Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to The Outsiders. They all belong to S.E. Hinton.

Warning: Violence and some adult language in this chapter.

Chapter 12

The force of Paul's punch turned my head, but didn't hurt. It would hurt later. Now, I had too much rage in me to feel anything. I was able to catch a glimpse of my gang making their way to the Soc who called Pony trash. I also saw the Socs forming protective ranks around the killer Soc. I just smiled. They didn't stand a chance against us tonight.

I quickly turned back to Paul. The look in my eyes, or maybe the smile plastered on my face, must have scared him because he took a step back even before I advanced on him. I almost laughed when I thought he was going to run.

I was on him quick. I threw a punch to his jaw, matching his first move. Paul, however, went down. I kicked him in the ribs and somehow heard the crack over the noise of the rumble. I kicked him in the knee he hurt. The look of agony in his face just fueled me. I wasn't going to show any mercy tonight. I kicked him once more in the ribs and knew he wasn't getting back in this fight.

I made my way over to my gang. The boys were all holding their own, which didn't surprise me. Johnny was struggling the most so I went over to help him. "You ok, kid?" I hollered.

"Yeah," he grunted back.

It didn't take the two of us long to get the Soc down. I glanced over the gang again. They were all still ok. Dally's one shoulder looked a little off, but he was still right in the thick of things. Two-Bit's face was bleeding. I don't think he even noticed. Steve and Soda were both bruised up, but neither was the worse for wear.

We fought hard and strong. We fought together, almost as one. It seemed to take forever for us to break the Socs ranks. It was probably only a few minutes, though.

I was the first to come face to face with Pony's killer. I had murder in my heart. I wanted this boy to suffer. And I planned to make it happen.

The Soc started backing up as soon as he saw me. Some of the other Socs were heading for their cars. I wasn't going to let this boy go untouched. I grabbed him by his hair and pounded my fist in his face. I felt his nose break. I felt his blood running down my hand. It was exhilarating!

"You don't get him all," I heard Soda say behind me. He ran up on the Soc and kicked him hard in the stomach. For the second time that night, I heard ribs crack.

I heard the rest of the greasers start to cheer because the Socs were running. It seemed so far away. This boy, this Soc was my only focus. I still had a fistful of his hair. I wasn't letting go any time soon.

The rest of our gang was with us. I made sure each of them had a chance at the killer. Dally went last. He didn't want to stop wailing on the Soc.I finally let go of the kid and grabbed Dally.

"Stop!" I hollered. "We're better than him."

Dally snorted and spat on the Soc.

"Let's go home," I said to the gang, exhausted. We turned to head back to our house. I saw a couple Socs wearily come back to collect the killer. It took three of them to carry him to the safety of their cars.

"Damn," Steve shouted, "that felt good."

A ripple of laughter went through our group.

It didn't take long for us to get back to our house. Now it was time for us to nurse our wounds,the physical ones, at least.

Soda made his way to the kitchen and started making ice packs for the bruises. I went and got the first aid kit and started assessing the gang's wounds. Steve was stretched out on the couch with his shirt unbuttoned. There was a bruise forming about half way down his side. I would have to see if anything was broken. Two-Bit was bleeding from a cut on his face and one on his knuckles. Those'll need stitches, I thought. Dally's shoulder still looked wrong. I was pretty sure it was dislocated. Johnny didn't look too bad. He was gonna have one hell of a shiner but all in all he didn't look too banged up.

I gave Soda a good once over when he came in with the ice. He had a wide cut on his lip and a bruise on his cheek. He wasn't bad off either.

"I think Steve has broken ribs," Soda said.

I just nodded and handed him the supplies he would need to patch Steve up. I started on Two-Bit. Our mom had been a nurse. She had shown us how to stitch someone up. She had to do it enough times on the three of us. We hardly ever went to the hospital when Mom was around.

I took out the thread Mom had always used. I got a clean needle, just like Mom taught us. Glory, I missed them right then. Two-Bit flinched as I cleaned up his knuckles. "Can't I get wasted first?" he asked.

"Nope," I said.I took my time so everything would line up right. I put 7 stitches in his hand. I started cleaning up the cut on his face.

"You ain't comin' near my face," Two-Bit said stubbornly.

"Leave it," Dally snorted, "it looks better anyway."

"See!" Two-Bit said triumphantly.

"Sit down, shut your trap and hold still," I said in my most "don't give me a hard time" voice.

Two-Bit groaned, but for him, his face only needed 4 stitches.

I turned to Dally. "Your turn," I said. Two-Bit laughed.

Dally growled, "I'm fine."

I put my hand on his shoulder and he hissed with the pain. "You're fine?" I asked, cocking one eyebrow.

"It's nothing," Dally hissed.

I just looked at Soda and nodded. We knew how to fix Dally's shoulder, even if he didn't want us to. I grabbed Dally's wrist and Soda grabbed him around the middle.

"Get..." Dally started. He didn't have time to finish. Soda went one way and I went the other. I felt Dally's shoulder pop back into place. He let out a howl like I had never heard from him before.

Two-Bit was doubled over laughing. "You scream like a girl," he told Dally. We all had to laugh at that. Steve's laugh was cut off by a groan. It would hurt his ribs to laugh for a while.

"You wanna make somethin' of it," Dally challanged Two-Bit.

Two-Bit tried to stop laughing, I'll give him that. "Nope," he said, fighting hard to maintain his composure. I had to fight hard to hide my smile if you want the truth.

Dally stalked off to the kitchen. He grabbed the six-pack he had brought earlier. "Who else needs a drink?" he asked.

A/N:

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