Bonnie walked out of her motel room first thing the next morning, looking around and sizing up the day. The sun was rising on a bright, clear day, though it was a little chilly. KITT was parked just over, in front of Michael's door, and she strolled out to the car, giving him an affectionate pat on the roof. "Good morning, KITT."
"Good morning, Bonnie," KITT replied.
"Is Michael up yet?" She had no idea how late he had been out last night on his snooping (she couldn't apply the word discreet, even just in her thoughts). KITT still hadn't returned by the time she went to bed, and that had been late by her standards.
"Yes, he is. He went out jogging a little while ago."
Bonnie was surprised. She would have expected him to be reluctantly up if he was up, not out on a run. "How much sleep did he get?"
"Not enough," KITT noted disapprovingly. "He rarely does on an assignment; he has trouble shutting his mind off once he is in case mode. He usually catches up on sleep or at least tries to between them. He does try to fit in a run any morning he can, though, even while we are investigating. He says that he spends so much time sitting in me that he doesn't want to get out of shape."
Speaking of sitting in KITT, she opened the door and slid into the driver's seat to continue the conversation. She had to admit that she privately enjoyed the opportunity. Basically all of her usual time with KITT was spent fine-tuning and repairing him. She rarely had a chance to simply sit in the driver's seat and appreciate this incredible car. She had thought fleetingly yesterday when they set out that it would be nice if they could alternate driving duties on the trip, but naturally, that hadn't happened. Michael might not have been as bad to talk to as she expected along the way, but he definitely hadn't made any move toward yielding the controls. So now, she got a small inner thrill out of taking advantage of his absence for some personal time with KITT.
Of course, once she was in, she realized that the seat was way too far back, the pedals in a different zip code than her feet. Michael was so tall. Whenever she was working on the car around the dash, that extra room was appreciated; now, it felt a little awkward. She forced herself not to adjust the seat. KITT would question why she was doing it when they weren't even going anywhere and were simply parked, and she didn't want to admit to the car that part of her was jealous at times of his driver. She rested her feet on the floorboard, not on the unreachable pedals, and looked across the dash.
"How are you doing, KITT?" she asked.
"I am doing very well at the moment," the car replied. "You just finished calibrating everything yesterday morning, and none of our activities so far have necessitated a readjustment. The microjam yesterday was the most active thing that I have done in the last day, and with something only the weight of a Jeep, that isn't a strain on circuits."
Yesterday. She remembered Michael walking out across KITT's hood to meet the Jeep, and she shuddered again. For the first time, she wondered whether Michael might have jostled and misaligned parts at times after missions. If so, he never showed it. "Really, KITT, how often does he do things like that stunt yesterday?" she asked.
"With amazing frequency. That Jeep, like many things, was something we encountered randomly and didn't go searching for, but once he is on a mission, however he got on it, he is absolutely locked in. Even if it's a mission he didn't want, like some of Devon's assignments. He will do all sorts of things that worry me in his pursuit of the truth."
At that precise moment, a section of the dash lit up, and Michael's voice filled the car, startling her. "KITT, I need you."
KITT roared to life almost before the words were completed. "On my way, Michael."
Bonnie shook her head as the car backed out, spun, and hit the road, driving more recklessly on his own than Michael had at any point yesterday. "How can he get in trouble jogging?" she asked.
"Trust me, he can and he has," KITT replied. "Bonnie, you need to move out of the driver's seat."
She stiffened up. She hadn't been making any attempt to handle the car herself so far and wasn't impeding his response; she didn't see what difference it made, and the abrupt request coming on top of her thoughts a moment ago that she never really got to drive him ruffled her. She felt a little like a parent being kicked out of the newly independent adult child's apartment. "Why? You're the one driving; I'm just sitting here."
"Michael will automatically move toward the left when I arrive," KITT answered, "and any delay, even a few seconds, for him to have to adjust course to the other side once he sees you could further complicate his current situation. In addition, once he did move over, the right seat isn't adjusted to his height, and that would slow him down fitting himself in. He never uses those words unless matters are urgent, Bonnie. Never. Please move over." KITT's tone was growing increasingly worried, pleading with her now.
Still a little hurt, she climbed across the center console. At least the driver's seat being so far back left plenty of room for exiting it. Once again, she was just a passenger.
KITT sped through the streets of what allegedly was supposed to be a quiet town. The video screen came to life as he scanned, and Bonnie watched the small pips on the screen. Michael's comlink signal was clear, a green X, but there were two other red X's nearby. The green one moved slightly, but the red ones obviously had it cornered. They closed in. Even just as pips on a screen, this looked sinister, and Bonnie set her own feelings aside.
KITT sped around the last corner and self-applied the turboboost, jumping a high wire fence, and Bonnie heard the gunshots at the same time she felt the jolt of landing. KITT thrust himself forward. They had landed in a storage area, and as he turned down one lane between the closed and locked units, bullets ricocheted off his shell with a display of out-of-season fireworks. Bonnie flinched. She knew as well as anyone that the car was bulletproof, but she couldn't help reacting to that.
"Michael!" KITT stopped across the first side aisle off the main one, and the left door swung open as the car called. Bonnie saw Michael unfold himself from a storage unit doorway he had taken shelter in, and he ran toward them. For just the first few strides, Bonnie thought he was favoring one ankle, but the abnormality disappeared so quickly she wasn't sure if she had imagined it. He tucked himself in KITT as a final shot from the other side hit the window directly next to Bonnie's head. She jumped sharply, and Michael somehow even in this moment grinned at her as he closed the driver's door.
"KITT's bulletproof, Bonnie. Remember?" He gripped the wheel, and KITT smoothly switched from auto to normal cruise without request.
"I know," she tossed back. "Those people were trying to kill you!"
"Yes," Michael agreed. "That's encouraging, isn't it, pal? Confirmation that we're on the right track. I touched a nerve somewhere last night."
"I'd prefer to get confirmation of that in easier ways than an attempt on your life," KITT replied.
Michael hit the accelerator and drove on down the main aisle, then rounded the building, heading back for the exit. "Thanks, KITT. You're right on time as usual."
"I wish you wouldn't put it that way," KITT protested. "What happens the day I'm not?"
"Hasn't happened yet." Michael gave the dash a pat. "Scan the area, partner. Where did those men go?"
"The men have disappeared, but I scan a car leaving the vicinity at a high rate of speed," KITT answered. The video screen lit up, showing the rapidly escaping car along the road.
"Let's go." Michael floored it, and once again, as yesterday with the Jeep, his eyes were intent, his focus absolute. Bonnie watched his expression and wondered if he had fully registered yet through the adrenaline that someone had just tried to shoot him.
"Michael," KITT warned, "there is a train track two blocks ahead of us, and a train is approaching."
"Can they make it?" Michael asked.
"Barely if at all." Bonnie switched her attention from Michael's face to the windshield, and the two of them watched the car whisk across the tracks by a whisker as the train roared down upon it.
"Hmm. We can't beat the train ourselves, but we don't want to let them get away." Michael looked over at Bonnie, and his eyes lit up with fun. "KITT, we don't want to worry Bonnie here. We could turboboost, but she doesn't like it when you do that. On the other hand, we could simply hit it and go through. Can your MBS tolerate a direct strike on the side of a moving train? Which option has the least chance of damage to you?" He hadn't decreased speed at all, and the distance to the train was shortening every second.
"Michael!" Bonnie snapped. "Either stop or hit the turboboost!"
"Are you sure?" The train grew closer. "I'd hate to jostle a circuit and upset you." The moving cars were looming in front of them at this point. "You're absolutely sure we have your permission this time?"
"Use the turboboost! MICHAEL!"
At what Bonnie would swear was beyond the last possible second, he hit the turboboost, and KITT soared neatly into the air, jumping the train. They crunched down to the road on the other side, and Michael was once again pure focus, a bloodhound on the scent. "Which way did they go, KITT?"
"I'm sorry, Michael, but we appear to have lost them," KITT replied. "I allowed myself to become distracted while trying to analyze why you were playing with Bonnie regarding the train, and I failed to maintain a scan on them. I don't know which way they went from here."
Michael growled low under his breath, but he at least did slow down to a normal rate of speed. Bonnie let out a deep breath. "Don't EVER do anything like that again," she told him.
Michael grinned at her. "But you gave us permission to turboboost that time. I was just doing what you told us to."
Bonnie shook her head. "You know good and well what I meant."
He turned KITT around. "Well, since we've lost them, we might as well go get some breakfast. Quite a start to the day, isn't it, KITT?"
Bonnie sank back against the passenger's seat, feeling weak all of a sudden and not from hunger. "Does this happen a lot?" she asked tentatively after a minute.
KITT replied. "I will assume you are talking about the attempt on Michael's life, since I already yesterday gave you the statistics on our use of the turboboost. I calculate that in 38% of our cases, someone at some point tries to kill Michael."
"38%?" Bonnie looked over at him.
"Relax, Bonnie. It does show that we're on the right track, and besides, it's me that people generally try to kill, not KITT, so you don't have to worry."
His tone was still light, but there was perhaps just a shade of seriousness that she heard buried deep under it. Something was there that prompted her to give him a genuine answer instead of a return barb. "I wouldn't want you to get killed either," she said.
His joking expression faded, and he spoke in total sincerity. "Thank you, Bonnie. I appreciate knowing that."
They were silent as they drove back to the motel.