Chapter 2

Walt threw the gun to the ground in anger. He had let him get away. Damn. Damn! How was he supposed to get those names now? He watched the car speed away into the distance. Let him run, Walt thought angrily. Coward.

Anger boiled through Walt more fiercely by the second. That ingrate, that selfish cretin! Mike had always been a problem. It was always inevitable that in the end, he'd want to take the easy way out and run away. That was the type of person Mike was, wasn't he? Always had to be the pain in the ass in his plans. If he hadn't needed Mike for distribution, he would have never made contact with him again. He never got anything right.

And then, just now, when Walt asked for a simple task, Mike blamed everything that went wrong on him. Him! If it weren't for him, none of this, no part of his empire would have ever came into existence! All three of them, him, Jesse, and Mike too, they would have been living rich. Like kings! They all would have all the money they would have ever needed and then some! The DEA might not be tracking them right now if Mike had just followed explicit and clear instructions. And Mike blamed him for everything?

Worst of all, he left jeopardizing the entire business. These nine men, whom he didn't even know the names of, could destroy everything that Walt had worked for. He could not let that happen. He needed those names.

Suddenly, he realized: he didn't need the names from Mike at all. He could get them from that lady, what was her name...Lydia? She knew the men. She could give her the names.

Walt, for a second, was stunned. He looked at the gun lying on the ground, in the thin grass. He picked it up and brushed off the dirt. Would he have really...killed Mike? No. No, of course he wouldn't have. He would have simply used it as a mechanism to get the information out of him. But no, he would never actually have used it on him. Let alone kill him. No, of course not.

Walt stuffed the gun quickly in his pocket, as if worrying someone would see it. He walked back to his car and took out his cell phone from his pocket. He punched in a number he remembered from the train heist and waited while the phone rang.

After three rings, she picked up. "Hello?" answered Lydia.

"It's Walt. I need the names from you." Walt said.

"What names?" asked Lydia. "Be a bit more specific."

"You know perfectly well what names," said Walt, "Mike's nine guys. The henchmen that worked for Fring. I need those names." There was a pause. "Hello? Lydia?"

"I have the names." Lydia said. "But I have to give them to you in person. Do you know the Grove?"

"What?"

"It's a coffee shop. Meet me there in two hours."

Walt hung up. This was risky. He hardly knew Lydia, but from what he did know she wasn't very trustworthy. Mike had wanted to kill her, after all. If she didn't give him the names, then all was lost. He would need to give her some extra motivation, in case she didn't cooperate. He placed the gun neatly on the passenger's seat cushion and drove.

Walt arrived at his home. He did not expect Skyler or Walt Jr., or anyone, to be there. Skyler would probably be at the car wash, and Junior would still be at school for another few hours. But to his surprise, a car was parked in the driveway. It was Jesse's.

Jesse got out of his car when he saw Walt pull up in the driveway. He looked relieved.

"Jesse?" Walt said. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Look, I was just getting worried is all," he replied, "I tried looking for you at the, uh, Vamanos Pest place, but you weren't there. I called you like a billion times, why didn't you answer?"

Walt had noticed the calls while he was driving, but was too preoccupied in his own thoughts to answer them. And he was still angry that he had let Mike get away, despite being able to get the names now.

"I was...busy." Walt said. "Let's go inside." Walt opened the front door and let Jesse inside. They stood in the living room. "Why were you worried?"

"Uh, you know..." Jesse said. "With Mike going and all. Something might have gone wrong with that." He paused. "How'd it go, anyway?"

"It went fine." Walt grumbled. "Aside from the fact that he tried to run me over."

Jesse gawked at him. "Seriously?"

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him: he wanted Jesse back on his side. But Jesse was leaving the business, mainly due to Todd and Drew Sharp. But his feelings for leaving were also reinforced by Mike. Jesse had been going back and forth between his and Mike's side, ever since Gus had gotten interested in the kid, but now that Mike was out of the picture, he might be able to win him back. For good.

"...yeah." Walt said. "I asked Mike for the names of those nine guys. He refused, and then tried to back over me. I jumped out of the way at the last second, and he drove away. So I'm not sure if that constitutes as a good reaction." Of course, he intentionally left out that he had been coming at him with a gun. "So now, not only did he directly endanger my life, he's now indirectly endangered both of our lives by not giving us those names."

"Oh, Jesus." Jesse moaned. He sat down on the living room couch. Walt could see Jesse's mind working, struggling to picture Mike in that scenario, and struggling between the two superiors. If things went well, then he would choose him over Mike. Slowly, Walt sat down next to him.

"Oh, shit, Mr. White..." Jesse said. "I'm sorry...it should have been me...I should have gone out there, he would have listened to me-"

"Jesse, there's no use in blaming yourself," Walt said, placing a hand on his former-partner's shoulder. "I got the message. He wants to destroy me. The outcome wouldn't have been any different if it were you coming to meet him. He would never give us those names."

"Shit...what are we gonna do?"

"Well, as it happens, I called that woman that Mike knew, Lydia...she has the names, but I'm not positive she is going to give them to us. It's a gamble, surely. She seems to be very unpredictable." Walt did not mention that he planned to poison her with ricin if she did not comply. It was the only reason he went back to his house in the first place, to retrieve the poison.

Jesse nodded. "Yeah...she seemed like it..."

"You wouldn't be willing to come, would you? Just as some backup?"

Jesse looked down at his feet. He was uneasy. "Um, look, Mr. White…if this is some way in trying to get me back into the business…I'm out, man. That's final."

"Jesse." Walt said. "Listen. Mike…he's manipulated you. He's trying to get you out. Why, I don't know, maybe he wants you on his side. And I know you thought you could trust him, but look what he did to us."

"Mike was cool, okay?" Jesse said weakly.

"Mike betrayed both of us. And now we're left with this highly unstable person with the information that he should have given to us." He looked Jesse in the eye. "Now, I can either go with this alone, or I could use some help."

"It was Mike's idea for me to go, yeah, but that's not the only reason." Jesse said.

Walt managed to shudder. "I know. Drew Sharp…but Jesse, I'm not asking for you to work full-time. I am asking for your help for this matter, and then maybe just so we can get our new enterprise up and running. It should really only take a few weeks, maybe a month, for things to settle down and I can manage things on my own. But before that time, I'll need some help."

Jesse scratched his chin. "I dunno, man—"

"Jesse, remember, this business, it's all I have left. I can't let Mike try and take everything I've worked towards away from me."

Jesse paused, considering his offer. Walt was crossing his fingers mentally. He needed Jesse back.

Eventually, Jesse spoke. In a shaky voice, he looked at Walt and said "One condition."

"Anything."

"I need you to get rid of Todd."

Walt regarded Jesse for a moment. Then, he nodded his head.