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The world came back into focus in a blur of color, heat, and a shrill ringing that Lance wasn’t entirely sure was an alarm, in his head or maybe both.And static.Harsh, violent static.
“—Lance, do — copy—”
The sound punctured the ringing for a second before it died out, lost in the creaking and groaning of what had once been a base and was now a pile of wreckage and Lance groaned too, eyes fluttering and feeling blood dripping down his cheek and head aching as he tried to piece together what had just happened.The explosion had come out of nowhere.One second Lance was rounding a corner in the Galra Empire base, bayard drawn and steps quick and light. And the next the ground was rippling beneath him, the walls were buckling, the ceiling caving and…And now…
“—anyone— — tion on—”
Lance groaned again at the near painful burst of comm static in his ear that faintly resembled Shiro although it was hard to make out over the ringing and the garbled transmission.
“—can’t—round the—-wall is—”
Keith sounded that time, just as disjointed as Shiro but clearly responding to him and leading Lance to believe they could hear one another and it was his comms that were the ones down. That was further evidenced by yet another sharp crack and Pidge’s voice “—ing towards— —- ance, do you—?” and while Lance was having comm issues he could clearly tell they were trying to locate him.He could at least assist with that, assuming he could get part of a message through.He went to raise his hand up towards his helmet—And white-hot pain exploded in his arm.Lance’s vision went white too with it, a strangled scream clawing up his throat but that got stuck too as his chest couldn’t expand to release it and it made him want to scream more as there was a new flare of pain spreading up through his body. Dios, what, what was—?Lance squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to move, to focus on breathing and releasing the choked scream as he could feel himself flickering and he could not afford to pass out (again). Breathe.Focus.He, he was okay.The ringing was coming back along with a thudding in his head but as Lance tentatively opened his eyes the sharp lancing pain was fading back to a dull throb and it gave him the strength to tentatively shift his head, looking down towards his arm to see why it wasn’t moving. The slab of wall that was lying completely across almost his entire body with a pole — pipe? — sticking out of his lower left arm, dark red blood dripping down singed white armor provided the most obvious answer.Oh.That…That explained a lot.Lance’s stomach twinged and he swallowed thickly, closing his eyes, and tilting his head back up and he was okay he was okay he was okay.He was not okay.More static burst in his ear and he groaned, barely catching the blurbs of words that sounded faintly like Hunk, a mixture of words and sobs.Lance sort of wanted to cry too as he was becoming more and more aware of how much of his body he couldn’t feel at all and the complete absence of pain and response as he tried to twitch his foot, to move his leg.Was… Dios, was, was he…?That thought scared him even more than the agony trembling through his arm as his breath starting to pick up in pace and he swore he could feel his armor cracking over his chest where the wall was crushing him and he told himself to breathe, he needed to breathe, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t breathe. Lance choked at that, left fingers scrabbling against the ground and going nowhere as though that was going to help him, the sensation of more blood gushing down his arm and white-hot pain and his vision was going out again and—And Lance gasped on his next breath, shaking and trembling as oxygen-starved lungs somehow convinced themselves to inhale. But above his rapid breaths he could hear something else now…The walls and ceiling were groaning even louder than before and as Lance cast his gaze upwards there was still plenty that could come down.Come down and…He swallowed again, willing himself to continue breathing and not freak out. More static fizzled in his helmet. “—not going to —” Shiro sounded, and Lance wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or because of the thudding of his own pulse, but… “ — d Lance now—” He’d never heard Shiro sound like that.So…So scared . “— Lance, ple—” Hunk sobbed through the static. “— are you?” “Going left at—” Pidge came in. “—hall— — buckl—” “—ing pretty bad but I think—”Lance inhaled sharply as buzzed static and broken words overlapped the sound of Pidge’s actual voice. She, she was—“—server room is over—”And her voice was fading. She was going the wrong way. She was going to leave him behind.“P—” Lance tried to call her name, his chest hitching and he swore he felt the slab atop him move. “P-Pidge,” he tried again.It was barely a whisper.He swallowed.Try again.He had to try again.If, if he didn’t…Lance took in as large a breath as he dared, his chest aching and black spots dancing in his vision, and with a gasp of air nearly shrieked, “Pidge!” “—ance!” her voice crackled in his ear. “—eard him, — are—?” “—you? God, Lance, answer me—” her voice was coming back and Lance let out a strangled sounding sob as his lungs were hitching again and he couldn’t answer her, he couldn’t breathe again. “Lance, damnit,” and Pidge let out a sob even as she grew louder, “where are—?”She cut off with a sharp inhale.“Lance!”And then she was there, a smattering of green and white and peach amongst the black dots crowding in on Lance’s vision. Despite the fact he couldn’t seem to draw another breath, Lance’s lips curved up into a smile.Pidge had found him.He could feel her footsteps, light as they were, pounding through him as she rapidly approached and she was yelling over the comms as feedback sounded but he couldn’t make out any words this time as his broken unit protested the proximity of another.And then hands were on his face and patting his cheeks almost violently and Pidge was sobbing his name and Lance wanted to answer, Dios, he needed to answer, but everything was starting to sort of fade and it hurt and—Lance gasped as air suddenly flooded his lungs along with the heavy press of weight on his chest disappeared and his eyes flew open to see Pidge, her small hands gripping the edge of the wall and trying to leverage it off of him with her shoulder.“L-Lance,” she gasped, “I, I c-can’t hold—”And if Lance screamed he didn’t hear it over the sound of his armor cracking and roar of his pulse as Pidge dropped the slab back down atop him and his vision went dark.It came back to a blur of peach and brown and hands patting at his cheeks and something hot and wet striking his face that he dully realized were tears.Pidge was crying.He couldn’t do anything about it, his vision starting to go back out.“No!” Pidge nearly screamed in his face. “Don’t, don’t you fucking dare, Lance. Stay, stay with me. Stay with me damnit.” Lance’s fingers twitched, all he could do even if it sent pain rocketing down his arm. He was trying.But he…He couldn’t breathe. “Lance!” she screamed.But…But it wasn’t just Pidge shouting his name that time as a shout both inside and out with a violent shock of static screamed it too.And Lance knew that voice anywhere.Hunk.He was… “Lance!” Hunk sounded so close and a hand, warm even in gloves, brushed against his cheek. “Oh God. Oh G-God.” The hand pulled away. “Hold, hold on, hermano. Hold on.”He could sense Hunk shifting down, his hands wrapping around the corner of the wall slab, and he heard in inhale in the same moment he heard the walls groaning even more and could see beyond Hunk’s shoulder the ceiling starting to buckle.They were going to be crushed.They…They had to go.They had to go now. “Hu—” Lance choked out, pushing past the breathlessness as the ceiling gave another groan. And then Hunk pushed. Lance let out another breathless scream as he felt the wall being lifted off him again, higher than Pidge had managed, and Hunk made a grunting sound and stepped over Lance to literally shoulder the wall and began to rise, lifting the slab that had to weigh several hundred pounds completely off of Lance.Lance felt faint as he watched the display of strength, veins bulging in Hunk’s neck and his legs shaking even as he planted them further across Lance’s own.His own that…Lance felt bile along with newfound air in his throat as his legs…They were crushed. And he…He still couldn't feel them. His vision wavered.The ceiling groaned even louder, starting to bow in.“P-Pidge,” he heard Hunk gasp. “N-now.”“Sorry,” Pidge sounded right next to Lance’s head.He felt her intent before she committed to it.Pidge yanked up on the pipe.And Lance’s last sight was a spray of red blood before blackness took over. xxx Lance woke to a strange mixture of warmth and cold and he shivered, trying to press himself more into the latter and it bounced beneath his head and what his brain identified as arms wrapped around and with them came what he also identified as a blanket.Lance nuzzled his nose into it and there was a soft, fond, familiar chuckle that rumbled beneath his head and the arms tightened around him. Lance slowly exhaled a breath, leaning more against of what he was realizing was Hunk’s chest and—His eyes flew open, heart roaring in his ears as memories returned and Dios, he’d, he’d been, his legs had been—“Easy, hermano, easy,” Hunk murmured, his breath warm on Lance’s ear. “You’re okay. You’re okay. Lo prometo, I promise, estás bien.” Lance didn’t feel better even as his brain tried to tell him that Hunk never, ever, lied so what he was saying had to be true.He’d been…“Hey,” and a sharper but just as kind voice sounded and a small set of hands landed on his cheeks, almost pinching, and Pidge’s face appeared inches from his own, “calm down. You’re okay.”Lance gave the barest shake of his head, starting to shiver unrelated to the cold he was faintly realizing was from the open cryo-pod behind them and he knew the pods could heal, but…But his legs…And he…He still couldn’t feel them.His breath hitched. Dios, he couldn’t feel them.“My,” he gasped, trembling and shaking and oh Dios, his legs, he’d been, “l-legs…”His chest was tightening again and the black spots were reappearing and Dios, he, he was— “Lance!” Pidge’s hands tightened on the sides of his face before they abruptly left and he felt a wash of cold air as Pidge ripped his blanket away, “Look!”His gaze went to his legs.His bare legs that, while breaking out in goosebumps, were…They were whole.And, and if he was feeling goosebumps it meant he was capable of feeling cold and that meant…Meant…“Pidge!” Hunk let out an almost scandalized shout of her name, jolting Lance from his observation and Lance then realized the breeze wasn’t just on his legs.It…It was…Pidge was rapidly turning cherry red too as she let out a garbled sounding shriek and was whirling away and Hunk was leaning around Lance and grabbing the blanket to pull back up to protect his modesty as he was, aside from the blanket, apparently completely naked.Lance felt his own face starting to heat but it diminished as he realized the only reason that would be coming out of a cryo-pod was it meant he’d been put inside without the protective suit and that meant…That meant there hadn’t been time for one.And the fact his clothing had disintegrated while inside…It meant he’d been in the pod for a long time.He shivered.How, how long had…?“You’re okay,” Hunk murmured into his hair, arms tightening around Lance’s chest “I promise. You’re okay. The, the pod fixed everything.”“Coran said,” Pidge returned, her voice soft, her hand resting atop Lance’s foot under the blanket, “that it, it might take a couple days for everything to start working together again. It…” her hand trembled and Lance felt it, “it was bad, Lance. But you’re gonna be okay. We promise. L-look.”And far more carefully that time she peeled back the blanket on just his left foot and she flicked her finger lightly against his toes.They twitched. Lance’s breath hitched with them.“See?” she whispered, doing it again and Lance’s foot reacted accordingly. Hot tears stung his eyes.His legs, they…They were really…They were really okay.And he…He would be okay too.Thanks to…He lifted his blurred gaze from his feet to Pidge’s cinnamon eyes and then craned his head up to catch Hunk’s honey brown. “Gracias,” he whispered, feeling his body trembling again.If, if they hadn’t found him…If they hadn’t gotten him freed before the ceiling collapsed…“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Pidge said in response, her hand tightening around his foot. “Ditto,” Hunk whispered and Lance felt him press a kiss into his hair. “And don’t apologize,” he added quickly before Lance could attempt to do just that. “I’m just… just glad you’re okay.”Lance nodded to that.Him too.His eyes drifted back down to his visible foot and while it took a moment, his brow furrowed and breath catching, his foot twitched all on its own.He let out a breath, slumping with relief in Hunk’s hold.Him too.