The whole gang entered the Curtis house behind Soda and Darry, watching as Darry carried a nearly lifeless Ponyboy. They all crowded into the living room, watching as Darry set the youngest greaser on the couch. The whole room was silent; all of them too stunned to say anything.

"Hey, Pony, get up, c'mon wake up Pon." Soda said lightly as he shook his brother's arm, finally breaking the tense silence of the room. Pony's eyes showed no signs of life, just two hollow gray orbs as he began to awaken from his lifeless sate. "Let's get ya washed up, okay." Soda managed to force a small smirk on his face, trying to make his brother smile as well, but it was all in vain. Pony stared at him blankly, nodding slightly to answer his brother. Darry scooped up his youngest brother in his arms, carrying him into the bathroom, setting him in the tub - letting Soda take it from there. "Okay, lets just take this off." Soda said shakily; his voice mixed between rage and sorrow, slipping the jacket off his brother that Darry put over him - covering just up to his mid-thighs, revealing bruised, scraped, and battered skin. "Oh, Pon." Soda said, gritting his teeth as looked at the bruises and scrapes covering his baby brother as he turned on the hot water. "Do you think you can take it from here?" Soda asked. Ponyboy simply nodded in return, watching as his brother walked out of the bathroom before standing up to a wobbly stance, turning the shower on. He watched as the water swirled down the drain, blood and dirt being washed away by the water as it thumped against his body.

Soda's Pov-

'How could this happen to my baby brother, how could I let this happen to him? I should've kept an eye on him, I should've walked home with him after work, I should've been there! But I wasn't. Its too late now; I'm too late, and now he's suffering. Those socs are gonna get it good, they're gonna pay!' I thought bitterly as I glared at the ceiling, chewing at the inside of my cheek vigorously, shaking my head in disbelief. 'How? And, just, why?' I continued to think.

"Soda-" I heard Pony sob, tears streaming down his pale face as he stared at me with lifeless eyes.

"Don't worry Ponyboy, they're not gonna hurt ya no more." I said soothingly to my bother, tucking a soft auburn lock behind his ear as I moved closer to him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight and loving embrace. 'He didn't deserve what was done to him, not any of it.' I thought to myself as hot tears weld up in my eyes. "I promise." I croaked out between the painful lump in my throat.

Sorry its so short, I couldn't think of more things to put in this chap.