Klance
Mpreg
Uh
Klangst
Get ready to riot against me

Distant alarms blared, red lights flashing. Smoke started to clear up as the red paladin coughed, pushing himself up. "Ugh... Lance... Lance!?" Keith gasped, leaping to his feet.

A few coughs caught his attention. "Here..."

Keith scrambled towards to clear, purple wall. "Lance!" He fell to his knees, hands flat over the wall. "Shit, you're bleeding!"

Lance smirked. "It's nothing, babe. I've had worse."

"Yeah?" Keith huffed with a small smile. "I doubt that."

The blue paladin chuckled, then coughed again. "Quiznak... Keith, you- you need to go back... Get in a pod."

Keith shook his head. "No. Not without you. I need to get you out." Keith pulled our his blade and started looking around.

"N-no, Keith." Lance flattened a bloody hand over the wall. "I have a plan." He muttered, breathing deeply. Keith looked back at him. "Besides... You need to make sure they're okay..."

The red paladin slowly shrunk back to the floor, placing a hand over his abdomen. Lance smiled. "I bet they'll be just like you."

Keith snorted. "With you as their father, I doubt it. They'll hate me, Lance."

Lance smiled softly. "Not at all, Keith. They'll love you." He then frowned, looking over Keith's shoulder.

The red paladin twisted and looked into the opening.

"Go, Keith. I'll distract them for you."

"Be out right after?" Keith turned back to Lance.

"Promise." Lance smiled, meeting Keith's gaze.

Keith gulped, then slowly nodded. "Okay. But I'm not getting in the pod until you're back on the ship."

Lance huffed amusedly. "Go on. I love you. Both of you."

The red paladin smiled. "I love you, too. I'd kiss you, but..."

"Just go." Lance mused, but kept his eyes in contact with Keith's.

Keith took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay... I'll see you on the ship..."

Lance smiled, then watched as Keith hurried out. His smile fell once Keith was gone.

"You still there, bud?"

"Yeah." Lance sighed. "Still here. Is Keith-"

"It's just you and me, Lance."

"Okay... Good... I found the panel before Keith came in... I can't set it. I have to stay here."

Shiro breathed deeply. "You're not going to make it..."

Lance chuckled. "No. I'm not... I'm not going to be able to hold my baby." His expression softened as he closed his eyes. "Take care of them for me?"

"Of course." Shiro whispered, breath shaking. "They'll be fine. I promise."

"Thank you, Shiro... They're coming."

"I see. It was a good ride with you, Lance."

"You, too, oh fearless leader." He gave a weak salute, despite Shiro not being there. "See you on the other side."

Lance then groaned, curling in on himself as he clutched his stomach. "Sh-shit... Fuck..."

"Paladin of the blue lion."

Said man rolled his eyes and looked up at the Galran soldiers. "Yeah? What do you want? Can't you see I'm in pain?"

The Galran ignored him. "I'm here to take to you the emperor. If you struggle or resist, I have orders to kill you."

Lance smirked, dropping his head back against the wall as he raised his bayard. "Is that right, dick face?"

"Are you going to come willingly?"

"Nope." Lance aimed his bayard, grinning brightly despite the blood and sweat. "And none of us are going to see the light of day again."

He pulled on the trigger.

~

The moment Keith got back on the castle ship, he bolted for the bridge. He panted heavily as he came stumbling into the room, then hurried for his chair. "Lance is still on the ship!"

Allura nodded, typing on her screens. "Yes, I know. I'm trying to-"

Everyone gasped and jolted with the ship as it was rocked and shaken by an enormous blast. Allura fell over from the shock, everyone else using their arms to cover their eyes from the bright light that erupted from the explosion.

Quickly, the paladins and Alteans gathered themselves and looked ahead. Keith started to shake, eyes wide. "L-Lance... Lance! Allura, where's Lance!? Tell me he got off!"

Allura started swiping and typing as fast as she could. "I-I can't find him! I've lost Lance's signal!"

Keith turned to Shiro. "Shiro, please! We have to go search for him!"

"We can't do that now! We have several Galran ships locked on our position and are on their way! We have to go!"

"But Lance-!"

"If he was still on that ship, Keith..." Coran looked up from his control panel. "He's gone."

Keith froze, breath catching in his throat. "N-no... He-he can't... He promised..."

"To get you out." Shiro looked up at Keith over his shoulder. "He knew he wasn't going to make it, Keith."

"We need to wormhole out! Our defenses need repairs before we can fight again!" Hunk shouted, tears in his eyes.

"We-we can't leave without Lance!" Keith cried with a wild gesture to the wreckage before them.

Shiro clenched his jaw. "Allura..."

The princess hesitated with a glance towards Keith. "On it..."

~

The blue lion locked herself away, as did Keith.

The paladin kept himself in his once shared room, trying to stop the tears but failing. He didn't know what to do.

Keith couldn't fight anymore. That was his last battle for a long time and he's banned from the training deck.

All he has was his knife. His blade.

"Agh!" Keith screamed, throwing his blade. He kicked and punched and fell onto his bed, sobbing until he passed out.

He's wake up, poke at his plate of goo Hunk would leave at his door, but never took a bite. Then the screaming and throwing would continue.

It went like this for three days.

On the fourth day, Pidge noticed the odd silence. She hesitantly knocked on Keith's door, then let herself in as it opened.

Keith didn't look up, though he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Keith?" Pidge murmured, cautiously stepping closer.

"Yesterday..." He trailed, Lance's jacket in his hands. Pidge slowly sat beside him. "Yesterday was his birthday."

Pidge lowered her head, then leaned on Keith. "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry. I-I wish there was something that-that I could have done..." She sucked in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry..."

Keith shook his head, beginning to tremble. "W-why... Why would he promise if-if he knew...?"

She grabbed his hand. "He loves you." Was her answer.

The red paladin choked and sobbed, letting Pidge gather him in her short arms. "I-I can't! I can't do this without him!"

"Yes you can." Pidge squeezed him, pressing her nose into his hair. "You can. You're strong, Keith. We're here to help you, okay?"

Keith nodded, clinging to her. "Okay... Okay..."

"You need to eat. You need to rest. You need to take more care of yourself for the baby." Pidge whispered, letting him pull away.

"I just... Lance was so excited..." Keith placed his hands over his abdomen, looking down. "He was so happy..."

Pidge nodded. "I know."

"My baby won't ever know their father, Pidge. Lance won't ever get to hold them or play with them-" A broken sob cut him off. Keith held up Lance's jacket to his chest.

The green paladin stayed there for hours that day, and even the next.

~

Keith sighed softly as he stood in his room, hands over his baby bump. He looked around, then grabbed Lance's jacket. Keith tugged it on, nestled into it to breathe in Lance's scent, then slowly left the room.

Pidge met him in the hallway, whistling as she went. Keith raised a brow down at her. "What's with the good mood?" He mused.

The shorter paladin grinned. "I just completed a project. Slav gave crap reviews, of course, but I'm proud of it."

Keith chuckled. "I'm glad you finally finished something."

Pidge rolled her eyes and gently bumped Keity. "I've finished things before. I've finished finding my brother."

"Finding your father is a part of that mission, so that's not actually finished." Keith gestured towards her.

She just huffed and pouted. "Don't remind me." Pidge grumbled, folding her arms. "How do you feel?"

"I feel like I'm about to hack up a lung, but fine otherwise."

"Mom said that the first is usually the worst. Usually. Not all the time." Pidge skipped forward a few paces, then slowed again. Keith was confused, but didn't question her actions.

"There's not going to be another, Pidge. This is the one and only time." Keith sighed, tucking a hand under the jacket to place on his bump.

Pidge bit her lip, then slowly nodded. "I know... I was just... Keeping up conversation. That's all."

Keith hummed, head low. "I know."

~

Hunk yawned and stretched out. "Oh, man!" He shook himself, then looked over to Pidge. "How is he, today?"

Pidge huffed, waving her fork. "Miserable. Baby's kicking and punching, keeping him up all night. Keith's seriously sick and bleh. He said he's going to try to sleep a little more."

Shiro nodded. "That's good. He needs his rest. Allura? How's the bonding with Blue?"

The princess gulped down her bite of food goo. "It's going well, but... She misses Lance very much. She's known him his whole life. She's just trying to cope and I'm trying to help her through it."

The yellow paladin lowered his fork and his head, then scratched the back of his neck. "Is... Is it bad that I forgot? I forgot this morning. I went to his room to wake him up, then I remembered he shares with Keith, then I... Then I remembered."

Slowly, Pidge leaned over onto Hunk, patting his arm. "It's okay... We all forgot at some point."

"I forgot the week after." Shiro admitted, carding his fingers through his hair. "It was quiet and calm, so I thought Lance was still sleeping." He chuckled softly.

Pidge then giggled. "He was usually the main reason for all the ruckus. You'd always hear him over everything else."

Hunk grinned and nudged her. "Be nice." She just stuck her tongue out at him.

~

Keith crossed his eyes, blowing upwards.

"What are you doing?"

"Sating my bordism." Keith grumbled in response, then returned to blowing his hair.

Pidge huffed amusedly, then flicked his hair out of his face. Keith pouted at her as she sat beside him. "That's cruel. I was actually having fun."

The green paladin chuckled, then gestured to his swollen belly. "How are they?"

Keith hummed, hands already rubbing up and down his belly. "For now, quiet. Earlier they were kicking my guts out." He bit his lip. "Lance said... That he couldn't wait until they started kicking and moving around. That way he'd know for sure if they were a boy or girl."

"I don't think you could tell that way." Pidge mused, poking Keith's stomach.

The red paladin then groaned a moment later. "Oh, quiznak you, Pidge."

"Did I get a kick back?"

"Yeah. A really hard one, too." Keith grabbed her hand and placed it flat over his belly. "Tap. They'll respond."

Pidge grinned and tapped. She giggled as she felt it. "Strong. Lance would be so proud."

Keith nodded, relaxing on the sofa. "I hope so..."

~

Hunk, Pidge and Allura loved placing their hands over Keith's large baby belly and talking to the baby. Shiro only felt if Keith invited him and Coran avoided his belly as if he'd kill the baby if he touched. Slav wasn't allowed near Keith, and neither was Kaltenecker.

Kolivan was rather curious, but didn't approach Keith.

Occationally, Keith stayed up, sobbing softly into the silence of his room as he thought about that father of his baby.

Keith was tired and requested the strangest food choices from Hunk. However, Hunk gladly made them and would get ingredients.

Allura and Pidge were set with the task of setting up everything for the baby, and getting everything.

The red paladin refused to sit idly in his room wile the others fought and instead sat in the bridge with Coran and Slav while talking to them and keeping an eye on them. He wasn't allowed to assist from his chair anymore.

Since he couldn't pilot Red anymore during his pregnancy, they searched around for another temporary.

Red took a liking to Matthew right away like she had with Lance. They flew well together, but Matthew says that he's glad it's only temporary. He'd rather be on babysitting duty.

~

Keith groaned, trying to relax after another contraction passed. "Sh-shit... How-how far apart?"

"Down to... Two minutes apart." Allura murmured, stroking his sweat-soaked hair back. "Pidge says that you're doing great."

"That was seven contractions ago." He grumbled. "She left after that to do fuck knows what."

Allura giggled, placing her hand on his forehead. "She'll be back soon. Just hang tight."

~

Every part of Keith was sore. Every bit. Everything ached and throbbed, but he was relieved and joyful and so, so happy.

He sobbed with a smile, cradling his new born little girl in his arms. "My baby girl... She's so beautiful."

"That'd be because we cleaned her up instead of just handing her to you straight out of your-" Allura slapped a hand over Pidge's mouth and dragged her out.

"We'll be just outside if you need us." Allura waved and smiled, then the door shut.

Keith trembled as he held her close to himself. He stroked her soft, round cheeks and pet her fluffy, dark hair. "Beautiful... My gorgeous little girl..." Tears fell from his cheeks and pattered on the white blanket. "Your father loves you. He loves you so, so much... I just know it."

The sleeping baby sniffled and her fists rubbed into her cheeks as she stretched her legs. She relaxed with a low breath.

"He named you Rosalyn... After your grandmother, Rosá. Then Maríe as your middle name because it was the only name we could agree on." Keith whispered to her, running the pad of his thumb over her smooth skin. "I don't want to know what kind of name your father would have come up with for a boy. Something absolutely ridiculous, I am sure."

Rosalyn nuzzled closer into Keith, her tiny fingers catching on the gown he had to wear.

Keith sucked in a deep, shaking breath. "You look just like him... Little Rosie..." He smiled weakly, bringing her up to kiss her forehead. "I love you... I love you so, so much, little Rosie."

-----

2422 words

And he's not coming back.