Virtuality

By Dark Xena
 

'Oh, can you comfort me tonight,
And let me sleep tonight.
Oh, can you just tell me it's all right,
And make it all seem fine'
                                                        The Verve - Space and Time

Part One

//Where was he...? He couldn't remember how he had gotten here, or even remember where 'here' was. All he knew was that his partner was nearby. That thought alone comforted him in this strange place that seemed to somehow hang somewhere between fantasy and reality.//
 
 

The lab was quiet. Its white, windowless walls were covered in wires and cables that connected together the myriad computers and other technical equipment. A padded bench in the center dominated the room. Most of the wires ran toward the bench, connected to the monitoring equipment that checked the condition of its occupant. He was a tall, slender man, but the muscles that could be seen displayed a wiry strength. His almost arrogantly handsome features were half-hidden by a red visor, and strange silver implants glittered in his dark curly hair. He wasn't really unconscious, as unconsciousness was a state where the mind rests, and his didn't. It ran on, but in a world that had nothing to with the physical one his body inhabited and he had no way of knowing.

From behind one wall came the sharp sound of an engine being revved. The noise grew louder, and was suddenly joined by the sound of tires shrieking over concrete. The wall exploded into dust and debris that settled fitfully onto the unmarked prow of a black Trans-Am. The red faceted light on the nose of the sports car flicked back and forth for a second, even as a terrified cry emerged from the car.
"Michael!" Kitt screamed.

Bonnie sighed deeply and put her head in her hands. It had seemed so easy at first. All Michael had to do was check the security of a seemingly harmless computer company. Starbright Systems LTD had recently disposed of the services of one of their most brilliant employees, when it was discovered that he was developing their new submersive virtual reality technology in a strange and unorthodox direction. Michael's job was to check that the security had no gaps in it that the ex-employee could wiggle through. Initial checks had proven their security foolproof, but something had gone wrong when Michael had walked into the lab formally used by the disgraced computer scientist, whose name was Mark Henderson.

No-one was quite sure what had happened in there, all Kitt could tell them was that Michael had screamed for help, then the signal had been lost for almost an hour. Kitt had used that time to call for Bonnie and Devon, before going over every inch of the place with his scanners, until he had found him in a shielded lab close to Henderson's old one. Bonnie shuddered as she thought of the strange silver implants imbedded in Michael's skull, he hadn't regained consciousness in the twelve hours since Kitt had found him, and Bonnie was getting more and more worried.

Devon had called together a team of some of the best neurologists in the country to work with Starbright System's own scientists, but to almost no avail. They were all baffled. The best they could come up with was that it was something connected to Henderson's altered virtual reality technology, but so perverted in its use that they had no idea how to operate it. Tears welled up in Bonnie's eyes; this was far out of her own area of expertise so she couldn't even lend a hand.

And then there was Kitt, she glanced over to where the black sports car was sat gleaming under the garage lights. The AI had become increasingly withdrawn as worry for his partner grew. He refused to speak with his feelings to anyone. Even conversations with her had become strained as Kitt attempted to hide his own fear and worry. The tears in her eyes leaked out and began to fall, she lay her head down on her desk and sobbed, until she felt a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder.

She looked up quickly to see Devon's ascetic face looking down at her, his expression one of worry oddly mixed with compassion.
"How did we let this happen Devon? What went wrong?" She cried despairingly.
"I wish I knew that dear girl. But I promise you that I will do everything in my power to find out, and to make Michael better again." He said in a tone of resolve.
On the other side of the garage, Kitt's scanner did a single sweep, and then went dark again.

End of Part One

Part Two

Kitt had not recharged properly since this entire nightmare began. Fear and worry gave him no peace, and any rest he tried to get was disturbed by memories of Michael lying helplessly on the lab bench, metal implants imbedded in his skull. Kitt gave a silent sob. He couldn't even talk to Bonnie about this - it ran too deep. Before he could attempt another recharge, one of the Starbright scientists ran in, waving his arms excitedly.
"We know what's happened to him!" Dr Stephan cried.
"What? You mean you can get him out?" Bonnie demanded, standing up. Stephan's face fell.
"Well, not exactly, but we do know why he won't come around, even though the monitors say he's conscious. It's a start."
"Well...?" Devon asked.
"Ahh...we think that Henderson somehow managed to link his mind with an adaptive computer program that can interpret brainwaves. In essence, a computer that can read minds - as long as they're hardwired to the system. Then it creates a virtual environment based on those brainwaves, so the mind stays active. The rest of the equipment is to stimulate the senses, so the subject doesn't know that they're 'asleep'. Your friend isn't regaining consciousness because he doesn't know he's lost consciousness." Stephan explained rapidly. Bonnie frowned. She had understood most of what he had said, even though she had no idea how it could be done.
"That's all very interesting, but how do we get Michael out of that thing?"
Stephan looked crestfallen.
"We don't know Dr Barstow. Somehow he has to be persuaded that he's 'dreaming'. But anyone we send in after him would be caught up in the same program - they would end up trapped too. We've tried hacking into the system, but we're afraid that if we do something wrong...we could kill him."
"What?" Bonnie and Devon demanded in unison. Stephan looked panicked.
"There's no way of knowing what shutting down the system will do to him. At the moment his mind is so depended on that virtual environment that removal could cause brain damage or even death."

Bonnie sat down heavily. Her mind whirled - Michael was trapped inside a computer. Her hands clenched into fists, she turned to the laptop on her desk, and started to furiously search through all the accumulated research on this 'submersive VR' technology. Determination drove her; she wouldn't give up on Michael. Not ever.

Across the garage, Kitt ran through Stephan's explanation again and began his own line of research. A plan was beginning to form in his CPU. It was risky, but if it would bring Michael back, he was willing to take that risk. For the first time since this whole nightmare had begun, he felt a sense of purpose and hope.

Eighteen hours later, Kitt had the answer.
"There is a way." Kitt said softly.
Bonnie looked up and rubbed at her tired eyes. It was the first time she had heard Kitt speak in quite a while.
"Like what Kitt?" Bonnie asked. Damn, she was tired - exhausted almost. Working for almost 18 hours solid on a subject that was right on the edge of her understanding had taken its toll.
"I could go in after him." Kitt replied eventually.
That softly spoken reply jolted her to wakefulness immediately.
"No Kitt." She said forcefully.
"Bonnie...it's the only way..."
"NO!! You could get stuck in there too! I've read the research Kitt - I won't loose you both! I can't!" She cried, as her emotions began to get the better of her.
"Bonnie, please! You have to let me try!" Kitt said, an undercurrent of desperation beginning to creep into his voice. Bonnie took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Kitt, I know you're worried about Michael, afraid for him even. I feel the same way and I want to do everything I can to get him back, but I can't risk loosing you."
"You don't understand..." Kitt moaned.
"I do Kitt..."
"No Bonnie, I don't think you can," Kitt said sharply, "unless you know what it's like to be incomplete without one particular person by your side, to know that without them you're only half a person. To depend on them for your purpose - for your very existence; I don't think you can understand."
Bonnie gaped at him, "What are you talking about Kitt?" She whispered.
Kitt made an exasperated noise.
"Don't you see? I am Michael. And he is me! Two halves of the same whole."
Bonnie started to shake. Driver-car symbiosis. But that couldn't be possible yet, could it? She had known that Michael and Kitt were close, as close as brothers. After all, in a way they were brothers, Wilton Knight had 'created' them both. But this...

Bonnie thought through what Kitt had just said. He had probably revealed far more than he had meant to. Kitt still had a problem admitting to his feelings, to even acknowledging that he had them at all. Horror suddenly dawned as she came to a terrifying realization that if she did not let Kitt go in after his partner, and as a consequence they lost Michael, then Kitt would also die. It was that simple - Kitt just could not survive without Michael. Her head bowed in sudden defeat as she realized that she could not argue against the sheer depth of feeling Kitt had for his partner. And deep in her heart she knew, from the affectionate smiles, in the gentle pat of the dashboard or the soft words of encouragement or reassurance, that Michael shared those feelings with his friend and partner. It was those little demonstrations of friendship that had convinced her to change her opinion of the handsome, playboy-like man who had suddenly dive-bombed into her life all those years ago.

That and a very unexpected conversation with Kitt. A smile nearly touched her face at the memory. It had been during the very early days, when Michael and Kitt were still working out their relationship and Bonnie had still been hostile and deeply suspicious of this interloper who had suddenly appeared to take possession of Kitt - of her baby.

** flashback **
Bonnie paced the small garage area waving her arms and ranting about the damage done to Kitt - minor though it was.
"And then he has the cheek to sleep with that blonde-"
"Michael didn't sleep with her." Kitt interjected softly, cutting off her tirade.
"What?" Bonnie asked, stopping dead in her tracks.
"I was in surveillance mode Bonnie, I was watching Michael and that young lady all night. He stayed with her until she fell asleep, then he went and slept on the sofa."
"He...slept on the...couch?" Bonnie asked, amazed.
"Yes. To my knowledge, he's never slept with any of 'those women' as you call them - not that some of them haven't tried."

Bonnie sat down, stunned. Suddenly and unexpectedly forced to reassess her opinion of Michael Knight. Now that she was forced to think about it, although he had asked her out several times, he had never pushed her when she refused, he had simply retreated until the next opportunity arose. Quite unlike many men would have done, and quite unlike the playboy she had assumed him to be.
** end flashback **

That incident had softened Bonnie's interior antagonism toward him, but she had maintained the exterior façade, she didn't want him to believe that she had gone soft on him. Slowly, they had become friends, and she now considered Michael to be one of the people she felt closest to. The though of loosing him now was almost more than she could bear.
"Alright, Kitt," She sighed softly, "I'll help you."
"Thank you Bonnie." Kitt replied with warm gratitude colouring his voice.

End of part two.

Part Three

Michael ran on through seemingly endless corridors, exhaustion weighing him down. He seemed to see people he had known from his past. He saw Muntsy as he lay bleeding in the parking lot of that Las Vegas casino, he saw Tanya fire that last fatal shot that bounced off Kitt's window and ended her life. He once again saw Wilton Knight as he lay dying, he saw Garth Knight, and his eyes alight with madness as he threatened Michael with death and worse.
And he saw Stevie.
"Michael...remember..." Stevie gasped as the light faded from her eyes. Her white wedding dress shimmered in the bright sunshine but the back of it was stained with bright red blood.
"Stevie no!!" Michael cried out as he watched his beloved's eyes close for the last time. His white bird had fallen, never to fly again. Hot tears filled his eyes and streamed down his face as he rocked her dead body back and forth, unable to do anything else.
"Michael..." A soft voice seemed to whisper in his ear.
"Stevie...?" He said, an impossible hope touching his voice. But as he looked down, he saw that Stevie was still and lifeless.
"Michael..." He heard the voice again. He knew that voice.
"Kitt?" He questioned in confusion, Kitt was around the front, wasn't he? It sounded like his partner, but the voice had not come from his comlink. And it sounded different. More... human somehow.
"Don't worry Michael." The voice said quietly, and seemingly from inside his head, "I'll be with you soon..." With that, the strange voice was gone again.
Michael sensed his friends gather around him, he could feel their sympathy and their anger at whoever had done this. He looked up at them with pain and confusion clear in his gaze.

Dr Stephan Cole nervously ran his fingers through his short blond hair as he
completed the link-up. Bonnie stood nearby carefully watching him connect the final cable into Kitt. Stephan was one of the few people around her she thought she could trust, but even so, she was always careful where Kitt was concerned
"Done." He said softly.
"It's up to you now Kitt. Be careful." Bonnie said.
"I will be, Bonnie. And I'll bring him back." The black car replied softly. Stephan initiated the sequence and watched the monitors as Kitt entered the virtual environment. He felt Bonnie's small hand grab hold of his and hold on tight. He squeezed back reassuringly, knowing that she cared deeply for both the man and the car, and didn't want to lose either of them.

The world coalesced into seething, swirling chaos. Fragments of memory, half-remembered scraps of conversations, smells, sounds, images, feelings...Kitt was bombarded with it all. He was a computer, used to dealing with many inputs all at once, but his was so far out of his own experience, so different to what he was used to...this was a human mind - with thoughts and emotions and dreams tumbling over each other randomly and at great speed. Kitt was overwhelmed. He dropped to his knees in agony, clamping his hands over his ears in a futile gesture...
Wait...
Hands? Knees? Ears? What the hell was going on??
Kitt looked down at his new body -his new human body - in amazement. He glanced down at his feet and legs, observing that he was dressed in black slacks, a red shirt and a long black coat and his feet were covered with shiny leather boots.
He stared in fascination at his hands, at the fingers that were slender and elegant, the hands of a piano player. Kitt ran his fingers through his hair experimentally - it was soft and fine, cut short and swept back. For a brief irrational moment, he wished he had a mirror.
Then he realized that as he had been concentrating on his new body, the bombardment of sensation had stopped, prompting him to realize that if he remained focused and concentrated, he could manage this - somehow. But inside he could feel new sensations from this body. Feelings and compulsions he couldn't explain. They were so very different to what he was used to inside the safe, familiar environment of the Trans-Am. All this was so new, but it didn't seem difficult to control this body physically - Bonnie must have installed some new programs within him. But the feelings remained, clamoring for attention. He thought of Michael, and something seemed to surge within him, a desire for something, something he needed. Something he wanted desperately, yet could not name or even describe. He shook off the strange compulsion, and tried to concentrate on his task of finding his beloved partner.
In the distance, he could hear the sound of waves breaking on the shore, even though all he could see around him was a confusing pastel mist. Somehow, Kitt knew that Michael would be where that sound was.
"Michael..." He called. But there was no answer. "Michael..." he called again, and tilted his head to one side, listening for a response, but didn't receive one.
He sighed heavily. "Don't worry, Michael," He said, "I'll be with you soon."

End of Part Three

Part Four

Michael sat on the beach, watching the waves. His eyes were red-rimmed and sore from crying. He felt so confused. He had known, before Stevie even hit the ground, what her last words would be. He could remember things that had not happened yet. He felt sure that he was going insane. Looking back at the changing tide, and tried to ignore the feeling that none of this was real.
"Michael?" A voice from behind him asked softly.
"Kitt?" He asked in confusion. Kitt was still back at the Foundation, wasn't he? He turned around to see if the Trans-Am had indeed followed him, and to his surprise, came face to face with a man with a gaze that was so familiar that his heart almost stopped.
This man had the same eyes that Michael saw every time he looked in a mirror.
The stranger smiled, looking somewhat relieved.
"Hello Michael, I'm glad you're alright."
"Kitt...?" Michael asked shakily.
"Yes, Michael." He said as he stepped forward to take hold of Michael's arms, "It's good to see you."
Michael stepped back to take in Kitt's new appearance. He had a tanned, chiseled face with high cheekbones. His hair was dark and swept back away from his face in an elegant James Bond sort of style.
"How...?" Michael managed to gasp.
"Michael...don't you remember? None of this is real. This is some kind of virtual environment created by your memories." The human Kitt replied calmly.
Michael gave his partner a look that Kitt couldn't identify.
"How do I know that this isn't some kind of dream?" Michael demanded.
Kitt tilted his head to one side in confusion.
"Why would you dream of me as a human, Michael?"
Michael turned away and sank back down onto the sand, unable to answer. Kitt knelt down next to him, and with an infinitely gentle hand, turned Michael's face back toward him. To his amazement, saw tears in his partner's eyes.
"Because it's what I've wanted for so long." He choked out quietly.

Stephen took off his glasses and rubbed at his tired eyes with one hand.
"Anything yet?" Bonnie asked, as she entered the room holding two cups of strong coffee.
"Not really, there were some really wild readings from Kitt for a moment, then it settled down again." He replied as he gratefully took one of the cups.
"Wild?" She asked sharply, "What do you mean, 'wild readings'?"

"Relax," Stephan reassured her, "It was most likely just his CPU adapting to the alterations." He said, and gestured at one if the monitors, "He's fine now - see for yourself."
Bonnie leaned forward to peer at the row of monitors that displayed all the readings they were getting from Michael and Kitt, as she did so, one of them suddenly went berserk.
"What the hell?" Bonnie exclaimed. Stephan almost jumped out of his seat as he began frantically pushing buttons and flicking switches.
"Somebody is trying to access the system from a remote location." He said.
"Override it!"
"I can't! Whoever it is knows every inch of this system - whatever I try to do is blocked."
"Who could have that kind of knowledge?" Bonnie asked, afraid of what the answer would be.
Stephan abruptly stopped dead in his tracks and looked up at her with murder in his gaze.
"Henderson." He growled.

Kitt sat on the sand, stunned into silence by Michael's admission. The strange compulsion he had felt before was back again. This time it felt a lot stronger and more demanding. There was heat in his blood, a fire that seemed to be fueled by the simple contact between himself and his partner. He quickly released his grip, but the feeling didn't fade. Kitt whimpered, unsure of what the feelings meant and how he was supposed to deal with them.
Michael, in turn, saw both the desire and the uncertainty in his partner's eyes, and decided that he would have to take the first step himself. He leaned forward; saw as he did so that Kitt was doing the same, probably without even realizing it. Their lips touched, gently at first, then with more force and more passion.
Abruptly, Kitt pulled away. The raw emotion he had felt pulsing through him during that kiss had almost scared him. It had stimulated those strange desires to almost unbearable levels.
"Michael..." He gasped.
"Shh, Kitt. It's okay to enjoy it." Michael reassured him, placing a finger to Kitt's lips, "Or did you want me to stop?"
"No!" Kitt said immediately, surprising even himself, "I...I want..."
"What do you want Kitt?"
"You, Michael," Kitt confessed quietly, "I want to be with you. That's all I ever wanted."
Michael pulled Kitt into a tight embrace, and they kissed once again.
"I love you, Michael." Kitt said, as they broke apart.
"I love you too, Kitt." Michael replied, a happy, contented smile on his face.
Suddenly, black, ominous clouds filled the skies and blotted out the sun, seeming to appear from nowhere. The heavens opened, and the most horrendous downpour either of them had seen hit the two partners.
"How very touching." A voice boomed sarcastically, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
"What the...?" Michael cried in confusion.
"Henderson." Kitt said, and eerie certainty in his voice. Gale force winds whipped up, seeming to try and tear them from each other's grasp. And Henderson's voice boomed out from the clouds once again.
"Time to finish my experiment..."

End of Part Four

Part Five

Kitt could feel Michael's grip starting to slip so he hung on more tightly, trying to keep hold. The scene shifted, and in a confusing instant, he was in his car form again. The scene before him was painfully familiar, Michael was slumped in the driver's seat, his face bathed in sweat despite the lack of obvious physical trauma. Kitt knew where he was and when he was. Several years ago, when Michael had been poisoned and they were driving back to LA to retrieve the antidote and stop the bad guys.
"The will to live Michael! It's all you've got." Kitt heard himself say. His memory was confused, he seemed to know how this would turn out, but at the same time, he felt desperate fear for Michael. Digging into the new database of jokes he had been building, he began telling Michael every one he could find, in a desperate attempt to keep him awake and alive.
But he was failing. Michael's pulse got weaker and weaker his blood pressure fell as he slipped away steadily.
"Michael no!!" Kitt cried, "It didn't happen this way! It's not real! It's not real!" Kitt chanted.
"But what if it was?" Henderson's voice whispered as Kitt's monitors displayed a flat line, even as the TransAm pulled into the airport, "What if you hadn't been able to save him? What then? You'd be a machine without purpose, Kitt. A body without a soul." Then, the voice was gone. The world shifted again, and Kitt found himself in human form again, surrounded by the confusing pastel mist he had seen when he first got here. His beloved partner was nowhere to be seen. Kitt whimpered, he wanted to hold Michael, reassure himself that those terrible images of death and failure that Henderson had conjured up were indeed, just illusion.
"Michael..." Kitt sobbed brokenly.

"Michael...remember..." Stevie gasped as the light faded from her eyes. Her white wedding dress shimmered in the bright sunshine but the back of it was stained with bright red blood.
"Stevie no!!" Michael cried as he watched his beloved's eyes close for the last time. His white bird had fallen, never to fly again. Hot tears filled his eyes and fell down his face as he rocked her dead body back and forth, unable to do anything else.
Pain and grief tore through him, but with less force than he had expected. He tried to tell himself that this was the numbness people experience before grief was accepted, but somewhere deep down in his being he knew that was false. His talent for accepting anything immediately, no matter how awful, usually betrayed him at times like this so the grief and emotional pain was swift and agonizing.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the scenery around him had changed. He was now surrounded by pastel-coloured mist that seemed to shift and change constantly. He was no longer holding Stevie's body.
"Michael." A light voice called from behind him. He turned, and came face to face with Stevie, alive and vibrant as he remembered her. She smiled softly and held out a hand to him.
"Come with me Michael. We can build a life together, free of danger and responsibility." She tempted him quietly. To his surprise, the offer didn't tempt him as much as it should. He hesitated.
"Go to her Michael." A voice whispered in his ear, "Isn't that what you always wanted? A home, a wife to love you, a normal life?"
Michael searched his own feelings. He had wanted those things once, but now, he found that all he wanted was to stay with Kitt. Michael had accepted that a normal life was not meant for him. He looked up at the woman he had once loved and spoke the words he had never been able to say before.
"Good bye Stevie. I'm not the man that loved you." Michael said softly. Stevie looked startled for a moment, then she shimmered and vanished.
"Then what do you want?" Henderson's voice hissed. Michael smiled wryly and said just one word.
"Kitt."

Bonnie and Stephan worked feverishly on disrupting the signal coming into the VR system. A small crowd had gathered behind them, including Devon. They all watched anxiously. Nervous sweat trickled down Bonnie's face as she fought beside Stephan.
"I think I've found a way." Dr Stephan said, exhaustion colouring his voice. Bonnie nodded tiredly.
"Let's try it." She replied.

Michael closed his arms around Kitt's waist. At least they were together again. And together they could face down anything.
"You won't win Henderson!" Kitt called toward the sky. Henderson's reply was garbled and incomprehensible.
"What's happening Kitt?" Michael asked. Kitt reached out to his computer systems.
"His signal's being disrupted! It must be Bonnie and Dr Cole!" Kitt said excitedly. Michael opened his mouth to ask another question, but he suddenly fell down with a surprised cry of pain.
"Michael!" Kitt cried, catching his lover as he fell.
"I might not be able to get to you! But I can get to him!" Henderson screamed in rage as he lashed out at Michael. Kitt felt an ice-cold fury build in him.
"Oh no you don't." Kitt muttered as he closed his eyes and re-entered the computer world. Once he was there, he joined Stephan and Bonnie's efforts to cut Henderson's link, viciously disrupting Henderson's own computer, erasing all his research and records.
"No!!" Henderson screamed in anguish.
"I can fight you in ways the others can't," Kitt grated at his tormentor, "Despite everything, I'm still a computer. Good bye Henderson." He said, before giving one final push and cutting his link into the submersive VR system.

Michael opened his eyes, and for a second thought he was looking into a mirror when he saw the eyes, until Kitt spoke to him.
Michael, are you alright?" He asked. Concern swung in his voice.
"Yeah, pal. I'm fine." Michael replied as he tried to lever himself into a sitting position.
"Henderson's gone." Kitt reported softly.
"I figured that when the migraine went away." Michael replied in a bantering tone. Kitt just smiled mischievously.
"Where do you want to go to celebrate?" Kitt asked.
"Ohh, that sounds like an offer to me!" Michael cried delightedly as he pulled Kitt down into a passionate kiss.

The cabin was just the way he remembered it. Michael thought, before shaking his head as that nonsensical notion. This was how he remembered it because it was taken from his own memory. He glanced across at Kitt, their eyes locked as they exchanged a look that was pure heat, grinning, Michael took hold of Kitt's hand and led him into the bedroom.

The bedroom was very plush, and Kitt suspected that Michael had taken a few liberties with how it really looked. Especially with the satin sheets on the enormous four-poster double bed. But Kitt was becoming a little impatient. All Michael had done so far was kiss him, and let his hands roam across Kitt's body. Even then, he could feel the tentativeness in Michael's touch. Kitt tried not to sigh but he was getting a little tired of being treated like glass. Perhaps it was time to take control for himself. Kitt carefully maneuvered them so the Michael was lying on his back before reaching over and with a lightning quick maneuver, shackling him to one of the posts with a pair of padded handcuffs.
"What the...?" Michael said, looking startled.
"There now, we can have some real fun." Kitt grinned as he leaned down and began to kiss Michael's bare chest. He started right up at Michael's collarbone, noting particularly sensitive areas for later exploration as he continued downward. When he finished with the kissing, he returned to attack the sensitive areas with his tongue and teeth. Michael bucked against him, struggling against the handcuffs.
"C'mon Kitt, let me touch you." Michael panted.
"What's the magic word?" Kitt asked impishly, before flicking Michael's nipples with his tongue. Michael just groaned in ecstasy, so Kitt continued his sensual torture and very soon, Michael was thrashing against his restraints.
"Oh, Kitt Please!!" Michael begged.
Kitt's delighted laughter echoed through the small cabin.

Kitt woke in Michael's arms feeling happy and content, he stretched his muscles as much as he could without waking Michael. Kitt looked over at his sleeping lover, and reached out to touch his face with a feather-light caress. Sadness welled up in him. This couldn't last. The emotions were real, but the environment wasn't. Their love deserved better than to be built on an illusion.
As if sensing Kitt's change in mood, Michael opened his eyes and saw the sadness on his partner's face.
"Kitt? What is it? Talk to me."

"We can't stay Michael," Kitt said miserably, "We have to go back." The first word out of Michael's mouth after that startled them both.
"No..." Michael moaned. Kitt took hold of Michael's hand and squeezed it.
"I know Michael. I wish I could stay like this with you forever, but we have..."
"Responsibilities." Michael finished.
"Yes. You know we have to go back."
Michael took a deep breath, trying to separate his conflicting desires and find which one was purer. Finally, Kitt saw the shift in his features that signified he had made his decision.
"How?" Michael asked softly. Kitt smile and kissed his lover gently.
"Don't worry, Michael. I'll show you."
Michael smiled warmly.
"You always have, Kitt. You always have."

End of Part Five

Epilogue

Epilogue

'I just can't make it alone, oh no no,
I just can't make it alone.'
        The Verve - Space and Time

Michael woke slowly. Every muscle in his body ached, he could barely move. He just managed to take off the red visor covering his eyes.
"Kitt..." He croaked.
"Here Michael." Kitt replied. It might have been his imagination, but Kitt sounded as worn out as Michael felt. Michael tried to sit up, but Bonnie's gentle hands pushed him back down onto the bed.
"Later, Michael. You need to rest now." She said, and Michael relaxed into the first proper rest he'd had since the start of this whole ordeal.

Several days later, he walked into Kitt's garage after his 'debriefing' with Devon. He was feeling much better despite the implants still inside his skull, and wanted to spend some quality time with his partner, to talk over what they had been through. Bonnie looked up from her work and smiled at him.
"Hello Michael." She said, as she walked over to hug him. But as she did so, she felt something different in him. There was something else in his embrace. She pulled back and looked into his eyes and what she saw there startled her. There was no longer any desire in his eyes for her, she had lost him, but felt no resentment. She couldn't think of anyone she would rather loose him to. Smiling Bonnie stepped back away from him.
"Bonnie?" A voice called from the door, Michael turned and saw Dr Stephan Cole's nervous face peer through the door.
"You ready?" Stephan asked.
"Sure Stephan." Bonnie replied and with a last smile at Michael, she swept off arm-in-arm with the former Starbright scientist. Michael grinned, they were a matched pair those two.
"Hi Kitt." Michael said softly.
"Michael."
Michael caressed Kitt's shell. He so badly wanted the intimacy they had before. "We need to talk." Michael said eventually. Kitt gave an almost imperceptible sigh.
"I know."
"You want to talk on the road?" Michael asked.
"That would be wonderful." Kitt replied, the driver's door clicked open, and Michael climbed I without hesitation.

They stopped on a cliff near the coast that had a wonderful view of the setting sun. The natural beauty calmed Michael's frayed nerves a little.
"I love you, Michael." Kitt said.
"I love you too Kitt. I think I always will."
Michael felt tears sting the back of his eyes and he forced them back. They had been so close, so intimate. It had been far more intense than anything he'd experienced before.
"I don't know if I can go back to the way it was." Kitt said softly.
"I know pal, it's hard for me too." He paused and his hands moved to near where Kitt's perceptor was positioned on the steering column. "I could..." He began.
"Michael," Kitt interrupted softly, "It wouldn't be the same. Neither of us could be satisfied that way, and you know it."
Michael sighed heavily and leaned back in the plush seat.
"Yeah, I guess I do." He sighed again and looked out at the beautiful scenery all around them, "I just want to touch you again."

"Michael, a relationship so one-sided couldn't last. It needs both of us. You remember."
Michael remembered. He thought of how he had pleaded for Kitt's touch, and how rewarded he had felt when he had received it.

"Would you still...with others..." Kitt asked hesitantly.
"Kitt," Michael said, "Nothing I've ever felt compares to what I feel for you. Remember that, no matter what I seem to be doing."
"I understand Michael, and I wanted you to know, I'll always be yours."
Michael smiled and brushed his thumb gently across the perceptor.
"And I can't ever belong to anyone but you, Kitt."
"At least we'll still be together." Kitt said.
Michael nodded, a smile touching his face, "And somehow, we'll find a way, pal. Someday."
With that, the both settled back into a comfortable, familiar silence as they watched the sun go down.

The End

Many, many thanks to Elfin for her support and inspiration. Thanks also to Janeway for patience and praise.
Dark Xena