Folly

Chapter 1: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

"Are you serious, Gus?" The small woman asked, her gray eyes staring somberly over the desk.

"Yes, Amanda, perfectly," Gustavo nodded, blinking once, and then continued to stare expressionlessly at the girl's worn features.

"You're lucky I picked you," she sighed, standing up and grabbing the bag of money the elder man pushed towards her.

"You know what to do," Gustavo smiled, and made to show the woman out the door.

As she crossed the threshold, she turned once and gave the tycoon an ambiguous smile, "I missed you."

Gustavo closed his eyes as a sign of agreement, and in that space of time the woman was gone. He could hear the faint echo as she made her way across the roof, down the gutter and to her car. The loud rev of the engine signaled her departure, then the dusty warehouse was left in silence.

"You did not wish to see your daughter?" Gustavo asked the empty air.

Slowly, a bald head emerged from behind a pile of rubble not more than a few yards away. Mike Ehrmantraut took slow strides to stand before his employer, "No, I didn't. How do you think she would react to seeing half my ear blown off?"

"I see your point," Gustavo conceded with a nod.

"So, why charge her with lookin' after Pinkman?" The grizzled man questioned with a cock of his head. He was not challenging, just merely curious.

Gustavo knew well that Mike would let the matter drop if he wanted it to be so. He also trusted this man with his life, so he felt like a little indulgence wasn't crossing the line. "I need someone he will begin to trust, somebody that I trust."

"Well, you picked the right person for the job," Mike sighed, then took his leave.

Gustavo once more returned to the relative quiet of his office. He shut the door, catching the lock with a soft click, and resumed his seat with perfect posture. For a moment, he stared at his reflection in the window.

It was smiling.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Amanda was growing weary of knocking. She was none too excited about her current assignment to begin with, but she was already starting to view it as a chore. She could smell the fumes of various intoxicants through the cracks in the door, and music could be heard throughout the house.

"Don't know why I even bother," the girl mumbled, slipping around the back of the house when nobody was looking. She walked up to the back door, extracted two tiny tools from her pocket, and gently wiggled them into the keyhole. In seconds, the lock turned and she was fully assaulted by the racket. Mental note-tell off Gustavo, she thought as she shuffled through empty chip bags and candy wrappers, and teach this kid how to freaking live normally.

"Who's there?" A male voice asked from around the corner. The music shut off, and now silence pervaded the filthy domicile.

"Your Great Aunt Gertrude. Now put the gun down, and come out where I can see you," Amanda commanded in a somewhat irritated tone.

"You sound like Mike, but you're a chick? Is that who sent you here?" The young man continued, rounding the corner with his gun still raised.

"Put that down, Jesse," The woman demanded, leaning behind a wall and readying her own weapon.

"Not unless you tell me why you're here."

Amanda sighed, "Look, Gustavo sent me to make sure you don't end up face down in a Mexican ditch. I'm your babysitter, so-to-speak."

"Great, a babysitter. Just what I need!" Jesse threw his hands in the air and began to shuffle back into the depths of his musty den.

"Do you think I honestly want to spend my days with the likes of you? Its a waste of talent, I tell ya' what."

"A waste of talent? And what talents could you possibly have to waste? You look more like a stripper than a bodyguard, honestly," Jesse stated.

"Then this must be your lucky day. It's not often that a man of your age gets his own personal stripper," Amanda teased, taking no offense to his dig. She knew what she was, and she had dealt with many a soul akin to Jesse Pinkman.

"Yeah, well there's a pole right there," Jesse stated, though when he turned he found that Amanda was halfway through giving his address out over the phone. He began to lurch towards her on instinct, then paused when he heard the nature of the conversation.

"Yes, I'd like two boxes of fried rice, three eggrolls, an order of teriaki chicken, Kung Pao chicken, peppersteak, and wonton soup...Cash. Yes, that will be all...thank you!" she finished, then clicked the small red device shut.

"Are you going to eat all that by yourself?" Jesse asked sarcastically.

Amanda merely lifted a brow and shuffled over to the television, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one. She gave Jesse an inquisitive look and extended the pack towards him.

The young man surveyed her skeptically before accepting her offer, dropping into a chair beside her.

"So how long are you going to be here?" Jesse questioned.

"Until I receive a telephone call relieving me of my duties," Amanda explained, flicking through the channels before turning the screen off with an exasperated sigh.

Silence settled over the two for a few moments as they each smoked their cigarette in discomfort. Eventually, Jesse began glancing over to the young woman as if he had something to say.

"Spit it out," she commanded without even turning her head.

"So, you got a name?"

The woman laughed, "Amanda."

"Huh, I never pegged you for an Amanda. Maybe Helga, or somethin' like that," Jesse teased, a sly grin crossing his face as he chanced a peek at his moody companion.

Amanda chuckled. "Yes, that sounds quite lovely. From now on you are to call me Frau Helga," she spat her new name in a harsh German accent before falling back in laughter.

Jesse chuckled, though a little uncomfortably, but seemed to warm slightly from his frosty stance. "So you do have a sense of humor. I was starting to think you would be just like the others," he confided.

"We have similarities that the others do not. For example, guarding you during lab hours is much different than having to live with you. Imagine what kind of hell that would be for the both of us? Not to mention, we are similar in age and opposite in gender," Amanda explained.

"If this is business, then what does it matter about age and gender?" Jesse questioned.

Amanda blinked then chuckled heartily, "With humans, that is always a factor. As much as we would like to pretend, we simply cannot escape it."

Jesse took a somber repose as he thought Amanda's statement over. He didn't want to admit it straight away, but he felt as if she were exactly right. He also felt slightly abashed, for he too had been pretending. However, despite his efforts he could not control his emotions towards women, especially the pretty ones close to his own age. Now that he thought about it as inevitable, those judgments seemed almost easy to overcome.

"So are you tryin' to say I look good?" Jesse ribbed, seeing how far he could lure the woman into conversation.

"And if I was?" Amanda countered.

Jesse looked down at his hands and fidgeted with his watch, feeling as if he had a loaded tongue but no will to exercise it. "It's about time I start getting ready for the lab," he explained, excusing himself to the shower.

Amanda listened casually to Jesse's movements, going over their first interaction in her mind. She didn't want to get too comfortable with her assignment, yet she didn't want it to be overbearingly serious and boring. Eventually, Jesse would start to resent her presence anyway and begin to make her life miserable. From the way Gustavo had explained the situation, she felt like her stay would be a while.

A low thrum started in her pocket, paused for a few seconds, and then continued it's incessant call. Upon further inspection, she realized that it was her father.

"Hey Dad," she quipped with a smile, for she was expecting him to touch base. There was no doubt Gustavo inform him of her return home.

"Hey sweetie. I'm sorry, but I'm not just checking in," Mike drawled from the other end. From the tone of his voice, he was very irritated.

"Okay...," Amanda trailed, waiting for the further details.

"There's a problem at the lab. Have Pinkman bring you there immediately," the elder man intoned, pausing for her affirmation.

"Does he have time to complete his shower?"

"I'm afraid not, kiddo."

"Got it," Amanda confirmed and clicked her phone shut once more. Gathering herself, the slender wisp of a woman practically floated up the stairs in her hurry.

"Woah! Haven't you like, heard of personal space?" Jesse yelped as Amanda thrust open the door and exposed his naked form behind the clear panes of glass.

"We need to get to the lab immediately. Time is of the essence," Amanda explained, pulling a towel from the door as Jesse stopped the water.

"What? What's going on?" He asked, furtively attempting to hide his genitals from public display.

"Jesse, I know what a penis looks like and yours isn't anything to hide. Stop acting like a school girl in the locker room, would yah?" Amanda teased, rolling her eyes at the ceiling.

"Whatever man, just tell me what's happening alright?"

"Well, we're just going to have to find out when we get there."