Thread by @blackpalaladin

Shiro is in the middle of his anniversary dinner when a man interrupts, frantic and demanding Shiro’s presence.

'No.' His husband hisses, 'Someone else can handle it.'

'I'm afraid not.' Krolia steps around the harried messenger.

#s8compliant #vlds8

Shiro stands immediately, 'What happened?'

'With all due respect, commander Krolia -' His husband grips Shiro’s wrist, 'Takashi is engaged tonight. Another officer can surely handle this.'

Krolia lifts her chin, 'I would not be here if another officer could handle this.'

Dread pools in Shiro’s stomach, souring the expensive wine he'd partaken in. Krolia would only demand him for two reasons.

Another war.

And -

'Something has happened to Keith.' Her voice hitches for a fraction of a second, 'He needs you.'

His husband scoffs, 'Of course.'

Shiro yanks his wrist free, 'Is he alive?'

Krolia sends a wary glance towards his husband, 'Yes - but -.' She hesitates.

Not here - her eyes say.

Shiro’s chest twists into something ugly.

'If he's alive, it can wait.' His husband snaps, 'It's our goddamn wedding anniversary, Takashi.'

Shiro rounds on him with a scowl. 'And it can be postponed until I know how bad the situation is.'

'Our ANNIVERSARY is not one of your meetings!'

'Gentlemen.' Krolia snarls, her ever patient features morphing into the stuff of nightmares, 'My son is in danger. Shiro is not the only one I've requested. The rest of the paladins are on their way as we speak.'

'This is ridicul -'

Shiro steps around the table, 'Lead the way.'

They drive back to the garrison. Krolia sits stiff at his side.

'What happened?' He asks again.

Krolia's face is shadowed, but he sees the fear in what's left of the light, 'I'm not sure.' She swallows, 'We had to restrain him, Shiro.'

'Drive faster.' Shiro demands.

They make it to the garrison in record time. But instead of Krolia leading him to the infirmary, She turns towards -

'No.' Shiro’s voice shakes, 'Why is he in the holding cells?'

She presses a hand to the keypad, 'It is the safest location for him and for us.'

Shiro’s heart pounds so loud he can hear it in his ears, 'Is he violent?'

'Sometimes.' She mutters and leads him further down the corridor, 'Four of them have been.'

Shiro frowns, 'Four? Four WHAT?'

His mind races as he keeps pace with her.

She stops in front of the only high security cell they have. Outffited to handle hostile, powerful aliens.

Shiro's hands are shaking as the doors fly open.

Lance, Pidge, and Samuel are already in the observation room, staring through the two way glass.

Pidge sees him first, 'Shiro!'

Lance twists around with Sam, 'Oh, thank fuck.'

'What is going on?' Shiro pushes between them. He's imagining the worst. Open wounds. A snarling beast in his best friends place.

It's not what he sees.

Keith is tied to a chair in the barren, silver room. His blades uniform is torn, but Shiro sees no injuries. His hair is much longer, but not braided like Shiro is used to. It's wild and tangled, hanging over sharp eyes watching the glass.

'I don't understand.' Shiro croaks.

'Is this one docile?' Krolia steps up to Sam.

'Yes.' Sam clears his throat, 'The last three have been.'

Krolia curses, 'How many does that make?'

'Fourteen.' Pidge shoves a hand through their hair, 'And that's just what WE know. Who knows how long he's been like this.'

Shiro's stares at Keith. He looks normal. He looks FINE.

'Someone tell me what the hell is going on.'

'Kosmo arrived at the garrison two hours ago.' Sam whispered, 'Keith was unresponsive. We took him to the med bay. Where he woke up, only-'

'It wasn't OUR Keith.' Krolia says.

'From what we can tell, there are multiple 'Keith’s'.' Sam makes air quotes, 'Not one has been the same. All with different ages and memories.'

'One didn't even speak English.' Lance crosses his arms.

'Yeah. Galran only.' Pidge nods.

Shiro presses a hand to the glass, 'What about the real Keith? Our Keith?'

Sam sighs, 'This is a guess but it's almost as though he's harboring personalities from different realities. At first, I thought maybe they were different people. But no. They're all Keith.'

'How. Did. This. Happen?' Shiro snarls.

'We don't know.' Krolia says, 'Keith has been on a sabbatical. He took formal leave. He told me he was visiting Earth. I never thought- I never thought to check with him.' She closes her eyes.

Pidge squeezes her arm.

'Whatever it is, it reeks of quintessence.' Sam offers, 'Keith’s entire body is lit up like a firework. The room can perform basic bio functions. His blood pressure is off the charts.'

Shiro inhales, 'Is this killing him?'

'Yes.' Sam admits, 'His brain is working overtime.'

Shiro clenches his fist, 'What do we need to do?'

'We need answers.' Pidge says, 'Any information he can give us. We've all tried. But he only demands the date.'

'Has he seen any of you?'

'Only Sam and Krolia.' Pidge winces.

'And?'

'He tried to kill us.' Krolia replies.

Shiro turns back to watch Keith again. His head rolls to the side, but his eyes never leave the glass.

'We thought you could try.' Lance says, 'You and Keith have a pretty strong bond, right?'

Shiro's heart squeezes.

Did they? He hasn't seen Keith since -

Since his wedding.

Patting Shiro’s bowtie. Fingers trembling. Smile tight. Eyes distant.

Shiro has nightmares about that look.

But - they'd spoken daily. Chatted endlessly. Keith was always busy with something.

Always rushing away. But they always made time for each other.

'Yeah.' Shiro murmurs, 'Let me try. I have to be in some of these Keith’s lives, right?'

'I imagine most of us are.' Pidge says, 'We've seen it first hand.'

'True.' Lance snaps his fingers, 'The Altean's were the bad guys.'

'Let’s just hope it's not us this time.' Shiro sighs.

He arms Shiro with a syringe.

'No -.'

'Yes.' Sam shows him how to work it and puts it in a pocket.

'Keith is a deadly opponent, even restrained.' Krolia reminds him.

Shiro hates it with every fibre of his being.

Sam types in a complicated set of numbers into the keypad of the cell door.

Shiro takes a deep breath and steps into the room.

The door whooshes shut behind him and the sound doesn't even faze the man in the chair.

Shiro takes a few steps forward, 'Keith?'

Keith’s whole body flinches.

His eyes snaps up to meet Shiro’s.

And for one second Shiro sees the recognition, the pain -

'You son of a bitch!'

Shiro jerks back.

Keith snarls at him, shoulder jerking against the restraints, 'You TRAITOR! You lying, manipulative-' His eyes flash yellow.

'Keith - wait -.' Shiro puts up both hands, 'This isn't your - '

'You lied to me!' Keith snaps, 'How dare you even show your face!'

Fear curls like acid in Shiro’s gut.

Keith thrashes against the restraints. Snarling like an angry beast.

"Shiro!' He hears Pidge scream just as Keith breaks the bonds and lunges.

Shiro takes a set of clawed fingers to the face.

The pain is sharp and hot. But it's no where near as painful as the utter distress in Keith’s voice.

It's still Keith, he thinks as he snatches Keith’s swinging arm with his prosthetic.

Not YOUR Keith, his mind shouts.

Shiro forgot how strong Keith is.

'Let go of me!' Keith hisses like a cat, nails leaving marks down the metal of his arm.

'Keith please-.' Shiro insists, 'You're in the wrong time-'

But this Keith doesn’t listen. He snarls and strikes like a viper.

The sedative feels heavy in his pocket.

'Please listen.' Shiro shouts, 'Let me help you!'

'No!' Keith bares his teeth, 'I will NEVER trust you again!'

Not your Keith. Not your Keith. Not your Keith.

'SEDATE HIM.' Someone shouts.

Shiro can feel the blood sliding down his cheek, trickling to his neck. It throbs. It burns.

'I'm sorry, Keith.'

He twists both of Keith’s hands within the grip of his prosthetic.

Keith snarls, 'Liar! You LIED TO ME.' He starts thrashing again.

'Let me go!'

'I'm sorry.' Shiro whispers, 'I'm so sorry.'

'LIAR!' Keith screams, 'I trusted you! I TRUSTED YOU.'

Shiro sinks the syringe into the side of Keith’s neck.

Keith jerks in surprise, eyes wild, then afraid, then glassy.

'I'm so sorry, Keith.' Shiro catches him as he falls.

Keith let's out an agonized sob, 'I trusted you.'

Shiro presses his face into Keith’s hair as he goes completely limp. His eyes burn and the syringe hits the ground with a loud click.

It sounds like his heart breaking.

Krolia's hands are gentle as she patches up his face, 'It shouldn't scar.'

Shiro feels like it should.

'Don't think like that.' She says, 'You are not his Shiro.'

Shiro's throat tightens, 'But a version of me hurt him.'

She smoothes out the bandage, 'We are not always heroes in every reality.'

Shiro fixes his stare on Keith. Unconscious in bed, hooked up to a dozen different frantically beeping machines.

'You need sleep.' She says.

'No. I need to be here when he wakes up.'

'Nonsense.' Sam is bent over a tablet on a table in the center of the room, 'We can try a different approach. Vocal only perhaps.'

'No. He needs to see us.' Shiro shakes his head, 'We need to meet a version of him where I'm friend. Not foe.'

'Only five have been docile.' Pidge hisses. 'Those aren't good odds.'

'I don't care.' Shiro swallows, 'This is killing him. We need answers.'

'What do you propose?' Krolia asks.

Shiro pets at the bandage on his face for only a moment, before standing up and switching to Admiral mode.

'We need experts. In Alien and Human psychology. I want them vetted harshly. No one comes in here without signed documentation and my signature.'

Sam frantically takes notes, 'Anything else?'

'Get in touch with Coran on New Altea.' Shiro says to Lance, 'We're going to need experts on Quintessence.'

'Got it.'

'We have limited time.' Shiro nods to Krolia, 'I want Blade escorts with them. And on round the clock watch.'

She salutes, 'I will contact Kolivan immediately.'

Everyone bursts into action around him.

Shiro stands apart from the chaos. His heart aching like an open wound.

He drags the backs of his fingers down Keith cheek, 'Stay strong, sweetheart. It's my turn to save you.'

To be continued -