Here I am again with another Knight Rider fic and boy, this one took me awhile but it's finished now. As usual, I don't own Knight Rider or I'll Be With You in Your Dreams by Hanson. Enjoy.
The sun was starting to set and the air was getting colder. The twilight sky was witness to a heartbreaking scene; a brother saying goodbye. As the man knelt by the fresh grave, he placed a hand on top of the mounded earth and hung his head. There was no sound, as if the night was mourning along with the man who was silently crying. Finally after what seemed like hours, the man slowly rose to his feet and walked away, changing into the form of a Trans-Am and drove off into the night.
As he was driving, his memories of the incident came back from the day before:
There was a big fight between the two brothers and instead of apologizing to each other, they both went their separate ways; Kitt went back into the Estates and Karr went into the woods. Soon after, Kitt and Michael were asked to go on a case. Without even hesitating, Kitt walked outside, changed forms, opened his door and said to his driver, in a monotonous tone that was never heard from the gentle A.I., "Let's go, Michael."
Meanwhile, Devon was in his office when Karr walked in and sat down. He was about to ask the older A.I. what he needed when his phone started ringing.
"This is Devon Miles…."
The rest of the conversation was tuned out as Karr started rummaging through the big mahogany desk, reading 'past' assignments. He never heard anything else and he was surprised when Devon wasn't talking on the phone anymore. But his facial features told him something was wrong.
Before he could ask, Devon walked around the desk and placed a hand onto Karr's shoulder: "That was Michael." A sigh escaped the older man's lips as his eyes started getting misty, "Kitt's gone."
Just hearing those two words broke something in Karr. Before he knew it, Karr had grabbed Devon by the collar of his dress jacket, "What do you mean, 'Kitt's gone?'"
"There was a situation at a bank. The suspects would always flee before the cops could arrive to arrest them. The suspects took off running when Michael and Kitt gave chase. Michael went after one of them when he heard a gunshot. He ran back and saw that Kitt was hurt. He was taken to the hospital but nothing could be done. He died en route. Karr, I'm-"
Before Devon could finish apologizing, Karr looked at him, the dark A.I.'s steel-blue eyes filling with tears. Without another word, Karr let go of Devon's jacket and asked softly, "Where is he?"
Smoothing down the slightly rumpled fabric, Devon answered, "He's being taken to the morgue."
A quiet, "Could you bring him here, please?"
Devon walked around the mahogany desk, "Karr, I don't think-"
"I didn't ask you to think, Miles! I asked you to bring Kitt here!"
"Alright, I'll see what I can arrange."
As soon as the hearse arrived, Karr greeted it as it stopped and the passenger exited the car. As the man looked at the dark A.I., a warning tingle sent a shiver down the man's spine. Without a word, he went towards the back of the hearse and opened the door and climbed inside. As he pushed the casket along the rails, Karr grabbed the handle at the foot and lifted it up a bit as the other man walked out, holding the other handle.
Meanwhile, Michael was trying to figure out how to deal with losing Kitt. It felt like it was his fault that Kitt was gone. He could have done something, anything, to save him. Michael already lost a partner all those years ago and now he lost another partner, one was that was his best friend. At the moment, he wondered how Karr was taking it. The Estates were still standing but still, he needed to find the A.I. and be a friend to him, if he was accepting at the moment.
It didn't take him long to find the heartbroken Trans-Am hiding in the garage, frame shivering as if the A.I. inside was cold. A growl that was felt more than heard reached Michael as he stood in front of the Trans-Am's nose. Not one to back off when someone was hurting, Michael swallowed as he slowly approached the car. As the growling started to soften, then stopping altogether, Karr drove slowly towards Michael and changed into his human form.
For a few moments, neither man moved when all of a sudden, Karr lunged at Michael. Rather than turn and run, Michael opened his arms and let Karr crash into them. Wrapping the other man into a tight embrace, Michael let the dark A.I. cry into his shoulder.
It wasn't until a few minutes later when Karr pushed himself away, embarrassed that he broke down like that. Michael smiled, "It's ok Karr. Everyone grieves in their own way. I know how much you love Kitt and I'm sorry I couldn't bring him home safely to you."
Wiping away a few stray tears, Karr quietly said, "It's not your fault, Michael."
"I know, but still. If there's anything I can do, let me know."
"I will, thank you."
The next day, everyone was gathering at the cemetery. There was not a dry eye as many of the people from F.L.A.G. said their final goodbyes to the young A.I. As the casket was being lowered into the ground, Karr's heart was breaking. Never will he see his brother's bright smile nor his beautiful bright blue eyes. Everything started becoming too much for Karr to handle as he collapsed to his knees and started sobbing. The minutes turned to hours and before he knew it, it was night. Silently promising he'd be back, Karr changed into his Trans-Am form and drove back to the Estates.
As he approached the Mansion, he decided that he didn't want to go inside. Instead, he drove towards the garage. As he went into the building, he felt so emotionally exhausted that he thought he could fall asleep but unfortunately he couldn't. For some reason, everything that day felt like a dream, a nightmare that he wished he could wake up from but couldn't. He knew he couldn't last long either, not without Kitt there. His brother was his light, his world and he was gone. How he wished he could've apologized for the fight they had and said 'I love you' to his baby brother one last time but he didn't and he was regretting it.
For the rest of the next day, Karr stayed in the garage. He tried to go into recharge but couldn't. Everytime he tried, everything came rushing back and he would wake up keening. Finally, on the third night after Kitt was buried, Karr couldn't handle it anymore. He let out a heart-breaking scream and started crying.
After awhile, he started calming down. That's when he noticed the air inside the garage was a bit colder like someone opened a window or the garage doors but there was no one else but him inside and everything was closed. He onlined his 'eyes' and looked around. He thought no one was in the garage until he felt a gentle touch that was familiar. At first, he thought he finally fell asleep and was dreaming but no, right next to him was his brother in his human form.
Karr gasped and immediately backed up, his rear end just a couple of inches away from hitting the wall. Kitt just turned and started walking towards him, holding out a hand. Karr then changed into his human form to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if Kitt was actually there.
As the older A.I. just stood there, the ghostly apparition walked closer, hand still outstretched, reaching towards Karr. Finally Kitt stopped, a few feet away, looking at his brother, not with hatred or anger but with love. The hand that was still reaching towards Karr never wavered and as Karr finally got over his shock, the older brother reached out and gently took the ghostly hand of his baby brother and gently squeezed it.
"Kitt, I-"
Smiling sweetly, Kitt shook his head. With his other hand, he placed it on Karr's face and gently cupped his cheek. Karr had thought he ran out of tears since he's cried a few times but one slipped out of his eye and ran down his face.
"I think we both said some things during that fight that we both regret, Karr. And my biggest regret was not telling you that I still love you no matter what."
"Kitt, I started the fight by saying that you don't do enough work and that you're useless. I never should've said that and I'm so sorry, Kitt. I don't even think I'm worthy of your forgiveness so I won't ask and-"
Kitt cut him off by saying, "I forgive you, Karr, that's why I'm here. I wanted you to know that I forgive you and I love you so much. I should've told you that but I was still hurting but that also doesn't excuse me from what I said to you and I need to ask your forgiveness as well."
Karr chuckled as he looked into Kitt's eyes, "Well, I can be an asshole, as you put it so sweetly, but I forgive you as well, Baby Brother, even though you didn't do anything wrong."
Kitt looked at Karr and smiled but the dark A.I. still looked a bit troubled. Wanting to reassure his brother, Kitt wrapped his arms around Karr tightly. For some reason, even though he shouldn't feel Kitt's hug, he could feel the slight pressure of his brother's arm around him. Wrapping his own arms around the ghostly figure of Kitt, the younger of the two resting his head on Karr's chest and sighed softly.
A few minutes later, although neither A.I. wanted to, the hug was broken as the brothers stepped back and looked at each other sadly. As Karr was about to say something, Kitt turned around and walked towards the other end of the garage where Karr was sitting earlier and turned into his Trans-Am form. Not wanting to ask Kitt anything stupid, he walked towards his brother's side and changed forms as well.
"So, Kitt, why are we over here?"
There went the 'no asking Kitt anything stupid' thought.
"By the look of exhaustion on your face, I can tell you haven't slept at all so I have an idea that'll help you, Big Bro. So, just try and get comfortable, ok?"
"I'll try. But it's hard. Everytime I close my eyes, I keep reliving the day before yesterday. And I keep telling myself that I deserve not being able to sleep because of what I said to you. But I do want to say that I am so sorry for everything, Kitt and I love you with all of my heart."
Kitt didn't know what to say but he backed up and turned a bit to press his nose into Karr's fender and started to purr.
The soft touch and gentle vibrations coming from the younger Trans-Am was lulling Karr almost to sleep but then he jolted awake. Kitt sighed but kept up the touch as he cleared his throat, "Karr, I know it'll be hard but I'll always be with you no matter what, I promise. And I want to sing you a song that I know you'll like."
If I'm gone when you wake up
Please, don't cry
And if I'm gone when you wake up
It's not goodbye
Don't look back at this time as a time
Of heartbreak and distress
Remember me, remember me
'Cause I'll be with you in your dreams
Oh, I'll be with you, oh, oh
But If I'm gone when you wake up
Please, don't cry
And if I'm gone when you wake up
Don't ask why
Don't look back at this time
As a time of heartbreak and distress
Remember me, remember me
'Cause I'll be with you in your dreams
Oh, oh
Don't cry
I'm with you
Don't cry
I'm by your side
Don't cry
I'm with you
Don't cry
I'm by your side
And though my flesh is gone, whoa
I'll still be with you at all times
And although my body's gone, oh
I'll be there to comfort you at all times
Oh, oh
But If I'm gone when you wake up
Please, don't cry
And if I'm gone when you wake up
Don't ask why
Don't look back at this time
As a time of heartbreak and distress
Remember me, remember me
'Cause I'll be with you
I'll be with you in your dreams
Oh, I'll be with you
Oh
I'll be with you in your dreams
I'll be with you
I'll be with you
I don't want you to cry and weep, oh
I want you to go on living your life
I'm not sleeping an endless sleep, oh
'Cause in your heart
You have all of our good times
Oh, all of our good times
Oh, oh, you have
And if I'm gone when you wake up
Don't ask why
Don't look back at this time
As a time of heartbreak and distress
Remember me, remember me
'Cause I'll be with you in your dreams
Oh
I'll be with you in your dreams
I'll be with you
Oh
I'll be with you
I'll be with you in your dreams
I'll be with you in your dreams"
When Kitt finished, Karr was sound asleep. Sighing softly, Kitt whispered, "I wish you wouldn't blame yourself for what happened but I'll watch over you and protect you like you would do for me. Sweet dreams, Karr and I love you so much." And with that, Kitt dissipated.
The next morning found Michael walking towards the garage, with 2 cups of coffee in his hands. Karr, who had just woken up, was changing forms and was stretching as Michael entered. As the tall man walked towards the dark A.I. an arm outstretched towards him. A look of bewilderment crossed Karr's face as he took the cup of coffee from Michael.
"Well, it looks like you finally got some sleep, Karr. How are you feeling?"
After taking a sip of the hot beverage, Karr smiled, "I'm feeling better, thank you Michael. But you won't believe what happened last night."
Karr then told Michael everything, about the fight, the regrets, Kitt coming to see him, forgiving each other and finally getting to say, "I love you."
Michael was in shock for a few moments but was able to shake it off as he smiled, "Yeah, Kitt's one a kind. He must've known you were hurting and decided to pay you a visit. Kitt would never turn his back on you even though you hurt him just as bad. He loves you, Karr."
"Yeah, I know and I love him just as much."
As the two men were leaving the garage, neither noticed the ghostly form of a Trans-Am hiding by the side of the building before vanishing quickly. A cool, gentle breeze whipped around them and then the air stilled. Karr smiled as Michael asked, "What was that?"
"Someone saying hello."