Request by Jjkitten23. Hope you all like it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.

o-o-o

Ponyboy should have been more careful. He let his guard down for one moment and then this happened. Gulping, Ponyboy looked at Darry with wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights.

"Darry…" Ponyboy muttered under his breath.

Darry's eyes trailed from his younger brother's face to the cash and his wallet in Ponyboy's hands. "What are you… What are you doing?" he asked.

"I…uh…" For the first time ever, Ponyboy was at a loss for words. "It's not what it looks like."

"Why are you putting money into my wallet?" Okay, it was exactly what it looked like. Ponyboy could only stare at Darry like a gaping fish, heart beating quickly.

'What am I going to do? Shit,' Ponyboy cursed internally. All of his training to avoid flunks like this was thrown to the garbage.

"I…" Ponyboy started, taking a deep breath. He had to calm down. "I wanted to go see a flick, so I'm borrowing money."

Darry raised a calculating eyebrow, not believing a word that just came out of Pony's mouth. "Uh-huh…" He grabbed the wallet and opened it, counting the money inside. "I've been noticing that I've been having more money in my wallet than what I initially had. You weren't taking money, you were putting in money. I've counted my money to make sure my suspicions were correct…and now I know why. Why are you putting money into my wallet?"

Ponyboy wanted to slap his forehead in shame. Of course, Darry was the one to catch him. He bit his lips, thinking of any other excuses he could use, but there were none. The only way he was going to swerve around this and still be safe is to modify the truth. "I just wanted to help out. You and Soda work so hard and all…"

"But where are you getting the money? You're too young to get a job."

"I started volunteering at the library. Ms. Norris wanted to give me something in return of helping her out so much."

"Bullshit, Ponyboy!" Darry suddenly exclaimed, hitting his fist against the wall with a loud bang, causing Ponyboy to jump slightly, hands moving towards his waist out of reflex. Luckily, he caught himself before he dug an even deeper hole for himself. "Where are you getting the money?"

Ponyboy pursed his lips, taking too long to answer. Darry continued, "You're not…"

"I'm not what?"

"You're not…selling your body for money, are you?"

In an instant, Ponyboy's face turned beet red. "W-What?! You thought I was a prostitute?! W-Why would you think that?!"

Darry sighed in relief at the objection. "What do you do then?"

The redness flushed from Pony's face as he composed himself, putting up a serious mask. "I can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I can't tell you why…"

"Ponyboy, what have you gotten yourself into? You have to tell me."

"I can't tell you. Please, understand. I'm not in way over my head or anything. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Ponyboy tried to push through Darry but was shoved back. That's when instinct kicked in. Ponyboy grabbed Darry's wrist and twisted it, spinning it behind his back. Darry grunted in surprise as he instinctively bent over. Ponyboy reached for his belt again, fingers ghosting over a hidden knife before he realized what he just did and let go of his brother in shock.

"Sorry," Ponyboy murmured before spinning on his heels and fleeing the room after dropping the wallet and extra cash.

o-o-o

Ponyboy examined a photo before looking through his binoculars. He checked the time. 12:03…Zachary Gardener takes a break. He jotted it down. Pony's been watching him for weeks now, taking note of his entire schedule in order to find a trend.

He always felt a bit sick to his stomach whenever he had a job. He's been doing it for about a year now, but he was a fast learner. He honestly wouldn't want to be caught up in all of this fiasco (hell, he doesn't want to be now) but he was in the wrong place and time. He supposes that he could stop and everything would mostly get back to normal, but how could he? Darry and Soda work their butts off to try to support the three of them and all Ponyboy could do was sit there and listen to Darry complain about the bills. He felt terrible knowing that he was a cause for Darry not going to college and living an amazing life. So, he continues even though he risks being whisked away from the gang or even killed.

When he first caught up in this business, he was walking through the alley as a shortcut to get back home from a late-night movie. Looking back at that now, Ponyboy understood how stupid he was to do so.

That night, it was a lot windier than usual. It made everything even eerier and had Pony on his toes. He was walking under an empty window when he heard a muffled shout. Instantly, he stopped in his trek and turned to the source of the noise and instantly wished that he hadn't. His eyes soon locked onto those of another. The eyes were cold and calculating and Ponyboy could have sworn that he saw something glimmer in the man's hand. All warning bells were blaring at Ponyboy to hightail out of there. Before Ponyboy could process everything, his legs were carrying him through the alley.

Did he just listen to someone get murdered? Holy shit.

Ponyboy didn't get far before a dark mass dropped out in front of him and grabbed him by his neck and pushed him against the wall. Pony gasped as the air was cut off from reaching his lungs. He clawed at the man with wide eyes, trying to pry off the hand, but it was as if he was made out of iron.

Panic was really eminent when he started to see veins and starts in his vision. He flailed in his captors hold and looked around erratically for anything that could free himself. His eyes caught hold of a metal bar just within his reach. He grabbed it quickly and whacked it across the man's head. The captor yelled out in pain, dropping Ponyboy and giving him enough time to take off again. But before he could take a few steps in, the man grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the ground and pinned him.

"You brat," the man hissed with a glare that sent chills down Ponyboy's spine.

"Please, don't hurt me," Ponyboy pleaded, eyes watering up as a gun was pressed under his chin. He was going to die here. This was it. He didn't even get to say goodbye to anyone.

"What exactly did you see?"

"I didn't see anything! I just looked up and saw you staring at me. I was just on my way home."

"I can't have any witnesses…"

Ponyboy's eyes widened instead of close. His eyes scanned around for any last resort method of escape when he saw something weird in the man's posture. He was slightly scrunched over to one side; one of his arms was shielding a spot in his torso. Something happened there: a wound, hopefully. It wouldn't hurt to try.

Ponyboy brought up and kneed the man in the area and a loud yell erupted from the man's mouth as he rolled over to clutch the spot. Again Ponyboy tried to get up but the man recovered too quickly for his liking and held up the gun at him. He froze in his spot.

When the man opened his mouth, he was half expecting to be cursed at. He most certainly did not imagine the man murmuring, "Not bad, not bad."

Huh?

The man continued, "You're really quick and observant, kid. What's your name?"

"P-Ponyboy Curtis…" he answered, not knowing exactly what was happening.

"Well, you have some nice traits. Perfect for my line of business."

"What?"

"Let me put it to you bluntly. I'm an assassin, kid. I kill for a living." Ponyboy almost fainted then and there. "You managed to hit me without me seeing them coming and found a wound that I had hidden. You thought quickly and were quick on your feet. Have you ever thought of being an assassin?"

"No, I would never!" That wasn't even a question.

"I could train you, you know. It pays well and you can do it whenever you want. You won't ever be caught by anyone or hurt if you go through my training."

"I can't… I can't kill anyone."

"Kid, I'm giving you an option: join me or die."

So that was how Ponyboy was forced to go through hell training and ended up where he was now, waiting for his next target to leave for the day.

He watched as Zachary entered his car and quickly packed up his duffle bag and got on a bus to the nearest stop by the man's house. Zach lives alone beside a cat. He has a girlfriend that comes over every day around seven at night and then stays the night. His neighbors were all gone in their jobs and won't return until five in the afternoon to six. There is one person who is at a nearby house—a deaf elderly woman—making this a perfect situation to use a gun instead of having to sneak in the house or interact with the man.

Zachary opens the window when he returns home to let out the smell. He then turns on the TV and watches for a few hours or until he gets hungry. The house across, the Robinsons, are traveling in Peru for half a month. It was a perfect set-up.

Ponyboy slipped on his gloves as he approached the Robinson's house. He looked around the neighborhood for any chance that he could be watched before checking through all of the windows to make sure the house was absolutely empty. It was. As quickly as possible, Ponyboy took out his lock-pick kit and started to pick the lock, smiling slightly at the satisfying click. He pushed inside, slipping off his shoes to prevent footmarks, and climbing to the second floor and opening up a window facing the living room of Zachary's house.

Taking a deep breath, he unzipped the duffle bag and took out a sniper rifle with a suppressor, loading it swiftly and fluidly. He peered through the scope, zeroing in on Zach who was lounging in his chair, eyes trained on his TV.

He pulled the trigger, watching as the man's head flung to the side, dropping to the ground and out of Ponyboy's sight.

Just as quickly as he entered the house, he left, making sure that he left no signs of him being there. Again, he looked around the neighborhood before heading towards Zachary's house, peeking in to see that he indeed killed the man. Ponyboy looked away, not wanting to look at the body any more than he had to. He would never get used to seeing corpses, especially those that he had killed. Ponyboy took out a Polaroid camera and snapped a few photos of the body before closing the man's window and fleeing from the scene.

That night, Ponyboy walked through the alley to behind a bar where he saw someone waiting with a paper bag in his hand: his client. Pony put up his hood, putting on a surgical mask. He approached the man and handed him an envelope. The client poured out the polaroid photos into his hands and looked at the images, nodding in approval.

"Here you go," the man grumbled and handed the paper bag to him. Ponyboy leafed through the cash, frowning.

"Where's the rest of it?" he asked, glaring at the man. "You owe me five thousand. You're two thousand short."

"Kid, I don't see myself paying that much, don't you think?" Ponyboy saw the man flash him a weapon and he had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Pony lunged at the man, grabbing the hand that was holding the weapon and swinging his other hand down on the inside of the wrist, forcing the man to drop the weapon. Ponyboy quickly retrieved it, holding it under the man's chin with a crooked smirk.

"Now, you listen to me. Either you give me the rest of what you owe me or I will cut your tongue out so that you will drown in your own blood, you dig? Which will it be?"

The man gritted his teeth, knowing that he didn't have control over the situation anymore. "I'll give you it."

Ponyboy shoved the man back and took a step backward, motioning the knife at the man to hurry it up. The client took out a wad of cash from his back pocket and tossed it. Pony caught it in one hand and flipped through it, nodding, and slowly backed away before disappearing in in the dark.

o-o-o

The next morning, Ponyboy was sitting on the sofa, eating a slice of chocolate cake. Darry was reading the newspaper, shaking his head.

"Did you read the news?" he asked the few members of the gang that were in the house. "They found a man, Zachary Gardener, dead in his house. Murdered. His girlfriend found him. His house is a few blocks from ours."

Ponyboy temporarily froze in mid-bite, listening closely to Darry. "Do they have a suspect?" he asked.

"No, they're still looking into it. He was shot though, but there were no signs of breaking in or anything."

"That's terrible," Soda mumbled. "So close as well."

"And they haven't caught the guy. Chances are, he's murdered before and that's why there is no evidence found," Steve added, adding onto to the worry."

"That all being said, I think we should all go out tonight," Two-Bit pipped. "Have some fun for once."

"What do you have in mind?" Ponyboy asked.

"Bowling?"

"Sounds fun," Soda chirped.

"I'll tell Dally about it," Johnny joined with a small smile tracing his lips.

"I guess we can go," Darry agreed, earning a cheer from everyone else. Little did they know that they weren't going bowling at all.

o-o-o

The gang was all walking outside, heading towards to bowling alley. The night was frisky, and Ponyboy was wishing that he had brought a jacket. He rubbed his arms as he watched his breath appear when they passed each streetlight. He stuck as close as possible to Johnny in an attempt to absorb his body heat. It didn't really help. Why didn't they just take cars?

They were about halfway to the bowling alley when they ran into trouble. Most of the walk there, Ponyboy had the eerie feeling of being watched and followed but couldn't find anyone whenever he looked around.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked Ponyboy, catching the attention of the rest of the people in the gang.

Ponyboy shook his head in uncertainty. "I don't know. I just feel like something bad is about to happen and that we're being followed…"

"No one's going to mess with us, Ponyboy," Darry reassured.

"But that's where you're wrong," a new voice said before dark figures encircled the gang and a chloroform-saturated cloth was pressed against their faces. Everything went dark.

o-o-o

Ponyboy was the last the wake-up. He groggily lifted his head with a loud groan. "W-What?" His brain started to wake up and process everything. His hands were handcuffed behind his back, and the rest of the gang were there as well in a similar state. They were in some sort of warehouse or something.

"Ponyboy, are you okay?" Soda asked worriedly.

"Fine…'m fine."

"We were taken," Dally clarified for him, just in case he hasn't come to that conclusion. He had, but who had taken them? It didn't matter. They were in danger and they needed to get out pronto. Ponyboy was going to risk his secret to be exposed, and, for once, he was okay with that. He will deal with the problem later when they are all safe.

"So, I see that you're all awake," that same voice from before came out.

A figure stepped forward from the darkness and Ponyboy's eyes widened. It was his last client. "You!" Ponyboy growled, glaring holes.

"You know him, Ponyboy?" Two-Bit asked.

"Your little Ponyboy here has taken two grand from me."

"You did what?!" Darry exclaimed.

"You should have taken the three thousand and left or you wouldn't have been in this mess."

"Three thousand?"

Ponyboy ignored the gaping looks of the gang. "How did you even find me?"

"I did a little research. It took a short while, but with help from money, people were willing to talk to me. I even got some friends to help out."

"And what do you plan to do with us?"

"How about this? You give me all my money back, plus the money you got from other clients and I'll let you all go. Easy peasy."

"Ponyboy, what is he talking about?" Johnny asked.

The man laughed. "None of you know of what he does for a job? Well, aren't you in for a surprise. What he does is—"

"Shut up, you fucking asshole," Ponyboy cursed, slipping out a pin from his back pocket that he keeps just in case of these situations and started to pick the handcuffs.

"What are you going to do, kid?" The man walked over to Ponyboy and roughly grabbed his hair. "You're the one tied up. You can't do anything."

One of the handcuffs popped off and Ponyboy smiled. "I can do way more than you think."

Ponyboy kicked the man in the knees, causing him to fall forward. He grabbed his neck and slammed his head against the pole that he was previously handcuffed to, knocking him out. Apparently, the noise caused a lot more attention than he had anticipated. The room was soon flooded with the man's so-called "goons". Ponyboy got up, throwing the body that was on top of him to the side and eyed the nearest person and ran towards him. The person swung a knife forward but Ponyboy easily side-stepped, using the guy's bent knee as a step. He swung his leg over the man's head and used his body weight to flip him. He fell to the ground in a huge crash with Ponyboy's legs choking the man as well as pinning him to the ground.

Ponyboy grabbed the man's knife as the other fell into unconsciousness and threw it at another person that was nearing in on him. The knife inserted itself in the other's neck, halting the other to stop in movement and falling to the ground, dead.

The young assassin pushed himself to his feet, not stopping to see his handiwork, and again ran towards the next person. There were two in his line of sight. One of them pulled out a handgun and was pointing it towards Ponyboy. Pony grabbed the other person, turning him around to face the man with the gun as the gun was fired a few times. The bullets inserted themselves in the man's torso, shielding Ponyboy. Ponyboy shoved the man forward, knocking the gun-holder down.

Ponyboy grabbed the man's gun, knocking the barrel across their temple. He then pointed it towards the other people and started to shoot at the others that were there until the gun was completely empty.

Only one person was left.

Ponyboy ran towards the last goon who took out a gun. When he reached the goon, Pony spun his body in, grabbing the outstretched arm, back pressing against the man's torso. In that motion, he swung his elbow back, hitting the man's head before using that momentum to disarm the man. He turned around, pressing the gun to the man's temple, grimacing, before pulling the trigger. Blood splattered across Ponyboy's face as he put the gun in his belt.

He whipped the blood off with his sleeves before taking off the other side of the handcuff.

"Shit!" he heard Dally exclaim and Ponyboy flinched. He had forgotten that they were there, and now, he was too ashamed to face them. He couldn't keep this a secret any longer. They probably saw him as a murderer or a monster…albeit, he was. But he couldn't keep running from this problem forever. He had to face this sooner or later…he just didn't know it was going to be this soon.

Ponyboy turned to the gang with his head lowered in shame. "Hey…" he started, unsure on what he should say. The others just gaped at him.

"What… How…?" Darry started as well.

"Darry, you remember when you caught me putting money in your wallet and you asked me what I did to earn it?" Darry nodded. "I get that money…whenever someone puts a hit on someone."

"Put a hit on someone…?" Steve asked.

"Those people…I assassinate them. I'm an assassin… I kill them…" Ponyboy swallowed his saliva. "And I get money in return. A lot of money."

Again, there was a long pause as the gang tried to process what they just heard. It was unbelievable to see their youngest have blood on his hands.

"But…why?" Two-Bit asked. "You could get money so many different ways, why do you have to kill people?"

"It wasn't my choice. Not at first, at least. I heard someone get murdered a year back…and the killer saw me. He was an assassin. I managed to somehow impress him enough to save my life. He gave me a choice: become an assassin or die. I was his…sort of an apprentice…for a while. He forced me to kill and learn how to do all of this stuff. He only recently let me go and do my own thing. I could have stopped, but I didn't because of how much I felt like I was helping you all. I snuck money in the wallets of you all, so you wouldn't have to work as hard."

"But…killing…" Soda managed out.

"I'm sorry… I hate to kill people. I get sick just thinking about having to do it. I promise that I am the same person. I will stop this…I'm just…I'm just sorry that you had to see this."

"So, when are you going to get us out of these restraints?" Dally asked, a small bit of shock on his face, but he managed to play it off as if he was used to this sort of thing.

It was Ponyboy's turn to be shocked. His eyes widened. "You're not scared or ashamed of me?"

Dally snorted. "Why would I be to you? You're still Ponyboy. Just get us out of here."

"Right, sorry…" Ponyboy swiftly made it over to the gang and took the handcuffs off, still casting his eyes away from them.

"Ponyboy… We don't hate you, you know…" Soda soothed as he felt arms wrap around him. "Shocked… and maybe a little frightened… but we can never hate you. You're still my kid brother…nothing about you changed."

"But you're stopping this," Darry ordered, earning a quick nod. "Jesus…You can't do this."

"I know…" Ponyboy mumbled.

"Where do you even keep your weapons?" Two-Bit asked.

"Under the floorboards of our house. It's old and we need to re-nail them down…so I just thought… you know?"

"But what are we going to do with the people here?" Johnny pipped up and everyone stopped to look around at the disturbing scene around them. All of their stomachs turned at the sight. Johnny and Soda had to close their eyes and take a deep shaky breath to hold in their bile.

"Shit…" Dally cursed again.

"Don't worry… I can call someone to clean this up for me," Ponyboy reassured with a light, nervous chuckle." He smiled slightly, glad that he wouldn't have to run away from home or anything like that. But he didn't know how the others would interact with him anymore. The smile fell from his lips as they left the warehouse. Nothing will be the same again. He was just a monster to them, even though they told him otherwise. He knew that they were lying. He was a killer after all.

o-o-o

I know this is an abrupt and incomplete ending, but I don't really know how to end this. ^^'