Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do. Also don't own Tyrone Wells' song Sink or Swim.
A.N: Basing everything on the movie as always. Also, had a hard time naming this story and writing a summary. That doesn't happen very often. I admit I might have been thinking about the TV show Supernatural and their version of heaven in a minor way when I wrote some of this.
Okay I was.
Summary: Sequel to Failure. Dallas died and the world knew him a failure. When he meets Johnny in the afterlife will Johnny think the sam eand shun him as those in life did? Or will they both find what they've been denied in life?
Dallas Winston shifted and groaned. His head rocked back and forth, a sign he was slowly waking up. It took a moment for him to crack open his eyes. When he did the first thing he saw was the night sky. He blinked.
It was a beautiful night; the black and purplish hues contrasted beautifully with the white yellowish balls of gas that were millions of miles away.
Dallas just stared up at this sky. Most curiously were the four moons that decorated the sky. They seemed so close to Dallas' face like they could crush him any moment. He wasn't one to glaze up at the stars but he was sure that he had never seen such a thing before. He was equally sure that there was only one moon in the night sky.
Dallas shut his eyes. He couldn't seem to remember how he got here.
Come to think of it, he didn't even know where here was.
~Caught in the middle of a cross-fire
Lost my balance on a high-wire
Trying to figure out what to do~
So slowly he awoke the rest of his body enough to prop himself on his elbows intent on figuring out his surroundings.
The surroundings look familiar.
Very familiar.
He studied his surroundings, his eyes travelling over the familiar sights. It took a few moments for it to click in his head.
This was the park!
Dallas was currently sitting on the grass but he saw that this was the park. He was certain of it. Groaning, Dallas shifted and stood up. It took a moment for him to get his legs to work. He clapped his hands together wiping the dirt off before furthering studying his surroundings. He looked around trying to get his thoughts together.
Dallas blinked and ran a hand through his hair. What was he doing at the park? Although it was night and Dallas wasn't sure what time it was, it was quiet.
Almost too quiet.
That eerily kind of quiet that Dallas had never heard before….or rather… not heard before.
Dallas shook his head. He was getting confused. He had to focus here. So he took a step and another and found himself walking towards the familiar fountain.
Where was the gang?
"Ponyboy?" He called out, "Darry?" He continued to walk, turning around in various directions, calling each of the gang's names ending with, "Johnny?"
And that is when it all came back.
The fire.
The smoke.
Johnny's burns.
Johnny's death.
His own robbery.
Followed by his own death.
~Pushed to the edge of my reason
Everywhere around me in treason
I don't want to do that to you~
Dallas doubled over swallowing hard as he stopped walking. It took a moment for him to settle his body from the shock of remembering everything all at once. When he managed to calm himself, he slowly looked up, straightening. A thousand questions ran through his mind and most promident question was: Did that mean he was dead?
Just like Johnny?
He glanced around a little nervous. So where was he, exactly if he was dead? Sure it was the park in the greaser's neighborhood but if he was dead was it really? Dallas knew everyone always said he'd end up in hell.
Well, this did not look like hell. At least, what Dallas might have thought it to be. No fire. Nothing's burning.
But this didn't look like heaven either.
No blinding lights with angels floating around. Dallas didn't have wings. He glanced over his shoulder making sure.
Nope, no wings.
Besides, he thought with a wry chuckle, he'd make a pathetic angel. He was not the type to float around carrying harp.
So not his style.
Dallas sighed and continued to walk to the fountain.
And if he was dead, and Johnny was dead…..where was Johnny?
He sighed once again and sat down on the edge. He turned to look at himself in the water's reflection. He looked the same, except he didn't have bullet holes in him. He stood and looked closer, lifting his shirt. It was like he never got shot.
Dallas looked around again. What was he suppose to do? Where was he supposed to go? It would be nice if someone could tell him what was going on. It would be even better if he could find Johnny.
That is if Johnny even wanted to be bothered with him anymore.
Him and his failed self.
The feelings came back. He remembered how he just snapped.
He sat down abruptly on the fountain's edge and buried his face in his hands. Was he going to have to deal with these feeling for an eternity? Was that his punishment for not being able to save Johnny? He banged his hands against his forehead. It might have been better to just forget then.
Forget everything…
But a little nagging voice in his head asked, 'Even Johnny?'
Dallas found he could not answer that voice.
Or maybe he didn't want to.
~Kamikaze airplanes in the sky
Are we going down or will we fly
This could be a ship wreck on the shore
Or we could sail away forevermore
This time it's sink or swim
Sink or swim~
Dallas didn't know how long he sat there in silence.
"Hey, you alright?" came a voice.
Dallas snapped his head up. Standing in front of him, looking the same as always was Johnny Cade. Dallas had to look around slowly before looking back at the young male in front of him who cocked his head. He blinked a few times, trying to figure this new change out. It couldn't really be Johnny Cade, Dallas knew...
Could it?
"J-J-Johnny?" he stuttered finally getting his voice back.
Suddenly, Johnny smiled. "I had thought you might have forgotten me", he said.
"How could I, huh?" Dallas asked his dark eyes boring holes in Johnny. He blinked and his eyes raked him over, studying him. He looked the same, was even wearing the same jean outfit.
But, it was his eyes.
It was his eyes that were different.
Johnny even held himself different. He stood straight, even with his hands stuffed in his jacket. His face that seemed to constantly stay blemished with bruises was not longer so. Dallas could easily read the confidence he now had. Johnny was no longer the twitchy boy he knew. Dallas wondered what happened.
What happened to make Johnny do a 180 spin like this?
Did Dallas even want to know?
Johnny was probably not the same Johnny that he knew. Dallas could see that, he lowered his head, his eyes misting over.
Johnny watched him a moment, concern evident in his glaze, before sitting down next to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
~Hearing the song in your laughter
A melody I chase after
No one else has done this to me~
Suddenly Johnny found himself with tight arms wrapped around him and a face buried in his shoulder. Johnny patted Dallas' back. "Hey, Dal? You alright, man? You scaring me." He heard a sniff as the arms tightened momentarily.
"You doing alright here, kid?" he heard a rough voice ask him.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool." A pause," Dallas, are you sure you okay?"
Dallas cleared his throat and tried to get himself together. He was getting tired of being emotional. But to know that Johnny was safe and sound meant much to him, even if it meant that he no longer needed him.
"Everyone misses you", he said softly having not released the younger boy yet, "Especially Ponyboy I'd reckon."
Johnny gave a sad laugh. "I'm sure….and I'm also sure they miss you too."
"Nah, ain't worth the tears."
"Aw, Dal. You're just as important to them."
There was silence for quite awhile before Dallas spoke up again. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Johnny said.
Dallas' arm tightened around Johnny's frame, as he pressed his eyes together. "Just sorry….."
"Aw, come on Dal. You've got nothing to be sorry for."
There was more silence. "You left us", Dallas couldn't help but to accuse.
"Not like I tried to." Silence. "Alright, come on Dal, man, I'm starting to get stiff." Johnny wiggled.
"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry", Dallas murmured releasing Johnny after a brief moment but turning his head away so that Johnny couldn't see his face.
Johnny leaned forward and tried to peer into Dallas' face but Dallas kept his head firmly away from the younger male as he leaned his arms on his knees. Johnny was starting to realize that perhaps his death affected Dallas more than he would say. Johnny had never meant to hurt the gang especially Dallas. Dallas Winston was like his big brother. He missed the gang more than he could say even though he was happy here. There were no fights, no blood, no nothing.
Just unending peace.
And Johnny enjoyed it, yet he did feel a little alone. There was no one else that he knew up here. Actually there were only two people he knew up here that he shared this with. He had hoped that when the gang started to die they'd come where he was…..but he hadn't expected any of them to die anytime soon.
Especially not Dallas Winston.
Johnny looked away, leaning on his palms, crossing his feet at the ankle. He surveyed the park in front of him. Dallas glanced at him out the corner of his eye. Johnny seemed in no hurry to go or do anything.
"Hey, how did you die?" Johnny asked after quite a while had passed. It hadn't occurred to him until that moment. He was a little scared of the answer. He knew that he hadn't been here that long so if Dallas was here that meant that he had to have died not long after Johnny did. At least that is what it added up to in Johnny's head.
Dallas was silent. He so did not want to answer that. Of all questions, he so didn't want to answer that one.
"Come on Dally. Did you get into a fight? Was it a Soc?" Johnny asked sitting up worry in his voice. He leaned forward.
Dallas shook his head.
"Car accident?"
Shake.
"Um….I don't know. Animal attack?"
Dallas couldn't help the snort. "What animals?" There were only dogs around for the most part and Dallas was not about to get killed by a dog. Or a cat. But cats were a Soc thing in Dallas' mind and he would not get killed by a Soc pet.
"Okay then….what happened?" Johnny couldn't think of any other way Dallas died.
Silence.
"Dallas….." Johnny drawled. He wasn't backing down on this.
Dallas scratched at his cheek absently, "I….uh….got shot…..lots of times."
"What? How? Why?" Johnny sputtered, his eyes wide as he stared at Dallas.
"Yeah….I….uh….got into some trouble. No big deal."
"What kind of trouble?" Johnny was dreading the answer.
Silence.
"Hey!" Johnny hit Dallas' arm making shock run through Dallas. There was a time Johnny never would have done such a thing playfully. If he did, it was probably only with Ponyboy. "Come on! Cough it up. What kind of trouble?"
"Um….I might have….taken some money that didn't belong to me."
"You stole some money? What did you do? Rob a bank?"
Dallas winced. Johnny had no idea how close he was. "Dallas?" Johnny asked. Said male tried to ignore Johnny's persistence. But after about the fifth time, Dallas snapped.
"I robbed a convience store, okay!" He said sitting up briefly to look at Johnny. He quickly turned his glaze away and re-lowered his head with a sigh.
~Kamikaze airplanes in the sky
Are we going down or will we fly
This could be a ship wreck on the shore
Or we could sail away forevermore
This time it's sink or swim~
There was a prolonged moment of quiet, until...
"Ow! What was that for?" Dallas rubbed the back of his head, a look of surprise on his face as he sat up looking at Johnny, his eyes wide. Johnny might have laughed at the almost comical look on Dallas' face but this was far from a laughing matter.
"Are you stupid? You are stupid, Dal. Stupid!" Johnny cried shooting up from his seat. He walked a few paces, his hand running in his hair. He stopped and turned around. "How could you have so foolishly gotten yourself killed? What the heck where you thinking? Wait, you weren't thinking!"
Dallas gaped at the younger male like a fish. Johnny just kept throwing suprise after suprise at Dallas. It took a moment before Dallas could say anything."…Johnny…."
Johnny didn't let him finish. "Dallas, you robbed a store and got yourself killed! That was beyond stupid! It was reckless! Sheer recklessness!"
"Least I went out in style", Dallas tried to joke his mouth twitching.
It fell on deaf ears. Johnny did not look too happy with him. "What about the others? You just left them! They needed you! And you just left them because of your stupidity!"
"Hey!" Dallas snapped shooting to his feet, "What about you?"
At this Johnny looked taken aback, "What about me?" he asked.
"You died too! They needed you. Ponyboy needed you and still you died. How do you think Ponyboy feels? How do you think the others feel?"
"I didn't ask to die….at least not then." Johnny said then he added softly, "It was just time….."
Dallas snorted. "It was obviously time for me too."
"No….Dallas….."
"No, kid…..I….." Dallas stopped and plopped back down. He lowered his head, placing his hands on either side, effectively shielding his face.
"Dal…" Johnny murmured. He was beginning to put everything together. "How long did you die after I did?" he asked.
"I don't know….I was dead before morning that's for sure." Came the soft reply.
"Oh, Dallas. You didn't? Tell me you didn't." Johnny moaned walking back over and sitting in his seat looking at said male.
"Didn't what?"
"Were you that upset or something? Why would you do such a thing?" Johnny asked softly.
A long pause and then, "Don't sound too surprise by it", came the soft reply.
Johnny didn't really expect a straight answer to that and his face showed it though Dallas didn't see. Finally he nodded absently and kicked at the grass. "Why?" he asked after a moment.
"Why what?"
"Why couldn't you live? You could have gone and done things."
Dallas snorted. "You've got to be kidding me. What things?"
"I don't know…whatever you wanted."
~Take a deep breath
No more time left
This is what I thought I wanted
Why am I afraid~
"We were trapped, Johnny. Trapped. There was nothing for us to do but survive. Get tough and survive", Dallas said lowering his hands and sitting up. "I tried that and apparently, I failed at that too."
Johnny looked startled, "You make it sound like you failed at other things."
"I'm a failure….it's what I do", Dallas said calmly. Too calm for Johnny's liking. It was like he just announced the score to the baseball game or something. To Johnny, Dallas was many things but a failure wasn't one of them. It never crossed his mind dead or alive.
"Exactly what do you think you failed at?" Johnny asked after a moment after he was able to get his thoughts together.
Dallas shrugged. "Does it matter? I'm dead now."
"Yeah. It does….to me."
Dallas looked at Johnny a moment who was looking expectantly at him. He steeled himself and answered. He owed he kid that much he figured. "Couldn't…..protect ya." He said simply. He hoped he didn't have to explain it.
Johnny stared at him a moment. Actually stared at him a moment too long that Dallas was starting to get a little worried. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut and tried to get out of it answering. But truth be told, he rarely tried to trick Johnny in thinking he was thinking or feeling something else. At least he never intended to.
~Kamikaze airplanes in the sky
Are we going down or will we fly
This could be a ship wreck on the shore
Or we could sail away forevermore~
Finally, a slow smile worked its way onto Johnny's face. "Seriously? Dallas, you are not a failure. I have never once thought you were a failure. You've protected me for the last several years. Ponyboy too…heck, all of you. We all looked out for one another."
"You still died."
"Hey, it was my choice to rescue the kids and as much as I miss everyone, I don't regret it. They had more to live for."
Dallas furrowed his eyebrows and glared at Johnny, "Are you insane? They were snot nosed kids that you didn't even know."
"That gets to live a little while longer."
Dallas looked away. "You should have lived longer."
"Maybe so…but I got 16 years. If those kids had died they wouldn't have even seen teenage."
Dallas snorted though his voice had warmth as he looked back at Johnny with a small smirk, "Man, you are so chicky." Secretly he was glad that Johnny didn't seem to think he failed him.
"I am not!" Johnny cried indignant, "I'm just different. Just like Ponyboy."
"Alright….you both are chicky!" Dallas smirked and threw his arm around Johnny's shoulders. Johnny growled and playfully jammed his elbow into Dallas' rib.
~Kamikaze airplanes in the sky
Are we going down or will we fly~
They both sat there for a little while. There really wasn't any point in continuing the conversation since they were both dead anyway. Besides they'd have an eternity to rehash the issue.
Finally Dallas spoke up, "Soooo, How does it work here?"
Johnny grinned. "I think you are gonna like it."
"Anyone else here? It's really quiet."
"Uh….I don't know. I don' think so. I haven't been here that long, you know. Been staying with Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, since I got here. They have been here for a long time and haven't seen anyone."
Dallas near fell into the pool behind him. "What? They are here?"
Johnny grinned, "Yeah, actually. And this place, wherever it is, is a replica of our neighborhood. There might be other places but I haven't wandered far, that and haven't been here long enough to wander anywhere."
Dallas crinkled his nose, "What fun is that?"
"Well…aside from the Curtis', there is no one else."
Dallas looked at Johnny. "You said that already."
"No, no, you aren't getting me, Dallas. There is no one else."
~This could be a ship wreck on the shore
Or we could sail away forevermore~
Dallas blinked and it took a moment before the light bulb came on and suddenly he was grinning, "You mean we get the run of this place?"
Johnny nodded, "I do believe so."
"I could get use to that. King Dallas has a nice ring to it." Dallas stood and smirked.
Johnny stood stuffing his hands in his pocket, "Hey what about me? I got here before you did."
"I guess you're right", Dallas mused. He paused, "You can be the Prince, squirt."
"Uh-uh!" Johnny cried reaching out to punch Dallas.
Dallas darted the punch. He reached out and grabbed Johnny's head in a headlock. "Come on, show me around. We all know I'm not going anywhere."
Johnny struggled briefly to get out of Dallas' headlock but eventually gave up. "Hey, it's our neighborhood, what's to show."
Dallas and Johnny walked out of the park and towards the Curtis' house.
~This time it's sink or swim
Sink or swim~
"Hey, Dallas?"
"Yeah, kid?"
"You know I'm not happy that you are dead…..or me either, but since I am dead and you too…..well…." Johnny stumbled over his words and trailed off.
Dallas slowed down to a stop and turned to Johnny. "Well…?"
Johnny fidgeted a good minute. "Well, since we both happen to be dead…..I'm glad I'm not dead alone. Since there seem no other way anyway."
Dallas grinned. "You're welcome, Johnny. Now come on!" He took off running leaving Johnny calling and running after him.
Indeed they had the place to themselves (with the Curtis' as well). As time passed, they both hoped that when their friends died they might would be placed where they were.
And sure enough, as one by one over the years the gang died they met up in their own little heaven, joining Dallas and Johnny. And by the time the last of their gang had died, the entire gang was back together ruling their little slice of heaven together for eternity.
Fin.
A.N: Dunno, if this turned out like I wanted but I like it. I actually have an idea for a spin-off of this story. Most likely, though it hasn't been written, it will be titled: Greaser Heaven. As the Greaser gang dies one by one, they will meet up with Johnny and Dallas. That's the basic gest of the story. Lol
Thanks for reading if you did and Stay Gold!