A/n:Hides: I'm back! Yes, it's been about four months… Yes, I've been bad… Yes, I should give you a whole slew of updates… Which is what I'm doing… but not in this story alone. Anyway, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but I can't begin to explain what's been going on in my life… and it might seem trivial to some people, but it's been easily the hardest last six months, or so, of my entire life. And it's not exactly something I'd like to go into… so, I'm going to leave it at that. But, basically, I've learned that I'm not a comfort writer. I'm a good-mood, happy writer. So, there ya go.

Dedication: Well… this one is lucky enough to go out to Tensleep, because she earned it. She kissed an un-expecting someone at midnight, on New Years, and in return I'm updating this for her. Go Tens! Y'all can thank her for this, lol. Love you.

Review Responses are at the bottom, as always.

Enjoy!

-

Chapter Fourteen

"D - D - Darrrry!" I stammered after hearing what the fuzz had to say. There was no fucking way they were serious. That was complete bullshit. And even if they were, Darry was Darry... He could fix this. He'd tell them they couldn't take me. There wasn't a REASON!

"What? ... Who's here?" He came out of the kitchen wiping his salty hands on the front of his shirt. He looked up from the mess he'd just made and froze much like I had done. He glanced sidelong at me and stepped forward to the cops. "Can I help you, sirs" He swallowed his half-chewed food.

"Yes," the same one said, with a touch of irritance of needing to repeat himself. "We're looking for Ponyboy Curtis and this is the address we were given. You know anything about that?" They remained outside on the porch, meaning they were being courteous enough to hear us out before barging in. I was just hoping they couldn't, or at least wouldn't, touch me without first telling me what was going on.

"I - I'm Ponyboy." I stopped back a few feet, terrified. I've never been faced with anything like this before, aside from court a few years back, but that was nothing in comparison. I'm guessing anyway. Those charges were acquitted. This was a new case. And a much more serious case at that.

"What are the charges?" I was so confused. There was no reason for this to be happening. Not a logical one that I could think of at least.

The same cop pulled a notepad out of his waistband and opened it, taking his sweet time in finding the right page, licking his thumb repeatedly as he looked through. "Well, let's see... We have 'disturbing the public peace' and ' coordinating in a gang related fight,' ' attempted murder', and 'possession of a deadly weapon with the intent to use it.'" He looked up after finishing to catch my reaction.

Attempted murder?

I was stunned to say the least. For one, I knew none of Crystal's gang was stupid enough to go running to the fuzz. For another, why me? Why not someone else? Sure, I was the supposed rapist, but Lord, even Crystal wouldn't steep that low, would he? Accusing me of coordinating in a gang fight was one thing… but attempted murder? AND possession of a deadly weapon…?

It was tough to say which of us would be dying first.

I shook my head. "You've got that all wrong... That isn't true..."

The initiatory cop stepped up on the threshold and patted his cuff's carrier. "Tell that to the boys downtown, son. They're mighty interested in hearing what you've got to say."

"What?" I stepped further back. "There's nothing TO say. There's nothing you can hold –"

"Woah... woah." He stopped me. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say CAN be used against you in a court of law." He stepped forward and pulled out his cuffs. "You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand these rights, son"

I stared at him perplexed. Did I miss something? What did he just say?

"Dar-ry!" I reached out to grab his arm, and wasn't able to connect up to it. "Darry!"

"Son," The second cop stepped in, apparently more aggressive than the first. I caught sight of his nametag. Perry. "Do you understand these rights"

I began to mumble incoherent things, realizing how real this all was. My eyes were widening by the second and my face paling faster than if I'd see something atrocious. It was humiliating and I hated it. It was a wonder the others never seemed phased by it...

I finally found Darry's arm.

"I didn't do it, I swear." Go ahead and mock me for the rest of my life, but right then I didn't care. He wasn't going to haul me off to jail. I've never been in there before, and I sure as hell wasn't going to stop the streak now if I could help it. "He," I shook Darry's arm, "can tell you that I didn't do it!"

"Son," – Perry stepped inside the house – "what he has to say and what YOU have to say are two completely different things. Answer my question and step forward now if you don't want the charge of resisting arrest against you too."

My mouth was running dry and I couldn't seem to find the words I was looking for. Nor did my thoughts make any sense. Do I listen to him or try and defend myself? Do I keep waiting for Darry to help, or do I turn myself over to the fuzz? My thinking was so erratic; it was like I needed someone else to do the thinking for me.

"Pony." Darry nudged me. "Go."

"What?" I turned and looked at him as he slipped his arm out of my grip. "Darry… No… You know I didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know…" It seemed like there wasn't a thing he could do. Darry was NOT helpless! Darry was… Darry. Why was he looking at me like that?

I felt a pair of rough hands grasp my wrists as I watched the boys slouch into the living room and Rob slowly inched his way into a sitting position, looking confused beyond all comprehension. Cold metal clasped around my wrists now as the gang sunk back deeper into the living room… like they were all allowing this to happen.

"Ow…" Perry grabbed my bicep, where it was obviously punctured. He loosed his grip and whirled me around.

"Do you –"

"Yes," I bit the word. "I understand." I gritted my teeth against the pain and smiled sourly. "Please let go of my arm." It was one thing to be handed over to these bastards, but I wouldn't let them mistreat me.

He shook his head sternly; as if doing that much would give me a sense of power he didn't want me to experience. "Come."

"Sir!" Darry stepped back in and my head jerked up in surprise. "His arm might need stitches…"

Perry and his partner stopped and pulled their most ticked, superior faces. "You may follow us to the station, if you'd like," Perry informed him. "But I'll have to ask you not to delay us any longer. You can ask your questions when you get there."

Darry fell silent again. It was one of the least comforting things that I could imagine. I pictured him joining the others back there, too far away to reach. My heart beat insanely at the thought of being left alone. He nodded slowly and turned away and reached for something.

Before I could see what it was, Perry and his initiative partner spun me around and quickly gathered speed as we stepped out on the porch and down the steps. More silence met my ears, buzzing loudly against the heartbeat pounding in my head, until one of their radios picked up some static and conversation on another wave. But that was soon gone too and the next thing I heard was my pants sliding across thick matted material of their backseat and the sharp slam of the door.

Head hung and fear surging through me, I closed my eyes.

I wasn't afraid of admitting my fear. No, in fact, I was taught that it was healthy to admit what you least wanted to. Admitting was realizing, and realizing was just one more step in the process to overcome it. We'll see where that takes me now…

"Disgrace…" Perry muttered to his partner as he started up the engine. "The whole bunch of them…"

"I saw with my own eyes, Dill," he agreed. "Don't get much worse than that, does it?"

"No, not much worse."

-

"Age seventeen… name's Ponyboy Michael Curtis," – a chorus of laugher followed like I knew it would. I could hear them all the way from their conference room. – "… Lives with his older brothers… The parents are deceased… Has a past criminal record of acquitted murder assistant charges and running away from home… Pressed with the charges of disturbing the public peace, coordinating in a gang related fight, attempted murder, and possession of a deadly weapon with the intent to use it."

"Ooh," one of the cops sounded pained. "Not one of those kids again, Charley. That's the third one in tonight. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like the sound of this."

"Well, Clark, we don't have a choice now do we? You know these types of kids. They're nothing but trouble. They build their lives on a foundation of havoc and chaos. This city is full of them, and the more we can get off the streets of our neighborhoods the better –"

"Now, now, Perry…" some authoritative person cut in. "This isn't what we're here to discuss. We can reserve that talk for another time, but for now let's stick to the subject of the boy."

"Sorry, Chief. I just thought if you knew some of –"

"I think I'm quite well aware of what kinds of kids we have coming in these days. I've worked here for nearly thirty years now. I've seen it all…" He tapped something that sounded like papers on a table. "Now tell me. Who's responsible for these accusations? And how do we know they're liable?"

"Well, now I don't know the nature of her reasoning, but the kid's girlfriend came by tonight. Said she had heard of a gang fight that had gone down and thought she'd confess what she knew. Naturally we let her go after questioning. Got her name and number though, so we could contact her again if needed…"

Girlfriend? He couldn't possibly mean Libby… My calmed heart began to beat ferociously again. Why hadn't I thought of her before? It all made perfect sense. I practically had disowned her and her kid… She wanted to hold something worthwhile against me… That bitch.

"Do you have her testimony?"

"Yes, sir. Right here."

There was a moment of tension filled silence before the Chief spoke up again. "Elizabeth Monique Crystal. Sixteen years old… Pregnant with his kid? That poor child. Raped, I assume?"

"She never said, Sir," Perry's voice quavered at this uncalled for interrogation. "But, from watching the boy, it doesn't seem to be in his demeanor to fit that description. I presume it's both their doings…"

I never thought I'd be grateful to hear his voice again. But sure enough, there he was defending me in at least one area. Perhaps I could get along with him, if I had to…

"Yes, it does seem the way of teenagers these days…" he trailed off as he read more, I was guessing. "Interesting… Hmmm… Yes, I saw that one coming… Yeah… definitely fits…"

"Sir?" Perry's partner broke in again after a minute.

"Yes, Matheson…" The Chief seemed to still be absorbed in the testimony.

"Curtis's brother is here. Says he's got some credible information regarding all of this."

"When did he get here?"

"Followed us from the house." I smiled despite my lack of happiness. "He's mighty interested in learning more about this."

"Very well." His chair backed up on the tile flooring, a dreadful scraping accompanying it. "Arrange for some public defense lawyers and we'll get this ball rolling."

Backing away from the bars I slipped onto the hard metal bench.

They weren't going to let us talk to each other, were they?

-

"What're you looking at?"

"What? Oh… Nothing." I sat up straight-backed against the wall. I hadn't realized I was staring at him.

"That's what I thought."

Brock Mason. Brumly Boys' second in command. Or at least he was before he split a couple of years back. He hadn't been there tonight, and I hadn't expected to see him again. But, that's before I remembered that Jimmy Crystal had once also been in with the Brumly Boys. Brock still had a reputation of the typical hood and I think I even heard he was getting more and more involved with Rave. He and Jimmy went way back. I recognized him from the second they threw me in here. But he had no clue who I was, and I couldn't be happier about that. He was older now – at least in his mid-twenties – and was worn ragged and dull from lack of rivals. It made me wonder how long he'd been stuck in here.

Brock had to be by far the worse cell keeper I could've imagined. Making it clear that this was his territory, he'd ordered me to sit on the end of the bench while he worked at sleeping. No noises, no moving… just sit and think was all I could do. He snapped if I shuffled my feet across the floor or popped my knuckles. It was as if he could only hear the noises coming from his cell, instead of the hundreds of drunks and stoners yelling and talking in their fitful sleep.

The cell was filthy – in more than one way. Nasty things littered the floor, like spit and dried tobacco juice, and there was a foul stench coming from some newspapers in the corner. Provocative pictures and vulgar words were scratched into the crumbling walls. My mother would cringe if she could only see this place. It's a good thing she couldn't. It'd break her heart.

As I had predicted, I never did get to see Darry. Chief Lambert told me it was for confidential reasons, but I'd get my chance soon. I didn't believe a word of it. Cops lie. That's all they've ever done for me. Bullshit me and made me learn the hard way. When my parents died they had said, "They've been taken to the hospital. Only time will tell." When we got there, the doctors' told us they had arrived already deceased. When Johnny killed Bob, the fuzz told me I'd most likely be taken away from my remaining family. We lived in fear for a month before finding out the judge would be acquitting the charges. And those are just the major instances.

"You're Curtis's brother," Brock mumbled into his pillow. "Aren't you?"

He was actually talking to me? "Yeah. Which one?"

"You know… Darry."

"Yeah… He's my brother."

What was I supposed to respond with? No? … I think I'll be keeping that comment to myself. And everything else I'd like to say before he asked.

"Right." He went quiet again for a few seconds. "He's a good man."

"Yeah, he is." I was more than at a loss for words. This guy had pulled a one eighty on me. He went from Brock the Silent to Brock the Inquirer. Maybe this wouldn't be TOO bad after all. If he was willing to talk, I could work with that. "He was here earlier."

"Did I ask?"

"Uh, no."

"Than I don't care."

Perhaps I was wrong.

This was going to be an interesting next while…

-

A/n: And that's it for now. I know it's not as long as I usually do, but let me tell you that this was hard enough to pump out, lol. But I did it :)

R.R.'s!

CiCi – Well, I hate to say it, CiCi, but as you now know, Pony wasn't as lucky as you were hoping him to be. I personally don't feel it would've made for a good story line, nor did I think I'd do much for his future potential of character development. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It took me months to pump it out, believe it or not, lol.

Tensleep– If only it was that simple, Tens. Haha. Someday Pony will receive his punishment for the thievery of the sacred pickle… However, I'm afraid that's for another fanfic. Anyway, this is for you! You earned it! ;) I'm sure that pizza boy still tells that story, and will continue to tell it for the rest of his life, lol. And yes, I know this took a very long time to write, but I give you all credit for getting it out of me, lol. I hope you liked it!… Seeing as you helped me with a lot of technicalities, lol.

Rock: DELICIOUS HUGE...its allthe SAME! – How many times have you seen the movie? It is NOT the same… but I'll let it slide now… Just never say it again. That would be Bryan's catchphrase… Anyway, I know it was a terribly long wait, and I feel bad about that for you and everyone else who might've been waiting to see what happened, because I left it at such a nasty cliffhanger… but ya know. I hope you liked it!

Oblivious Misconception – Short and sweet :D I loved the review, lol. I'm glad you liked it, and I hope you're around and reading this one too! I still consider you in my top two of favorite reviewers! Can't say you are my FAVORITE, because that might make some other people jealous, if you know what I mean ;) I hope you liked this chapter!

kaz456 – Hey, I'm a sucker for brotherly bonding too. I love it more than anything. I think that's why I love the book so much, ya know? And you made PERFECT sense with that A/n/writing/reader comment. I agree one hundred and fifty percent. People can only walk way with what they're willing to put into a story. You're a very deep thinker. I love it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

Tonyboy – Haha, that's all right, really. I can't say that I've ever been mistaken for another author, at least that I know of, but it's fun to have a first for everything, lol. I'm glad you liked it! I hope you enjoyed this one as well.

Marala – I'll never get over your style of reviewing. I loooove it. So many people don't comment on things that I THOUGHT they might, but with you… oh man, you just make me smile, lol. I hope you're around and still reading to leave me another one! I love it! Thanks!

Julie – Well, I hope the suspense didn't officially kill you off by now… in fact, I'd be quite worried if it had, but regardless, I love that it worked! Hehe. I'm truly glad that you liked the chapter and I hope you liked this one as well.

Sodapop02 – Well, Sodapop02, there are a few reasons I left it where I did… One, for the effect… Two, because it would've been VERY long (as you'd see from this chapter) if I had kept going… and Three, because I love with it does to my reviewers. Muahahahaha. Lol, jk. I hope you weren't disappointed with the results, but it would've just been too unnatural if he hadn't ended up where he is now. I hope you liked this chapter!

DaNNi BaBezZz – Wow… It's been so long since I've updated and read your name… Hi! How are you? I've had a hectic few months, but I hope everyone's okay that I'm updating as late as I am, because you know… I could just not update at all… but I wouldn't do that to y'all. Anyway, I love how into the story you got! I'm thrilled to know that I can have that effect on some people. I hope you liked this chapter!

CrazyKitten69 – Awww, thanks! It's been a while since I've received given a compliment like that! My creative writing teacher said my dialogue was extremely natural sounding (in other things, of course) and that means a lot coming from here… but from a peer… Thanks! I hope you're around to read this chapter, and I hope you liked it if you are!

animalsare4life – Yeah, cliffhangers are a tragedy for those who have to read them without knowing what'll happen next… but they're incredibly fun for me. I don't do them often though. I hope you liked this chapter.

Ponyboys-girl3– Huge smile Not only did you come across my story again, but you came across it on MY site! I love hearing people talk about that. I can't explain what it does to me to know that such a vast amount of people know of my site, haha. I'm sorry that this season is yet to be finished, but if I was to tell you about my life of the last four months… I'd talk forever and a day, and that's no fun, for you OR me. Thank you sooo much for your support. It means a lot to know that people I don't actually know in person have that much support. I really hope you liked this chapter. You can thank Tensleep for the update, lol.

Turner – Well, thank you for reading! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I hope you're around to read this chapter too, and that you like it as well.