Knight Rider characters copyright Glen A Larson
Playing Well
by Tomy
He didn't play well with others.
He used to. Quiet well in fact. At one point in his life he had been the life of the party. People had naturally gravitated to his good natured ways. That's how he rose though the ranks so quickly. Lets face it, it was the only way one could move up the ladder at such a high rate of speed.
Maybe that loss had a lot to do with this new embitterment. Sure, being cynical was part of being a cop. People constantly BS'd you - it was all part and parcel of the job.
He used to laugh it off, shrug his shoulders, scoff and move on to bigger, better and issues he considered far more important..
Now, however he found things didn't slide off his shoulders easily. In fact he took things greatly personally.
Which, with this line of work was not a good thing. He found he was growing far more bitter, more cynical; preferred time to himself with nothing more then music blasting in his ears.
It was becoming his refuge. To drive for hours with the music cranked so loud it even vibrated the chassis of the impenetrable car.
Kitt learned early that this was his partner's way of dealing, with coping with all that constantly surrounded them. He had also learned the expressions when his partners thoughts were downspirling, or simply revolving around in his partner's mind creating a more and more negative attitude.
At first he had tried to engage Michael in conversation; that was met with angry resistance. Instead he'd learned the fine art of subtly. By ever so slightly changing the tone of the music, he could ease his brooding partner out of a highly negative frame of mind into a more inquisitive, or at the very least more rational thinking.
It had happened by accident. One radio station switched play lists; still loud, still obnoxious, but Michael's expression changed, he began moving with the music instead of sitting like a stone behind the wheel.
No, Michael would never be the man he had been before - then again, would he really want to go back to that life?
Certainly there were aspects he missed with all his heart, but there were far too many other factors, knowledge had grown too much to return to the basics of being a police officer.
fin
April 09, 2010
