The nocturnal rainstorm hadn't been all that pleasing, it had taken full force sometime in the night and had brought with it lots of wind, lighting, and of course the dreadful leaves. It had left a huge mess in its wake and had mischievously embellished Kitt in bright yellows and reds.
The wet pavement of the parking lot glittered faintly under the slivers of breaking rays from the sun coming from over the hills. The late-night rainstorm had left an unreasonable amount of leaves blanketing the parking lot. Plastic bags and old newspapers that had been caught in the storm now crowded the storm drain causing a moderate amount of flooding near the edges of the parking lot.
The leaves had somehow stuck to Kitt like lint to static. He wasn't too sure he could stand another day like this. He was in dire need of thorough cleaning and surprisingly found himself desperately wanting to get out of the rain for once. It was demeaning, made Kitt feel like a huge soggy quilt blanket to match with his still-damp upholstery. The other cars didn't look much different, all tricked out in all kinds of leaves and for the more unfortunate...plastic bags.
His engine rattled to life sending raindrops sliding off his hood.
It was very early in the morning and Michael wasn't due until several hours, give or take. Kitt's obedience was on the verge of being compromised; he just couldn't wait any longer. Either way what else was he to do!? He tried to calm himself down, pulling lightly at his self-diagnosis for a fraction of comfort, but the impatience was killing him! Retirement wasn't all that fun when your entire purpose was impeded! He was a computer! There was a fine line between leisurely taking "time off" and straight-up being useless. Right now he felt the latter. What was he supposed to do now in retirement?
He internally took a deep breath, trying not to let his frustration get the better of him, and decided to concentrate on the task at hand, removing these leaves! He was growing bothersome, not that he wanted to but for lack of involvement in much else was at the gates of surrender. It was shameful! He probably looked repugnant and straight-up misshapen from his usual appeal.
After several minutes Kitt had successfully removed several small heaps of mushy leaves off his windshield but a great amount of these "ornaments" were still tightly glued to his hood and extended to his fender.
The morning was plagued with a frigid breeze which had only contributed to adding to Kitt's dreadful appearance.
The sun had risen slightly higher over the town once again basking Kitt in its warm rays, he wished to enjoy this much-needed sunshine however he just couldn't, given he was still horrendously covered in a thick coating of damp leaves. He recalled the last few hours of the night during the storm's uproar roaming the parking lot for a good spot to take cover. Had brought with it much unnecessary attention but he for the love of tune-ups, could not take it anymore! It was awful. Polka-dotted in reds, yellows, and bright orange leaves, anyone could have easily confused him for a circus car undoubtedly.
Michael was taking an awful time to awaken. The wait continued to torture him as the leaves basked over his chassis in the warm sun.
"Michael, pst! Michael?" Kitt called over the quiet comlink channel. "Yo who! Michael!" Kitt shouted desperately, as a huge slab of leaves fell off his front fender.
"Kitt what is it?!" Michael growled back, obviously annoyed.
The shout took Kitt aback, regretting what he'd just done. Maybe he was being too dramatic...had he, as Michael often put it, awoken on the wrong side of the parking lot?
Michael caught on to Kitt's questionable silence.
"S-sorry, you just woke me. Sorry, pal. What is it? Everything alright?" Michael replied soothingly back to his partner, yawning.
Kitt remained silent, rethinking the matter at hand. Maybe it wasn't that important, maybe he should have waited.
"No, nothing Michael. I'm just checking on you." Kitt replied, quietly.
There was a pause on Michael's end.
"Kitt, I know you. You usually don't call for nothing, what's bothering you?" Michael dared ask.
Kitt was surprised, although he shouldn't have been, after all, Michael was the closest person to him.
"Michael, I'm wet, cold, and coated in dreadful leaves! I would really appreciate it if you could come downstairs and get them off me." Kitt confessed.
Michael sighed into the comlink channel sounding drowsy.
"Sure thing buddy, can it wait after breakfast though?" Michael begged.
Kitt went over the importance of the matter.
"I can wait, but don't take too long! I don't want anyone to see me like this!" Kitt pleaded.
Michael chuckled lightly into the comlink channel before replying.
"No problem buddy, be out there in a bit."
With that Michael signed off, giving relief to Kitt that he'd be attended to shortly.
Now he had a different problem, how to pass the time until Michael came back? Well, he could always tune in to a local radio station, listen to music, read a book...call Bonnie! Kitt's electronic mind raced around eagerly at the thought of calling Bonnie. Maybe he should but it was rather early although...she was known to be punctual and a so-called early bird. Maybe he should call!
Wait.
How about the encounter with his "new" technician crew yesterday? Surely Bonnie would be aware of how that had gone, would she be upset? The last thing he needed this morning was to argue with a very upset Bonnie. He knew that she rarely got upset with him directly but things had changed too much and too fast in the last few days, there was a chance she was completely livid!
Kitt sighed internally as he tried to come up with a solution. Thankfully he didn't have to call because Bonnie seemed to have thought the same thing all the way at FLAG headquarters.
Kitt was hesitant to pick up at first, but this was Bonnie he was talking about. She would be understanding of his needs and opinions, she wasn't like that no good Professor Luke.
"Goodmorning Bonnie." Kitt greeted as Bonnie appeared on his dash screen.
"Good Morning Kitt." Bonnie smiled. "Is Michael there?"
"No, not yet." Kitt replied anxiously, suddenly dawning on him that he still had this leaf problem to deal with. "Do you want me to call him?"
"Oh, no. That's fine. Uh, umm, Kitt." Bonnie began, glancing away from the screen nervously. "Yesterday-"
"Oh, please Bonnie! Just ask Michael! The professor is in no position to supervise my well-being!" Kitt interrupted, sounding unnerved.
"I agree." Bonnie nodded, catching Kitt by surprise. "That's why I've spoken to Devon and he thinks it would be best if I and RC went over to help Michael and you, find an appropriate replacement."
Kitt felt disappointed. For a moment there he'd thought Bonnie had decided to move into Oregon with them, but that out of all things was impossible.
"Oh," Kitt managed, letting the disappointment slip into his voice.
"Kitt, is something wrong?" Bonnie asked hurriedly, catching on.
Kitt thought for a moment. There most definitely was something wrong. He wanted to go back to FLAG but he dreaded the idea of leaving Michael behind alone to fend for himself out in a foreign state with no friends or family. Even if he would have had family around, Kitt would still have insisted on staying. Michael's partnership was too valuable to let slip by so easily, he couldn't give that up not even for FLAG. Deep down as a logical computer, he knew that at the end of things there could always be another driver. He could always regrow another partnership. But as himself he knew that...there was only one Michael. There was ONLY one person in the whole world that was meant to be his driver and that was Michael.
"No, nothing's wrong," Kitt replied convincingly.
Bonnie frowned briefly before nodding.
"Okay, pass the news to Michael. Oh and Kitt I'm sorry about professor Luke."
"No need to apologize Bonnie."
Bonnie faintly smiled, sighing.
"Well, Kitt. I'm looking forward to seeing you and Michael's house. Hope your garage is in good condition."
Kitt's virtual heart sank, as several of his subroutines came to a soundless crash.
"Of course Bonnie." He managed.
"Well, I'll see you soon. Goodbye Kitt."
"Goodbye, Bonnie." Kitt signed off, waiting until he was sure the connection had been terminated before he gunned his engine and began to drive in circles in the parking lot. Kitt wasn't the kind of person to stress out, but there were times where his microprocessor couldn't take it anymore. This was one of those times. The leaves were leaving disgusting residue on his sides as they slid off.
Michael had to admit that the complimentary breakfast at the Inn was excellent. He was content on having taken to Kitt's wishes and glad he had such a caring buddy. He grinned to himself as he left the hotel's lobby, faintly nodding to people roaming by and exited the building. He was looking forward to starting on the house today.
He was jerked from his thoughts as he caught a glimpse of Kitt doing donuts in desperation in the parking lot, leaving a trail of loose leaves behind.
"Kitt!" Michael called to him gravely concerned as he jogged up to the trembling Trans-am.
"Good morning, Michael." Kitt cheered promptly as he applied the brakes, disregarding entirely what Michael had just witnessed.
"Buddy, what's going on?" Michael asked, reaching down and pulling off an extra-large yellow leaf from his prow, before pulling several more off hurriedly.
"Nothing, Michael. Is everything alright?" Kitt countered.
Michael frowned, intently watching Kitt's scanner swaying from side to side continuously for any clues.
"I'm not sure, maybe that's something you should be telling me right now." Michael crossed his arms, shivering a little against the cold breeze.
"Well, Bonnie did call a little while ago." Kitt cleverly redirected Michael's attention.
"She did?" Michael asked, sounding surprised. "Uh, what did she say?" He continued curiously, walking all around Kitt and brushing the leaves off.
"RC and she will be coming to visit us and locate a proper technician crew."
Michael nodded faintly.
"That's good. Glad that's all getting sorted out."
Having pulled out the last of the leaves Michael walked back towards the driver's side, Kitt noting a hitch in his vitals just before he sat down into his seat.
Before he could so much as ask Michael interrupted him.
"Plot me a course to the hardware store." He said sternly.
"Right away Michael," Kitt replied.
Michael glanced down at Kitt's voice modulator pensively as they pulled out of the lot and onto the street.
"Kitt, uh, sorry for taking so long." He apologized.
Kitt felt a little pang of guilt quietly take hold of his CPU, he hadn't meant to worry Michael or give him unnecessary trouble this morning.
"No, Michael it's my fault," Kitt replied as they gently parted through a huge puddle on the road. A small group of school children walking nearby laughed at the sight.
Michael shook his head, patting the yoke affectionately.
"Nah, Kitt. I should have seen to it that you spent the night in a better place."
"Michael, don't be ridiculous." Kitt put teasingly. "I am completely capable of taking care of myself." He internally smirked as they came to a busy traffic stop.
Michael smiled.
"Kitt, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you while I'm away." His eyes wandered anxiously.
"Michael really, I've dealt with several…"
"No, Kitt, this is different." Michael raised his voice slightly, as he took a left onto an avenue. "It's not just about when I leave you in parking lots or garages, but when I'm…" Michael's voice trailed off… "When the time comes and I won't be a comlink call away..."
Kitt involuntarily slipped into silent mode, his engine hushed allowing for Kitt to process what Michael had just said. The Trans Am continued to move forward under Michaels's direction but Kitt remained quiet. The chassis jerked up momentarily as they drove over train tracks running across a busy street. He dared not completely process the last of what Michael might have meant with his statement. This morning was off to an awful start.
Michael brought the chassis to a gentle stop outside the hardware store, turning off the engine and staring down at Kitt's dark modulator. The muffled whispers of people conversing nearby drifting in the cool breeze.
"Sorry, I guess this isn't the place nor time to talk about that." Michael quietly replied, he took a deep breath glancing over the modulator. "Kitt, I'm going to head in and grab some things for the garage. Since Bonnie will be coming around soon we don't wanna surprise her with a mess. Keep your scanner's pealed okay, pal?" Michael remarked before gingerly exiting the vehicle and tapping Kitt's top affectionately.
"Kitt, buddy?"
"Okay," Kitt hesitantly replied, his voice weak and faint.
Michael gave Kitt a comforting smile before adding.
"Forget about it, Kitt. Don't worry about it. Sorry I brought it up." Michael nodded with remorse faintly, as he walked over to the store taking a last glance over his shoulder at Kitt basking in the warm sunshine. His scanner anxiously swaying from side to side.
Kitt watched rather worriedly as Michael beat the broom over what probably was the hundredth massive spiders that he'd found in the "garage" that morning. The place was crawling with them and it was rather unsettling for Kitt. He knew these things couldn't exactly hurt him, but they would most definitely hurt Michael. Kitt had no way of swatting the things off without accidentally injuring Michael, so his anxiety had peaked. He was sure to stay nearby while Michael went about un-dusting the place, all the while locating the nearest venomous spider bite treatment hospital in the vicinity just in case.
Michael was resolved to have Kitt's garage ready before Bonnie or RC arrived. Kitt was suspicious about the sudden change in priorities. First, it was the huge hole in his washroom and now it was the "garage". Kitt couldn't help the ill-feeling that'd been gnawing at him since they'd been at the hardware store that morning. He wasn't sure how to go about with what Michael had said, it was a topic that he found was delicate and more than not wanted to ignore sometimes.
Kitt watched as Michael hauled out all the junk and piled it up outside next to the garbage can. He kept some things though, primarily the comics for later entertainment. The rest had to go.
Michael had removed several plywood panels that had been nailed over a window and thrown them out. His excuse was to give Kitt some scenery from the comfort of the garage, but Kitt wasn't too convinced.
Michael was acting unusually cheery about the whole ordeal, despite being soaked in sweat, something he wasn't too fond of. He was stubborn about taking breaks too and Kitt had been forced to order a pizza to tempt his appetite. Kitt tried to keep his protests and complaints to a bare minimum but he hated to see Michael being careless about his well-being. The poor man was covered in cuts and bruises by late afternoon when the place was starting to take the shape of a garage. Michael and Kitt had taken several trips to the hardware store throughout the day, the two sustaining an awkward silence as they drove whenever Kitt attempted to address the morning incident.
On one occasional trip where the silence hadn't been as notable, they had brought proper indoor garage lights. It was very tedious and also very concerning for Kitt to watch the whole DIY installation. Kitt urged Michael to read the manual and shouted at him in full panic when he managed to shock himself. They didn't have a ladder so Michael had used Kitt as a modified step stool, how great…
"Michael…" Kitt groaned, while his partner balanced himself on top of his t-top.
"I'm almost done buddy, just gotta screw this here…" Michael trailed off, rubbing his sweaty hands on his now very smudged shirt.
"You said that an hour ago," Kitt whined.
Michael ignored him, continuing to assemble the fluorescent light setup.
"Gah!" Michael snapped as he jabbed his fingers with the screws.
"Michael! You alright?"
"Kitt, I know what I'm doing," Michael murmured under his breath. "I've set up plenty of lights back in the day." He went on, craning his neck.
"How long ago was that?" Kitt asked, teasingly. Trying to lighten the mood.
Michael shook his head forcing the screws into place with a screwdriver.
"Michael, you should have bought a power drill." Kitt kindly reminded him, "I'm sure the hardware store has some, get down and I'll drive you there." Kitt coaxed.
"No." Michael spat, looking down at Kitt. "Kitt, I said I know what I'm doing! What's wrong with you?" Michael raised his voice.
"Michael, it's just that you've been at it since I mentioned the call with Bonnie this morning and…"
"Kitt!"
"Yes, Michael?"
"Not, now," Michael growled, finally managing to get one screw into place at last. "There! Four more to go."
Kitt internally sighed. What was it with Michael now? Why had he gotten so obsessed with fixing the garage? Was it because of Bonnie? Kitt was almost sure it was. At first, Michael had been rather excited to work on the house until Kitt had brought up Bonnie's phone call. Then they'd had that one conversation that morning alluding to where Kitt would end up in the far, far future. Thereafter he'd gotten extremely anxious and really bothered.
"Michael, is it because you fear they will take me back? And you won't be able to do anything about it?" Kitt interrupted out loud. The connection suddenly dawned on him.
Michael was caught off guard by the sudden outburst, dropping the screwdriver and the remaining four screws, for that matter. He looked down through the t-top glass catching a glimpse at the dim glow of the dash completely ignoring the fact he'd lost the screws entirely. Michael remained quiet, wiping the sweat off his face. His heart was pounding in his ears. He seemed nervous about what to say next or maybe he simply had no idea what to say. Kitt remained silent, waiting patiently for his reply.
"Kitt…" Michael's voice trailed off, as he broke into a light cough. He had second thoughts. "Did you see where the screws go? I dropped them, I think they might have fallen under you or…"
"Michael, is it true?" Kitt urged.
Michael rolled his eyes, jumping off Kitt's roof and heading for the door.
"I'll be back, I think the screws I bought for the wall might work just as well…" Michael gasped, avoiding Kitt's swaying scanner altogether. He was just grasping the doorknob when Kitt shouted back in pain.
"Michael! IS. IT. TRUE?!"
Michael jerked around shouting back.
"YES! Now stop pressuring me and help me find the dumb screws!" He waved his arms in frustration, letting out a tired sob as he sat on the doorstep leading into the house. "Yes! I DO fear that they will take you away, and I won't be able to do anything if something were to happen to you. I shouldn't have bought this house in the first place." Michael took a deep breath.
Kitt remained quiet, upset. Not because Michael had yelled at him but rather upset with himself. He was stressing his partner too much.
"Michael, I'm sorry." Kitt finally broke the silence.
Michael shook his head.
"It isn't your fault Kitt. It's mine…" Michael gasped, settling down on the concrete floor dog-tried. "Yeah, I've been worrying about that ever since we left FLAG. Worrying that if they see that I'm doing a poor job at taking care of you then you'll go back, without me." He buried his head in his hands. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something awful happened to you…I just...I'm sorry Kitt."
Kitt remained quiet taking in what Michael had said. He understood. After all, in a way, he was still FLAG property, retired property but property nevertheless.
"Michael."
"Yeah, buddy?" Michael quietly sobbed, running his tired hands through his curly hair.
"Hop in," Kitt reassured, opening the driver's door. "I know a place that you'll really love."
Michael smiled faintly, glancing up at Kitt catching sight of the exciting beam of his scanner.
"You know me too well."
The Oregon coast was a bit different from that of the Californian beaches that Michael had known over the years. Here the coast was very quiet if not, in some places, abandoned. The beach also looked peculiar lined with thick trees extending over the hills and mountains.
That wasn't the only difference between the beaches from there and here, the water here; was ice cold!
Michael was sitting on top of Kitt's open t-top enjoying the sun shimmering above the crashing waves, swinging his legs lightly. Taking in the flight of the seagulls with glee over the setting sun.
"I guess we really have become inseparable." Came Kitt's quiet reply over the roaring surf.
Michael broke into a smile.
"Never thought we'd get this far," Michael remarked, recalling how it had all begun, and how it wrapped up to a happy retirement in Oregon. A new chapter he was anxiously awaiting to discover.
"Do you still remember?"
"Of course I still remember, Kitt…" Michael laughed. "Sounds like you're worried I've forgotten who you are or something."
"I meant when we first met." Came Kitt's soothing voice.
Michael glanced up to the horizon, the blue ocean extending far until it merged with the blazing sky above. The wispy clouds elegantly drifted in the sky.
He nodded.
"I was…a little skeptical when we first met." He murmured above the whispers of the cool wind.
"How's that?" Kitt asked sounding intrigued, purring his engine in warning as a seagull came suspiciously too close to landing on his hood. The startled bird casting a thoughtful gaze toward the dark metallic creature.
"I don't know, seemed like you were about to run me over, for starters." Michael laughed, spreading his hands taking in the cold breeze pulling at his thick jacket.
"Run you over? Really, Michael." Kitt mused over the salty spray of the sea.
"I mean you were this close…" Michael teased pinching his fingers and grinning enthusiastically down at the voice modulator.
"I stopped didn't I?" Kitt replied.
"Of course, really glad you did too." Michael leaned back on the t-top. "When I first saw you, I…I hadn't seen anything quite like you."
"You know, there's always been this one thing that bothered me…" Kitt pondered gingerly.
"Oh, and what's that?" Michael asked, squinting down at Kitt's modulator in worry listening to the faint hum of the scanner.
"What was it with the whole "looks like Darth Vader's bathroom…" thing? How in the world would you know how his bathroom looks like? Also, my cabin doesn't actually look like that, does it?" Kitt asked, a little confused.
Michael had broken into heavy laughter, accidentally slipping down Kitt's rear windshield, ending upsidedown gazing at the darkening sky.
"It doesn't? Right?" Kitt responded after Michael's laughter had died down.
"No, Kitt," Michael replied between joyful tears, deciding to stay where he'd slid. "Was the first thing that came to mind…" Michael continued to halfheartedly chuckle.
"Will admit, I thought it was rather a strange metaphor."
"It was." Michael broke into another laughing fit. "Gosh, who would have thought that getting shot in the face would lead to such a great adventure."
Kitt's scanner slowed down, the whisper of the cold wind blowing lightly at Michael's numbed ears.
"Sometimes…" Kitt's voice quivered. "I would lament what happened to you."
Michael frowned, gently getting off Kitt's rear windshield, taking a seat on the sand next to Kitt instead.
"Kitt, there wasn't a need for you to…"
"I know, but I started thinking about it more when you momentarily lost your memory of you and me. You told me it was terrible to see a stranger's face whenever you passed your reflection. Made me feel awful that happened to you, and guilty."
"Guilty?"
"Because…I hadn't thought of it that way before. You lost everything, Michael. In a way, you lost yourself too." Kitt added, sounding pensive. "You lost all that…for me, in a sense, of course."
Michael leaned against Kitt's prow.
"Nah, despite it all, Buddy; it's been a wonderful partnership." Michael grinned, closing his eyes as the freezing wind struck his face and brushed his hair.
The two continued in silence, watching the gleaming sun brightly glowing over the ocean setting it afire in orange and pinks as it slowly descended into its cold depths. The sound of the rolling waves taking them along, over the calls of idle seagulls drifting in the winds and standing along the shore.
Kitt gently rolled silently backward as Michael drifted to sleep, letting the weary man slump over in the soft sand. Kitt then nudged forward, standing protectively alongside the man he'd come fondly attached to over the extensive years of his lovely life.