Life After High School - Ten Years Later

By Risty and Silver

Disclaimer: This is what? Our third story? And you still haven't figured that we own only our characters? What, are you nuts?

Summary: Just writing as we go along.

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(Damon's POV)

After a lot of talking, we decided that Jaime and Frodo should be involved in this. After all, we knew what the Black Dogs were up to now and it was not good. So the following morning, I called her and asked her and Frodo to come to Silverwood to have a meeting with us and discuss our next move. She agreed, but said that she would have to find someone to look after the children first and they would probably be able to get there in two or three days time. I said that would be fine, it would give us time to get our notes in order and come up with some sort of plan that we could clear with them. I also made it clear that they were not welcome to stay any longer than they had to; this was business and business only.

Emma also asked if she could come to the meeting. I was a bit hesitant, after all Jaime would be there, but she pointed out that this involved her and the children too, and in the end I had no choice but to give in. I knew that Emma wouldn't cause any trouble; it was Jaime I was worried about. The last thing Emma needed was Jaime bugging her. Especially with things the way they were.

(Emma's POV)

Three days later we had a call from Jaime, telling us that she and Frodo had just arrived at the inn. We were already down in the hideout, the kids were playing upstairs, and Benny told them to come right over. Randy and Gimli were also at the meeting, since they had inside information on the group activities.

They arrived ten minutes later. Lucas went up to let them in and brought them down to the hideout. Blaze and Forrest fell silent as the two hobbits came into the room, while Benny and Damon turned their heads away. Jaime looked at me and smiled and I too turned away. I didn't hate her, not any more, but I still wanted nothing to do with her and I wasn't going to give her false hopes.

"What are they doing here?" Frodo asked as he sat down and gestured towards Randy and Gimli. "They hurt my daughter and yet you…"

"Be quiet" Lucas said sharply. "They are helping us in return for our protection. They were able to give us a lot of useful information. We can trust them…at least up to a point."

"Well then, let's get this over with" Jaime sounded rather sad. She knew that she wasn't wanted there and it must have been pretty uncomfortable for her. "Benny said that you had information."

"We do" Damon exchanged a glance with Lucas then continued. "We now know the motives of your father and Emma's father. We have a list of their camps and know vaguely how many men are in each one. The difficult fact is that we are dealing with two different people with two different motives."

"Go on" Frodo said quietly, squeezing Jaime's hand.

"Ivan Silverblade is the leader of the Black Dogs" Benny explained. "Jaime's father is his friend and partner in crime. Galfo wants revenge on Jaime, possibly using Ria, and he wants to get back at Lucas for torturing him. Jaime, Lucas and Ria, they are the people he wants. Ivan is giving him the men to do it with, but is not directly involved in any way. Galfo is using camps outside Hobbiton and near Galia's school. He was the one who sent Randy and Gimli to grab our kids in Hobbiton that time and he is also the one who has been killing off our men to get back at Lucas. That is one guy with his motives."

"Beyond supplying men in exchange for money, Ivan is not really involved in any way" Lucas continued. "He is the one in charge of hurting Emma, Kane, Damon, Benny and Galia and was partly responsible for the attack on the school, but he isn't doing it for personal reasons, just financial gain. The person who is paying him, the second person we need to deal with…" he trailed off and looked at the rest of us.

"Who?" Jaime asked quietly. "Is it someone we know? Tell us."

"Only if you promise that it will not go outside this room" Blaze said solemnly. "If you start telling people, he might get to hear of it and strike back in ways you can't possibly imagine."

"All right, we promise" Frodo said at once. "Who is it?"

"Your old friend Boromir" Randy said, looking down at the table. "Boromir South is the one paying Ivan to hurt this family."

For a moment, there was complete silence. Whatever Jaime and Frodo had expected to hear, it obviously hadn't been that. But they did not say they did not believe it as I had half expected them too. Nor did they make an effort to defend him.

"I see" Jaime said finally. "So what do you plan to do?"

"They are dangerous men, all three of them" Damon said quietly. "Men like that should not be allowed to live."

"You mean assassination?" Frodo sounded shocked. "But that is cold-blooded murder."

"It would be the best way," Forrest said quietly. "Although it would be very dangerous. We would have to break into their hideouts and kill everyone inside. With only us five however…"

"I think this is a suicide mission" Randy interrupted. "And I urge you to give it some thought. But if you do decide to do it, count me and Gimli in."

"Thank you brother" Benny said quietly. "Even if we do decide to do it, it won't be for a while yet. We don't have the equipment for a start. But if we can do it, I think it has to be done. Get them out of our lives once and for all."

We talked for a few moments longer and then Jaime and Frodo were shown out. They made us promise that we would let them know what was happening and Damon agreed. As they left, Jaime tried to make eye contact again, but I ignored her. Then they disappeared into the night…

(Kane's POV)

In the early hours of the morning, I was woken up by the sound of something whining like it was in pain. My window was open and it seemed to be coming from outside. I went over to the window but it was far to dark to see anything, so I went into Galia's room and woken Ria.

"Come outside with me" I whispered. "There's a funny noise."

Quickly she got dressed and followed me back into my room. Being careful not to wake Vince, we climbed out of the window and slid down the strong ivy. We soon discovered what the problem was. A fox had a thorn in his foot and I soon managed to get it out. As we turned to go back inside, we came face to face with three large men in black capes. I couldn't see their faces, they were all wearing hoods, but I could guess that they meant us harm.

"Scream and I'll kill you," the biggest one warned, taking out a long sharp dagger and pointing it right at us. "Get them boys."

The other two men moved behind us and grabbed our shoulders. I opened my mouth to scream, regardless of the consequences, but suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my head and everything went black…