I wrote this fic a long time ago. It was originally posted on a different blog as one-shot. I added bits and pieces to it so that it now consists of several chapters. Please review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: Glen A. Larson and Universal own the Knight Rider characters in this story.
Chapter 1
Stevie looked at the beige envelope addressed to her and Michael, their names written in a neat handwriting. It was a letter. Just a letter in their mailbox. Nothing extraordinary, if not unusual. It was the handwriting, however, which made Stevie stare at the letter for a while. Without having to look at the sender, she recognized the handwriting immediately. Only one person she knew had such a perfectly neat handwriting. There was no doubt that Devon Miles had sent this letter to her husband.
Making sure that she wouldn't bend it, she stuffed it into the pocket of her coat. Their mailbox was at the end of their road, a nice walk away from the house that she shared with Michael. After their marriage and his retirement from FLAG, they had realised his dream to lead a quiet life in a small house on a lake, where they had plenty of time to enjoy walks together and Michael could go fishing. Stevie loved their life. Every morning when she woke up with Michael lying next to her, she was thankful that he was alive and that they had gotten a second chance to be together. But whenever she found a letter in the mailbox with Devon's or Bonnie's name on it or when Michael received a phone call from either of them, she noticed that he seemed to be distant and even melancholic and she wondered whether he regretted having given up everything for her. Therefore, she dreaded these moments and wished she could make the letter in her pocket disappear. She knew hiding it wasn't an option. Michael despised dishonesty and wouldn't forgive her if he found out that she had kept it a secret. Never in her life would she lie to him, even if showing him the letter meant a brief pause in their happiness.
Michael was sitting on the porch of their house, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, and enjoying the quietness of cool morning. He loved that he had been able to fulfil his dream, that he was married to the woman he loved. The solitude of their home was what he needed after the hectic and draining years during his work for the police and for FLAG. His decision to retire had been well-thought and most days he didn't regret having chosen to leave. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was missing. There was no need to ponder about what this could be. It was the people from his old life - Devon, Bonnie, RC, and mostly KITT that he was missing and who he wished were still around him. They'd been his family when he started his new life as Michael Knight and leaving them had been one of the hardest things he ever had to do.
They had accepted his decision to leave. It had been hard for Devon who thought of Michael as the son he never had. It had been ever harder for Bonnie who had wanted to yell at Michael for abandoning them. She had to promise Devon not to talk Michael out of his decision and try to use KITT to convince him to stay. Michael was thankful to them for not standing in the way of his happiness. However, he often wondered what he would have done if they had tried to stop him from leaving.
It was different with KITT. Since he was a property of FLAG, he wasn't allowed to leave with Michael. Bonnie and Devon had spent hours explaining in vain to the board that KITT was programmed to work with Michael and that it would be best if he stayed with him. The board hadn't agreed with them. To Bonnie's utter dismay, they had even gone so far to suggest that she could reprogram KITT to work with another partner. Bonnie had immediately refused to do that and even threaten to quit if they considered asking her to tamper with KITT ever again. The board finally conceded but make it clear that KITT had to stay with FLAG.
KITT hated the thought that Michael was no longer his partner. He pretended to be fine every time Bonnie asked him but refused to even mention Michael's name or to talk to him whenever Bonnie called Michael.
KITT missed Michael and Michael missed KITT. Sadness clouded Michael's face when he thought of his partner. It made him feel sad that KITT was hurting and feeling abandoned and that he was the reason for this. Bonnie kept reassuring Michael that as long as KITT refused to talk to him and to accept his reasons for retiring there was nothing Michael could do. She told him to give KITT time. This was a straw Michael clang to, hoping that time would make KITT understand why Michael had to leave. However, he couldn't shake off feeling guilty and selfish for having left his family.