A/N: The Outsiders is owned by S.E. Hinton.
George shooed out the last of his customers. There was nothing like a good party, but this one was getting too wild. The last thing they needed was the cops coming around again, especially after the recent arrest of a certain Dallas Winston. It wasn't the cops he was worried about, oh no. Dally's gang was getting anxious, as they hadn't realized they would ever get caught. Everyone was surprised that it was Dallas Winston who had been tricked - suavest criminal on the streets finally put away. It had everyone on edge. Who knew what the gang would do.
George sighed and walked into the shabby back room. He rolled out his sleeping bag and turned on the little police scanner he had. Tuning to the right channel to see if anything exciting was happening, George sighed in disappointment. Maybe the rumors he'd heard were wrong, maybe nothing big was going down after all. He pulled his gun close and settled down to sleep. In this part of New York you could never be too careful. As George drifted off to sleep, he missed the warning coming across the scanner.
Alert: Dallas Winston has escaped from jail. He is considered armed and dangerous and must be caught as soon as possible.
George woke with a start. There was a loud banging noise coming from nearby and he looked around in confusion. The room looked eerie with shadows and only the light of the moon to see by. George cautiously got up to answer what he now realized was someone knocking, or rather pounding, on the door. As soon as he peered out of the entrance into the dark night, George immediately knew who it was.
"Well I'll be damned, if it ain't Dallas Winston. How'd you get out this time?"
"It doesn't matter. This is serious." George paused as he studied the young man before him.
"You're getting out," he realized.
"For good this time," Dally confirmed, "Can you help?"
"You gotta hide deep. I've got a cousin in Tulsa named Buck. Tell him I sent you and he'll help you out."
"I owe you" Dallas said. George smirked. He knew that was gonna be as close to a thank you as he would ever get.
"See ya around, kid"
* * * 2 weeks later * * *
Dallas cursed as he watched the news in the Curtis household. He'd met them his first day in town. It was thanks to Soda of all people that he was allowed inside at all. Darry had been worried at first, but he was finally backing off. Dallas was pretty sure that the Pony kid was still scared of him. Darry turned to yell at Dally for cursing in front of his brothers, but what he saw stopped him.
Dallas was sitting stock still, face pale and emotionless, but Darry saw something in those electric blue eyes that made his heart ache with pity. It was a feeling he and his brothers knew all too well. Loss.
Curiously, he turned to see what had caused this reaction from Dally, catching the last part of what the announcer was saying.
"George Freskinski was found dead in his New York bar this afternoon. It appears he was being threatened by a gang in the area. For what? We're not sure. We have no idea at this time where possible connections or leads may be, in or out of state. If anyone has any information please contact the police at the number below immediately."
Darry turned to ask Dally about his curious reaction, but to his surprise the previously occupied seat was empty. Dallas was gone.
* * * 3 years later * * *
Buck answered the door shocked to find a dripping Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade.
"We need to see Dally," one of them shouted over the blaring music.
"Dallas! There's some people here for you," he shouted into the crowd.
That was the last time Buck would ever see the young Johnny Cade. He watched on the news as the story of the boys' attempted runaway unraveled. He sighed thinking of a certain blonde - haired man that was now dead.
"Look out for him, George," Buck whispered as the sun's last rays succumbed to the pull of darkness.