What We Lost

Biology

I met Jackson and Mitch in the lab, so we can start working on the hybrid. Mitch starts by looking into the hybrid's ear canal, while Jackson and I start to dissect the creature. "How the hell did these things cause a volcano to erupt?" Mitch shakes his head as he lifts his head.

"I don't know." I shrug my shoulders, "how did a sloth cause an earthquake and how did I stop it?"

"If I remember correctly, the sloth caused the earthquakes by screaming and you stopped it because of the off set of opposing hormones due to your mutation and pregnancy."

"Right." I nod, "this thing's biology is nuts though."

"Tell me about it, look at the size of that ear canal. It's incredibly similar to Marsupialia that use echolocation."

Jackson looks over the screen, before glancing to me, "you and Abe were onto something with unique hybrid frequency."

"They're using it to communicate." I nod, "so, if we can reverse engineer the frequency, maybe we can find one of the beason and track down Abigail."

"Stop Abigail, we stop the hybrid spread." Jackson taps on one of the screens and inputs the data we have so far.

"That thing is really cool." Mitch nods and looks around, "umm... so Abe and Kat are sex doctors? Which is gross enough, but why are you two studying hybrids?"

I chuckle, "we aren't sex doctors, we are reproductive endocrinologist, and we think the hybrids are the key to solving sterility."

"Yeah, there's a lot going on. And seeing as I've had to learn the biology of an entirely new species on the fly... my obvious time away from current technology... Oh, and the fact that Abigail could strike at any moment, I feel like it might be a good time to bring..."

"That's a lot of words to say that you need Abe's help." Jackson chuckles.

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna put up with the awkwardness that is the two of you. You two went from being so in love I wanted to barf to acting like indifferent strangers. I mean, what the hell happened?"

"We got divorced." I shrug, "after that we grow apart."

"Yeah, but you see, the Jackson and Katherine that I remember, literally killed for one another. And you two broke up because of distance and a few rumors?"

I shake my head, "there were other factors that lead to it."

"Oh and back on what I'm remembering, shouldn't there be a ten year old running around here? Or are they back with Abe?"

"No," Jackson clears his throat, "uh... Kat miscarried, shortly after they dropped the gas."

"Shit. Kat, I'm sorry."

I shake my head and stand up, "uh... I'll go tell Jamie we need to head to Michigan."

I almost run out of the lab, I hear Jackson call out to me in the hallway, "Kat."

"Yeah?" I turn back to Jackson, choking back tears.

"Are you okay?" Jackson walks up to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." When I say 'fine,' I hear my voice break.

Jackson smiles down to me as much as he can, "I know you better than I know myself. You're tearing up, your voice is creaking, and you left your phone," Jackson holds up my phone that I had sat on a counter and left when I ran out of the lab, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why would something be wrong?" I shrug, "everyone has been talking about the two worst days of my entire life since we got on the plane."

"Kat, none of that was your fault." Jackson shakes his head, "the stress of the mutation and saving the world were the reasons you miscarried and me going on the run was the reason for our divocre."

"What if it wasn't?" I shake my head, "what if I was going to miscarry no matter what. And Jamie wasn't the reason for our divorce."

"I didn't say..."

"No, but you meant it. Jamie is not the reason we aren't together, I am."

"What do you mean?"

I shake my head and look down, "every time I look at you, I see the pain in your eyes. It hasn't left since that day. And every time I look at you I feel like a failure, because I couldn't give you the one thing you always wanted. The one thing you truly deserved." As I start to cry, Jackson places his hands on my cheeks and pulls me into a kiss. I place my hands on his and kiss him back, but only for a moment, before pulling away. "I have to go talk to Jamie." I pull myself away from Jackson and almost run away from him.