Chapter 13: Knowing

"Uhhh…where am I?" Grey moaned, opening his eyes slowly. He was in the room where he'd been held captive. He whimpered in fear, wondering if he would be tortured again. He licked his lips and shivered at that memory.

Suddenly out of the dimness a voice spoke quietly to him. "Easy kitten, the needle's affects haven't worn off completely yet. Just lay there and relax a bit longer.

Grey realized the voice was much nearer than he'd thought. A soft light was turned on and he swallowed in terror as he saw the Kat that had been with Dark Kat the last time he was here. The ninja just stared at him quietly making no hostile moves.

Still, Grey wanted nothing to do with him so quickly rolled away and huddled in the farthest corner of the bed against the wall. He watched the ninja warily.

"D-d-don't hurt me! Stay away!"

The Kat shook his head and walked to the bed. Sitting on the end away from Grey, he simply signaled the kitten to come sit by him.

Grey eyed him nervously. If he didn't obey, he could get worse done to him than just getting his thumb cut off so reluctantly, he moved to sit an arms length from the tom.

The ninja eyed him quietly through weird looking glass eyes. He didn't speak for some minutes then he reached out with a paw but Grey ducked away.

"It's alright kitten, I'm not going to hurt you."

Grey stared at him in angry disbelief. "Who are you kidding? You did nothing the last time I was here so why should I trust you? I've already been betrayed by someone I thought was my friend so pardon me if I don't believe anything anyone here says to me." It hurt remembering how Drake had betrayed him and brought him here again.

The ninja sighed, reaching up, he pulled back his hood then removed the mask that hid his features. He had a red furred face with only one blood red eye. There were scars on his face and one that scored across his now useless left eye. He stared at Grey with an expression of pity.

"You remind me so much of your mother...same eyes, fur coloring...nothing like me despite our shared genes. However, if Drake is correct, your eyes changed to my red, then you're making the transition to being a weapon in Dark Kat's army he's breeding."

Grey blinked at the tom in shock. The tom's words stabbed him like a knife. This was his real father. He didn't know whether to cheer or to punch him in the face. This was all too much to take in. But there was one question that burned in him, did this tom rape his mother?

As if he could read his mind, the tom said flatly, "I didn't force your mother to have you. She made the choice to breed and actually treated me well. She opened her heart and took me in, something I'd never experienced before in my life. I found I wanted to protect her...love her as much as she loved me. But we had to hide that because of being closely watched by Dark Kat at all times." A sad look crossed his face.

Though uncertain he could believe this tom, Grey couldn't restrain his burning curiosity about the mother he'd never met. "What was she like?"

The tom sighed and looked away a moment then turned his gaze back on Grey. "She was like ... how do I describe her...she was like an angel. She understood people ... could see into their hearts. She helped the weak and needy... was oh so kind but dangerous when she was mad." That last made him chuckle a bit at the memory.

Grey couldn't help but smile at his description of his mother. Wistfully, he asked, "why did she name me Grey?"

He chuckled softly, "that was me, actually. I told her my nickname and she thought that was perfect for you. It felt wonderful to be able to name you." He blushed a bit, rubbing his neck with his paw. "When you were born...I was happier than I could remember being in my whole life but I had to hide my emotions so Dark Kat wouldn't see how attached I was to the both of you. He wouldn't have hesitated to kill me for it."

Grey shivered and lowered his ears. He stayed silent for a moment as he thought of all the things he wanted to ask but this wasn't really the place. But one he did need to know, "why didn't you help her escape or found me?"

A grim look settled on the tom's face. "She never told me she planned to escape and take you with her. I'm guessing she didn't want me to be killed. Anyway, it wasn't until it was too late that I learned he'd had her killed and you were lost. No one seemed to know where or if you were alive even. After that, I sort of lost myself...my life was over as far as I was concerned." A small tear fell down his face unheeded.

Grey felt pain and sorrow. He moved to hugged the tom, he was now certain was his father. They shared a moment of grief and loss as they held onto each other for a long time. Finally, he pulled away, his gaze flicking nervously toward the door.

Staring into his son's eyes, he said, "you can't know how much you being alive means to me, Grey. But listen, we've got to get you out of here quickly. Dark Kat has plans for you."

"What kind of plans?" Grey asked worriedly.

"He's going to wipe your memories completely and fill them with what he wants you to know to obey him completely. You are to be one of his specially bred soldiers with powers that will make you a force to be reckoned with. The enforcers won't be able to stop you or the others he's going to breed from your genes to complete the army he'll use to take over Megakat City." His father told him grimly.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing special about me?" Grey denied.

His father gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry son but you're not. While your mother was carrying you, Dark Kat had his scientists inject her womb with special genes he'd had them develop to create his super soldiers. The result was a kitten that possessed new abilities. You can heal nearly instantaneously, resist illnesses, have greater stamina than a normal Kat, faster reflexes, speed, hearing, etc."

Grey could only shake his head. Except for the healing, he didn't observe any of those other things in him but according to his father they were there. "Okay, say that's true. How can I alone make him this army he needs? Or is he breeding others like me?"

"Your blood is the key! You were the end result of many failed attempts. Now that you are a success, all he has to do is use your blood to create more kittens with your abilities."

"What about Drake? Is he my brother?"

"Yes but he was one of the failures. He has only a few of your abilities but not all."

Something bothered Grey about all this. "He had me before in his clutches. Why didn't he drain me then?"

"It turned out, the various abilities had to take time to grow within you. All the chemicals he'd pumped into your body in utero had to slowly alter your DNA. He stole you the first time to check the progress of the experiment and found you to be nearly ready but not quite so decided to leave you where you were for a bit longer. Your times up now."

Grey felt sick. To realize he was part of some dark plan of Dark Kat's to take over the city just made him angry and scared. His father was right! He had to get out of here now!

His father seemed to sense his decision as he rose from the bed and made for the door. "Come on...let's get the hell out of here."

Scrambling from the bed, Grey went to stand behind his father. "Hey, um...father?"

Pleased and surprised Grey was willing to call him that, his father turned his head and asked, "yeah?"

"What's your name?"

He gave Grey a sad smile, "Just call me Ghost"