Std disclaimer: I don't own anything about The Outsiders (book or movie, characters, TV scripts, or anything else)

The change in Ponyboy was somehow magnified by that dress blue uniform. Looking at him was like looking at a stranger with my kid brother's face. Like that old film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He was gone, and there was someone else inside him. I wanted the old Ponyboy back just then, for good or bad.

Still, I felt a little rush of pride looking at him in that getup, and I just watched him until he finally turned to me and asked, "What?" I just shrugged and turned away, pretending to look for something in my duffle.

"Soda," I said absently, sneaking another glance at Ponyboy as he carefully set the cap on his head. "Maybe you'd better tuck in your shirt."

He looked down at himself. "What for?"

Wordlessly, I gestured at Ponyboy and Soda got the picture. He made a face, but he tucked the tails of his flannel in. I felt terribly underdressed in my t-shirt and jeans, but there wasn't anything we could do. These were the clothes we'd brought.

There was a sea of guys in dress blues in the quad when we arrived. I wanted to hide in the back, away from the blue formality, but Ponyboy shook his head at us. "Red Flag is the first row on the right," he said.

I didn't know whether we should stand at attention like the rest of them, or whether we weren't supposed to, being that we weren't part of the camp. I felt like we'd stick out even more just slouching there, so I stood up straight. But I knew better than to salute the Colonel. Sgt. Miller must have been watching us, because he took pity and pulled us out of the line up, and that's when I noticed the Slozacks standing off to the side. I choked down my embarrassment. It wasn't like there was a handbook for this stuff. I didn't know what the hell to do.

There was a small stage set up in front, and Messner came to stand behind the worn out podium that stood in the center. "At ease," he said, and the sea of blue shifted. Feet apart, white, gloved hands clasped behind backs. "Today, I've called you here for several reasons. The first is to celebrate the bravery and strength of some of our young men. It is no secret that four of our campers went missing for just over three days. Everyone here watched three of those young men return to camp in a dignified fashion that for me, brought back my time as a young soldier in WWII." Messner paused, probably for effect. "The highest rank this camp awards in our accelerated ranking system is that of Corporal, and I'm pleased to bestow that rank on one of these young men. Former Lance Corporal Curtis, please join me on this platform."

Ponyboy did as he was asked, standing straight and tall, with that emotionless mask he'd been wearing. Pride warred with anger as I watched him salute the Colonel, a man who hardly deserved it. Why promote Ponyboy at all? What was the point, if he didn't even believe the things my brother told him?

But Ponyboy accepted the insignia the Colonel gave him over the loud chorus of "OORAHs" that had gone up, and he saluted again before he turned and marched back off of the platform. Not once did he crack a smile. But he joined in the OORAHs as Kurt made Private First Class. I thought that was pretty ridiculous. Kurt should have been far beyond that rank by now, I figured, after everything that had happened.

Soda grinned beside me. I was grateful for that, even if the whole thing was a circus meant to inspire the other guys more than it was really meant to honor anybody. And it wasn't like Ponyboy was going to go out and join the Marines and walk in as a Corporal, so what difference did it make if the RCJMC slapped a title on him? Still, I couldn't stop that annoying niggle of pride that waved from somewhere in the back of my mind.

Once the OORAHs died down, Messner's voice grew solemn. "We can't honor these two young men without remembering that one of the young men in that group of four didn't make it back to camp safely. It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you all that today, just over an hour ago, Private Paul Puzo's body was found by our search team in southern Colorado. It appears that he took a bad fall and that the resulting injuries were fatal. I ask you now for a moment of silence."

I wanted to glance around, to see if Mr. and Mrs. Puzo were present, but I bowed my head and thought again about how it could just as easily be Soda and I in mourning. It made all of this ceremony seem like a slap in the face…promoting two guys for surviving something they shouldn't have had to survive in the first place. It was like a payoff. Like greasing a palm. Not that Ponyboy hadn't achieved something here. But he shouldn't have needed to.

Just as the thick silence began to seem overwhelming, Messner spoke again. "On Sunday morning at 0800, we will meet back here, in our dress blues, for a formal service for Private Paul Puzo. Regular duties will be suspended for the day, which will be a day of remembrance and reflection. Our flags will fly at half mast beginning today and lasting through Sunday evening at lights out." Messner let his words filter down into the silence, like feathers from a broken pillow floating gently over the crowd. After another minute, he dismissed everyone, advising that they were to return to their regular duties. Guys scattered off in every direction, with purpose.

I expected Ponyboy to turn and head back our way, but he stayed where he was, watching as the Colonel made his way down the steps of the platform. "Gentlemen," the Colonel said, gesturing to Soda and me. Once we were standing there, the three of us in front of him, the Colonel said, "tomorrow morning I will be receiving Corporal Curtis' paperwork from Judge Harmon by overnight courier. Meet me in my office at 0800. I'll need you to sign the release forms."

Soda broke into a grin so huge I thought it might blind the Colonel. I caught myself, grinning, too, and when I glanced over at Pony, the corners of his mouth turned up just a little. Good enough. For now. But I knew I was going to spend the rest of the summer trying to coax the kid I knew back out of hiding. The kid that smiled. The kid that showed some emotion. I wondered again if he was even in there. I'd spent a lot of time wishing he would use his head, that he'd grow up and wise up to things and not spend so much time with his head in the clouds. The grass is always greener. Truer words had never been spoken when it came to Ponyboy.

It was stupid or I was crazy, but my first reaction to the Colonel's words was fear. What the hell was I afraid of? What the hell was there to be afraid of? I was going home, for crying out loud! I was finally going to the place I'd been dreaming of since setting foot off the bus. And instead of jumping for joy, I was scared to death almost as much as I was relieved. Maybe more.

Darry'd send me back to the head doctor if he could see how I was feeling. Hell, I wouldn't blame him. I caught him looking at me when the Colonel gave us the news, and he had that same worried face that he always had lately when he looked at me. Soda was beside himself, instantly restored to the bouncing, jazzed up version of himself that had been missing for the past couple of days. Darry and I just let him chatter as we made our way back to Red Flag.

Home. I was going home. It seemed unreal, the same way the idea of camp had seemed unreal until I stepped off the bus into dread.

My knee was killing me. I figured after I got out of my dress blues and back into my drabs, I'd head over to the infirmary for more ice and aspirin. Sgt. Miller foiled that plan, though, because he stopped by the barracks to invite us to a special rest hour for Black Flag. It was just another of the million ways that Red Flag had been different. Who knew that every so often, on a Friday night, the Flags could take a two hour rest and watch a movie in E-4?

Miller grinned. "The projector is an ancient cast-off, and the film will probably jam up about a dozen times, but it will kill an hour or so."

Soda grinned. "Seems like about a million hours to kill, too, before tomorrow morning."

Miller nodded. "I figured. We're playing Machine-Gun Kelly. It's an older film, we're almost ten years behind the rest of the world."

Darry and Soda thought that was just fine. I figured they were bored sick of TV and playing cards. So we sat in the dark, watching Charles Bronson rob banks and kidnap a little girl. I'd seen it before, and I only half-watched it now. When there were about ten minutes to go, I got up out of my chair.

"I'm going to the infirmary, to get some ice for my knee. I'll meet you back at Red Flag."

Darry nodded. He was just interested enough to see the movie through, probably because he never watches them. He never has the time. Soda was pretty fidgety, but I guess he figured watching the end was better than nothing, which was what would come after the movie.

It was quiet. The only thing that all of the Flags do at the same time is take rest hour, and everyone was indoors. I figured the others probably had 2 hours rest tonight, too. It was interesting finding out all the stuff I'd been missing out on just being assigned to the wrong Flag.

Tustin gave me another of her creaky, under-used smiles. "So, how's the knee, Corporal?"

I shook my head. "Hurts," I admitted. "Thought I'd get some ice and some aspirin and go put it up for a while."

She nodded. "Haven't seen you in here for ice," she said. "You haven't been putting it up as much as you should."

I shrugged. "Hard to, with being in meetings at HQ all day."

"Well, looks like you won't have to worry about that anymore after tomorrow morning," she pointed out. "When you get home, you put it up like I told you and you'll see how much faster you heal." She handed me the familiar white tablets and a paper cup, which I crushed and tossed into the waste can after sending the medicine down. Then she handed me another plastic bag of ice and told me to behave myself and maybe she wouldn't see me again next year. I wondered what that meant, if some guys just kept getting sent back over and over again. But I didn't ask. I just nodded at her again and stepped out of the infirmary.

And stepped right into Kent.