Chapter 2:  Ghosts of the past

March  8, 2003

By Megan Austinson

A/N: Thanks to you guys who reviewed! This story is complete, I'm just putting it up a little at a time. I'm not even really sure how many chapters it'll be, cuz I haven't finished separating it out yet.

Disclaimer: The usual. Niko and Nina are mine, the plot is mine, the rest is not. Don't sue me, I have no money.

**Pony**

"D-Dally?" I managed, utterly and completely shocked.  The boy before us looked just like Dally, but without the cold, hard edge Dally always had.  This guy's hair was longer too, but the same color, and the face was the same.  I glanced at the rest of the gang, relieved to find that they looked just as surprised as I was.

"No," the guy said, shaking his head.  "My name's Niko.  What are you guys doing with my sister?"

"N-nothing, man," Two-Bit managed.  "She was trying to lift my blade, we was just trying to scare her."  The guy looked hard at Two-Bit, then turned on his sister.

"What the heck were you doing, Nina?  Trying to get yourself in trouble?"

"I was just looking for some fun," the girl pouted.  Niko stood in our way, blocking our view of his sister.  He looked at her for a moment, then we heard her sigh.

"Sorry," she mumbled, coming around him so we could see her.  That gave us our second big shock of the day.  Imagine Johnny when he was eleven or so, with hair hanging half way down his back and a girl.  That's what this girl looked like.  She was the spitting image of Johnny, just like her brother could have been Dally's twin.

"Um, sure, no problem," Two-Bit managed, still gaping.  Niko looked at us funny.

"You guys all look like you've just seen a ghost," he said, eyeing us strangely.  I'm sure we did.  Two ghosts, to be exact.

"So, you guys new around here?" Darry said after a pause.

"Yeah, I'm Niko Thatcher, this here's my sister, Nina.  We just moved in with my aunt up the street.  Are you guys okay?" he asked, still staring at us oddly.  Except for Darry, the rest of us were pale and wide-eyed, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, we're fine," Steve said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.  "Anyone want a weed?"  Even Soda took one as the pack went around, followed by a lighter.  Darry didn't, of course, and neither did this Niko guy.

"No thanks," he declined.  "We've got to be going home.  C'mon, Nina."  He grabbed the shoulder of the girl's jacket and began dragging her up the street after him.

"Bye!" the girl called cheerfully, waving at us.  Two-Bit half-heartedly waved back as we watched them go up the street.  We staggered into the house.  I barely made it to a chair before my knees gave out and I sat down heavily.  I was trembling, though not as bad as I had been before the cigarette.

"You okay, Pony?" someone asked, and I looked up to see Darry looking down at me worriedly.  I must have looked pretty bad, but to my surprise, Steve answered for me.

"Shoot, of course he's not okay!" he said angrily, combing a hand through his hair.  "Are he and I the only ones who noticed?  Geeze, it's not every day you meet two kids who look just like your dead friends."  Soda put a hand on his arm and I realized that tough old Steve was fighting back tears.  "Leave me alone," he muttered, wiping at his eyes.

**Niko**

School the next day was weird.  A first I thought the whispering and stares were because I was an unfamiliar face, but it soon became clear that was not the case.  The one word I kept picking up on was "Dally", the same name one of the guys on my block had called me the day before.  I figured if anyone knew what was going on, it would be one of them.  Most of them had seemed school aged, so I started searching the halls.

To my surprise, the one I came across first was the little one. I'd figured he would be over at the junior high, but here he was, books in hand.  I think I just about scared the wits out of him when I grabbed his arm and pushed him up against the wall in a less crowded corridor.

"Okay, what's going on?" I hissed at him.

"Wh-what are, are you t-talking ab-bout?" he stammered.  "I don't know nothing."

"Yeah, right.  Everyone keeps looking at me and whispering something about some guy called Dally.  You called me Dally yesterday.  Who is this Dally guy and what does he have to do with me?"  I noticed the kid flinched every time I said Dally.  Bad memories there, I guessed.

"He was a friend," the kid said, closing his eyes tightly.  "Just a friend.  You look like him is all."

"Uh huh," I said, still unconvinced.  "'Was' a friend?  What happened to him?"  The kid opened his eyes and glared at me.

"He's dead, okay?" he snapped at me.  "Now do you understand?"  Yeah, I understood now.  I let go of the kid and ran my hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, noticing how white the kid was.  "I didn't mean to scare you."

**Pony**

"You didn't scare me," I said automatically.  Dally's look-a-like stared down at me skeptically.  "Ok, so maybe you did," I admitted.  "A guy can't be too careful around here though, especially when he's a greaser.  I'm Ponyboy, by the way.  Ponyboy Curtis."  I waited for some odd remark about my name, but he just grinned.

"Nikolas Thatcher," he said.  "But like I said yesterday, everyone calls me Niko."  The warning bell for the next class rang, and Niko looked at his schedule.  "Hey, where is room 204?"

"Right next to room 203," I said with smirk.  Niko seemed unsure of how to respond, so I continued, "Which just so happens to be where my next class is.  Come on."

"So, aren't you too young to be going to school here?" he asked as we walked to our next classes.  I sighed.

"Skipped a grade in elementary," I explained shortly.  "I'm fourteen."

"Hmm," Niko responded.  "A sophomore then?"  I nodded.  "I'm a senior," he continued, "and I'm seventeen."

"Same age as Soda," I said without thinking.

"Soda?"

"My middle brother," I explained.  "You saw him yesterday, along with the rest of the gang.  Where are you and your sister from?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.  The smile dropped off his face.

"California," he answered in a tone of voice that made it clear he didn't want to discuss the move.  Luckily for him, we were at our classrooms with about a minute to spare.

"See ya around," I said as I walked into my English class.