Hello again! This story is really important to me, because I am finally fully introducing "The Doctor"- the man who created Shifter, Nightshade and Blackangel.

Episode 9: The Arrival

Kurt felt like he was floating. He was floating in orange water, and for some reason, the water allowed him to breathe. When he realized he was floating in water, he reached out his fingertips and touched glass. He didn't know where he was, or how he got there. And for some strange reason, he didn't even know who he was. Pressing both hands against the glass, he could see that his hands were normal, pale and five-fingered, and somehow he knew that was wrong. He could see a room outside the glass, but it was too dark. He was supposed to be able to see in the dark.

He finally saw the blurry image of a cloaked man standing very close to the glass. "Can you hear me?" He asked the man, and the man nodded. "Who am I?"

"You are Kish," The man said. "And you were badly hurt. Are you feeling better?"

"Um, yes?" Kish said softly. He had thought his name was Kurt, but why? "I guess so, but…"

"Your name is Kish Darkholme, and you lived with your foster family in New York City until the car accident that killed them and injured you," the hooded man's voice was bone-chilling and sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "You hurt your head pretty badly, and you might not remember."

Kish touched his head and felt a large cut. "I can feel it…" he whispered. "My… my foster parents are…"

"They are dead, my child," the man had no sympathy in his voice. "I am sorry, if only things were different."

Kish could feel tears on his cheeks, but he knew the hooded man could not see them. After all, he was floating in water. He didn't even know his family… and now they were gone.

Kish woke up in a state of panic, grasping around in the dark for something he couldn't put his finger on. He only wound up with a fistful of Mike's feathers, and then he heard Mike waking up. "What the—Kish! What the hell, man?"

"Sorry…" He whispered. He even sounded depressed to himself.

"Hey…" Mike reached in the dark and found Kish's hand. "What's wrong?"

"Bad dream," Kish sat up and turned on the light. Sleeping on the floor until the bedrooms were done was bad enough, but they were sleeping in the basement, with a cold cement floor and cobwebs and God knew what else, but that was okay for Kish. Mike had learned that Kish could sleep anywhere and eat anything. "Do you remember the Doctor? The hooded man who introduced us?"

"Yeah."

"How did you meet him?"

"He found me on the side of the road. I had been hitchhiking to California when I collapsed from heat exhaustion. He picked me up and took me to his lab." Mike looked at him with concern. "Why do you ask?"

"Are you sure that actually happened?" Kish fluffed his pillow and began to twist his tail into a knot. "I mean, do you remember anything before all of that?"

"Yeah, I…" Mike started, then stopped abruptly, thinking. He didn't remember anything before waking up in the Doctor's lab. "No. No, I don't."

"Me neither," Kish muttered, lying back down. "Not even what my foster parents looked like. Do you think that it's just a coincidence?"

"I don't believe in coincidences," Mike pulled his knees close to his chest and put his chin on his knees. "Maybe our minds have been wiped. You know, like by a telepath or something."

Kish yawned. "Maybe."

"Yeah." Mike looked out the tiny window. "You go back to sleep. I'm going for a quick fly."

"'Bye," Kish yawned again and closed his eyes.

…………………..

Catty was extremely worried.

She was sitting in the infirmary, waiting to hear news about her father, waiting for her mom to show up, waiting for Tara to come home, just plain waiting. Tara hadn't come home from school and it was ten thirty at night, not past curfew but she could have at least told someone where she was going. She had called her mom's cell phone seven times, and each time she had promised to be there in five minutes. I had been hours. She said she was caught up at work, but dad was sick. Why wouldn't she drop whatever she was doing and see if he was okay?

The door opened, and she looked up, not sure whether she wanted it to be Tara or Amanda. It was neither. Steven walked in and sat next to her. "Um… is he okay?"

"I don't know yet," Catty whispered.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know yet."

They sat in full silence for a few minutes. Steven kept on looking at her worriedly, as if when he stopped watching her she would blow up. Eventually, Catty looked up, too, and saw him look down. "What?" She asked softly, with a bit of a smile.

"Nothing," He mumbled quickly. "Just worried about you. I wish you'd just tell me you're okay so I can go to bed."

"What, you don't want to sit with me and wait for my dad to learn that fruits and vegetables are good for him?" Catty looked at him, this time fully smiling.

"Oh, no. That'll take forever," Steven finally allowed himself to smile at her.

"Wow," She said.

"What?"

"You're kind of cute when you do that." She tilted her head. "What a change!"

"Huh?" Steven looked away and immediately stopped smiling. "I don't know what you're talking about.

"You are just so clueless," Catty folded her arms and concentrated on the wall.

"Well, you're incredibly rude," Steven retorted. "And bossy, and loud, and you have a big mouth."

"And you don't have a mouth," Catty looked at him again, this time angry. "Sorry, I don't go for the strong silent type."

"You don't go for any type!" Steven, for the first time in his life, had something to say to someone. "I bet you don't have time for guys. You're too busy being a stuck up team leader to notice."

"Well, smart one, do YOU have a type?" Catty relied hotly. "I've never seen you talk to a girl other than the girls on the team, not even for the time, and I will die of shock the day you ask one on a date."

"Good! Wanna go to the mall on Saturday?"

Catty looked at him in pure astonishment. "W-what?"

"I thought you were going to drop dead," He grinned slyly.

Amanda chose that moment to come rushing into the room. "Is he okay?!"

"We don't know yet," Catty and Steven said together. Catty was glad she had blue fur on her face—Steven couldn't see her blushing.

…………….

Alaina looked at her clock. Ten forty-five. Bed time had come and gone, and she still hadn't finished her reading assignment.

Maybe her mind was somewhere else. She just couldn't figure out where her mind was, exactly. Looking back down at her book, she sighed. She just couldn't figure out what was bothering her so much.

"Hey, pretty kitty."

She jumped and fell out of her chair, whipping her head around to look at the speaker. Blackangel was perched on a branch outside of her now open window.

"Omigosh, what are you doing here?" Alaina stood up and brushed herself off, blushing furiously when she realized she was in nothing but a tank top and boxer shorts.

"I just wanted to know if you would go flying with me," Mike smiled at her and climbed into the room. "Just for a little while. We both know what it's like to have the wind under our wings, right?"

Alaina stepped back. "I can't. I'm not dressed."

"Sure you are," He held out a hand. "Come on, like you need to be dressed to transform into a bird and come with me. Please?"

"I really can't…" Alaina looked away as he touched her shoulder. "Please go away, now. I have to finish my homework."

"You can finish when you get back," He said softly, pulling her to the window. "I want to fly with you. Let the girl I know is in there out. I want to fly with you."

Her entire face was warm as she looked up at him. "Okay. But just for a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay."

……………….

Tara was sitting at lookout point, seeing all of the night lights of Bayville from a completely different perspective. They weren't mankind's stars. They were just lights. Dad was wrong—humans didn't make stars of their own. Dad was wrong about everything.

She jumped when she heard a footstep behind her. Tyler sat next to her on the grass and looked out at the lights too. For a moment, he was quiet. Then he turned to look at her. "I was looking for you all afternoon."

"You were?" She sniffed.

"Yeah. I'm glad I found you. I was really getting worried." He reached over and wiped a tear off of her face. "What's the matter? You okay?"

"My father was wrong, wrong about everything," She moaned. "He used to tell me that whenever I felt sad, I should look at all of the lights in the town and think of them as Mankind's stars, and that they are reasons to go on." She looked up at him. "He was wrong. All I see are a bunch of stupid electric lights."

"He wasn't wrong," Tyler said. He held out his metal hand to her, but before she could touch it, it was glowing a light shade of blue. "Every light out there represents another person. Some of them are in pretty bad shape, people who seriously need help." He looked down. "My mom struggled to feed me until Uncle Forge came to help her out."

"And what are the other lights?"

"People like the Professor," He said. "people like Uncle Forge, and you. People who dedicate their whole lives to help other people who need them. The lights are the stars of Mankind. They're filled with hope, hope that the sun will rise." His metal had stopped glowing as she took it.

"That was really a very beautiful thing to say," She whispered.

"Tara…" Tyler looked at her again. "Can I kiss you?"

Somewhat, surprised, it took her a moment to respond. People usually didn't ask her, they just went ahead and did it. People like Aaron. She smiled and nodded. He kissed her, and for a moment she forgot the world existed, and she really believed that everything was actually alright in the long run.

……………..

Scott went to answer the door which, as per usual, was ringing at night when people should be sleeping. He opened the door and instead of another kid, a tall, pale man in a trench coat stood there. He certainly looked odd; it was as though his eyes had no whites, just pools of black. The man's hair was jet black and perfectly straight, hanging over his shoulders and only barely hiding his pointed ears. When the man held up his hand, the fingers were long and bone white like his face.

"I am here to help the one you call Maestro," He said in a voice that made Scott shiver. It sounded like a dying cat screeching one last time. "I am the Doctor. I have some answers to his questions."

What questions? Scott and the Doctor looked around and Ben was stepping out of the elevator.

"My dear boy, don't you want to know where you came from?" the Doctor bowed slightly and held out a spindly hand. "I know the answers, Ben."

"Get out of here, you crazy freak," Scott snarled. "Ben, don't listen to him, go back to bed." He somehow knew not to trust this guy.

But how do you know my—

"Ben, go upstairs." Scott turned to face him. "Right now."

Ben scowled and ran back into the elevator, an angry feeling ebbing off of him.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or what you want with Ben," Scott growled. "But whatever it is, you're not going to get it. Understand?"

"I understand perfectly," The Doctor hissed. "I will get to him anyway. He must know the truth."

Scott slammed the door shut and leaned against it, unsure that he had done the right thing. He didn't trust that man, and he didn't even know why.

…………….

Hank walked into the waiting room. "Kurt had a heart attack, but he's awake now, and he's going to be just fine."

"Can we see him?" Amanda and Catty stood up.

"Yes, but I don't want you exiting him." Hank turned. "This way, ladies."

Catty stopped and waited for her mom to leave. Then she turned to face Steven, who had stood up and was heading for the door.

"Steven, wait…" She said.

He looked at her with the strangest face she had ever seen on him, a mix between worry and arrogance. "What?"

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll go to the mall with you on Saturday."

"You will?" Steven asked, his voice cracking a little.

"Yeah."

She squealed as he suddenly grabbed her in a hug. Then she relaxed and let him hold her, enjoying his surprising amount of warmth. "Catty…" He said quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then he let go and walked out, smiling at her as he closed the door.

She giggled and hoped she would see that smile a lot more often.

NEXT: Secrets