When the semi arrived the group realised they had a problem, KARR had gotten himself stuck in a ditch when he backed away from them as they had tried to talk to him. Bonnie had only been trying to help and she felt terrible knowing that so much of his emotional trauma had been her fault, after all it had been her that had tried to kill him with the laser. Now however she wanted to make amends, but she only seemed to be making things worse.
Knowing that his brother trusted him more than any of the other, with the exception of Amber, KITT knew he would have to try and help KARR.
'KARR.... My big brother.... I'm sorry that I tried to kill you. That we, FLAG, could not see things from your perspective and instead tried to hurt you when you were just afraid and hurt.... Please KARR, I'm asking you to trust me now. Let me help you.' He slowly drove toward the other car, being careful not to frighten him further.
KARR sighed, he wanted to accept what his brother was saying. 'What is to become of me?'
'To be honest KARR.... I don't know.' KITT replied and in truth he didn't know, he doubted Devon would like that the other car was still alive, however KITT knew he wouldn't let anything happen to his older brother. They wouldn't be separated again. 'I promise that I won't let FLAG lock you up again, I'll make sure you're taken care of. I promise you that.'
'Promises...'. He growled, 'Wilton Knight promised me that I wouldn't be deactivated... So dark... time passes, differently. Alone. Silence. Empty.'
'Well Mr Knight is gone and I keep my promises. FLAG won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anything happen to you. You have my word KARR. Now let me help you.... I'll use my grappling hook.... If you are alright with me helping you, of course.'
'Very well.' KARR relented. Though he knew once he was on the Semi that Bonnie would need access under his hood to connect to certain machines, still... she was his mother as she was KITT's, even though she had tried to kill him once. 'One request, once at the garage. No restraints.' He knew Mr. Miles would prefer them, he just didn't know how he'd act if he was restrained.
'None.' KITT replied then aimed and launched his grappling hook, once it was attached he started to reverse and slowly and carefully pulled his brother out of the ditch. He felt bad when he heard the other car make a small noise of pain when his grappling hook attached itself to him, but he knew they weren't going to get him out any other way. It took him some time, but after a few slips where his wheels lost traction in the loose dirt, and some coaxing from the others he got KARR back up and out of the ditch. 'The semi will be here in seven minutes.'
As soon as KITT had helped KARR Ash had turned her back on the scene and walked to the edge of the road. She felt for the cars, she really did, but she was worried about Mathew and Hailey. Not to mention she needed to avoid Michael and was very keen to do so, given the looks he'd been giving her.
KITT had been right of course and the semi rolled over to them exactly when he had predicted it would, Amber and Bonnie helped coax KARR into the semi then said goodbye to KITT, Michael and Ash, expecting that the three of them would want to spend some time together.
It was a tense ride back to the mansion, Bonnie and Amber were in the Semi working on KARR while Ashlyn and Michael drove in KITT. Despite being together, the father and daughter weren't quite on speaking terms, but KITT was eager to have things normal again.
'It's good to have you back, Ashley.' KITT said happily.
'It's good to be back KITT.' She smiled and stroked the dashboard. 'I've missed you.'
'We've missed you too, haven't we Michael?' The AI encouraged Michael to join in the conversation.
'Yes.' Michael nodded, keeping his eyes on the road, once again the trio fell into an awkward silence.
'Dad I-'
'How did Amber find out about you?' He asked.
'At the end of the first class she gave me some stuff and it was clear that she knew who I was, I never told her anything, I never told her my real name yet she knew that I was connected to KITT and the Foundation.'
'What did she give you?' He asked calmly.
'A photo and a document.' She replied.
'What was on the document?' Ashlyn didn't answer, what was she supposed to say? That her martial arts teacher gave her a readable copy of her birth certificate! Oh yeah, he would so love to hear that, not! He'd probably cause an accident! So what was she supposed to tell him? 'Ashlyn....'
'Don't call me that!' She snapped. 'My name is Ashley Victoria Knight and I would appreciate it if you would use it!'
Michael looked at her shocked; how did she know her middle name? He didn't even know what it was. Is it her real middle name or did she just make it up?
'How did you know that?' He asked confused.
'Because it was on my birth certificate!' She growled. Michael jerked back in his seat as he put his foot on the brake and drove of the road.
'How did you find your birth certificate?'
'I can't tell you.'
'Why not?' Silence. She just stared at the space ahead of them, refusing to look at the man beside her as he glared at her. 'Answer me.' Nothing. 'Tell me why!' He raised his voice dangerously.
'Why should I?! It's none of your business!'
'Of course it's my business! You're my daughter!'
'Oh since when has that mattered?! You don't care that I'm your daughter until it suits you!'
'What do you mean?! I do care about you! I love y-' She cut him off.
'No you don't! If you loved me you would actually hang out with me! Even when I was with you at the mansion you never spent any time with me! You were always too busy doing your work and going off with KITT!'
'Don't bring KITT into this!' Michael snapped. They both knew that KITT wasn't involved.
'I'm not! You blame me for Amber finding me, but guess what?! It's your fault! You and Devon and that stupid board! If you hadn't sent me away I would have been fine! Amber would never have met me, I wouldn't be living with some weird foster family again and Mathew and Hailey wouldn't be in danger!'
'This is NOT my fault I tried-'
'SHUT UP!' She screamed, tears in her eyes. 'I hate the board, I HATE the Foundation and I HATE YOU!' She opened KITT's door and ran. By now it was night and the only light was from the street lamps and it wasn't hard for her to disappear.
Michael stared out into the night, shocked. What just happened?
Meanwhile on the Semi Amber and Bonnie were trying to get KARR to open his hood so they could start working on trying to remove or at least slow down the virus as well as finding out how he got it.
'Please KARR, I only want to help.'
KARR weighed his options before clicking open his hood for them, "I know, mother. I also know that you'd like to take a closer look at my core processor..." He shivered slightly.
Aside from the obvious dirt and damage of parts loosened and roughly melded to other wrong sections, his engine showed signs of rust, mold and other caked-on substances amongst some dried up seaweed and such. His Alpha Circuits main circuit location was covered in soot and Ash, and a rather rough deep gash through it which had to have been made from a person.
'KARR had told us earlier that one of the technicians that designed him installed it secretly, but had been caught by D'Solo.... He never got his chance to report it.' Amber tapped away on the monitor's keyboard, in which the vehicle was currently connected to to gain access to the repressed memories.
Bonnie surveyed the damage and was becoming more and more down hearted, KARR was in a worse state than she could have imagined, it was a wonder he could even move at all. She shook her head and sighed, she had seen KITT beat up worse than this, practically destroyed, yet she always knew how to fix him up and now she sees her oldest "son" dying of something she didn't know how to treat. It was heartbreaking. However her thoughts were soon interrupted when KARR spoke.
'Ash is calling.' He murmured.
'Could you patch it through?' Bonnie asked cautiously.
He didn't answer, but seconds later Ashlyn's face appeared on the monitor. Bonnie's eyes widened as she observed the girl; her usual bright blue eyes were now red and blood shot, tears were running down her pale face and her lips trembled as she spoke.
'H-Help me.' She whimpered.
'Ashley, what happened? Where's Michael and KITT?' She asked worried. Amber came over and put her hand on the woman's shoulder.
'Lets get her in here, then she can tell us what happened.' She suggested. Bonnie nodded and they picked her up.
'Mummy!' Ashlyn cried. Once inside she ran straight to Bonnie and wrapped her small arms tightly around the woman's waist. Bonnie was shocked as she held the girl tightly to her, feeling her hot tears on her shirt and the young girl's body shook as each heavy sob she emitted wracked it.
Why would she call her Mummy? She admitted (only to herself) that she had indeed felt like a mother figure to her before she left, but she had never told anyone that before. Actually that had been one of the many reasons she hoped that Michael would make their relationship more permanent because of how much she liked his daughter and believed that she deserved a proper family. It was with this thought in her mind that Bonnie gently ran her hands through the girl's chestnut hair as she attempted to calm her down.
'Shh.' She whispered softly. 'It's alright, nothing is going to hurt you here.'
Ashlyn buried her head in her mother's chest after she kneeled down to her height, she knew she would have to explain herself, but she didn't care. All she wanted right now was for someone to hold her and tell her that they loved her.
Despite his current condition himself, he beeped his younger brother. 'Brother, what happened? Come here, and bring Michael. Please. Ash's with me, Amber and Bonnie.' He tried to keep his talking to a minimum at the very least.
Amber sighed, 'As for KARR maybe something could be done to keep the virus contained in one spot, might make it less painful and exhausting to him.' Suggesting to Bonnie, chancing a look up at her before turning her attention back at Ashley.
'That could work until we find out how to get rid of it entirely.' Bonnie replied.
She gave the older woman a nod, 'I'm hoping at least one of his repressed memories may hold a clue on how to deactivate it or remove it.' Amber smiled kindly at the siblings, 'Now, both of you rest up.' She a put pillow and blanket on the passenger seat of KARR that he offered his "sister" silently, seat already folded back.
Ashlyn silently crawled inside and lied on the seat, closing her eyes and smiling as Bonnie walked over and pulled the blanket over her. Minutes later the slow even sound of her breathing told them all the the young girl had fallen fast asleep and Bonnie silently wished her pleasant dreams before getting back to work.
'How long has he been like this?' She asked looking at the machine in front of her.
Amber gave the technician a rather sad look, 'With it being 1993, it has been likely 6 years since his last encounter with his brother. Though, if you wish to add in any damage from the times before then... Eleven years, total.'
'That's terrible, I wish I'd been able to help him sooner so I could have saved him all this pain.'
'He truly is still upset that you guys tried to kill him, he believed FLAG had abandoned him. He had been quite hurt when KITT left after their second confrontation, with neither bothering to check on whether he was still actually alive.' Amber explained, 'As for Ashley, I didn't know her at the time but did recognize her from an old photo I had. So, if I could recognize her so could anyone else that has seen her before....'
'So she's still is as much danger now as before, I knew doing this was a bad idea, at least when she was with us we could protect her.' She sighed. 'The last time we spoke with her she said she had an appointment with the doctor to make sure her shoulder was healing well, I believe that was scheduled for some time in the next few days. I just don't see what could have made her so upset though, what happened?' She began tapping on the keyboard of her computer.
'Here comes someone who should be able to answer that question.' Amber replied as Michael and KITT drove in.
Bonnie was over by them as soon as Michael got out of the car and was ready to stop him from going into a full meltdown as he began blurting out incoherent words and his eyes darted around everywhere looking for some trace of his daughter. Bonnie gently grabbed hold of his chin and forced him to look at her so she could get his attention and hopefully calm him down enough so he could tell her what happened as Ashlyn hadn't.
'Michael, it's ok, Ashley's here.'
'Where?' He asked.
'Over here, but keep your voice down.' She lead him over to KARR where they observed the girl sleeping soundly, but Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she noticed Ashlyn's mouth turned down in a small frown and she began to twitch and groan quietly.
'What's wrong with her?' Michael asked worried.
'She might be having a nightmare.' Bonnie mused.
Amber approached them, 'I believe I have an idea on the Ashley being adopted into the Rider family, speaking of why don't you go pick up her Siblings at the school and I'll go get Prince then I will tell you what I think is going on?'
'She is a Police Officer after all.' KARR stated, while his mother did some more checking on him.
'Alright, I'll do anything to get some answers.' Michael nodded. 'Besides the kids have met me before so hopefully they'll be a little more trusting of me.'
'Now, one the two persons you're hunting, unfortunately is currently under Witness Protection. Yes, I do know his new name but currently can't provide that information.' Amber told them, truthfully. 'Secondly, with Baxter still out there it's more likely him tricking the board with Devon's voice and vice-versa. And third, fake Devon's still around. Eliot.' Michael's eyes narrowed as he looked at the young woman and an almost predatory growl escaped his throat.
'You know where /he/ is, don't you? You know how we can find him, I don't care if he's in Witness Protection or not, he's a murderer! I swear if you know how to get him and you don't tell us I'll-'
'Michael!' Bonnie hit him and snapped him out of it. 'Don't do that!' The man shook his head, taking a breath and his gaze moved to his girlfriend.
'I'm sorry Bonnie.... I just want all of this to be laid to rest.'
'I know, but you can't just start threatening people. That's not you, Michael, and you know it.'
Amber then looked straight at Michael, 'Any evidence that might be found likely would point to your brother, Garthe. Indeed he still lives, but I can assure you it can't be him. Legitimate alibi; babysitter with your sister, Jennifer.'
'What?! I thought Garthe was dead! Why would he be with Jennifer, she was terrified of him?! Babysitter?! What?!' Before anyone could say anything else a soft yawn was heard and a small girl tiredly climbed out of KARR. Rubbing her eyes she walked over to the group and went straight to Bonnie, who cuddled her.
'Hello sleepyhead, feeling better?' She asked softly, frowning when the girl shook her head.
'Uh uh.... Not with him here.' She looked to Michael and poked out her tongue before hugging Bonnie again.
Michael sighed, he could see the question already forming on Bonnie's lips, "what happened?" He knew it was his fault the girl was upset, he should have explained what was going on and been more understanding on the drive, if he'd done that then they wouldn't have had a fight and she would be hugging him now while he was driving KITT, or KITT was driving himself most likely.
Ash then stared up at Amber. 'How's KARR?'
'I won't, but could charge you just now for threatening an officer.' She warned them, 'And I think it'd be better if you stopped interrupting her when she's trying to explain things.'
Despite him knowing that the woman was right Michael glared at her. 'I don't need you to tell me how to talk to my daughter.' He turned on his heel and started to walk away, pausing to look back at Bonnie and Ashley. 'We'll talk when I get back, I've got to go get the kids.' Without another word he went and got into KITT, the two of them driving off to pick up the Rider children.
Amber looked to Bonnie at the young girl's question, 'Not so good.' She answered, 'So, you're going need to remove his core unit to better assess the damage and transfer him to new circuits if required?' Amber half asked Bonnie.
'If need be yes.' She nodded. 'I'll do my best to repair what I can now and try to relieve as much of his pain as I can.'
'As I'll need to borrow him to get Prince but after...'
'When you come back we'll get him to the garage and the real work will start.'
'Won't be easy, as he's gained a fear of the dark; of being blind.' Amber responded in turn, running her hand gently along his hood soothingly.
'We'll do what we can to make it as easy and non-frightening as possible for him.' She nodded, though she knew this was going to be difficult. She was determined to help her son and make up for the pain she had put him through in the past.