that we had to...I didn't want to make you go in there. I hated having to sedate you. But...I didn't want to lose you, either."

Now it was his turn to swallow down his emotion. "It's okay. I get it." He thought about tacking on another apology for giving them such a hard time that day, but knew it would just get shut down like the last one had. Instead he pulled away from the warmth of the hug and gave Shiro a small smile, trying his best to look like he was alright. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"Always." He pulled him in for one more quick hug, then stood. "You think you're up for getting some food now?"

Keith didn't answer. He was too in shock from suddenly realizing that all three other paladins plus Allura and Coran were in the room, all piled up on a nest of mattresses, blankets, and pillows in the middle of the infirmary. They saw. They saw everything...heard everything. His cheeks burned hot with shame.

"Hey." Shiro stooped back down in front of him, temporarily blocking his view of the others again. "It's okay. Nobody here is judging you, I promise. They're all just happy that you're okay."

Ducking his head, Keith stared down at his lap, wishing he could shrivel up and disappear. Lies. Of course they're judging. Everybody is always judging. And I mean, why wouldn't they be? I'm 'the emo one'. I'm not supposed to flip out.

Shiro placed a gentle hand on his arm, and he loathed the way that it made him jolt. "If you want me to, I could explain to them–"

"No." He shook his head vigorously. Judging is bad enough. I don't need their pity. Accepting the offered hand, he rose to his feet and forced himself forward away from the pod, keeping his gaze on the floor.

Hunk was the first to speak up. "Hey, Keith. We're, uh...we're glad you're okay."

"Yeah, you gave us a good scare," Pidge added.

"I told you guys Mullet-brain couldn't be taken down that easily." Lance's scoff was followed by the sound of a slap. "What was that for?"

"You were just as worried about him as we were."

Keith didn't believe Pidge's assertion for one tick, but he tried to muster another small smile for their benefit, anyway. "Thanks, guys. Um..." What are you even supposed to say in this kind of situation? "It's...good to be back."

Allura stood from the blanket pile and began crossing slowly to him, seeming by her body language to be trying her best not to startle him. Because that's what I am now. I'm the weakling, the pathetic boy who has to be treated with kid gloves so he doesn't have a panic attack.

"Keith." He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, letting his eyes flick up to hers for a moment before they darted away again. He didn't want to see what she was really thinking about him right now. "I don't know if you recall anything about the trip back to the Castle in the Black Lion..."

Flashes of Allura petting his hair as he babbled incoherently into her shoulder about his hallucinations went through his mind, and he felt his ears grow hot. "Um, a little. I didn't mean to–"

"It's alright." She held up a hand to stop him. "I only wanted to reiterate my apology, in case you didn't remember, and expand on it, as well. I should not have ever allowed you to go to In'aro by yourself, putting you in that kind of danger."

Somehow Keith heard since clearly you're not able to handle even the simplest of diplomatic missions on your own.

"And I should have made sure that you were checked on much sooner. There was no excuse for going that long without any kind of contact. From now on, every mission will require at least two people, and there will be set check-ins throughout the designated length of the mission." She addressed this last part to everyone in the room, before turning her attention solely back to Keith. "I'm so sorry that you were in that situation at all, and especially for so long. Rest assured I will do my best to make sure nothing like that ever happens again."

"It wasn't your fault," Keith mumbled. You didn't make me Galra. You're not the one who completely failed at getting them to listen to you.

Lance sauntered into his peripheral vision. "And hey, if it makes you feel any better, we left In'aro in the dust."

"Yes, we are many plabens away by now." He had no idea what that meant, but Allura seemed to think it would be reassuring. "Also, there will be no alliance with the In'aroans. They proved themselves far too difficult to work with. Very unreasonable people."

"Plus the fact that they almost killed you," Lance pointed out.

"Yes, of course, that most of all," Allura was quick to agree. "That was part of them being unreasonable...that they treated you the way they did, and even at the end, after all we said, saw nothing wrong with it."

Keith had assumed that his release had been some term of the alliance agreement, and now was left wondering how, exactly, they had managed to get him out of there. Regardless of the answer to that, however, it was obvious that he had completely screwed up Voltron's chance at expanding their coalition. He stared down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I tried to...they wouldn't listen to me. If someone else had gone instead–"

"Then perhaps we would have ended up with an alliance, yes. But it's obvious now that they can't be trusted to work willingly alongside us, and that is not something we need in our coalition." Allura placed a hand on his shoulder, and since he saw it coming out of the corner of his eye he was able to steel himself and not flinch. "I wish someone else had gone, too, but only so that you would not have had to endure such a trial. I do not regret that we were shown the In'aroans true colors in time to avoid a bad alliance."

"And they wouldn't listen to anybody. That wasn't just you."

Keith glanced up at Shiro's reassuring smile, then back down at his feet, and nodded. "Okay."

Allura removed her hand, and he took a couple of steps in Shiro's direction, a sudden wave of exhaustion causing him to stumble a bit over his own feet. Shiro caught him with an arm around his shoulders. Danger danger danger! went the alarms, and Keith squeezed his eyes shut against the feeling of being held in place, trying not to let his breathing get out of hand. It's just Shiro. He's your ani, he's not going to hurt you.

Thankfully Shiro seemed to notice his discomfort and slid his hand around to rest lightly on his upper back. "Hey, bud. I think we better get you to bed, huh? Hunk, would you mind bringing something light to eat to his room?"

"Of course! We had soup for dinner last night, so we could start with some of the broth from that. Does that sound okay, Keith?"

"Sure," he managed to mumble around the growing fog of sleepiness. It had been so long since he had actually slept, a decent sleep not induced by a pod or a fever or passing out, he wasn't sure whether he would even last long enough to get to his room, much less to wait for food.

Somehow he did make it there, though, guided by Shiro, who also prodded him into changing clothes instead of falling straight into the bed. Hunk brought by the broth, and the smell was enough to make Keith realize how ravenous he actually was. Shiro had to coax him into slowing down more than once before the bowl was empty. As soon as the bowl was out of his hands, though, he fell over onto his pillow.

"Do you want me to stay?"

Blinking up at Shiro, he swallowed and tried to think of an appropriate answer. "Um...I mean, you...you can if...if you want to."

His big brother gave him a sideways smile, and stooped down to be at eye level with him. "But do you want me to?"

Keith hesitated, still not wanting to actually be needy enough to say 'yes', even though he knew he really didn't want to be alone again. "Do you mind?" he finally murmured.

"Of course not." Shiro immediately crawled onto the foot of the bed, leaning his back up against the wall, and Keith curled his legs up to give him more space. "You just try to get as much sleep as you can, and I'll be right here when you wake up."

.o.0.O.0.o.

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, and for the first time since he was captured it was a deep, dreamless sleep. For some reason, though, as soon as he woke up his thoughts went to Red, and he almost jumped up in a panic to demand what had happened to her. The only thing that held him back was the fact that Shiro appeared to be dozing with his head leaning back against the wall, and that the lion in question came to life in his head right away.

Home. Safe.The thoughts were accompanied by a mental image of the inside of her hangar, and Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

Good. I'm glad you made it back alright. Sorry I didn't check on you sooner.

Paladin sleep. Paladin heal.

He allowed a smile at her understanding. Yeah. I'm gonna try my best.

Apparently he must have stirred enough to wake Shiro despite his efforts, because when he looked his way again he was being watched. "Hey. Sorry. I was just..." He waved a hand in a vague circle. "Red."

Shiro smiled knowingly. "Ah. She was worried about you. Kinda thought she was gonna run me over on the way back, trying to stay as close to you as she could."

Keith huffed a laugh, then pressed a hand to his stomach as it rumbled. "Think there's any more of that soup left?"

"Why don't we go check?"

Furrowing his brow, Keith pushed himself up to a sitting position, draping his arms across his knees. "I don't...really want to see anybody. I...I don't know what to say to them."

Shiro studied him carefully. "Is this about...what happened earlier?"

Keith picked at a loose thread on the blanket. "They already thought I was weird enough as it was. Now I've just proved to them that I'm even more of a freak than they realized."

"You're not a freak, Keith. And you're not weird, either...at least not anymore weird than the rest of us." Keith snorted a little at that. "I'm pretty sure the only thing that they're thinking about you right now – besides that they're glad you're okay – is that you just went through something traumatic, and you're gonna need time to work through it. They understand. I promise."

How could they possibly understand? The most closed-off guy on the team just collapsed into hysterics like a little kid. I don't even want to know the conversations that went on when I left the room. He didn't say any of that, though, just nodded non-committally and continued to play with the thread.

"Was it...him?"

He knew exactly who Shiro was referring to, even without looking up at his undoubtedly concerned expression. He-who-shall-not-be-named, the father of one of the worst foster homes he had stayed in. Shiro was the only one who had ever heard any of what had gone on in that house, and that had still only been a general summary for the most part.

Keith sucked in a shaky breath. "I kept...seeing him. While I was in there. Sometimes in a dream...sometimes as a hallucination..." He rubbed a hand under his nose. "I guess it was the whole...cellar thing."

Shiro's arm moved, and Keith snapped to attention to see it extended in invitation. He only hesitated a moment before scooting himself over and letting it pull him in.

"I'm sorry, bud. As if the whole experience wasn't bad enough by itself..." He sighed heavily. "It makes sense, though, that your mind would connect the two."

"I guess." Ducking his head further into Shiro's chest, he clenched his fists. "I just...I hate this." Frustrated tears stung at his eyes, and he blinked them away furiously. "I hate that after everything...all our hard work..."

Shiro tugged him in tighter. "It's okay. I know it's frustrating, but it'll get better. You've had temporary setbacks before, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was–"

"A long time ago, I know. But we'll get through this one just like we got through those. All your progress isn't gone, I promise. You just need to give yourself some time."

Keith's stomach decided to respond to that with an even louder grumble than before. Shiro laughed. "It sounds like we'd better go check on that soup now."

.o.0.O.0.o.

Hunk was in the kitchen, because of course he was, Hunk was always in the kitchen when they weren't sleeping, training, or fighting Zarkon. He beamed at Keith and Shiro when they walked in. "Hey, guys! Did you have a nice nap?"

"Um, yeah. I guess I did."

"Good! You're looking a little perkier now." He waved the spoon in his hand. "You slept past lunch, and it's not quite dinner time yet. But if you need something to hold you over until then, you're welcome to whatever."

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. His stomach has been sounding a lot like Red," Shiro joked.

Keith shot him a harmless glare. "That broth was good. Maybe I'll try some of the actual soup, if there's any left?"

"Oh yeah, man, help yourself. I'd get it for you, but I gotta keep stirring." Hunk returned to his pot while Keith opened the cooling unit to find the soup.

Shiro picked up a fruit out of the basket on the counter, one of the pink ones from Ketsuveron that looked like an apple but tasted like grapes. "I'm just gonna grab something to go, and catch up with Allura to see what our plans are. Let me know if you need anything, okay, Keith?"

This time the glare he gave him was more exasperated than annoyed, a clear I don't need you to baby me that Shiro seemed to catch the meaning of, based on his cheeky smile before he left the room.

Nothing was said between Hunk and Keith as they, respectively, stirred sauce and waited on soup to heat in the Altean version of a microwave. Keith had never been good at starting conversations, or carrying them, for that matter, and was most of the time perfectly comfortable in the silence. Hunk was generally rather talkative, but unlike Lance and Coran, didn't need for silence to constantly be filled in order to feel at ease. He also seemed to be good at reading people and situations, and had quickly picked up on Keith's less-than-sociable nature. The combination of those was what made him one of the paladins that Keith was the most okay with hanging around. Shiro was top of the list, of course, and Pidge might would have beat Hunk out for second place because of her shared love of quiet, if it weren't for the fact that Keith always felt like she would rather be alone than have him around.

It wasn't until Keith had settled onto one of the stools to begin eating his soup that Hunk finally spoke up again. "So you like the soup? It was kinda experimental – although, of course, what out here in space isn't? – but it seems to have gone over pretty well."

"Yeah, it's good." Keith poked at a floating piece of meat with his spoon, trying to come up with something else to say. "It's... I like the spice."

Apparently he picked the right thing, because Hunk's face brightened. "Me, too! It's this crazy herb that I picked up at the market on...what was it? That huge blue planet? Anyway, Lance of course thought it needed twice as much spice, but Pidge would have killed me if I had put that much. It's good to know you like it. Though I bet pretty much anything would taste good after almost a week of prison food. I bet it was all goo, wasn't it? Or freeze-dried rations?"

Keith frowned down at his bowl, trying not to think too hard about the hunger pangs that had been his near-constant companion. "Um...probably something like goo. Couldn't...really tell for sure."

Setting his sauce to the side and turning off the stove, Hunk turned to him and wrinkled his nose. "Wow, that bad, huh?"

"No, it's just...it was in a bowl, I could see that much, but..." He ground the tip of his spoon down into the counter, trying to use that to distract himself instead of stabbing something like he was feeling inclined to. "I never actually ate any of it."

"You didn't eat anything the whole time?" Hunk looked as though someone had just slapped him in the face. "You said there was food, though, so why–"

"I couldn't!" The exclamation came out a little harsher than it had needed to, and he drew in a deep breath to try and calm himself. "I just...I couldn't, okay? I don't...I don't wanna talk about it."

Neither of them spoke again for a minute, and Keith was about to apologize for his stupid, stupid reaction, Hunk is the last person in the universe who deserves to be yelled at like that, when the yellow paladin leaned his elbows on the counter across from him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. That's one of my biggest faults, really, that I never know when to stop talking, when to stop asking questions. I'm supposed to be like, good with people? But sometimes I'm actually completely oblivious. I'm definitely not the kind of good with people that Lance is."

Keith actually laughed aloud at that, and Hunk snorted in return. "Well, you know, he's good with everybody except you. Anyway, I'm sorry I asked too many questions. You're definitely not obligated to talk about any of what happened to you if you don't want to. I'm not gonna push you anymore, but just know that...I'm here, if you ever decide you do want to talk, okay?"

Finally meeting Hunk's eyes, Keith gave a half-smile. "Thanks. I'm sorry I snapped. You were just curious, it's okay."

Hunk stopped kneading the dish towel that was in his hands and flipped it over his shoulder, straightening back up. "Well, you know what they say about curiosity. Anyway, I'm now making it my personal mission to make sure you eat enough to make up for last week. Speaking of which, I could use a taste tester for dinner. You up for the task?"

.o.0.O.0.o.

Keith would have never imagined that he could spend an entire varga just sitting in the kitchen with Hunk, but that's exactly what he ended up doing. The yellow paladin seemed determined to keep his mind off of his experience, once he had realized how much Keith didn't want to talk about it, and the distraction really was nice. The extra bits of food he was getting didn't hurt, either.

Dinner passed without incident, as long as he didn't count Lance's complaints about his taste-testing credentials. Everyone chatted among themselves just like usual, allowing Keith to join in or avoid the conversation as much as he wanted. It was a little overwhelming to think about the fact that he had missed nearly two whole movements and had no idea what had been happening during that time, but from the bits and pieces he was picking up it sounded like things had been pretty quiet. Once the defenses had been taken care of, everyone had busied themselves with various projects around the Castle, while also taking turns keeping an eye on his pod. That last bit of information he wasn't sure how to feel about, so he kept his focus on his food and didn't say anything.

After everyone was done eating, the three younger paladins transferred to the lounge for 'bonding time', while Shiro headed to the training deck and Allura and Coran disappeared to who knows where. Keith decided it was the perfect time to take the shower he had been acutely feeling the need for. By the time that was over, he was more than ready to crawl back into the bed.

A knock came at the door just as he was pulling the blanket up over his legs. "Keith? You in there?"

"You can come in."

Shiro poked his head into the room, a towel draped around his neck. "Hey. I thought you might be headed to bed early. I'm about to go shower off, but I can come back when I'm done if you want."

"No, that's okay." Keith shook his head. "I slept fine earlier, I think I'll be okay tonight, too." Even if he didn't think that, he wasn't gonna force Shiro to give up the little sleep that the man usually got in order to babysit him.

"Are you sure?" His eyebrows creased into a look of uncertainty and concern. "You know I don't mind."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm sure."

Shiro seemed hesitant to accept his answer, but began to back away from the door, regardless. "Alright. Well, I'll have my tablet on if you need me for anything. And I mean anything, okay?"

"Okay." As much as he didn't want to be babied, he did appreciate Shiro's support. "Thanks, Shiro."

Once again, he fell asleep quickly. This time, though, the peace didn't last.

Total darkness.

Stumbling down an endless hallway, constantly moving but going nowhere.

Voices, whispers from the shadows.

"Shiro! Shiro, where are you?"

A menacing growl. "Someone shut him up."

Hands, grabbing at him from nowhere and everywhere, pinning him to the ground, choking, smothering...

Keith bolted upright in the bed, screaming through clenched teeth. The hands were suddenly gone, he could move, but it was still far too dark, and darkness meant that they could come back without warning. Darkness meant that thing was still on his face, and he couldn't breathe, I can't breathe I can't breathe get it off get it off get it off–

He hit the floor on his back, his legs still up above him, tangled in the blanket. He screamed again, still unable to open his mouth. Let go of me get off get off I can't breathe...

By the time his door flew open, he had managed to scramble backwards and wedge himself into the corner between the head of his bed and the wall, the blanket still wrapped around his feet and his hands gripping his hair. He heard someone's voice as if from a distance, but didn't register whose it was until Pidge's face appeared in front of him.

"Keith! Keith, it's okay, you're safe!"

No I'm not, I can't breathe I can't breathe, Pidge help me please–

She reached a hand out toward him, and he cringed violently backwards. Her eyes went a little wider and she froze. "It's okay. I promise. I'm not gonna..." Seeming to rethink what she was doing, she suddenly backed away from him, reaching for something he couldn't focus on.

Please don't leave me Pidge, please–

"Shiro! I need you in Keith's room, now!" Pidge turned back to Keith, still keeping her distance, but with a look of sympathy on her face. "It's okay, Keith. Shiro's on his way. You're safe."

It was either a split second or an eternity later that Shiro swung through the door at top speed, skidding to a stop to pant for breath and take in the scene. Just seeing his brother there automatically made Keith feel a little better, because he knew Shiro would protect him from the hands that wanted to come after him in the dark, but he still couldn't breathe right and his chest hurt so bad.

Then Shiro reached over and hit a button on the wall, and the room was flooded with light. Nearly blinded, Keith pressed the back of his hand to the bridge of his nose, but then he blinked. Once, twice, three times. Light. There was light here.

When he moved his hand, Shiro was hovering in front of him. "Hey, bud. You see where you are?"

Keith's eyes darted around the lit room. His room. The Castle of Lions. He gave a minute nod, his heaving breaths slowing down just a bit.

"Good. You know you're safe then, right? Nothing bad can get to you here, and we're all with you. You just had a bad dream, okay?"

Then why can't I breathe? It's still there, it's on my face, I feel it. He whimpered pitifully in his throat, wanting to ask but unable to.

Shiro tilted his head to the side, watching him. "You're okay. You're doing good." He paused, taking some over-exaggerated deep breaths for Keith to try to emulate. "Can you talk to me, buddy?"

Keith shook his head furiously, unsure of why Shiro wasn't getting it, and grunted a couple of times to try to make his point. Shiro's frown grew even deeper, but then a look of understanding came over his face.

"Keith...it's gone. It's...the muzzle isn't there anymore. Look. I'm gonna touch your face, okay?" He reached forward very slowly, and Keith trembled as he watched the hand approach. Even so, he couldn't help the flinch when the fingers finally brushed his...

Skin. Shiro's fingers were touching his skin. He drew them gently down the side of his nose and next to his mouth, then stroked his thumb across his chin. Suddenly the phantom sensation of the muzzle vanished, and Keith let his cramping jaw fall open with a sob.

"Yeah. There you go." Shiro's hand slid around into the hair on the back of his head. "You're okay."

Falling forward into the broad, familiar, chest, Keith let himself gulp in air while tears ran freely down his cheeks. Safe, I'm safe, it's over, I'm safe.

"They muzzled him?" Pidge's whisper was full of horror, but Keith was more focused on the fact that he had forgotten she was there, witnessing yet another of his meltdowns. Shame burned through him.

"Not right now, Pidge."

"Right. Sorry. I'm...gonna leave you two be."

As much as he didn't want to face her right now, he owed her. If she hadn't heard him and gotten Shiro, he probably would have ended up passing out from his panic attack again. Extracting himself from Shiro's arms, he sat up quickly before she could leave the room. "Pidge."

She turned to look at him, and he took note of the fact that she was still dressed and wearing her glasses. At least maybe he hadn't woken her, then, she had probably been sitting on her bed working on some project. He was a bit surprised that his other neighbor, Lance, hadn't made an appearance, too, but he did like to sleep with headphones on.

Swallowing, he dropped his gaze to her feet. "Thanks. And...sorry."

"For what, a nightmare? We all get them sometimes. You don't have to apologize."

"Yeah, but–" Glancing back up, he was met with crossed arms and a stern expression. "Yeah. Okay. Just...thanks."

"Of course." Her lips turned upward slightly. "You know we're all here for you, anytime."

She was the second of the paladins to say something like that to him. In the past he would have dismissed it as a platitude, but based on the way they had been treating him, it almost seemed sincere. Not that he was about to start blabbing all his secrets and feelings to them anytime soon.

Pidge exited, leaving Keith under Shiro's piercing 'big brother' gaze. "I... The lights were still on, when I went to sleep. I didn't even think about it. Then I dreamed...a-and when I woke up, it was still dark, and..."

"I get it. It's okay." Shiro gently squeezed his knee. "The Castle hadn't shifted into night mode yet when you went to sleep, but when it did it must have automatically switched your lights off. We can talk to Coran about getting that fixed."

"This is ridiculous, though." Keith buried his face in his hands. "I can't be scared of the dark like some baby. I'm a Paladin of Voltron, for quiznack's sake."

"Right now, you're an eighteen year old kid who went through a traumatic experience. You can worry about being a Paladin of Voltron later, once you've had time to heal." Shiro sighed. "You've been out of the healing pod for less than a day, bud. Cut yourself some slack."

.o.0.O.0.o.

After that, despite the fact that Keith always made sure his lights were set to stay on during the night cycle, Shiro insisted on camping out on a pallet next to his bed every night. Keith felt horrible about it, but at the same time it was such a relief to have him there when nightmares woke him. And wake him they did. Not every night, necessarily, and not many of them as bad as the first one had been, but there were certainly plenty of them.

Still, despite a lack of sleep, he felt himself getting back to normal during the day. True to his word, Hunk fed him until he was feeling strong again, and eventually he was allowed back onto the training deck and was able to work quickly back up to the gladiator level he had been on before. He had even been out in Red a couple of times for battles, though they hadn't taken on any more planet-side missions yet. There was a good chance that Allura and Shiro had purposefully been avoiding those in order to give him more time, but he was okay with that. Overall, the others had stopped tiptoeing around him, acting like he might be triggered at any moment. That was the most important thing. If they were pretending everything was normal, then it made it easier for him to do so, too.

It wasn't until over a movement later that the illusion was broken. Keith was on one of the lower levels of the Castle, digging through a storage room for some flubbacka-whats-it that Coran wanted. The man was working on the ship's mechanics, and Keith had been the lucky soul roped into helping him that afternoon.

"It's about yea long, looks like a baukaber's hairbrush, and it's in a big, silver box. Can't miss it," Coran had said. "I'm not precisely sure which storage room it's in, though. Could be the one on the second floor...or the third...or maybe the seventeenth."

"Or the twelfth, or the twentieth?" Keith had groaned.

"No, don't be silly. Those storage rooms are for exercise equipment and holiday decorations, not for tools!"

Since they were already in the belly of the ship, Keith had started there, checking the third floor first before taking the elevator down to the second. He wasn't even sure he would recognize the thing if it fell off a shelf and smacked him in the face, but he didn't want to let Coran down. The quiet was nice, at least, and all was going well until the room was suddenly plunged into darkness and the door slammed shut.

Right away his breath caught in his throat, then started up again in a rapid pant. "No, no no no no no..." It's okay. It's just some kind of malfunction. Coran probably hit something he wasn't supposed to. He knew that, he knew it, but that didn't stop the shadows from looming at him from every side. Tripping over boxes that he could barely see, he staggered to the closed door and fell up against it, slamming his hand into the control switch over and over again despite the fact that it was no longer lit up and activated.

Please, no, I don't wanna be in here. "Hello?" he yelled, knowing that no one was anywhere near to hear him. "Anybody? I'm...I'm stuck, I'm..." Locked in, I'm locked in and I can't get out.

Reality was beginning to slip away. The scenario was far too familiar. He pressed his forehead up against the cool door, digging his fingertips down into the metal. "Please! Please don't lock me in here."

Shut up, you little brat! You shut that mouth this instant or I'll come in there and really give you something to cry about!

Sucking in a shaky breath that wanted to be a sob, Keith covered his mouth with one hand, dropping his voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll be good, I promise."

But no, no he's not here, he can't be. I'm in the Castle. I'm not there anymore. He took one wobbly step backwards, then another. So why had this happened, then? Why was he locked in yet again? Someone on the ship must have done it, maybe because he was Galra, maybe because of something he had done wrong. That must be it. He was always doing something wrong. He didn't know how to be normal like the rest of them, to socialize and have fun and get along with everyone. They had probably gotten sick of him, just like that man always did.

His trembling legs ceased to support him, and he sank down between two large crates, curling up into a ball. A couple of tears escaped his eyes, and he dug his face down into his knees to hide them. Don't cry. Crying's pathetic. They won't like it if you cry. They'll leave you in here even longer.

"I'm sorry. I'll be good. Please don't leave me here. I'll be good." Rocking himself back and forth, he whispered the pleas into his lap in a constant stream.

.o.0.O.0.o.

That's how Lance found him a while later. Somehow he managed to get the storage room door open, despite the lack of power, but Keith didn't stop his chant until he sensed someone settling onto the floor in front of him.

"Keith? Hey, buddy, can you hear me?"

He raised his voice just a little, the words wavering in his overused throat. "I'll be good, I promise. Please don't leave me here."

"Quiznack," Lance murmured. He cleared his throat. "Hey, uh...it's okay. There's... You didn't do anything wrong, okay? Coran just kinda accidentally blew something up and we lost all the lights and stuff in the Castle. Thankfully not all the power, or else, you know, we'd be floating around and freezing to death and running out of oxygen. But yeah. It's not your fault. It was just an accident."

Keith listened, but he didn't know how to respond. Of course it was his fault...wasn't it? Why else would he be locked in here in the dark? Obviously he had done something wrong.

"You're, uh...you're still in the Castle, nobody's like, mad at you or anything, it was just... Quiznack, I'm no good at this. I don't know what I'm doing." He paused for a moment before taking a breath and starting again. "Anyway, as soon as the lights went out we all started looking for you, 'cause, you know, we were worried that something...like this...might happen, but then even when we found Coran he wasn't exactly sure where you were, so...sorry it took so long to get to you."

Even if he hadn't been speaking such reassuring words, just the sound of Lance's voice was steadily bringing Keith back to reality. Lance was here. Everyone had been looking for him. Maybe he wasn't in trouble. He hadn't done anything wrong, it was all just a freak accident.

"The others are probably still running around like mad trying to find you. I should probably–"

"You were worried about me?" Keith lifted his head and managed the tiniest of smirks. "So you do care."

Lance stared at him, wide-eyed, for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that Keith was actually making a joke. Then he snorted and crossed his arms. "Well, don't let it go to your head. I'm not planning on making a habit of it."

No, of course not. Despite his attempt to be lighthearted, the rebuff struck him the wrong way. It was always unpredictable, how he would take Lance's insults. Sometimes he could ignore them, let them roll off of him, at least until he was lying in the bed at night and questioning his own existence. Other times they hit far too close to home. Now was one of those times, but he didn't have the energy to throw an insult right back, so he just dropped his forehead back down onto his knees.

"Dude...you know I'm joking, right? Of course I was worried about you. I mean, I didn't know exactly what might happen, but Shiro and Pidge said you had been having a hard time with flashbacks, so..."

Keith curled in on himself a little tighter, ashamed.

"Can't blame you for that, though. It made me so mad, when I saw what they had done to you. That had to be so scary, man. I know I would have been freaking out if it were me."

Why is he being so...nice? He's never this nice to me. Raising his head again, Keith watched him carefully as he continued to ramble, using his hands to talk.

"I mean of course you knew we were coming for you eventually, but that doesn't mean it was any less scary in the meantime." Lance stopped abruptly and stared at him, his brow creased. "You...did know we were coming for you...right?"

Put on the spot, Keith darted his eyes to the side as he tried to fumble a reply. "Uh...yes? I mean...yeah, I...of course I did, I..." Crap, I'm such a terrible liar. "I...assumed?"

Lance did not look impressed with this answer. "You didn't think we were gonna come for you."

"No! I..." He heaved a sigh, figuring that as close to the truth as possible would be best. "I knew Shiro would look for me. And...I'm the Red Paladin. So...I figured that getting me out was probably easier than, you know, finding a new one."

For a few ticks Lance just gaped at him, then he almost exploded. "Dude! Are you kidding me? I mean, yeah, of course Shiro was leading the charge, but that doesn't mean the rest of us didn't want to find you just as much! You're one of us, you're like...you're part of this weird little family that we've got going. We're not just gonna leave you behind, whether it's the easiest thing to do or not. Would you have left me, or any of the others there, if the roles were switched?"

"No, of course not, but–"

"But what? But somehow it's different because it's you? But you're the lone wolf Mullet who doesn't need any help?"

"You don't even like me!" The admission, accusation, whatever one might call it, burst out of him in a near yell, and Lance fell quiet. Keith avoided his eyes, reducing his words to a mumble. "Nobody really does, except Shiro, and I still haven't quite figured out why he does, either. I'm weird, I'm emo, I'm Galra. I'm not anything like the rest of you. I don't get along with people, I never have." He drew in a long, slow breath, then released it. "I don't know why I have to explain this to you, anyway. You remind me of all these things constantly."

There was silence for a long moment before Lance spoke softly. "I didn't like you. To start with. I'll admit that. That's...that's a long story, and it's really not important right now. Maybe...maybe I'll tell you another time. But that was back at the beginning, before we..." He let out a shuddering breath, and Keith quickly cut his eyes over, wondering with trepidation if he was about to cry.

"I...I thought we were friends. All this time, I... If I had known that you were actually bothered by the stuff I say, I would have been more careful. I thought...that was just our thing, ya know? I mean, I guess I should have known, because sometimes you say stuff that actually bothers me, so I should have known that it went both ways." He shrugged, staring down at his hands. "But teasing each other was just always our thing. It's a lot like the way me and my siblings interact. It's...how I came to realize that you actually were pretty down-to-earth and had a decent sense of humor. I didn't realize you didn't like it."

They fell quiet again. Keith's mind, already still dealing with the aftermath of his meltdown, was whirling with all of the new information and the implications it brought. Lance...likes me? Is my friend...treats me like his sibling? He doesn't actually hate me?

"I'm sorry," he said finally.

"Sorry for what?"

"Saying things that bother you. I do it on purpose, to try to get back at you for the things you say."

Lance shrugged again. "I don't blame you. I do it on purpose sometimes, too, if I'm actually mad. I wish you'd have just told me that you didn't like it, though."

Keith huffed. "I don't do heart to hearts very well."

"Yeah, no kidding." Lance cracked a smile. "Though I guess we're not doing half bad at it today."

Keith stopped to consider what else had been said for a moment. "I don't...not like it, by the way. The...teasing. I mean, if I think about it...sometimes it actually is kinda...fun. Or it would be, if I didn't...you know...actually think you meant all of it."

Taking in a deep breath, Lance sat up straighter. "So. A truce, then? We can still have fun being idiots and teasing each other. We'll still be rivals. But if it starts to get out of hand...if either of us isn't having fun anymore...we tell each other. Maybe...maybe we can have some kind of code, like...like...'The Blue Lion is the greatest!'"

Keith glared at him, ready to retort, but quickly thought of a better idea. "If I have to say that, then you have to say 'The Red Lion is the greatest'." Lance sputtered, and he held up a hand to stop him from protesting. "You talk about how great your lion is all the time. It only works as a code if it's something that neither of us would normally say."

Crossing his arms, Lance pouted, but finally rolled his eyes and nodded. "Alright, fine. It's a deal. Come on, let's swear on it."

He held out his pinky finger, and Keith gave him a deadpan stare. "A pinky swear? Really?"

"Just do it, Mullet!" Sighing, Keith offered his own pinky, and Lance clasped it vigorously with his own. "Good. Okay. Now, why don't we get out of this closet? I really should let the others know that I found you."

As much as Keith had wanted out of this room a few dobashes earlier, now the thought of wandering through the darkened ship filled him with trepidation. Lance must have seen something in his expression as he regarded the door warily, because he softened his voice. "At least let's go sit in the hall? It isn't any brighter, really, but it's more open. And doesn't smell like must."

Keith reluctantly agreed, and stood on shaky legs. He watched as Lance pulled out his tablet and tapped out a quick message, then followed him out into the hallway, where they settled side by side against the wall. It was a little better out there, he had to admit. Even though he couldn't see the high ceiling and the ends of the corridor, he could feel the expanse of space around him.

"You must think I'm pretty stupid, huh? Being scared of the dark."

Lance groaned. "Didn't we just establish that I don't mean most of the insults I throw at you? And I'm pretty sure I also already talked about how much I would have been freaking out if it had been me that had gotten locked in that place."

"It's...not just that, though." What am I doing? Never before had he wanted to tell anyone anything about his past. He had never spoken about his dad, or his missing mom, or his time in the foster system to anyone except Shiro, and even that had been minimal bits of information dragged out of him or mentioned accidentally. But somehow, for some reason, right now he wanted to tell Lance. He wanted to open up, even if it was just this once, to give back a little of the friendship and trust that these people had offered him.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back onto the wall. "When I was a kid, I had this...foster home. Married couple. Had one kid of their own. I don't know whose idea it was to take in fosters – she pretty much ignored my existence, and he hated me. Maybe it was her idea, because I think he probably beat her and the son before I got there. With me there, they got to escape his notice for the most part."

He swallowed, furrowing his brow, and stopped himself from going too far off topic, into too much detail. "He used to lock me in the cellar. There was a light in there, one of those single light bulbs with the string hanging down, but it was too high for me to reach." His eyes still closed, he shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't know how long he'd leave me in there. Different every time, I guess. Overnight a few times, I know that. Once it was a whole weekend. If I made too much noise, he'd bring his belt and...and then I'd have to stay for even longer.

"So yeah. That's my sob story, I guess. It wasn't too long after that when I met Shiro. I don't think I was as messed up about the dark then as I am right now, but I definitely wouldn't let anybody touch me. He worked with me for...ages, it seemed like, trying to get me to trust him. And I mean, it was never perfect. You've probably noticed that touch is still not really my thing, even before all of this mess. But...yeah. It sucks, that this has kinda...brought all of that back. Shiro says I've just gotta give myself time to get over it."

The soft sounds of footsteps approaching more than once during his story had not escaped his attention, so he wasn't surprised when he opened his eyes and he and Lance were no longer alone. He hadn't expected to see literally everyone, though, including Allura and Coran, all sitting around the little section of hallway and watching him with glistening eyes. His stomach gave a little lurch at realizing that they knew, everybody knows now, what are they going to think of you, but he forced himself to keep breathing steadily and stay calm. This is what I wanted. I wanted to open up. It's good that they all heard...right?

Lance gave a little cough, and he turned his head to look at him. "Can I...hug you?"

Keith's eyes widened in surprise, but he managed a nod. Lance lifted his arms slowly, telegraphing his movements, but didn't hesitate once they were around Keith's shoulders to pull him in tightly.

"Thank you for telling me," he whispered.

Squeezing his eyes shut again, Keith wrapped his own arms around Lance's back, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Um, can I get in on this? 'Cause after that I think I really need a Keith hug, too." Without looking, Keith opened up one of his arms, and Hunk immediately made himself at home, enveloping both boys.

"Okay, stop hogging him, I'm coming in, too." Pidge squirmed herself up underneath Hunk's arm so that both her arms and legs were wrapped around Keith from behind.

Shiro was next, Hunk shifting a bit so that they could share the side, and his metal hand came to rest on the top of Keith's head.

"This is what you call a 'group hug', yes?"

"Yep, come on, Allura." Keith's voice was muffled from inside the pile, but his point got across, because the princess was soon draping herself over the top of them all, seeming to try to touch as many of them as she could manage. Her arm ended up across his shoulder and the back of his neck.

"Alright, then, I'll just...come in over here..." Somehow Coran managed to squeeze himself in between the paladins and the wall while only causing a few bruises here and there, and promptly laid his head on Keith's other shoulder while snaking his arms around the others.

"You know we all love you, right, Keith?" Shiro asked from somewhere above his head.

Keith breathed in deeply, taking in the too-warm air around him that smelled a bit of sweat and perfume and aftershave and whatever Hunk had been cooking for dinner, and thought about how his team had been showing their affection over the last quintants. "Yeah. I'm...beginning to get that."

There were more hands and arms and heads and legs touching him in that moment than had ever been on him before. Pidge was squeezing him so tightly his lungs couldn't even expand all the way. He should have been freaking out, should have been fighting to get loose and not have a panic attack.

But somehow, he found he really didn't mind.

A/N: Everyone who comments gets to join in the group hug! Feel free to specify where you'd like to be squeezed in.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first foray into the VLD fandom! I have a hundred more ideas floating around in my head, mostly Keith-centric, all angsty and whumpy, maybe some involving OCs because even though I don't read those stories too often I do enjoy writing them...point is, I'll be back. It may be a while, though, because I'm currently in the middle of trying to write the last book of my Kingdom Hearts trilogy and can't really afford to ignore it since people are waiting on me. But hopefully I've satiated your need for Keith whump for now! If you're a member of the site, you can follow me as an author if you'd like to be updated when I post again.

Thank you, again, for all of your support!