Archive of Our Own

'Ah, sonovabitch!'

Jesse leaped backwards as the container fell to the floor, spilling methylamine in its wake.

'Be more careful,' said Walt sternly. He tapped his pencil against the lab table. 'We already have a problem with spillage,' he muttered, glancing down at his clipboard.

'Um, I didn't do it deliberately,' he snapped in reply. He turned the cannister upright and kicked at the liquid spilled across the floor. 'Now I gotta clean this shit up -- why can't we just have cleaners in here or something? I'm not paid to be a janitor.'

'If janitors were paid over a million dollars to clean up after themselves, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem,' said Walt. 'Just get to it, and stop distracting me.'

'You know, you could help clean it up instead of bitching at me.'

'I'm not the oaf who spilled it.'

Jesse slammed the cannister onto the table and muttered rebelliously as he wandered off to find cleaning gear. He mopped up the spillage in silence, casting Mr. White irritated glances as he did so.

Walt didn't take him up on his silent invitation for an argument. He was getting better at ignoring Jesse's pointless diatribes each day and had worked out that reasoned discussion of problems wasn't what his partner was looking for - he just wanted to vent.

Well, not on Walt's watch.

Jesse deliberately left the cleaning apparatus out, but again Walt refused to acknowledge the bait. He would simply tell Jesse to put it away at the end of that day's cook, and when Jesse started off on one of his don't you be telling me rants, he'd give him a smile and walk right out of the lab. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Jesse pulled his gas mask back on and picked up the cannister again before ascending the ladder to pour its contents into the vat.

'Jesse,' he said.

'What? I'll put it away later!'

'Jesse, you haven't changed your clothes.'

'So?' He closed the lid of the vat and climbed back down the ladder, placing the cannister on the table. 'I'm wearing a hazmat suit, yo. It's supposed to protect me.'

'You didn't have it zipped up all the way -- look, you've got methylamine on your t-shirt! You haven't even zipped it up now -- are you -- why?' he spluttered.

'Yeah, don't be having a heart attack or something. I wiped it off with a cloth.'

'You wiped off methylamine with a cloth? The very same thing which causes pulmonary edema if inhaled?'

'Last time I checked, I didn't fucking breathe through my skin.'

Walt slammed his pencil down. 'Go wash it off.'

'Yeah, in a minute. I've gotta--'

'Now.'

'Don't you be tellin' me--!'

'Has it struck you that if there's something I know about, it's chemicals? You're going to have chemical burns if you don't go and wash.'

'So?' said Jesse, but now the expression in his eyes was troubled.

Walt waited silently, knowing he had finally got through to him. And sure enough, Jesse stormed past him. 'All right, but only 'cos you won't shut the fuck up about it all!'

Fine, Walt let him have his silly rant if it meant avoiding inexplicable hospital visits. He picked up his pencil again and began working over the figures. They appeared to be ahead in their yield this week; he was thankful, considering how they had been down over the last couple of weeks. A shadow crossed the clipboard and he looked up, startled, expecting to see Mike or Tyrus.  

'Yeah, so everything's okay with what we've produced?' said Jesse.

'I thought you were going to get a shower,' said Walt.

'I did.' He leaned in close, pointed to his head. 'See, my hair's wet?'

'You couldn't have been more than two minutes.'

'Were you timing me or something?' said Jesse suspiciously.

'You weren't in long enough.'

'Yeah, I was.'

'You weren't.'

'I was!' said Jesse, throwing his arms wide open.

Walt closed his eyes, counted to ten. When he opened them again, Jesse was still standing there with that rebellious punk expression plastered across his face. 'Jesse, you need to apply cold running water for at least fifteen minutes. There's no way -- I mean, you stink of it!'

'In case you hadn't noticed, the entire lab stinks of meth.'

Walt gave an exasperated sigh.  'It will seep into your pores. Ten more minutes in the shower, minimum.'

'This isn't like junior high, all right? I burned my stomach on like oil last week and I didn't stand there crying about it like a pussy.'

'How did you burn your stomach?'

'Uh, it was hot? So I don't cook with a shirt on. I had this Metal Muli-- get off me!' He twisted and fought as Walt grabbed hold of him by the hood of his hazmat suit and frogmarched him to the shower area. 'Get off!' he snarled again.

'You never listen to me!' said Walt. He released Jesse and pushed him toward the shower. 'Ten minutes. Now.'

'Bitch, now what? I ain't gettin' a shower.' He held up his hands defensively as Mr. White came at him. Jesse pushed and shoved at him in impotent fury as Walt dragged the hazmat suit down further, trapping his wrists with one hand as he pulled the t-shirt from Jesse with the other. 'Homo!'

Walt turned on the shower, ignoring the fact that he himself was getting soaked in the water. He released Jesse's hands and took a firm grip on the back of his neck, forcing him under the stream of water.

'Get the fuck off me, you asshole!' shouted Jesse.

'Why does everything have to be a struggle with you? I'm trying to help you, for Christ's sake!'

They grappled for some time, but Jesse's back was trapped against the wall and Walt blocked his only way of escape. Still, he spit out just about every swear word he knew as Walt grabbed a sponge from the wire rack above and began to scrub at his neck and along his clavicle.  

'I can do it myself, Mr. White!'

'Sure, just like you did last time,' said Walt. He could barely suppress the smile which kept creeping onto his face. Jesse's impotent fury amused him; the kid shot him glares of blue rage, but he couldn't have looked less intimidating if he tried, sopping wet, his fair hair a spiky mess, shivering whenever he actually managed to escape the water stream.

Jesse's skin already looked slightly red and irritated from the spill. Walt was taken aback by his stubbornness -- it must have been hurting him and still he had argued with Walt rather than admit he had been right.

Walt dragged the sponge across his chest, then wrung it out and applied more detergent before grabbing hold of Jesse again to keep him still. He soaped down his chest and stomach. Jesse actually began to quieten down as Walt cleaned him, apparently resigned to the fact that he'd lost.

Jesse's belly quivered as he moved the sponge over him. Walt couldn't help but smile and run it over him again. Jesse shuddered in earnest then, and almost impercebtibly moved closer. 'Fuck,' he muttered. 'Mr. White...'

There was something about the way he breathed Walt's name which sent a thrill crashing through him. He pulled back slightly, surprised to feel himself harden at the sound of Jesse's voice. He glanced down and raised an eyebrow upon seeing that Jesse seemed to be experiencing the same problem.

'You didn't finish,' said Jesse. He quirked a rogueish grin when Walt met his eyes.

'Where -- did I miss?'

'My arms. You didn't finish under my arms,' said Jesse. He lifted his arms up languidly, casting Walt a challenging look.

Walt swallowed. He gripped the sponge tightly and took hold of Jesse's arm, pulling him closer. He ran the sponge along one arm, under his armpits, along his chest, to the other arm, lathering him there. 'Yes,' he said. 'Yes, that's better.'

Jesse was no longer spitting anger, but was giving Walt that curiously sly and disarming look of which he was sometimes capable. 'Yeah,' he said. 'Thanks for cleaning me up, bitch.'

'Don't you dare--'

'Can you stop staring and let me go now?' said Jesse. He pushed against Mr. White and cast him another sly glance. 'What? You have somethin' to say?'

Walt wasn't sure if he was inspired or insulted by the challenge in Jesse's eyes. He let his gaze drift down Jesse's chest, flicked a glance at Jesse's face again  -- still watching him with that disrespectful, knowing look -- and bent forward slowly, as Jesse came close and wrapped an arm around his neck, arching into him. He pushed Jesse up against the tiles as his mouth came down on his chest, his lips around Jesse's nipple. He sucked at it softly, then more forcefully.

Jesse bucked and whined as his teeth closed around it, tugging gently.

Walt pulled away, then licked a trail across to Jesse's other nipple. He repeated the sucking motion. Jesse swallowed, unable to spreak. It was all too blatant for him.

Walt wrapped an arm around him and brought him closer, pulling Jesse's naked wet body to him. Jesse gasped as a thrill crashed through him at the feel of Mr. White's clothes rubbing against his skin. It seemed an age passed as Mr. White sucked and licked at his hardening nipples.

'Jesus,' muttered Jesse, as he felt himself growing painfully hard. Mr. White forced a leg between his thigh and pressed into him. He began to squirm in earnest then. 'The cameras, Mr. White...'

'They don't pick up this part of the lab. I've worked it out. The angles don't allow--'

'Yeah, yeah,' said Jesse. He pushed forward and kissed Mr. White deeply, startling him. They kissed in silence for a long moment, Jesse running his tongue along Walt's lips and rudely thrusting it into his mouth before pulling away and sucking on his lower lip.

Walt shoved him away in shock. He hadn't kissed anyone like that, not with that sense of feeling, in a long time. 'What--?'

'You didn't think I'd let you win this round, huh?' He twisted past Mr. White and out of his reach easily, stripping out of the remainder of his clothing. 'We have to cook, don't we?'

Walt pressed the button on the shower to stop the stream of water. He fought to contain the hammering of his heart as he placed the sponge back onto the wire rack. His hands were shaking, he noticed with displeasure.

'Yeah,' Jesse went on as he walked over to the lockers and pulled out a clean hazmat suit. 'Nice try at getting one over me, asshole. Gotta work harder than that to freak me out.'

'What,' said Walt, trying to force levity into his voice. He watched as Jesse pulled out his ipod and placed it safely against his chest before untangling the headphones. 'You're saying you didn't like it?'

Jesse paused as he brought the headphones to his ears. 'I didn't say that.' He gave Walt a boyish grin, and returned to work.