Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying this story.

Those who already know this fic will notice that the following chapter is new.

Disclaimer: Glen A. Larson and Universal own the Knight Rider characters in this story. Bonnie's family and her family background as well as Scott were created by me.

Chapter 13

They both enjoyed the envious looks they attracted when they sat down in a quiet corner of the bar. Michael was surprised that despite the holiday the place was crowded. He wondered whether Bonnie had come there often while she was still living in Boston. She seldomly went out with friends in California and spent most of her time working and designing new gadgets for KITT. He decided that once they'd returned home, he would try to be more persistent and get her out of the lab and away from the computer more often.

Bonnie looked around while she took a sip from her glass. She wondered what people thought about her and Michael. Did they assume they were on a date or even married? She smiled at the idea that someone might think she could be Michael's wife.

"This is a lot nicer than the Buckaroo." Michael laughed, reminding her on the country bar they had visited when the Foundation had organized the summit.

"It wasn't that bad. I liked it. Devon, on the other hand, didn't feel too comfortable." Bonnie remembered that he had felt out of place.

"Didn't stop him from eating my chili." Michael grinned. Though Devon had claimed if tasted awful, he had eaten quite a lot from Michael's chili. "You looked great with that cowboy hat. I almost didn't recognize you."

She smiled, remembering his reaction when he saw her. He hadn't taken his eyes off her that evening and she had enjoyed it. They had only met a few months before and she had pretended not to care about his attempts to flirt with her and had played the hard to get game instead.

He reached for her hand again and gently caressed it with his fingers. She didn't pull back, just like she hadn't at the symphony. He knew he had to be careful and not move too fast. This was Bonnie and not one of the flings he used to have. He'd be content just holding her hand and he'd wait until it was time to for the next step.

"Who came up with the plan to rescue me from Scott? You or Lauren?" Bonnie curiously asked. She hoped he'd hold her hand for the rest of the evening.

"It was my plan. Lauren helped with the tickets." Michael answered proudly. He was relieved that his plan had worked. Lauren had been gone to extreme length to convince the staff at the symphony that it was absolutely necessary that they'd sit next to Bonnie and Scott. She had offered to buy the couple who originally sat there better seats and they had gladly accepted. "I wasn't sure whether it would work. We both wanted you to enjoy the evening and we knew you wouldn't be able to if we didn't interfere." He had seen the happy and relieved look on her face when he had sat down next to her. "Bon, I noticed that you didn't talk to Scott and you seemed angry. I know it's none of my business and I accept if you don't want to talk about it. I just have to ask. Did Scott do anything to hurt or upset you?"

Bonnie looked in his eyes. She saw that he was concerned that she had been hurt. "He didn't do anything. Scott's a gentleman. He'd never do anything to hurt me." She paused wondering if she should tell him why she was so upset. "It's what he said that made me angry."

"What did he say?" He asked quietly. He hoped she wouldn't think he was too curious.

She now avoided his gaze and looked at their hands instead which made Michael regret his question. Bonnie 's hesitant answer showed him that she didn't want to talk about what had happened between her and Scott.

Bonnie wished he hadn't asked as this conversation seemed to ruin the closeness they had just shared. But she had to give him an answer because she wanted to be honest with him. "He said neither you nor my job were good for me." Her words were uttered in a low voice, hardly to be heard.

He took a deep breath. He wasn't surprised that Scott didn't think he was good for Bonnie. But he hadn't thought that Scott would mention this to Bonnie and even criticize her job as it was to be expected that she would become angry. Knowing her passion for her job, he assumed she had defended her work. Had she also defended him?

"He also told me he had feelings for me and asked me to give him another chance." She looked up again, trying to read from his face how he'd react to Scott's declaration of love.

Again, he wasn't surprised. It was obvious that Scott was interested in Bonnie. ""No wonder he wasn't happy when we showed up." He answered quickly, hoping to hear her say that she didn't have feelings for Scott. "What did you tell him?"

"That my feelings haven't changed." She said quietly. Was this the right moment for her to tell him that he was the one she had feelings for? "I 've never been interested in him romantically. We are friends, that's all." Bonnie felt the need to clarify her relationship to Scott. She didn't want Michael to think that she had been romantically involved with Scott. "He seems to think differently though. He doesn't want to accept that there will never be more than friendship."

"Was this the reason why you broke up with him in college and why he transferred schools?" The moment he finished the sentence he wished the music was louder and she wouldn't have heard his words. He immediately knew from her reaction that she had heard what he had said. She let go of his hand and looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Who told you about what happened back then? Was it Lauren?" Her voice sounded harsh. She had never mentioned to him that she had given in and gone on a few dates with Scott in college. She hadn't told him that Scott had transferred schools either. It wasn't a secret. Her family knew that they had briefly dated. However, Bonnie wasn't the type who'd talk about her past relationships and she feared that Michael hadn't found out from Lauren but had asked KITT for information on Scott.

Michael shook his head. He knew that lying wouldn't be an option. KITT had warned him that Bonnie would become upset if she found out that he had searched for information on Scott. This evening could have been his chance to tell Bonnie that he was in love with her. But instead, he had ruined everything with a careless remark.

"You asked KITT for information on Scott." Bonnie stated and he nodded again. "And you accessed my personal file." Though there wasn't anything incriminating or embarrassing in her personal file, she was upset that he had invaded her privacy by accessing it. Why hadn't he asked her if he was curious about Scott?

"I'm sorry, Bonnie." Michael tried to take her hand again, but she shook it off. All he wanted was to turn back the clock and undo the last few minutes. "I was afraid he'd try to hurt you." He wanted her to know that he only did it because he was worried about her. But he knew she wouldn't believe him. Not now. Maybe later, once she would have calmed down and would have reconsidered his motives.

"This doesn't excuse that you invaded my privacy." She looked around but no one paid attention to them. "Scott may be persistent and annoying at times, but he'd never do anything to hurt me. And he'd never snoop around in my or your files."

She felt tears well up in her eyes. This wasn't how this evening should have ended. She had been so close to telling him that she loved him before she found out that he had betrayed her trust. She knew deep down in her heart that Michael only wanted to protect her. However, she was too angry to listen to her heart. "I think it's best we go home now."

She grabbed her purse and her coat and hurriedly headed to the exit. She didn't want to start crying in front of Michael. Maybe the cool air outside would help her regain her composure.

Michael quickly paid for their drinks before following her outside. She was leaning on KITT's hood, trying desperately to fight back the tears. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, tell her how sorry he was and that had never intended to hurt her feelings. But he knew this wasn't the right moment. He'd only drive her away.

He opened the door of the passenger door for her and she slid in without looking at him. He noticed that KITT was quiet as well. He'd been on surveillance, so Michael assumed he knew what had happened and had wisely decided to stay out of it.

Silence filled the cabin while Michael started the engine and drove back to the Barstow's house. Neither he nor Bonnie dared to speak on their way home. Michael was afraid that anything he'd say would upset Bonnie even more. Bonnie, on the other hand, knew she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears if she opened her mouth.

XXX

Raindrops began to fall down on KITT when they arrived at the house. Michael noticed that it had cooled down and he hoped it wouldn't start snowing. He had heard of snow and blizzards on the East Coast and the last he now wanted was to be stuck for a few days. He drove KITT in the garage, then walked over to the passenger door and opened it for Bonnie.

"Thanks." Bonnie mumbled but didn't get out. "I need a few more minutes with KITT. I want to check his systems. It's a long drive back to Los Angeles." A long drive in silence. She already began dreading it.

"Sure. I'll see you later." Michael smiled at her, but she didn't look at him. He watched her for a moment while she pretended to be focused on the dashboard, then left the garage and walked into the house. He hoped working at KITT would give her a chance to cool off so that he could apologize again to her once she was finished. This couldn't wait. He didn't want to spend the drive back to Los Angeles in silence with Bonnie being angry with him.

XXX

She waited until he had walked into the house before she climbed out of KITT's cabin. She opened his trunk and grabbed the overall she always kept there. She didn't want to risk ruining her dress even though she wasn't planning on wearing it again. It would only remind her that this evening went wrong.

She slowly closed the trunk and began with her work. It wouldn't take her long as she had already started the run the system check. She knew she had to focus on KITT now, but she couldn't stop thinking about her fight with Michael and she could no longer hold back her tears.

KITT had stayed quiet for most of their ride back. He would never fully understand people's behavior when love and feelings were involved. He had decided that it was smarter to wait until Bonnie or Michael were ready to talk. Seeing Bonnie cry however made him abandon this plan.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" He asked her with a worried tone in his voice. Of course, she wasn't. He knew that. She wouldn't cry if she was.

She looked up from her screen and paused for a moment. It didn't surprise her that KITT had noticed that she felt miserable. "No, I'm not." She whispered in between sobs.

"Do you want to talk about it?" KITT hated seeing her sad. He assumed that Michael must have upset her in the bar, and they had gotten into an argument. Though he had been on surveillance mode, he hadn't listened in on their conversation.

"Not really." She carefully put down her tools on a table in the garage and sat down in the driver's seat.

"Okay. I'm here if you change your mind." KITT knew she'd talk to him when she was ready. He hated seeing her so sad. She and Michael had been so happy before they decided to stop at the bar, and he hoped they wouldn't stay angry at each other. "Whatever Michael did, I'm sure he didn't mean to upset you."

Bonnie knew KITT would defend Michael. "He accessed my personal file." There was nothing incriminating or embarrassing in her file. It only included information on her family, education, research, and employments. Nothing Michael didn't already knew – apart from the information on her past relationships which were also mentioned in the file. Bonnie never felt the need to talk about the men she had been with since those relationships had ended a long time ago and she didn't think it was important for Michael or Devon to know.

"I told him to ask you instead." KITT stated. "But Michael was worried, Bonnie. He wanted to make sure Scott wouldn't hurt you."

"Then why didn't he ask me, KITT? I would have told him everything he wanted to know about Scott." Bonnie wiped away a few tears from KITT's dashboard.

"May I remind you how you reacted when Michael merely mentioned that Austin Templeton was a criminal? You defended him and you didn't believe Michael. Also, Simon Grant. If Michael hadn't asked me for information on him, you would be dead now." KITT explained. "Michael was afraid that you'd become defensive of Scott and wouldn't want to accept that he could put you in danger. He didn't want to risk that again."

Bonnie thought about what KITT had said. She couldn't blame Michael about wanting her to be safe. She had fallen for men in the past who used her or tried to harm her. And she would have probably reacted as KITT just predicted. She'd defend Scott and would have assumed that Michael was jealous and overreacting.

"Besides, isn't this something you have also done before, Bonnie? How many times have you asked me to give you information on the women Michael went out with? And I believe you were also tempted to access his personal file a few times." KITT reminded her.

She sighed. KITT was right. She'd also retrieved information on some of Michael's girlfriends. And if Michael hadn't told her that Stevie had been his fiancée when she had confronted him, she might have searched for her name in his file.

"Michael cares about you very much, Bonnie. Please don't be angry at him. He had only your best interest in mind." KITT hoped Bonnie would understand that Michael didn't want anything to happen to her. He wondered why it was so complicated and difficult for Bonnie and Michael to realize and to admit how they felt for each other.

Bonnie was no longer crying. Talking to KITT had made realize that she had overreacted. She should have given Michael a chance to explain why he hadn't asked her instead. She would apologize to him and she hoped he'd forgive her. But first, she had to make sure all of KITT's systems were working properly.