Keith's POV: ~Inside his dream~

I open my eyes to find myself inside a healing pod. I push my hand against the glass, but it wouldn't open. Wait, why isn't it opening? I ask myself. Then, I hear the sound of laser guns and marching footsteps, I quickly pull my hand away and see Galra soldiers marching through the halls of the castle, I press my body against the back of the pod, trying desperately to hide myself. If they find me in here, I'm dead! I think to myself, trying to steady my rapidly beating heart. The Galra start to approach me, then, I hear another laser gun go off, shooting the cyborgs right in the head, I see Lance, he turns around and sees me. "Hey! You're awake!" He says with a smile, the it fades. "But, why isn't the pod opening?" He asked curiously with a puzzled look on his face. "I don't know. Can you get me out?" I ask frantically. Lance smirks at me. "Keith my man, do you know who you're talking to? Of course I can!" Lance said with confidence, he studied the pod and began to type on the keypad, but nothing happened, he banged his fist on it in frustration, he then, let out a sigh. "So..." He began, the paused. "So, basically, you can't get me out of this thing." I say with my arms crossed. "Yup. Looks like you're gonna miss out on all the fun, Red. The Galra infiltrated the castle. But... You probably guessed that already." Lance said, stating the obvious, I look at him with my arms crossed. "You know, I'd hate to admit this, but I really wish you weren't stuck in there. Having you fight with us would've made a huge difference" He adds, I give him an agitated look. "But not much we can do about that, so..." He says, holding my bayard. "Get Allura or Coran! They should be able to do something about the pod. I want to help! I need to help, Lance!" I say frantically, Lance turns away from with a serious look on his face. "Everyone is fighting their own battles, Keith. My job is to protect you. You weren't even supposed to be awake yet, so, I was sent down here to guard your pod" Lance says, my eyes widen. "What? No! Just go help the others!" I protest. "Nope, can't do it. You're stuck in there and you can't fight back or escape in case more Galra find you." Lance says casually, looking at me, I ball my fists and press them against the glass. Is this guy an idiot or what? I know what he's about to say next. "So, just hang out, relax, and let me concentrate on protecting you like you've always wanted" Lance adds with a smirk, activating my bayrad, my heart begins to pound rapidly against my chest. He's not going to do, what I think he's about to do, is he? "Lance. You can't take on a legion of Galra if they come in here!" I yell in frustration. "Dude, taking on a legion of Galra is, like, my thing." Lance replies to my frustration casually, holding my bayrad, now activated as a gun. "Are you kidding me right now?" I ask in frustration. Hold on, maybe I can just... I try to punch the glass, but end up drawing my hand back. Lance looks at me as I shake my hand, it now throbbing slightly. "Well, the good thing is, I don't think this pod is going to open for anything or anyone, so if I happen to be like, gunned down and they get in, I think you'll still be safe." Lance says, his back turned to me, my eyes widen, he's willing to risk his life for me, I press my fist against the glass of the pod. "Then leave me. Like you said, I'll be..." I start to say, but Lance cuts me off. "No way, I'm not taking that chance." Lance says sternly. Suddenly, I hear a gunshot, a laser beam hits the pod while Lance is facing me. My eyes widen in fear for his safety. "Turn around!" I yell. Lance turns around and is faced with a whole legion of Galra cyborg soldiers, and they're running right towards him, Lance aims his gun. "Hey, Keith? Wanna see something cool?" He asks, he turns the gun into a sword and proceeds to slice right through the cyborgs, as if they were paper, I watch with wide eyes as he slices each one without missing a beat, when he stops, there's a pile of sliced metal at his feet, he turns to see me with a wide smile on my face, he smirks. "Heh. You should see your face right now!" He says, with confidence. Suddenly, a Galra sword whirls around and hits him in the back with a thunk, he drops my sword and grips his stomach with a pained expression on his face, my eyes widen in fear. "L...Lance? Lance! Are... Are you-?" I ask frantically. "F-fine, just... Just give me a minute" He says, I notice the Galra sword sticking out of his back, my heart thumps painfully against my chest, then, I see a Galra standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face. "Lance. Lance! Get out of here! Just run!" I call out, pounding my fists against the glass. Lance stands in a fighting stance, his body lightly shaking, the Galra picks him up by the throat and roughly yanks his sword from Lance's back. Lance winces in pain, I grow furious and punch the glass of the pod multiple times. "STOP!!! Let him go!" I yell, gritting my teeth, and continuing to bang my fists against the pod. The Galra looks at me, then smirks, he walks up to the pod and harshly slams Lance against the glass, I stare wide eyed. "Is he your friend? Do you care about him?" The Galra asks mockingly, Lance smiles at me, blood trickling down his lip, he places his hand on the pod, and I place my hand in the same spot. "You're gonna be fine, Keith. I won't let him..." Lance starts to say, but I cut him off. "Shut up, Lance!" I yell, tears beginning to stream down my face, Lance looks at me with wide eyes. "Keith?" He asks. I roughly press my fist against the pod. "You are a coward! Open this pod and face me like a true Galra!" I yell in rage, the Galra sneers at me. "A true Galra? You are half-breed at best. But, even though it would be no match, I am not going to fight you." He says, then he smirks at me as he continues. "After all, you are the reason we are here" At hearing that, my heart skipped a beat and my eyes widen. I'm the reason they... I'm the reason Lance is... Everything... Is my fault. The realization hits me like a brick, I hang my head in defeat. "Then, take me with you. just leave my friends alone" I beg. "Keith, that's... that's n-not happening today. The whole point... was for you to survive. It's fine" Lance says with a smile. "Lance, no! We're supposed to protect each other! We're supposed to have each other's backs" I say, staring at Lance with wide eyes. "I did. I got you, buddy" Lance replies. My body begins to tremble, a pool of blood develops at Lance's feet. I watch as the Galra pulls Lance away from the glass of the pod, holds him close to his chest and proceeds to cut his cheek with his Galra sword, Lance winces in pain, I pound my fists against the pod. "STOP! Stop! I'll do anything!" I beg, the Galra sneers at me. "But there's only one thing I need you to do little half-breed..." He hisses, then, he smirks. "I need you to break" He says, raising his sword and aiming it directly at Lance's chest. "Vrepit sa!" He says as he stabs Lance in the chest. "No!" I yell with wide eyes, tears flowing down my cheeks like rain. The Galra drops Lance's now limp body. The pod finally opens and I rush out and quickly grab Lance before he hits the ground. I prop him on my knee, my clothes already beginning to stain with his blood, my shaking hand hovers over his bleeding wound. "K-Keith" Lance struggles to say my name, his voice barely above a whisper. "Hey... don't- don't try to talk right now. I'm trying to... I'm trying... I'm... I'm here. You're going to be f-fine. You're going to be okay, Lance." I manage to say through my tears, a small smile on my face. Lance smiles at me, then, it fades, and the life drains from his face. I stare at his blank expression with wide eyes, the tears flowing non-stop down my face, my body shaking with each sob that escapes my throat. "L...Lance? Hey. Come on, buddy. You're okay. You're fine. You're... Please... Please say something. Just... Just do something." I beg, my voice becoming softer and softer. I hold Lance close to my chest and cry onto his shoulder. I begin to hear very faint, far off, familiar voices, but I pay no attention. "Anything but this" I say to myself as the tears continue to flow down my cheeks. The Galra approaches me. "Now, leave him and come with me" The Galra hisses, harshly grabbing my arm and dragging me away from Lance. "No, I'm staying with Lance!" I protest, trying desperately to escape the Galra's firm grip on my arm. "Stop resisting. You are Galra, you belong with us." The Galra hisses. Then, I hear the faint, distant voice again. "Come on, Keith. Come back to us!" Wh...what? That was Shiro's voice, but... He's not here. No one else is here. It was just me and I... I let them all down. I think to myself. Suddenly, I feel like I'm being shocked and I hear another voice. "Come on, buddy. We need you. You can do this!" Lance? No, he couldn't have said that. He's... He is... He'll never... I can't... I think to myself, I look down at my blood-stained clothes and skin, the tears still flowing like rain down my face, I tightly grip my chest, then, for the last time, I hear the same voice, but louder this time. "Keith, don't do this to me!" The voice yells. Zzzzzap! I tightly shut my eyes as I feel myself getting shocked again, then, I open my eyes again and sit straight up, gasping for breath. "Steady there, Number Four" Coran says with a gentle smile, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Coran?" I ask in shock, I look around the room. "Shiro? You're... You're all okay? You're all alive?" I ask in shock, I see Pidge and Hunk with tears streaming down their cheeks, Allura and Shiro have worried looks on their faces, I don't notice the sixth person standing in the room when the realization hits me. "No. Not everyone" I say softly, hanging my head. "Keith?" Shiro asks in concern. "They'll be back. They're not just going to give up. You should have let him take me. And Lance..." I stop, unable to finish my sentence, I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. "I tried... I tried to save him, but... I'm sorry. I was stuck in the pod, I couldn't... They were here for me because I am Galra. It's all my fault." I cry, bringing my knees to my chest and hiding my face, the tears now streaming down freely, I feel the bed sink slightly and a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, man. Nothing is your fault." A gentle voice says. I slightly lift my head to see Lance, tears flowing down his face. "Everything is fine, now. You're okay." I stare at him with wide eyes, the tears still flowing down my face, Lance looks at me with a gentle smile, tears streaming down his own face, I have a flashback of him laying limp in my arms. "How... How are you..? I... I don't understand. There was so much blood, Lance, and I couldn't... I couldn't do anything." I say, reaching a shaky hand out to touch Lance's chest. I then, place my hand on his chest as I continue. "The Galra. He shoved you against the glass and stabbed you in the chest, and that's when the pod opened. You bled out in my arms. I felt you stop... I felt you die." I say, looking Lance in the eyes, his hand on my shoulder and my hand on his chest. "You must've been having a dream, Keith. Lance was never in any danger. Your heart was the one that stopped." Shiro says. I turn my head to look at him. "Don't you remember? You were injured during the battle and we had to put you in the pod. Everything was fine until suddenly the alarms went off. You weren't breathing. Your heart wasn't beating and we couldn't explain it." Allura adds. "We had to give you a shock in order to restart your heart. The dream you were having in the pod, must've been so intense that it was effecting your body." Coran says. Shiro places his hand on my shoulder with a gentle smile, I could see that his cheeks were tear stained even though he had a smile on his face. "But Keith, whatever you dreamed wasn't real. I promise you, Lance is fine." Shiro says in a gentle, brotherly tone. "No. Lance is not fine" Lance says abruptly. Everyone looks at us. "Can you all just give us the room for a minute?" He asks. Everyone leaves and now it's just me and Lance. My hand still slightly trembles, I remove my hand from his chest, we both stare at each other, he then looks away from me. "I... I'm not fine, Keith" He says softly. I nod and lower my head, tears beginning to fill my eyes again. "It's because this is the dream, isn't it? This is the dream, and in reality you're dead and I've been taken by the Galra. I should have known this was too good to be real. I'm sorry, Lance. I'm so..." I say, the I feel Lance's hand cup my cheek and dry the tears that are flowing down my cheeks, I look up at him. "No. No, this is real. This is real. You're still here and I'm still alive. I promise" Lance says softly, taking his other hand and cupping my other cheek as he continues. "I'm not okay because, your heart stopped. I thought... Keith, I thought you were dead." I take his hand in mine. "Lance, I watched you bleed out. I told you to leave, but you stayed to protect me from a legion of Galra like a complete idiot!" I say, slightly raising my voice, my tone seemed a bit harsher than I wanted, Lance raised an eyebrow at me. "No I didn't. But I'm glad that your subconscious mind agrees that that is totally something I would do, I'm just that heroic, Keith." Lance says proudly. I give him an "are-you-kidding-me-right-now" Kind of look, he smiles and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "But seriously, I guess what I'm trying to say is, you thought I was dead and you literally almost died... and I thought you were dying... and it was killing me." Lance says softly, looking away from me for a second, then looking back at me, I reach a shaky hand out to him. "Lance. I... I don't know... What to say." I say softly, gently holding Lance's jacket sleeve.