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[Being core members of the Voltron coalition meant that sometimes the team had to spread their forces thin in order to take care of everything that required their attention. Sure, they had other allies who could hold their own -the Blade of Mamora for example- but it had a little more impact if the paladins themselves saved a colony or planet, as opposed to more Galra.

In other words: politics.]

I mean, I understand what Coran was saying but I still think it's kinda dumb, right Keith? [Undeterred by Keith's noncommital 'uh huh's and 'yeah's, Hunk continues on as he follows Keith's lead and slows down his approach. They're going to have to try and sneak up on this installation or risk the Galra retaliating against the captured techs for calling for help.] They've been around way longer than we have, and fighting for way longer too! It kinda feels like we're shoving them out of the way to get all the glory. Not that that's what we're doing, but it sure feels like that's what we're doing. I guess in the end it doesn't really matter who gets the job done so long as the people are saved, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Right? Do you have a bad taste in your mouth too, Keith?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh.

Oh jeez, his face is so obviously red in this brighter light.] Uh.

Heh. Maybe later. Let's uh- Work on getting there and doing this first?

[Totally. Yep. Not at all thinking about that now or how close their faces are with Hunk hugging him.]

[Slllowly extracts self, peering down at Keith. Is that an uncomfortable 'heh' or an embarrassed 'heh'? Even with his face red, it's hard to tell.]

Right! Yeah, of course. [Only now he's gonna be thinking about it, even as he hefts his gun again and restarts their march.]

Yeah. Of course. [Keith just sort of parrots Hunk's words back at him, not. Really able to think too too clearly with how slowly Hunk pulls away, Keith's hand trailing along his arm until the big guy goes to get his gun again.

Right. Mission first. Feelings later. That's something he understands.]

So...

[He trails off immediately. He was going to ask something but maybe now isn't the right time. Jungle nastiness and all.

Oh god he started talking with no idea what he wanted to say. This is why he doesn't do small talk. He clenches his fist around his bayard handle while he trudges along, wishing he could keep his mouth shut for a single syllable. Maybe Hunk won't notice. Maybe he'll think it was just some noise in the wild out here.]

[Oh no he heard that, as clearly as he felt Keith's hand linger on his arm as he pulled away. The awkwardness of it makes him snicker, though he tries to swallow it when he remembers how hurt Keith had been before.]

Okay, the goal is to make it out of all this alive so we can have our first kiss! That's it, that's the goal.

Uh. [God, how is Hunk good at that? Reading his mind. God, he should figure out how to not be predictable.

That'll never happen but he nods and follows after him. He wants this to work. He wants to be able to say he has at least one nice, selfish thing in his life that didn't fall apart around him. Even as they get into view of the base, Keith is still thinking about it.]

Can't take the same entrance as last time, so. Guess we can take the front of the back door.

Are there really 'front' or 'back' doors in a circular structure? [It's a legitimate question that deserves pondering] Okay, uh, lets just go for the closest door, maybe? We're both already kind of tired. How about I just go in, gun blazing, take out anything moving right from the get go? [That's a Keith thing to do right, that'll probably work out]

Right.

[Keith looks at the base again, weighing options he doesn't have a lot of forethought about. He's so bad at this. But he definitely doesn't think Hunk should go in guns blazing.]

I get the feeling that may be a bad idea. Let's try to be smart about it. [That's what Shiro would say right?] Sticking together, since you can do more with the gun, I can keep a shield up for us while we go in.

Great. Better plan, I like that plan. I'm trying to do the hotshot thing, it's not a good idea, I'm not hotshot material. I like being shielded, good plan. [pls portect him, small fite teammate]

[small fite boyfren will do just that, but Keith simply watches Hunk for the moment. Wondering why he thinks he's not hot shot material, but not wanting to stall them bringing it up. Conversation for later. After they do this. After they're rescued.

.... After that kiss.

Right. Keith moves so he's shoulder to shoulder and brings up his shield.]

Okay. Let's do this.

[And in they go, Keith keeping the shield up while trying to give Hunk room to fire.]

[Hunk manages to keep most of his composure as they burst in, probably because he's half-cowering behind Keith while also trying to get around him to shoot, and he's totally ready to shoot some droids and he sees one right there so he-

Fires at a droid crumpled up on the ground. Sends it skidding across the floor with a horribly loud noise. Hunk winces, screwing his eyes shut and waiting for all the hundreds of droid guards to come bearing down on them...

Any time now...

Annnnny time now.......]

...uh, Keith? Exactly how many of these things did you destroy?

Uh... [He trails off, watching around them as they move further in. There should definitely be more here. But he doesn't hear anything, doesn't see anything. It's weird.

This is weird. Even for him. He shrugs.] Didn't count, was trying to get to you.

[That's not too gay to say right? Or to say it that way? God, he has a lot going through his head right now.]

Let's just... Keep going.

[They keep going, finding nothing but deactivated droids and parts laying around. He stops when they reach a corridor.] This is where it was marked on the map that the labs were and I called you.

[The corridors are eerily quiet, ringing with their footsteps but little else. There isn't even the telltale hum of a large generator, as there should be, as they step over deactivated droids in their path.]

Right here? So the generator room should beeee...over here, right? [The domed room is darkened and unresponsive to their arrival, though Hunk can see the hole he and Yellow had torn open earlier.] ...it's like it's all...off. I- I-I, I don't get it. Is it because of that second pulse...?

Maybe?

[He isn't sure how all this works. But with no immediate threat in front of them and nothing getting him nervous, he wills he shield away and steps further in. He does, at least, turn the little blue lights on his suit brighter so they have some light.]

This doesn't make any sense, this was all lit up and going when I was here before. Maybe the... Second thing shorted it out or something? Maybe it was a test.

I don't like this... [Okay, so Hunk says that a lot, but this time he really really means it. The large, cone-shaped structure in the middle is probably the generator in question, but Hunk doesn't move closer, instead pressing against Keith.] You know, this is a perfect trap scenario for us. All they'd have to do is slam the doors and reactivate the generator, maybe get some of these droids to attack us-...

I don't like this.

[He may have willed his shield away, but Keith has his sword out and at the ready. He keeps looking between where the generator should be and the door they came in from, like he's waiting for something, anything come after them.

It happens so fast, the loud click. The lights like floodlights turning on in a circle around the generator and the loud hum as the turbines start. The ground below his feet vibrate and Keith starts taking steps back to the door.]

I think that's our cue to get out.

[Normally, Hunk would be already gunning it for the exit. Normally he'd be picking Keith up and booking it. Normally, he'd subscribe to the philosophy of 'live to fight another day'...

But then he remembers how it felt when Yellow just went dark, how the generator only clicked on once he got closer, how the others would undoubtedly be looking for them, sensors, a trap-]

We can't! [Hunk spins and runs for the nearest access panel to the generator he can find, prying it open.] The others must've found us, this thing probably kicked on to take them out too! We've gotta stop it!

[Or they could stop the army of droids suddenly bearing down on their position, which is likewise pretty pressing.]

Hunk?!

[They should be running away and Hunk is doing the opposite of that, he's running into the place. Keith hasn't put two and two together just yet but when he says the others must have found them, Keith's eyes are wide. He doesn't get the correlation but if they're out there and this thing blasts...

He's still watching the door, wanting to get away but there's something blocking the door now. He hears a lot of doors open and a lot of metal shuffling and oh crap those are droids. There are so many droids and Hunk's doing something so he can't look. So Keith gets his sword ready, calls over his shoulder:] I'll hold them off! Just- Do whatever you're going to do!

[And then he dives in.]

[Keith with his wounded leg and busted rib is gonna hold off that army of droids. Yeah, if it was literally anybody else, Hunk would already be getting up to help, but Keith- Keith can do it, he can last long enough to-

But just cutting the power won't work, not if this thing is also holding back the tear when in lockdown, as Hunk suspects. He can't just kill the process, he has to make it go back into lockdown, and then interrupt whatever sensor circuit this thing is using to trigger powerup. Which means he has to find the main command line, the switchboard for that and find out if it's just a simple mechanic or something more complex, and he doesn't have time for this because it's going to fire and Keith can't hold out forever-]

Just, calm down, [Hunk mutters to himself, and gets to work. Locates the circuit and cuts a couple wires to reverse the charge. That's the first thing, the most needed, get this thing to power down. The generator suddenly clunks with a bone-rattling thud, but it starts to power back down and Hunk cheers silently to himself as he digs for the circuit to interrupt the sensor data. Just a little more, just a little more, hang on Keith...!]

[It's bad. It's really bad, how exhausted Keith feels after only a few swings of the sword. Getting winded and holding his side before he takes a hit and the air is knocked out of him. But he stays up on his feet because Hunk needs time. He has to do this, he has to last.

He hears the generator shut down and breathes because that's it right? That's all they need. He looks to Hunk, like ready to go but he's still... He's still working. Shit, was there something else? Did they miss something? He's trying to figure it out when he's slammed from behind, knocked to the floor and cries out because his leg twisted a bad way with his weight and god there are so many.

Keith gets his shield back up with gritted teeth, uses it to at least get up to one knee, breathless and backed against the wall.]

Hunk! How much time do you need!

Just a little longer-! [Hunk cries. If he can interrupt the circuit and rewire the power source for that pulse maybe he can-]

Got it, [Hunk gasps, and shoves himself up, barreling toward Keith as the generator gives a terrible whine. He catches a shot in the side and drops, but makes it the last few feet before the pulse bursts and knocks everything out, droids seizing up and dropping to the floor.]

Short-range emp burst, [Hunk gasps, clutching his side as he hovers over Keith.] Should buy us some time. You okay?

[Keith is sweating and feels pretty gross all things considered, trying to ignore the fresh waves of pain that blocked out every other sense. He almost doesn't even notice Hunk getting there to him, just another armor shuffling to him and he has to - has to stop it- and then Hunk talks and it's a second when it registers.

And then everything stops. The drones all collapse and Keith is dumbfounded for a second.]

I-- [God. He uses his sword into the ground to hold himself up, head leaning against the blade while he tries to remember how to breathe.] Did you get it?

I got it. That pulse- won't keep them down for long. W-we gotta, [god, he can't stop gasping, his whole side burns... Hunk pulls his hand away and looks down at where the red is seeping through his bodysuit and everything feels a little distant. Is that supposed to do that?] Gotta, uh, um, we gotta go, [Hunk says as he sinks forward, just barely catching himself on an elbow before he eats tile.]

[Hunk goes down and Keith reaches for him, wants to help. He has to stay up, make sure the others find them but... he hears something ping in his comm before he manages to get hands on Hunk, tries to pull him closer. Hold him there because they're going to make it, this isn't taking them down, not when they've actually talked and Keith rests his head against the wall so he can watch the doors and make sure nothing's getting up.

But it's quiet except for his breathing and slowly, he feels himself falling into darkness.]

Keith, [Hunk pants, reaching up to touch his face,] stay with me... [But his vision's going dark too, and the last thing he sees is Keith's head lolling to the side and the last thing he hears is the scrape of a droid moving across the floor and he wonders, thinks, this isn't so bad, this isn't so bad.

There are worse ways to go.

-

Hunk wakes up to quiet, muffled sounds; full and bubbling, voices in the distance, something making a beeping sound he can't quite ignore. He opens his eyes to see beyond the bluish-green of a tank the faces of his teammates, Shiro and Allura, Coran and Pidge, Lance and there, in a tank beside him, Keith.

Allura touches something on the tank and the liquid drains, and then Hunk gets the whole story. 'Got there just in time,' Lance regales him with a possibly somewhat-embellished account of the rescue. They were found unconscious on the floor, the droids closing in until Lance froze a wall between them. Shiro and Allura took out the droids while Pidge inspected the generator, and Lance got Keith and Hunk safely into Blue to take them up to the castle. They've been in tanks for almost three full days.]

Is Keith okay? [Hunk had asked worriedly, but Coran assured him he was fine, that he just needed a few more vargas in the tank and he'd be right as rain. So Hunk waits right there, wrapped up in a big towel and being showered with food by Lance and prodded for details by Shiro and Pidge until Keith wakes up.]

[He hears someone calling his name before it's quiet, something reaching for his face and he's too tired. He can't keep himself awake anymore, so this isn't a bad way to go. Fighting, with Hunk in his arms.

-

It's exhausting, opening his eyes. He feels like he could sleep for weeks, and the blueish green tint to everything has him thinking it is a dream. He's dazed. He thinks he sees Hunk there with a towel and waiting for something, but that can't be right? They were going to die. So this can't be real. This can't be the castle.

Keith tests resting his hand against his side of the glass. Looks down at it when there's actual feeling there. He feels it, that's real. They're here. He's sore and not sure how he's alive but. He is. And there's Hunk, right there. Alive and safe.]