001 [Video]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter stares at the communicator, his expression blank and his eyes focused on the screen as if he can see through it, as if he could look right at you. He's already gone through the motions. He's screamed, he's wept and he's raged. A new dent in the wall is the only lingering sign of his frustration.]

If this is some sort of plan....some sort of

Comments

[yeahscience]

[Jesse's sitting by the window in his room, smoking quietly, drawing something on one of the sketchpads he's lifted from the art room. He's shirtless, looking rumpled and sleepy -- his hair is too long again and getting messy -- but sort of... content, maybe. He's 15 days sober and feeling, if that's possible, a little more okay with the world.

And then he hears the voice and his heart stops. He puts down his pencil and picks up the communicator, eyes wide, mouth dry. His voice is barely above a whisper.]

Mister... Mister White?

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter grabs the sides of the communicator and holds it close to his face. He stares eagerly into it.]

Jesse? Oh thank god! Jesse! Where are we? What are you doing here?

[yeahscience]

[For half a second, or even less, he's so honestly happy to see him that he forgets everything else and starts to smile--

But then he realizes what it means to see him, what it means if Mr. White is here, and his face crumples with horror.]

Oh, shit-- no, no no no no--

[He drops the communicator to rest on his knees, hands going to cover his mouth. Mr. White is here. Mr. White is dead.

Which means Jesse failed.]

But I-- [He glances at something offscreen, then back at the comm, seems to realize something, and switches to private, still whispering.]

[Private]

But I did it, Mr. White. I got him.

[Private]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter stares at him for a moment. Who is he talking about? He is about to ask and then his mind thinks back to the one man Jesse killed who he'd talk about like that.]

Gale? I know. That was a long time ago, Jesse.

[Private]

[yeahscience]

Yeah, Gale, of course Gale. [Eight weeks ago, by Jesse's reckoning. Two months. Does that count as a long time? It doesn't feel like it. ...Except if it's been eight weeks or more for Mr. White, too, what does that mean? What the fuck is going on?]

I don't... [I don't understand, he wants to say, but he realizes that whatever the answer is going to be, it's going to be upsetting, and he doesn't want to do this here. He shakes his head, taking a last drag, stubbing out his cigarette.]

I'm coming over, Mr. White. What room are you? Go look in the hall.

[Private]

[aka_heisenberg]

Alright.

[He gets up and goes over to the door, opening it and looking outside. He came back, sitting in front of the device again. Seeing the hallway made it all to real.]

Room 4, I'm not sure where. Just room 4.

[Private]

[yeahscience]

[Jesse's on his feet by now, getting dressed, the view shifting wildly with the communicator he's shoved down into his pocket. It pretty much looks like Jesse's room, like the house he bought, just like Mr. White's room looks like Mr. White's room. But unlike Mr. White, Jesse's not alone; there's a glimpse of someone sleeping in the bed, a flash of long blonde hair that explains why he's been whispering the whole time.

Hearing him return, Jesse quickly grabs his comm and the image resettles on his face.]

Uh, that's real helpful, man. What floor? [He yanks a shoe on one-handed, obviously trying to be quiet about it, eyes fixed offscreen.]

[Private]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter watches the screen with eager eyes, taking in all the details. He is pretty sure that he saw blond hair there. Jesse always did have to have a woman around.

At the question he goes out the door and looks around.]

How the hell am I suppose to know that?

[And now it's spam!]

[yeahscience]

There should be a... [Wait. He knows that hallway. Jesse frowns at the screen, then goes to the door and pokes his head outside-- and holy shit, there's Mr. White.]

Jesus...

[Jesse just stares at him for a moment; it was a shock to see him on the network, but it's even more of one to see him in person, here, against the backdrop of the actual freaking Barge. Then he lets out a muffled curse and, in one flustered series of movements, switches off his comm, pulls his other shoe on, closes the door very quietly, and hurries the two doors down to Mr. White's room.]

[Action spam!]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter has the instant urge to hug him, but quickly ignores it. He must be going mad if he even considered it. He walks slowly towards him and stops, uncomfortable with how Jesse is looking at him. It wasn't so long ago that they had seen each other, not for Walter anyways.]

Are you alright?

[Action spam!]

[yeahscience]

[Jesse is definitely not feeling all right. He's not looking so good, either; different from the Jesse Walt left behind in Albuquerque, more like... well, like the Jesse of a few months ago. Head still unshaved, still wearing the bling of the wannabe-gangster instead of the thugwear Mike got him into, still dark-eyed and pale from the most recent bout with the meth.

And right now, he's looking at Mr. White like the world's ended with him... Which, in a way, it sort of has.]

I don't understand. Why are you here? I mean, did... you know, did he do this? Did he find another chemist? Except how's that even possible?

[Action spam!]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Walter takes in the differences and is reminded of taking Jesse to rehab. He isn't sure why, but Jesse has that same lost look to him.]

He? He who? [Another chemist? What in the world? Is he talking about Walter's death.] No, Jesse, it's the cancer. It came back, worse.

[Action spam!]

[yeahscience]

[And that answer makes him look even more lost.] I don't... how's that possible? You said you were in remission, like...

[Something's not adding up, here, and it's really freaking him out. He presses a hand to his forehead, trying to remember.] That day... back in the lab... that day with that stupid fly, you remember? You said remission. And that was just a couple months ago, that was just a few weeks before I kicked it... [He blinks, looking up, something occurring to him.] ...How long's it been since I died?

[Action spam!]

[aka_heisenberg]

[Kicked it? Jesse is dead? That distract him from any thinking about the calender he might be doing. Jesse is...? His heart feels like it's in his throat. That can't be. He's taken such good care of him. They'd gone through too much together.]

How did you die?

[Action spam!]

[yeahscience]

What do you mean, how? [Holy shit, what's going on? Mr. White has to know, how could he not know?] Victor, that dead-eyed douchebag, he shot me after... [He swallows and, realizing they're still standing in the middle of the fucking hall, lowers his voice.] ...after I did Gale.

Look, can we go the fuck inside, here? I know you're all about your privacy and whatever, but... [But it's not like Skyler White's about to walk in on them, and he needs to sit down somewhere Claire's not going to ask him what's wrong. He glances at Mr. White's comm.] And turn that off.

[Action spam!]

[aka_heisenberg]

[He motioned to the door with a casual hand and went inside first. He went over to the bed and sat down, still in shock over Jesse's death. The death of the man who was right before him. His death that hadn't happened.]

You didn't die. You didn't. We made the deal. Gus kept you alive, kept us both alive. You're fine.