"Keith, are you crazy?!" Lance shook him by the shoulders.

Keith held his cheeks in his hands, "Lance, just trust me."

Keith, I can't just set them off with you guys in there!

"You're gonna have to!" Keith ran to the side of the roof and inspected the ground. "Where's Coran?"

Four minutes out!

Keith shook his head, "We can't wait that long."

Lance limped to his side and looked to the ground. He couldn't understand what Keith was thinking. There were no bodies of water. No cushion. No way. "Keith, how the hell are we gonna do that?!"

He ignored him, "Pidge, which way is the building gonna fall?"

If it doesn't fall perfectly down, then it will fall to the northwest.

Keith jogged over to the opposite side, "Alright." He stared at the ground for a while, "Shiro?! Are you there?!"

There was no answer.

Lance sighed, "I hope he's okay."

"He'll be fine." He ran back to Lance and grabbed his face, "Alright, when we jump, keep close to me. As long as we are together, our chances of survival are almost 100%."

He softly grabbed Keith's wrists, "Keith, you're scaring me."

"Relax your muscles, bend your knees slightly, don't hit your head."

Lance's eyes teared up and he shook his head. The pounding of the roof door caught their attention.

"Damn it!" He kissed Lance to take care of his leg, "When you hit the ground, land on your feet. Immediately after you land, roll your body to the side. There's gonna be a lot of dust and debris, so be careful."

"Keith, please."

More door pounding filled the air. Keith kept Lance's face away from it, "You can do it, I know you can. I love you so much." He rested their foreheads together, "Do you trust me?"

Lance let out a frightened sob and held his cheek with a shaky hand, "We're a team, remember?"

He brought him into a hug, "Pidge! Set them off!"

But-

"Take this building down!"

...Okay. Bombs set to go off in five,

Keith readied his stance, setting the reluctant Lance up as well.

Four

Keith gave Lance's hand one last squeeze, then let go.

Three

The doors to the roof finally gave in, bringing out attacking Galra members.

Two

Keith ran forward, "Go!"

Lance followed closely beside him, heart pounding and head spinning.

One.

Loud booms shook the building, going from one side to the other. Keith and Lance jumped from the roof just as it started to give out. Large clouds of smoke burst through the air, engulfing them in grey. Pieces of the walls and brick flew through the air, bringing smoke behind them. Flames appeared between the collapsing floors; screaming came with them.

Lance's stomach dropped with his body, he kept his muscles relaxed and followed Keith's instructions. Even with the advice, when he touched the ground he landed incorrectly. His left knee was shot with an excruciatingly sharp pain. His body rolled to the side through the debris. He covered his head as he slowed down. Adrenaline kept him from feeling half of the pain in his body, but it felt like he was witnessing all of it. Thick wind hammered his back and hit him with various items. When the loud crashing quieted down, Lance opened his eyes and immediately recoiled at the pain in his leg. He hesitantly lowered his eyes to see the damage. Through the thick blanket of grey, he could see a pool of blood under his leg. Bone stuck through his knee, piercing his skin.

He tore his eyes away and covered his mouth. Smoke had filled his lungs and coated his throat. Keith was nowhere to be seen. Did they land close to each other? It was impossible to tell with the darkness of the dusty smoke. He pushed himself up, coughing and hacking. After dragging himself a few feet, he fell to the side. There was no way he could move with his leg in that condition. The more he moved, the more he bled. Tears of panic and hurt fell down his cheeks. Lance mentally prepared himself for death. With the last of his strength, he called out. "Keith!"

He didn't hear an answer.

"Keith!" He gasped for breath, "Where the hell are you?"

"-ance"

Lance turned his head to the side as he heard a voice through the debris. "Keith?!"

A figure appeared through the fog, running up to him. Lance furrowed his brows, "Shiro?!"

"Hey Lance," he inspected his injuries and gave him a bandana, "Put this on and prepare yourself. I'm carrying you out."

He tied the bandana around his head like Shiro had his, "But my leg is-"

"Yeah, I know." He laced a hand under his back and knees, "This is gonna hurt like hell."

Lance's skin tore as his leg bent. He screamed at the pain as Shiro picked him up and hurried to the side. Lance wished that he would just pass out from the pain, but he didn't. When he was finally set down, he opened his eyes. He lied on the metal floor of Coran's helicopter. He quickly scanned the space for Keith, but didn't find him. He locked eyes with Shiro, "Where's Keith?!"

"I don't know, I found you first." He stood and adjusted his bandana, "I'm going back in to get him."

"You need to hurry," Coran started, "Lance won't last long."

He gave Coran a nod, then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Coran called after him with a raised hand.

Shiro turned back to him.

He lowered his arm, "It's dangerous out there. Please be careful."

He gave Coran a soft smile and stepped back over to him. With a hand on the bottom of his chin, he kissed his hair softly. "I'll be careful." He pulled away and jumped out of the helicopter, "And I will bring Keith back!"

Lance coughed up blood as he felt the weight of his crushed ribs. Coran took off his belt and used it as a tourniquet on Lance's thigh. The full amount of pain Lance was in hit him like a bomb. Everything hurt. Everywhere was bleeding or bruised. He knew he wasn't going to last long if Shiro didn't find Keith soon.

"Coran," Lance coughed out.

"Yes, my boy?"

"If I don't make it out of here alive," he held up his hand to look at his ring, "Tell Keith I love him. And I'm not mad."

Coran's bottom lip quivered, "Okay, I will."

Lance relaxed and thought back on his life. The majority of it was spent being scared. What a life to live. He almost let his body drift off until he heard Coran's voice.

"Shiro doesn't hate you, you know."

He turned to look in his eyes with a weak gaze, "What?"

"Shiro doesn't hate you. He actually admires you."

"I doubt that," Lance coughed.

"It's true," Coran started bandaging up Lance's bloody wounds, "He was jealous at first, but he started to like your fire. He truly does think you are the best person for Keith."

"Regardless of the fact that we're literally soulmates?"

Coran laughed, "Yeah, I was personally sold when Keith came back. I knew you guys were meant to be together."

Lance wheezed a few breaths, "Hey Coran?"

"Yes?"

"What was Keith like as a kid? Did you know him?"

Coran's smile dropped, "Yes, I did. Not very well, but I learned his backstory when I became involved with the team." He moved onto another wound, "Keith's mother left him when he was very young. He was...four I think. I'm not sure why, but Keith was raised by his father until he was sixteen. Then, he ran away and stayed with Shiro. That's when I met him."

A tear dropped down the side of Lance's face, "That's so sad." His face suddenly brightened when he remembered Keith's words. "September 12th. 3:04pm. 4:04pm. Four years old."

"What?"

Lance locked eyes with Coran, "Do any of those mean anything to you?"

Coran thought about it for a few moments, "No, should they?"

"It's something Keith said. I just," he trailed off. "I feel like they should mean something to me."

"They don't?"

"No." Lance coughed a couple more times. "Wait." His breathing increased, pushing harder on his ribs, "September 12th was the day I- the day my parents died."

"Guys!" Shiro burst through the fog and jumped into the helicopter. "Coran, Get us in the air!"

"Roger that!" He jumped up and went to the cockpit.

A broken Keith was placed next to Lance. His eyes were closed and Lance was unsure if he was breathing. Keith's arm crossed Lance's as they lied side by side. Lance called out to him, "Keith?!"

The helicopter lifted, wind blowing their clothes and hair around. "Keith?!"

Lance saw shallow breaths raise his chest. "Keith!" He pulled his body up to bring him close.

Keith groaned, "Lance."

Lance rested his head on the metal of the helicopter floor and wrapped his arm around Keith's neck. "I'm right here." He pulled him into a tender kiss, then let his head fall back down. His vision faded out as he stared at Keith's empty face.