Knight Rider and its characters are the property of Glenn Larson and Universal Studios.

This story is fictional and solely for entertainment purposes, no copyright infringement is intended.

Authors Note:

This story takes place approximately two years after the end of the fourth season. However I have pretty much ignored most of the fourth season with a few exceptions. There is no SPM, and the team never met RC III. Michael did reunite with Stevie, as "Scent of the Roses" portrays.

This is my first fan fiction, so please be nice but let me know what you think. I wrote it several years ago and just now getting the courage to show it to someone.

Special thanks to my beta reader Shay-Monyou.

Rating: PG13 for language, and sexual situations

A New Beginning

Chapter 1

A shiny black Trans AM slid around the street corner, the tires screeched as they tried to maintain a grip on the road. The car was traveling at what appeared to be a very unsafe speed, but was kept expertly under control by its driver. It was a beautiful machine spotless, scratch free, and from the exterior looked as normal as any other sports car except for a thin red light racing madly across the front of its' prow. The car sped up even more now with its destination finally in view. The scenery of the city streets passed by unnoticed as the driver was intent on his mission and the necessity of getting there as quickly as possible. There was another screech of the tires as the car skid to a stop at the entrance to a hospital's emergency room. The driver side door opened as the car halted and a voice called for help. An orderly taking his break outside saw the commotion and ran up to the car when he heard the call and noticed that no one was getting out. He glanced inside and immediately echoed the call for help. The man inside the car was bleeding profusely from a wound to his shoulder. He also appeared to be unconscious. The orderly wondered how this guy could even have driven here as he helped the doctor and nurses load the injured man onto a gurney and wheel him away to surgery.

After a few minutes, when everyone had dispersed, the car door shut itself and the car quietly pulled away to a parking space in the back of the hospital lot. KITT made a slight moan, the equivalent of an electronic sigh. He was very concerned for Michael and felt that he should have gotten him to the hospital sooner. Why does Michael always have to go right to the edge, doesn't he have a clue how important he is to the people who care about him KITT thought. He would of course include himself in that group of people. Then he began to get a little angry at Michael's careless actions, and wondered if he could be slipping back into the self-destructive period he had gone through previously. It had been well over a year since he had tried anything like this and KITT really had hoped they were beyond it. It was a dark period of time that he had no wish to revisit. KITT realized that there was a call coming in on the communication system, he knew it would be Bonnie. Michael had called her just after the shooting. He told her that they managed to catch Banes but that things hadn't gone well. Bonnie could clearly see over the video monitor that things had gone very badly. She tried to convince Michael to go to the hospital, but he was going to wait for the FBI to arrive. He didn't trust the local police to hand over Banes. On his way to the hospital KITT sent a short text signal to the mobile unit computer to let her know they were on their way to the hospital. He didn't say much more than that and he knew Bonnie would be worried, but he wanted to make sure she knew what was going on. He activated the COM line and connected with the computer in the mobile unit.

"Where are you? Is he alright?" Bonnie asked her voice filled with concern, the same concern that KITT could see in her face on the video monitor. She was in the mobile unit perched forward on the tall chair at the computer workstation. She couldn't get much closer to the monitor and video camera if she tried. She held onto the edge of the workbench waiting for KITT's response. Her knuckles where white and starting to ache from the strain of the death grip she had. She hadn't even realized what she was doing until the pain started and she let go of the counter.

"I don't know his current status. We are at St Mark's hospital, the doctors are with him now." KITT replied. "He's lost a tremendous amount of blood, I should have gotten him here sooner".

"KITT that's not your fault, Michael refused to leave until the job was finished. As long as he is conscious, you are bound by his orders. We've been through this a million times." Bonnie sighed as she rubbed her eyes. She always hated when KITT felt like everything was his responsibility, and Michael had a knack for getting into those kinds of situations. "Hang on a minute". She turned from the video monitor and picked up the white handset of the phone that was linked the semi's driver. She spoke to the driver for a few seconds, then hung up and turned back to face the monitor and the empty cabin at the other end of the com link. Her eyes were drawn to a large bloodstain on the tan seat where Michael usually sat. She said a quick silent prayer that he would be okay. "That's going to be a mess to clean up," she said trying to hide her true distress.

KITT realized what she was looking at and agreed. "Yes it is. We should have changed my interior to something with a plastic lining years ago". It was an attempt to lighten the mood some. He was also concerned for Bonnie; her friendship with Michael had grown much closer over the years, especially since Stevie's death. These trips to deaths edge were just as difficult on Bonnie as they were on Michael.

Bonnie smiled a little. She appreciated the fact that KITT was trying to make her feel better. "The mobile unit will be there in about half and hour, will you be okay until then?"

"Yes I'm fine, I received no damage during this assignment." KITT assured her.

"Well that has to be a first" she replied in a sarcastic tone of voice though it was still laced with worry. "See you in a little while" and she hit the button to terminate the communication line. "Here we go again," Bonnie, mumbled to herself as she set the computer to connect her to Devon's video COM unit.

In LA Devon was enjoying a rare quiet moment in his office. These times were few and far between, when there was no one rushing in to get a signature, have a decision made or a phone call. He decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity. Cathy, his personal assistant, had brought in a fresh pot of tea and he was perusing through the newspaper, when he heard the chime of the communications unit. He sighed knowing that the reprieve couldn't last forever, and got up from the sofa, moved over to his desk, and sat back down to activate the video unit. When Bonnie's face appeared instead of Michael's he was a little surprised. Michael was about to close a case and usually called in to let him know it was finished and how things went. Devon immediately saw the worry in Bonnie's expression, "What happened?"

"I don't know all the details yet but Michael was shot while wrapping up the case. He refused to leave the scene until Banes was in federal custody. KITT said that he was unconscious by the time they got to the hospital and that Michael had lost a lot of blood. The doctors are with him now and I'm in route to the hospital. I should be there in less than half an hour."

Everything spilled out in such a rush that Devon had to strain to keep pace with her report, and as the words took root in his mind his face paled. "Good lord how did this happen? This was supposed to be a simple assignment". Devon hated calls like this, and he always felt a little responsible when Michael was injured on the job. He was, after all responsible for the safety of all of his people, though Michael was the hardest to look after.

"Maybe so, but it didn't turn out that way" she answered.

"Well it doesn't matter now how it happened. I'll be on my way there as quickly as I can. Will you be able to take care of things until I arrive?"

"Yes, and I'll keep you informed if I hear anything".

The monitor shut off indicating the transmission was terminated. Devon rubbed his forehead for a few seconds thinking about the next steps. He knew the board of directors would need to be notified, and he wondered just how long he could postpone that call. In the last few years they had begun to keep track of all the down time FLAG suffered due to injuries to Michael or damage to KITT. Though Devon had to admit the latter of the two reasons was much less than the first. He decided to check on Michael's condition before informing the board of anything, so he made several quick calls to clear his schedule and arrange for the FLAG jet to take him to Salt Lake City.

KITT sat in the parking lot waiting for Bonnie and the mobile unit to get there. While waiting he made a connection to the hospital's computer system to see if there was any information posted on Michael's condition. The COM link had been removed from his partner leaving him blind to Michael's whereabouts and status. That bothered KITT more than he'd like to admit. It gave him a feeling of security to reach out to the COM link and feel Michael's heart beat, or to know that Michael was close by. When he completed the link with the computer system he found only that Michael had been admitted, and that the hospital was in dire need of a software upgrade. KITT then decided to take a look through the security system. He finally located Michael in operating room two by using the video surveillance system. The doctors were removing a 9mm round from Michael's shoulder. He zoomed in on the heart monitor and read Michael's vital signs. They all looked good considering his condition. KITT continued to watch the surgery progress while he waited.

The large black semi that comprised the mobile unit pulled up to the hospital and found an out of the way place to park. Bonnie sent a signal to KITT to let him know they had arrived. Then she headed straight for the admissions desk. She found out that Michael had been admitted and was still in surgery. She tried desperately to get more information out of the nurse on duty but realized it was no use. The woman didn't know anymore than she did. After taking care of all the admittance paperwork and the filling out the necessary insurance forms she decided to check on KITT, and went back to the mobile unit.

KITT had darkened his windows when he moved from the emergency entrance to his parking space. He kept them that way while maneuvering to the mobile unit and entering the opened back end of the trailer. He felt better inside, not that there was anything wrong with him, it was just comforting to be in a familiar place. Maybe that's why it was so hard to keep Michael in the hospital after incidents such as this he thought. Finally after all these years some of Michael's actions were starting to make sense. This was very interesting to KITT. He had learned to predict how Michael would act in certain situations, but to actually understand why he acted that way was a huge revelation. He would have to spend more time on this line of thought.

Just then Bonnie stepped in the side entrance "Hi KITT, how are you" she asked.

"I'm fine, I have Michael's surgery on video if you want to watch"

"No thank you, I'll pass." She ran her hand through her hair, rubbed her head a little, and sighed. "How is he doing?

"His vital signs are good, and the surgeon is closing now. I think he will be in recovery soon."

Bonnie was relieved at KITT's good report. Not knowing what was going on was the hardest part about this. She hated the waiting and felt like she needed something to do. So she put the diagnostic equipment in place, and asked KITT to open the hood. "Why are you bothering with a systems check, I told you I was fine" KITT whined as he released the hood latch.

"I know but it gives me something to do, you know, something to concentrate on other than worrying about Michael. Besides it doesn't hurt to double check things and it will give you something to do too." She replied as she started to attach the cables.

"I have something to do, I'm watching over Michael. They've finished up and are moving him to recovery now. It seems as though the hospital security is lacking a bit. The recovery rooms have no video cameras."

Bonnie gave a slight laugh "Well I'm sure it's to allow the patients some privacy. I doubt there are cameras in every room of the hospital. Why don't you tap into the system used to monitor the patient vital signs at the nurses' station? That should occupy you." She finished attaching the diagnostic cables and set the computer to run a systems test. "When you're done assaulting the hospital's computer systems you could place a call to Devon and tell him Michael's condition. He might be on his way here in the jet."

"I am not assaulting that computer system, I am merely questioning it." KITT replied in an indignant voice as if he were upset that he could be accused of such a thing.

Bonnie laughed as she went to one of the monitors linked to the diagnostic computer. She started the program that would allow her to read the results of the systems analysis on KITT.

Later that evening Bonnie sat in a chair next to Michael's bed listing to him sleep. He had been moved from recovery to a private room about two hours ago. There was only one bed in the room, and the walls were painted the usual dull drab hospital color. The doctor had been by to tell her that he was a lucky guy, and that the bullet hadn't hit any vital organs and missed the collarbone by half and inch. He would be fine and a full recovery was expected, after a few weeks of convalescence. How many times had she spent nights like this one she wondered? Sitting around waiting for word on his condition. Would he make it? Will he be okay? Questions she'd asked a million times to a million different doctors. One day his luck would run out, and she thought to herself what would she do then? She cared about him a great deal, and they had become very close. She used to wonder if they could be more than just friends. In the first year he made several passes at her, but she had no intention of becoming one of his conquests back then, not to mention that he annoyed the hell out of her. But their friendship grew. Then Stevie re-entered his life and that resulted in a nightmarish ending. Since Stevie's murder their relationship had grown even more. He had been to hell and back and she was by his side through the whole journey. That was over two years ago and his spirit finally seemed to be lifting a bit. She knew that she loved him. She would've had to, to stick by him through everything. But Michael never really made any moves to change their relationship, and she wasn't the type to make the first move. So she'd basically given up on that line of thought a while ago, but times like these brought it back to mind.

She was so deep in thought that she almost missed the change in his breathing and the slight moan. She moved to the edge of his bed and tookay his right hand in hers; it was warm and calloused a bit. His left arm was immobilized to allow his wounded shoulder to heal. There was a light film of sweat on his forehead, and his face was a little pale. She gently brushed the curls of hair off his forehead, and dabbed a towel to dry his face. Then she bent closer to him and whispered his name. "Michael, it's okay. You're in the hospital and you're going to be fine."

Michael started drifting toward consciousness and his first realization was that his shoulder was aching terribly. He couldn't move his left arm and wasn't sure he really wanted to anyway. He tried to open his eyes but they felt like there were a ton of bricks on them. He stopped struggling for a second and just lay there feeling sensations. He felt something warm and soft in his hand, lightly stroking the top of his hand. The touch was comforting and he concentrated on it trying to clear the fog in his brain. He felt a light brush across his forehead and a cloth touching his face. Then he heard her call his name. She was there with him. She was always there. He could always count on her being there, to pull him out of the darkness. Whatever darkness he found himself in she could reach through and pull him out. He listened to the soft familiar voice and his head finally cleared. He tried to open his eyes again and this time succeeded. His vision was blurred at first then the image focused and he saw her, exactly as he expected. He smiled a bit and tried to say hi. It came out as a low growl. His voice was scratchy and his throat hurt to swallow. They must have put a breathing tube down his throat at some point.

"Hello, welcome back" Bonnie said with a big smile as she brought a cup of water over for him to drink. He tookay a sip.

"Thanks" he managed a little easier after the water.

"You're gonna be fine. The doctor said it was a near miss to everything important. But you'll need plenty of bed rest for several days because of the blood loss. You had us all worried for a while." She paused for a few seconds to let him fully come to consciousness. "What were you thinking by the way? You should have let KITT take you to the hospital. The police could have handled the end." Her voice was not accusatory but concerned.

"Maybe, but they had already screwed it up once and I didn't want to take the chance of losing him again."

"Oh so instead you took a chance on bleeding to death" she lightly berated.

He sighed "I'm a little too tired to argue this with you right now" as he closed his eyes.

She felt guilt creep over her for starting an argument now. She wasn't even sure why those words had come out, other than she was a little angry that he always put the job over his own safety. "okay fine" she replied softly and moved to get up to go back to her chair. He held on to her hand and stopped her.

"Would you stay for a while" he hesitated for a second "please"?

She sat back down, wrapped both her hands around his right hand leaned forward and lightly kissed his forehead. "Sure, I'll stay as long as you want"

"Just till I fall asleep again" he said without opening his eyes, there was a slight smile on his face. She held his hand until she was sure he was asleep again, and then she went back to her chair and tried to fall asleep herself.

Devon's plane landed well after midnight, he had more trouble getting away than he expected. Bonnie had briefed him several times throughout the night, but he took a taxi directly to St Mark's hospital anyway. He wanted to look in on Michael himself. He found him comfortably asleep in the bed and Bonnie not so comfortable but asleep nonetheless in a nearby chair. He then spoke with the nurse on duty and was assured that Michael would be all right. So he checked into the hotel across the street from the hospital, and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning he went back to the hospital and spokaye with the doctor in charge of Michael. The doctor said that he would be keeping Michael there for at least three days. "Good luck accomplishing that task" Devon said to him. He thanked the doctor for his time and proceeded to Michael's room.

He quietly opened the door and found Michael still sleeping and Bonnie holding a cup of coffee staring out the window. She was leaning on the wall and looked tired and rumpled. Devon walked over to her and gave her a hug and light kiss on the cheek. She was a little pale and had dark circles under her eyes. He wondered when she had eaten last. "How is he this morning?" He whispered to her?

"He's awake now, thank you very much" Michael mumbled. He attempted to sit up a little and found that he lacked the strength. His shoulder was aching with pain that seemed to shoot both down his arm and back into his chest.

"Well it's good to see you're in fine spirits," Devon said as he moved over towards the bed. He could see the pain in Michael's eyes. Bonnie followed Devon over to the bed, moving in even a little closer to Michael. "So how are you feeling?"

"I'm a little sore, but ready to get outta here" Michael lied, and Bonnie just rolled her eyes.

"Well I just spoke with your doctor and they want to keep you here for at least three days"

"What? No way!" Michael practically shouted.

"Now, now calm yourself my dear boy, I have no intention of actually trying to keep you here that long. I have better things to waste my time on. Instead I'll make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" Michael asked suspiciously. Devon never gave in that easy, he must have something up his sleeve he thought.

"I'll take you home in the jet tomorrow morning, but you must agree to follow Dr. Fallen's orders implicitly," Devon stated. "Also you will not be returning to duty until he declares you fit."

"So that's it, I can be imprisoned here or at home?"

Bonnie laughed, "you're not being imprisoned, you need time to heal. Why is this always such a fight with you?"

Michael ignored her comment and agreed to Devon's terms.

"Fine then, in the mean time is there anything I can get you" Devon asked?

"Yea a decent meal a burger, fries, and cold beer would be good."

Now Devon rolled his eyes, sorry that he had even asked the question and walked out.

Bonnie laid her hand on Michael's arm, "I'll be back in a few minutes" then she followed Devon out.

"Have you spoken with the doctor this morning?" Devon asked when Bonnie came out of the room. He was waiting for her in the hallway. His face betrayed little of the intense worry that Bonnie knew he was feeling.

"Yes he didn't tell me anything different than what you know".

"How has he been acting the last few weeks? I'm concerned that we may be fighting old demons here."

"I know what you're thinking Devon and I don't think that's what's going on. He has been really up the last several months, and his mood is much better. In fact he's almost back to his old annoying self if you ask me."

Devon was silent in thought for a few seconds, and then turned the subject. "Were you able to get Michael's reports from KITT"

"Yes, I tookay KITT's information, and Michael's half completed report and compiled them into something almost professional."

Devon smiled "Well I'm sure it's more complete and professional than anything Michael usually turns in. Thank you for taking care of it." He thought again that she looked very tired and must not have slept much at all. He knew that she would take on the responsibility of Michael's recovery, as she had in the past unless he could distract her in some way. She needed to rest and do something to revitalize herself. Then a brilliant idea struck him.

"You're welcome," she said to his comment.

"You know Michael is going to be out of commission for two weeks or more, why don't you take this opportunity to attend some of those technology conventions that you're always hinting about."

"Really Devon? That would be great" Bonnie said excitedly.

"Yes of course. You could leave now if you wish"

She glanced at Michael's door and though she was excited about this opportunity she didn't think there was any way she could leave Michael right now. "Well I don't know if there is anything going on right now, and I should probably wait a few days first."

Devon saw the change in her face and caught the glance. He realized he would have to push her a little. "You need not worry about him. KITT and I will see to it that he is well taken care of."

She hesitated for a few seconds, and then decided that she should go. Like Devon said Michael would be taken care of and it was time that she started doing things for herself a little. Though she admitted that going to a technology convention she would probably be thinking of KITT mostly, but it would still be good to get away by herself for a while. Her excitement about the idea started to return quickly. "okay, I'll have to check and see what's scheduled and where. I should get started right way and make some reservations" she said as she

turned to leave. She momentarily forgot her promise to return to Michael's side.

Devon laughed to himself; she was so excited she practically ran over an orderly on her way out. He hoped the time away would be good for her, she was always so absorbed in her work and he worried that she didn't have a life outside of FLAG, though that was Devon the friend and father figure worrying, not Devon the boss. As the boss he was quite content knowing she was always there to immediately solve any technical problems they might have. Somehow he continued to find ways to manage both of his identities and keep things running smoothly.

Bonnie spent the morning chatting with KITT and making reservations to attend a big conference on artificial intelligent software and computer hardware in San Francisco. She was certain that there wouldn't be anything there to even come close to KITT, but she might learn a few things. At the very least she would be able to spend some time with fellow computer enthusiast she thought, geeks in other words. Perhaps she might even run into a few old friends or classmates from MIT. She was quite excited about the trip, but then the reality of where they were and why settled back in and she remembered that she had promised to return to Michael. KITT had asked her several times throughout the morning how he was doing and if she would take the COM link back to him. She promised that she would and decided that she had made all the preparations she needed for the trip.

"Well that does it" she said and turned from the computer monitor. "I'm going to go back and check on Michael and take him the COM link." She stood up to leave and then was struck with a thought about how she was going to get back to LA. The semi would take too long, and she really didn't want to fly any more than absolutely necessary. She then came up with an idea. "Hey why don't you and I go home and leave the mobile unit to follow?" she asked KITT

"What about Michael?"

"He's flying home with Devon in the morning. The car ride back to LA would be too much for him right now, and he wants to get out of the hospital. So we might as well go home together unless you want to ride home alone in the mobile unit"

"No I don't want to do that. You're right, anyway we haven't gone driving together in a long time," KITT said happily.

"Alright then, I'll just go say goodbye to Michael and we'll be off."

Bonnie met Devon on her way to Michael's room, he had been keeping Michael company for the morning. "I'm just going to stop in, say bye and give him his COM link," she said. "Then we'll be on our way".

"We?" Devon said questioningly as he raised his eyebrows?

"Yes KITT and I"

"Oh, he's agreed to leave Michael?" Bonnie noticed Devon's eyebrows went up half an inch.

"Well when I explained that Michael was going home in the morning with you and that would leave KITT to travel alone he decided that going with me was not such a bad alternative."

"I didn't mean it that way, I was just surprised. It does make sense."

"How is he doing?" Bonnie asked changing the subject.

"He's been sleeping a lot. I don't think that Dr Fallen will have any trouble keeping him in bed for a few days." Devon placed his hand on her arm and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Have a good trip home and enjoy yourself at the convention, but not too much. I hope to see you back with us soon" Devon said with a knowing look on his face.

"You know that I would never leave FLAG again, and especially not for just another job". Bonnie knew that Devon's concern was the high salary job offers she received from time to time. She smiled and walked on to Michael's room.

"Hey" she said as she entered.

"Hey yourself. Where have you been all morning?"

"Sorry I haven't kept you company, but Devon offered to let me attend some seminars and so I'm heading off for San Francisco."

She made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed. He had a tray of bland looking hospital food sitting in front of him and he was attempting to get some Jell-O in his mouth. Bonnie noticed his hand shaking and reached out to take the spoon from him.

"You don't have to feed me, I can handle it".

"Really, it looked to me like you were about to wear it. Open wide" and she put the spoon full of Jell-O in his mouth. "You want some more?"

"No, I think I've had enough. It doesn't have any taste anyway. How's KITT?"

"Well funny you should ask, he has been wanting to talk to you all morning"

Bonnie gently put the COM link on Michael's left wrist careful not to move his arm to much and activated the link.

"Michael how are you, are you getting enough rest, are they feeding you enough"? KITT asked

He heard the deep concern in KITT's voice and laughed to try and alleviate KITT's worries, "Yes Mother I'm fine and I'm eating and resting."

"That's not funny, I'm not Mothering you. I'm just concerned. After all you were bleeding to death in my cabin not long ago."

"I wasn't bleeding to death, you did a great job getting me here to the hospital. Thank you by the way" Michael said gently.

"You're welcome". "Did Bonnie tell you we are leaving?"

Michael glanced at her with a slight smile and said, "Yea she mentioned it. You two have a safe trip partner, and I'll see you at home tomorrow afternoon."

Bonnie leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He reached up put his hand on her shoulder and ran it lightly down her arm. "Thanks for staying with me last night".

"You're welcome" she smiled. "I feel like a heel running out on you now."

"No don't, you go and have a good time. You deserve it, you work to hard as it is."

She looked into his eyes for a second and decided that he really meant it. That he wanted her to go and to have a good time. "okay, get some rest, and listen to Dr Fallen. I'll call and check on you later."

She got up to leave and looked back as she opened the door. His eyes were already closed. This injury seemed to be taking its toll, or maybe everything was starting to catch up to him. Either way she was concerned.