| Part Three "�from the information provided by Michael Knight I don't think that's even a possibility." One hand on the steering wheel with Karr doing most of the driving, Nick glanced at the dark dash. "Tell me, how many 'Michael's do we know?" There was the predictable pause. "To my knowledge, twelve. One is well known to us and eleven are acquaintances or business contacts. Or was that a rhetorical question?" "You can call him 'Michael', you don't need to use his full name." "It is his name." "Karr, we've lived with them for over ten years. He's your brother's partner and lover." "Do you have to refer to him like that?" Nick laughed. "It's who he is. It's what they are. You can't deny it." "You cannot tell me that you approve." "It's not up to me, or you, to approve or disapprove. Sure, it's not something I would want but I understand how intense their link is, and you know how intimate it is. They're not us, Karr. They're very different and so is their relationship." "You wouldn't want it." Nick shook his head. "No, thank you. And certainly not with you on the other end." He was amazed to feel offence coming from his partner through the link. "Karr�!" "If I were Kitt?" He didn't feel the need to say 'no', instead he replied, "Michael and Kitt had completely different beginnings to us. Michael told me once that Kitt was in his heart before he was in his head. You know they were always close, from the very start." "Do you wish you had been chosen for Kitt rather than for me?" "No." This time it was needed. "You and I both know we're suited to one another." "But Kitt�" "�is wonderful, gentle, accepting, warm and affectionate. He isn't you, and that's not a bad thing." He smiled. "Where has this paranoia come from?" "I was just fishing for compliments." And there was a note of amusement in his tone that Nick wasn't sure about. He was going to ask when the car suddenly swerved and Karr switched control back to him with a moment's warning. <What is it?> <Kitt. Gently and affectionately attacking me.> ~ Michael stared at David January as if he'd actually lost his mind. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." He knew the bluff wouldn't work; he wasn't even buying for time, not really. He was trying to understand what January was threatening. "I want the disk with the code on it, Michael. I know you have it. I don't think you'd have told Kitt about it, and I don't think you'd have destroyed it, so in a change to what's surely your usual routine, I'm going to torture him until you give me the information I'm after. Where's the disk?" He'd stuck what was best described as a timer dial to Kitt's hood, about the size of the guy's palm. And he'd turned the dial one notch. Michael had felt nothing. There was nothing coming through the link, the blocks they usually had up while on a case were in place, not obviously under stress, and there wasn't a sound coming from Kitt, no reaction at all from the car. So what was January doing? "I want the location of the disk. The one you stole from me." "I told you�." He turned the dial again. Still nothing. Michael didn't understand. "The location!" "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't know�." January shook his head. "Please. You should be reasonable. What this little gadget is doing is sending a large electrical current over the body of the car. At the moment it's just high enough for the SensorNet to be causing Kitt a considerable amount of pain." Michael touched the link. Nothing. "Much higher, and its going to start burning the sensors out. Like� cigarette burns on human skin. Higher than that and it'll start to overload his CPU. So if I was you, if I didn't want to cause my partner's total destruction, piece by piece, I'd TELL ME WHERE THE FUCKING DISK IS!" He was starting to worry slightly now. //Kitt?// "I know you know what I'm talking about." The dial was turned another notch, and another, and another. Still nothing. Maybe it had malfunctioned. But in that case� why wasn't Kitt at the back of his mind, reassuring him, telling him to play it out�? "Karr! Give me complete manual control!" The car was starting to shudder, Karr's CPU taking a battering from whatever was going on at Kitt's end. He was blocking Nick fiercely, protecting him against the pain, pain that wouldn't even translate as such but would undoubtedly seriously affect Nick's ability to function. Still, Nick could feel the echoes of it through the heavy blocks. Whatever was happening, it was bad. Very, very bad. The Stealth slid to a wavering halt outside January Corporation's Research & Development Facility where Karr had tracked Kitt to. "Scan the building, I need the situation," Nick insisted. Karr's voice was rough, grating when he answered. "They're in the lab at the back of the facility. Knight is� surrounded by armed men. Four� machine guns, two handguns, all primed, armed and aimed at his face. Kitt is close by." "What's happening to him? What's causing this?" "You think I know that?!" There was a degree of panic in Karr's tone. "All I'm getting� is heat� and blazing agony!" Nick felt another, stronger block thrown up between himself and his partner. Much more and he'd start to feel the separation. "Why isn't this taking Michael down too?" "Kitt's� blocking. They are� specific� blocks. Feedback blocks! I don't think� Knight knows� what's happening." Nick considered that. He piloted the Stealth silently around to the back of the Lab. "Where can I get in, Karr?" "Three� point five� nine� metres from the� corner of the building." He lined up the car's prow. "Okay, I need a distraction. Six men could put twelve rounds of bullets into Michael's head before I'm even out of the car. " "What do� you suggest?" "Get Kitt to lower the shields between him and Michael." "I thought� we were� trying� to prevent� Knight's� death?" "If he lowers the blocks, Michael should suddenly drop in agony, it'll give us the seconds we need. We'll stop it as soon as we're in there. Please, Karr." "You� don't� understand. Kitt� isn't� listening�. He's� otherwise� engaged." Nick nodded. "Not listening. Right." As he started to work on Plan B, feeling the building heat in Karr's CPU behind the substantial blocks. A light flickered on the dash. "There is� another� option." "Give it to me." "As you wish. I� will be� back." It took a moment to work out what Karr meant by that. A moment too long. "KARR! NO!" But already there was a shift in the link, and swearing brightly under his breath, knowing he had no choice but to use the change his partner was about to give him, Nick gunned the Stealth's engine, reversing, getting ready to plough through the wall. Kitt's CPU was a hellish chaos. Karr could feel the heat and smell the burning of circuits and components. Kitt himself was curled into a far corner, bleeding energy and light, dark patches on the usually bright presence where the current had caught him, searing him. He was barely conscious, his remaining strength focused towards one single point - the blocks he'd erected across the link to his partner. They were strong feedback blocks, and Karr spared a single nano-second impressed. He'd hardly used them himself, hadn't realised Kitt knew how to. No wonder Knight hadn't yet reacted to Kitt's state; he knew nothing of it. The blocks wouldn't just be cutting the pair off from one another, they would be mirroring Michael's own emotional state of mind back at him. If he wasn't feeling any pain, he would believe Kitt wasn't either. Clever. And very, very dangerous. This was going to come as a very real shock, but had didn't have another option. As Karr aimed for those blocks, he felt Kitt become aware of him, felt his brother move towards him, felt the panic, the begging for him not to do what they both knew he was going to. Don't! Please! I have to No! I did this to protect him! It is the only way. You shouldn't have done this. The link is there to protect you both I won't let Michael be forced into giving away the location of the warehouse! He wouldn't ever do that, Kitt, you know it Please, Karr. He'll hate me for what I've done Kitt. Even I know that's not true. His anger towards you will not stand in the face of your pain. He would never, ever hate you. I understand the love he feels for you. Let me end this The argument ceased, and gathering himself, Karr smashed out at the heavy blocks at the location of the human/AI bond. Michael wasn't sure how much longer they could keep this up. "I don't know what you are talking about." "Yes, you do," January pointed out quietly. He turned the dial, seemingly enjoying himself, and for a moment Michael thought he saw a tremor run through the black frame. //Kitt? talk to me please// He was starting to get scared. What if January had been telling the truth? How far had he turned that dial already? //Kitt!// He could feel a hint of his own concern, and something about it didn't feel right. He tried to look utterly calm as he stared at his adversary. "I'm telling you�" It was like being hit by an avalanche; a wall of agony blasted into his mind, overwhelming him, drowning him, all so suddenly and with such great force that he was lost in an instant. He dimly knew of his legs folding, of hitting the ground, of someone screaming. And he realised with diminishing awareness that it was his own voice he was hearing. When the wall exploded inwards, he knew it was Karr and Nick coming to the rescue - a rescue he hadn't even realised they'd needed. He could feel Kitt now all right; searing heat and pain like nothing he'd ever know, sensation he didn't know how to deal with. He reached through the link instinctively, however much it hurt to do so because he knew without a doubt that Kitt was badly injured. He should have known it before now! Why hadn't he felt even a hint of this?! //Kitt? Kitt!// He tried to gather his wits, tried to be careful as he moved part of his presence through into Kitt's CPU. What he found brought stinging tears to his eyes. Hot red metal smouldering, circuits melting in the aftermath of wave after wave of excruciating surges of electrical current. He went as deep as he dare, calling for his partner, hearing and feeling only vague signals from the physical world around him. Kitt? Where are you? A gunshot, as far away as his own body, rang like a distant church bell in his ear. He ran into something cold and black and it took a second to realise how and what it was. Karr. Sitting in Kitt's CPU. Where is he? Karr said nothing, he simply moved out of the way and let Michael see the burned and bleeding presence of the soul he loved above anything and everything else. Kitt� oh God, Kitt� Reaching for him, cushioning him with infinite care and tenderness, Michael stroked his amber warmth over the waning white light. He turned, watching the cold black of the other AI start to spread. A deep-seated fear crept up on him and he buried Kitt further into his own presence. What are you doing? Karr didn't speak, or maybe he did, but Michael just couldn't hear him. That he would hurt Kitt was unthinkable but it took Michael a few long seconds to understand. He was fire-fighting, quite literally, removing some of himself back to his own CPU - presumably to aid Nick - but using the rest of his presence here to cool the burning, to put out the flickers of flames, to sooth Kitt's pain as best he could. Thank you He didn't know if Karr could hear him, or even if he could understand. Nick stamped the heel of his boot hard on January's wrist and twisted his ankle, mashing the two bones together, snapping them. The man's screams were immensely satisfying. Leaning across, not lifting his foot, Nick tore the small magnetic generator from Kitt's hood and dropped it to the floor next to January's fallen form, moving his attentions to it, crushing it as surely as he'd crushed the other man's wrist. Then he stepped over four dead men, two with broken necks, two with gunshot wounds, to stand at January's feet. Slowly raising his hand, he beckoned Karr over from where he had two gunmen pinned against the wall, both with fractured legs. They dropped forward almost comically as he let them go, falling first to the hood, then sliding to the floor with a groan as Karr turned. Nick made sure he had January's full and undivided attention. "Listen to me, and listen well." The Stealth drew up, prow over the prone man's legs, one tyre touching his right knee. "If I see you or hear of you again, I won't hesitate in killing you." He took a couple of steps back and with a low hum, Karr drove straight over January's knee, breaking it, crushing it slowly. He passed out before another sound could break free from his gasping throat. With everyone dealt with, Nick turned his attentions to Michael. He was curled up on his knees on the floor, tear streaking his cheeks, face contorted into a mask of blazing agony and crippling pain. <Karr? What's the situation with Kitt?> <His CPU is badly damaged. He is badly hurt. Knight is with him but there is not much he can do> <What do we need?> <First to get out of here. After that somewhere for him to go would be ideal. He needs replacement circuit boards> <Call Swan and Bonnie. What about the car?> <Except for the SensorNet it is undamaged but he is not in any state to drive> <Can you drive?> <Yes> <Good. I'll take ours. Let me get Michael inside first> Safety-wise, Michael would have been better off inside the Stealth; Nick knew that all too well. But he wasn't physically hurt save for a few cuts and bruises, and it was more important that he be as close to Kitt out here as he was in their minds. Lifting him with only minimal assistance from Michael himself, Nick helped him over to the TransAm and Karr opened the door. Once he had him comfortably inside, he left him to Karr's care and with the Stealth he led them out the way he and Karr had come in. ~ "If we take away the link it'll do more damage than has already been caused!" Nick ran his fingers through his hair in abstract frustration. "Michael's with Kitt on such deep a level that any sudden change could seriously hurt or even kill them both." "But we need to get Kitt out of there!" Bonnie's array of monitors was telling half the story, with signal strength depleted, database and memory integrity frighteningly low, figures and readings telling of neural pathways destroyed and synapses burned out. The SensorNet, Nick knew, was the least of her worries, but he also knew it had been the conductor between the device January had used and the key components of Kitt's devastated systems. They looked up as Swan's truck pulled into the warehouse and she jumped out a second later. Nick watched her take in the scene, and smiled grimly when she grinned at him. "Let me guess, you need a temporary stop for Kitt, but you can't lose the link?" He nodded, not allowing himself to think for one moment�. "At your service." Throwing open the rear door of the truck she reached inside and threw back the cover from the lifeless android that lay across the floor. "What? You think Kitt designed a new home for himself without including that all-important connection to his partner? Not to mention the link to his brother." "I don't understand." Nick was glad Bonnie had spoken up; because neither did he. "The implant�." "�is only an implant where Michael's concerned. For Kitt it's a chip and an application. If you have the chip, a copy of the application and the right wavelength, plus the encryption keys obviously, you can duplicate the link." Nick rolled his eyes. "Good, I'm glad it's safe." "Oh it's perfectly safe. Only Kitt knows the encryption. He can take that knowledge with him and apply it to the transmissions. Michael shouldn't experience more than a momentary drop in the link." "All right. Get everything ready." He crossed to the Stealth, to where it was parked across the back of the TransAm. "Karr, tell them what we're doing. We'll need Michael to come up to full consciousness and I'll need you to ensure Kitt moves across to the android's CPU." <What about the memory, data packs�?> <We'll copy everything else across before he goes, just like last time> <Nick�> <We don't have any choice. That CPU's shot to hell, isn't it?> Karr's rumbled agreement was a feeling more than a word. A pause. And then, <Knight's not happy but he'll do it when I ask> <Thank you> It took over an hour to get the two CPU's linked by cable, for the information to be copied - the content of Kitt's memory, all his system configuration data, the encryption for the transmission channels, everything. All that time Michael and Karr had remained with Kitt - Michael close, holding him by Karr's account, soothing him. He was injured, but only when it was safe to do so could Michael look at what to do about that. Karr stayed back, a single tendril of his presence touching his brother, reassuring him that he was protected as well as comforted. With the android connected to the CPU in the open engine compartment of the car and all of the data transferred, Nick once again returned to the Stealth. <We're ready, Karr> <I will inform Michael> Nick's eyes widened, but he said nothing and shielded his thoughts. Now was definitely not the time to continue that particular conversation. They are ready Michael looked up. Karr's cold, flat voice came to him from everywhere and he wondered if that was how he sounded to Kitt and Nick, or if it was just a symptom of how they were communicating. He had no link to Karr. If he wasn't so deeply ensconced in Kitt's CPU he wouldn't have been able to hear the other AI, he was sure of that. He eased back slightly from Kitt. They've attached the android, Kitt, Karr's going to take you through to the CPU there He felt a flood of panic all around him and had to fight not to drown in it. Kitt immediately wound more of himself around Michael, clinging on as if his life - his existence - depended on it. Michael understood perfectly. He was feeling it too, just that his own emotions were far away right now. We won't lose this. The CPU in the android has the same link. You have the encryption key If it doesn't work I'm here, Kitt. Bonnie's here too, she's gonna fix this CPU quick and you can come right back. You know the link with Karr works when you're in the android. You won't be alone I hurt, Michael Somewhere he could distantly feel his own heart breaking. I know Beauty. I'm sorry. We must do this It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, letting go of Kitt, moving out of the ravaged CPU, back into his own mind. He came to in the driver's seat of their car with an eye-popping migraine and the sight of Nick holding out a glass of water and three small white pills. "Thanks." His voice sounded like he hadn't used it in a month. "How is he?" "Not good." "I know it's tough to leave him in Karr's hands�" But Michael shook his head. "Not anymore. I know Karr won't hurt him. He did so much in there, Nick. I didn't know! I had no fucking idea what that� thing� what January was doing to him. I can't believe he could block that kind of intensity!" Nick sighed softly. "Feedback blocks. They echo your own thoughts and feelings back to you, so you think they're coming from Kitt. They're not easy to create or maintain; Karr and I have never even tried to use them. Kitt must have read the details in one of the files from FLAGnet's early research." Michael took that in, handed Nick the glass back and climbed gingerly out of the car, trying not to let his head move about too much. On the bench lay the second-generation android, very similar-looking to the first but with a thousand tiny differences and a couple of very major ones. It was surrounded by monitors, Swan and Bonnie keeping a close eye on every measurement possible. Moving slowly, Michael stepped up to the android's side and lifted his left hand, holding it between his two. He tried not to touch the link, knowing what he'd feel if he did, but he watched the blank face steadily for the first sign of life, ignoring the nauseating pounding in his skull. It was taking too long. They'd done this before and the transfer had been a matter of seconds, not minutes. He looked up, locked eyes with Nick who shook his head. "Give them time." His voice was surprising loud in a quiet Michael hadn't noticed up until then. As if they were all holding their breath. He thought he felt something; the slightest of pressure on his hand, a little heat, something akin to an electrical pulse. //Kitt?// To his surprise, rapidly warming fingers wrapped around his own and he squeezed back gently, amazed, raising the hand to his chest. //Kitt please answer me// The android's head moved, eyes closed and opened. The monitor readings jumped and Nick reported that Kitt was all the way across. Still, the link was chillingly silent. //Kitt// Michael tried to hold back the tears. He was exhausted, battered and bruised. Sitting with Kitt inside his CPU sapped his strength quicker than any other activity, mental or physical, having to constantly fight not to lose himself in the alien signals all around him, keeping a firm hold on who and what he was, while giving his partner as much of himself as he possibly could. //Kitt// He felt moisture on his cheeks. //Michael// It was the most beautiful thing in the world. Sinking as deep as he dare while standing up, he drew Kitt into his embrace, holding him, long soothing strokes over the injured presence of his partner, his lover. //are you okay?// //no, not really// Easing back just slightly, Michael looked over the damage wrought in the soul he knew so intimately. There were black scolds, brownish-red burns and gaping wounds which Michael stroked single tendrils of his own presence over. Kitt flinched and he pulled back. //sorry, I'm sorry// //no, you didn't hurt� it just felt� odd// Michael looked at the patch he'd covered, it seemed slightly better, a little less black, a little less deep. //I think I can help but I need to know if you're ready for them to disconnect you from the CPU in the car?// //yes. I have you// Smiling, balancing himself as best he could, Michael opened his eyes. "You can unhook the CPU." Bonnie smiled, touched his arm momentarily and got to work while Swan checked and double-checked the readings she was getting from the android. Someone had fetched him a chair, he noticed, and he sank into it, as hard as it was. Standing upright while being so deeply linked wasn't all that easy. "I need to do some checks on his functions," Swan put in gently. Michael glanced up, shook his head. "You need to give us some time. He's not ready yet." Whatever she might have wanted to say, she didn't, and he watched Nick lead her patiently away, up the stairs towards the industrial-sized coffee machine with its industrial strength coffee. Closing his eyes, he sank back, stretching out along the length of his partner, starting to gently heal the wounds January had left. ~ "Kitt, check visual, auditory and voice." "I can see, hear and speak, Swan." It was Kitt's voice - the right accent, timbre, pitch and tone programmed into the android as they were into the car's systems, with the slight mechanical edge to it removed so that it was smoother, more human. "Links?" "Both working." Michael thought that should have been obvious; Karr had been the one to help Kitt over and he'd been buried inside Kitt for the last four hours. "Thank God for that," she replied with a smile. "Now access each channel one by one and report." Michael caught Bonnie's uncomfortable glance, shared it. But Kitt was responding as requested. He and Swan had worked together, that was the point, and Michael knew they'd come to their own unique understanding. He knew also that Swan had feelings for Kitt that weren't entirely platonic. He just didn't know what his partner felt about the situation. "Good. Memory? Data?" "All functioning normally." "And movement." Kitt had been holding Michael's hand back ever since he'd shifted over. Now Michael was stretching his legs close by while Kitt sat the android upright, tilted his head as if stretching out a crick in his neck, arched his shoulders and back, then swung his legs off the workbench and stood, flexing the knees, taking a single step forward. It was slightly stiff, each move slightly jerky, but even with his second step it was significantly smoother. "Everything seems to be in full working order." "Great." He turned and she beckoned him back, started to remove the small electronic pads that were sending the telemetry to the monitors. "There is just one thing." Michael watched her head snap up. "What is it?" "I appear to be wearing a tarpaulin." He almost laughed out loud. "Suits you." Eyes like whiskey looked straight at him and he found himself remembering the last time Kitt had been inside the android; his body's response was immediate and he took another couple of steps, glad of his decision to swap the tight jeans of old for a more� relaxed look. He felt something through the link, but couldn't easily translate it. Amusement perhaps, underlying arousal despite the undercurrent of hurt and fear still ebbing through Kitt's mind. Crossing the narrow gap, Michael wrapped his arms around the android body and held it - him - gently. Kitt's arms came up around his neck, hands skimming his shoulders and back, and Michael turned his face into the silken blond hair. God, but it felt so good to hold him like this again; a physical, public show of affection. "Let me take the rest of the pads from him," Swan murmured softly. "And you can find him some clothes." Any flippant comment about clothes not being a priority was pushed to the back of his mind as Michael loosened his embrace and Kitt stepped back with a shy smile. "Might want to ask Nick, actually," she added, "the height difference may not be so much of an issue." ~ Michael wrapped one arm around Kitt's waist and pressed his lips into his partner's neck. He was still fragile, still delicate, still staying close to Michael's presence through the link, tendrils of themselves entwined. Nick had given him a bright orange shirt and a pair of worn blue denim jeans to change into. They were still a size too big for him, but if he'd put on Michael's clothes they'd have drowned him. It was easier this time, to accept Kitt in this form. The last time it had been a shock for them both; so far from what Kitt was used it had been hard for him to accept, so close to Michael's wildest dreams, it had been difficult to let it be real. This version of Swan's 'Jez' android had been designed by she and Kitt; the same physical details of the previous version - around five and a half feet tall, the attributes and looks of a slim young man of around nineteen or twenty, gentle facial features, with dirty blond hair cut into the back of his neck and eyes the colour of whiskey. There were additional functions that would, when they were ready, allow Kitt to take up permanent residence. The link chips were the most important addition, even in this form where he could reach out and touch his partner, the link between them was something they would both eventually go insane without. He felt Kitt's arm come to rest over his own, fingers threaded through his, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I didn't plan this." He barely breathed the words, feeling Kitt's upset. "Can we talk about what happened today?" "You think I was protecting you." "I know you were protecting us both, but that's not my point. Nick told me about the blocks you used, called them 'feedback blocks', said they echoed my thoughts and feelings back to me." "I didn't want you to feel what I was feeling, didn't want you to have to feel the guilt of not giving him what he wanted while he tortured me." "I didn't know you were being hurt, Kitt." The thought still scared him. "I thought it was a joke, some big� fucking joke�." He took another deep breath. "The link's there for us to communicate without talking when we most need to. I needed to hear you, to feel what you were going through." "It would have crippled you." "There's a difference between a working block and a mirror." Michael kept any brewing anger completely under control; the last thing he wanted was it bleeding through to his injured partner. But he had to get his point across. Kitt was already arguing his side. "It was� bad, Michael. A working block wouldn't have kept it from swamping you." "You know, I think we've had this conversation before� about you sacrificing yourself to save me? Remember that?" There was no confirmation or denial. The constant communication of high-level thoughts and feelings was missing from the link. Instead all that energy was focused into a ball, into a space inside the embrace of tendrils of Michael's own presence, one that was constantly soothing, constantly healing. "I wasn't sacrificing myself." "How can you say that? Look at what he did to you. How long could you have withstood that for?" His partner turned to face him, leaning back against the mezzanine rail, hands reaching for Michael's, holding his fingers loosely. "For as long as it took for Karr and Nick to reach us. I knew they weren't far away�." Michael knew then why Kitt was holding his hands. He tried to pull away but Kitt held on. He'd learnt from his last experience in this android body - the pressure he was exerting wasn't in any way painful, but it was secure. "I know what you're going to say. And I'm sorry. But it was the only way." "We're partners. We work together�." "Nick and Karr are our friends, our� business partners. They're allowed to help us now and again. I did what I thought I needed to do to get us both out alive." Easy to shout at a few red lights on a dash, impossible to feel even the slightest annoyance with those big liquid eyes staring at him. Sliding one of his hands out of Kitt's grip, Michael stroked up his arm, over his shoulder, playing his fingers across the smooth skin of his throat. Keeping this torrent of emotions from his partner was becoming more and more difficult. "Let's do this later, Kitt�. I'm exhausted." With a brief nod, Kitt led him by his hand to the large sofa in the upstairs coffee area. They lay down together, Michael behind Kitt, with his partner wrapped tight in his arms, face buried in the spun silk of his hair, concentrating on the hurt presence in his head. It wasn't long before he fell asleep, emotions tucked behind a light block. ~ Nick made himself a coffee as quietly as possible. Michael was obviously sleeping off the migraine, helping Kitt recover at the same time according to Karr who had lost all the but vaguest of contacts with his brother. Turning, mug halfway to his lips, Nick let his gaze settle on the sleeping pair. <How is he?> <Knight has him. He will be fine> <Back to Knight now? I'm sure I heard a Michael before> <Do not push it, Nick, I am in no mood> Despite everything they'd been through in the last twelve hours, Michael looked more at ease than Nick could remember seeing him. He couldn't have had more than a couple of hours' sleep a night for weeks now; Nick was always hearing him up and about in the late night and early morning. He was sleeping soundly now though, comfortable even on the battered sofa, even with his cuts and bruises. And Nick knew it had little to do with exhaustion and a lot to do with the body in his arms. That very human need, to touch and be touched. He thought about Bonnie, still working downstairs on the CPU for the car. And he couldn't help but wonder if it was actually worthwhile, if her repairs would ever be put to use. He shielded these thoughts carefully from his partner. If Kitt did choose that route, he could do his own explaining to his older brother. ~ Michael opened his eyes, a feeling of cold and loneliness stealing over him. Kitt was gone from his arms, in both senses of the word. Although tendrils of black-patched white light were still in his mind, Kitt had retreated to his CPU. The android wasn't in the immediate vicinity. But Nick was, standing at the top of the stairs with an armful of files and his laptop. Michael didn't have to ask. "He's outside." Nick went for the first step and stopped. "I don't know if you realise, but blocks don't hold when you're asleep." It took a moment, but the first word out of Michael's mouth was, "Fuck!" and he was off the sofa and on his feet in a second, grabbing the railing to keep himself from falling as his brain collided with his skull. He was starting to think he and Nick should buy shares in their favourite pharmaceutical company. Either that or stage a break-in at their warehouse. How many heart-to-hearts had been had against the railings outside the warehouse, or in the park just down from their base of operations? Kitt was sitting in exactly the same place Michael had sat in barely a month before, when they'd talked about Sandra January, the possibility of the code that could end Kitt's life, and the potential in the android Swan had only just completed. He didn't believe in fate, he honestly didn't know whether Kitt did or not. He should ask. Without a word, he sat up beside his partner, rubbing his hands together, staring out over the water. It was getting late, the sun was setting and the amber hue of the fading light made the ocean look like crystal and the sand look like gold. //sorry// Michael started after a few minutes, breaking the not uncomfortable but definitely loaded silence. "Is this what you want?" There was no accusation in Kitt's tone, it was just a question. "No." He wasn't shielding, was letting Kitt feel the truth in his answer. "I want you to be happy and safe. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I don't care if you're inside this android or the car." "This must be easier for you to reason with in your head." "I came to terms with us, accepted us, a long time ago. How long before you do the same?" He glanced to his side, saw that Kitt was looking away from him. //what's really wrong?// Kitt didn't answer, and with a soft sigh Michael returned his gaze to the water. "Bonnie will have your CPU ready in a couple of days and�" "I don't want to lose you." He snapped his head back, met those liqueur eyes that were looking at him with untold sadness. His frustration melted, leaving behind an oddly intense desperation. "You won't ever lose me, not while I'm still alive." Kitt held his gaze. "What? You think you being in the car somehow holds me to you." He considered his own words. "Or is that you think you being in the car gives me an excuse, a way out?" "I'm not a real person, Michael. However real I feel to you, however real I might look right now, I'm not. You're talking about committing yourself to an Artificial Intelligence, a computer, a collection of chips and wires, something that can be destroyed by a single stream of numbers�." //"Kitt! Stop!"// "How many times do I have to say it? You're the one I love. So you have a neural network instead of a flesh and blood brain, so what?" "My body is a highly modified Pontiac TransAm. I'm�." "If you say, 'I'm a car', I will strangle you with my bare hands." "You'd break your fingers on the MBS-coated titanium-aluminium skeleton if they don't first get caught up in the network of fibres transmitting electronic pulses and fluids around this robot." Shaking his head, Michael smiled. "I'm not buying it. And I'm not getting into this with you because it's not what this conversation is about. This is you and me. It's been you and me for as long as I can remember and I've never wanted it any other way. So tell me the truth." Kitt looked away. //I wouldn't be yours// There was a sense of loss in the statement so deep that it took Michael's breath away. //you'd be more mine than you have ever been. and I'd be yours. just like always // //are you so sure?// //have you ever doubted me?// Kitt's answer was a montage of vague memories showcasing his belief in his partner, but underlying them was his uncertainty. Michael watched the last of the sun's rays stroke the surface of the water. "What about your safety?" It was spoken softly, in that beloved voice he cherished. Just as gently, he replied, "Come on, Kitt. We'd still have the car. I'd still have you." //this isn't about me// Another pause, until the sun vanished below the horizon and darkness dripped over them, the air cooling rapidly. "If I'd been introduced to you like this, would you have accepted me?" Michael frowned at the question, but just because he couldn't see its significance didn't mean that Kitt's complex mind hadn't found one. "No. I'd lost too many people, too many partners. I wasn't ready to that risk again." "But you did almost lose me, on several occasions." Michael smiled, glancing at Kitt. "By then you were already a part of me." //where are you going with this?// He felt the hint of a smile, of defeat. //in circles// //it's your decision, Kitt. it doesn't have to be made now. doesn't have to be made at all// Kitt nodded, leaning his shoulder into Michael's. "You would have to be so sure." Turning his head, Michael pressed a kiss to the synthetic blond hair that felt so very real. "Of what?" "Of me." Finally wrapping his arms around his partner, he murmured, "I can promise you, I've never been so sure, so completely certain, of anything my entire life." "So it is what you want?" "It's what you want that matters. Time to be selfish for once in your life. This is your decision and yours alone. Whatever you choose, I'll be with you." ~ For once the early hours of the morning were quiet in the warehouse. Swan had gone home for the night, Bonnie was grabbing some sleep in one of the spare bedrooms on the upper level, Nick too was catching a rare few hours' rest, and Michael had gone up to give Kitt some time with his brother. Only two souls were up. Apart from Nick, Kitt was the only other 'person' to have ever had the courage to sit up on Karr's hood. Even Alex and Michael, who no longer feared the darker AI, kept a respectable distance except in particular extenuating circumstances. <_Are you all right? <_I only have a few remaining injuries. I'll be fine. I'm sorry I flooded you, sorry I used you <_You do not have to apologise to me. We are here to assist you when you need us, as you and Michael Knight have been for Nicholas and myself <_You could call him Michael <_Please. Not you too Kitt smiled at the snide humour in the low voice. He sat for a short time, legs crossed as had been his favoured position the last time he was in the android. <_Something is bothering you <_Michael has asked me� if I want to remain here <_Here? <_In this android body. Permanently. It's what it was designed for Karr was silent. <_I'd appreciate your opinion <_What has your decision to do with me? <_You're my brother, Karr. You matter to me He felt something akin to gratitude - Karr's transmissions translating exactly as they did when Kitt was in the car. <_Why would you want to remain this way? It took him a few nano-seconds to formulate a response. <_This way I can have Michael Karr's confusion came through loud and clear. <_Have him? <_Be with him. Be free to love him as I want to <_Did he ask this of you? <_No. This is something I want, Karr, for myself. I've never had anything for myself before. Can you understand? <_No. But I will accept your decision Closing his eyes, Kitt moved towards his brother. <_Are you sure? I don't want anything to change between you and I, nothing would be worth that A translated smile, maybe even a blush of embarrassment. <_I am sure <_You would still be my brother? <_I am your brother, Kitt, nothing could change that fact. Like Michael Knight, I too will be there for you whenever you need me <_With the amount of trouble Michael seems to find for us, I will be holding you to that Reaching out, Kitt hugged him. ~ Sitting up on the side of the Stealth with his first coffee of the day, Nick patted the fender, a habit picked up from Michael; one of many. <Sleep well?> <Kitt informed me he was considering staying in the android> Nick sighed softly, smiled wanly. <You knew> <I suspected> <I do not understand why he would give up all that he is for something he is not> <All that he is? Is that how you see him? A computer within a car? Is that how you see yourself?> <You know it is not> <Kitt's more than that, as you are> <The car is all he has ever known!> <Up until Swan introduced him - or I introduced him through Swan - to the possibility of the android body> <He said that this way he can have Michael> Nick almost spat out his mouthful of coffee. <?> <Sorry. Stupid, childish�. Do you have an opinion on what he's considering?> <I cannot understand it. But he is still my brother, still Kitt. I can still link to him, still reach into his CPU, we still talk without voices> <He's so important to you> <After you> <Of course> <He has always been there> Beautifully put, Nick thought to himself. But he kept it that way. ~ Bonnie looked up from washing the oil off her hands as Michael, wrapped in that dark blue dressing gown that had always set off his eyes, padded over to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug full of the black slick that looked like the stuff she was washing down the sink. "You look like you slept. Finally." He grinned at her. "Like a baby." "No, you usually sleep like a baby - two hours of shut-eye then you're up needing a pee and a coffee." His eyebrows jiggled. "Whose baby do you know?" She ignored him. "The CPU's ready, Kitt can move back as soon as he wants." There was something in his expression�. "Is Kitt all right?" "Yeah, Kitt's fine. I'll� tell him." He leaned forward, one arm around her shoulders. "Thank you for fixing him, yet again." "It's what I've always done." She watched him beat a fast retreat back to the bedroom. Knowing Kitt was in there waiting for him hurt a little. Impossible to be jealous of a car, not so of something that looked so real, something that walked and talked and moved just like a human being. But it would be gone soon. Kitt would be back - the Kitt she knew and loved - this wasn't something she needed to worry about. ~ "It's ready." Michael sat on the bed, one leg tucked under him, coffee in one hand, weight on his other. Kitt too sat up, pulling the duvet with him in such a human gesture that it made Michael's stomach clench. He was so close to having this, every day, every morning waking to as much warmth on the outside as there was on the inside. He was shielding carefully, thoughts kept away from his still fragile partner. This was Kitt's decision and Kitt's alone. He had no right to drag the soul that he loved away from the home, the form he'd always known. Kitt was looking at him, those expressive eyes reflecting what was being communicated through the link. //can I?// Kitt eventually asked, and Michael's forehead wrinkled. //can you what?// //can I stay, like this, with you?// It was a plea, not a compromise. It was what Kitt truly wanted, he could feel that, and Michael dropped his blocks, dropped his coffee, and pulled Kitt into a fierce embrace, clung to him as tightly as he was being clung to. "//yes//" he breathed, wanting to cry with the joy he was feeling. //forever// //you're absolutely sure?// The laughter bubbled up from his chest and broke from his throat and he wrapped Kitt even tighter in himself, in his arms and in his mind. //you know I am// How could he not be? Everything he wanted, everything he needed to survive, was in this room. //you're my life. whatever happens, I love you. I'll always love you// Kitt stopped on the top step and touched his link to Karr. <_I'm staying <_Are you happy? <_More than I've ever felt before A pause. <_Yes, I believe you are Meanwhile Michael jogged down to where Bonnie was waiting for them next to the TransAm, and taking her hand, he lead her out into the brand new day. Kitt watched them, a computer seeing through digital eyes that looked so human to Michael but were far, far from it. The news had to come from his lover for Bonnie. She was about to lose everything and he knew it. Swan would be the one to fix any damage to this body. Swan would be the one called when there was a crisis, an emergency, or just a simple upgrade requirement. He'd worked closely with her already, was very fond of her. He'd still need Bonnie for any issues with his neural network, his programming as it was. But Bonnie was his 'mother', despite what Michael had said about Sandra January, he was taking so much out of her hands and he hated to be hurting her, knew he would be. There was her history with Michael too. Kitt had stepped into her shoes, taken her place in Michael's affections, and now he was taking most of her purpose away too. His pain seeped through Michael's light block and he was reached for, hugged gently. He felt the same emotions from his partner - his lover in truth now he supposed - and knew they were all for Bonnie. He watched them, watched her shake her head, shrug off his attempt at comfort and walk away from him. He couldn't lose her - he couldn't bear it - and for a moment he questioned his decision. //don't. please// He didn't know what to say, so he took the steps one at a time and passed Michael on his way back inside. They both paused momentarily, hands brushing, and despite their shared pain, Kitt couldn't help a shy smile. This was what he wanted; this joy, this connection so less intimate than the link but nevertheless so incredible in its own way. Stepping out into the sunshine, he found Bonnie leaning on the railing further up, in front of another, long-abandoned warehouse. His approach was silent, and he simply leaned on the rusting metal next to her and looked out over the bright, sun-lit ocean. "I'm sorry," he said eventually, and turned his head to look at her as she turned to glance at him. Her eyes were filled with leaking tears and he hated that this was his fault. He just didn't want to change his mind. She didn't say anything, and so he continued. "You've given me everything, brought me into this world as I know it, taken care of me, worried about me, loved me. And it must seem now, like I'm throwing it all back at you. I owe you so much, too much to calculate, and I'll always need you." He saw her try to force a smile through her tears. "You won't, Kitt. You don't need me anymore." "Of course I do. Apart from being the only one who understands how my brain works, you're part of my family. As I understand it, people don't throw their family away, it's always there. Even if it serves no more logical purpose than to share conversation." It may or may not have been the right thing to say. But her expression told him he hadn't said the wrong thing, and so he took a sidestep towards her and sliding his arm under hers, took her hand in his own. "You'll never stop being important to me. Never. I'll always need you." It took a little time, but eventually she turned towards him and drew him into a tight hug. "Whatever you need, whenever you need it. Anytime, Kitt, I mean that. And� I'm glad you're happy." "Thank you." It was definitely heart-felt. There was one more discussion to be had. Nick came to stand beside Michael on the mezzanine. "Karr told me the news. Can't say it's a massive surprise." Turning, Michael studied the man who'd saved their lives countless occasions. Just yesterday in fact. "Do you mind?" A frown and a shrug. "Why should I mind?" "It affects you too." "Not really. I'm assuming Kitt's planning to take remote control of the car," Michael nodded, "in that case it's an extra pair of legs in a crisis. Strong pair too, with all the advantages of a human being and all the advantages of an AI." Michael watched Bonnie and Kitt stride back into the warehouse hand-in-hand. A true negotiator, a real-life peacekeeper. "We'll move out, get our own place." "Ah, so that's it." He could hear Nick's smile in his voice. "You think I'm bothered by the rest of it, by your relationship with Kitt." Michael didn't answer. "Well, I'm not. Don't worry. He's amazing. I honestly could understand it when you only had the link to bind you. Now� everything's changed for you, and it's for the better. I don't mind having an extra body around the place, not when it's him, and besides, this way I can really get to know him. It's something I'd like to do." Michael's eyebrows rose and he wondered if Nick was fielding jealous protests from Karr right about now. But if he was, he wasn't showing it. "I should have killed January." Turning his back to the railing, crossing his arms, Michael met Nick's hard eyes, "Why?" "Because if the code's still out there, and the protocol is in Kitt's neural nets, it could still kill him." "I know. But I don't think January's out for Kitt personally. I think he's a middleman, I think he was selling the code. He could have destroyed Kitt just as easily with that gadget he was using. I think something else is going on here, something we're not seeing yet." "What about Mrs Sandra January?" "I don't think I trust her one-hundred-percent. So for now, she remains under surveillance, like her husband and her father-in-law." Nick nodded his agreement. "Karr's monitoring all telephone calls, emails, internet access, fax transmissions; the lot. If any of them make a move, we'll know about it." "Thanks." "Anytime." "And now, I have a remote control car to get built." Shaking his head, Nick said, amused, "Just a kid at heart." "Absolutely. And you know what I've been thinking? You could get the world's largest Scaelectrix set out on the ground floor." ~ ~ ~ "If you drop that sweet wrapper in my car I will personally feed it to you." Freezing with the paper about to fall from his fingers, Michael instead balled it up and pushed it into his coat pocket. "It's not your car, it's ours." "Can you drive it without using the controls?" "Is this how it's going to be?" "Isn't this how it's always been?" With a contented smile to himself Michael shifted, turning from the view of the empty, sandy beach and the low, gentle tide so that he had a better view of his partner sitting in the driver's seat. It was only their second time out since Kitt had made the decision to stay in the android body, and he wondered for how long the sight would take his breath away. "I'm trying to give up smoking," he said by way of explanation of the boiled sweet he'd popped into his mouth. "You're trying to give up the five cigarettes you smoke a month? Why?" "Because smoking can kill you." Kitt smirked. "Yes, but in your case it's up against a lot of competition." Chuckling, Michael pulled the conversation back on track. "Any regrets?" "No." He paused. "Not really. Just that I didn't meet Sandra January." "One day, Kitt. But for now, the fewer people who know who you are, the safer you'll be." "You don't trust her?" "There's just something wrong with everything that happened, with the events and the way it all played out." He brushed his fingers over the dash, sweeping his eyes over the changes wrought in it - not quite as dramatic as the changes for Kitt, but just as distracting at times. "You could always move back into the car for the afternoon, the CPU would still support you." Kitt shook his head. "For emergencies only. This is what I am now. I need time to get used to it." "Is it so bad?" In answer, he reached out and wrapped warm fingers around Michael's hand. Yeah, there was nothing quite like it, there never had been and there never would be. It was exquisite; every touch looped back, sensation shared between them, images and reflections that spiralled into infinity like standing between two mirrors. While deep in the link like that it was impossible to tell whose pleasure was being experienced and it didn't matter. It was as incredible as it was impossible, and Michael was as addicted to it now as he'd ever been. Bringing Kitt's hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it, he grinned. "Okay. You ready?" Other hand in his lap, Kitt nodded. "Ready." Without a single movement he gunned the engine, and releasing the brakes he accelerated the car over the wet sand, through the surf, tyres sending out a continuous spray of sludge and salt water as their speed climbed rapidly. "NOW!" Michael yelled, voice laced with amusement, and without so much as a blink of his eyes, Kitt had them airborne over the dunes. Some things, Michael thought as they soared through the air with a duel whoop of joy, would never change. |