Thanks for the reviews! I hope this chapter makes y'all happy.

I do not own the Outsiders.

I froze.

I always wondered what I would do if a gun was pointed at my face. Now I knew the answer, and I wasn't pleased with my cowardice.

I took a deep breath and thought, 'theres nothing left to lose now.'

"Steve." My hands were raised in the air in the universal sign of surrender. "Steve, please."

"I will kill you Darrel."

"Steve, don't do this. You don't want to do this to people you care about."

Steve laughed maniacally. "Who? You? I don't give a damn-"

"Not me Steve. Just let me get Soda and then we can talk."

Steve glanced at Soda who had his eyes on the gun. His breathing was fast and tears were streaming as quickly and as often as leafs fall in the autumn.

Steve lowered the gun, but kept his hand on the trigger.

"Darrel, you have better meet me down here in five minutes, or I will kill you." I believed him. My brothers best friend would murder me.

I nodded curtly as I gathered Soda in my arms. He was beginning to make small whimpering sounds, and when STeve reached out to touch him, he hissed and shied away.

"Shhh. It's ok baby. Don't worry. Steve isn't going to do anything. He's still the same friend you left behind."

Soda gulped and nodded against my chest as I carried him like a baby up to his room.

He was still wearing his army fatigues, and I tossed him his old DX shirt and some shorts to sleep in. He began to change, inhaling the smell of the shirt with a small sigh of happiness.

I pulled the covers up to his chin as though he were a little kid again. "Darry?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get hurt please. I already went through a war. I can't have one happen right here, at home."

"Don't worry. Steve is just upset because of Pony..." I trailed off. I didn't want to make Soda even more distressed.

"Darry, I need to talk to Pony."

"I know baby. We'll find him."

"I need to see him now!" Soda sounded desperate, and although layers upon layers of covers were blanketing him, he was shivering as though in a barren ice land.

"I'll find him soon. When Steve and I are done talking, I'll send him up to see you. He's not Ponyboy, but he's the next best thing."

Soda nodded sleepily and almost smiled. "I love you Darry."

I almost tackled him in a hug as a lump rose in my throat, but I managed to restrain myself and answer, "I love you so much Pepsi-Cola. Sweet dreams."

I dreaded having a "talk" with steve. I knew it was more than likely going to end violently. I could only hope that he wouldn't pull the gun, or that it wasn't loaded.

I padded down the stairs cautiously and called out softly, "Steve?"

"Here." He sat in the recesses of the shadowy couch, his face half hidden by darkness.

"So, you wanted to talk?"

"I'm gonna ask you this once, nicely. Where is Ponyboy?" Steve hissed, sitting up straight so that his entire angry face was illuminated.

"Steve, I don't know. Maybe he ran! How should I know! I haven't seen him since...let's see...Since I saved his life from some Socs and you got pissed and ran away with my kid brother. Oh, and then you told the cops that I was a child abuser, filed a restraining order, and made a court date."

"Careful Darrel. I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it."

Suddenly my blood was boiling, and I felt a reckless rage. "Yes you are."

"Excuse me?"

"I said that you are afraid to use it. You've never been more scared in your life. You can't find one of the few people you actually like, and you can't murder me because you would go to jail."

"I'm not afraid of the cops. I'd being doing them a favor, putting you behind bars."

"The only person you would be doing any favors would be me."

"How so?"

"Because I am the only person who would be fully content with my death." Steve was silent for a minute, but when he next spoke, it scared me more than any low threatening rumble or rageful scream.

"I can't lose Ponyboy. Soda will never forgive me. I will never forgive me." He was pleading with me, and my jaw dropped open. "Please, Darry, please. I have to find him. You have to help me."

I hesitated for a second, then strided over to the coat hanger, grabbing my leather jacket. "Fine."

"Thank you, thank you-"

"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for my brothers. You were prepared to kill me, and I rarely forgive, and I never forget."

I didn't look back at Steve's reaction as I hurried to the car.

I decided to check the ribbon first. The ribbon was a long and wide street in Tulsa with businesses surrounding it on all sides. At night, it was almost beautiful from a distance, as many things are, but it was a shady place. Drug dealers lived there, along with faithful hippie costumers which frankly scared me more than the dealers. Prostitutes lined the street with the same frequency as buildings.

But it was fun to drive down the ribbon, under different circumstances that is. Now, it was scary. I was by myself without a switchblade or gun, and no idea where I was going. Not a good combination.

I took a deep breath as I pulled out of my driveway, almost wishing that I had some company. As soon as I thought that, Steve appeared, waving his hands at me.

I stopped and let him in. I glared at him, but deep down I was relieved. We began to drive in silence and soon we were stuck in the normal traffic along the ribbon.

Steve and I stared out opposite windows, glancing around desperately for Pony's head. As we passed a bunch of hippies, I noticed something.

One of the hippies was wearing a tie-died shirt that was cut in long strings. He sported high wasted jeans that ended long before his ankles, which he covered with mismatched cowboy boots.

Classic hippie clothes, and yet his hair was reddish brown with some blond at the tips, and his face, was that of my little brother.

"Pony!" I screamed. I parallel parked (rather clumsily) next to a hippie van a fancy Socs car. Steve followed me out of the truck, swearing at everything in sight.

"Hey man. Peace be with you. Stop the war in Vietnam! Why all the struggle, am I right brah?"

I glared at the blonde hippie with the tambourine, and almost punched him, but thought of Soda's rule against hitting hippies, and decided against it.

"That's my brother."

"Which one? Sputnik?"

"What?"

"Sputnik. He named himself after the first satellite in space. Smart kid that."

"Yeah, he is. I'm taking him home now."

"Every man has his own free will. You'r will is to take Sput home, but if he doesn't want you to, it wouldn't be peaceable of you to force him."

"I don't give a damn!" I wrapped an arm around Ponyboy and pulled him into my chest. "Where have you been baby? Why are you doing this?"

Pony recoiled, and began to scream. The other hippies laughed. They didn't care. Everything was a joke to them on their cloud nine.

"What's wrong with him!" For the first time I noticed something with Pony's eyes. There were clouded, and staring in opposite directions, and he looked and sounded deranged.

"He wanted some juice. We can't refuse to give someone something."

"Juice? What is juice?"

"Acid." Steve clarified from behind me. He walked to Pony, and covered his eyes. Pony seemed to calm down a little bit, and he let Steve carry him to the car.