Michael and Kitt pulled into the Foundation garage, somewhat hurriedly to April's way of thinking. Michael nearly leapt out of the car. Kitt immediately popped open his hood. April, assuming that Kitt needed immediate emergency servicing, headed for him. Michael intercepted her and picked her up.

"You wait here," he said, placing her a short distance from Kitt.

"Michael –"

"On it, pal. Give me a minute." Michael was hunting around the garage.

"Michael, what is going on?" asked April, growing more confused by his actions.

"Well, you see . . . the case we just finished up –"

April sniffed. "The stripper who witnessed a murder."

"That's the one. Kitt and I got to Vanessa before the hitman did. But, well, there was a complication. Speaking of which, Kitt, are you still able to monitor –"

"Yes. But please hurry."

"Complication?" April took an instinctive step towards Kitt.

"April, no! Stay back!" Kitt sounded panicked.

"We were taking Vanessa and her partner –"

"That snake," muttered Kitt.

"—to safety when the hitman came after us. He started shooting, and I ended up making a hard turn to get away from him."

"Kitt is bulletproof, you know."

"Yeah, but I know from personal experience, bullets shot at Kitt can ricochet with deadly consequences. I was trying to get us away from any innocent bystanders."

"So Vanessa's partner did something to Kitt?"

Michael chuckled. "Sid went where he shouldn't."

"Michael, this is not funny."

"Aha! There it is."

Michael grabbed a space heater from under a workbench and an extension cord from a hook on the wall. He plugged in the heater and set it very close to Kitt.

"What did this guy Sid do? Something to harm Kitt, I assume."

"Not a guy, a snake." Michael was still chuckling.

Kitt elaborated. "A literal snake. Vanessa uses a python in her act. She insisted on bringing it with her."

"When I made the turn, Sid's cage slid off the back seat onto the floor and the top came off."

"And then that thing crawled into my vents!"

"In your . . ." April put her hand over her mouth, trying hard not to scream as she took a step back from Kitt.

"Yup. We could see Sid staring at us as we drove here, so we know where he is. We dropped Vanessa off with Devon, who will get her settled. Now we need to get Sid out of Kitt, so we can get him settled." Michael pulled something out of the car. "Okay, pal. Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Kitt sounded resigned.

Michael put the item he was holding down and reassured his partner. "Yes, you do. What do you choose?"

"I don't see an alternative."

"I will be quick, and this will be painless. April is right here. She'll have you right as rain in no time flat."

"Just do it," sighed Kitt.

Michael reached into the engine compartment. He gently and carefully pulled out the CPU that was Kitt. The oscillating red light at the front of the Trans-Am stopped and winked out.

"Michael, what are –"

Michael shrugged. "Only thing I can think of. Snakes are cold-blooded, so Sid needs an external heat source. The engine's off and Kitt's brainbox is out, which means there's nothing generating heat. The garage is air conditioned and covered, so the car should already be cooling off. I've set up the space heater close enough for Sid to sense its warmth. Now all we have to do is wait for Sid to come out on his own."

"You can wait. I'm not hanging around." April snatched Kitt's CPU from Michael. "Neither is Kitt."

"Hey!"

"Kitt and I will be in the Home Office. At the other end of the property. With all the doors locked tight. Call Kitt on your commlink when you have that snake in its cage."

April marched off, cradling Kitt in both arms. Michael looked after her, then shrugged. He settled down in a nearby chair, hoping Sid would get cold enough to come out soon. After all, Vanessa was going to want her partner back just as much as Michael wanted his back.

Author's Note:This was sparked by EDITHCardiBruno's vignettes Seagulls, Dogs, and Pigeons, as well as the funniest episode of Car Talk ever (pretty much the same plot as above: guy has a snake that gets out and into the vent). EDITHCardiBruno also helped as a sounding board and editor on the draft of this.