"I don't want to go back Kitt."  He was beginning to notice the evening
chill, and his head told him that Bonnie would want to look over Kitt, but
his heart wanted to stay, here alone, with his partner.
 "Why?"  Kitt was a little surprised at Michael's confession.
 "I don't want to face them.  I said some pretty nasty things."
 "You were upset and rightfully so.  But you need some rest, or to at least
try." Kitt stopped his driver before he began his interruption.  "I can't
ensure your safety once night falls."
 Michael sighed. He was tired, too tired and very on edge.  He felt like his
life was falling to pieces around him.  "I just don't understand.  Sure I
expected them to be upset, but not like this." He lay back against the
windshield, to disturbed to heed the cold wind.  "I don't know how to
approach them."
 "I'm not sure I can help you in this matter, but..."
 "But what?"  He turned to look inside at the voice box.
 "I had been worried that you'd return to your old life."
 "It won't happen Kitt." Shaking his head he relived the day's events.
"They never understood my way of things.  I think Devon calling me 'a
primitive' that day is very close to how they saw me.  After I came back
from the special forces, they changed.  Like they didn't want to be
associated with me."
 "A lot like my reaction?"  Guilt consumed the AI like never before.
 "No, don't think that way." Reading Kitt's thoughts, Michael tried to
explain himself more clearly.  "They acted more like I had a the Plague.  I
still don't know why.  I didn't talk about what we did, or even where we
went.  I wasn't proud of it and I definitely didn't want to rehash those
days." Michael shifted onto his back, closing his eyes.
 "Could it be jealousy?"
 "Huh?? No, they have no reason to be jealous.  Jay I can see.  He's always
talked about, what did the Board call it? The 'James Bond Fantasy'."
 "As I understand it, he's far more... reserved than you are."  That got a
laugh.
 "You could say that.  I always thought, that because of that aspect of him,
he would get farther in life than I would."
 "Yet he seems to be lacking something."
 "We're off topic.  I know Jay's motives, my parents on the other hand....
This is driving me insane."  His whole body froze, even the slight shivering
paused.
 "What?  What did you just think of Michael?"
 "No, it can't... there's no way."  He swallowed hard. "Kitt, check.."
 "Checking, don't even say it.  Not unless we have proof.  It's going to
take a few minutes.  There are many offshoots here."
 Michael waited, praying his instincts were wrong. He began to shiver again,
but more from reaction.
 "Michael...." Kitt's voice said all.  He slid off the hood and collapsed
into the sand, head in his hands, Kitt's prow against the back of his neck.
Kitt watched his best friend succumb to his overwhelming discovery.

 Slowly quieting, Michael lay his head back over his partner, looking up at
the stars as he regained control of himself.  He had never exposed this side
of himself to Kitt, but he was at the end of his rope.  In a million years,
if someone had said to him that this was how things would turn out, he'd
have laughed in their faces.
 A plan began to form in his mind.  Feeling somewhat in control, he stood.
The door opened for him and he dropped into the warmth of the car.
 "Kitt.."
 "I came up with three cellular phone numbers, all untraceable.  The other
numbers that regularly appeared on the phone records for the station seem to
be legitimate."  Michael smiled at his partner's ability to read him.
 "But one matches outgoing calls from the estate."
 "Shit, lets get moving.  Where are the calls originating from?"
 "Both sets of rooms."
 "So it is all of them."  He took a deep breath, calming himself again.  "I
know it's late, but you have any ideas on how to contact Devon?"
 "We could try his room?"  Michael tilted his head in agreement.

 Forty five minutes later, a red car and a black car converged towards an
old meeting point.  If anyone had been listening in to the conversation
between the two men, they would have been completely baffled by it.
 "I'm glad we set this up." Michael reached for his mentor's hand.
 "I'd hoped we'd never need to use it."  Leaning against the red car,
Michael explained why he asked for this meet.  Devon ran his hand over his
chin, "I would never have considered them capable of this."
 "That makes three of us.  I'm at a loss here Devon."
 "I'm not surprised.  This is a little close to home."  Michael just nodded.
The older man watched as the other fought to keep his composure. "This does
explain how they constantly knew where to find you."
 "I don't want to see them get hurt."
 "I understand."
 "I know I'm asking a lot."
 "No, never."
 "Asking them to reveal themselves is like giving them a death sentence.
They won't be able to play both sides."  Devon nodded his agreement.
"Kitt's Homing Signal.."
 "Is off.  I turned it off before I contacted you."  Michael turned, walking
towards his car.  "I feel...." He threw his hand up in the air, "I don't
know.  Like I'm completely incompetent and surrounded at the same time." He
swung back to face the other man in the midnight chill. "I've never felt
like this.  I'm sorry for getting to Foundation caught in the middle."
 "There's no need to apologize.  I can't figure out why their house burnt
down."
 "With the kind of money they now have in a savings account tucked cleverly
away, I would burn my house down too."
 "He's gone to great lengths."
 "That's what scares me.  What's he gonna do when he finds out we know?
He'll kill them."
 "Or you."  Devon sighed, trying to think.  "Stay at the cabin tonight.
It's open enough for Kitt to keep an eye out.  No communications what so
ever.  I'll tell Bonnie you and Kitt are out for a few days on a routine
mission."
 "Meanwhile Kitt'll be monitoring phone calls."
 "No, absolutely not.  I want no possibility of them discovering your
whereabouts."  Michael just looked at him.  "We will meet back here tomorrow
night, same time.  I'll monitor, that way it will look like I'm just
checking up on expenses."
 Michael smiled, understanding. "Okay, I'll see what else Kitt and I can dig
up."
 "Sleep Michael.  You need it. If I wasn't so concerned I'd have the good
doctor slip you something."
 "I'll keep that in mind the next time you hand me something to drink."
 "We will find a way around this, without anyone getting hurt."
 "I know we will."  The two men clasped hands for a moment before proceeding
their separate ways.

 "Is this what family should be?"  Kitt asked halfway to the cabin in the
hills.
 "Yeah Kitt.  It's somewhere you can turn, no matter what the situation and
know that you'll have their support."
 "Then we are more than a family."
 "Yeah Pal, we are."  With that, Michael began dropping off into something
akin to sleep, letting Kitt take control of the car.
 

part ten