Meeting KITT

Jess wasn't expecting a phone call while she was on break. She was leaning against the outside of the building when the call came. Frowning, she checked the caller ID and flipped the phone open. "I thought your break was over."

"Love you too, Jess." Heather retorted. "I need a favor."

"Depends."

"Pick me up? I'm at the clinic."

Jess grinned. "Visiting Faja?" she asked, using their long time nickname for Heather's dad. There was a dry laugh from the other end.

"I wish. I was in a bit of an accident."

Jess froze, her eyes widening in shock. "Any casualties?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light. The last accident they'd been in was terrifying to say the least.

"Dante, we think." Heather said glumly. "It was a head-on collision."

"With what?" Jess demanded.

"A tree. I was forced off the road." Another slightly forced laugh, and Jess could tell Heather was on the verge of hysterics. "I fractured my leg and bruised my ribs, but I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about Dante." A sigh. "I like that truck."

"Who forced you off the road?" Jess wondered.

"Chevy pickup. Remind you of someone?"

Jess hissed in anger. "I am gonna kill him."

"Dad's gonna beat you to it. I'll explain everything later. Come get me? Then we need to get Raven. I don't want her by herself at the store."

"I'll be there." Jess closed the phone with a snap. Calling out a hasty explanation to her boss, she scrambled into the Trans-Am. "I hope you're fast, little car," she muttered, "because I'm in a hurry."

"I'm certainly faster than your truck."

Jess screamed. "Holy crap!" She pressed her hand against her chest, breathing hard. "Was – are you the car?"

"In a manner of speaking." the male voice responded. "But I would rather explain to all three of you at once. Where are we going?"

"The clinic in town." Jess said, still a bit stunned. To her utter astonishment, the car started itself and began moving. "Wait, you can drive yourself? How?"

"Like I said, I'll explain later." the car insisted patiently. "As flustered as you are, you are in no condition to drive."

Jess leaned back, attempting to absorb all of this. Nope, wasn't happening. "Well, just get us there quickly." she said finally. "I need to get to Heather." She tilted her head back, attempting to calm her breathing. It wasn't working very well.

"If you aren't careful, you'll hyperventilate." the car warned her.

"Do me a favor."

"Yes."

"Shut up until I get my head around this." she pleaded. "Then you can talk. I'm about to short-circuit." The car let out an affirmative sound and fell silent, continuing to guide itself down the road. They were going a bit faster than the speed limit, but it wasn't that far from the plant to the clinic. They were there in ten minutes. Jess almost fell trying to get out of the car. "Heather!"

"Hey, Jess." Heather waved at her, a slight smile on her face. Her ankle was in a brace, and she was supporting her weight with a wooden cane. Despite herself, Jess snickered at the sight, and Heather shot her a venomous look. "One reference to House and I will kill you."

"I wasn't going to say anything!" Jess protested with a grin. "Although I was thinking it."

"Loudly, I might add."

"Well, come on and let's get Raven." Jess said, grabbing her sister's arm. "The last thing I want is Travis to catch her on her own."

"I pity Travis if he does." Heather said with a dry laugh. "Hey, are you all right – you look pale."

Jess shook her head. "You'll find out when I do." She helped Heather into the passenger's seat and found her way into the driver's. Now that she was calmer, it seemed that the car was willing to let her drive. Which was good. Jess couldn't handle any more strangeness right now.

/--/

He wondered if he was doing the right thing.

Michael had told him to find a reason to live, just before he died. When Michael died, it felt like a part of him had too. Still, he had promised, and he was struggling to live up to that promise. These girls were hardly more than children. Maybe they would be more receptive to the idea of a talking car than others had. Maybe he could find a place here away from Foundation. Maybe he could live in peace.

Not likely. But it was nice to dream.

As they picked up Raven, he took over the controls and guided them out to the lake. There wasn't much of one anymore, but he could see where the waterline originally was. As he parked, he heard Jess sigh.

"Here we go." she murmured.

"So, what are we doing out here?" Raven wondered.

"I said I had some explaining to do." the car said.

Raven jumped back and pressed herself into the backseat. Heather simply stared at the dashboard. "Holy crap." she muttered. "So that's what freaked Jess out."

"I don't mean to frighten you."

"Succeeded." Raven said shakily. She slowly inched forward. "Okay, explanations – like what are you?"

A sigh. "I am – well, I was Knight Industries Two Thousand, but I would prefer it if you called me KITT. I was a creation of Foundation, but not anymore." There was a note of melancholy in the voice, and that very human emotion calmed the girls somewhat. "Ten years ago Foundation decided they no longer had a use for me, and instead of being scrapped, I decided to head out on my own."

"You ran away." Raven said suddenly.

"Precisely."

"Scrapped?" Jess wondered. "Why? A car that can talk? Is intelligent? That has to be valuable."

"My parts, yes, but not my memory bank. And I refused to allow them to wipe it clean so they could start from scratch." KITT hesitated, then continued. So long as he was talking, he might as well tell them everything. "You see, they assigned me a driver not long after I was first activated. I grew attached. When my driver died, I wouldn't let them take my memories of him. He was my only friend."

"That's sad." Jess said, sympathy thick in her voice.

"Wait a minute." Heather said suddenly. "Just what, exactly, were you designed to do, KITT?"

KITT didn't hesitate. The dashboard transformed, showing off all of the gadgets he had collected over the years. "Technically I am a weapon, but I have been programmed to protect human life. Especially the life of my driver above all others." he explained.

Heather frowned. "That doesn't make sense. Why would Foundation – or anyone for that matter – discard something that special? They should have let you keep what you wanted and just moved on."

"Maybe they were afraid of what KITT could do because of those memories." Raven said thoughtfully.

"More like the new leader of Foundation didn't quite approve of the methods my driver and I used." KITT said with some distain. "He sent us on the mission that got Michael killed."

There was a long pause. "All right." Raven said suddenly. "So you've been in the junkyard for who knows how long. Your parts are probably in dire need of a tune-up. The last thing you want is Foundation to find you."

"That pretty much sums it up." KITT agreed.

"There's no help for it then." Jess said decisively.

"He's staying with us." Heather agreed.

"Just like that?" KITT sounded stunned. "You trust me that fast?"

The three girls looked at each other, then at the voice box. "Why not?" Heather said. "You need some help. We can help you."

"Not exactly top notch, but we do." Raven quipped.

KITT hesitated. "Thank you."