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hey y'all I'm baaaaaaaaackkkk sorry lol

"Lance?"

"Keith, is it...?"

"Broken? Yeah. Come on out."

Keith exited Red's hatch, floating out into space. He used his blasters to float over to the empty space between the Red and Blue Lions.

Lance clambered out to, meeting Keith in the middle and hugging him tightly. Keith was stiff and awkward in his armor, but he hugged Lance back the best he could. Through his helmet, the brunette looked paranoid.

"Blue's not responding. I think she got shocked or something."

"Neither is Red. I don't know if we got to the reality, but I guess we'll know when the Lions come back online."

Neither Paladin asked the most important question, the one that everything relied on. If the TRAM was broken, would they ever be able to get back home?

Keith squeezed Lance's hand. "Come on. Let's see if there's anything we can salvage."

The two floated around the site, but most pieces of the tram were barely bigger than a fingernail and therefore useless as salvage.

"I have enchiladas if you're hungry," Lance said weakly, trying to offer some humor to the dark, open expanse of space. Keith looked around. It didn't look like there were any nearby planets or none that he could see, anyway. He bit his lip and turned to Lance with a forced smile.

Before they ate, the two teens found some rope in Red and tethered the two Lions together so they wouldn't get separated while they slept. After eating dinner in the Blue Lion, their shoulders pressed together as the two Paladins ate together in silence, Keith decided that the best they could do was try to sleep off the shock and they were tired anyway. Keith helped Lance craft a small bed (i.e. a bundle of blankets that resembled more of a nest than anything) in the cargo hold of Blue.

Keith turned to leave but Lance grabbed his hand, pulling him down to the blankets. "Can you stay...? Just until I fall asleep?" he asked softly, eyes cast down. Keith's face softened and he nodded, laying down next to Lance on his side, propped up on his elbow. The Blue Paladin curled up into a ball and pressed his back into Keith, aligning their bodies until they were practically spooning.

Yeah, it wasn't the most appropriate for the circumstance at hand, but Lance needed the comfort. And Keith was warm and soft and kind and familiar. Keith gazed down at the brunette with wonder. He was trying to remain calm for his sake.

"What are we going to do?" Lance whispered. Keith looked up at the ceiling. He sighed- he didn't know the answer. 

"We're going to take it one step at a time." It was the best he could do. 

Lance smiled but didn't meet Keith's eyes. After a few moments, he muttered, "You know... I remember the 'bonding moment', as you put it."

Keith blinked. No way. "Why didn't you-"

"It was hard for me to... I dunno. I just wasn't ready."

Lance turned to look at Keith, his blue eyes reminding Keith of Earth, sparkling and so full of life. 

"It's okay," Keith reassured Lance, but his heart was beating too fast to believe it. He remembered that moment. Seeing Lance lying on the ground amidst the rubble, running to him and helping him up, quite literally cradling him in his arms. Keith could still hear Lance's voice in his head, 'We did it...'

"We are a good team," Lance murmured, his eyes fluttering closed. 

Keith smiled ruefully. "Yeah." The Blue Paladin fell asleep to the feel of Keith gently rubbing his back and the sound of his familiar breathing.

As soon as Lance was sound asleep, Keith carefully picked himself up off the floor. He wanted so badly to lay there with him, to comfort the Blue Paladin and kiss away his worry. "I'll protect you. Always," he thought as he kissed Lance's cheek before exiting the Blue Lion and heading back to the Red Lion. She looked so sad, floating lifeless in space. It scared him that such a magnificent beast was incapacitated so quickly. He tried not to think about what was going to happen when he woke up.

As Keith slipped inside the Lion's cabin, he rested his head against the wall. "Thank you for making sure I didn't die back there," he murmured to Red. He paused, as if hoping she'd reply, but after a moment, he walked into the cockpit and sat down in the pilot chair, reclining it back as far as he could and shedding off his Paladin armor. He curled up on the chair and did his best to fall asleep.

...

The two Lions floated aimlessly in space, lifeless. In the distance, a giant ship, slowly moving in their direction. 

"Captain, we're seeing some unidentified crafts in the area."

"Scan for heat signatures."

"Two lifeforms detected, sir."

The ship, giant and looming, slowly drew closer to the Lions. Inside, the two pilots slept, unaware. 

"Any response, Sergeant?"

"No, sir. We're not receiving any messages in response. They're not signaling a distress call, either."

"Bring me closer."

The ship slipped into a ray of light emitted from a nearby star, revealing it to be roughly as large as the Castle of Lions, maybe a bit smaller. It was large, dark grey, and boxy, but had minimal defense systems. 

"Be on the alert, team. We don't know what these crafts are."

"They're in our jurisdiction, Captain."

"Let the Colonel know, Sergeant. This might even be important to the General."

"Yes, sir. Are we instructed to extract the crafts?"

On the side of the craft red the words PROPERTY OF EARTH. 

"Yes. Sergeant, I think we've just found ourselves some aliens."