'Your father is a dick.'

It was the first words that Diana said to him when he reentered their lab. He couldn't help but agree with her.

'We need to speak with Howard.'

'He'll be here soon,' Diana said.

Lucas stopped in his tracks. 'How'd you get a hold of him? I've been trying his phone and email for weeks.'

'I called his daughter, and she was not pleased to speak with me. Your father really did a number on him.'

'What did she say?'

But Diana didn't need to answer as the man in question stepped out of the elevator.

'Howard.' Lucas embraced the man and pulled back to allow Diana to do the same.

'It's good to see you both.' Howard smiled, though his eyes tightened when he looked at Lucas.

There was a look in them that made Lucas' stomach drop. It was hard to describe, but he'd seen the look before. It was the same look the doctors had given him when he was 17.

'What happened, Howard?' Lucas asked.

Howard accepted the offered mug of coffee, and all three of them took a seat.

'I saw the numbers in your last report. The timings. The extrapolations. I saw the forecast.'

'My window as a human is closing,' Lucas said, trying to keep the grimace off his face.

Howard's face was cast down as he fiddled with the rim on his mug.

'We are running out of time, so I approached your father with a radical idea...'

'You wanted me to go public. I spoke to my father today,' he added when Howard's head snapped up.

'We know so little about what happened to you, what's still happening to you. Your father's resources have never been limitless. He alone was only ever capable of doing so much. With the world at your fingertips, with more money, maybe we'd have more chance to cure you.'

'I can imagine how unimpressed my father was with your idea.'

'He was furious. Even more so when I tried to explain the result to him.'

'He didn't see the point in ruining his reputation for a son who only had a limited time left as a human,' Lucas said, making Howard wince, but reluctantly agree.

'He cancelled my contract. Took my position. Froze my labs. My assets. Hell, he kicked me out of my home, and I fear that's just the start.'

There was a sharp intake of breath from Diana, whilst Lucas just cursed.

'I can understand why you haven't been able to reach out.' Diana placed a consoling hand on Howard's shoulders.

'Should you be here now? This could be career suicide showing your face here. You know that it'll get back to my father. Especially if he warned you off.'

'There comes a point when you realise there are more important things than your career. I promised you I'd help you find a cure, and I want to keep that promise.'

'What about your family? This could affect them as well. My father doesn't do things in half measure.'

The challenging look in Howard's eyes faltered, and Lucas smiled at him kindly.

'My father has taken your work and your home. Don't let him take your family from you as well.'

'But what will happen to you?' Howard pressed him.

'We'll continue looking for a cure,' Lucas said.

'That's actually the reason we wanted to talk to you.' Diana handed him a draft of papers. 'Dr Mirra Penna. Would she have been one of your selected?'

Howard took the pages and flicked through them. 'She was considered. She's still building a reputation, but her research is good, and her mentor was an old friend of mine.'

'She's just moved into a lab on the fifth floor,' Diana prompted.

Howard settled the papers on his lap. 'She just got a grant to study an elusive fish called the Kissing Splitfin. The reason I was intrigued was the fish is predominately found around the Mediterranean islands.'

'The same place I was infected.' Lucas sat up, intrigued.

'The fish is highly protected. There are barely any records known about it. The few details I found were from local pages who believed the fish were magical because of its ability to change its appearance.'

'Appearance changing isn't unique to wildlife.' Diana pointed out.

'Correct, but they're also able to exist in both salt and freshwater.'

'So can Salmon,' interrupted Lucas.

'But can Salmon also live outside of the water for small periods of time?'

Lucas and Diana shared a look.

'How long are we talking?' Diana fidgeted.

'Reports range from minutes to days. The research on these fish is still in its infancy, but it shows promise.'

'I'll say. A fish from the same place, that seems to share the same characteristics as you,' Diana said to Lucas.

'We won't have access to her research like the other scientists. The board was the one who appointed her.'

'You father is already trying to distance himself from the labs, and you,' Diana whispered.

'You'll have to approach Dr Penna directly,' Howard suggested.

'It's not like she's going to hand over her research like that.' Lucas snapped his fingers to illustrate his point.

'What have you got to lose?'

And Lucas hated how his mentor was right.