Robert Cade was a large man. His shaggy, sand colored hair fell over his mean, grey eyes in tufts, looking as though he had cut it himself many months ago. Several day's worth of stubble covered most of his face. His flannel shirt was ripped and stained in several places and had more than one cigarette burn on the sleeves. He had a look about him that made him appear slightly intoxicated even when he wasn't. Right now, he also looked very angry.

When air finally entered Dally's lungs, he almost choked. He'd been holding his breath and hadn't even realized it. He glanced back at Johnny. His face had lost its color and his eyes were wide with fear.

But his voice was calm as ever. "Caroline, go inside." He said without taking his eyes off Robert.

Caroline didn't move.

Dally looked back quickly. She didn't want to leave Johnny's side. "Do what he says, doll," Dally urged, keeping his voice as steady and as calm as Johnny's.

Caroline backed away from them slowly, climbed the steps and hovered inside the doorway for a moment, her eyes never leaving the scene in the backyard. After a moment, she disappeared.

There was a long silence.

Robert was finally the one to break it. "Well? What do you think you're doin' here, boy? You gonna answer me?"

Dally was suddenly filled with a blinding rage. Back home, there wasn't much anyone could do about the constant abuse that Johnny endured from this man, other than to provide him with first aid and a safe place to sleep when he chose not to sleep at home. But here... here things were different. The circumstances had completely changed and he was not going to just stand by and let him hurt Johnny again.

Robert Cade was much bigger than Dallas Winston, but Dally was pretty sure he wasn't nearly as angry. He took a menacing step towards Johnny's "father". He opened his mouth to say something, but a voice behind him made him stop.

"Dallas!" It was Tom.

Caroline must've gone to get him and Wendy too, because Wendy came flying out the back door and threw her arms around Johnny. She was crying and her eyes had a paniced look in them as she watched Robert.

Will and Grandma Cade appeared in the doorway too.

"What the-" Will started.

"Will! I want you to take Caroline home." Tom said.

"But-"

"NOW!"

Caroline looked terrified. Dally felt a little pang of guilt, like he should be doing something, he didn't know what. He barely knew the girl, but for some reason, he felt almost as protective of her as he did of Johnny.

"Johnny?" Caroline called, her voice trembling.

Johhny composed his features as Dally had seen him do before rumbles or during encounters with Socs. He put on a relaxed expression and turned to look at Caroline. "It's fine, Care. Go on home with Will. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?" His voice was steady and gentle. Only his eyes betrayed his uneasiness, and Dally doubted Caroline could see his eyes from where she was standing.

But Coal could sense the tension. He had sat down beside Johnny and continued to let out a low growl.

Will finaly led Caroline away from the door and the two of them left.

Wendy was still clinging to Johnny and Johnny was trying to comfort her, all the while watching Robert warily and keeping a tight hold on his dog's collar.

"Boys! Inside, right now!" Tom commanded.

But before anyone could move, another figure emerged from the shadows.

"Mom?" Johnny whispered.

Sure enough, Maria Cade came hesitantly walking out from around the side of the house, cigarette in hand. She regarded everyone cooly. Dally noted that she was keeping her distance from Robert. She had tried unsuccessfully to hide a black eye with make-up and Dally figured the two had been fighting again. Or perhaps she had been dragged here against her will.

"What are you doing here, Johnny? We been lookin' for you." Her voice was unsteady. Dally couldn't read her mannerisms. Was she drunk? No, but there was something strange about how she was spreaking, like she was reading lines in a play or something.

"Johnny will be staying with us now, Maria." Grandma Cade said, stepping fearlessly into the group, looking the most composed of all of them. She addressed Maria, but looked directly at Robert.

Robert glared at her, a vein popping out of the side of his neck. He forced himself to answer calmly. "Well, it's time for him to come home now. He's all through with his visit-"

"We want him to come home," Maria said in that same forced tone of voice.

"Come on, boy, your mother and I are gonna drive you back to Tulsa." Robert said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Over my dead body!" Dally added several explitives to emphasise his point. "You lying bastard! You don't care about him! Neither one of you-"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Robert asked, turning towards Dally and starting to lose the ability to appear calm.

"Dallas enough! Go inside!" Tom demanded.

But Dally was not in the habit of taking orders from anyone. He took another step towards Robert.

"Dally, wait," Johnny's quiet voice interrupted. Something in his tone made Dally turn and look at him and when he did, he felt like he was going to be sick.

Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me... Dally thought, reading Johnny's expression. He looked like he was actually listening to them. Dally was well aware that this was something Johnny had always wanted... for his parents to give a damn where he was. And for them to have actually come all the way to Virginia to find him must have blown his mind.

"Johnny," he started slowly, "what are you thinkin' buddy? You are not buyin' into this, are you, kid?" Now Dally was starting to panic. "You can't go with them, Johnny, you are NOT going!" Dally started walking towards Johnny intending to rip him right out of Wendy's arms, drag him into the house and lock him up somewhere until Robert left.

"DALLAS!" Tom had given up using the diplomatic approach and grabbed Dally by both arms, completely restraining him. He led him to the porch steps.

Dally cursed a blue streak at him, but finally shut up when he realized that perhaps Tom was the best one to handle the situation.

Tom felt him stop struggling and finally let him go. Dally stayed beside Wendy and Johnny who had also moved much closer to the back door.

"C'mon, boy. It's time to go. You want to go home, now, don't ya?" Robert said, his eyes boring into Johnny, daring him to answer anything other than "yes". Dally wondered if he even remembered Johnny's name.

Wendy went into hysterics. "No, Johnny. NO! You stay away from him, do you hear me?" She clutched Johnny tightly, which Dally could tell was making Johnny incredibly nervous. He thought about making her let go of him, but Dally was starting to become concerned that Johnny might actually go with his parents.

"Shut up! He's my kid, and he's coming home with me!"

"Robert, it's time for you to leave." Grandma Cade said.

Then they all started yelling at once.

"Boy, you get in that car right now! You been here long enough, it's time to go home."

"You can't take him, he's not going!"

"Try and stop me! Johnny get in the car, now!"

"You bastard! You're not going to touch him again-"

"Shut the hell up! Johnny! You get in that car right now, or I'll-"

"Robert, let's go! I ain't gonna do this! Just leave him here, he don't wanna come-"

"Go wait in the car, you dumb broad!"

"No! Stay away from him! Tom, call the police!"

Johnny was looking very shaken. Dally knew that something had clicked in him when Maria pulled that "We want you to come home" crap. But he was still way too afraid of his father to go anywhre near him. Especially when he was yelling the way he was.

Idiot, Dally thought, watching Robert's ranting. You might have actually convinced him if you could act civilized for more than a minute.

"Go ahead, call the cops!" Robert yelled. He was so angry he was spitting when he talked. "He's my son, I can do what I want!"

And then the bomb dropped.

Amidst the yelling and screaming, Maria's voice was heard loud and clear. "He's not your son!" She spat out, her voice dripping with contempt for Robert Cade.

A deathly quiest fell over the group. Robert stood motionless staring at her. Then his face started to get red, his eyes narrowed. Dally was sure he was going to belt her a good one.

She took a shaky step back and looked somewhat satisfyied that she had everyone's attention. "That's right, Robert. He's not yours. And you know it!"

Dally's stomach lurched. Shut up! he thought. What are you doing? She had to know what a dangerous spot she had just put Johnny in. Had she done it on purpose? No, Dally thought, she actually thinks this was good timing. She thinks Johnny's safe and she's doing it to stick it to her old man. Dally was convinced that her primary goal was more to infuriate Robert than to endanger Johnny. In fact, he was beginning to believe that, in her own strange way, she might actually be trying to protect Johnny. Was that possible?

But on top of the danger, this was NOT how Johnny was supposed to hear about this. Dally glanced at him. Not surprisingly, he looked somewhat stunned.

Thoughts of young Christopher drowning in the river raced through Dally's mind. He heard a strange gasping sound coming from Wendy. She was fighting back tears and she was shaking and holding on tight to Johnny, watching Robert with terror filled eyes. "Maria!" she screamed. "Don't say things like that! Of course he's your son, Robert! He's your son... he's YOURS."

She remembers... Dally thought. She's thinking about Christopher, too.

Johnny was holding Wendy's arm and glancing at her with concern, at the same time, a perplexed expression crossed his face as he stared at the man he knew as his father.

Tom stepped forward. "Robert, you need to go."

Robert stepped forward too. "I ain't leavin' without my kid." He turned to Johhny. "Let's go, boy!"

Johnny shot him a defiant look.

Atta boy, Dally thought. Hold your ground, kid.

"I'm not going to ask you nicely again." Tom gave Robert the coldest, most threatening stare that Dally had ever seen on anyone in his life. He knew if he were Robert, he wouldn't mess with Tom.

Robert was silent for a moment. Then, fuming, he turned to Maria. "Get in the car!"

"Maria, you're welcome to stay here as well," Tom offered, with more than a hint of urgency in his voice.

"No," Maria snapped. "I don't need your charity. And I don't need you either!" she shouted at Robert. "You go back to Tulsa and leave that boy here. This is where he belongs." and she marched out into the darkness, without so much as a backwards glance at Johnny.

Dally watched as a crestfallen exression crossed Johnny's face as he watched his mother disappear around the corner of the house.

Dammit, Johnny, Dally thought. What does she matter?

Robert turned back to Tom. "You ain't heard the end of this. I'll have the police over here and that boy will be going back to Tulsa by morning, you got that?"

Wendy muffled a sob.

Tom didn't even blink.

Robert stormed out of the back yard, yelling for Maria, but she had apparently disappeared on him. Gravel crunched as the car roared off down the driveway.

They were all silent for a moment, except for Wendy's sniffling. Tom came and put his arm around her. Johnny wriggled out from Wendy's grasp and turned to look at the group. His eyes rested on Dally a bit longer than anyone else, his expression one of questioning disbelief. Dally took a sudden interest in the ground.

"Is it true?" he asked finally.

Grandma Cade turned to him. She looked at him for a moment, knowing this was not how she had intended to break this news to him, but realizing that now she had no other choice. "It's true. Robert Cade is not your father."

Dally knew that she had no concrete proof, but now that Maria had admitted it, things were looking pretty cut and dry.

Johnny remained, for the first time, completely expressionless. Dally couldn't even guess at what he was thinking. He didn't like that.

"Who is?" he demanded.

No one said anything.

Will had just reappeared in the doorway. "Is he gone? Did he leave? What's going on?"

Johnny ran up the steps, shoved past him and went inside, Coal following close at his heels.

"Johnny," Wendy cried.

"Johnny!" Dally ran after him. He caught up with him inside at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed his arm. "Johnny, wait!"

Johnny turned on him, his eyes blazing with anger in a way Dally had never seen. It actually made him take a step back. "You knew, didn't you?" he accused.

Dally didn't look away, but he didn't answer either.

"It's bad enough that they all lied to me," Johnny's voice broke. "But you?" The betrayal in his eyes was worse than anything Dally had ever felt.

Johnny took a step closer to Dally, his voice lowered angrily. "If that's the kind of friend you are then you might as well just go on back to Tulsa! My parents- or whoever they are screwed up my life plenty with out you pitching in!"

"Johnny," Dally said softly.

Johnny heard the hurt in his voice but he turned and stormed off to his room, slamming the door behind him.