Note: There is a songfic that I have completed and posted on the Internet that is closely tied to this chapter. The songfic is called "Shooting Stars".

To the reviewers: I'm glad that all of you are liking the story so far. I hope you'll like this one, as well as the new chapter that I am already working on. One hint: Things will really get interesting where Kitt's concerned in the next chapter, moreso than this one! And let me know what you think through reviews as I write along, ok? For those that don't know how, you can submit a review from any chapter, not just the first one!

Chapter 4: Learning, Realizing

Through the night, Kitt found another thing that he liked about Marissa while he ran scanners regularly: she didn't snore loudly at all, unlike Michael.

Just what am I going to do once the month is up? he thought several hours later, I don't dare leave her here…and I don't know anyone well enough to entrust her with. I will need to decide, but…not right now.

The AI looked about him, seeing the stars begin to fade and the first rays of light peek out of the horizon. Perhaps this natural retreat, as well as Rissie, is precisely what I needed. It's strange, but before yesterday, I didn't look at sunrises and sunsets the same way I do now.

He had no idea what time she was usually forced awake, so after the sun rose, he let Marissa sleep for another hour. Most likely, it'd be at an indecent time…and with a beating.

As soon as that very thought processed through him, Kitt decided on something he could do in the meantime.

"Yes," his voice trailed into existence, "I'll start by teaching her a few things, like self-defense."

"Self-defense? What's that?"

The voice came from the backseat, a little sleepy, yet curious.

"Good morning, Rissie," he replied gently, "I wasn't going to wake you for another hour." His voice hesitated before asking, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, better than I had in…better than I ever had," she replied, "Are you still full from breakfast?"

"Yes, I am. Marissa, this might sound silly, but…do you know how to read? Or write?"

"Huh? Yeah, I do. I don't remember how I learned to, but I can do both. Why?"

"After you wash up, I'm going to teach you a few things. Slowly, though, like two subjects per day, not including self-defense."

"What is that?"

"A way to make sure you can get out of a nasty situation with your life. If this 'master' gets a hold of you again and hurts you, you can use it to hurry back to me, okay?"

"Wow, you can really teach me stuff?"

"But of course!" was the cheerful reply. Before he could continue, he saw something around her neck. "Rissie, is that a locket?"

"Um, yes it is. I've almost always had it. Why?"

"I'm just curious, but what or who is inside it?"

"It's a who…and it's a woman I see in my dreams sometimes. I don't know who she is, but for some reason I feel like I know her. Sounds crazy, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. There's a phrase that Michael says sometimes: Truth is stranger than fiction," Kitt replied.

The child merely nodded, then asked, "Were you cozy last night?"

"Yes, actually. Thank you," was the quiet reply.

"You're welcome! I'll get the big blanket off of you and then wash. Be right back!"

Kitt agreed, then unlocked the door while adjusting the temperature inside the cabin. As she pulled the tarp off then put it somewhere that it would not blow away from, Kitt returned to some of the musings that had kept his mind going through the night.

The sensation was truly something new to Kitt, and he had no idea how it happened. On one hand, time continued as it normally did, yet in his perception, the days went by slowly and quickly at the exact same instance. In the mornings, his little ward would wash in the river, although at times it would be directly under the waterfall. After the bath, he worked with Marissa on self-defense and basic math. In this, he was truly surprised. For a child that had never seen a day of school, Kitt had to admit that Marissa was rather intelligent, in a way that reminded him of Devon. It only took a time or two for Marissa to catch on how to a type of math problem. Every time that the time to work on math came to an end, he had to admit that he felt something very akin to pride…although whenever he remembered how and why this brilliance had been covered up, he would again feel anger towards the human that was supposed to have been raising her.

Close to lunchtime, the two of them would go into the city to get food for the day from RC, as well as to find better clothes for her. On the former matter, it wasn't much trouble at all. On the issue of better clothes they had no luck.

One day, a week and a half after finding the child, Kitt decided that Marissa needed some direct sunlight instead of the kind filtered through the trees and would be having lunch near the edge of the forest. Unknownst to them, Devon and Bonnie had decided on a sunny picnic in the same area.

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As she finished setting out the food, Bonnie looked around her before settling her gaze on the other person with her. She had managed to convince Devon to take a couple of hours off at the least from the convention, stating that he looked pale and drawn. As soon as he had agreed to it, she had uncovered the picnic basket that she had brought along.

Now, as she looked at him, he truly looked distant, as though he wasn't really there, but somewhere else.

"You okay?" she asked quietly, then frowned when he didn't reply. "Earth to Devon Miles!"

"Hm…? Oh…I'm sorry, Bonnie," he replied, sounding distracted, "Some…bad memories. It's been exactly seven years now, since the incident, with not a trace." There was now a definite edge of pain in his tone, "I've wanted to believe that there was even a clue out there, but as you guessed at the café a week and a half ago…I have to face the truth. My niece is dead..."

Bonnie shook her head, "She can be declared legally dead now, but…something tells me that it's too soon to give up. Wilton went to quite an extent to submit your sister's murder and niece's kidnapping as a FLAG case. I don't think he'd want you to just quit." She paused before adding, "And I know Verona wouldn't want you to suffer, either."

There was sharpness in the sudden glare, but it lasted for only a moment before he replied, "Bonnie, you think I want to declare her dead?" He sighed and changed the subject quickly, "Isn't this the area that Kitt's investigating? The one with that ghost?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's not like there's any such thing as ghosts, though. Probably just some prankster. It's not like any of the FLAG staff have seen it yet. There's something strange, though…"

"What do you mean?"

"It's Kitt. Ever since he left for here, he's changed."

That made Devon start. "Changed? How?"

"Well, it's hard to say. I checked him out yesterday and refueled him and during that, he said that he was having a lot of fun where he was. From his voice, I could tell he really was."

"That by itself wouldn't be something to worry about."

"You're right, it's not. When I asked him about the ghost chasing, he immediately changed the topic. Both him and RC have been really tight-lipped about it for some reason. Also, when I reminded him that we leave in a few weeks, he sounded very…hurt and reluctant."

"Now that is odd. There are only a few semblance of emotions programmed within Kitt, and those are to better facilitate the partnership with Michael. Plus, he's never skirted topics before with us. This is much beyond his programming."

"I've been thinking…that maybe, something here is causing Kitt to evolve? Maybe become truly sentient?"

"I'm afraid those questions will have to wait until we leave Montana," was the quiet, quasi-normal reply from Devon.

"D-Devon…look over there," Bonnie suddenly said, looking pale and pointing at the edge of the nearby forest.

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Marissa watched quietly from one of the trees, looking at the older man and the young-looking brunette. They seemed to have a lot of food with them…maybe enough for a couple of days! She shook her head at herself in a reproaching way. Ever since she had met Kitt, there had been no need to steal food from anyone. Now, though, she was watching these two for a completely different reason.

"That older man," she whispered, "He looks like me!"

"Are you sure about that? Who's out there?" Kitt asked from behind her.

"A guy with silver hair and a brown-haired woman. Can you look closer without moving?" she asked.

"I'm doing that now…" he answered, then sounded rather surprised. "What did you say about the older man?"

"It's weird, but he looks like me! I don't mean exactly like me, but still…"

The statement gave Kitt reason for pause and he quickly remembered one of the cases that was left indefinitely open, one that was connected to a FLAG member. Before he had a chance to bring up the file, he sensed that his little ward had moved from her spot…and was heading directly towards the two picnickers: Bonnie and Devon.

"No! Marissa, get back here!" he said quietly yet urgently.

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Bonnie stared at the edge of the forest, where she saw the strangest thing: a little child with ragged light-blonde hair and several discolorations in different places. She looked as though she were almost skin-and-bones, yet not quite reaching it. Even from here, her eyes held the mixed expression of fear, curiosity, as well as something more…wild.

Devon truly looked haunted, more than he had been when he had the nightmare weeks ago. "Oh dear God," he murmured, "It's her…"

"Her?" Bonnie asked.

"The child from the nightmare…the one that was being beaten then wrapped in a golden vine."

Bonnie looked right at him and asked, "That's not the only thing bothering you, is it?"

"No," he admitted, turning away from the child, "She also looks vaguely familiar."

They heard a faint, yet familiar voice, one that sounded rather insistent. When the two of them turned back a second later, the child was gone.

The technician took a deep breath then said to Devon, "I think we just met Kitt's 'ghost'."

Devon nodded, although the expression in his face and eyes never vanished, making her worried. "Well…we should at least eat up, don't want this good cooking to go to waste."

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"That was close," Kitt said, "Marissa, I hope you weren't going to steal food from them."

"Uh-uh," she replied, "I wanted to know why that man looks like me. But…"

"But what?"

"Those two were afraid of me, just like any others I came near. I guess I was just imagining things, huh?"

"Maybe not. Rissie, were you born here?"

She shook her head, "No. I remember that much. I also have a faint image in my head, but it's probably just imagination."

"What kind of image?"

"Of being out in the middle of the night and someone dragging me around by the arm. Silly, huh? I guess it's just imagination after all."

"I'll look into it, just in case. But Rissie, be more careful. I definitely didn't want you to be looking like this upon first meeting them."

"You know 'em?"

"Yes. I'll tell you about them later. For now, though, I think you should wash up. We'll be going into the city soon for lunch. Also, after that, it'll be a good idea for you to take a nap. We're going to be up later tonight than usual. I'll tell you about it later."

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A full two weeks had passed ever since the group had arrived in Helena when Kitt arrived at the semi for a diagnostic as well as a for a refueling. On that same morning, Marissa had told Kitt that she would be checking a spot near their Wall-less House and, with any luck, would be there in time for dinner. When he arrived, Bonnie was already waiting for him.

"Now this is really weird," the woman said as she began the diagnostic, "Your tank is low again. What've you been doing, driving in and out of the city a lot?"

"Only to see if RC needs anything, as well as to check on Michael a couple of times," he replied smoothly, "How is the convention doing?"

She winced, seeing that Kitt had changed topics again, but continued, "Going well…Kitt, that's something I need to talk to you about."

"What's going on, Bonnie? Are we going to be staying here longer?"

The tone of the question made her start. It seemed rather…hopeful.

"No," she replied, "As a matter of fact, we're closing up the FLAG exhibit a little early."

"How early?"

She took a deep breath before she replied, "I want you back here no later than tomorrow morning. We'll be leaving then."

"…all right. I'll be back then."

She blinked. He actually sounded very reluctant and a bit upset.

"Kitt, are you all right?"

"Yes, Bonnie. I just like this place, and have been enjoying this vacation for the first time in my life. Why do you ask?"

"You sound upset, that's all."

"I will be fine. As soon as this is completed, I really must get back." In his mind, Kitt thought, I hope Rissie was right when she said we would figure something out. We'll have to now, we're out of time.

Kitt…he really has changed and gone beyond his programming, Bonnie thought at the same time.

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Kitt hurried back from the place where he met with RC to the forest, using the best routes and just barely keeping from going over the speed limit. He really wanted to talk to Marissa as well as deliver dinner. He knew she was not going to be happy that he had to leave tomorrow morning…and he found himself worrying…as well as thinking about what he was like before coming here and how the AI was now.

Perhaps…I really have changed, and for the better, he thought, maybe…this is what Michael would call becoming more human. Another thing I'll thank Rissie for when I see her.

As soon as he thought that, he began to feel something…bad. It was completely new to him, just like a good number of emotions he had experienced ever since meeting Marissa, but he could tell it wasn't good this time. He carefully analyzed it and tried to compare it to Michael's descriptions.

Fear, he realized after a moment, I had thought I felt fear before, but…but this is real fear! There's also the sense that I have to hurry back to the forest, and quickly, more than a few moments ago. Has…has something happened to Rissie?

Kitt quoted something that RC had said once, and this time it really fit. "Speed limit be damned." He increased speed, knowing that this time it was over the limit, then called out, "Rissie, hold on, I'm coming!"

The moment he arrived at the Wall-less House, he ran his scanners. Marissa wasn't there, and that by himself made him worried. As he increased his range, he called out, "Rissie! Are you out there? Rissie!"

A couple moments later, he heard a high-pitched, thin shrill in the distance. "…iiityyy! …lllp!"

The AI didn't like the sound of her voice, and the increasingly clear words even less. "…Kitttyyyy! Kiiiittyyy! Where are you? Help!"

"Rissie! I'm over here at the house! Hurry!"

A couple of moments later, he saw her sprint past some bushes into sight, and took in her appearance.

He exclaimed in shock and worry, "Rissie!"