Disclaimer: Universal Studios owns Knight Rider and all its characters. I'm not making any money on this -- it's just for fun.

Author's Notes: This story takes place after the series, but it was written as though the events of Season 4 never happened. No SPM, no convertible mode, no RC, not even the storylines.

As you can probably tell from the first scene, this is going to be a dark story. Nothing too graphic, but it will go into some violent places. I originally posted this with an M rating, but I didn't know that M stories are not included in the default 'sort by' settings on the main page. For right now, it's safely a T, but that will change in a few chapters. When that happens, I'll change the rating back to an M, but if you don't want to read M-rated stories, then you probably want to skip this one altogether. I just wanted people to see it and right now it is a T, so I hope this is okay.

The Face of a Nightmare

The scars were raised welts of ugly, reddened skin. They crossed at the wrists in chilling T's – the unmistakable sign of someone who was serious. There was no pretending that their owner had been crying out for help or that there had been any intent other than complete self-destruction. They spoke volumes without saying a word. But that wasn't quite right. They didn't speak. They screamed.

Long sleeves kept them hidden most of the time, but he often caught a glimpse of them anyway -- a little bit of horror to shake him to the core on otherwise unremarkable days. And they never failed to show themselves as soon as he'd decided that they had faded into the past -- that everyone had moved on. He'd be minding his own business and they'd slip out from under a shirt cuff wielding their ability to destroy him. They were dissonant, demanding, and devastating. They would never really fade.

The scars were jagged -- the imperfect knitting together of brutalized skin -- but the actual cuts themselves had not been. They had been deep and unhesitating, the product of complete despair. He tried not to dwell on that. It tore him up too much, left him bleeding in places no one could see.

The cuts had let everything flow out. They had been an attempt to empty their host of blood, pain, and life itself.

But the scars seemed to have the opposite effect -- at least on him. They were a force that cut him open and let everything flow in.

Anger.

Betrayal.

And most of all, guilt.


There was a spring in Michael's step as he strolled into Devon's office. For a change he had actually gotten a vacation. He and Kitt had spent two full weeks surfing, rocking climbing, and sailing. Devon hadn't even found any excuses to interrupt them. After two weeks, Michael was actually feeling energized and ready to face the world. Or at least he thought he was, but the look of perplexed concern on Devon's face was enough to sober him up a bit.

"Hey, Devon. What's up?"

"Ah, Michael. Did you enjoy your vacation?" Devon looked up from the folder on his desk, smiling politely, but he sounded distracted.

"Yeah, yeah, I did. I gotta do that more often." He couldn't help needling just a little bit. "But Kitt said you have a new case for us?"

"Hmmm, perhaps." Devon shuffled through some of the papers in the folder until he found what he was looking for. "Have you heard of Electro-Optic Enterprises?"

Michael shrugged. "No. It doesn't ring a bell. Why?"

"They make lasers as well as various lasing media," Devon said, pursing his lips.

"You lost me. What do you mean by lasing media?"

Devon leaned forward and gestured with his pen in a way that made him look like a lecturing professor about to make a point that was sure to be on the final exam. "A laser consists of three main parts – an optical cavity, a pump, and the lasing medium. Energy is passed from the pump into the optical cavity to excite the medium which results in the beam of photons we think of as a laser."

"Okay. So they make the substances that go into lasers."

"Not exactly precise, but essentially true," Devon said, leaning back again. "Lasing media are the heart of a laser and Electro-Optic Enterprises is one of the leading designers of new media in the industry."

"And they're having some sort of problem?" Michael asked, leisurely leaning against the corner of Devon's desk.

"Quite right. There was a break in at their facility. Several of their lasers and lasing media designs were stolen."

"And you want me and Kitt to look into it?"

Devon frowned slightly. "This is really only a hunch. It may simply be a case for the local authorities."

"But you think there's something worth investigating?" Michael guessed.

Devon set his pen down and gave him his full attention. "Electro-Optic Enterprises is the company that designed the lasing medium for the laser we built to destroy Karr. It's one of the designs that was stolen. It may just be coincidence. . ."

"But better safe than sorry." Michael could see why Devon was uncomfortable with this. If it was a coincidence, fine, but he didn't like the idea of someone having the components to build a laser capable of harming his partner. "We'll look into it, Devon. If there doesn't seem to be a connection to the Foundation, we'll let the police handle it."

"Good. I've asked Bonnie to program Kitt with all the relevant information. If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks, Devon. I'll let you know what we find."

Michael left the office in search of his partner. He couldn't help the tinge of unease that had crept into the back of his mind. He hoped this turned out to be nothing, a waste of time, but he had a hunch that it wasn't going to be that easy.