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He’d just managed to cut Shiro free and was dragging him out when a tall boy with an annoyed look came rushing in, two in tow behind him.
“Nope. No, you-- No, no, no. No, you don’t. I’m saving Shiro,” he rambles as he pushes the table that Shiro was laid on out of the way and wraps his arm around the other side of Shiro.
“Who are you?” Keith questions, confused as to how this boy knew where Shiro was being held.
“Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance,” the boy replies and pauses for a long moment and blinks at him. “We were in the same class at the Garrison.”
“Really? Are you an engineer?” Keith questions, searching his mind for anything about this boy he apparently should know. It wasn’t as if he’d paid much attention to those in his class.
“No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Kari, neck and neck,” Keith’s mood instantly sours. He’s sure that most of his class had known of his transition before he was kicked out.
“Oh wait, I remember you,” Keith bites out, “You’re a cargo pilot.”
“Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out.”
“Well, congratulations,” Keith says, teeth grinding against each other as he says it. He huffs to himself as they start to move Shiro, finally escaping from that godawful ‘research facility.’ They drag him over to Keith’s hoverbike.
“Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” one of Lance’s friends(?) - the larger, taller one - asks. Keith says nothing as they all climb onto the bike. Hunk’s weight puts too much strain on the back and Keith feels like he’s in a see-saw as his body is suddenly propelled up. He hits his face against the small windshield at the front and feels a stab of pain.
Another voice lets out a strangled yell of surprise before they question, “Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” He glances back at them - they’re the smallest of the trio.
“No,” he answers, irritated that all of these people are invading his space and his vehicle when he just came to get Shiro. He turns back to in front of him and sees the lights of the Garrison army vehicles and squints. It’s going to be rough, but they’re going to have to just make a break for it anyway.
He hears them chattering along in the back as he drives but his ears pick up on Lance complaining about how slow his ride is. He makes a joke of tossing out ‘non-essential weight’ purely out of being bitter.
They come to a cliff and everyone starts freaking out but he just speeds up. Lance tells him off and whines about how he’s going to kill them, so Keith just barks out a “Shut up and trust me!” He pulls up just before they hit the ground and from then it’s smooth sailing. He knows the Garrison wouldn’t be able to follow them easily.