Title: No Buzzkill Like the Past - Part 1(/3): Humble Beginnings
Author: Mercury Starlight
Feedback: Please, please, please? Comments, complaints, compliments, 
constructive criticism? Anything, as long as it's something, neh?
Pairing: J/SB, though only just a teeny hint here...
Rating: Hmmm... Probably R, due to, well, mostly Jay (duh) but also for 
mentions of child molestation (although not Jay, surprisingly enough...)
Archive: Most definitely
Disclaimer: I would never dream of claiming the boys...(well, maybe 
dream, but most definitely not do.) They most definitely belong to 
Kevin Smith, and to Miramax, and I seem to be using the phrase "most 
definitely" quite a lot...hmmm, oh, sorry, wandered off topic a bit 
there...at any rate, please don't sue me, I'm just a college student, 
and you know how broke we are...
Warnings: As mentioned above, child molestation and child abuse, 
general commentary on the ineptitude of Child Protective Services and 
the American Justice System (personal experience...) nothing else very 
worrisome, I don't think... Oh, and this has not been beta'd, but what 
can one do? (I've really got a devil-may-care attitude tonight, 
don't I? Oh well...(there I go again!) )
Note: I can almost promise that this is not canon...mainly because I...
*sigh*... I haven't seen... *waits for the outrage* Jay & Silent Bob Strike 
Back...............I know, horrid, isn't it? It was just that when it was in 
the theaters, I had LESS than no money, and well...when I had the 
money, it was gone...now I have to wait for it on DVD... *heavy sigh* I've 
been kicking myself for months. Ah well, at any rate, just telling 
you that the canon-fundamentalists will be disappointed in me...but it 
isn't my fault, I promise, I just don't know any better, literally...
I'm behind the times... Oh, I know! Just pretend I wrote these before 
J&SBSB came out! Then everything will be ok! ^_^

~Humble Beginnings~

Nineteen year old Robert "Silent Bob" Harris entered his 
apartment to find sixteen year old Jason Burkwater asleep on his 
couch. This wasn't too unusual. The two had been friends since 
elementary school, had become practically inseparable, and now that 
Silent Bob had his own apartment, Jay would often show up uninvited, 
and he was always welcome. The thing that had stopped Bob at the 
door was the large purplish bruise on Jay's face, just under his eye.
`Son of a bitch,' he thought, `If that asshole kicked him 
out, I'm going to fucking kill the bastard.'
Jay stirred at the sound of the door shutting, and on sight 
of Silent Bob, he sat up slightly, "Hey," he said sleepily, "Sorry 
for crashin' n' all, just had to get outta' the house for a while, ya 
know?"
It was unlike him to apologize, about anything, and 
especially about something he did almost constantly. Silent Bob sat 
down next to him, and pointed to Jay's apparent injury.
"Oh, that. Yeah, my dad's an asshole, you know how it is..." 
he stopped, resisting the urge to sniffle, and reached for the pipe 
on the coffee table. Bob stopped him, looked at him.
`No, I don't know. Tell me.' 
Jay looked away and tried to grab for the pipe again. Bob 
took the pipe before Jay could reach it and put it in his pocket. He 
looked at Jay with determination.
`Not until you tell me what's up.'
"Man, come on! Fuck! Why the fuck you being such a bitch 
alluva sudden?"
Bob just kept the same expression on his face, waiting for an 
answer, `Talk to me. You're not getting off so easily.'
"We were just arguing, ok? You know how he is, now just 
gimme the goddamn pipe!" His voice cracked on the last word, and he 
was starting to shake, although whether from anger or anxiety Bob 
couldn't tell. There was really something wrong, and it wasn't just 
a father-son skirmish. Jay was very close to tears, and he never 
cried. Never. When his arm was broken in eighth-grade and the bone 
was sticking through the skin he hadn't cried. Now he was trying so 
hard no to that his face was turning red. He looked very near to 
either breaking down or attacking. He chose the latter.
"You fuckin' tubby bitch, fuckin' give it to me, I'll fuckin' 
kill you!" He lunged for Bob, swinging wildly, his voice really 
wavering now. Bob grabbed Jay's wrists with relative ease, and held 
his arms between the two of them. It was about then that Jay really 
broke down. He struggled a little, then collapsed into Bob's 
shoulder, sobbing heavily. Bob wrapped his arms around him. Jay 
fought him for only a moment before giving in and allowing himself to 
be held. He was obviously tired of fighting.
"I don't know what to do... I don't know what to do..." he started 
repeating, confirming what Bob had been thinking. Whatever this was, 
it was serious. No one broke down like this after one smack from 
their father, especially after getting many such smacks over the 
years. There was something else going on. Something much worse.
Once Jay had calmed down a little, Bob pulled back and put a 
hand on Jay's shoulder. He looked very concerned.
`Tell me. Maybe I know what to do.' 
Jay took a very shaky deep breath, broke eye contact, and 
spoke very softly, "My dad's molesting my sister."
`Jesus Christ.' Jay's little sister Gloria was ten years 
old, very shy, very sweet, and the absolute light of her older 
brother's life. Jay was her protector of sorts, and he was much more 
of a father figure to her than their real father was. The man was an 
idiot, a drunk with a violent temper, but a child molester?
"She told me, like, two days ago. I had no fuckin' clue. I 
got in his face about it today," Well, that explained the bruise, now 
didn't it? "He said if I ever told anybody, or if I ever brought it 
up again, he'd kill me, and then he'd kill her. I believe him, he's 
fuckin' crazy sometimes, and you know how he almost killed me that 
one time...
`That one time' referred to the last time Silent Bob had ever 
been to Jay's house. The two had been listening to records, playing 
some type of game or other (Atari, probably) and Jay had accidentally 
broken the needle off of the turntable. His father had grabbed him 
by the arm and thrown him into a wall, breaking his arm and his 
nose. He had managed to kick him in the ribs and badly bruise a few 
before bob could get the lunatic off of the poor kid. Jay, then 
thirteen, spent a week in the hospital. His father spent two nights 
in jail and received a fine and a slap on the wrist. Child 
Protective Services never followed up on the case. It was that day 
that Silent Bob, then sixteen, had decided two things: One, he was 
never going near the psycho again (for fear of killing him) and two, 
Jay needed protection. He had been protecting him ever since.
Bringing himself back to the present, bob looked at the still 
shaken Jay, who was avoiding his gaze, embarrassed. Bob touched his 
arm and Jay looked up again. Silent Bob began his by now trademark 
pantomime. `You've got to tell someone, Jay' Jay, per usual, 
understood, but he wasn't happy about it.
"Tell somebody? Oh no, fuck that shit, I ain't telling 
anybody shit! Didn't you just hear me, the fucker threatened to kill 
my ass!"
Bob looked at him sternly, took a deep breath, and spoke in a 
slow, even tone. It was slightly frightening, even to 
himself, "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go to your 
house, you're going to fill your backpack with everything you can, 
you're not staying there anymore. You're going to take Glorie to the 
movies, I'll give you money, then you're coming back here and hanging 
out. While you're at the movies, I'm going to call CPS," Jay gave 
him a look of frightened protest, and Bob stopped him before he could 
say anything, "I'll do it anonymously. Someone has to, Jay. It's 
not like we can just sit back and do nothing, is it?"
Jay shook his head, silent. He was used to not having any 
control over his own destiny, but he was getting tired of never 
knowing what to do. Following his best friend's directive was the 
path of least resistance, and that was all he really wanted anymore. 
Then something Bob had said occurred to him.
"What was that about not staying there? What're you talking 
about?"
Bob gestured to the apartment, to the couch. It was a 
pullout. 
"Dude, are you fuckin' serious? You want me to move in?" 
Bob nodded, and Jay smiled widely. Then he thought for a moment and 
his face fell again, "Dude, I don't have a job. I can't pay rent or 
anything..."
Bob shook his head, "Not a problem. Consider yourself 
employed, partner. What do you say, split my profits 50-50, and you 
do your own laundry?" he offered, completely unaware of just how much 
laundry he would be doing in the future, not to mention his eventual 
giving of the business to Jay completely. 
"Dude, you're really serious, aren't you? I mean, you've 
fuckin thought this out and everything, you're not shitting me, you 
really want me to move in with you!"
Bob nodded, `More than anything I've ever wanted. Christ, 
where did that come from?' He had no time to be disturbed by that 
involuntary thought, however, because Jay was talking a mile a minute 
again and it made him smile to see his best friend happy again.
"...fuckin' partners in crime, you know? *POW* *POW* An' all 
them'll be all `Aw shit let's get outta here' an' we'll be all `Yeah, 
that's what I thought mutha fucker' An then-"
Bob stopped him, pantomiming again, `Whoa now, hold on. 
We've got things to do first.'
Jay flashed a winning smile, "Let's kick some ass, partner!"
**********************************************************************

Ok, be kind, it's my first J&SB fic ever...and really it's nothing 
considering part two (my first J&SB NC-17 slashfic ever...) but 
please R&R!

~*!*~
Mercury (<---*still crossing her fingers...very difficult to type 
that way...*)