Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: We are down to the Curtis family now! Which is next? The final three!

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.


What happened?

That car just ran the red light and crashed into the other.

Oh, my God. Is everyone alright?

The young guy that crashed into the other, running the red light will. The old man died before the ambulance could get to him.

That's horrible. I can't believe he didn't survive.

The young guy was doing 80 in a 25 mph, ran the light and hit the driver's side of the other car dead on. It would have been a miracle if anyone survived that…..


"Come on, come on…." Two-bit grunted struggling.

Steve smirked in between his struggling. "Not gonna help ya, Two-bit."

Johnny looked between the two blinking as he watched.

Dallas sighed looking at each of them. "Seriously, you two...you are both almost evenly matched. Ya'll been holding for the last minute or so."

"No we aren't", Steve said as he finally pushed Two-bit arm down. Two-bit grunted and flexed his arm to get back the circulation as Steve cheered. Two-bit glared at Steve as Steve grinned and gloated. "If I can beat Sodapop in arm-wrestling I can beat just about anyone."

Dallas pushed Two-bit out the way. "You wanna bet?"

Steve grinned. "You are on!" He looked at Johnny. "Hey, after I beat 'ol Dal here, I'll get to you next."

Johnny gave a quick reassuring smile and waved a dismissing hand. "Nah, that's okay. I'm good. I know you'd beat me and I'd like to keep my arm, thanks."

Dallas, Two-bit and Steve chuckled. The afterlife gang was currently in a field hanging out. They had been hanging out almost all morning and it was afternoon now. Steve had found an old crate and immediately offered an arm-wrestling challenge. It had been quite some time since Steve had re-joined the gang. The afterlife had been becoming livelier as more of the gang began rejoining.

"Let's go, wimp", Steve shot snapping his glaze back at Dallas.

Dallas raised an eyebrow and looked at Steve coolly yet with a hint of danger. "Who are you calling a wimp? Surely not me."

"Okay, the grass, then. Look, man, come on!" Steve growled, guestering his hand out.

Dallas growled back and putted up his arm, locking hands with Steve. Two-bit grinned and placed both of his hands atop theirs. "Ya'll ready?" he asked looking between the two.

"I was born ready", Steve answered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's go", Dallas groused.

"Ready…and…GO!" Two-bit lifted his hands and the arm wrestling was on.

"Wow, pretty good guys", Johnny complimented. The fact was neither male was so much as moving a muscle, they were so evenly matched. Two-bit whistled as he watched.

They had been holding for quite some time longer than Two-bit and Steve.

"Any decade now", Two-bit muttered.

"Be quiet!" Dallas hissed.

Suddenly the sky darkened slightly. "Seriously?" Two-bit said as light filtered into the field. This change made both Steve and Dallas lose their concentration and release hands.

"I think this means someone else has come", Johnny said shielding his eyes.

"Well, there are only the Curtis' now", said Steve squinting his eyes.

Dallas murmured looking over his shoulder since his back was to the tornado light. "It seems quite close. Closer than the other times."

Johnny agreed as the light began fading.

Two-bit was shaking his head and blinking rapidly. "Whoo…near blinded me."

"Well, who told you to look into the light, fool?" Dallas asked.

"Shut up!"

"Come on…that doesn't look too far", Johnny said standing up. The group began trekking to the area the tornado light was seen all wondering which Curtis it was as they guessed it would be one of them.


He awoke to the sound of voices. Groaning he opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. He looked around carefully. Clutching his head, he sat up. When he dropped his hand it came back greased. He stared at it a moment before rubbing his hands together trying to process what was happening. Reaching up he touched his hair again. The style seemed familiar but he couldn't place it at the moment.

Standing, he looked around. It took a moment for his surroundings to click. He was outside the fence of the Nightly Double. The voices were from the movie playing. He glazed at the screen for a little while before turning and studying his surroundings carefully, taking in what there was to take in. He tried to rationalize what was happening.

What was happening?

No, seriously, he really didn't understand anything at the moment. And he felt different. And if this was the Nightly Double, why weren't there more people around? Actually, there was something bothering him concerning the Nightly Double itself. He glanced at the chairs.

No one seemed to occupy them. Well, it was early but still…why would a movie be playing?

There were cars in the lot too. He found himself walking to the opening in the fence he knew to be there. He got down and wiggled his way through to stand up on the other side of the fence. He sighed and cautiously walked over to a car intending on finding out what was going on. He peaked in found no one. He looked around at the other cars and found that no one occupied them. Strange...

His eyes caught the outside car mirror and he whipped his head towards it so fast, he almost got whiplash. He turned to face the mirror, peering into it. He touched his face. There weren't any age lines. And now he knew what was familiar about his hair. It was the same as when he was in his twenties.

Darryl Shannyne Curtis, Jr. mouth parted in surprise. He felt panic rise up but he forced it down and tried to think things through. He looked down at himself. Even his body felt like it did when he was twenty. He straightened and took a few deep breaths as he looked around. Now he figured out what was bothering him about this place. By rights the Night Double shouldn't even be here but it was like back then. Darry looked at the movie screen. Some wacked out horror movie that wasn't even scary was playing.

"Hello! Anyone here?" he called out walking around cautiously looking for any signs of life. Darry walked to the chairs and hopped over the railing, landing gracefully on his feet. He looked behind him once before walking up the aisle and peaking into the lobby.

"Hey!" Darry called. Receiving no answer he turned and walked back down the aisle.

Leaning on the railing he surveyed the area once more, trying in vain to make some sense out of what was happening. His brothers crossed his minds. Sodapop and Ponyboy, where were they? Were they okay? Worry began to well up in Darry.

"Soda! Pony!" he called out as loud as he could. He listened. Not a sound. Not even a wisp of wind spoke to him. He looked at the movie screen though he wasn't watching it. His mind was millions of miles away.

"Okay, Darry…just think about this for a moment", he began talking to himself, "You look like you are twenty. The Nightly Double is here. What's missing? There something missing and you can figure out what's missing. Figure that out and then the answers will come. So figure it out, dang it!" Darry went quiet, closing his eyes.

All he could remember was something about crushing. It made no sense to him. Crush what?

"...Darry?"

Said male's eyes popped open at the voice. He looked and found Two-bit grinning at him. Darry's mouth fell open. His eyes travelled. Behind Two-bit was Steve with a light smirk, Johnny with a smile and Dallas with his mouth twitching.

Darry blinked as his mouth closed. He swallowed. 'Okay, just find a rational explanation. There is always one. Use your head, like you used to tell Ponyboy', he thought to himself.

"Um…." Was the sound that came from Darry as the gang that he hadn't seen in years came closer to him.

"You okay, buddy? Process and internalize and while you are at it, breathe.", Two-bit suggested.

"Wasn't aware you knew those words, much less what they meant", snorted Dallas.

"I'm not entirely stupid", Two-bit muttered.

Steve spoke up, his arms crossed. "Coulda fooled me."

"Don't make me jump on you", Two-bit growled at Steve.

"Bring it!" Steve unfolded his arms and held up a fist.

"Both of you cool it!" Dallas barked.

Darry was watching this exchanged with a near unblinking expression. His mouth had fallen open again.

"Ignore them, Darry", Johnny stated softly leaning on the railing next to Darry as the trio behind him kept bickering.

It was a moment before Darry broke his glaze away from the bickering trio and looked at Johnny who smiled at him. "Johnny?" he asked.

"Yea, good to see you again, Darry. It's been a long time."

"You...Aren't you...dead?" Darry questioned uncertainly.

Johnny nodded. "Yea, I am."

Darry pointed in the trio's direction, "And Dallas...he's dead too." It came out a statement.

Johnny nodded.

"Steve and Two-bit had died, I remember that."

Nod.

"So, if you're dead and Dallas has been dead for…20+ years and Steve and Two-bit have been dead for years as well and I can see you…then that means…that means…what does that mean?"

"…" Johnny refused to give Darry that information. By now, the trio had stopped bickering and was watching Darry try to put everything together.

Darry breathed shakily and raised a hand up to run it over his face once. He remembered the crushing feeling. It was returning to him now. Darry was trying so hard to keep his head together.

"Does that mean…does that mean…I'm…dead?", he finally asked. He was staring intently at Johnny.

Johnny nodded slowly. Darry tore his glaze away and looked at the ground, clutching the railing harder, making his knuckles turn white.

"Hey, man…it'll be alright", Johnny murmured laying a hand on Darry's arm.

"This isn't possible. I can't be dead. I can't. I can't just leave Pony and Soda. This will kill them", he murmured, thinking of his brothers. They were all they had. How would they take it if he was indeed dead?

"Sorry…" Two-bit said quietly.

Darry glanced up at the group, looking at each of them. "Ya'll look like when we were younger." He said after awhile. They clearly heard the tears laced in his voice.

Two-bit grinned at him. "And you look like you did when you were twenty."

"I know…I saw in one of the car mirrors. How?"

"Welcome to the afterlife…we got more mysteries then a graveyard." Two-bit cackled.

"I knew he was going to say that. I knew it!" Steve growled.

Dallas shook his head and pushed Steve and Two-bit out the way. "Look, man…we know about as much as the day we all arrived. Buddy, I'm here to tell you…that ain't much."

"Simply put…don't knock it…we don't know. It just…is", Johnny translated.

Darry laughed once then his voice broke. "But…but…it's not that I'm not happy to see you guys, I am…but…what about Pony and Soda?"

Dallas spoke. "They still have life left to live, I guess."

"But….."

"How did you…." Johnny trailed off his question.

Darry knew what the question was and answered with a moan, "A car accident."

"You?" Dallas asked surprised. They all knew that Darry was a good driver.

"Some moron ran a red light speeding. I'd bet he was doing 70-80 in a 25 and hit me." Darry had remember the crushing feeling before everything went dark, "He was over speeding that's for sure. It happened so fast."

"I'm gonna go haunt his behind", Dallas growled. Of all things for his friend to die from, a car accident...that was someone else's fault? No, see, that called for major haunting.

"Good luck with that", Steve stated dryly. Dallas gave him a look.

"Hey, if you do figure out how to haunt him...let me know I want in", Two-bit nodded. Steve and Johnny gave a nod as well.

Darry groaned and took a seat behind him. He dropped his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to die."

"Oh, like we did?" Dallas asked.

"You got no room to talk. You know very well you meant to", Steve shot at Dallas making him become quiet.

Johnny took a seat next to Darry. "Hey, man, it'll be alright. I'm sure Soda and Pony will be okay."

Darry glanced at Johnny, studying him. "You're different." He remarked after awhile had passed.

Johnny gave a smile. "Yeah, well….."

Darry gave a crooked smile. Two-bit dropped into a seat on the other side of Darry, looking at the movie. Silence reigned for awhile. Darry's eyes roved all over not really seeing anything. It just came to him a few minutes ago of why the Nightly Double felt wrong. It had been torn down and replaced with a new and improved theater by the time Darry had died.

Finally Darry let out a long sigh. "The afterlife, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah…it's kinda cool. This is our neighborhood and we run this place. No one here but us and…two more I think you'll be happy to see." Two-bit grinned.

"Yeah, who?" Darry asked lowering his hands to look at the grinning male.

"Your parents", Johnny answered.

Darry's head whipped towards Johnny, his eyes big. "Do not play with me, boy."

"I play with you not."

"Seriously?"

"Deadly, man."

A small smile made it to Darry's face. "It will be great to see them again."

"...So...how old were you before you brought the farm?", Two-bit asked after another moment had gone by.

"64."

"Wow…that's great!" Johnny beamed.

Darry shrugged. "Yeah…it is."

"So I heard…you actually finally went back to college", Dallas drawled leaning on the railing.

Darry gave a short laugh at that. "Yeah, after we put Ponyboy through college he practically made money hand over foot with his writing. He was making some money before he graduated." He looked at Johnny and Dallas. "He made a book about the events leading up to and surrounding your deaths. It really helped to bring the greaser/soc conflict to life. I think that's why it became so popular."

Dallas cocked an eyebrow, "Hoped he mentioned my record." That got a laugh out of everyone while Johnny just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, anyway", Johnny drawled, "So did that help end the conflict? We heard it ended."

Darry nodded. "I believe it helped yes. Ponyboy did really well for himself. I mean, he brought a house in the country and invited us to go with him."

"We heard", said Dallas.

"He really made something out of himself and it was an added bonus he didn't forget about his friends and family." They could hear the pride in Darry's voice.

Johnny smiled, "Ponyboy isn't like that. He could never forget friends and family."

"I know. Then when we were settled he did everything but hold me at gunpoint to get me to go back to school. At first I wasn't going to."

Johnny frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, I was almost 28 when I went back to school. I mean, going for professional ball was near over. But Ponyboy said I should go get my degree just to accomplish what I always wanted. By, then I was interested in construction having worked there all my life. So I entered business and construction. I did end up playing football in college as a hobby." At this Darry grinned. "One of the best times of my life. After graduating, I worked for construction making more money than I did before and finally trying to open a construction business and it took off. Ponyboy actually helped to get the business off the ground."

Johnny smiled. "Wow, that awesome! Congrats for the achievements, then!"

"Thank you, Johnny." Darry smiled before it slowly died away. What would become of his brothers now that he was gone? All they had all their lives were each other and since the gang started dying over the years that bond was tighter than ever.

"I know it's going to be hard not seeing them for quite some time, but we'll all get through it. I'm positive when they die, we'll see them here", Johnny tried to reassure Darry.

Tears glittered in Darry's eyes though he tried to hold it back. "You think?"

"We know", Steve smiled gently. "I mean, me and Two-bit made it here. I see no reason why Soda and Ponyboy won't."

"I just hope they don't do anything stupid and we see them in a few days. You know?" Dallas asked.

Darry nodded. "I know what you mean. Now it's only Sodapop and Ponyboy. I hope they stick together." He looked at Steve. "After your passing, Soda near broke."

"But he didn't." Steve pointed out.

"Cause he had you and Ponyboy", Johnny added.

Darry nodded absently. "Yeah, that probably helped matters. But you know after he came back from Vietnam it took the remaining of the gang at the time to keep him on the straight and narrow."

"Yeah, after helping to get me back on the straight and narrow", Steve added.

"I know. It was tough when Sodapop was called for war. I thought for sure we were all going to just break after that."

"I know."

"But you guys didn't. Ya'll got through it and now most of the gang is here." Johnny spoke up softly, "Although it will be…sad to realize the implication when we see the remaining, I'm sure we'll all be together again. Just like when we were kids. And then we'll have eternity to get tired of each other."

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, guess you are right, Johnnycake", Dallas grinned.

"Hey, you guys ever wonder how or why it is we are all together in this afterlife like this? I mean, even right down to being kids ruling our neighborhood and the surrounding area." Two-bit mused.

Dallas snorted. "I don't know and I'm not gonna try to guess, that's for sure."

"You know", Johnny started thoughtfully after a second, "I'm sure when we see Ponyboy, he could probably come up with a plausible explanation. He's good at that kind of thing."

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, I look forward to the plausible explanation…in the meantime…" Two-bit was cut off by Steve.

"In the meantime…you know we can go over to the West side." Steve said hurriedly. Two-bit growled and glared at him.

Darry frowned. "If this neighborhood is exactly like when we were younger…then the Socs live over there."

"Man, what part of no one else here but us and your parents did you not understand?" Dallas asked.

"Are you serious?" Darry asked.

"Yeah!"

Darry blinked trying to process that. He stood up. "Well, before that…if my parents are here, I want to see them."

"They should be home. They sometimes go on vacation though…." Johnny smiled.

Darry just shook his head as the group made its way out of the Nightly Double. He was nervous about seeing his parents. He was equally nervous about that fact that he was leaving his younger brothers to fend for their selves for the remainder of their time on earth. But Darry would take comfort in thinking he'll see them again. He hoped though that they would live a little while longer and get as much out of life as he had. Until he saw them someday, he would take comfort with his parents and his friends.

TBC…..


A.N: 3 down and 2 to go. =D (I'm sorry but it amuses me to have a countdown at the end of each story, lol)

Sodapop or Ponyboy? Who is second to the last to rejoin the gang? I think it should be fairly easy to figure out the remaining order now. Lol But that is just me.

Sorta a sidenote: Since Darry was probably the only one in the group that was the most in shape and healthy, unless it was old age I don't really see him dying from illness or anything. And since I had a plan on how I thought and wanted the order of deaths to be…..an accident seemed more realistic in my eyes.