Thanks for the reviews and for the PMs. :) After taking a few days off (and seeing the new trailer!), I feel a lot better, and pretty much back to my old self. Barring a skaby (which Kristin seems willing to bet on), I can't wait for season 4. I've decided not to change directions for the "Oceanic 6" since, as some of you guessed, I was already planning to include Desmond in an upcoming chapter... ;)

Chapter 14. Thomas Mittelwerk

"Couldn't we just go to Hanso and tell him what we know?" Jack asked, his voice wrought with frustration; he just wanted it to be over, they both did, so that they could go home to their son.

"Perhaps, but Hanso has been missing since 2002," Sayid confessed, and Jack let out an audible sigh, dropping his face into his hands.

"So who was it that rescued us?" he asked, and instinctively, Kate reached over to rub between his shoulder blades. He sounded so tired and resigned to the fact that he would never be part of their lives that she wanted to wrap him in her arms and comfort him, like she would J.J., but it wasn't the time or the place.

"Thomas Mittelwerk. Hanso's successor – president and chief technologist of the Hanso Foundation until Hanso's disappearance," Sayid told them with an air of contempt, and Kate could tell that he'd already come to his own conclusions about this.

"You think he killed Hanso?" she pressed, curious, and he gave her a tight, humourless smile.

"I think he's the only one who knows what happened to him," he agreed, as if he hadn't decided whether it made more sense for Mittelwerk to kill his mentor, or turn him into his puppet.

"So I'm guessing he's not someone we wanna drop in on?" she guessed, and he nodded.

"The foundation was always corrupt, but in the past five years, it's gotten worse. There're rumours that in order to unbalance the equation, Mittelwerk ordered the creation of a genetically targeted retrovirus, designed to control the population by wiping out a small percentage."

When Jack lifted his head, alarmed, and Sayid saw the panic in Kate's expression, he added, "To my knowledge, it's just speculation. The technician I spoke to wasn't convinced that such a thing could be possible, much less exist – at least not for another ten years."

Ten years. J.J. would be ten. What if he was in that percentage?

How could anyone decide something like that?

Unsatisfied with Sayid's assurance, which she knew was meant to placate her, Kate looked to Jack for the truth, but he just shrugged.

"It sounds a little far-fetched, but it really isn't my area," he agreed, and she let her hand slide to her lap, blinking back tears as she stared at the picture in front of her.

"Hey, let's just take it one step at a time," Jack murmured, lifting her chin, and when she glanced back at Sayid, he gave them a curious look, but didn't seem to think that it was any of his business.

They stayed in the pub until closing, when they were forced to move outside, hovering on the corner as they said their goodbyes.

"How do we contact you?" Jack asked as he and Sayid shook hands, and Sayid glanced over at Kate, looking thoughtful.

"When you get back to the U.S., set up a free email account using a false name and send me the address," he told her, scribbling down a quick note of his own, almost as if he were trusting her to handle the subterfuge.

Retroviruses might not be any of their area of expertise, but if anything, that was hers.

She nodded, and he hugged her, clasping her hand and pressing it into her palm as he pulled back.

"Good luck," he said, his eyes flicking over to take in Jack as he let her go. "And be careful. If they learn that any of us have spoken…" He didn't elaborate, leaving the threat hanging silent in the air, but seeing the fear that passed through his eyes, Kate wondered if he'd seen what would happen first hand. Or been responsible for it.

"We will," she agreed, forcing a smile, and as he turned to cross the street, he added with a knowing look at each of them, "By the way, I never got the chance to tell you – congratulations."

Exchanging abashed glances with Jack, like teenagers caught out with a crush, Kate wondered if it was that obvious to everyone. No wonder the people from the Hanso Foundation were so defensive; she hadn't fooled anyone by pretending to cut Jack out of her life, not when the proof was right there in L.A.

Once Sayid had disappeared into the night, Jack stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, turning his attention on her. "So I guess you'll be heading out too then," he said, sounding rueful, and her heart broke a little for him.

It was clear that he wanted her to stay in Berlin, where they could be together without anyone bothering them; it wasn't fair that she had her father and J.J. to go home to, while his life consisted of an empty apartment and a job that no longer seemed to satisfy him.

"Come on," he went on when she didn't answer, shifting a hand to the small of her back, and starting back towards the car. "We'll go get your stuff, then I'll take you to the train station like I promised."

After hearing what Sayid said about the virus, and seeing the fear in his eyes at what could happen to them if they continued down this road, part of her wanted, more nothing more than to go home and hold her son, and forget the whole thing, but she couldn't stand to see him look so defeated. She knew that if she left him again, it would be for the last time.

"That's it? What about the books?" she asked, and he stopped, giving her a sad smile.

"It was a nice try, but it's a needle in a haystack, Kate – we don't even know where to look."

"So let's find Hanso. Maybe if he takes over again, they'll leave us alone," she insisted, and the corners of his mouth quirked as he brought his free hand to the nape of her neck, pulling her in close and kissing the top of her head.

"It's over," he told her, without letting go, and she heard the quiver in his voice as he tried not to break down. "I thought we could do this, but whatever it is, it's bigger than all of us. I can't let them hurt you or J.J. That's why you have to go back. We can just pretend it never happened."

"All we've done for the last three years is pretend, and nothing changes," she argued, lifting her head so that he could see how determined she was. She wasn't going to let him give up. Not again. "It's not over 'til we're out of options, and last time I checked, we had two. Sayid said Penny Widmore's father knew Hanso – I think we should go to Scotland."

Next chapter: Jack and Kate fly to Scotland... ;)