I'm not sure who I am but I know who I've been.

[hostage]

Date & Time: January 8
Location: initially the arrival area and then... wherever
Characters: Jesse & Steph & some others later
Summary: Jesse returns to Exsilium.
Warnings: So many Breaking Bad spoilers. So, so many. Like, for real, y'all. Also graphic descriptions of stuff.

[The second he opens his eyes and sees something other than the inside of a cell, he makes a break for it. What he does see makes little sense to him, but it couldn't matter less right now. There are way too many people. Maybe he should ask them for help - but he doesn't. He won't risk it. He shoulders past them, hobbling and nearly tripping over the shackles around his ankles. What he's doing can't be called running, exactly, but it's as close to it as he can get.

To anyone who might catch a glimpse of him among the new arrivals, he hardly looks like Jesse Pinkman anymore. His hair and beard both have grown out some, though that's the least of it. "Beaten to a pulp" is an all-too-accurate description of the state of his face, still bloody and raw and probably infected by now, because he's dirty, too. And stinking - of urine and meth lab and god-knows-what-else. Some of his wounds can't be seen, except for where the blood has soaked into his shirt, but from the way he's hunching, a few ribs must be broken. It doesn't help that his wrists are handcuffed and chained to his waist. The scorpion tattoo on his right hand helps to positively identify him.

He can't really see where he's going. One eye is swollen shut and the other isn't used to this much light. When he pushes his way out of the enclosed space and into the open air, he's altogether blinded by the glare of the sun and the snow. That same snow is impossible to wade through when he's in chains, and he falls as soon as his feet hit it, down onto his knees and then rolling onto his back.

He lets out a panicked scream when that happens, jerking and struggling to roll over again so that he can try to climb up. But he can't - not like this. That's the whole reason they tied him up this way. It doesn't take him long to reach that realization, and rather than keep fighting like that, he starts to crawl. It was cold in his cell and it's much colder now, the snow soaking into his clothes and freezing him, but he doesn't stop.

He has to keep going.]

Comments

[hostage]

[He shakes his head, though he looks sorry for arguing.]

I can't. I can't leave it like that when we got the power to fix it.

[fullmeasure]

And what do you plan on fixing?

[he isn't even sure how to go about fixing it himself]

[hostage]

I'll go back and kill him before it all goes bad.

[fullmeasure]

[Mike just gives him a hard look. After everything the kid's gone through, he doesn't doubt that Jesse feels that way.

What he doubts is that Jesse can actually follow through]

[hostage]

[Mike doesn't have to say it. Jesse can feel the doubt radiating off of him. But he looks up to meet Mike's eyes, and he doesn't have any doubts, himself. He deserves to be the one to do this. He's earned it.]

[fullmeasure]

[Mike holds Jesse's look for at least a minute, before he's the one to break it. There's understanding; he gets it. He can't stop the kid, but even if he has his doubts, it won't stop him from having Jesse's back]