Short Tag for 'Knight of a Thousand Devils'

by elfin

"Come on, Partner, talk to me.  You've been silent ever since Mexico and that's a fair way."  He gazed at the voice box expectantly but there was no response.  "What is it?  The terrain shake something loose?  You didn't like the company?  Water too cold?  Sand too… sandy?"

"Is everything a joke to you?"

Michael's eyes widened.  "Well it's nice to hear from you finally.  And no, everything is not a joke to me.  You're not a joke, Kitt.  So tell me what's wrong."

Another hesitation, and for a second he wondered if they were going to return to the stony silence of the last few hours. 

"You gave RC your comlink."

It wasn't one of the hundred possibilities for Kitt's mood that Michael had thought of.  "I gave RC my comlink….  So?"

"You don't understand, Michael.  That's my link to you.  There are places you go where I can't follow; the comlink means at least you can call me, at least I can track you, read your vitals through it when you're not within visual range.  Sometimes it's all I have."

Michael glanced down at the watch cum communication device back on his wrist.  He had felt strangely vulnerable without it, he just hadn't really given it much thought.  Had he ever taken it off before?  What was it Kitt had said right back at the start, about giving him a little consideration?

"I'm sorry, Kitt."  He meant it.  "I hadn't realised what it means to you.  I didn't think…."  Plastic strap, cheap-looking digital display… maybe he needed to get Bonnie to upgrade it, make it look the part, make it look a little more like the value it held.  "I make you a promise.  I won't do it again."

"Thank you, Michael."

"That's okay.  And listen, you don't have to pull the silent treatment.  I mean it, Kitt, you're not a joke to me."

There was a different silence this time, one that just made him smile.