chapter nine

Karr absolutely hated it when Connor was beyond his scanner range, and he had no problems letting the people still in the chamber with him know about it. Thankfully, all the programming damages had been repaired. All that was left to fix was the engine problems, and that required Connor to get the supplies from Joyce, which required her to be out of his range for a few hours. Which Karr did not like.

Not. One. Bit.

He did find some amusement, however, in watching Barstow and Michael bicker.

"I want to go now." Barstow hissed. "He's fixed, I've done my job. Let's just get back to the Foundation and leave well enough alone."

"We can't." Michael explained patiently. Karr could tell from his tone that it was only his familiarity with the woman that was keeping him from lashing out at her. "Karr's basically helpless right now. If we leave, the Institute could send their men to come and kill him."

"I don't care." Barstow snapped. "We've killed him how many times now?"

"That was different." Michael protested.

"And just what exactly does this Institute want with them?" Barstow continued, completely ignoring Michael now in favor of pacing in front of Kitt. "For all we know, the Institute is a perfectly legitimate group that Connor and Karr screwed over in one of their little plans. How did I get duped so easily?"

Michael sighed, but it was Kitt that answered. "The Institute is not a normal company, Bonnie." he assured her. "I've done research on it."

"And what does that research tell you?" Barstow demanded, not quite as willing to snap at Kitt as she was at Michael. Apparently Barstow had a soft spot for her creation.

"Depending on which resource I use, I get a different answer." Kitt said. "If I go through police force computers, the Institute is a private-run organization that helps out the local cops for a small fee. However, if I use, say, the computers of certain criminal circles, then the Institute becomes a key player in several drug deals, mysterious disappearances, and a couple of assassinations. Most of those assassinations seem to be linked to a man named Dmitri."

Karr decided to speak up. "I didn't know the good guys had access to criminal computers." he said, teasing Kitt just a little. To his surprise, Kitt took the bait.

"I am a computer, after all." he said, putting on his loftiest voice. "No computer, criminal or not, is beyond my hacking capabilities."

Karr emitted his own static-laughter. "You're still just a production line copy."

"And you're currently in five pieces relying on this production line copy's functioning scanners." Kitt reminded him, but there was no venom in the jibe.

Michael stared at them both in shock. "Now that is something I never thought I would see." he muttered, flashing Kitt a grin. "Kitt and Karr bickering like an old married couple."

"No, that would be you and Bonnie." Kitt shot back.

"More like you and Knight." Karr observed, the barest hint of a smirk in his voice. Michael and Kitt were rising to the bait nicely, and the meaningless taunting was keeping him occupied from the real trouble. Still, the true fun was watching Barstow stare at them like they had all lost their minds.

Before anyone could continue, Connor stormed in carrying a leather pack over her shoulder. Karr immediately focused on her. "Something wrong?" he asked mildly.

"When is anything not wrong?" Connor muttered. "Kitt, I have a favor. I need you to keep an eye on things outside while I fix everything up here. If anything so much as moves, I want to know about it." She glanced over at Michael. "Would you help me? This will go faster with four hands instead of just two."

"You sure Karr won't bite my hands off?" Michael teased lightly.

"I'll behave if you do." Karr shot back. "Connor, what's wrong?"

"Joyce sold us out." Connor growled. "I saw her talking to the Director just after I got the supplies from her."

Karr hesitated as Connor and Michael vanished underneath the hood. Before he could speak, though, Barstow did. "Can you work and talk at the same time?" she asked. Connor grunted affirmative. "What are you to the Institute?"

"Karr and I used to be operatives." Connor said. "Michael, hand me that." Michael did so, and Connor resumed speaking as she worked. Karr could feel her quick efficiency as she worked next to Michael's more brute strength. He also knew Kitt was watching them like a hawk, not that he could say anything about that. "I ran away from an abusive home, went to the Director for protection, and he turned out to be worse than my so-called parents. So Karr and I left, and he didn't like it, so he did this." She set aside her wrench, adjusted one of the hookups, and nodded to herself. "Amazing what you can do with the right tools."

"What if I don't believe you?" Barstow asked, her voice darkening as she spoke.

"I don't care." Connor said flatly. "I already told you – I don't trust you, and I don't expect you to trust me. In fact, trusting me could prove dangerous. I'm not in the habit of protecting random people, although I do owe you one for this." She surveyed the rest of the work that needed to be done. "All right, we have maybe an hour left under here, and then we can get Karr back inside the engine where he belongs."

"I appreciate that." Karr said.

"Um, Connor?" Kitt said suddenly, his voice tight. "You may not have an hour."

"How much time do we have?" Connor demanded, struggling to keep from panicking.

"Thirty minutes, maybe forty if you feel lucky."

"I don't." She hesitated, considering the damage done to the engine. If she scrimped out on some of the repairs, she could cut the work time in half. Add on an extra three minutes to get Karr back inside the engine compartment . . . "We don't have that kind of time." she said finally. "We won't finish here before the Institute is bearing down on us."

"So what do we do?" Barstow demanded. Once again, Connor hesitated, but this time she had a plan. She slid out from under the hood.

"Michael, I need you to keep working. No matter what you hear." Connor said quietly.

Michael immediately poked his head out from under the hood. "Why?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Because I don't want to accidently kill you." Connor responded. She opened the trunk of the Ferrari and Barstow gasped as she removed a sniper rifle and a fair amount of ammo. Glancing at Michael, Connor added, "Unless you want to help me hold the fort?"

Michael stared at her for a moment. Connor was a killer. He knew that. He also knew someone made her a killer, and that someone was most likely the Director. If the Director was coming for her now, and if he had tried to set Karr against Connor, then that meant he was coming with weapons. He stood up and glanced over at Kitt, as if seeking an answer from his partner.

Kitt almost seemed to smile at them. "There are more people coming than one person can hold off on her own." he said quietly.

Michael nodded. He went over to Kitt, opened the glove compartment, and removed his service revolver. He glanced back at Bonnie. "You're going to want to take cover." he said softly.

Barstow stared at him. "You aren't really going to kill someone." she whispered.

Michael walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Bonnie, I'm a cop." he whispered back. "She needs someone. I'm the only one here."

Barstow hesitated, but nodded. "For the love of all things holy, be careful."

He flashed her a grin. "Aren't I always?"

"I think Kitt would disagree with that."