Title: Nobody Gets Hurt
Author: knightshade
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: They aren't mine – I just like to play with them.

Author's Notes: Thank you to protowerks for help with the car stuff. ;-) Thank you to Tomy for help with the ending.

For Tomy's Dangerous Bargain Challenge.

Nobody Gets Hurt

Michael's heart rate quickened and tension crept into the muscles of his neck. The heavy, expectant air of the abandoned warehouse was seeping into his physiology, filling him with an unsettling dread.

"I don't like the looks of this," Kitt said as Michael brought the car to a slow stop.

"Me either, buddy. Me either."

"I'm able to scan inside and have located Kelly. She's sitting by the main loading door."

"How many men are in there?"

"Three, including Ruger. Two are armed with automatic weapons, and Ruger has a semiautomatic pistol."

"Not good odds," Michael muttered to himself as much as Kitt. He peered at the deceptively quiet, ramshackle place. The loading door was a large corrugated metal structure, obviously meant to be raised on a track. Kitt could turbo boost through it with no problem, but he knew that Ruger's men would be able to kill Kelly before they got to her.

"Any ideas?" Michael asked.

"I'm afraid not -- not any good ones anyway. But we have to do something. She was taken to get to us."

"I know." They had been investigating the theft of high tech designs from a Silicon Valley firm called Globaltech. Kelly hadn't even been involved, other than to make the mistake of flirting with him, and giving him a tour of the lab. Now she was being held hostage.

Michael squinted against the harsh glare of the afternoon sun and spotted movement from behind a dusty, cracked window. "They made us, buddy!"

"Yes. According to my sensors, they're moving toward the door."

As Michael watched, the segmented loading door began to move, a gaping square of black appearing under it as it slowly rose. Ruger was standing in the doorway, holding Kelly in front of him, a gun pressed to the base of her skull. Ruger pushed her forward, out into the sunlight.

"Mr. Knight, it's good to see you. If you'll get out of your car and bring me the designs, nobody will have to get hurt."

"Yeah, right," Michael grunted under his breath.

"The two other gunmen are just inside the door," Kitt warned.

Michael squinted to find them in the dimness of the warehouse, but they were invisible in the murk.

"Options, Kitt?"

"There don't appear to be any good ones. Devon's called the authorities and they're on their way."

"I assume they've been filled in on the situation?"

"Yes. They are arriving without lights or sirens, and they're going to set up a parameter a block away on each side. They're bringing snipers."

"How long until they're in place?"

"I estimate ten minutes."

"If I can stall them until the police can get the snipers in place . . ."

"Ruger's not going to give you the chance, Michael. He's going to kill you the minute you give him the designs -- assuming he doesn't just kill you first and take them."

"I'm not a very patient man, Mr. Knight," Ruger yelled. Michael saw Kelly flinch as he pushed the gun tighter against her neck.

"Michael, I really don't like this. If you go out there, you'll be completely exposed. There's no cover."

"I know, but we don't have much of a choice." Michael opened the door and slowly stood next to the car. "I'm here, let her go."

"That wasn't exactly our deal. Do you have the schematics?"

Michael reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a roll of paper, feeling like it was his only shield.

"Bring the designs closer and set them on the ground."

"Uh-uh. Not until she's safely in the car."

Ruger smirked. "I don't think so."

"Why not? You're armed, I'm not. If I give you what you want, you'll just kill both of us. Let her go and you can have the designs."

Ruger's smile was serpentine. Michael knew he was just planning to kill them both, trade or no trade. But he didn't know about Kitt. Michael wished he knew where the other two gunmen were. It was just too dark inside the warehouse.

"What makes you think I won't kill you anyway?" Ruger asked.

"I figure you'll at least want to look at the designs before you kill me. They might just be blank. If you shoot me first, you'll have no way of knowing where I put the originals." It was a risky ploy. If Ruger started to think he didn't have the designs, he might not play ball, but Michael needed to buy time in any way he could.

"If those papers are anything but the schematics, I will make sure that both of you die slow, painful deaths," he said icily.

"They're not. I'm just saying what I would do in your position."

"Fine. Bring them to me."

"Michael, if you get too close to him, I can't protect you," Kitt said quietly.

"I know. Just be ready to coordinate with those snipers."

Michael began to slowly close some of the distance between him and Ruger. Kitt was right -- there wasn't any cover. This could get ugly quickly. Keeping as slow a pace as he could, Michael took the opportunity to study Kelly. She had some bruises on her face and arms, but other than that, she looked okay. He slowed to a stop halfway to the warehouse. "Let her go."

"Come closer."

"Look, I'm not coming any closer. Now if you want these schematics, let her go!"

"Set the designs on the ground."

Michael didn't want to antagonize Ruger too much, so he slowly dropped the roll of paper at his feet. Ruger pushed Kelly away, and she ran toward Michael. He wished he could tell her to go slower -- he really needed the time. She reached him and stopped. "Get in the car," he said, not taking his eyes off Ruger. He listened to her footsteps as she ran to Kitt, and then he heard the door open and quickly shut. At least she was safe. Now he just had to get himself out of this.

Ruger started to move forward, his gun aimed at Michael. He quickly crossed the distance and then stopped about ten paces away. Michael knew that Ruger was too close for Kitt to get in between them. And Kitt was so far away. "Kick the designs to me," Ruger said. "Try anything funny and you're dead on the spot."

Michael carefully kicked the papers in his direction. Ruger put his foot on the edge of the papers, and rolled them out with his free hand. "Thank you very much, Mr. Knight. It's been a pleasure . . ."

"DIVE FORWARD!"

Kitt's voice cut through everything. Before Michael could consciously weigh his options or consider the situation, he found himself hitting the deck – his body instinctively responding to his partner's command without question or hesitation. He heard the explosive sound of Kitt's turbine roaring to life from its previous idle. He heard a sharp thrust of air, and then a gunshot in front of him. He heard the ricochet off Kitt's shell. What he didn't hear was the sound of Kitt's tires on the pavement. After what seemed like eternity, he heard a loud crunch and the horrible squealing of tires right at his ears. He felt something rake against his back. Michael forced down the instinct to throw his hands over his head, realizing that they would likely get sheered off. He opened his eyes to see that he was covered by a familiar shadow. He saw bright flashes against the pavement and heard the staccato beat of automatic weapons fire. Michael flinched as bullets bouncing off of Kitt's shell. Then, one by one, each of the automatic weapons went silent.

Michael hazarded a peek forward and saw Ruger's dead body sprawled on the pavement. He looked to the side to see his partner's wheel, inches from his head. The wheel started turning as Kitt rolled back away from him. Michael slowly shook his head and picked himself up, not quite sure if he was going to be steady on his feet. He looked at the skid marks on the ground, realizing that Kitt had landed from his turbo boost maybe 10 or 15 feet from where he had been lying and skidded into position.

"Are you alright, Michael?" Kitt asked nervously, as he engaged his hydraulics and lowered his suspension, bringing the car back to its normal profile.

"Yeah." Michael blinked, still trying to make sense of what happened.

"I'm sorry about your jacket, but I couldn't raise my chassis any higher after a landing like that. And I had to do something to draw Ruger's fire. I hoped that he wouldn't be able to ignore a car flying in his direction."

Michael looked over his shoulder and realized that his jacket was torn all the way across his shoulders. He could feel the sting of scraped skin underneath it. "It's okay, buddy." He slowly sank down onto Kitt's hood, listening to the scream of the sirens as the cops came careening into the parking lot. He glanced up at a building across the street and spotted the snipers who must have taken out Ruger and his men. "A jacket's replaceable. Thanks for saving my hide."

"Of course, Michael. I'm just glad it worked. I wasn't completely sure that my turbo boosting would draw Ruger's fire."

"It sure did, buddy."

"I also wasn't sure if you would dive flat to the ground, but I was out of options."

Michael bowed his head, the full weight of just how bad his predicament had been starting to sink in. "You did great." He tried to build a wall against the emotions he knew would surface just as soon as the shock wore off. He smoothed the hood next to him and said quietly, "Thank you for saving my life, Kitt."

"You're welcome, Michael. I'm just glad you're okay."

The passenger door opened and Kelly sprang out of it, catching Michael in a rush of words he couldn't process and a hug that pressed his shirt uncomfortably against his scraped skin. One of the police officers was headed their direction, and Michael nodded to him to take Kelly over to the police cars.

Michael stood and slowly moved to the door that Kitt opened for him. He saw Devon pull up in one of the police cars, and knew they were going to want to talk to him. But right now he just wanted to sit in the safety of Kitt's cabin for a moment. He leaned back against the headrest, despite the stinging in his shoulder blades, and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kitt asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Yeah, buddy, I'll be fine," he mumbled. He knew he would be. He didn't always pay attention to how close they sometimes came to disaster, but every once and a while, it hit him like a load of bricks. He was just glad to have a partner who he could trust so completely that sometimes he didn't even have to think – he could just react and know that his partner would take care of him. It was overwhelming to be able to trust someone that deeply.

"Would you like to go back to the Foundation?" Kitt asked.

"No, that's okay." Right now Michael just wanted tell his partner how deeply grateful he was, but he didn't have the words – they were already choked off. He said the only thing he could, and just hoped that Kitt understood all that he meant.

"Thank you."

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- knightshade
October 10, 2004