Title: Minor Damage

Author: knightshade

Rating: PG

Summary: Michael, Bonnie, and Kitt recover from a difficult case.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Knight Rider. See Universal.

Author's Notes: This takes place after Sky Knight. This was written for the Psychology challenge over at The Kittchen. Thank you to Tomy for the beta read.

Minor Damage

Michael was sitting in Kitt's cabin with his eyes closed. They were parked safely in the semi, on their way back to Los Angeles while Bonnie handled the repairs. She had finally stopped hovering and clucking over the relatively minor damage. But not before she had inspected every inch of Kitt, polished away the scorch marks, and run every diagnostic test twice. She had been under the car, under the hood, and under the dash. But now the frenetic activity had ended and she was sitting front of the semi's computer. Michael opened his eyes and studied her a minute. It still didn't look like she was doing anything other than staring at it.

"Michael I still don't understand why you didn't just fly home with Devon?" Kitt asked, for the second or third time.

"I told you, pal, I didn't feel like getting debriefed right now."

"You're going to have to fill him in on the details sooner or later."

"I know. I'm just choosing later. Besides, what's wrong with spending a little time with my partner?"

"Nothing, but sitting here while I recharge can't be very entertaining."

Michael smiled. "I'm just recharging too, pal."

The voice modulator was dark for a few minutes. Just when Michael was about to close his eyes again and rest his head back, it jumped to life.

"This mission was particularly draining," Kitt said quietly.

Michael nodded and glanced through the windshield at Bonnie. She was resting her chin on her hand, still staring at the monitor. "I think it always is when someone you care about is in danger, Kitt." For Michael it always cut a little bit deeper, made him want to push past where he felt he could reasonable go. "The stakes are higher."

"And in this case there were just so many obstacles."

Michael couldn't argue with that. Mines, mortars, and missiles, while not uncommon in their lives, each made for a bad day individually. Facing all of them at once had been mind blowing. And that was all just a warm up for the doomsday device. Deep Sleep had been a nightmare for all of them.

As he watched, Bonnie ran a hand through her hair and abruptly pushed her chair back from the computer. "I'm going to make some coffee. Do you want some?" she asked. There was a drawn look to her face and a tension in her voice that Michael didn't like.

"Sure," he answered as she stepped into the semi's kitchen area. He waited a beat before following her. Michael peered around the corner just in time to see her sigh, slump a bit against the counter, and cover her face with her hand.

"You okay?" he asked calmly. She started and as quickly as she had slumped, she managed to straighten herself up. She turned around with a face masked in carefully-crafted neutrality. "I'm fine, Michael, thanks."

He took a slow step into the kitchen. "You want any help?"

"Making coffee?" she asked, giving him an incredulous look. "No, I think I can handle that on my own." She looked a bit annoyed that he had followed her.

Michael opened the cupboard and handed her the filters anyway. She poured water into the carafe and studiously avoided looking at him.

"Because it's okay if you're not," he said gently.

"Not what?"

"Okay."

She slammed the lever on the sink to turn off the water. "Michael, I'm fine. Would you just stop –" She turned around sharply and the coffee carafe collided with the edge of the sink, shattering with a splash. Bonnie was left holding a plastic handle attached to a ring of jagged-edged glass. She blinked at it for a second and then all her bravado seemed to crumble. Michael took what was left of the pot from her and set it carefully in the sink. Then he gently wrapped his arms around her and coaxed her into a hug. "It's okay."

"I missed my sister's wedding," she said softly.

Part of him wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it but he knew exactly where it came from. It was easier to deal with the little things than the big ones sometimes. "She understands."

"It's not that. I just missed the chance to see my only sister get married."

Michael was pretty sure she was crying. "I know, but there'll be pictures and videos. You'll get to see it even though you weren't there. Besides, it was entirely out of your control."

She nodded against his chest but didn't say anything for while, still crying. Then she calmed down a little and got to what Michael knew was the heart of it. "He was really going to kill me. He had me up in front of the other hostages, a gun pointed at my back. He only got distracted when the alarms went off. If you and Kitt hadn't breached the security perimeter when you did, he would have pulled the trigger."

Michael had wondered just how close it had been. They knew she'd been chosen to be the first executed, but he had no idea how close Zurich had been to actually carrying out his threat.

"I don't think I've ever been that terrified before. Even when Simon Grant tried to strangle me last Halloween, I was scared, but I was still trying to fight him. There was something I could do. But there was nothing I could do against a gun. I was just up there waiting for him to shoot me."

Michael rested his chin against the top of her head. "About all you can do is keep your cool and look for an opening."

"My mind was racing a thousand different directions at once."

"When I was shot, I didn't really have much time to see it coming. I think it was easier that way than having to think about what was about to happen." He didn't really remember much about that night in the desert. It was mostly visceral images like Tanya's face and the muzzle flash.

"I can't say I appreciated the opportunity to wonder how gruesome my corpse was going to be."

Michael's instinct was to recoil at the harshness of her words, but he assumed she was saying them to just get them out in the open – away from her. It was just another way of dealing with it. He pulled her closer. "The important thing is that it didn't happen."

"I know," she said softly, lifting her head to look at him with teary eyes. "Thank you for saving my life."

"I'm just as glad we got there in time."

Bonnie pulled away and grabbed a tissue from the box on the counter. "Look at me. I'm a mess. I'm sorry."

He lifted her chin a little. "Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about. You've been through a lot the last two days." He paused a beat. "There's no shame in needing a good cry you know."

She let out a short puff of air that might have been a laugh. "I hate doing it though. I mean, look at me. I had a gun pointed at me, seconds away from being shot, and I was fine. It's only later that I fall apart."

"That's kind of how it works for some people you know." He knew. From far too much personal experience, he knew. He was used to being in life or death situations, but every so often he'd suddenly find his hands shaking hours after the fact. "That happens to me too sometimes. In the heat of the moment, it's like I'm in a kind of survival mode. I'm usually thinking about how to get out of the situation, or planning my next move. There's no time to think about what's actually happening. But as soon as things slow down, and I have time to actually think, that's when everything hits me." And it could hit hard.

She looked at him sympathetically. "Does that happen to you a lot?"

"No, not that often. There are just some cases or situations that get to me sometimes."

She nodded like she might have wanted to ask him more, but didn't feel comfortable doing it. "I guess it was a good that Nick was there. I was so busy trying to convince him that everything was going to be fine that I think I convinced myself in the process."

"I'm sure that helped." He smiled a little, thinking about the kid who'd been not so subtly hitting on her.

She sighed and rested her head against his chest.

Michael wrapped his arm around her waist again, but loosely, more companionably this time. "You did a good job in there, you know."

She sighed dismissively. "I didn't do anything. You and Kitt were the ones who got the key."

"Yes, but you were trying to hack into the system to shut it down. You kept your head and just kept moving forward. Not everyone can do that."

"Thanks."

She was smiling a bit again so he grabbed Devon's tea kettle off the small stove. "What do you say we have tea instead of coffee?"

She glanced down at the mess in the sink. "I think that's the only option."

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, giving her a squeeze.

"Yeah. I think so." She paused and then looked up at him suspiciously. "Is this why you wouldn't fly back with Devon on the jet?"

He gave her a coy smile. "Ahhhhhh, I plead the fifth?"

She sagged a little bit again. "Was it that obvious that I was going to melt down?"

"No. Not at all. I wasn't sure if you were really okay or not. But I figured if you weren't, you probably shouldn't be alone."

She smiled up at him, her eyes still a little red and bright. "Thank you, Michael," she said, her voice soft and sincere.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. You're always welcome."

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-knightshade
July 10, 2005