[Day... she's stopped counting]

[hattie_notqueen]

The chair wasn't any more comfortable the second time she attempted to sleep in it.

She spent most of the night tossing and turning and, to be honest, fretting. She was worried about Kitt: how he was acting, how he'd been when they'd found him, how he was so intent on being something he wasn't.

She worried that it was her fault. She worried that it was over, all of it.

By the time the light started peeking over the tops of the heavy curtains, by the time she heard the staff outside beginning their morning routine, she couldn't remember if she'd ever been so tired before. Not even being held hostage, or having to stay awake when sleeping would have KILLED them, had ever made her feel so tired.

This was all emotional. She was exhausted.

Finally, she stood, opened the doors and scooted past the staff once again and headed upstairs and into the shower, leaving her clothes where they fell as she shed them. She just didn't care anymore.

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[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

He'd fallen asleep in his clothes, strewn across the bed, looking rumpled and gangly. Normally by this time he'd be awake, getting ready for work on a weekday or just up to read the paper on a weekend, but with everything that had happened he was just drained.

Waking up wasn't fun. If he hadn't already personally experienced it, he might have said that he finally understood the metaphor of being hit by a truck. Images of Goliath sprang up behind his eyes, unbidden, and then sleeping anymore suddenly became an impossibility, no matter how tired he still was.

He opened his eyes just long enough to get his bearings, then stumbled across the room with his eyes closed, wondering if that counted as more sleep. He stripped awkwardly along the way, so that by the time he opened the door to the bathroom he was already naked.

He opened his eyes only when the sounds of the water already running finally filtered through to his tired brain.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Hattie had been shampooing her hair when she felt the shadow rather than saw it. It was a general feeling of unsettled-ness and she turned to open the frosted glass door of the mammoth shower when she saw the shadow of Kitt there.

Popping the door open, her eyebrows went up when she saw that he was naked. Leaving the door to the shower open, she stepped back into the shower and began to rinse her hair.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

His own eyebrows went up and his eyes opened wide when he realized why the water was running and the bathroom was warm. He backed away, backtracking rapidly out of the bathroom, suddenly feeling ridiculously self-conscious.

"Sorry!"

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Without saying a word, she reached out and shut the door, then turned the water off. Forgoing conditioner seemed like it was going to be necessary since she didn't want to have to keep Kitt waiting on her any longer than he had to.

Pulling the towel over the glass, she wrapped it around her body and pushed the door open again, stepping out onto the towel. "It's fine," she finally said, stepping over to the counter to grab something to pin her hair up until she could dry it. "Shower's all yours."

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

He was about to tell her to take her time, but since she was already stepping out, he just nodded and brushed past her to step in himself. "Thanks."

The humid shower air was already pleasantly warm, so when the water was properly adjusted and beading down on his skin, it was easy for him to rest his arm against the tiles, then rest his forehead against his arm, closing his eyes again. It felt good, better than anything had in a long time, so he just stood there like that, letting the water and the heat work the knots out of his shoulders.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

She listened to him in the shower, saw him just standing there, and wanted to go and rub the tension from his body. Then she remembered that she was the cause of said tension and set her brush down on the counter before heading into the bedroom.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

He looked up briefly when he heard the door open and close, then sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, deciding to actually shower as he'd stood there long enough.

When he was finished, he toweled off, grabbing her brush to slick back his still-wet hair, not bothering to do anything more. For the sake of modesty and arguments, he wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping out into the bedroom himself. His plans for the day... what were his plans? He'd probably head into work, even though it was Sunday, just to catch up on things for Monday. He'd make some discreet inquiries into Karr's whereabouts, making sure this time that he couldn't be traced now that he knew Karr would be on the other end. And then... well, he'd figure it out later. If he was lucky, maybe the rest would take all day and then he and Hattie wouldn't have to deal with each other. Or maybe it was just that she wouldn't have to deal with him.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Hattie was on her way back to the bathroom, now in her bathrobe, with a towel for Kitt. She had brushed out her hair (difficult with the lack of conditioner), and then couldn't remember if there WAS another towel in there for him.

Her plan was to leave it on the counter for him. Her reality was to run into him as he came through the doorway. "Sorry!"

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

He pulled back suddenly with a hiss of surprise, bringing his hands up to avoid running into her. To avoid touching her. To... avoid. He nodded. "Me too." Then he took the towel gently from her grasp, still careful not to touch her, turning to hang it up. "Thank you." He did a little dance with her to maneuver past her to get into the bedroom, holding onto his towel so it wouldn't come loose. Things were already awkward enough.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

He couldn't have made it any more clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with her, so she released the towel and let him go first back into the bedroom. And since he needed to get dressed, she motioned to the bedroom door.

"I'll just- You know, while you-" She was going to wait across the hall or something while he got dressed.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

"It's your bedroom too." He looked at her briefly over his shoulder, then gave what he hoped was a little shrug of non-chalance as he rummaged through his dresser for underwear and socks. He dropped the towel with his back to her, feeling self-conscious, not really wanting to know if she was still there or not while he shimmied into them.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

She watched right up until the towel dropped and then she looked away, staring at the ceiling. Of course it was her bedroom, too, but when it all came down to it? It was HIS house.

Once he had underwear on, she turned back and decided that turnabout was fair play and dropped the bathrobe once he was staring right at her.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

The last time he'd checked, the deed had been made out so that both of their names were listed. It wasn't his house, it wasn't her house, it was THEIR house.

He dropped his eyes immediately, avoiding the slightest hint of impropriety, and crossed over to his closet to start sorting through his business suits, maybe wishing that he'd done that part first so the clothes would be right to hand instead of all the way across the room.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Perhaps she felt like it was his house because he WAS Knight Industries and he made all the money. Perhaps... she felt like she didn't feel like she belonged.

Perhaps she wasn't done teasing him. She stalked to the closet, still naked, and stood next to him, pondering her choices. She was tired of the stalemate.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

And perhaps he was sick to death of BEING Knight Industries, and maybe, just maybe, he wanted to just be KITT again. Or even just Kitt. And do what he knew how to do, without feeling like he was letting anyone down because he couldn't be anything else.

He sighed, one hand on the shoulder of the suit he was about to take out of the closet. It wasn't like he didn't know she was there, but he didn't have to look at her. So he didn't. Standing there, not moving, he simply asked, "What?"

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Fine. He wasn't going to look at her. She didn't know what she had expected... he had said he was done, after all... and so had she.

She pulled out a sweater and held it to her chest so that he wouldn't be forced to see her nakedness anymore. "Nothing. Sorry," she said, and then moved toward the dresser to take a pair of panties out. From there it was a short walk to the bathroom.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

So. It was more of the same. Fine. What did she want from him? What did she expect from him? He couldn't remember where he lived or who his wife was, he was a liability, and if he tried to do anything to change she wouldn't approve. That about covered everything.

He sighed, pulled out the suit, and began dressing, angry all over again. Perhaps he'd make room for himself in the garage next to Kobie. After all, maybe she was right. Maybe he wasn't meant to be a person. She hadn't even believed him when he'd admitted she was the best thing to ever happen to him, she'd opened up amazing possibilities and opportunities for him. So no, she was right. He'd bunk down next to Kobie.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

She wasn't sure what he expected from her, except that he'd ignored her and so she'd opted to get dressed elsewhere. Her tease hadn't worked and then, she realized that she hadn't brought her dark jeans into the bathroom with her.

Stepping into the bedroom again, she grabbed them off the floor. "Forgot my jeans."

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

No. He hadn't ignored her. But he would not dare allow himself to misinterpret her intentions, and so had opted for neutrality. Yes.

He nodded. "I would have brought them out to you."

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

"I didn't um-" She cleared her throat and stepped into them where she was, buttoning them carefully. "I didn't want to bother you."

She took in how he was dressed and swallowed, ducking her head and tucking her arms over her chest. "Going to the office?"

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

"You're not bothering me." He finished straightening his tie, pulling on it maybe a little too hard. "I told you, it's your bedroom too." He checked his reflection in a mirror, making a face. His hair wasn't behaving, but then he'd done nothing more than run a brush through it. It would have to do. It wasn't like there would be anyone to see him anyway.

He nodded again, his eyes hooded. "I haven't checked in for a while. I suppose I should see the extent of the damage for myself. Kobie took care of the virus, but..." He trailed off, with a small shrug.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

"Right. Of course."

She stepped back and continued looking down at the ground. "I'm sure they've missed you. I bet your PA was going crazy, what with the not hearing from you." She bit her tongue on the 'not hearing' herself. "Kobie was really helpful."

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

His voice was hard, not so much at Kobie but at the situation, the Stargate. "I'm sure he was." He paused, softening just slightly. "Thank you for finding me." Chances were, he would have been fine. But even he could concede the possibility.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

"I was really worried about you."

She looked up at him. "Thirty-eight minutes, Kitt. That's how long it took for us to get to you." The feeling of panic was welling up in her again and she pressed a hand to her chest. She wasn't even thinking about Kobie in relation to the Stargate. She had only thought about him in relation to fixing Kitt. "Getting to you, getting you out of the house..."

Hattie swallowed. "I was really worried."

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

For the first time, he turned to face her, studying her frankly, as if trying to gauge her sincerity.

He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, blocking out everything else, crushing her to him before he even realized what he was doing.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

And just like that, she was wrapped up in his arms, crushed against his chest. She didn't even know she was crying until she had to take a breath, her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him tight.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

It was only after she was in his arms that he was finally able to admit to himself just how much he'd missed her. He kissed the top of her head, then rested his cheek there, eyes closed.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Considering how she just fit, tucked under his chin like that, Hattie was ready to just stay there for a very long time. She didn't want to talk because every time they talked? It just got ruined. So, she stood there, hanging onto him, until she wasn't crying anymore.

[ki2k.insanejournal.com]

"I love you." He was still holding on just as tight, but one of his hands had begun to rub up and down her back, trying to soothe the crying until it stilled. He was willing to stay there for as long as she wished, not wanting to break the moment.

[hattie_notqueen.insanejournal.com]

Once she wasn't crying, she still didn't feel like moving, so she didn't. She just felt his heart beating and rested her head against his chest.

"I love you, too."