Waiting For You (A Sheith Story)

The Search Begins (Chapter 9)

Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't been updating as often, I don't have as much time to write the stories as I did earlier this summer... Anyway, thanks for reading, please comment, and hope you enjoy!

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Keith had stolen some parts and tech for his hover bike and just for general uses. Giving up on sleep, he got to work on setting up the additional equipment he had smuggled out, but the energy from the night before was constant, and a reason he couldn't sleep.

The moment he plugged in the sensory machinery, they began going haywire. They beeped crazily, the lines across the screen jagged in a pattern for an element he didn't recognize.

"What is this?" He muttered aloud. He took down some old pictures off the wall behind the table with machinery.

It would be a good place for an evidence map once he began searching for the answers he craved.

He pulled out a map of the canyons and plateaus in the area, and mentally drew out some possible travel routes to search some areas.

But first things first. Keith had priorities.

He pulled out some tools and parts, some also stolen from the Garrison, before heading outside to his hover bike he and Shiro had brought back when they had met.

In order to get food and search for the energy, he needed the bike. He wasn't an engineer, but he had repaired the bike enough times to know what he generally needed.

Too bad Hunk's not here...

Nope. The Garrison was behind him now. Iverson and the other instructors, Lance and Hunk, the Holts too. The only one he wanted to remember from those months was Shiro.

Keith was baking in the sun, his jacket protecting him from sunburn, and his bandana covering his nose and mouth from the occasional fumes. It was hours before the grease covered teen stood and eased onto the bike.

Cautiously, he pushed the ignition button with his thumb. The engine sputtered to life. Not the constant purr he was used to, but it was a start.

Keith then pushed his little luck once again, and twisted the handle, revving the engine to the way it was supposed to sound. He took the parking brake off and zipped across the sand, leaving a long dusty cloud trailing behind him.

It worked just like new. Just from the test drive, Keith couldn't help but smile at something he accomplished, all on his own.

The working bike wasn't just a symbol of his prowess, though.

No, it meant that his search, the one meant to distract him from Shiro, could begin.