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Shiro watches from his lion as the Galra drops bombs on the city they’ve been trying to free for the last twelve hours. They’re all exhausted and half of them were trying to evacuate the town, but now it’s nothing more than rubble.
Shiro’s lion destroys the ship that manages to get bombs past them, then dives down. Hunk continues trying to manage the ships by himself while Shiro races to find their teammates. The Castle is almost done recharging anyway, so they’ll be able to help soon. Shiro jumps out of his seat as soon as his lion touches the ground.
“Is everyone ok?” Pidge asks, and Shiro lets out a breath.
“I don’t know where Lance and Keith are, but it’s good that you’re alright.”
“Yeah, I was at the evacuation point. I’ll see if I can pinpoint their exact locations from their trackers.”
“Thanks, let me know what you find.”
Shiro doesn’t wait, running to the rubble that was a town only a few minutes ago.
“Ok, I have both of their locations. I’m going to get Lance, and I’m sending you Keith’s right now.”
Shiro waits for the information to come through, then heads to the coordinates as fast as he can. When he gets there, he finds a ruined church, nothing more than a pile of smoldering rocks. Shiro feels his breath catch in his lungs, and suddenly he can’t think, and can’t breathe.
Up until this moment, he was hoping that he was wrong, and Keith was fine. That there was another reason he wasn’t answering, but this is undeniable proof slapping him in the face. They’re far enough out from the actual bombs that most of the damage was from shockwaves, and that’s Shiro’s only solace.
He takes a step forward, and starts trying to pick through the rubble for Keith. It’s slow going, and every thing that he moves without any sign of Keith is enough to make Shiro want to cry. He digs for another ten minutes before he sees a bare hand. The voice in the back of his mind says that it can’t be Keith since he was in armor and a flight suit, but Shiro starts digging the person out anyway since they obviously need help regardless of who it is.
The man is quiet, but doesn’t seem to have any major injuries. He was near the exit and near the top of the rubble, so Shiro just sets him away from the rubble, and fixes his neck and back before continuing. He ends up spotting a broken piece of Keith’s armor a few feet away. He starts digging there immediately, and finds Keith a foot away under a bunch of rubble.
Keith’s helmet is broken, and blood is covering his face and hair. There’s something that went completely through his forearm, but Shiro can’t tell what it is. His shoulders and head are at an odd angle, and his knee is bent weirdly.
“Keith?” Shiro whispers, his hands hovering over Keith’s body without touching him.
Keith’s eyes open, but they’re glazed over. He whimpers, shuddering. His eyes stare past Shiro, unseeing. If he wasn’t shaking so badly, Shiro would wonder if he was even still alive.
“Guys, I need an extraction right now. I can’t move Keith, and I don’t know how to get him out of here.” Shiro’s voice is shaking so badly that he can barely get the words out.
Allura is the one to respond, and she seems scared by his tone and words too, “Ok, just stay where you are, and we’ll come to you as soon as we can get to the ground.”
“Good news, I found Lance, and he’s fine. His comm was broken, but he was on the edge of town.”
“Good. Shiro stay with Keith, and Pidge, you should take Lance and look for survivors.”
Shiro doesn’t respond, all of his attention is focused on Keith, who’s whimpering again. Shiro gently places a hand in his hair, away from the gash causing all of the blood.
“Shhh, it’s ok, buddy. You’re going to be alright, Otouto. I’m going to take care of you.”
Keith’s empty gaze settles on Shiro’s face, and while he continues shaking, he stops whimpering.
“That’s right, just keep breathing. You’re alright. I love you, Otouto. I love you so much, and you’re going to be fine.”
Keith’s breath hitches, and he coughs. His whole face screws up in pain, and he whimpers again. Shiro bites his lip hard enough to draw blood to keep the tears at bay. He leans closer, and starts rubbing circles on the back of Keith’s hand as he whispers more reassurances. Despite the fact that he never turned it off, the comm channel is dead quiet. He isn’t even aware that they’re still listening. By then, it’s just him and Keith, who has gone disturbingly quiet.
“Hey, Otouto. You gotta stay awake, ok?”
Shiro takes in a short breath, wondering if Keith can even hear him. Keith blinks slowly, broken gaze turning upwards. His eyes seem to follow something that Shiro can’t see, and he has more lucidity in his eyes than he has this entire time.
“Keith?”
“Shiro?” Keith whispers, his voice broken.
He doesn’t look at Shiro, and Shiro’s glad, because the tears finally fall down his face. He doesn’t let more than a few tears slip down his face.
I won’t cry until this is over.
Shiro gently cups Keith’s face in his hands.
“Shiro, we’re heading to your location right now,” Allura says, causing Shiro to jump.
“Yeah, ok. Just hurry up.”
It’s only a few minutes after that when Allura runs up. She doesn’t waste any time, just immediately very gently picks Keith up. He still lets out a breathless, pained gasp. She walks back to the Castle as quickly as she reasonably can with Shiro trailing behind her. He keeps a hold of Keith’s hand, pressing his thumb into the back of Keith’s hand to try to ground him. Allura sets him down on a bed once they get into the infirmary.
“I’m going to set his injuries to make sure that they heal properly in the pod. Just try to keep his attention. We want to make sure that he doesn’t go into shock, but we can’t drug him.”
Shiro nods, gripping Keith’s hand tighter. He tips Keith’s chin, pointing his face towards him. Allura starts with his knee. He doesn’t respond when she touches him, and doesn’t do anything other than shudder when she puts his knee back in place.
“Keith?”
Keith blinks, his eyes barely opening again. Shiro forces him to stay awake as Allura continues getting him prepped for the pod, but as soon as he’s in the pod, Shiro breaks down crying. Allura puts a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, but doesn’t say anything. Even though he knows now that Keith is going to be fine, he can’t get Keith’s blank eyes out of his head.