They sat around Mary's living room, drinking hot tea. Candy had kept clinging to her mother, but she was slowly starting to relax, her eyes even drifting closed now, worn out from the events of this day.

Bonnie spoke very softly, keeping an eye on the six-year-old. "If you need any help with counseling or such for a while, either for you or for Candy, the Foundation can assist with that. I'll give you the card with the number."

Mary looked grateful. "Thank you." Her voice was just as soft. "I was more worried for her than me. All the hours tied up to that bomb in the dark, she was terrified, of course. The men had told us that if we yelled, that would set it off. She was trying to be quiet and brave, but she's only six. I kept telling her you'd find us."

Michael looked more angry now than he had back during the crisis. "They were lying. Sound wouldn't have set that one off. They did have it rigged pretty well against someone trying to get you loose, but there was no reason to keep quiet." He clenched his teeth. "Dispatch when I called said that Sheriff Benson was unavailable, but they would pass along the message. Hopefully he's unavailable because he's down at Computech catching everybody."

"Do you think this is over?" Mary asked. Her voice was a little shaky as she looked down at her daughter, sound asleep against her now.

"Yes," Michael said. "It's over, Mary. And with your testimony, there is no chance that these people are getting off. You can nail them on kidnapping and on confessing to the murder, and hopefully Benson can get them on corporate theft."

Bonnie shifted over to the couch next to the other woman. "It's over, Mary," she confirmed. She slid an arm around her, giving her a hug.

Mary shivered. "Warren and Mason were actually bragging about how they set that wreck up. Fortunately, Candy didn't really understand that part. They just called him my old man." She leaned into Bonnie.

At that moment, Michael's commlink beeped. "Yeah, KITT, what is it?"

"The police just arrived, Michael."

"Thanks, buddy." Michael stood up and walked to the window, looking out. "Benson in person." He looked back at the women on the couch with the sleeping child, then said, "I'll find out." He closed the front door softly on his way out, though he still looked mad.

"It's all over, Mary," Bonnie repeated. "It's okay."

Mary shook her head. "They killed Rick. They actually killed him. Over some stupid high-tech secret. That's not worth somebody's life!" Candy shifted as her tone rose on the end, and Mary immediately quieted back down.

"I know. It's not. Again, if you need any kind of help, just let the Foundation know. It's going to be tough, and I'm not minimizing that, but you and Candy are going to make it through everything."

"Yes. Thanks, Bonnie. Michael is amazing, but sometimes, it just helps to talk with another woman."

"You can call me, too, if you want, and we can talk. I'll give you my number." Bonnie surprised herself with the offer. She wasn't much for keeping up with people usually, being more focused with her work. The reunion that she was heading to would have plenty of people that she hadn't seen or talked to in years. She had even considered skipping it and working instead, and it was Devon who had urged her to take the time off in the first place, saying she needed a vacation.

But this was the real work of the Foundation, she realized. People. Not just technology, but people. That was the goal of her job, the goal of Michael's job, the purpose of KITT. And she was part of it, felt more a part of it today than she ever had. The satisfaction of seeing KITT perform in the field to that end and of putting faces to the people helped surpassed any pride she had ever had on a breakthrough in the lab. She really was interested in keeping up with Mary. "I mean it," she said with total sincerity.

"Thanks." Mary looked toward the front window. "Wonder what they're talking about."

"We'll find out soon enough," Bonnie told her.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, Michael reentered. "Everything's okay," he reassured her up front. "Benson will talk to you himself when he can, but we didn't want to wake up Candy. They caught everybody at Computech, including the buyers."

"And Mason and Warren?"

"Yes, they were there to get their cut. They didn't really trust the others - with reason. And they wanted their share as soon as the money was exchanged. Benson had enough sense to put them in several different squad cars on the way to jail, and Mason and Warren are both already trying to make a deal. Between them, they've confessed to everything. Of course, they're minimizing their own parts, but they'll make good witnesses. It's over. And Benson said to tell you that he's sorry, and he will contact the life insurance company tomorrow morning himself when they open and send them a revised accident report."

Mary smiled for the first time that day. It was a weak smile, but it was there. "Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Bonnie. I guess you've got to go now."

"Yeah, we really need to hit the road. Oh, one other thing, Mary." He paused long enough to get her full attention. "I was thinking. The next assignment I've got involves the art community. There's a gallery that had a painting stolen, and I'm supposed to track it down. But this owner is connected. If you would let me, I could take along one or two of your paintings to show her. No guarantees. But it would be getting an expert opinion, and if she likes your work, maybe she'd be interested in selling some of it for you."

Mary stared at him, stunned into speechlessness for a moment. Then she jumped up off the couch and seized him in a fierce hug. "Thank you, Michael. That's not enough for everything, but thank you."

Candy stirred and sat up on the couch. "What's going on?"

"Good things, Candy. Come here. Would you like to help me pick out the favorite ones on my paintings?"

"Okay." Candy stood up. "Are you going to start painting again?"

"Yes. Come on; let's see what we can find." The two headed back down the hall to a room, and as the door to it opened, Bonnie wondered if Mary had even been in that room since Rick's death.

She stood up from the couch herself. "That's a good idea, Michael."

"No guarantees, but hopefully it will turn into something for her. Thanks for talking to her, Bonnie. I hadn't thought of the counseling."

"They'll probably need it after all this. But I think they are going to be all right."

"Yes, they are." He looked at his watch. "We really do have to hit the road soon."

"I know. I'm going to need to take a quick look at KITT first, though. He knocked a circuit out of alignment today."

Michael sighed. "Great. And the day was ending so well up until then. All right, Bonnie, let me have it."

"No."

He looked at her. "No?"

"No. No lecture."

He studied her, gauging her sincerity, then slowly started to smile. "Thanks, Bonnie."

"Thank you, Michael. This trip has been - educational."

At that moment, Mary and Candy came back down the hall with three paintings, the enthusiasm of the six-year-old nearly matched by her mother, and they all gathered for a vote.

(KR)

Bonnie woke up, disoriented at first, thinking she heard music. Then she remembered; KITT was driving through the night toward their destination, making up time, and Bonnie and Michael were asleep, using the car as a motel room. She looked around the cabin. KITT had the windows darkened, and almost no light came in from passing traffic outside. She could just see Michael in the glow from the dash lights. He was asleep with the seat reclined. But yes, she did hear music, soft, soothing classical, obviously KITT's selection. Michael probably wouldn't be caught dead listening to this stuff.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie." KITT spoke very softly. "Did the music wake you?"

She kept her voice pitched low as well, glancing over at Michael again, but he didn't stir. "I don't think so. I think I just woke up. It confused me for a minute, though, when I was trying to remember where I was. I'm not used to sleeping in you. Are you having a private concert to yourself?" She smiled at the thought.

"No," KITT replied. After a moment, he said, "However, I do sometimes. At times when I am parked and waiting, I will listen to my own musical selections. I find it very relaxing."

"It is nice." She leaned back into the seat again. "Just don't let him catch you at it. He'd tease you."

"Yes, he would," KITT agreed.

She studied the man in the other seat, thinking of all the revelations of the past few days, and it took her a while to realize that KITT had changed the subject a minute ago. "Wait. What do you mean you weren't having a private concert? We were both asleep. If this isn't a private concert, what is it?"

The silence extended for several seconds, and then KITT replied. "Do not mention this to him, Bonnie. I don't mind him teasing me, or even teasing him myself on trivialities, but I have no wish to make him uncomfortable. Not on serious subjects."

"Mention what?" she asked.

KITT's voice dropped even lower, and she had to sit up again to hear at all. "He has dreams at times. Bad dreams. I track his vitals through the nights, and when he seems to be getting trapped in unpleasant dreams, I play him some music softly. It seems to help relax him. I have never asked what he dreams about, but I think it's safe to assume that classical music isn't part of them, and introducing that on a low level can help sometimes to lead him out of whatever he was experiencing. If my sensors detect he is starting to wake up, I stop it before he realizes what I was doing."

Bonnie looked over at Michael again. "He seems to be sleeping totally soundly."

KITT's screen lit up. "This was 15 minutes ago." She studied the unmistakable evidence of the figures. No, whatever that dream was, it wasn't a pleasant one. "And this is what happened after the music started." KITT scrolled through the readings at an accelerated rate, but the pattern was clear. The music did seem to reach Michael and start to calm him down. The moving readout finally stopped. "And this is now," KITT concluded.

The numbers were still somewhat higher than she would have suspected from looking at him, but they had improved greatly. She shook her head. "I never would have guessed." So much was hidden. She had seen so many new aspects of Michael during the last two days. Yet the impatient, brash, obnoxious maverick who could get on her nerves and even did it deliberately once in a while, that was also Michael. "There's more to him than on the surface."

"Much more," KITT agreed. "I made the same quick negative judgment, Bonnie. On our first case, I did not like him initially. I didn't want to be his partner. I had no choice by programming, but I didn't want to be. He felt the same about me at first. But the more time you spend with him, the more he grows on you, and you realize the quality of him. By this point, I consider him my closest friend, and I know the feeling is mutual. Wilton Knight, I think, had clearer vision than any of us, and he knew what he was doing in selecting Michael. He is a good man, Bonnie."

She couldn't deny that, thinking of all she'd seen since they left the Foundation on their cross-country trip. "Yes," she agreed. "He is. But he still can be annoying sometimes." But there was a new note of respect beneath her often-expressed frustration.

"Oh, definitely," KITT agreed. "He is stubborn to a fault, impatient, has questionable tastes - but he is a good man."

She glanced at her watch. It was still the middle of the night, and she leaned back in the seat and let her eyes close again. "Good night, KITT," she said.

"Good night," KITT replied.

The music carried her back into rest.