What We Lost

Fight

Logan manages to send us the tracking information for the drone, but he tells us that he, Mitch and Jamie can't come back to the plane just yet. From my understanding Jamie went awol, if I had to guess she found another ex, or current shepherd and plans to put an end to them. We watch the drone as we wait for the rest of our team to get back, but soon the computer starts to beep. "Uh, Jackson?" I glance back to Jackson, trying to keep my eyes on the screen, "how's our drone doing?"

"It's uh..." Jackson looks down to the tablet he has been using to track the drone's altitude and general flight path, "it's losing altitude."

I sigh, "it's gotta be the battery. It isn't built to carry the extra weight of the beacon." I shake my head, "if we don't do something fast, it'll never make it to the ocean."

"Do you still think Jamie has that harpoon crossbow on the plane?" Abe chuckles.

I don't even have to think, I know that Jamie has it on the plane. I look over to Abe, trying to acknowledge his great idea, "that's an amazing idea."

"What is?"

"If we can get the plane to the drone we can fly the hybrids away from the city."

"Uh, Kat," Jackson shakes his head, "where does the harpoon come into play?"

"We need it to harpoon the drone and then any other hybrids who get too close."

"Alright, let's do it."

"I'll let Dariela know," Abe nods, heading off to find his wife.

"And I'll find Jamie's harpoon."

"Think you know where it is?" Jackson walks into the hall after me.

"Same place it's always been," I nod, "the cargo bay. Jamie hasn't changed as much as you guys think she has."

"So you mean, she was always a backstabbing bitch, who could ruin peoples lives."

I stop and turn to Jackson, looking up to him, "is that what you think of me too?"

"What are you talking about? Of course not."

"Really? Because I lied to you while you were on the run, while we were married."

"You were trying to keep me alive."

"And that's all Jamie has done since her book was published. What would you rather her have done? Not publish it at all, let the shepherds be seen as heroes and us as villains, all of us? Have all of us out there with you in the Hybrid Zone? Have Isaac out there in the middle of nowhere?!"

Jackson shakes his head, "no, but if she hadn't published the book..."

"That's what would have happened if she hadn't published it, Jackson! Do you remember us, all of us, being wanted criminals. Do you remember Chloe being tortured because of what we were trying to do and the people on the right side of a desk were against it." Jackson hangs his head, while I lay into him. "You left! That was your first idea and you took it. You ran off into the Hybrid Zone and expected me to follow you, when I was so depressed I couldn't even get out of bed. And do you know who helped pull me out of it? Jamie did. Because no matter what Abe and Dariela hadn't been through anything close to what was happening to me. Jamie was the only one who could even come close to it. She was the only one I would listen to once you were gone, because you left with no second thought!"

"You really think there was no second thought?! Huh?! You think I just left you and didn't think twice about coming back?" Jackson lifts his head and steps forward, "do you honestly believe that I wanted to leave you like that? That I never stopped thinking about you?"

I scoff, not believing a word that comes out of his mouth, "you found someone else, I think you were fine."

"No, I wasn't, Kat. I started seeing Tessa because she reminded me of you. Of you strength, of your wit. But she was never you, she was never going to be you. It took me years to realize you weren't going to come after me, so I settled."

"I couldn't come after you."

"You couldn't'? Or you wouldn't?"

"No, I couldn't. Because you left without me and if I went out there on my own someone would have followed me and found you. You left me a note telling me you were leaving, you couldn't even say it to my face."

"I thought that would be the best thing for you. I didn't think you could mentally handle that conversation in the state you were in."

"Oh, but you thought I could handle waking up one day to find all your things gone?! That you had just up and abandoned me?"

"I didn't abandoned you, Kat."

"Then what would you call it?"

"I don't know," Jackson shakes his head, "look, I shouldn't have left like that, I know I shouldn't have."

"No, you shouldn't have. But you did."

"You shouldn't have teamed up with Jamie."

"Why not? I love you, Jackson. Why wouldn't I do everything in my power to keep you safe?"

Jackson pauses, "you still love me?"

I take a deep breath, only now realizing what I had said. I look around and nod, "yeah, I do. But that doesn't change what you did." I shake my head, "you left me alone and in pain."

"I know," Jackson nods, "and it was a horrible thing for me to do. But please, let me fix it."

"There's nothing to fix, Jackson, you fucked up and now you have to live with the conciseness." I turn to walk away, but Jackson grabs my arm, pulling my back into a kiss. I pull back from him and slap him across the cheek. "Stop! Just stop doing that! You have no right!"

"I know I don't, but I love you, Kat, and you love me, so why can't you just give me another chance?"

"Because you think you can magically fix everything with a kiss or a hug or a look or sex, you always have. That's not how relationships work."

"You had no issue with it before."

"Because I was young and stupid, I thought love lasted forever and that you and I would be together until the end."

"Don't talk about yourself that way. You are one of the smartest people on this plane."

"Because I had to learn everything while trying to save the world. I wasn't like this before, I was a nurse at a tourist camp in Botswana. They wouldn't have even brought me on board the mission if I wasn't with you and Abe in Japan. I would have stayed in Africa and either died by the hand of your mother or turned out just like her." Jackson looks at me in shock at the mention of his mother, "Jackson, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"There was a reason I didn't leave you in Africa. I was worried something would happen to you if I did. It's the same reason I left you in Ann Arbor, because I was worried something would happen if I stayed."