#Even in the best case scenario if there was an incident but every pods were okay

[duncanor]

The way they only had 4 cryopods to begin with but Curly still agreed to hire Daisuke..

[vulcan-highblood]

Not According to Plan (1/5)

Fandom: Supergirl (2015 TV), Legion of Superheroes Rating: T Pairing: Gen Summary: (Post Season 3 Ep.18 “Shelter From the Storm”) Querl and Imra return to the 31st Century. It’s not at all what they expected. OR The Legion sent Brainy back to the 21st Century and brought Winn to the 31st. This is why they made that decision.

Chapter 1: The Return

It was not the first time Querl wished he were better at offering comfort to his friends. It was, however, one of the most awkward times, as he and Imra were the only two conscious legionnaires onboard the cruiser, and so Querl was unable to step aside and allow one of their more emotive friends to offer empathy that Querl was not well-equipped to offer. 

He glanced at her, most of his thought-tracks still occupied with piloting their ship through the disruption. Last time they’d gone through one of these, it had ended… badly. Well. Not badly, per se. But certainly not according to plan. Querl didn’t like it when things went sideways, so to speak, and he did not intend for such an incident to occur a second time. Perhaps he should look into designing a more compact and reliable method of temporal displacement than attempting to pilot an entire sprocking cruiser through a dangerous and poorly-understood spatial anomaly. One of these days, he wasn’t going to be smart enough to save them all from their hubris - from his own hubris. If they were going to be making a habit of time travel  - and the way things had been trending, that was becoming a distinct possibility - he should definitely prepare more reliable methods of transport through time and space. He tucked that idea in the back of his mind for consideration at a later date. After all, the technology aboard their cruiser was hardly sufficient for such an endeavor, and there was still the matter of Imra.

She was pointedly not crying, and honestly, that made it worse in some ways. Her deep breaths, the eyes held wide open so as to attempt to evaporate the increasing moisture… Sprock, she was going to cry and Querl didn’t know what to do. He always knew what to do when there was some technical issue, but emotional issues were very much not his area of expertise. It was distressing. Which made him feel guilty, because honestly, what kind of friend felt distressed at the idea of needing to comfort a friend? 

“Imra,” Querl finally said when he could no longer bear the silence, sparing a glance in her direction. 

“Querl?” Imra turned to look at him, a question in her gaze.

“If you need… emotional support,” Querl couldn’t remember words ever being this difficult to force through his lips, but he persisted. “I could… I mean, I… am here,” he finally managed. It was only after he’d said it, though, that he recognized the double meaning that could be taken from his words. I am here, Mon-El is not. Sprock. “That is to say-!” Querl did turn to look at her now, shifting another thought-track or two to the present conversation as he had been unable to give his previous statement sufficient consideration. “I can listen, I -”

Imra cut him off with a quiet laugh, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Thank you, Brainy,” she said. “I appreciate your… support.” She bit her lip lightly, eyes traveling across the bridge, avoiding his gaze to look out at the ever-expanding disturbance before them. “I’ll be all right.”

“Yes. Good. Of course,” Querl found himself babbling, too relieved to properly police his tone. “I wouldn’t dream otherwise.”

Imra glanced at his hands, which were still dancing across the cruiser interface, as they had been since they’d left Earth for the second time that day. “Are we set for transport?”

“Nearly,” Querl answered, returning his attention to the precise calculations. He was definitely going to design a program, perhaps an entire device, to do this work for him next time. It was exhausting and time consuming and really, he couldn’t plot a course through time and space while also having an emotional conversation. He needed to choose one or the other, even a brain of his level of intellect couldn’t possibly do both of those things at once without a significant margin of error. And he couldn’t afford any errors at the moment. Programming a device capable of plotting a route through spacetime seemed monumentally easier than designing a device capable of navigating emotional conversations, so he figured he would likely work on that design first. He wasn’t even sure how one would go about designing a device to navigate an emotionally charged conversation. Another conundrum for another time, then. 

He still wasn’t focusing on plotting that route through the disturbance. Amazing, how quickly an emotional response could derail an otherwise logical mind. “If you place yourself in stasis, I will be there shortly,” Querl said. “I’ve double-checked all the pods, they should be perfectly safe now.” Should, a quiet voice whispered in the back of his head.  But he had checked, double checked, triple checked. And he remembered each time he’d checked them clearly, thanks to his eidetic memory. And yet, he knew he would end up checking every single legionnaire’s pod again before he put himself in cryosleep as well. If all went well, they’d be back to the future in a relatively short time, and the cryosleep wouldn’t be necessary. If all didn’t go well… best case scenario, at least they wouldn’t age as their bodies were flung into the crumbling decay of a universe ending.

Querl shook that thought aside, as it, too, would not be useful in plotting their course. He had no room for anxiety in a calculation this delicate. He needed to be confident. So he would be. 

“See you soon,” Imra said, leaving the bridge.

“Yes,” Querl replied, only half-listening. This next bit would be crucial.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under A Purple Rain prt 7 full draft

Skipping the debrief on Daibazaal, Keith found the return wormhole his mother had opened for him, his team and the recruits took them straight to the outpost instead of home. For a milli-tick, his heart gave an uncomfortable thunk as he entertained the idea of running. It'd been no lie when he said he didn't know what to do about Lance. His husband had told him to leave last time he was there, leaving him feeling annoyed that they'd reached no clear solution on anything. Returning to Daibazaal, he'd talked out things with his mother, his and Lance's fears of the fallout, yet the coalition was still pressing ahead with the festivities and award ceremony, the only difference now was this whole team were being recognised for their work. He wasn't ready to face Lance, scared his presence would send Lance deeper into his flunk instead of supporting him. Being away he'd given it some real thought. Like losing Red, Lance had lost the support system he'd found in illicit drugs. And like with Red, Keith hadn't been there leaving everyone else to take the brunt of Lance withdrawal. They'd planned for him to be there. Lance had wanted him to be there because he knew he couldn't trust his choices. Withdrawal the first time around had been awful, the memories still vivid if he gave himself the opportunity to think of them. Again, like with Red, the drugs had supported Lance for years... there was little wonder his husband was still trying to find his feet again, especially when the one person who was supposed to be at his side wasn't. This whole year had been nothing like Keith wanted. Perhaps the only good thing was that his mother was indeed pregnant, and he was going to be a big brother in roughly 4 and a half more phoebs.

  Landing his ship in the "staff" area of parking, near the Telula, Daehra's pod, Zak and Tobias small new ship, and three other ships he didn't recognise, Keith climbed to his feet finding the recruits all staring at him in confusion. Right. He had people with him

"Thanks to Krolia, we're taking a small side vacation at... my husband's outpost. You should probably know that almost all the patrons here are experienced bounty hunters, who don't like Galra and also don't like the Blades. No weapons are to be taken into the outpost, nor is this any kind of training mission. That means no climbing in the vents. No recovering weaponry. No scavenging. No setting fires. No matter what anyone says about your heritage, you need to ignore it. Lance won't tolerate rudeness in his outpost, so even if you don't see him or the staff acting immediately, know that the incident hasn't gone unnoticed. There are also surveillance cameras in every location except the bathrooms and bedrooms. There are weapons for buy and trade, so don't be overly worried and most of the people you meet will be armed. If worst comes to worst, the bar has a weapons cache. I don't know why my mother decided you all needed to come home with me, but Shiro from the Atlas will also be here. Let's head down. The front door is kind of hard to miss"

  Letting the recruits walk ahead, Keith found himself cornered by his team. Zethrid with a tight hold on his arm as Acxa frowned at him

"What's going on? You said Lance was ill again, so why are we all here?"

"You know as much as I do. I have no idea why Krolia sent us out here"

"I doubt your mother..."

"Acxa, I don't know. And I wouldn't put anything past Krolia. She must have thought it bad if she sent us right here"

"Do you think he came down with that flu again?"

"No... but I'm worried enough without jumping to conclusions. Shiro wasn't happy"

"Is there anything we can do?"

Wrapping him a weird hug from behind, Zethrid nodded

"We care about the little guy. He's been pretty sick this year. Maybe we should take him back to Daibazaal and get him some real medical attention"

"He's alright... He's tougher than he looks"

Ignoring Ezor, Acxa hugged him from the front in some weird sandwich

"We know it's hard on you. But you can talk to us all"

Hugging Acxa back, Keith sighed

"I know. I honestly don't know what's going on though. He had an appointment on Altea as a follow up, and for some reason thought I was going to be there. Maybe it's because the outpost runs fast? Now I find out he's been sick since I last left and hiding it again. We didn't even get to talk properly last time because he was sick... Being married is a lot harder than people make it out to be"

"I know he has his job, and his issues, but you really should think about bringing him to Daibazaal. Even if it's just for a few quintants and medical checkup..."

"Shiro made it sound like he's too fragile for that. Every time I think about they did to him, I want to hunt them all down and slaughter them. This coalition bullshit couldn't have come at worse time. They fucking tortured him, gave brain damage, cut his finger off, left him having fucking seizures and now the coalition wants to put a shiny little medal over the top of it all... I'm sorry, I shouldn't be venting like this"

"We're your friends. Plus, mami said we're part of the family so we have to look out for our little brother"

 Watching as one of the recruits managed to walk into the automatic front door of the outpost, Keith sighed

"And the recruits. Apparently we can add "not knowing how to work a door to their failings""

"They are rather worrisome"

"We'd better head in there"

   Keith did a double take as he walked into the bar room. Behind the bar was Shiro, looking as if he ran the place, with Pidge looking... out of place... No... they were both out of place. Why were they even here?

"Keith! It's about time you showed up! Hunk! Keith's here!"

Hunk was here too... Now Keith was starting to wonder if maybe that wormhole had sent them all to some parallel reality. Cautiously walking over to his brother, Hunk popped his head out from the storage room closest to the till

"Hey, man! This is a pretty nice place you've got here"

Ducking back away into the room, Keith was even more confused

"Shiro. What the fuck is going here?"

Scratching the back of his head with his robotic hand, his older brother looked somewhat sheepish

"I borrowed a few people..."

"I can see that, but why?!"

"Well days are longer here, and with Allura day in two quintants outpost time, we decided to make a bit of a holiday of it before hand"

  "Allura day isn't until the end of the month"

"Don't worry, I thought I had more month in my month too. Seeing Pidge had already landed on Altea, I invited her out here, and borrowed Hunk for a quintants. I'm taking it Krolia didn't bother giving you a heads up?"

"No! As far as I know I was coming home to see Lance"

Pidge snorted

"Good luck with that one. Shiro's got him on bed rest, and he's the only one allowed to visit. He invites us out to hang out, then Lance isn't even up for it. Still, it's nice to finally be invited to see where you call home"

Keith's knees went wobbly. Acxa taking his arm

"Shiro, why don't you and Keith go visit Lance. Where's Lucteal or Daehra?"

"Lucteal's grabbing another crate of beer from the cool room. Daehra was picking up orders from the kitchen... Hunk and Tobias have been discussing cooking pretty much since Hunk walked into the kitchen and saw him using "the wrong" knife". Lance is in your room if you're ready to head down there"

Was he ready to see his husband? It felt weird that there friends had suddenly invaded their outpost like it was nothing. As far as he knew it was the first time Shiro, Hunk and Pidge had visited... plus the recruits... and wow... they were terrible home owners. Practically none of their friends or family had been invited to visit in the 5 is phoebs since they left Earth...

  Following Shiro through to the main connecting hallway for the outpost, Keith was finding his feet fascinating. He wasn't sure what Lance had told his brother, or what any of this was about

"Keith, it's going to be fine. Lance is still a bit out of it, but we've talked"

"Talked about what? I don't even know what's going on"

Pausing mid-step, Shiro turned back to him

"Lance had to have a scan on Altea, he was worried that it was caused from coming off that yellow pain killer..."

Reaching into his pocket, the older man pulled out Lance's comms. Tapping on the screen, he opened the conversation thread between them and handed it over

"He was pretty panicked that something was seriously wrong with him, so when you didn't show up, he went to the worst case scenario. I told him you were on a mission, but he insisted you promised that you'd be there... as you can see, your confirmed you will be. I don't know how it happened. If there was some kind of message glitch or delay or scramble, but this scan was really important to him. We've talked a lot, as much he could at any rate. His nightmares have really knocked him around the last few days, yesterday he stopped talking all together. I put him in the bath, because he was having trouble... with everything. He managed to forget who I was last night, so all I can say is you'll need to take it slow"

"He forgot who you were?"

"He came out a panic attack in a daze and has been hazy since"

If the scan results were positive, why was Lance acting like he was? His scans had to have been alright, or Shiro would have told him right away

"Did they say anything on Altea? Was any reason that he was trigger so badly there?"

"You're best off talking to him about that, then coming to talk to me about it. He knows everyone's here, but he's not going too great on verbal responses... oh, here. Take this. Talk to Lance before you open it"

Fishing a small envelope out his back pocket, it only served to make him more confused

"What is it?"

"Photos..."

Photos? Photos of what? And why wasn't he the first to know what was going on? Lance hadn't messaged him again. Shiro was acting shady. Apparently there was some kind of reunion happening that he knew nothing about... and he was still to tell Shiro and Lance that he was going to be a big brother...

"Keith?"

"Just what the quiznak is going on..."

"Talk to Lance. Here him out. Come on, he's probably wondering where you are"

  Watching Shiro let himself into what was supposed to be his and Lance's room, the bed was a mess. Clothes had been laid over the back of a chair carried in from the bar

"Sorry. I've been sleeping here. Lance hasn't been sleeping well without someone around"

Keith's possessive side flared. This was his and Lance's sanctuary. Their bed. Their blankets...

"Don't give me that look. Lance wanted your side because it smelt of you, and I've been trying to sleep on the edge of his side. Plenty of space between us"

"I'm being a dick, aren't I?"

"You should know I'm not going to make a move on you husband. You should also remember you're the one who told him to come to me"

"I know... But everyone is telling me I'm being... I'm not doing this right. It's been 5ish phoebs for me. I'm still trying to adjust to my new role. Mums pregnant. Lance is sick. You're all telling me to do better with him, but how am I supposed to be doing better when apparently I'm breaking promises I don't remember making. He's upset every time I leave. I don't even have to be out the outpost and he's upset. He's not coping. And I'm so sick of only being able to come home because something's happened to him. It's like... I don't get to come back otherwise. I want to spend time with my husband when things aren't going go right. I want to come home when he doesn't need me to look after him all the time. I thought we'd be able to make this work. He said he supported me still needing my job, but the last time I was home he thought I was going to dump him... He's off the pills but his mental health is going backwards... One dobosh he's shutting me out, and the next I'm stuffing up... and I don't want to keep stuffing up. All I want is to take time off, but this coalition thing and Allura day. I forgot it was so close... He's probably thinking about her constantly..."

"Keith, I can promise you that Allura is the last thing on his mind. And everything you said, he feels much the same. He wants to go away with you. Spend time one on one with you. Travel with you, but he also wants to respect you and your choices. He's talked to his therapist yesterday. They want him to come in for an appointment, but he's not comfortable with that. He said he wanted to talk to you before making any decisions"

Keith wiped at his eyes

"He's given me authority over everything medical and legal he could... on Erathus, Earth and Altea... and Daibazaal too I suppose. What has Daehra said about his condition?"

"He hasn't talked with her about it. It's been mostly chronic fatigue. Again, he wanted to talk to you. I don't think he would have opened up to me if he wasn't feeling guilty over giving me a call"

"He's good at that guilt thing... even over shit he's got no control over. I wish we could go back to how it was on Earth... even before that. When I could blow off work because I was still technically on a mission while not at the same time..."

"We won't be leaving for a while yet. Curtis is going to pick us all up with the Atlas then wormhole to Altea. So we don't have to leave until the last dobosh. Don't forget, Patience..."

Wiping his eyes again, Keith shot Shiro a watery smile

"Yields focus"

"Exactly. Let's go see your husband"

    Lance was in their bathtub with his knees up against his chest. A trail of water leading from the bath to the toilet, and the lack of remaining bubbles would indicate Lance had been there a while. Not looking up at them, Lance's gaze seemed fixed on the wall across from the bath. Walking over to the bath, Shiro squatted down, placing his human hand on Lance's shoulder who didn't even seem to register it

"Lance. It's Shiro.  Keith's here. It's time to get out the bath now, buddy. You with me?"

Turning in his direction, Keith got his first proper look at Lance's face. His husband's normally warm and golden skin seemed washed out. His eyes barely open, with deep bags beneath them. As Lance's lip trembled, he hid his face in his hands

"I'm sorry..."

"Shhh. Enough of that. We've talked about it. I'm going to leave Keith to help you out the ba..."

  Climbing out the bath, Lance didn't seem to care he was naked as he rushed to the toilet, heaving wetly as Shiro grabbed his towel with a sigh. Pushing the towel into his hand, his brother jerked his head in Lance's direction

"Talk to him. I'll be in the bar"

"I will..."

He wasn't going to turn his back on his husband, not when Lance was clearly ill. Carrying the towel over, he wrapped it around Lance's naked form

"Hey, babe. I'm home... Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Lance seemed to stick himself further in the toilet, trying to vomit when nothing was coming up. Positioning himself behind Lance, he pulled him back and into his lap, a hand going to his husband's forehead as checked for signs of fever. Keith wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to find Lance fever free

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Babe, I don't know what you're apologising for"

"I... had it all planned. All of it... You were supposed to be there... we were supposed to be there together..."

"Where?  At the scan? Shiro showed me your comms, but babe, I swear I don't remember sending those messages... What happened? What are these photos? Why wouldn't Shiro give me a clear answer?"

Lance sniffled

"I... wanted you to be the first to know... together... I wanted to do it together...but Shiro had to be there wh..."

Launching forward, Lance threw up little more than spit

"How long have you been throwing up like this?"

Holding up 1 finger, Lance wretched again

"1 what? Movement?"

Giving him the thumbs up, Keith dragged him back out the toilet again

"You've got nothing left in your stomach to throw up"

"I know... oh, Dios... it wasn't supposed to be like this"

Placing both hands on his stomach, Lance squeezed his eyes shut. His scent was overly sweet, not pained yet not what it usually was

"Babe?"

"I need you... I can't... can you help me to bed?"

Sliding his arm under Lance's legs, Lance wrapped his arms around him allowing himself to be lifted

"I don't understand what's wrong with you... Shiro said the scan went well"

"I'll tell you when I'm laying down... I'm just... so sorry"

That wasn't comforting at all. What did Lance have to be sorry for? Had something happened before the scan? Or was there something more to the scan that wasn't alright?

  Laying Lance down, Keith moving automatically to dry him down with the towel. His husband whimpering away from him when he got too close to his stomach and head. It looked as if there fresh scars on Lance's inner thighs, but Keith couldn't be completely sure

"I need clothes... the others are here..."

Pulled from staring at Lance's slim frame, Keith shook his head

"You need sleep. And something for the nausea"

"The nauses's here to stay..."

"What does that mean?"

Lance sighed softly, rolling away from him

"It means you're... it means I... I'm sorry, Keith. You mean the whole to me... and I had it planned... how it was supposed to go... you were supposed to be here... you missed it... you missed it..."

Covering his face, Lance curled into himself as he started sobbing softly

"I was on a training mission. I told you, and I told you to put it up on our calendar"

"You were supposed to be there... you promised... you promised..."

Running his fingers down Lance's back, goosebumps erupted under his fingertips, Lance had dissolved into repeating "you promised" as he cried

"I don't know what happened, but I never saw those messages and I never replied... I would have been there... if you'd messaged mum or Shiro, they would have told you... I couldn't be there. Or you could have booked another time... I can't understand if you're going to lay there and cry instead of talking to me"

Lance shifted from his touch

"Under the bed... there's a box under the bed..."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Literally he was right there. Lance could open his mouth and tell him what was wrong. Shiro could tell him what wrong. Why were they now playing this game? Pulling the blankets over his head, Lance cried harder

"Lance, stop ignoring me and tell me what's going on"

"Look under the bed!"

"Why?!"

"Because I'm too fucking scared to say it out loud! Because once I do, you're going to leave me!"

  Growling in annoyance, Keith climbed off the bed in order to find the box under their bed. There wasn't a whole lot of space under there, but there was a long thin box

"For quiznak sake! I'm not going to leave you! Now tell me what's in here before I open it!"

"I can't! I'm fucking scared...!"

Hurling the box at the wall separating their room from the bathroom, the contents of the box spilling as the lid came off, 5 white sticks with different coloured tips scattering on the floor. Furious, he stalked over snatching up the closest two sticks

"What are these? Are you shooting up again?! Is that why you're sick!? I thought you were done with that!"

"They're not drugs!"

Confused, Keith moved the red capped stick thing so the cap was laying next to the blue one. Rolling them over to face up, he stared at the them with his brow drawn. It took half a dozen attempts to read above the weird double lined window thing. "Pregnancy test"... and it said the other thing on the same one... which was...

  Keith's hands started shaking so badly he nearly dropped the tests

"Babe... babe... is this what I think it is? Lance... are you trying to tell me? Are you? When? How... are you sure? You're not serious are you?"

His mum was pregnant... She was having a baby... Not them... How? Wasn't Lance taking birth control? He used to take birth control... and why hadn't he thought of a condom? Right... right, he was horny as hell. Thinking with his dick and his heart not his brain... But how...? This couldn't be real... He couldn't be a dad... How did one "dad"?... a baby... them?

"Lance. Answer me. What is this?"

Having moved from his side of their bed to Keith's, Lance was right up against the pillows

"I'm sorry! It must have happened during my heat... I don't... I don't know... I wasn't thinking straight... I planned to find out for sure with you at the scan..."

 Shiro had been there. Shiro had known before him... about their baby... Taking a few shaky steps he sank down on the edge of the bed. They were having a baby. He and Lance were having a baby... it wasn't planned... but aside from the sick feeling of shock... something akin to happiness was welling inside of him. A baby...

  "I'm so sorry... I was so scared to tell you... I knew you wouldn't want this. I didn't mean this to happen. You promised to be there... and we were going to find out... together..."

"We're having a baby... how... How can I not be happy?"

"You didn't smell happy"

"I'm in shock. I... I mean, we knew it could happen but I didn't think you were off your contraceptives"

"They were a daily pill!"

"I thought maybe injections... I didn't think you'd go off them. Not with all these strangers in and out the bar"

"You think I'd sleep around?!"

How was he saying all the wrong things?

"No! I think too many people have their eyes on you"

"So you don't think I'm faithful? You don't think this... that you could be the father?"

"Babe, don't put words in my mouth. I'm trying to understand..."

"Your dick knocked me up. What else is there to know...?"

"I... how long have you known?"

"A movement and bit... I... I didn't know if it was true... I didn't know if I could carry... I lost... I lost the first one... I don't know if my body can carry properly. I don't want you to get your hopes up... because I might ruin this like everything else I do... I wanted you to be the first one to know... I'm so sorry"

  Leaving his boots on, Keith climbed in under the blankets on Lance's side. It smelt far too much like Shiro. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around Lance's waist to pull him tight up against him

"Stop apologising"

"Why? You hate me, don't you? I got pregnant. I should have told you use a condom... I shouldn't have let you stay..."

"Don't you want the baby?"

"I don't know what I want!"

"I promised to spend your heat with you. We knew it was a possibility... I know you went off the drugs, but I never knew you meant your contraceptives too..."

"You're just as much to blame as I am!"

"Why are you yelling at me?!"

"Because I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do! It's in me Keith. Growing in me! Something I didn't... it's..."

Is that what it came down to? Lance didn't want their baby because he'd fallen pregnant accidentally

"Another thing you didn't want in your body?"

"Yes?! No! I don't know. That's what makes it so hard!"

"You don't want it... I see..."

Releasing Lance. Keith climbed back out of their bed, angered by his husband. Why tell him if he was just going to run off and deal with it himself!? Why tell him if he was only going to reject him? Did Lance not want him now that he was getting a child out of it? Out of him? No... He was being cruel. Keith couldn't even imagine what Lance must be thinking, or feeling. Keith didn't even know what he was thinking or feeling... Other than sick and scared. Lance had been right though, the nausea was there to stay, at least initially... A baby... they were having a baby...

  "I never said that I didn't! I... I don't know what I want!"

"It's our baby..."

"I know..."

"I don't know what to say..."

"I don't either... I'm fucking scared Keith. I'm scare and if you're scared, then you should say so... Maybe you should talk to Shiro? He seemed more excited about it than you are"

Keith didn't know how most people reacted to their partner being pregnant. He as excited. Nervous. Scared. Terrified. Proud... all at the same time

"I'm not not excited. You're the one who keeps apologising"

"This isn't working. We're going around in circles. I told you how I feel... now you need to think about what you want and what you want from us"

"I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"I do... but I don't know if you love them"

  How was he supposed to love someone he hadn't met. Someone who's existence he'd only just learned of... In his heart, he wanted this baby. He'd thought as much when Lance was in heat. All the what ifs as he rubbed the tiny bulge of Lance's stomach from where he'd filled his lover over and over... Lance should have told him though. That he wasn't on contraceptives. That it wasn't safe to be having unprotected sex...

"I think I'm going to go talk to Shiro..."

His husband was still crying, not responding other than to cry harder. Stress couldn't be good for the baby or for Lance's seizures and all he was doing was adding more stress due to his head being a muddled mess. He couldn't do this... He didn't know the first thing about being a father. He couldn't promise his kid he wouldn't die on a mission... and what would his mother say? She was pregnant... how could he tell her that his very male husband was very much pregnant?

     *

Finding Shiro in the bar, his older brother led him back from the space before he started drawing attention to himself. Leading him away from the main floor and up the smaller second floor control room, Shiro pushed him to sit, the paper of the envelop rubbing against his back and reminding him he still had the scan photos. Taking the envelope from his pocket, his hands were shaking uncontrollably as he slid the prints from the envelope, deep purple eyes filling with tears at the blobs on the scan as he let out a broken sob. Nearly scrunching the prints he brought his cupped hands to his forehead as everything became a hundred times realer. They were having a baby.

  Crouching down in front of him, Shiro took the prints from his hands

"Keith...?"

"He's pregnant"

"Yeah... How are you doing?"

"I... I don't know!"

Setting the prints aside, Shiro pulled him down so that he kneeling between his brother's legs, Shiro ending up sitting on the floor to hold him as he cried

"He doesn't want the baby!"

"Shhhh... shhh... Is that what he said?"

"He kept apologising... and he doesn't know... he said he doesn't know... he should have told me! He should have told me he didn't have contraceptives in his system! He hates me for getting him pregnant!"

Rubbing his back, Shiro continued to hush him softly. Not that Keith could calm down now that the dam had broken

"You knew it was a possibility?"

"Allura changed his body to be more compatible with mine! She did this... she changed him inside... and now he doesn't want our baby inside of him... he wants them gone! Why tell me if he wants it gone!?"

"Keith, you need to calm down for me and listen to me right now. Lance wants this. He's scared and confused. But he told me himself... He convinced himself that you'd be angry at him for falling pregnant when you're working so hard as it is... He wants to want this baby, and he wants you to want this baby, but he doesn't want you feel like you don't have options"

"He didn't sound like he wanted it. He made it sound like it... like it was the first time all over again... like I forced him to get pregnant..."

"What do you mean the first time?"

Emotionally shattered, Keith's mouth had no filter

"He got pregnant when they raped him... and he lost it... he had it... beaten out of him... He was so scared to tell me... but if he's comparing me to them than doesn't that make me the same? Doesn't that make... me a monster like them!?"

Swearing softly, Shiro hugged him tighter

"No. No it doesn't. He knows how much you love him. He knows it. He's been agonising over how to tell you. It tore him to shreds that you weren't there to find out with him. But he's about 6 movements along. Both bubs are doing just fine..."

"B-both?"

"Ah... yeah. It's twins according to the scan"

"Twins..."

  Suddenly he couldn't catch his breath. Everything surrounding him drowned out by his racing heart. Twins. As in two. As in Lance was pregnant with twins. Two tiny people...

"Oh god... oh god. I can't do this! I can't be father. I don't know how to be a father. What do I do? I only just found out mums pregnant. Now Lance is pregnant. How am I supposed to help both of them?! What if something goes wrong? He's going to have to quit work. I can't quit work. I can't. Mum needs me... I can't...

"Keith. Keith, listen to my voice. You're having a panic attack. I need you to focus on me... ok?"

"He's having twins... Does he want them? Can he carry them? What if... what if something wrong with them, from the drugs? What if he loses them? He's not well... I never should have let him buy this place... I never should have... we don't see each other. How am I supposed to be a dad if I'm never home? How am I supposed to go on missions? What if I don't come home? Our kids can't end up in the system Shiro... oh god... what if... what if he dies... what if they die"

  Pushing him back, Shiro cupped his face. Keith unable to focus through the blur off his tears

"Keith. You need to breathe. Come on. In through your nose for me..."

"He can't die!"

"Lance isn't going to die. We're going to get him the best medical attention and advice we can. You're going to be a father, and your husband needs you right now, so you need to calm your breathing for me. That's what you and Lance do isn't it, here, put your hand on my chest and breathe with me"

  An eternity and a half passed until Keith finally brought his breathing back under control. Or at least, it felt that long. Collapsing against his brother, he felt boneless and cold

"Lance wants these twins. He wants you and a family. It might have been accidental and over sight on the protection thing which you're both responsible for, but that doesn't change the fact that you're both going to be parents"

"He kept apologising"

"Because he's scared. He's been screaming Klearo's name in his sleep, I guess I understand why now. Why did neither of you tell me about this?"

"About what Allura did? How she changed his body? We don't have answers. Coran has theories that he can't control the extra quintessence he received from Allura so couldn't change his body back. Lance has a theory that this was her gift because she knew how badly he wanted a family of his own and with us both being male she didn't understand the whole adoption thing... Whatever it is, it makes his scent really appealing to Galra. I can feel his... smell his emotions in his scent. I can tell what he's feeling without having to ask... He's so ashamed of his body"

"He... he asked me if I thought he was a clone or if he was in his real body. He said it didn't feel like his body and hadn't since he came back"

"He died... he fucking died and thinks he came back wrong. He had fucking nightmares for phoebs about being trapped on the astral plane. Then... then he lost Allura... We... we think she gave him some of her quintessence to also keep him stable and alive. Like the power source for your arm... maybe that's what anchors your soul now? The only person who held any answers was Allura and she's gone..."

"That's a lot"

"I want to be happy about this baby, but I'm scared"

"He feels exactly the same. He's waiting for your permission on how to feel"

"We tried to talk... but it's so much... dad died before... well... you're the closest thing I had to a dad... I don't know how you did it. How you took me in... I don't know if I can make medical choices for... for the three of them... I can't... I can't choose them over him and he might never forgive me if I do... and what about his seizures, Shiro? He won't be able to be left alone"

"Seizures?"

Right... he didn't know what Shiro knew or didn't know...

"They're... from the brain injury... we thought they were from abusing drugs, but... apparently on Erathus they said it was from a traumatic brain injury... I just want to rest... I want to take him away... but now he's pregnant... he won't stop this. He won't stop work... and he's going to be worried about the others knowing. Worried about telling his family. What if it all falls apart because I couldn't control my dick?"

  Shiro snorted at his ending sentence

"I can't do much, and I can't say I fully understand anything going on with his body. But I've seen that look in his eyes before. I know it well. He's given up on himself. It's not that he wants to die, but if he was about to be hit by a car, he wouldn't be moving to get out of the way. What he needs is to hear that you want these twins. That's what's going to calm him down and bring him back. I know he's excited. He told me he was excited before he started over thinking what you were going to think"

  Keith drew in a shaky breath

"I'm scared, Shiro"

"That's alright"

"Mum's pregnant too..."

"I'll have to congratulate her. Did you tell Lance?"

"We just fought... he said he was going to sleep"

"He needs it. You're going to be a great dad, Keith"

"W-was he really... ok?"

"Yeah. Exhausted, emotionally exhausted, and scared. But nothing wrong with both babies"

"Two of them... I didn't know if my sperm would even take, being part Galra and all... God..."

"He's only 6 weeks in. So you have some time before you tell anyone"

He couldn't tell people before hand?

"We do?"

"Most miscarriages happen before 12 weeks. Most of the time it passes in a period before most women know they're pregnant... or men..."

"I didn't think to ask him about his period... I was mad over him being right..."

"That wouldn't the first time that happened... Keith it's ok to be excited, and if you're excited, I think you should tell Lance. Be honest with him"

"I just tried to do that. He's convinced I'm angry... maybe I am... but he's just told me. I don't know what to do! I... think I really want this, but the only real family experience I have that's been any good is that time with you, and Christmas... two babies... he's having twins!"

"You're both having twins. It takes two... I really don't understand how this happened, and honestly I'm kind of hurt you left me on the outside of something like this... but it's already done, and now you really should go back to Lance. Don't forget, he can't understand if you don't talk to him, and you can't understand if you don't question him. You can do this. You both can. You're going to be amazing parents. You know what shouldn't be done... I hate that you know, but you do. And neither of you are alone. I won't tell anyone, this is your news to share when you're ready. So go back to your husband"

Shiro's moved his hand from his back, Keith could hear the ruffling of paper before the scan prints were pushed back into his hand

"You've got this kiddo"

"Thank you, Shiro... Thank you for being here for him... and for staying... and going to pick him up... and just... thank you... I'm sorry... I'm not used to him letting people into our space..."

"Lance said as much. If it helps, hands were above the blanket, all I did was help him bath and shower... He... had an accident during a nightmare. That's the most hands on I got"

He knew Shiro wouldn't go after his husband like that. He was happy with Curtis, and Lance had chosen to let Shiro into his tiny circle of trust. His instincts were furious, but his heart was relieved

"Shiro..."

"I changed the sheets and blankets, I don't think he remembers. I know his body and who touches him is a big thing for him. So if he asks you can be honest with him now"

"Lance... is really susceptible to scents. Even if he can't say it, he knows it's you... I need to go see him"

"Then get off of me already"

"I am... you're the hugging me"

Keith sniffled and wiped at his face, releasing Shiro

"Thank you..."

     *

Walking back to their bedroom, Keith broke from a slow walk to jogging, then running. Shiro had said it was alright to be happy and it'd dislodged the fear, allowing the happiness and excitement to bubble into his blood stream.  Maybe the twins weren't planned... and maybe their jobs were impossible... but they were going to be parents. He and Lance... were living a miracle.

  Reaching their room, Keith slammed his hand down on the hand pad. Slipping through the gap before the door opened fully. Still curled up on his side of their bed, Keith pulled the covers off and swept his husband up into his arms. Lance's tired eyes blinking at him in confusion. Smiling down at him, he spun around in a circle, Lance scrambling to clutch onto him

"Keith?"

"We're having a baby!"

It was ok to want this... it was ok to want these children...

"Keith? Wha..."

Leaning down, Keith nuzzled into his husband's face

"I'm sorry. I'm scared and I'm probably going to fuck things up over and over again... but I'm... I think I really want this for us..."

"You sounded so angry..."

"Confused... scared... confused... maybe angry, but babe... we made a baby..."

"We made two... Keith how is this supposed to work? Our marriage is barely working"

"I'll quit ahead of schedule. You can come stay with me on Daibazaal, and come on training missions and help me train the recruits. You're the best marksman I know... and it'll be safe because I won't let anyone hurt you. The others can run this place. We can comm the every day and I can there for your next scan... and we can see our twins together..."

"This wasn't the plan..."

"Babe, all the best things that have happened to us haven't been planned. The best thing that happened to me was marrying you, and we took movements to figure that one out.. so what if mum's pregnant? We can talk to her and work something out..."

"Krolia's pregnant?"

"Yep. She only just told me I'm going to be a big brother... and now I'm going to be a father too..."

  Sitting down their bed, Keith carefully man handled his husband so he was straddling his lap, his face in his hands

"I don't even know if I want this... this wasn't the plan... I don't know if I can carry to full term... I was so sure you'd hate me... and now you've come back and said it's all ok... I don't know what to feel... your anger hurt"

"I know... but... this is a lot. I thought you were on contraceptives... so I felt... I guess I felt betrayed that you didn't tell me you weren't... My instincts didn't like it, not with so many people attracted to you... I thought you'd still be on them, or some kind of injection because you have no idea what kind of people are coming and going from here. Though now that I think of it, you did say you didn't want to take anything... and your heat... all I could think about was swelling that stomach of yours with our child... so I don't know if I could have remembered to actually use a condom. With... with how you were apologising, I thought..."

Lance let out a miserable whimper

"You thought I'd slept with someone else"

"Not consensually... but babe, you can see why can't you? You kept saying I'd be mad. Shiro said you were basically non-responsive. You kept apologising and you... you hated the idea of being pregnant... even to me"

"I can't ask you to stop working... your mum is going to need you more than ever and this pregnancy... it's not going to be as long as normal..."

Keith scrunched his brow

"Why not?"

"My heat was... like 7 movements ago now for me... but 5 for you... that's.... when I'm 6 phoebs... it's only to be 4 for you... 40 weeks... I don't know the math but it's like... 25 weeks... your time before I'm due...the gap is so big. I don't want to leave here, but I'm pregnant... I don't know what to do..."

"We'll work it out. We'll work it out when you don't look so exhausted..."

Searching his face, Lance sniffled softly

"You've been crying... I'm sorry... I'm so scared of what this means for us... I'm so exhausted Keith... I'm so tired of having so many ups and downs... I miss being on my injections. I miss having energy... I miss going out and helping people... and now I have to leave here and I have no where to go"

  Parroting it back to Lance, Keith was confused... the only thing that had really changed is that his husband was pregnant... Lance was still Lance... so how did that equate to homelessness?

"You don't have nowhere to go..."

"I can't go back to Earth... mami... mami... Keith how can I tell my family!? I was born male! I'm not meant to be pregnant!"

Oh. Ah... it's been scary enough for Lance the first time, trying to tell his mother about his health issues... But now Keith felt confident enough to talk to Miriam and Jorge on even ground over Lance's health. Lance might to think he shouldn't legally make his own decisions or question them, but he was far more capable than he thought. He knew what he needed... thoooough, he did have the tendency to be swayed by others opinions too easily... In this case, his parents were going to be the least of his worries. No. Rachel was going to be the main issue in Keith's opinion... but then again... Veronica. Oh god... Lance might have a point. Veronica was going to kill him for knocking up her little brother... No. Nope. He couldn't go there. Lance needed to hear everything was going to be ok.

  "Mami and Jorge are going to love you just as much as they do right now... Shiro said he's not going to tell anyone. And I won't tell anyone until we're ready to do it together..."

"And what if I lose them? What if I can only get pregnant but can't carry? What if all..."

"Babe... I know nothing about being pregnant. Shiro just gave like the 2 dobosh talk about it... he said that miscarriages happen mostly before 12 weeks... we still have time to decide what we want to say to everyone... and to ensure things are ok with the three of you. I'm serious. I want you to come back to Daibazaal with me. We can spend the next phoeb together... Daehra and Lucteal will probably be able to sense your pregnancy... and I'm sure they wouldn't mind running things here. Or you can call in Th'al...?"

"I don't want to stop working... I've barely been able to keep up with work since you left... I'm so tired all the time... Shiro's had to look after me..."

"He told me. It should have been me... I swore to myself I wouldn't make you cry and it's all I do..."

"I didn't want to say it... because I don't want to hold you back... but I need you... I've needed you home for phoebs..."

 Yeah. And he'd needed Lance just as badly... They'd both held it in because it only served to hurt each other when they brushed against the topic

"I know you have... I never should have listened to mum and gone back to work so soon... I'm grateful Lucteal and Daehra were here... but I'm so fucking sick of only coming home when something is wrong or something happens. I want to take you away. I want to... go on missions with you. Your mission... not my boring ones..."

Lance shook his head

"We can't anymore. Not now I'm pregnant! I'm not ready for any of this! I wanted to keep working... I wanted to make something out here and again I have to walk away! I'm sick of walking away not having finished anything I've started"

Moving his hand up to Lance's forehead, he frowned at the warmth now there. His husband's exhaustion had seemed to have lead to a fever

"Shhh... Hey... ok. You're feeling warm... your voice sounds ruff too... I think you need some sleep and fluids"

"I can't... Shiro decided to invite everyone out here... I can't ignore them. Pidge will ask questions... and Hunk... and you... I can smell other people on you"

"Mum opened a wormhole directly here. I have my team and the recruits with me"

"I should be out there. I should be the one..."

"No. You need your rest... you've got our babies to focus on... and I've got you and my other two babies to focus on"

"Did you just call me a baby?"

"I don't know, did I? How's the nausea?"

"Awful... my nose is all clogged up and burning... can we take a bath together?"

"Didn't you just get out the bath?"

"I... my skin... I feel them on my skin... I don't feel clean"

"Baby... you are"

"I feel them... I feel him on my skin... and hear him... telling me I'm a "pregnant whore"... it only excited them more"

Lance clamped a hand over his mouth, climbing from Keith's lap and running to their bathroom. A bath was completely unnecessary... though without his blade suit on, Keith probably stunk to high heaven... Still, a bath was a small price to pay for Lance's mental health...