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The lions plummet from the sky.
Shiro sees it all from his spot on the Atlas. All five split off in different directions as the explosion goes off. The white-haired man watches in horror as the Blue Lion slams into the ocean, Green into a forest nearby, Red and Yellow into the hot desert ground, and Black…Black crashes into the Garrison.
Shiro already knows the Black Lion took the most damage. Keith was inside there, and Shiro froze for a moment, remembering being stuck in an abyss of glowing purple light, trying to get to this team, his family, to warn them of the clone. Of the danger within their team.
Guys!
That’s not me!
Anyone!?!
ANSWER ME!!!
I’M HERE!!! IN BLACK!!!
KEITH!
He couldn't do anything then, but he could now. Ordering people to each lion, he rushes out to the Black Lion's location. The lion is laying out unevenly and in strange angles. The medics are having a hard time getting to its jaw, so Shiro helps them out, asking the lion to please please please let him save Keith.
The jaw creeks eerily as Shiro takes in the sight. There's blood splattered across the windshield and some pooling at the bottom of the chair. He can see Keith's foot but not the rest of him as he wanders closer, in shock. Keith's helmet is shattered beyond repair, glass thrown about as scarlet pools onto the cold floor. His face is way too pale and he's not breathing.
“Keith!”
Gently picking him up, he sighs as he feels a heartbeat and cool breath wash against his face a few times. Keith didn't have a lot of time.
By the time they get him to a stable hospital, the others are found. They look better than he does, only bruises and minor injuries. None of them are awake, but they seem fine. Shiro watches as Keith is taken away for surgery.
He doesn't get told what is wrong until half a day later. A concussion, four broken ribs, a bruised ACL, broken ankle, and bruises everywhere. By this time, they think he'll be out for awhile.
And just like Keith had done for him, he waits. It takes nearly a month, but Keith does wake up. His wounds fade quickly with help from his Galra side, and good medicine until he only needs the head bandage. He wakes up when Shiro's out at a speech he had to give to the whole coalition. And he heals up after that, free for discharge in a day or so.
They thought he was fine. He didn't seem to have any issues.
That is, until the next morning just as he was about to be discharged. Shiro was waiting in the check out room, but Keith was late twenty minutes. Frowning, Shiro checked in with the nurse who seemed just as confused at the lack of a certain Black Paladin. Taking matters into his own hands, Shiro strolled to Keith's room. Maybe he had overslept?
The first thing that tipped him off that something was really wrong was the sour scent in the air as he eased the door open. It smelt like an omega in distress and the force of it almost knocked Shiro onto his butt. There was only two times Shiro could recall Keith smelling this way: just after Shiro got back from the Galra and after the trials when he was bruised and battered, just having learned he was Galra.
And this was so much more potent. Shiro wasn't sure why no one else seemed to notice the scent when he remembered the rooms were scent-proof for medical purposes. Nearly growling, he pushed the door back as he marched forward.
The room was like what Shiro remembered. Keith's clothes were gone from his bag, which still sat on the small table feet from the older man. The gifts left by the others were there too as if they were ready to be taken away. Some random bone Kosmo found also rested on there. A hologram device from Keith’s mom sits there too. Even the little purple hippo plushie Shiro had given him was there with the small tag in tact.
The scent was still there. Shiro could see a lump curled up on the bed, buried beneath the standard hospital blanket. From the breathing alone, Shiro knew Keith wasn't sleeping.
“Keith,” Shiro frowned as he strolled up to the younger, “Are you okay?”
A tiny groan echoed around the room as the scent flared. Shiro gagged at the sour taste.
Before he was aware of it, he turned Keith onto his back. As the blanket feel back, he hissed as his own breath left him.
Keith was super pale and sweating like the room was burning up. Shiro placed a hand on his forehead to feel ice-cold skin. A tiny pained whine left his best friend's throat, and he tore his hand away. Keith's brows scrunched down as glazed eyes stared at him, too hazy to recognize him. His breathing became even more labored and sounded gunky.
And Shiro nearly cried out as he saw the man's scent glands. Each on his neck were swollen and puffy, bright red against white skin. They pulsed slightly at an erratic pace, neither matching to the other's. Something was really wrong with the omega.
“It's going to be okay,” Shiro reassured Keith as he slammed his mechanical arm down on the help button. He needed a doctor for this now, “Just stay with me. Come on, Keith.”
Keith whined again, tossing his head weakly to the side, giving Shiro an even better glance at the gland on his right side. There were small veins in it and pores that had never been there. They were frantically growing bigger and then smaller, repeating the pattern every few seconds.
More of the rank stench filled the air. Shiro's hand hit the button again as he let out a small whimper, trying to make Keith feel better. Brushing a hand over his own glands, he gently scented the corner of the pillow.
Keith let out an agonized chirp before burying his face where the older's scent rested. By now, he was shaking like a leaf and making tiny grunting noises.
The scent seemed to comfort him enough to not panic, so Shiro carefully lathered his scent on his arms before rubbing it on the bed, pillow, blankets, and even on the tray of items from earlier. He took great care to rub the scent onto Keith's chest and face, avoiding the swollen mess of glands. Shiro didn't doubt those weren't the only ones hurting.
Keith whimpered again but calmed down enough to blink a few times.
“Sh-s-sh-shiro,” he shivered before he attempted to swallow, drool coming out of his mouth and onto the pillow, “He-hel-p.”
And then he began tearing at his glands. Shiro was so shocked he couldn't move for a moment. Soon, he ripped Keith's hands off the hurt glands, keeping the appendages down by the other's waist with his flesh hand. Blood poured from the glands, and Shiro knew that Keith's Galra claws had kicked in. Keith fought against him weakly as he cried out in hurt bursts, pain coating his voice. Another higher-pitched whine choked the room as Keith rubbed his glands against the bedding, spreading the blood and making it gush out faster.
The dark maroon color did nothing to ease his fear. Keith's blood should be bright red. It was always bright red.
Nor did his horror fade at the fact that Keith’s eyes were flickering rapidly, going from white to yellow and back too quickly to fully catch.
Shiro gently rested his robotic hand on the joint between Keith's neck and head, ensuring he didn't move and injure his wound further. Keith cried out again, tears running down his cheeks as he fought even more.
“Keith,” Shiro growled scaredly, “I'm here. I'm helping you. But you have to stop hurting yourself. Come on, buddy. Come on, Keith.”
Keith's head jerked as his breathing got worse. By now, his legs were kicking out sluggishly, not getting but an inch off of the bed before moving back. Keith's hips were also trying to move, but Keith screamed hoarsely everytime they did.
Shiro grimaced. There were also glands down around there. Shiro shifted his leg up to pin Keith's hips down, cautiously not touching near the glands. That would only make it worse.
The whole time, the blood from Keith's damaged glands poured out, staining the bed and sliding down Keith's back, neck, and hair. More wounded cries shattered Shiro's heart as Keith fought to get air into his lungs. He was still trying to pull his arms back up to the glands. This was really bad. Worse than anything Shiro had seen from Keith.
He was in too much pain.
“Captain Shirogane!” A doctor shouted as a medical team rushed in, “What has happened!”
“I don't know,” Shiro shook his head as he hesitantly moved back to let the team secure Keith and stabilize him, “He was late so I came in to him putting out distressed pheromones. His scent glands are swollen and he is in a lot of pain. He...he tried to claw off his neck glands.”
“Sir!” A nurse called out, “We need you. The patient’s not looking good.”
“We'll update you later on his situation,” the man rushed over to Keith's side before the team rushed him away, his small cries stuck in Shiro's mind. Shiro stood there for a few minutes, shaking as the adrenaline left his body. The thick scent of iron hung in the air, distracting him until he no longer could think. Before he was aware, the door burst open.
“WHAT HAPPENED!”
“WHERE’S KEITH!”
“WHY DID WE GET A NOTIFICATION TO COME IN???”
“SHIRO! WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN BLOOD!!!”
“WHAT’S THAT SMELL!!!”
Shiro glanced down numbly at himself. Hm...at some point, Keith’s blood had smeared all over his Garrison uniform, dying the grey suit dark red. It covered both his arms, chest, and hands in a chilling amount of sticky, sickly liquid.
“Shiro,” Shiro blinked before he looked up into icy, sad eyes, “Maybe you should sit down.”
Shiro shook his head softly as a light touch on his shoulder led him to the nearest seat. Plopping down into the stiff, uncomfortable chair, Shiro forcibly glanced away from the dripping pool of blood slipping down the sheets of the bed. It didn’t get rid of the stench though. Taking deep breaths in, he finally calmed enough to notice that the others were there.
All of them looked at him with worried eyes, occasionally glancing at the bed to his side. Shiro felt sick even thinking about the mess, much less what the others must have felt seeing it without any context of what really happened. Even Coran and Romelle were there, along with Keith’s wolf, and the mice.
Krolia wasn’t there because she was off on a mission to the neighboring galaxy, trying to find more Blades who hadn’t received the message that Earth was the central hub for all people now. Shiro was glad she didn’t have to see her son suffering like he was. This was so much worse than anything Shiro had seen, possibly even the removal of his own arm. Shiro shivered as he gazed down at his blood-coated arms.
What was wrong with Keith?
“Shock...alpha...scent of…” Shiro caught as he blinked again, pulled from his spiraling thoughts, “Let’s get him changed and out of this room.”
More arms tugged him and he followed their orders, too numb still to think about doing it on his own. Before he knew it, his jacket was stripped off his body, peeling back stiffly. Someone took his hands gently into their hold as they washed his arms off. The mechanical one drifted beside his flesh arm, white metal no longer stained scarlet. Someone wrapped something around him as they got him to sit down again, drying his arms off.
“Hey, Shiro,” someone spoke up, and Shiro slowly brought his eyes to them - Hunk, “It’s okay, man. Keith’s one of the strongest people I know. He’ll get through this.”
“You’re right,” Shiro coughed before rubbing his face, “Sorry that I zoned out there.”
“It’s quite understandable!” Coran nodded with a knowing look in his violet eyes, “You are in shock. The scent inside didn’t help either.”
“Keith was hurt.”
The room fell silent. Any whispering died off as soon as the words left his lips. Shiro’s eyes misted over slightly as he braced his forehead on his palms.
“Keith was hurting a lot,” Shiro let out a small growl, his alpha voice breaking through for a moment, “I don’t know why.”
“Mullet will be fine,” Lance tried to lighten the air around them, but his expression grew serious, “I mean, he’s survived this long.”
“But you didn’t see how he was acting,” Shiro let out a low whine deep in his chest as a flare of scared alpha scent ripped through the air, “Something’s wrong with his glands.”
“With his glands…?” Pidge frowned, ready to ask more questions when the doctor came through the door. They all sat up a bit as the man rushed over to them.
“I figured you’d be in here,” the doctor nodded before he quickly checked his sheet over, “We got the bleeding to stop, but we had to strap him down to stop him from harming himself more. We couldn’t give him anything to lessen the pain because we didn’t want it to interact badly with him.”
“Harming himself?” Allura demanded as the others stared at the man in worry and shock, “What do you mean?”
“The source of the bleeding,” the doctor frowned before flipping through the chart, “Came from two self-inflicted wounds on his neck scent glands. He, unfortunately, dug far enough to puncture both glands which is why there was so much blood.”
“That doesn’t explain the color or smell,” Pidge wrinkled her nose in silent disgust at the memory and Shiro followed along with the same action, “His blood should be bright red and his scent was far too overpowering.”
“It seems like the explosion that hit you all,” the man paused for his eyes slid to them apologetically, “Had some toxic chemicals in it.”
“Then why aren’t we affected?” Lance shouted softly, stepping closer to Allura’s side as her gaze hardened.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Hunk began before his face grew pale, “But Keith is part-Galra.”
“Oh no,” Shiro sighed as he rubbed his face, too exhausted and pulled too thin from the past month, “Haggar.”
Allura flinched, “Shiro, we can't be sure it was…”
“It was Haggar,” Shiro growled as he glared at his mechanical hand, “She's the only one who makes these robeasts. I don't know why she'd make it poisonous to Galra…”
Pidge gasped. They gazed at her as she turned pale.
“Revenge,” Shiro grew cold at the word, “Keith is the reason we found out about Lotor. He's the one who pushed the events of Lotor going insane and being stuck in the quintessence field.”
“She's pissed at Keith, and has nothing to lose,” Hunk gulped, “And she can't NOT know about Keith being Galra. He literally introduced Krolia, you know, his mom, to yo...er…”
“My clone,” Shiro frowned, looking at the nervous man.
“And that Macidus guy had a creepy obsession with him,” Lance frowned as he raised a brow, “My awe of Allura's skills aside, I'd have focused on a magical Altean first. Everyone knows how your alchemy is.”
“But he went right for Keith.”
“Your hand is looking much better,” Shiro shivered as the man twisted his neck at an angle only a druid could, “You don't remember our fight?”
Shiro shook his head, scrunching his nose at the memory. He didn't like where this was going. Keith...was always getting hurt.
It was too late for him to realize that the whining sound was coming from him. Holy shit, he needed to get ahold of himself.
Keith and he weren't even mated or anything.
But Shiro worried anyway.
“He will make a steady recovery,” the doctor spoke as Shiro listened in, “I think we flushed the toxins out of his system. But his scent glands are probably going to scar over, since those were affected and in overdrive the most.”
“How…” Pidge asked softly, voice paper thin, “How will that affect him?”
“He’ll most likely need to take hormone stabilizing treatments every so often because between him clawing his glands out, the poison, and the fact that he had been on some terrible suppressants that damaged his glands years ago, his neck glands are utterly destroyed.” The man frowned as he flipped his chart again, “And he won't be able to scent from his neck again. At least the lesser glands weren't bothered by the time we got there. And it's good news that all his other glands seem to be working just fine. Even his second-most powerful ones.”
The ones on his hips. Omegas had them fairly close to their genitals for lots of reasons. Better protection was one. It's said that sometimes, those glands produce almost all the hormones used by the Omega. Only during a heat did they shut down, Shiro had been told.
This was good. But that meant Keith's heat was going to be torture whether with a mate or not. After all, he needed his neck glands to produce the hormones that brought about his heat's symptoms. Those same glands also regulated the heat and made it less intense and even shorter.
“When can we see him?” Allura demanded with intertwined fingers, “He's stable, correct?”
“You can see him right now,” the man smiled softly as he lead them down the hall. Shiro forced himself to his feet, almost tripping in his haste. Many rooms later, the man opened the door, closing it behind the group.
Keith lay on the bed, pale and looking not unlike when the lions crashed back to the Earth. This time, bandages covered his neck instead of his head. The heart monitor beeped softly in the background as an IV bag dropped some golden liquid into the IV connected to Keith's hand. Most likely nutrients specialized to Keith's Galra and human sides.
Shiro took the seat right next to Keith, gently wrapping a hand around the other's free one.
“He looks worse than that time after we fought Lotor,” Lance whispered softly, saying what all of them were thinking, “I'm glad he's going to be okay.”
“Heh…” Shiro jolted and they all glanced over at Keith who was staring back at them tiredly, a small smile on his lips, “Gl-glad you care.”
“Of course we care,” Pidge rolled her eyes but they were getting shiny, “You're part of the family.”
“Yeah, man,” Hunk spoke fondly as he gently patted Keith's shoulder, “We were worried there.”
“But we're happy you're okay,” Allura grinned before Shiro felt her icy orbs go to him before looking back at Keith, “Some of us more than the rest.”
“Oh,” was all Keith said, eyes going soft and lips curling up as he gazed at Shiro who only squeezed his hand as reassurance, “Thanks, Shiro.”
“Well,” Coran spoke up as the seconds dragged on, “We better leave our Captain and Leader alone for a tick. I remember that I have some stuff I need to do.”
“Me too.”
“Time to work on the computer system!”
“I'm gonna help Allura!”
“Hey, no fair! I was going to hang out with Allura!”
“You can both help me.”
“I'll grab some food for you guys!”
Keith's wolf sniffed his bed, twisting his head before letting out a small whine and licking the injured man's hand. Turning around, the wolf rushed off after the others. The door finally closed shut.
“Good to have you back,” Shiro grinned fondly as Keith relaxed, “Don't scare me like that again.”
“Sorry,” Keith groaned quietly as he glanced at the IV and then down to Shiro's hand, still holding his smaller hand, “Good to be back. What...what happened?”
“Just…” Shiro paused, unsure how much to actually tell, but knowing Keith would appreciate being told, “The blast that hit you in Black also had a poison that targeted your Galra side. While you were in pain, you...you kind of tore up your neck glands.”
Keith raised a brow before blinking. Shiro, not for the first time, realized just much Keith had matured after he'd been on the astral plane. Keith only looked at him with a softer gaze.
“I'm glad my mom and the rest weren't here,” a small grin lit up his exhausted features, dark eyes glistening, “And I'm glad you are okay.”
“You almost died on me, Keith,” Shiro shook gently, eyes tearing up, “You almost bleed out and I hated it and I don't know how you did it so many times when I was g-”
A hand grabbing his wrist cut him off as he flopped unsteadily onto the bed by Keith's side. Said omega just stared at him like he was idiot.
“I'm not leaving you, Shiro,” he reassured as his strong but nimble fingers weaved through Shiro's hair, “You've come back to me every time I asked. I'm not going to die and leave you alone. Besides, Black would have done something so we could find each other again.”
“You're right,” Shiro laughed as he carefully rested his head on the other's chest, “I just get worried because…”
“Because I'm your best friend.”
“Yeah,” Shiro grinned as he rubbed his eyes, “And I haven't gotten to tell you yet but today really made me realize I need to get it out.”
A moment of silence as he collected his thoughts.
“I love you, Keith,” Shiro felt the younger tense slightly - most likely in shock - before relaxing, “And seeing you get hurt makes me scared. And it's not just the Alpha side of me feeling like that. I want to protect you, within whatever limits you want, if it means that you'll be happy and safe.”
“And now you know how I feel,” Shiro silently choked on his breath and Keith smirked at him, “You know how many times I wanted to stuff you in bubble wrap and make sure you stayed alive and happy? How badly I wanted to destroy anyone who hurt you? How I burned to go to space with you just to make sure you came back? You were half my motivation to fight in the war in the first place.”
“I was?”
“I hated what they did,” Shiro didn't need him to specify who he meant, “That they'd hurt you like that. So I decided if I couldn't have stopped it from happening, I was going to make sure it never happened again. Shiro, I'm not giving up on you.”
Shiro's eyes watered all over again as the memory raced to his mind. Of a boy barely sixteen who had been lost and in silent pain in a world that didn't believe in him. Of the promise Shiro made to him, sealed with a firm handshake. Another memory rushed to him. A dark room. The sweet scent of the omega who glanced back at him, fond smile on his face, one side raised more than the other.
“As many times as it takes,” Shiro grinned as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. Keith thumbed them away gently, and Shiro could practically feel his tiredness, “How about some sleep. We'll figure out the problems later.”
Keith let out a tiny chirp of pleasure as his eyelids fluttered shut. Shiro gently rubbed some of his scent around the other again, who just relaxed and began, what Shiro would call, purring. It comforted the older who watched over him. All too soon, he drifted off to sleep too, slumped into Keith's side.
The sweet scent of the one he loved drifted through the air.