Michael Knight was not a man who accepted failure easily.

Sometimes it was endearing.

Sometimes it was irritating…

It wasn't something Karr had ever considered but it was obvious the more time he spent with the man. None was so obvious as the chaos they stepped into upon driving back into the garage. Kitt had the good decency to slow down to a speed that Karr could somewhat keep up with.

Likely it gave him a moment to think which was something that the obviously overwhelmed Trans-Am needed.

By the time they actually hit the garages, everyone and their brother had heard what happened out on the test track. They came into a lab full of concerned technicians with lots of questions and very few answers.

Karr made a beeline for his spot under the workbench as Kitt pulled into his parking spot and obediently opened his hood. That was something that always amazed Karr about Kitt. In the lab he was created in, Karr trusted very few to open his hood. Wilton was usually present when his CPU was being directly worked with.

Now Bonnie had full access to his CPU at any time and it was occasionally a little unnerving. The idea that his CPU could be picked up at any time, even crushed and he would have no say in it whatsoever sometimes caused his self preservation programming to flair up. The barriers kept him in at a reasonable amount though. Trust was something he was still building.

Kitt didn't seem to think anything of opening his hood for a room full of scientists to poke and prod around in his engine compartment. Though to be fair, as far as he knew, Bonnie was present every time Kitt's hood was open.

Bonnie immediately set to work, wrangling Michael in to help her. Others tried to step in but this was their ballgame now. Which meant Bonnie only wanted a select few of her team around. Kitt's CPU was pulled again and Bonnie went over every connection and relay.

They finished out the car and fit Kitt back into it, making certain that every connection was now specifically responding to Kitt.

It was hours before the activity in the lab died down enough for Karr to be able to scoot out from under the workbench and nudge lightly at his brother. Kitt was still that primer white color, but the MBS would be applied the next morning. It was a milky white in color, and smelled horribly strong, which was why the human members of the team had decided to let the garage air out before they applied it. It was in a clear jar and had a powdery texture to it and would be mixed with standard paint to be applied. The shell itself would turn clear once it was mixed into the paint, allowing the high gloss of the paint to stand out.

Kitt's cameras focused on that jar as if it were his doom about to be applied to him. Karr didn't entirely understand that. Wouldn't it make Kitt feel safer to know he was protected by the MBS?

It took another firm thump to get Kitt's attention enough that the pair could meet at the barrier between their CPUs again.

/You are worried./ Karr stated in a matter of fact tone.

/Applying the MBS is one of the final steps. Once it's done, I'll be field ready again. I will be expected to go back to that place again…/ Kitt sent back and Karr considered that.

That… Was logical.

That was what would happen, yes.

For a change he understood his brother's reasoning. The differences in their programming sometimes meant he didn't… Kitt was bound by his programming to disregard his own safety in favor of preserving a human life. Karr obviously was not.

For once though, Karr understood Kitt's fear. That place was where it all started. Of course he didn't want to go back to that place. That was where the acid was… That was where bad things happened. Perhaps through Kitt's corrupted files and CPU he couldn't entirely remember the bad things that happened but it didn't mean Kitt was ignorant of it.

Karr hesitated before a solution slowly found its way into his CPU, the Rover rolling out from under the workbench. As much as Kitt did not want to go back to that place, Karr did not want him to go back to that place…

The intense fear that Kitt might not come back again, sat heavy in the AI.

It took a moment for him to be able to grasp the jar with those pincher hands, but once he did, he drug the thing over to one of the work benches, pushed it under, then promptly rolled off to find a few boxes to push in front of it. They would never find it there…

/I don't think that will help, Karr./ Kitt pointed out, his voice clearly amused.

/It will for a short while./ Karr assured. /Bonnie still has not found her wrench that I hid./

/That was you? She was really pissed about that./

/Then she should not have said that I looked like a space crab./ Karr stated firmly, causing Kitt to give a short burst of amused static.

As Karr approached Kitt again, the pair fell to a companionable silence.

Each lost in their own thoughts but still resting closer to the barrier. There wasn't much that separated them. Like two people sitting back to back with each other along a chain link fence. The barrier would not let them cross into each other's space, but they could still feel one another.

/My MBS had no protection whatsoever from the acid./ Kitt finally said after a time.

That was a little surprising. Karr turned that information over in his CPU as he gave Kitt his full attention. /You remember?/

/Some of the corrupted data is clearing up. Not much, but enough to remember what happened further than Bonnie's notes./ Kitt explained.

Karr didn't say anything. There was no need. He just pressed against the barrier, trying to give his brother as much comfort as he could.

/I was afraid I lost you./ Karr admitted softly.

Kitt seemed to consider that, his answer hesitant once he came up with one. /I… Work a dangerous job. I may not always come back. But you'll still be ok. You know that right? There will always be someone here to take care of you./

It was Karr's turn to slowly turn that information over in his CPU and try to process it. /I know I will be alright. I am the prototype for the car of the future. I am nothing if not adaptable./ Karr pointed out, a long pause then given. /I just- I prefer you to be active. So do your best to come back./

/I'll try./ Kitt assured, an amused tone taken on.

/And do not go for any more swims in acid./ Karr protested.

That time, Kitt really did laugh, his voice modulator breaking into an amused, electronic whine.

xXx

"I must be losing my mind, I could have sworn I left it right here…" Bonnie muttered the next morning as she searched for the jar of the MBS powder. Plastic had already been laid out, the paint was ready to mix, Kitt had been taped off, they were ready to go. So where was the jar?

"Didn't you leave it here?" Michael asked, stepping around the space that the jar had been sitting the night before.

"I thought I did, but it's gone now… Maybe one of the techs picked it up." She muttered, heading off to another part of the lab to find out.

Michael sighed softly, a glance given over to where Kitt and Karr were parked. The Rover had his camera folded in close to his boxy frame and both pincher arms were pulled in like a praying mantis. Even Kitt seemed rather quiet, his scanner slowly pacing back and forth.

One might think they were quiet and content. Someone who didn't know them better than he did would think that.

He had never seen a more guilty looking pair in his life.

"Alright you two… What did you do?"

"Really Michael…" Kitt started, though a sharp look from Michael drew a sigh from the Trans-Am. A purely unneeded reaction, but after so many years of working together, the Trans-Am was picking up Michael's habits.

Michael's gaze shifted over to Karr then. He suspected Kitt, but lacking any form of hands… Kitt definitely had help… These days Karr had become Kitt's partner in crime. "Karr…" Michael said slowly, coming over to crouch down in front of the Rover. Karr remained suspiciously silent. Michael wasn't sure if the AIs realized how obvious they were. Karr at least didn't. The older AI hadn't entirely picked up on those social cues yet He always knew when Kitt was hiding something. Karr didn't like lying so when he was guilty of something he remained silent. Where as if either of them were innocent of what they were being accused of, both would quickly protest.

"Karr… If I have to start giving out orders, I'm gonna be pissed. Now I know Kitt had something to do with it, but he definitely had help… From someone with hands… Possibly little pincher hands… So do I need to make it an order for you to answer me?" Michael asked bluntly.

To no one's surprise, Karr let out a distressed, electronic sound. The pair were talking to each other. He hadn't realized just how communitive they were until all this went down. Sure he knew they talked. It was like watching two people who shared their own private language though.

Eventually, Karr seemed a little defeated and rolled away without a word. Michael sighed and blindly reached a hand behind him to give Kitt's hood an affectionate pat, keeping his touch gentle and mindful of just how much Kitt felt without the MBS to protect him. "Wanna tell me what that was all about?"

"Don't be angry with Karr, Michael." Kitt pleaded without really answering the question.

"I'm not… But we're gonna have a talk about that later." Michael insisted, slowly getting to his feet as Karr came back and surprise, surprise… Had the missing Jar clutched tightly in those pincher hands.

Michael took it from him, a somewhat concerned look shot at the Rover. "Thanks, Karr." He said, giving Karr's frame a pat before raising his voice to call to Bonnie. "Hey Bon! Found it!"

"Where the hell was it?" Bonnie called back and Michael smirked.

"Under a workbench. One of the techs must have put it there. Probably didn't want it to get knocked over." Michael called across the lab as Bonnie came back.

Karr watched Michael curiously and Michael shot the Rover a wink as he gave Kitt's hood one final pat and headed off to help Bonnie set up.

The operative wasn't about to snitch on the pair. He wasn't sure what was going on, but… They were both stressed. He was giving them the benefit of the doubt here.

Karr rolled his way under the workbench he had been hiding under since he was allowed back into the lab, his camera poking out from beneath the safety of cover.

Kitt gave a distressed whine which caused Michael to glance over his shoulder and frown at the pair as tarps and plastic were adjusted.

He made a note of that, though he didn't stop the progress either.

The MBS was mixed and the paint was applied. Kitt was looking more like himself. So why did that bring on a feeling of dread?

xXx

Applying the MBS was a process in itself. It took many coats and a lot of time waiting for it to dry to a certain point under UV light. Which Kitt never liked sitting under even under the best of circumstances. The AI almost became fidgety under the UV, even though it wasn't hurting him.

That was something Karr had never been forced to do. The MBS was already applied to the Trans-Am when Wilton installed him in it. Looking back that was probably a stupid thing to do, but Wilton trusted him then.

Once the last coat was applied, Bonnie trudged off to get some rest while Michael flopped down in one of the desk chairs, trying to get down a bowl of Mac and Cheese that one of the techs brought them a few hours before. He leaned back as far as the chair would go with his long legs propped up on the desk.

Once the activity died down, Karr ventured his way out of his hiding place under the workbench and now parked between Kitt and Michael. Which was rather unfortunate placement because for some reason Michael felt it was alright to use Karr's boxy frame as a table and set a can of coke on the Rover. Which Karr took some offense to, though already being in hot water he wasn't going to argue about it.

He hadn't appreciated being used as a table even as a Trans-Am, he certainly didn't like it as a Rover. It had that camera focusing on the can and eyeing it every time Michael set it down on him.

"Alright so… One of you wanna tell me what's going on with you two?" Michael said after a while, breaking the silence of the garage as he absently gestured to the pair with a fork, still sporting a single, cheesy noodle.

"That was my fault, Michael." Kitt pointed out, though Karr gave out a soft, electronic sound of annoyance. Karr was just as much at fault as Kitt was. Hell it had been Karr's idea.

"You don't even have hands to pick the jar up." Karr pointed out.

"Well, I'm the one you did it for." Kitt protested, the two working their way up into an argument before Michael gave out a sharp whistle.

"Alright, alright…" Michael let out a deep sigh and set his bowl aside. He picked up the coke can from where it was sitting on Karr's frame and finished it off. The empty can was then tossed in a rather impressive shot across the room into the recycling bin. He then stood, spinning the chair around and straddling it so that he could give both AIs his full attention.

Kitt rolled back a few inches and Karr got the distinct impression this was something the pair just did… Like some silent communication between the two who entirely lacked the connection that AIs could have. They just knew each other that well…

"I don't want to go back to that place." Kitt finally stated, his voice soft but firm and Michael nodded as if he suspected that. "I can't do this. Any of it."

"You can." Michael said as if that was just simple facts.

"How can you be so sure, Michael? What if Dr. Voorman is right? What if I can't be trusted under pressure?" Kitt pointed out. Karr hadn't even been aware Kitt had heard that. He made a mental note to run over Voorman's foot later. It would be worth it. That line of thinking already had the barriers that prevented him from causing harm to a human buzzing to life but for the moment, Karr was able to ignore it.

"Voorman is an idiot." Michael stated firmly.

"But Michael-" Kitt started though Michael just shook his head firmly.

"Kitt, I'm your partner aren't I?" Michael

"Yes…" Kitt stated slowly as if he wasn't sure where this was going.

"We're a team right?" Michael went on and again Kitt agreed slowly.

"Yes…"

"I know you better than anyone, don't I?" Michael asked and Kitt once more agreed.

"Yes…"

"You've always trusted me to watch your back, the same way I've watched yours." Michael pointed out. "You've always trusted that I would take care of you, no matter what. You've always trusted me. So why don't you trust me now?"

"Yes, I trusted you. I trusted you and you weren't there." Kitt corrected abruptly, raising his voice in an almost accusing tone. "I called for you and you weren't there."

Michael froze at that. Eventually, he nodded his agreement. "You're right. I couldn't help you and I'm sorry."

Karr felt as if he were intruding on something very private. This conversation was something that needed to happen between partners and he was certainly not that. Slowly he rolled backward, though Michael reached out without even looking and took a hold of one of those pincher arms. "Oh no ya don't, Hot Wheels. You stay right there."

Karr gave out an electronic whine. Michael knew exactly what he was doing and the direct order kept Karr glued to the spot.

"I get it. This whole thing was a lot to handle."

"If you're suggesting I'm afraid Michael… I do not feel fear. However, I must obey my dominant programming. The preservation of human life. You could be hurt." Kitt stated firmly and Michael shook his head, vaguely gesturing to the pair of them.

"Bull Shit." Michael said firmly.

"You two throw that out there whenever things get the least bit uncomfortable." Michael pointed out. "Yes I could be hurt, but so could you and if you're afraid of that… It's ok. We all know you two feel emotions. Hell, a couple weeks ago, Karr was afraid of a bunch of Trick or Treaters." Michael pointed out.

"I was not afraid. I was concerned for the safety of the estate once the parameters were breached." Karr stated flatly, drawing a smirk from Michael.

"Sure Karr. We were gonna be taken out by a bunch of Elementary school kids…" Michael mused.

"Someone neglected to inform me of the nature of their intent." Karr pointed out.

"How about the intent of Oscar the Grouch?" Michael pointed out and Karr let out an irritated rumble..

"He is a menace to society," Karr finally declared.

Michael smiled and shook his head. He had the good graces not to mention Karr's terror of the dark. The operative turned his focus back to Kitt. "The point is… That if you were afraid, it would be alright. Hell, I was afraid. I still am."

"Of what?" Kitt asked softly.

"Well… When we were out at that waste site… I was afraid of losing you. I was afraid, because the first time you really needed me… I couldn't help you. When we came back here, I was afraid you were gone. It took them a long time to repair your CPU enough for you to go back into it. That whole time, we didn't know where you were. Just that Karr said, he had you. I was afraid I wouldn't get to talk to you again. Do you know what I was doing that whole time?"

Kitt hesitated and when he didn't answer, Michael smiled and gave a half hearted shrug.

"Praying… I haven't talked to God in a long time but for those hours, I sat beside what was left of your CPU and I prayed." Michael explained. "I did that… Because I was afraid and I didn't know where else to go or what else to do. I don't think you realize just what you mean to a lot of people. I'm not so sure you realize just what you mean to us. To me.."

Both AIs fell silent for the moment and Michael got up from his seat, moving around to the driver's side. Kitt didn't say a word as he popped the door open, allowing Michael to drop down into the seat without actually touching the still drying MBS.

Karr remained where he was, a little reluctant to disturb the moment between partners. He retook his spot beneath the workbench, avoiding chords and power relays as Michael leaned his head back against Kitt's seat, speaking in low tones. "Do you remember, way back when we first met, Kitt?" He asked and Kitt gave a somewhat hesitant affirmation that he did.

AIs never really forgot. Sometimes they wished they could, but they didn't. Not without having data purged from their system and even then, it wasn't as easy as deleting a file.

"I remember…" Kitt said softly.

"You talked me through so many bad nights back then. You might not know why though. When I was still Michael Long…" Michael paused and waved a hand, soft sigh given. "You know that part. But what you might not know is while I was still recovering… When I woke up… I kept seeing that flash of the muzzle. Over and over again. For months, every time someone lit a match, turned on a flashlight… Even just headlights hitting wrong… I would flinch. I couldn't get that shot out of my head."

"How did you get over it?" Kitt asked after a time and Michael reached out to give Kitt's dash an affectionate pat.

"I didn't. Some things you never really do. You add them up to experience and learn to move past them. Work around them. I still have nightmares about a flash going off in my face. I still have nightmares about some of the things I saw over in Vietnam or some of the things I saw as a cop. Even some of our cases stuck with me for a while. I'll tell ya, a shrink would just love to get a look inside this head," Michael quipped, lifting a hand to tap his finger against his right temple. "This wasn't the first time you've been hurt, Kitt. So what about this time, makes it stand out so much?"

Kitt was quiet for a long while, a shutter going through the vehicle as if repelled just from the thought of it. "It was the first time… It was my own stupid mistake." Kitt admitted after a while. "When you make a mistake, you have back up. You have second chances to make it right. When I make a mistake, there's rarely a second chance."

Michael remained silent, tapping the steering wheel soothingly as he waited for Kitt to go on.

"I knew what they were planning to do. I drove right into that fork lift's path. I froze. There are a dozen things I could have done but, my CPU just wouldn't come up with anything." Kitt explained and Michael nodded quietly. "I can't remember much of it. My memory circuits are too corrupted. But what I do remember… What's slowly clearing up. Was just…" Kitt faded off for a moment, a brief crackle of his vocalizer coloring his words. "There are no words…"

"Yeah… Yeah, I get that." Michael muttered softly.

Michael leaned back in the seat, for a long while staring up at the t-top roof of Kitt's interior before he spoke again. "It was a first for me too, ya know. You've never directly asked me for help before. I knew it was bad the moment you started calling for me… And I couldn't do anything about it…"

"It wasn't your fault Michael…" Kitt pointed out and Michael shrugged.

"It wasn't yours either."

Kitt didn't have an answer for that. Eventually Michael got out of the car, careful not to disturb the drying paint.

"Alright you two. I'm gonna go grab a shower and get some more work done. You two try not to scare any techs while I'm gone." Michael said firmly, a smile shot to the pair. "Tomorrow's a big day."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kitt grumbled quietly.