Early January, 2014

He gets the call like a week after New Year's. Jesse hasn't been up to much: still going through the motions like he's dealing the Lobos stuff, making appearances when he needs to. Added into that, he's thinking about moving across town after that stuff with Andrea on New Year's Eve, but hasn't made much progress on it yet.

So when one of Diego's guys, one of the giant douchebags who basically kicked his ass a while back, comes up to him on one of his corners and tells him he's gotta come in, it's not something he's expecting. In fact, when the car pulls up and the guy's calling over to him from across the passenger's seat, he almost doesn't get in. Jesse almost tries to make some excuse to get the hell out of there, but can't come up with one off the top of his head. At least one that won't seem like he's just dicking Diego around or whatever the hell.

They don't drive to the sandwich place where Diego's got his business set up. They head northeast and just... keep going. Darrow's not that big, but Jesse doesn't head this far out like... ever. It's after they pass Candlewood that Jesse starts to wonder whether or not this is supposed to be a one way trip.

The whole way there, as a matter of fact, he's trying to think through how the hell he's going to get out of this. All he's got on him are his keys, which could maybe work as like, something to stab somebody with if it came down to it, but if it's like it was last time, if it turns out the Lobos are about to cut their losses and off him or something, he's gonna be up shit creek. Especially if that other big guy's there too.

Maybe they found out he's been pocketing their product, pumping his own money into the operation just to keep their contaminated crystal off the streets.

Maybe that's what this is about.

He could jump out of the car, roll and make a run for it. He'd probably fuck up his knees, but it's better than ending up dead and buried somewhere in the Darrow countryside.

By the time the guy stops the car, Jesse's ready to haul ass and get as far away as he can, only it's not some secluded place they end up. It's some farm Jesse didn't even know was there in the first place. Meathead stops the car and climbs out, and Jesse sits in the front seat for a second, pausing, not sure whether or not following him will be the worst decision he's ever made.

A loud knock on his window brings him back to the present moment though, Neck Tattoo standing there glaring at him.

"Come on, man," he says, "I don't have all fucking day."

He gets out. He follows, hands in the pockets of his jacket to keep the cold out. There's a farm house out here, some cows. They smell like shit. Jesse's lead past all that to this big-ass barn with two big dudes guarding it.

When they slide open the doors, Jesse's not sure what he expected to see, but it's definitely not Diego, and what looks like a lab. Not like, Gus's shiny as hell superlab or anything, but it's definitely a cook. It still even smells like one, to Jesse's nose. Their cook is smaller than Fring's was, that's for sure, but he guesses they definitely put out more than he and Mr. White did in the RV. Or at least they should be.

"Looking good, my man," Diego says, and Jesse frowns, wanting like hell to say something about the last time Diego came at him with all that fake friend shit, but holding his tongue for now. Something goes wrong out here, and Jesse's guessing he'll just never turn up again. "So, what do you think?"

Jesse can't play dumb, not now, and it's weird as hell to think that he used to deny and avoid like a goddamn master, but that he's gotta do the opposite right now. Because he's right where he wanted to be when he first got his in with the Lobos. Right here in their lab, where they put out 'bad batches' that kill people sometimes. Where they cook stuff that straight up kills people and no one gives a shit.

"It uh," Jesse says, and his eyes land on one of the vats. It's got a smudge of dirt or cow shit on the chrome, "It looks like a lab. Yours, I'm guessing."

"Damn right, it's mine, compadre," he replies, and all Jesse can think is that if he owned a lab this shitty, he probably wouldn't be so proud about it. Like, no wonder their product is so crappy.

Jesse takes a moment to walk through the space, getting a better look at the equipment, what supplies and chemicals they've got on-hand. It's a sudo cook, that's for sure, and Jesse can't even remember the last time he did one of those. With Badger maybe?

"So, why am I here, yo?" he finally asks, daring to ask even though he might get his ass kicked for it. Maybe Diego's expression changes, but he doesn't order any his big dogs to drag Jesse out behind the barn or anything, so that's something.

"You said before that you know how to cook," Diego says, "I had a guy, but one of those weird-ass bees got him on New Year's. Guy lost a hand. So I'm out a cook."

"What, like now?" Jesse asks.

"Either you know how to cook or you don't." Diego replies, and maybe this is what Jesse's been working towards, but he's hesitant anyway. His endgame after this is basically to scope all this out, figure out what their deal is, maybe take them out from the inside.

But he guesses it's gonna take a cook or two before he can figure out just how to do that.

"Yeah," Jesse says, and he starts to pull off his jacket, even though it's cold as balls in that barn, "Yeah, I can cook."