It was Flynn's first day back at school, and he slammed the door to his mom's car as he got in.
"Flynn, honey, what's wrong?" Skylar asked, concerned.
"I'm..I'm quitting school. I'm never going back!"
"Did something happen?"
"You..you tell me! I'm the son of Heisenberg!"
She studied him closely."Is that what they're calling you?"
He didn't answer directly; rather his attentions turned to a giggling group of kids.
"Watch Holly for me," she ordered without looking back.
"Mom? What are you doing? You're only going to make things worse...Mom?" He slunk into his seat, afraid of what was going to happen next.
"Son of Heisenberg? Is that what you're calling him?" Skylar demanded as she approached the group of kids.
Some snickered, some looked the other way. She grabbed the collar of the one who was laughing the most, and stared him in the eyes.
"What are you saying about my son?" she demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Man, you're as crazy as your husband."
Now that pissed her off. "Do you know who I am?"
"Yeah, you're that retard's mother..."
"My son is not a retard! Do you all think this is funny?" No one answered. "Do you know who I am? I am the wife of Heisenberg, and if you think he's scary, you haven't met me yet. What the hell have you been saying about my son?"
"Let go!" the boy pleaded. "All right, all right, some kids-not us- have been saying it all makes sense."
"What does?"
"The reason Flynn is the way he is. His dad was probably doing meth when you were pregnant..."
"I'll have you know that is not what happened. I almost died giving birth to my son. He and my daughter are the best things to ever happen to me. My son is not responsible for the actions of his father. If I find out any of you are bothering him again, I will personally come back and wipe the stupid smirks off of all of your faces. Got me?"
"Yeah. Whatever."
She started to say something else, but by that time teachers were looking in fear. They had no idea what was going on, only who her husband was. So without saying another word she got in the car and buckled up.
"They will not be bothering you again, Flynn," she said with certainty. After looking back to check on Holly, she sped off, and neither of them spoke of what had happened.
0000
About an hour later, the phone rang. Skylar answered it; every time she did her heart almost stopped, in fear that somehow Walt had found her. Instead it was some girl, asking for her son.
"What do you want with him? And how did you get this number?"
"He gave it to me. I just want to talk to him, to make sure he's all right. He's kind of been having a tough time at school and I..."
"Who are you, and what do you really want with my son?"
"My name is Lindsay, and I'm in his math class. Please, I only want to see how he's doing."
"Listen, Lindsay, the last thing my son needs is anyone's pity or mocking him. He's been through enough. Can't you people see that?"
Just then, Flynn walked out. "Mom, who is that?"
"Some girl named Lindsay. And she's about to hang up..."
"No! I ..I really want to talk to her. Please, Mom..."
Reluctantly she handed the phone to her son. To her surprise, he seemed almost, well, happy when he picked up the phone. He motioned that he was taking it to his bedroom, and Skylar found herself smiling for the first time in ages.
With Holly asleep, she found herself collapsing on the plain, plaid sofa that they'd managed to scrape up. It wasn't much, but with her part-time job it was about the best she could do. Right now it seemed like heaven to her. She had a home, a place where she could just be with her kids. The police were still grilling her, but right now their priority seemed to be finding Walt, so she had some space to herself. Not much, but a little.
She started thinking back to an earlier time just two years ago. Her son was trying on some jeans, those so called skinny jeans, if she remembered right. Suddenly there were several boys laughing at him and mocking him. She was mad, but did not want to cause a scene. She didn't have to. Walt took matters into his own hands, and with an intensity that surprised and scared her a bit, he took care of those punks.
Was that when all of this happened? Was that his first moment of being Heisenberg? If only she'd said something then, if only she'd taken notice of the change in behavior, could any of this been prevented?
She might never know. For all she knew Walt had succumbed to his cancer. In a strange way, it kind of made her sad. Not for the Heisenberg character he'd created for himself, but for Walter White, the man she once loved so much she named her only son after him. For the man who had always taken pride in doing the right thing. For the man she'd shared a bed with all of those years.
No. Skylar shook her head. She couldn't let herself think of the good times, not now. For all she knew the worst might not even be over. He'd taken Holly once; as Marie pointed out, who knew what else he was capable of?
Marie. It had been a few days since she'd talked to her. Taking her cell phone, she called Marie's home phone.
"Hey. It's me. I just wanted to check in on you. How are you feeling?"
"Sick and tired and not a fun person to be around right now. So it's probably for the best you haven't talked to me," Marie snapped.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. It will get better."
"Will it? Will it get better?"
"That's not what I meant. I meant the pregnancy symptoms...give them another month or so and you'll be feeling more like...better." Skylar tried to choose her words carefully.
"I'm thinking of taking time off work," Marie changed the subject.
"Why? I thought it was doing you some good to ...be there?"
"It was, but now there's no hiding that I'm pregnant. I have strangers congratulating me and telling me how happy my husband must be. I can't handle that, not now. I don't know if I ever will be able to."
"Marie...there's something I've been thinking about. Something happened at Flynn's school today that got me thinking..."
"Hold on a sec. There's someone at the door."
Marie placed the phone down, then opened it and got the shock of her life. There, standing in front of her, was her husband's murderer. Walt White was back in town.
"Oh, my God.."She instinctively put her hand on her stomach, a fact which Walt immediately took notice of.
"Hello, Marie."
"What do you want? I have a gun. I swear to God I'll shoot you if you come any closer..."
Walt placed his hands in the air, a sign of surrender. "I don't want any trouble. I think we have to talk..."
TBC