A/N: This is important! At the moment, I only have one arc for this story that I am definitely going to write. But, if you guys like it, I have two more I am happy to do. I'll need you guys to tell me if you want to see those! I understand if you won't be sure until the end of this arc, but if you know beforehand, it'd be super helpful :) I'll tell you the titles of all 3 parts at the end of this chapter and if you already think you'd like to see more, please let me know!

"Mommy, can I please have a story?"

The mother looked down at her young daughter lying in bed with an exasperated, if amused, smile. "It's awfully late sweetie. Are you sure you don't just want to get to sleep?"

The little girl shook her head fervently.

Gazing down at her daughter's pleading eyes and hopeful expression, the woman felt her heart melt and sank into the chair beside her bed with a mock sigh. "Alright, alright, you win." She scooted about a bit, getting comfortable, as the girl nestled herself deeper into her covers, a happy grin lighting her face. "Lets see"…the woman said after a moment. "Have I told you the story of the abandoned planet?"

The woman's daughter nodded. "Uh huh!"

"Oh. Well…how about the Slave King?"

"You told me that one too mommy," the girl said, pouting a little.

"I did? Huh…I know, I'll tell you the one about the Lost Wolf. You see, there was this man -"

"Momma."

"Ah. Told you that one too, have I?" the little girl nodded gloomily. The mother deliberated for another few moments before a wistful, almost apprehensive look stole over her features. "…Okay. This one I know I haven't told you. It doesn't have a name, and it's pretty long…you sure you want to hear it?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically, her eyes wide and curious.

"Alright," the woman said. She closed her eyes for a moment and began.

"A long time ago, in a place…very far from here, there was a girl. A woman. Who was very lonely.

"You see, she was born different from most people. She couldn't explain why, or how, but she was not like everyone around her. As a young child, she was never able to make friends, and even her family had a distance she couldn't understand. And as she grew older, nothing changed. To her, it seemed like everyone else in the world had something she didn't, some connection that was lost to her. And it made her lonely.

"She told herself, however, that she preferred it that way. She figured, if she didn't admit to herself she was lonely, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But it still hurt her. She was alone her entire life…

"Until one day she wasn't."

Alexandra Harper unlocked the door to her shop with a small sigh. Not one of depression, or even contentment…weariness perhaps? She wasn't sure. She sighed so often. She contemplated this as she walked to the desk in the center of her shop and dropped her purse into the cupboard beneath it. People sighed so many times in a single day, and it portrayed so many different emotions, sadness, relief, frustration…what an odd way of expressing one's feelings.

Alex sighed once more when she realized she was thinking about something so silly and then lightly chuckled to herself at the irony. She turned on the old computer and went to the small supply closet in the back to grab a broom while it booted up.

She had just gone back outside to sweep in front of the entrance when she heard the strangest sound. It was an odd, wheezing, groaning sound, almost like metal grating against concrete. The wind blew, and the sound grew louder…and then very suddenly stopped. Alex glanced down both sides of the street, seeing nothing. She considered investigating for a moment, but in the end decided against it. She just wanted to get to work.

Quickly finishing her cleanup, Alex retreated into the store, preparing for the usual uneventful day. Most of her business came in on the weekends, and even on a weekday like this, not until the afternoon. She let her employees take care of that. Her computer had finally booted up she noticed; it really was quite old. Of course, her banging on it to make it work when it glitched probably didn't help. Grimacing to herself, Alex began looking through the few online orders she had received, toying with the idea of buying a new one.

The bell that signaled the front door opening sounded, and without looking up Alex said "Welcome to The Bookworm, let me know if there's anything I can help you with." She noted idly that her usual customers rarely came in this early. The sun was only barely above the horizon. They were probably just –

"Oh I'm just having a look, thanks."

Exactly.

Sighing quietly once more she continued sifting through her orders and e-mails, not really seeing them. She really just wanted to go back home and sleep a while longer. She didn't know why she opened the store so early anyway - was it even worth it? Right now she could be snuggled in her warm bed, dozing, listening to the sound of her cat beeping…

Beeping?

Alex looked up, wondering what was causing a steady, low pitched beeping sound in her shop. The customer was not in sight, apparently moving through the aisles between the shelves. The beeping sound was moving as well, so Alex assumed it was coming from him. She slowly rose from her chair and moved around her desk, heading towards the source of the beeping.

She moved in between two tall bookshelves, but the man wasn't there. The beeping was definitely close though – and the time between each of them was shortening. She moved slowly through the aisle, hearing the sound grow faster. She reached the end of the aisle. The beeping was incredibly loud now, and going at a frantic pace.

She took a deep breath, and silently counted to herself before turning the corner to the next aisle. 1…2…3!

"Ahh!"

"Ahh!"

Alex had bumped into another person and then stumbled backwards, surprised. The man in front of her had done the same. She looked up and examined the stranger.

He was a tall, skinny man with disheveled brown hair wearing a pinstriped suit. He had a long brown coat over it and held a strange device in his hands that looked suspiciously like a toaster with some sort of screen attached to it and a long radio wire sticking out of it. That was where the beeping was coming from, Alex noted. The man currently had a bemused expression on his face that she was sure resembled her own.

Alex blinked a couple of times feeling the rush of adrenaline pour out of her body leaving her hands and feet tingling for a moment. Finally finding her voice she said:

"I…Who are you? And what's that…thing?"

Well that sounded smart.

"I think the better question," the man said, putting the strange device in his pocket – how did he fit that in there?! – and pulling something else out from his jacket. "Is who are you?" The item he'd pulled out looked like a metal wand with one end glowing blue and buzzing. He waved it up and down in front of her. "What are you?"

He moved the little wand in front of her face and the glowing end of it hurt her eyes. Swatting at it like an annoying bug she stuttered "Get-get that out of my face!"

The man huffed and put the device back in his jacket, pulling out the toaster-hybrid thing again. He pointed it towards her and muttered irritably at it. "…working just a second ago…could've happened to the signal…" The man scowled down at the device and banged on it with his fist, which apparently did nothing as he continued muttering angrily at it.

Alex sighed at him and crossed her arms. "What do you mean what am I? And this happens to be my store so you'd better tell me what that thing is." A horrible thought struck her. "It's not a bomb is it?"

Great one Alex. A bomber would be more than happy to tell you they were holding a-

"What? No." The man finally addressed her directly looking up at her flabbergasted. "It's a scanner." His tone made it sound like that should have been completely obvious.

Alex glanced at the device that he held up for her inspection dubiously. "Looks like a toaster to me."

"It's not a toaster!" he exclaimed in an offended manner. "Well…It was. But now it's a scanner!" The man grinned like this was some great feat.

"Uh huh," Alex replied. "A scanner for what?"

"Telepathic signals," the man said, returning his gaze to the screen attached to the not-a-toaster. "Signals that it was picking up from you just a moment ago – a ha!" The man grinned again as the device resumed its beeping, but then his smile abruptly dropped. "No…not from you…"

"What do you mean?" The man was a nut, she was sure, but she figured if she played along maybe he would leave the store and she could get back to her normal day. She began wondering if she could convince the man that his "signals" were coming from outside.

The man looked over her shoulder, but when she glanced she could see the shelves were blocking his view. "Is there anyone else in your store?" he asked.

"No, you were my first customer…why?" she looked at the strange toaster-thing, which was no longer directed at her but towards the shelves, behind her.

"Stay behind me," he said, putting the scanner in his pocket – the impossibility of that struck her once more – and retrieving the little metal wand he'd blinded her with earlier. She did as he said, keeping a step behind him as they crept towards the next aisle.

Despite knowing that the man was a loon a daunting feeling came over her. What if someone else really was in the store? The door had been locked when she'd arrived…hadn't it? Yes, she was sure it had been. So unless someone had broken in…

Alex swallowed nervously as they reached the edge of the shelf. Another step and they would be visible to anyone in the next aisle. The man shared a glance with her and flipped a switch on the metal device, causing it to start buzzing. He waited another beat then quickly stepped out into the aisle, pointing the little device threateningly. "Don't move!" From Alex's viewpoint, all she could see was him, so she watched the expressions that crossed his face. After the initial anticipation, a look of confusion came over him, and he lowered the metal wand slightly. "…Hello?"

Curious, Alex poked her head around the corner to see who was there. Surprised, her eyebrows shot up. "Brian?"

One of her employees – the first one she'd hired in fact – was standing in between the bookshelves, staring blankly at the books.

"You know him?" The man asked, lowering his arm completely as she stepped towards the boy.

"Yeah, he's one of my workers…Brian? Brian, are you okay?" Alex examined the teenager curiously as he continued not reacting to the two of them. If she didn't see his chest moving she would have wondered if he were somehow dead. She was just raising her hand to nudge his shoulder when the man moved forward and pushed it back down.

"I wouldn't do that." He began waving the little wand in front of the man, looking at him with a furrowed brow.

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

"There are practically no neural pathways active in his brain," the man said absent-mindedly. She wasn't sure if he was responding to her or merely talking to himself. "Only basic functions are still running."

Alex gave the man a curious glance. "Are you a doctor?"

The man looked at her and gave her an odd grin. "Yes, actually!"

"Well Doctor…don't you think we should call an ambulance?" Alex wasn't sure herself – something was obviously wrong, but it didn't really feel like a medical emergency. But this man seemed to know what he was talking about. Maybe.

"Ah, no. No that's definitely a bad idea."

"Why?"

The Doctor bent down in front of Brian, whipping a pair of glasses out of who-knew-where and putting them on. He peered into the young man's eyes as he spoke. "Because human doctors won't understand what's happening to him. They'll just poke and prod at him – might get themselves and Brian killed."

Alex huffed, wanting a full explanation already. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

The Doctor rose and turned to her, putting his hands in his pockets. "Brian's got an alien in his head."

Alex stared at him.

The Doctor stared back.

After a few moments he said "…You're thinking I'm a nutter right now, aren't you."

"Yep."

"I can prove it."

"Really," Alex drawled sarcastically. "How's that?"

"Look at Brian."

Alex glanced towards her employee and her eyes widened. The young man was looking right at her. "Brian?"

The boy blinked once before saying: "Motor functions accessed. Fully integrated."

Brian gave her a cursory up and down glance. "You are a suitable host. You will be taken to the Nest Ship immediately. Resistance is futile."

A/N: So glad I got this written. :) I hope you guys like this so far. I feel like I started off kind of rocky, so I might come back and edit this later…Oh and if you can tell me where that last quote comes from I'll give you a one-thousand word or less oneshot. No cheating!

Here are the titles for all three possible arcs:

Part 1: The Connection

Part 2: The Lost Wolf (I'm sure you can guess a bit of what happens here)

Part 3: Belonging

Happy reading! :)