Chapter 22: The Cost of Power
Jesse sat in the dimly lit penthouse, the city sprawled beneath him like a living organism, pulsing with light and movement. It was his city now.
Rivera was gone. The cartel was shattered. There was no immediate threat.
And yet, Jesse couldn't shake the feeling that the real danger was just beginning.
He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping idly against the glass of whiskey in his hand. He hadn't taken NZT today. It was one of his off-days, and the absence of its sharp clarity left him feeling… slow.
Normal.
Mike had warned him about this. "If you get used to thinking on NZT, what happens when you have to think without it?"
Jesse wasn't sure of the answer.
The Government Takes Notice
Jesse's operation had always been structured to avoid unnecessary attention. Shell companies, offshore accounts, clean money filtering through investments.
But he knew the IRS wasn't the real problem.
The DEA was.
Ever since Gus Fring's death, the feds had been watching Albuquerque closely. And now, there was a new problem—Jesse's product had become too famous.
Blue Meth was back, stronger and purer than ever.
And the government wanted to know who was behind it.
Mike walked in, tossing a file onto the table. Jesse glanced at it, recognizing the familiar redacted reports.
"They've reopened the Fring case," Mike said. "Which means they're gonna start digging into anyone who's running product in New Mexico."
Jesse exhaled. "How bad is it?"
Mike sat down across from him. "They don't have anything solid yet. But they're looking. Hard."
Jesse flipped through the file. DEA agents were back in town. Old connections were being questioned.
And there was a name that made his blood run cold.
Hank Schrader.
Unfinished Business
Jesse hadn't thought about Hank in months. Not since everything had changed.
Back when he was still just another screw-up, Hank had been a looming shadow, always a step behind. But now?
Now, Jesse was running a multi-million dollar empire with the sharpest mind on the planet.
Hank didn't know it yet, but he was playing a game he had already lost.
Still, Jesse wasn't about to underestimate him.
"Options?" Jesse asked.
Mike frowned. "We could try to steer them away, but Schrader's not an idiot. If he gets a whiff of you, he won't stop."
Jesse tapped his fingers against the file, thinking.
Then he made a decision.
"We don't wait for him to find us," Jesse said. "We control the narrative."
Mike raised an eyebrow. "How?"
Jesse smiled, a slow, dangerous grin.
"We give him exactly what he's looking for."
The Setup
The next week was a whirlwind of calculated chaos.
Jesse set up a fake operation—an entirely separate meth ring, designed to be exposed. A few disposable players, a few leaks in the right places, and suddenly, the DEA had a new target.
Hank and his team would chase ghosts while Jesse tightened his grip on the real empire.
And it worked.
By the end of the week, news broke that the DEA had taken down a "major meth operation" in northern New Mexico. Jesse watched the press conference with a smirk.
Hank stood at the podium, talking about how they had made a "significant breakthrough" in the fight against drug trafficking.
Jesse turned off the TV.
Schrader had no idea he was being played.
But Jesse knew this was just the beginning.
The NZT Problem
Jesse's empire was stable. The government was distracted. Everything was under control.
So why did he feel like he was losing himself?
NZT had changed him in ways he hadn't fully understood before. His mind was sharper than ever, his instincts almost supernatural. But on the off-days…
He felt hollow.
Weaker.
Less than.
The vaccine he had created kept the side effects at bay, but it didn't stop the dependency.
He could still function without it. But for how long?
He stared at the small vial in his hand, the familiar clear liquid that made him invincible.
Jesse had won the game.
But was the price too high?