IV

September 9th, 2010 - Brooklyn

It had been almost ten years since he last saw her and she was acting as if nothing had changed. As if he hadn't become sidekick to one of the country's biggest drug kingpins. As if he hadn't killed multiple people as a maniac's pawn. Jesse sat in the passenger seat of a silver Buick, watching as his old friend got into the driver's seat. She offered him a small smile before starting the car and backing out of the parking lot. They both sat in silence. He didn't like it. He was anxious. Maybe he had put too much trust in Felicity too soon. Who was to say that they weren't driving right to the police station right now?

Felicity glanced over at Jesse. His nails were digging into his thighs and she raised a brow. "Are you alright?"

He was silent for a minute before speaking. "Where are we going?"

"My house, remember?" she reminded.

"Are you sure? You aren't going to turn me into the cops or anything, are you?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.

She frowned, a bit hurt that he would think that. Felicity figured she should give the man some slack. She really had no idea of the magnitude of what he had experienced but from what she had heard on the news months back, it all seemed pretty heavy. She wasn't one to criticize him for participating in illegal activity, though – especially with her own line of work. That and Jesse had been involved with drugs since they were in high school. However, this time, it was obviously something completely different – something way more serious, too.

"No! Jesus! We're going to my house, that's all," she reassured, patting his leg lightly. Felicity felt him flinch and sighed. "You're going to be okay. Nothing's changed."

The moment she had uttered those words, she noticed him freeze up. She must have said something wrong. "Jesse?"

Nothing's changed.

Walter White's voice rang clearly in his head.

Jesse was glad that Felicity wasn't big on details. That was just how their relationship worked. If he needed fixing, she would fix him up – no questions asked. In hindsight, maybe he took advantage of that one too many times in his life, but was a bit too late to go digging up old history – especially when recent history kept spitting in his face. Jesse snapped back to reality.

"Huh?"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Felicity asked again.

He simply nodded, catching her shake her head slightly. She didn't speak for the rest of the trip.

Eventually, they came into the residential area. Felicity ended up driving into a small cul-de-sac in front of a large contemporary looking house. She pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Jesse was sort of stunned, before realizing that there was no way she could live alone. She was twenty six after all, and was probably married or had a boyfriend or something. Jesse began to feel anxious. The last thing he wanted to do was become a burden to two people.

Felicity unlocked the door and ushered Jesse into the house. She never really had people over but she always tried her best to be a good host. As she kicked off her shoes, she decided to give Jesse a small rundown of the place. Her house was rather large and it was wholly possible for someone to get confused in it. "Well, alright, to your left is the den. The living room and kitchen are to your right and there's a washroom right over here."

Her house had been built just a few years prior and she took great pride in her Venetian style interior designing. She had quite a bit of help from her mother but she had chosen the white, gold and red colour scheme for the first floor. There was a large winding staircase right in the centre of the foyer which led to the basement and to the second floor and a rather extravagant chandelier surrounded by a glass ceiling. Her home had four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms as well as a pool in the backyard and a kitchenette in the basement.

"Holy shit," Jesse whispered under his breath, whistling lowly. He half expected kids to come bounding out of nowhere but the house remained silent as Felicity took him through it. There were a few pictures here and there, mostly of her and her parents. Felicity never had any siblings but she did like to talk about her grandfather and her cousins.

"Yeah, I'd say it's pretty impressive," she laughed as she began climbing up the stairs. "Let me show you to your room."

The second floor of her home was similar to the first floor in its colour scheme but it was in the individual rooms where one could see the colour variation. Jesse's room was painted a deep red with dark hardwood floors. There were subtle hints of gold all throughout the room as well as various other shades of red. The room was outfitted with a queen bed, a desk, a closet and a small dresser.

"The washroom is the first door by the stairs, by the way. My room is the last one all the way down there and yours is the one right beside mine," she explained, pointing to the room adjacent to the washroom.

Jesse took a minute to soak everything in before nodding. "So, you live here… Alone?"

Felicity shrugged and laughed. "Yup, just me, all by my lonesome."

"So, what? No boyfriend or…?"

She scoffed. "Nah, I haven't dated in a few years, to be honest. You gotta be careful in my line of work, y'know?"

He almost envied how nonchalant she was. If he had been in her shoes, he would've been looking over his shoulder 24/7.

Felicity pulled out her cellphone and let out a small, "Hm."

"…What's up?" Jesse inquired.

She slipped her phone back into her pocket and shrugged. Felicity began walking closer to him. Jesse felt his entire body freeze up. She didn't stop until she was only inches away from his face. Felicity raised a hand and gently ran her fingers over his scars. He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips as he held his breath. Her cold blue eyes examined his face closely.

"Let's go get your haircut," she whispered, her lip quirking into a small smile.

Jesse relaxed and narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't really know what to expect but he had thought it would be something a little more serious. "Right now?"

"Yeah, right now! It's only like… Six o'clock. And maybe if we have time we can get something to eat? Sound good?"

Jesse shot her a confused look. "You treat all your clients this well?"

Felicity was already making her way down the stairs as she looked up at him. "Only the one's I've seen in their underwear."

She couldn't exactly explain why she was going out of her way for this guy. It was true that they had been close family friends since they were kids but her helping was a lot more complicated than just an obligation due to association. No, Felicity was obligated on a much deeper level than that.

Pulling up into the small back lot of a strip mall, she led Jesse into a hair salon. It was pretty late in the day so there were no other customers around. However, the staff still milled about, sweeping up hair and sorting out products. The bell above the door jingled signalling their arrival and almost every woman working in the store turned to greet them. One woman in particular came to welcome them into the store. She was of average height with long dark hair and equally dark eyes.

"Lila!" Felicity exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

Lila Choi was the daughter of Linda Choi, the owner of Choice Salon and Nails. She had attended the same college as Felicity but was a year younger. In all actuality, the Scotts owned the entire strip mall where the salon was located but they rarely dropped by to see what was going on. Joseph Scott, Felicity's father, was a big time entrepreneur and current CEO of the Bellini Group of Hotels and Restaurants. He also invested in small time ventures like nail salons and family diners. Felicity was a regular at the salon as well as close friends with Lila.

"Hey! What're you doing here so late?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm not here to get anything done. A friend of mine was in town and he wanted to get his haircut. As you can see," Felicity began, pulling Jesse over, "He's currently rocking the homeless look and in my opinion, he looks much better when he's clean cut."

Jesse growled under his breath as Felicity grabbed him. He looked to the other woman and offered her a small smile.

"Lila, this is Alex, Alex, this is my friend Lila – we went to the same college," she explained.

Alex? Well, she obviously couldn't use the Jesse.

"Nice to meet you!" Lila quipped, grabbing his hand to shake. Jesse nodded as if to say the same thing. "I'll get someone to help you out, one sec."

In a matter of seconds, a much shorter woman swept Jesse away. Lila turned to Felicity, a devilish smirk on her face. "A friend of yours, hm?"

Felicity rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a friend of mine. Family friend, even."

She was going to do her best not to reveal that they had grown up together, just because if somehow, someone put together that this guy who looked a lot like Jesse Pinkman and went to high school with her in Albuquerque – well, then the cat would definitely be out of the bag.

"Oh, I see… Well, I never took you to go for the rugged type," Lila teased.

"I'm not going for anyone, Lila," Felicity said sounding a bit exasperated. She absolutely had no feelings for Jesse whatsoever, except for the overwhelming feeling of obligation. Aside from that, they were simply friends and that was it. The time for her to develop feelings for him was long gone. They weren't kids anymore and given current circumstances, it would have never worked out in the first place.

Lila patted her arm softly and chuckled. "Mm, yeah, alright. Hey, I'll catch up with you in a bit, okay? I've got to do inventory in the back but I'll probably be done before you guys leave."

Felicity nodded and hugged her quickly before going to take a seat in the waiting area of the shop. She flipped through a few magazines as she waited for Jesse. As her eyes scanned the lines in the magazine, she heard the faint sound of an electric razor as well as the sound of a newscaster delivering the evening news.

"And now for what continues to be our top story: a conclusion to the Heisenberg case. Authorities have finished investigations on the compound where Walter H. White, also known as Heisenberg, aged 52 was found dead on Saturday night. Officers have identified the other victims as Jack Welker, 46, Kenneth Blake, 38, Frank Jackson, 37, Matthew Reynolds, 30, Lester Fletcher, 32 and Todd Alquist, 24 – all of which appear to have been part of some sort of gang faction that had been manufacturing the popular "blue meth" of which Heisenberg made famous.

However, Albuquerque PD officers have yet to find the body of Jesse Pinkman, aged 26. While we once believed that Pinkman escaped to Alaska, evidence strongly suggests that Pinkman was responsible for cooking said blue meth. Other evidence says that Pinkman may have been held there against his will due to evidence found in a storm drain on the compound as well finger prints on shackles found within the main complex. DEA officials have also procured a DVD which contained footage of Pinkman supplying information to the late Agent Steven Gomez and ASAC Hank Shrader. Agents say that this information is still vital to filling in the gaps in this case.

Finally, the DEA held a press conference this afternoon addressing the current state of the Heisenberg case."

The screen then transitioned to footage of the press conference. A DEA agent stepped up to the podium and began speaking, "On behalf of the DEA and the Albuquerque Police Department, it would be my pleasure to announce this case as closed. While there are still many holes yet to be filled, we are confident that the testimony provided by Jesse Pinkman will help put the pieces together. As for Pinkman's current whereabouts; evidence strongly suggests that Pinkman had made his escape from the Welker compound, however it is unclear whether or not he escaped unscathed. We have found his getaway vehicle however, investigators have not found a body or any indication as to where he was headed. It is wholly possible that he had been picked up by a motorist but we think of this as unlikely as he would have been reported as seen by now.

It is with this information that we have no other choice but to presume Jesse Pinkman as dead. It is but another tragic death in the wake of Walter White and we send our condolences to his family and friends. Pinkman's testimony has proved to be extremely in the investigation thus far and are sorry but thankful for his assistance. Once again, the Heisenberg case is now closed. Thank you," an agent explained quickly.

Felicity tuned out for a moment before glancing at Jesse. All through the broadcast, they had be flashing his face over and over again. Hopefully he would be in and out of there before anyone really put two and two together. Luckily, none of the other salon staff had been watching the news with her. Felicity discreetly switched the channel to some inane drama before going back to leafing through the magazines.

A few minutes later, she heard footsteps approach her. Felicity glanced over the magazine to see a cleanly shaven Jesse standing before her. His hair was now at a reasonable medium length and his beard had been sufficiently trimmed. Luckily, the pictures that had been all over the news had him with shorter hair and a much thicker facial hair. He didn't have any of the scars on his face in the photos either.

She smirked. "Looking good, J-… Alex."

He nodded slowly and jammed is hands into his pockets. Felicity took this as a thanks and quickly went to pay for his haircut. Lila emerged from the backroom and stepped behind the counter, right in time to process Felicity's transaction. Her dark eyes examined Jesse intently as she quickly pulled out the correct change before passing it to her friend. "Looks like they did a good job cleaning you up."

Jesse shrugged, not really knowing what to say. When he looked at himself in the mirror once he was finished getting his hair cut, he couldn't recognize his own reflection. He knew it was him but it was hard to process the fact that he was there – that he was real. When he tried to hide in the recesses of his own mind, all he could hear were the voices of all the people he had lost – and all the people he had killed. After all of the things that he had done, it was hard not to see a monster instead of a man staring back at him. Felicity's voice sliced through his thoughts as she tugged on his arm, jerking him out of his own mind.

"That's why I brought him here!" she sang, giggling, "Anyway, we better get going. It was nice seeing you! I'll drop by to get my nails done sometime soon!"

"Haha, alright! See you around!" Lila said just as they slipped out of the store.

Felicity rushed to get back into her car and buckled herself in quickly. Jesse followed suit. She could feel his eyes on her as she drove out of the lot. "Something wrong?"

"You won't believe what I just heard on the news," Felicity chirped, shaking her head a little.

"What?" Jesse asked, fear rising up in his voice.

"The DEA and the APD… They pronounced you dead. They found your car and everything but they think that you may have gotten shot or something so they're just saying that you're dead," she said, "They're even making you out to be some sort of… I don't know, martyr or hero or something!"

"W-What?" he stuttered, not fully understanding what Felicity was trying to say.

"They're saying that your testimony or whatever has contributed so much to the investigation and that your death was tragic," she continued. "Maybe they're just cutting you some slack because you confessed. That's how it works, right?"

"Don't… Don't you think that's a bit…? I don't know, weird? That they'd just say I'm dead and then flip everything around so that I'm not the bad guy anymore? It all sounds a bit suspicious, don't you think?" Jesse rationalized.

"Maybe someone put in a good word for you or something, who knows. Maybe you still have someone watching out for you in ABQ," she winked. "If I were you, I'd just run with it. It just means it'll be easier for you to start over."

He nodded slowly, trying his best to take everything in. What about his parents? His brother? His friends? What would they think of him? Would they think he really was a hero? Jesse still couldn't understand why the feds and the police would just give up the search for him that easily. None of it made any sense. It was possible that someone pulled some strings back home, but it was unlikely. He didn't know anyone with that sort of power – anyone alive, that is. There was something going on, but Felicity was right. He was in no position to go against what was happening.

Jesse remained silent as Felicity continued driving.