Note: I'm really on a roll! Two chapters in one night, and now this one the next day. That's what happens when your muse is talking loud and clear. One advisory: This chapter does have some bad language in it, but not much at all. Well, enjoy and remember to keep sending in the reviews!

The raving loony: Yeah, I know just what you mean about Kitt and Marissa. Just when you think things can't be worse with her, something more happens. Don't worry, though, in this chapter, something unexpected and nice will happen.

Knightsky: LOL, It will get very interesting in this chapter when Michael finds out about Kitt acting very oddly, much less downright lying to everyone.

On with the chapter!

Chapter 6: Discoveries

She found herself in the same darkness, with the familiar heartbeat all around her. The child looked around her again, feeling frightened and alone.

"I'm here," she head a voice from her left. She looked in the direction the voice came from and saw that its owner, Kitt, had appeared beside her. She also saw that both of them had begun to glow with a golden light.

"I know you are, Kitty," she answered, "And I'm glad of it."

In front of them, four shapes appeared. At first, they were indistinct, but as they solidified, she found that she could recognize them. Three men, one of them with black skin, also there was the one that Marissa had said that looked like her and a woman, the brunette.

"What are they doing here? Whaa---?" she asked, startled that two sets of golden tendrils had appeared, one on Marissa's left, one on Kitt's right.

"I don't know either…" he replied and she watched quietly as the tendrils hesitantly went forward. In front of them, an identical glow appeared around the four humans.

Both Marissa and Kitt were quiet as they watched as their own gold tendrils continued on…and then stopped exactly midway towards the others.

By then, there was another set of gold that came from the four humans, also hesitant at first. Unlike the ones that stopped in the middle, the tendrils from the humans paused only a moment before merging with the ones from Marissa and Kitt.

Marissa got the strong feeling that the golden connection here was just as strong and as warm as the one she had with the AI…although there were other emotions, too in this one. Grief, joy, pain, relief…determination.

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The next morning, Kitt went from the light recharge mode into fully active, then quickly awoke the small child within him, yet quietly. For part of the night, she had been plagued by nightmares of the previous day's events and whenever they had gotten bad, he would wake her from it then talk to her until she settled back into sleep.

"Morning already?" she murmured, then looked about her at the walls of the semi, frightened at first. As she slowly woke up, she said, "It wasn't just a dream. We really did leave."

"Yes, it's real. We're going further away from there by the minute."

"Good. Kitty…I had another dream again. Like the one shortly before I met you."

"Another one? What was this one about?"

"Those four humans."

There was a pause before Kitt replied, "I see. Rissie, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"When they do learn about you, they'll need to run a special kind of test on you."

"Test? It sounds painful."

"I won't lie to you, it is a bit. It's called a DNA test."

"Dee-nnn-aaa?"

"Yes. To do it, they'll need to draw some blood from you. It will hurt a little, but it's needed. You know I wouldn't put you through anything painful unless it was important."

"What would this test do that makes it so important?"

"With it, we can find out who your parents are…or were, if they've died."

One of the very first things, besides basic math and self-defense, that Kitt had taught the little child was familial structure. It shocked him to no end that she did not even know who a mother and father were, much less brothers, sisters or aunts. Like everything else, though, she had caught on quickly.

She blinked, then nodded. "Why do you wanna know that? No, I don't think I wanna know right now. Um, I'm thirsty…where can I get some water?"

"I'll get some for you." There was a pause before Kitt added in a hurried tone, "Get down, they're coming!"

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Moments after Kitt had said for Marissa to get down, Bonnie, Devon and Michael walked in.

"Good morning," he said in a rather normal tone.

"Morning to you too. Have problems sleeping?" Bonnie asked, "You went in and out of recharge the whole night."

"You know I don't sleep, Bonnie."

"Yeah, yeah," she answered, "But you're becoming more and more human per day. Maybe you're able to dream now."

"…you may be right. You'll have to excuse me if I am rather quiet today, I must tend to my child."

That made all of them do a double-take, the AI included.

"Your what?" Michael asked at the same time that Devon said, "What did you say, Kitt?"

"I said I have to tend to my files. I took some pictures of my vacation and I want to put them in the personal archives."

All of them nodded a bit distantly, while Bonnie peered through narrowed eyes at Kitt. After a moment, she said, "I sure could use some coffee, and I'm sleepy enough that I could use help from both of you with it."

The other two humans nodded and left with her for another section of the semi.

"That was close," Kitt whispered.

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When they reached the area where the coffeepot was, Bonnie turned to Michael and Devon.

"Did either of you notice anything weird just now?" she began.

"Yeah. For a minute, I thought that Kitt had said he had to tend to his child. I misheard, though."

"Maybe, maybe not. This whole time in Montana, he and RC have been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to what they did during their vacation. Plus, as Devon knows, Kitt has been acting very odd. Did you notice last night that there was plenty of emotion in his voice whenever he spoke? More than before?"

"You heard it too?" he asked.

"Yeah. When I told him yesterday that we were leaving early, he didn't just sound upset…he was upset. I don't know why, but he didn't want to leave. Then when he came in, he suddenly wanted to be as far away from Helena as he could and quickly. We chalked it up to anxiety, since he said it was wanting to get back to work, but…I don't know, something about this isn't adding up."

"Yo, guys," RC called as he came in, "I heard that about Kitt."

"Just what were you and Kitt doing together, Reginald?" Devon asked, getting right to the point.

"Nothing much, just helping him out with his ghost hunt," he replied, "Why, what's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Michael said with a shudder, "Kitt's been acting very weird."

"Didn't you notice anything when he checked up on you, Michael?" she asked him.

"Say what? Bonnie, what're you talking about?"

"Kitt went to check on you a few times during the convention."

"Bonnie," he answered, "I'd know if Kitt was anywhere near around, and I saw neither hide nor hair of him the entire time."

That raised eyebrows all around, then Bonnie broke the silence by saying, "Then we really have a problem…because if I'm deducing this right, Kitt's been lying…to all of us."

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As soon as they had left, Kitt said, "The coast is clear."

There was a small groan as Marissa scrambled up into the backseat.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah…just sore. Always happens the morning after a punishment."

"Well, you won't ever have to undergo a 'punishment' again. I'll make sure of it."

"Th…Thank you, Kitty," was the quiet reply, "Can you tell me how to get around and about this…semi?"

"I'll bring up a basic blueprint. Look on the monitor."

She nodded and watched as he brought it up.

"The set of double-doors are the entrance and main exit, where we came in from. Further up and to the left is the pathway to other areas, first of which is an office, complete with a coffeepot and a water dispenser," he started to explain, "You can get a drink of water there. To the bottom-left of that is the restrooms, and bottom-right is the sleeping rooms."

"Huh? Restrooms? What're those?"

"That's where you…you know."

She blinked, then nodded, "I think I do."

Kitt said, "They're back already…? Rissie, get down!"

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Michael, Devon, Bonnie and RC walked quietly into the main area of the semi, then faced the car.

"Kitt," Michael asked, "Just what have you been up to?"

"Up to, Michael?"

"Cut the innocent act, you know what I'm asking."

"All too well. I am not 'up to' anything."

RC asked, "Hey, dude, just why were you wanting all that grub?"

That made Michael start. "Grub? You were getting food for Kitt?"

"Like I said, I was helping him with the ghost hunt."

"And like I told you, it was used to lure out the ghost."

"Kitt, cut the games. You've been lying to Bonnie, Devon and I all month…and I'm getting the vibe you've lied to RC, too."

"Now really, Michael, why would I lie?"

"You tell me," Devon inserted, "You're the one that's been doing it. Were you also playing Pachabel late last night?"

Before Kitt could say anything, the back-right passenger door suddenly opened.

"No!"

There seemed to be a little whisper replying, "…told you, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. You were gonna tell them anyway, right?"

Kitt didn't reply, but he didn't close and lock the door again, either. There was the soft scrape of human flesh on upholstery before a pair of bare feet landed on the metal floor. The owner of the whispery voice backed up a couple of steps, enough so that the car could close the door without hurting her.

Everyone's eyes widened at what they saw, but Bonnie and Devon's expressions were more pronounced. Her mouth worked silently while he went pale and said quietly, "Oh dear lord…"

"A kid…? That's what Kitt's been hiding?" Michael asked, incredulous.

Devon took a breath, then asked in an unsteady voice, "Who are you…?"

The little scraggly girl that he and Bonnie had seen at the picnic didn't say a word, merely placed a little hand on Kitt's side.

"Can you talk?" Bonnie asked.

Again, no reply.

"Hey, kid, answer us, this isn't funny!" RC snapped.

She didn't reply, but she did shrink back, eyes widening with terror.

"RC!" Kitt sounded rather protective. His tone changed to something more warm, "It's all right, you don't have to say anything. Let me do the talking."

She looked right at Kitt, nodded, then said quietly, "Okay. Thank you."

"Kitt, just what's going on?" Devon asked.

"Please don't be harsh on her, she won't talk to a human, for good reasons. Her recorded name is Marissa Parkson, although due to the events of the past month, I have come to the conclusion that it isn't her real name at all. The closest match I have come up with is within the FLAG database. I suspect that her actual name is—"

Devon completed the statement in a semi-hushed voice, "Marissa Celeste Miles…"

"Y-yes…that is the name. Devon, how did you know?"

Marissa's eyes widened again, but not with terror this time. Instead, her expression was one of shock.

"My god…" he continued, at first in an incredulous, soft tone, "This…Kitt, do you realize what you've done?"

"What I've done is remove a child from a very harmful situation. The man that I suspect kidnapped her in the first place was subjecting her to cruel and inhuman circumstances."

Bonnie asked quietly, "Kitt, why didn't you say flat out what you had found?"

"…I had to protect her," was the reply, "For all I knew, if I had told you, you would have had her sent back to the same circumstances that put her in this shape."

Devon slowly walked towards Kitt and Marissa, which made her squeak and shrink back further.

"Marissa…come here," he said very quietly as he crouched down, "Please. I…I won't hurt you."

The look on her face was one of skepticism. "That might not be a good idea right now. She's undergone through some nasty trauma a few hours ago, worse than usual…"

The little girl peered at the older man and asked, "Kitt, can you make him promise? That he won't hurt me, inside or out?"

"Come again?" Michael asked.

"I swear to God I won't harm you in any way," the Englishman replied.

She looked right at Kitt, then nodded before she walked a few steps towards the man while Michael talked quietly to the AI from the front-passenger side. A few times, his expression changed in a negative manner.

"Bonnie…could you get the picture from the sleeping chamber?" he asked quietly. She nodded as a reply and left quickly. He then stared right at the child, trembling.

"Marissa," he asked, "Do you know who I am? At all…?"

She replied, "Kitt says your name is Devon…you look a bit weird."

"Weird, how so?"

"Well…you look like me."

His eyes began to glimmer at this and he said in a slightly choked voice, "If I'm right…there's a reason why we look alike." He then saw the gold locket that was around her neck. "What's that?"

"This…? It's mine. I've always had it."

"Are there any pictures inside it?"

"Uh-huh." She then reached up and opened the locket, letting the man look inside.

Within was a picture of a rather beautiful young woman. She had fire-red hair that went down to her back, green eyes…and a rather proud, yet sweet expression on her face. The likeness between the woman in the picture and Marissa was startling.

Devon gasped softly, recognizing the person in the picture immediately. "Good lord, this is…" He heard Bonnie come in and quietly asked for the picture, which she gave over immediately.

Marissa looked at the night-stand picture in his hand and her eyes went wide as well. "That's the same woman! What's going on, why do you have a picture of her?"

Michael looked at the picture, having never seen it before. The same woman with fire-red hair was in it, sitting in a chair…but in her lap was a small child with light blonde hair and hazel eyes. He looked between the child in the picture and Marissa.

Bonnie's eyes also went wide and she said quietly, "It's her."

Devon nodded and said, voice trembling, "It's you…it's really you!" He touched her face gently, almost disbelieving what he saw.

"Wh-who is she? Who's the woman in the pictures?" the child asked again.

The brunette answered, "That woman is Verona Miles…your mother, Marissa. Devon's sister."

The girl blinked and asked, "That means that Devon's…my uncle? That's why I look like him?"

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing his eyes shut. At first, she was alarmed, close to panic, until she remembered that last night, the silver-haired—her uncle had done something like this with the human Michael and this Bonnie. Is this a hug…?

Michael looked a little surprised by what he saw and all that he had heard. This little child Kitt had found was Devon's niece, the one that he had mentioned in the café on the first day…? The surprise became rather evident on his face when the older man tried to speak, with only sounds as the result. When Wilton Knight had died years before, Michael was in no mental shape to be looking at anyone's reactions, so the scene before him now was a shock. He knew from experience that Devon did at times lose his temper, especially when someone had tried to poison Michael once…but before now, he had never seen or heard the normally otherwise unflappable Englishman cry.

He blinked and tapped both Bonnie and RC on the shoulder, then jerked his head towards the office. They nodded and quietly left the room.

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Once they had entered, Michael sat down on one of the couches, then said, "Those two—those three definitely don't need an audience. Besides, I doubt Devon would like finding out that someone saw him crying like that."

Bonnie nodded, then asked, "What did Kitt tell you? I know you were talking to him."

"Yeah…" he sighed loudly then said, "I took a look at Kitt's recorded scans of Marissa, both when he found her and last night. Whoever had kidnapped her was beating her brutally and starving her…"

"Good lord," Bonnie said quietly.

"That's why Kitt wanted food twice a day," RC said, "To feed her."

"It gets worse," Michael continued, and the dark, angry expression that he had when talking to Kitt returned, "Remember when she asked Kitt to make Devon promise not to hurt her? She had specified 'inside or out'?"

"I don't like the sound of that. Did he tell you why?" she asked.

"Yeah, he did. Her words were that he had marked her as his slave last night. Guys, the plain truth is that Marissa was raped."

"Holy---!" RC exclaimed.

"Devon's going to go through the roof when he hears that," the technician added, "It's a miracle she's held onto her sanity." She paused a moment to calm down before she added, "We pretty much know that child is Devon's missing niece. If I know Devon, he's going to go after the…the kidnapper and gain custody of Marissa. If either one's going to stand up in court, we'll need some concrete evidence of her identity, more than what he's told us about her."

Michael knew she had been about to call the man something uglier than "kidnapper". He nodded and said grimly, "Bonnie, does the Foundation have the facilities to run DNA testing? That would be as concrete as it gets and still be admissible in court."

"Yes, back at Foundation HQ. She'd need to have her blood drawn."

"I think you'd have to go through three people to get that done," RC put in grimly.

"Devon, Marissa and Kitt, I know," the other man answered, "But if we've got any chance of keeping her out of this monster's hands, it'll have to be done."

"Devon and I are going to have to really work on Kitt, and I'm not talking about maintenance," Bonnie added with a nod, "I don't think programming can be put in to eliminate or inhibit his new capacity to lie to us, so something else will have to be done."

The men nodded, wondering just how they were going to handle this.