AN: First off, I apologize to all of you for not giving you this chapter during the summer months when I hope some of you may have had more time with any sort of vacations and all. However, my summer turned into an ongoing rush around, which wasn't all that bad, but it kept me from writing. That and I was hooked on finishing up another story I had started. This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous one, but I was nearly overjoyed (an almost sickened 'cause it sat around) to find that I had indeed written a chapter 6…I don't know why I waited to post it. Forgive me, dear readers. Also, I reread the 5th chapter before this one—the version I posted here—and discovered I did miss some typos and such; I really do apologize for that as well. Also, I've been noticing that for whatever stupid, idiotic and very annoying reason, my computer has been deleting words or entire sentences from my latest posts, which screws up the flow (obviously) of the story. If you come across that...sorry? Any questions, feel free to send me a PM.

But here's what some of you have been eager to read :) When the next chapter will be up, I can't say; college is out to kill me. Anyway, enjoy this and review please!

xXx

Chapter 6: Upgrade

Michael Knight jumped into his Chevy early the next morning, but for the first time in months he didn't go to the diner for breakfast. Instead he turned off his street in the opposite direction and headed to where he hoped to discover the progress on K.I.T.T. was coming along quickly and easily. He hadn't heard a word from Bonnie since he left her at the shop the morning before, which he hoped meant things were going so well his partner would be ready for action within the next day or so.

The day before was spent talking to Nicole about not only Natalie but the past 16 years as well. They had shared laughs and sad memories and by the end of the day Michael wanted more than anything to find her daughter. Devon had returned to FPLI headquarters to do some other work, so Michael decided to bring Nicole out to dinner in hopes to cheer her up. It had gone well, but upon returning home he could see her depression returning.

After dropping Nicole off at the hotel, Michael thought of where he should start. Since the last time she was seen was at home, he figured he could take the drive out to the house and check her bedroom, and hopefully get a chance to talk to the neighbor that claimed she saw Natalie getting into the car from Arizona.

Within twenty minutes Michael arrived at the auto body shop to discover an unfamiliar white van parked off to the side, its back doors wide open to reveal an array of computers lining the wall. As he got out of his car he tried to look around to see anyone working in it, but it was empty. The regular mechanics were doing their daily work of oil changes and fixing other things on civilian cars, the doors to those bays wide open. However, the door to where K.I.T.T. was supposedly still parked was not only closed, but the windows were blackened.

He went into the building through the side door and cut through the other working areas, getting odd glances from the mechanics. He said his good mornings to them, but shrugged them off when he didn't receive any replies. His concern, though, was on the very large tarp that had been pulled across the entire garage to block off the end bay.

Sneaking around the side, Michael peeked in and saw Bonnie and Kurt talking to another man working at a small table, computer pieces and other equipment scattered everywhere around them. His beloved friend was on a lift, his frame nearly completely bare of any familiar body pieces that had hidden his internal parts. The driver and passenger seats were sitting against the wall in the back and wires were dangling everywhere.

Bonnie looked up as Michael approached, a smile barely visible on her face. "The answer is I don't know," she said as she pulled away from the other men.

"You don't know what?" Michael said trying to sound friendly.

Bonnie picked up a rag and wiped her hands on it before placing her palms on her hips. She looked at the remaining car sitting several feet above the ground, her face bare from any expression. "I don't know when we'll have him finished," she said finally. She turned her gaze to Michael and shook her head slowly as if she was about to lecture him. "Kurt called in two of his top colleagues last night," she explained. "I think I got two hours of sleep and only one cup of coffee. We're working endlessly, Michael, but there's so much we have to do—"

"Bonnie," Michael started, gesturing with his hands for her to calm down. "I'm not accusing you of this taking long. Trust me, I know K.I.T.T. wasn't in the best of shape, and I know that all of his stuff wasn't readily available to you."

"Go ahead," she smirked. "You can finish."

"I don't know what you mean," he said seriously.

"Bonnie, I need him as soon as possible," she mocked, lowering her voice in attempts to match his tone.

"Well, yeah I do," Michael replied with a smirk. "But I know that he needs the attention and this can't be a half-assed job."

"Damn right," she replied with a full smile.

Michael nodded and crossed his arms, taking a turn towards the car to look him over. "How's he doing though?"

"His memory is still good, though he needs to be updated on some historical events since he was locked up," she replied. "Most of his technology has been recreated, but we're almost to the point where we won't be able to do anything more until his new body arrives."

Michael's eyes widened and he looked over his shoulder at her. "So you are giving him a new body," he said with a small hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yep," she said. "Trust me, you'll like it. Kurt and I went down to check it out last night and we think it'll be perfect."

"And what does K.I.T.T. think?" Michael asked curiously.

"He…doesn't know," she said. "I deactivated him for a while so not to harm anything while we removed his CPU from the car."

Michael nodded; he knew Bonnie was fully aware of what she had to do, but the thought of deactivation tugged at his heart. He had hoped to say hi to K.I.T.T. at least, but it seemed that he'd have to wait until everything was finished before he'd have the chance to talk again.

Kurt had walked over to them to say hello, but before he could finish his greeting a truck's horn sounded from outside. Bonnie looked at Michael with a large smile and then led the way into the opened area of the garage. Michael wondered what he should expect to see as he followed the crew out front.

His jaw nearly dropped when he discovered just what had alerted their attention. A large flatbed, the same that had towed K.I.T.T. to this garage, was backing up into the parking lot in front of the closed-off bay, its lights atop the cab flashing a bright yellow. What it carried, though, is what made Michael nearly fall over.

"What do you think?" Bonnie said with a big grin as Michael came up next to her to watch. "Do you like him?"

"What is there to like? What the hell happened to it?" Michael asked throwing his gaze at the nearly demolished car sitting on the flat bed. He couldn't tell what it had been, but from crushed nose and driver's side he couldn't even consider this being his best friend's new body.

"Accident," Kurt said from the other side of where Bonnie stood. "Driver actually passed away from it, but it was the best thing we could find for the cheapest price."

"I wonder why," Michael said. The truck stopped and surprisingly Will and Burt jumped out of the cab.

"Hey there, Michael," Will said as he looked up at the car. "Nice flashy red sports car arriving just for you."

Michael forced a smile. "Bonnie, I trust you, don't get me wrong, but this thing is totaled. How do you expect—"

"Burt is putting his entire team to work this car into better condition," she said forcefully. "Michael, K.I.T.T. will be better than you've ever seen, okay? Just give us time."

Michael put up his hands in defeat. "Alright, I shouldn't have doubted you," he said. "Just keep me posted on how he's coming along."

"I will," she said. "Now get going and do some work," she added with a small smile.

Michael returned to his Chevy and sat still in the front seat for several minutes as he watched them pulling the car off the flatbed. The only recognizable feature on that car was that it had been red with black interior; otherwise the car was nearly pulverized from what looked like a crash that made it the meat in a sandwich.

He turned the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life, but before he could put the car into drive he noticed Will heading over to him. He rolled down the window and looked up at the man who took off his hat to scratch his head. "Not gonna stick around?" he asked while leaning his forearm on the roof of the car.

"I've got to head out of town for the day," Michael replied. "I need to check something out." He paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing; "Look, do you think that car can be fixed? I mean, the damage looks like an insurance company would die laughing at the person trying to bring it back to life."

"Well, that's what I said when your friend Bonnie there wanted to pull it out of the graveyard," Will replied. "She had called up Burt though and asked if it was possible to get it up and running again and he said he'd try his best. He's shutting this place down until that car of yours is finished."

Michael's blue eyes widened considerably and he glanced at the garage. "You're kidding me."

"Nope," Will replied.

"Damn, I don't know how the hell I'll be able to fork up that much money for this," Michael said mostly to himself.

"Don't have to," said Will. "Bonnie and her husband there are throwing in some dough and if you have to know I'm donating too."

Michael's heart nearly stopped and he shot his friend a concerned glare. "Will, you have no connections to this—why?"

"'Cause you're a good guy, Michael," he said. "And I know about your car. You know me, I have to poke my nose into things and when I saw the computer crap coming into this place," he pointed to the white van, "I needed to know just what the hell was going on. Bonnie explained everything to me and I nearly died from the news. I never knew that's the line of work you were into back then."

Michael said nothing; he merely stared at the pavement beyond the man standing next to the car.

"Burt said the only money he wants is the money needed to get the parts and pay his men since they're going to do triple overtime to get K.I.T.T. out of here as soon as possible. You have no idea what's going on here to get him out of rehab. Everyone knows you've got a kid to save."

Michael looked at him and smiled. "Trust me I have a good idea on what it takes to rebuild that car."