Life After High School. Is It Scary? You Bet.

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: We own nadda but our own characters

Summary: Stuff it. We dunno.

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(Damon's POV)

It was pretty humiliating, having to stand there and explain to Jaime the sort of stuff we had done. Well, the stuff that came to mind anyway. Drug dealing, tampering with people's personal files, petty theft, gang fights…the list went on. Benny said afterwards that it reminded him of being back at school. But there were two things we didn't tell Jaime about. One was the club under The Silver Stallion. We help Bernard run it after hours. It's basically a club for criminals and more or less anything goes there. People generally go there for drugs or companionship, so to speak. I'm the bouncer and Benny serves behind the bar, but occasionally we do other things too. We didn't tell Jaime, not because we wanted to keep it from her, but because it wasn't our business. If word got out that we had told anyone, Benny and I would both be in very deep water.

After firing us with a lot of questions, all of which we answered honestly, Jaime finally forgave us and we went back to watch the rest of the movie. I wasn't mad at Jaime for questioning us like she did. She was only concerned for Ria's safety, but as I told her, I wouldn't stay there if I thought that any harm would come to any of the little ones. Except from Mr. Silverblade maybe, but it wasn't us he wanted, it was Emma. And while I was still around, he was never going to get her.

When we reached the Easy Traveler, the next morning, we saw that Mr. Silverblade was not alone. He had Jamie's mother and father with him. Too scared to face us on his own, most likely. He sneered at us, but didn't say a word until we had all sat down. I sat in the middle, Jaime and Benny one side and Billee and Legolas on the other. I glared at Emma's father.

"Well then" he said with a smirk. "I see you came. Although really it was just you and Benny I wanted to see"

"They will be quiet," I said, giving Jaime a warning glance. "Now talk"

"I have papers and witnesses that prove that you and Benny Hockey are involved in illegal activities, including drug dealing and theft" he said with a cold smile. "One of those witnesses is Benny's ex-fiancée, who had some very interesting things to tell me about him"

"Lies" Benny spat. "That lying little bitch. You have no idea what she put me through…"

"Benny" I put a hand on his arm. "Don't let him provoke you. It isn't worth it"

"But" Mr. Silverblade continued, as if Benny hadn't said anything. "Since the Darkshield family were very good friends of ours, I'd be willing to keep my mouth shut if you just give me Emma"

"Not an option" I said immediately. "I'd sooner rot in jail. There must be something else you want"

"Well" he thought for a minute and nodded. "I'm not sure about Jaime's parents here, although they helped me get the information I needed, I'm not sure what they want from this, but if you are willing to give me cash, I'll not only keep my mouth shut, but I'll go away and never bother my daughter again"

"You promise?" Benny asked. He nodded.

"Alright" I agreed. "How much?"

"Ten thousand" he said immediately. "Between the three of us. By this time next week"

Next to me, I heard Jaime gasp. Billee lowered his head in defeat. I could see what they were thinking. Ten thousand was an impossible amount to raise, especially in a week. There seemed to be no way we could do it. Jaime couldn't help; her and Frodo needed every penny they had. Billee had no money, nor did Emma. Legolas and Boromir both had parents who were reasonably well off, but we couldn't expect too much from them. Likewise, I knew that Elrond would help, but even he didn't have that much to just throw away. It seemed impossible.

"We can't…" I started to say, but Benny interrupted me.

"We'll do it," he agreed. "We'll get you your money, but if we see you around here after that, Damon will get his dog to rip your throat out"

"You get me the money for this time next week" Emma's father said roughly. "And I'll go over the sea and join my wife. Then my whore of a daughter can just get on with her life"

"Hey" Billee said angrily. "You can bloody talk after what you did to her"

"You keep your nose out of it" Mr Silverblade snarled. "We're finished here for now. We'll be here at the same time next week and I'll be expecting either my daughter or my money"

Without another word, he stood up and walked out. Jaime's mother followed him, but Jaime's father hung back.

"After this" he warned. "You may see the last of that idiot, but you won't get rid of us so easily. I can promise you that" Then he turned and walked out too, leaving the five of us alone.

"So" Jaime said slowly. "Exactly where are you planning to get ten thousand from?"

"I could try and get some of my father" Legolas offered. "He liked Emma and if I told him that she was in trouble, he'd be happy to help. Wouldn't be more than a couple of thousand though. If that"

We went back to Jaime's and gave the others the bad news. Elrond immediately offered us two thousand, which was good of him considering that he had two extra mouths to feed. Legolas, after speaking to his father, said that he could put forward another two thousand and Boromir spent an afternoon on the phone to his father, trying to persuade him to send some money without actually mentioning that it was for Emma. I knew for a fact that half of Gondor thought that she was crazy and that Mr South wouldn't help her out, even for Boromir's sake. In the end, Boromir told him that it was for Jaime, because she was putting him up. His father agreed to send a thousand, which meant that it was up to Benny and me to find the last five thousand.

Emma kept protesting, telling us all that we shouldn't be doing this for her, but we wouldn't hear of it. From my experience, good friends are hard to find, so when you find some you help them out.

"So" I said to Benny that night, as we were getting ready for bed. "How the hell are we supposed to find five thousand in a week? We don't earn that much between us in six months"

"Damon" Benny said with a sigh. "We both know that there is a way. Leave it to me, okay? When I figure something out, I'll let you know"

I nodded and shut my eyes. But I couldn't sleep. I knew what Benny was planning and I didn't want him to do it, but I knew that I couldn't stop him. No one knows how Marcus died, save me and Benny. Not even Billee knows the truth, but I wasn't about to lose Benny to the same thing.