Author's note: We're getting into the parts of the story that completely conflict with what actually happened in the show. I apologize for that, but I'm switching things up and changing the ending because I have God complex and I like variety. We already know how the show ends, so dabbling in the "what-ifs" won't hurt anyone, right? Good. On we go...

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The large chain-link gate opened slowly as Jesse's car whipped up the road toward it. Without so much as a second thought, he flew past the first guard outside, likely covering him with a cloud of dust, and sped up the short stretch of driveway until he was as close to the gate as they would ever allow him to be. On the other side of the gate, after about twenty more yards of driveway, was a very solid, government-style building. These people were not government officials themselves, so they had likely designed and had the place built themselves, or maybe bought out a former headquarters of some kind when its original occupants decided to relocate.

Three men met them on either side of the car when it had finally come to a stop. Jesse shut off the engine, and he and Walt stepped out to face the giant bouncer-like henchmen. They were large indeed, and it was for this reason that Walt maintained a casual demeanor, waiting until he had an appropriate amount of time to assess the situation before doing anything stupid. Jesse, on the other hand, was already trying to square off with the largest of the three. The three men didn't seem to be phased by any of it, and they simply did their job of patting down the two new arrivals and escorting them through the gate before bringing them up to their boss's office.

Looking around the large office, Walt couldn't help but notice how much it reminded him of Tuco's old place; only this time he had nothing available to blow it up with. There was a large desk near the wall adjacent the door, and behind that desk was a heavy-hitter in the cartel drug world known only as "The Hammer". Well, also known as "Julio's cousin," but primarily "The Hammer". Unlike Tuco, The Hammer was at least comparable in size to what his name might imply. He wasn't huge, or overly muscular, like someone who spends their free time bench-pressing the lifeless bodies of their enemies; he was actually built more like Hank—slightly heavy set with wide shoulders, and the distinct ability to throw his weight around wherever and whenever he deemed necessary... Hence the name.

To their surprise, they were greeted by Carla as soon as they entered the room, and she was just as surprised to see them as they were to see her. Walt and Jesse quickly made their way to join her in the center of the room, where they tried their best not to huddle together like a pack of frightened gerbils. It was difficult to maintain their composure while surrounded by four large, heavily armed men (not counting the much smaller Julio, of course) who had individually seen more conflict than their entire group combined, and who all likely wanted to kill them as well. These large men shifted their weight from time to time—an intimidation tactic cleverly disguised as the casual crossing of arms or resting of a thumb lazily inside of a belt loop. The only one who seemed ignorant to the danger of the situation was Carla, who continued to break rule number one by making consistent eye contact with The Hammer.

"Welcome to the party, Heisenberg!" his voice croaked from behind the large desk like a bullfrog.

That statement was terribly misleading—this was no party, at least not for the people who were there involuntarily. The Hammer didn't speak to Jesse at all, he just glared at him briefly until Jesse diverted his gaze uncomfortably. Walt had been right all along, and none of them would be there if Jesse had just taken care of Julio before it had gotten out of hand... But now, it was too late.

"My cousin Julio here said that you two ripped him off." The Hammer began, eying all three of his captors intently as he spoke.

"What?!" Jesse exclaimed in disbelief, "We never ri—"

"Shut up you little bitch, I wasn't talking to you!" The Hammer interrupted, almost smiling as if he had deliberately baited Jesse into responding so he would have an excuse to tear him down verbally before he got started on the physical brutality.

"You were slinging your shit on my turf, and I put Julio in charge of the area we caught your fool asses in, which means you were ripping him off. Which also means, you were ripping me off."

He continued to study them all very carefully, anxiously awaiting the moment that one of them would speak out, trying desperately to defend their actions, and allow him the opportunity to mop the floor with them. To his disappointment, Carla was silent, Jesse had already learned his lesson, and Walt was waiting for a better time before interjecting his own two cents.

"Now, which one of you thinks that trying to rip me off is a good idea?"

He looked at Walt. He looked at Jesse. He finally looked at Carla—all nothing.

"No one thinks it's a good idea to try and rip me off?" The Hammer continued, surveying the room for a reaction, "Well, you're right about that. Now, I was going to try to be...diplomatic about this whole thing—you know, bring you in here, maybe take out your kneecaps with a crowbar or something... Just to make sure the message went across loud and clear, ya know? But then Julio came to me the other day and informed me that your little errand boy came to his house trying to kill him! That's just disrespectful."

Jesse shot an 'I told you so' look at Walt, but Walt was too busy scheming for their escape to really notice.

"Now, it would seem," The Hammer continued, pausing as he leaned forward on his desk menacingly, "that I'm going to have to kill you. I mean, I can't go letting your lack of respect set an example to everyone else, can I?"

He smiled deviously as he saw the terror rise in both Walt and Jesse's eyes. Frantically, they tried to think of something—anything—they could say or do to get out of this situation, but they weren't having any luck. The Hammer was obviously not about to listen to reason. Finally he turned his attention back to Carla, who was still studying him carefully.

"I'm just really sorry you had to get caught up in all this, sweetheart. Your little boyfriend is a tough guy to find when he's hiding out like a coward." The Hammer added, figuring he would get a rise out of Jesse if he couldn't get one out of her, "I couldn't have done it without you. But now, unfortunately, you are part of it. Which means I'll have to kill you, too. Don't worry, though— I'll try to make it count for something. Maybe if I kill you in front of him, he'll learn a thing or two about loyalty right before he dies..."

"Or," Carla interjected, shattering the dramatic pause before their certain execution, "you could just let us go."

The silent pause in conversation was so brief that it was actually of questionable existence before the entire room erupted into fits of laughter. Jesse shot Walt a mortified look as they both tried to process what had just been said and how she could be dumb enough to even suggest it. Furthermore, if they only had one chance to speak on their own behalves, she may have just blown it for all of them; at least Walt would have had a chance at being persuasive. The hysterical, if not a bit sarcastic, laughter slowly began to die down, and at least one giant man had to actually wipe tears from his eyes. Carla waited patiently for the men to compose themselves.

"Now, wh-hahahaha...What makes you think I would want to do something like that?" The Hammer finally managed as he struggled to to catch his breath between gasps.

"Because we all know that my friends here..." she began, making a limp-wristed gesture to Walt and Jesse over her shoulder "make the purest methamphetamine product in the state of New Mexico. But be that as it may, they are not self-employed. They work for someone much higher up the food chain than you...sir...no offense... And that someone will not be happy when he finds out that his all-star cooks are dead in a ditch somewhere. When that happens, who do you think they'll come looking for?"

The Hammer feigned an almost passable look concern.

"I don't know." He responded sarcastically, stroking his stubbled chin slowly as if he were deep in thought, "No one knows where we are, and they sure as shit don't know that you're here with us, so who would they come looking for?" He taunted.

Carla scoffed a bit at this. "If he doesn't know now, he will make short work of figuring it out. Do you really think someone in that high of a position would fail to keep track of his competition? When it comes his cooks, this guy is like their own personal Santa Clause—he sees them when they're sleeping, and he knows when they're awake. You can bet your hiney he knows when their lives are in danger, and he's not shy about sending someone out to recollect his men for him whenever the need should arise. Who do you think pays for—and tracks—the burn phone you used in this office to get in touch with Walt?"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room as Carla stretched the truth a little bit. No one was tracking Jesse's phone, but she didn't need to convince them—all she needed was a shadow of doubt.

"And then..." she continued, "There's the matter of the three million dollars."

That got their attention. She paused for a moment, letting the suspense build as Walt finally began to realize what was happening.

"They just finished up a three million dollar contract with this individual—"

"Carla!" Walt interrupted, but he was quickly silenced by one of The Hammer's men, who was suddenly very interested in her story.

"...All that's left is to collect the money. But this guy," she continued, not waiting to be prompted to finish the story, "he's really...cautious. He has his own system that he sticks to very adamantly, and only when he's certain that everything is in order will he pay them what they agreed upon. They've already done their part. All they have to do now is go get it. Three MILLION dollars, just sitting there, waiting to be picked up. The problem is, they are the ONLY ones who can do it—the money will not change hands with anyone else, and this guy will kill anyone who tries. Believe me, he has the resources."

Jesse looked at Walt; Walt looked at Jesse. The Hammer never took his eyes off of Carla, who seemed to have an exceptional poker face, but he straightened his posture, keeping his arms crossed defiantly on his chest. This time, his interest in what she had to say appeared to be very real, despite his best attempt to seem nonchalant about it.

"Well," He began, raising his eyebrows with throat-clearing hack so he didn't seem too eager to jump on this opportunity, "that explains why I should let THEM go. But there's no reason you can't stay a while and party with us until they get back here with OUR money!" The Hammer exclaimed, shooting a knowing glance up to his men, who were all bobbing their smirking heads in twisted agreement.

Jesse's mouth opened to protest, but he saw Walt carefully make a motion with his hand to silence him. Walt looked on skeptically, unsure if this was part of some plan, or if he should be trying to step in and save her. There really was no way to tell at this point.

"Kinda... Like collateral?" Carla asked with hopeful innocence, but there was an obvious look of worry spreading across her face. This plan didn't seem to have gone as she had originally thought it would.

"We can call it that." The Hammer stated smugly, his eyes glistening with fiendish amusement as he watched the hatred build up in Jesse's eyes.

Carla rubbed her arm nervously for a moment. She seemed deep in thought while considered (what she assumed to be) her 'choices', but everyone else in the room knew that she didn't really have any.

"Deal." She said at last, locking eyes with The Hammer once more.

"NO!" Jesse interjected, unable to hold his silence any longer. He stomped forward, pointing his finger dangerously at the much larger man running this show, "No deal. Either you let her go with us or we don't get you shit!"

Walt's mouth dropped in shock before he snapped to his senses and grabbed at Jesse's arm, pulling him back into place. Carla shot Jesse a look that screamed 'shut up, you idiot' in a language only they could understand before returning her gaze to the man behind the desk.

"If I let her go with you, what reason would you have to come back?" The Hammer asked, half-mockingly.

Jesse thought about it for a moment before turning a pleading eye to Walt, who suddenly had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Mr. White, if she stays here...We can't let her stay here. Please!" Jesse pleaded helplessly.

Walt opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words just weren't there. What do you do when every available option is a terrible choice? He just shook his head, not knowing who he should be agreeing with right now, but understanding something that Jesse obviously wasn't able to at the moment—they were surrounded. They were outnumbered, and outmatched...they literally had no other choice.

The decision wasn't theirs to make anyhow. They could deny it all they wanted, but it had already been made for them, and they were just going to have to accept it.

"We'll come back, I promise!" Jesse pleaded in pure desperation. His cries were only met by more laughter from the men.

"He promises!" The Hammer exclaimed, holding his arms out to his men who were already in stitches. Jesse hung his head in defeated aggravation.

"Just go." Carla said finally, calming the noise in the room as she glanced over her shoulder at Walt and Jesse behind her. "I got this. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Hammer can be reasoned with. I've been told I'm a pretty shrewd negotiator!"

There was a quieter outbreak of laughter at this but The Hammer raised his hand slightly to silence it.

"Mr. Hammer..." He mouthed silently, his brow raising with a look that said he had never heard that one before. He toyed with the idea of crushing her hopes of 'shrewdly negotiating' her way out of his control, but decided to let it go if the little bit of false hope it offered had any chance of speeding this process along at all.

"Yeah, Jesse. Maybe we can...negotiate, and I'll just let her go." He mocked, fighting back the laughter that came with Jesse's look of disgust.

"Don't worry, Jesse." She said, smiling sweetly again, "I'll see you at home!" She was so innocent, and so helplessly oblivious to the negative undertones of what she had just agreed to that Jesse's stomach turned at the thought of her saying goodbye.

"Yeah, Jesse! She'll see you at home!" Julio scoffed from the corner of his cousin's desk. If looks could kill, Jesse would have melted him with heat vision, but this just made Julio laugh even harder.

"Until then," The Hammer concluded, silencing his toadie, "she's gonna stay right here with us until you come back with my money. Get these assholes out of my office!" He said, motioning to his men collectively.

Walt kept a blank expression and walked in stride with the man pulling him toward the door by the arm while Jesse struggled a bit, looking over his shoulder in sheer panic, only to see Carla waving at him as if she were sending him off to school.

'How. Are. You. So. STUPID?!'—it played again and again in his head. Or maybe she wasn't? Maybe she was just as terrified as he was, and she was just trying to be strong for their sake? Maybe she was trying to save them, like some kind of martyr or something, but why?

They were escorted all the way back to the front of the property, and the large, chain-link fence was slammed shut and locked behind them. The Hammer's bouncers walked away with indifference, chuckling amongst themselves at a private joke. They weren't worried about Walt or Jesse trying to get back inside, because doing so undetected would be impossible with all the cameras (which were on them right now, in fact), and it would also guarantee them certain execution when they got caught. It was only by miracle that they were still alive as it is, but the bouncers wouldn't lose any sleep if either of them wanted to try their luck at dodging bullets.

There was only a brief pause before Walt began walking away. Actually, it was less than a run, but more like a power-walk in the general direction of Jesse's car, which had somehow been moved out of the drive way since they had not been expected to return. Jesse looked confused for a moment before quickly catching up to him and grabbing his arm, pulling him to a stop in the middle of the road.

"What the hell are you doing, man? We can't just leave her in there with them! We have to... We have to do something!" He exclaimed, waving his arm around like a lunatic.

Walt paused, allowing Jesse a moment to collect himself and for the gravity of the situation to finally sink in.

"And what precisely is it that you think we should do? Huh?" Walt protested, narrowing his eyes at the frantic youth.

"I don't know!" He responded, throwing his arm out to the side, "But we can't just...do nothing!"

"Jesse." Walt began, causing the boy to roll his eyes in anticipation of a long spiel that they did not have time for, "There is nothing we can do. Not yet. Do you think I want to leave her alone in there myself? I don't like this any more than you do. I care about her well-being... just as much as you." The look on Jesse's face told him that he was wrong about that, but Walt was lying anyway so he continued, "I...I don't want to see her get hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt. But if we try to go back in there right now, empty handed... we ALL die. You, me, her—dead. Get it? If you want to help her—the ONLY way to help her—is to get that money."

"Oh, right," Jesse snapped, eyes narrowing in disbelief as he stepped right up in Walt's personal space, "and where do you suppose we just...get... three million dollars? Huh? Maybe We can pull some OT at your car wash and rack up some quick Benjis just in time to save her life?"

"Jesse, please," Walt said, changing his tone dramatically, "I'm on your side with this. Believe me. But the way I see it, there's only one favorable way out of this for her..."

"And what's that?" Jesse asked, unsure as to whether or not he really wanted to hear the answer.

"We have to finish the cook." Came the reply.

"FINISH THE COOK?!" …...He was yelling again. He took several steps backward in a mixture of shock and disbelief, and had suddenly become very animated with his gestures. "How the hell am I supposed to 'finish the cook' knowing that she's still stuck in there? Knowing that we just left her in there to die...or God only knows what else?!"

Walt motioned with his hands for Jesse to lower his voice and calm down. He stepped closer to the boy, closing the distance a bit as he explained himself calmly. "Look, I know it's not going to be easy, but I can't think of any other way to come up with three million dollars over night, can you?"

There was a short pause before Jesse shrugged his shoulders, dropping his arms to his sides in exhausted defeat.

"If we finish this batch tonight, we can go talk to Gus first thing tomorrow morning. Maybe if we explain the situation to him, he will be sympathetic enough to grant us a loan on the money he will owe us later. It's the best chance we've got. It's the only chance we've got."

Jesse shook his head. He was not satisfied with this idea at all.

"If you have a better idea," Walt insisted, "I'm all ears."

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