This story is one of what will be many in my "Remembering Collin Warner" series, I do recommend you read my first story, "Collin's the Name" before reading this one or else this won't make any sense to you. As many others say, I DO NOT own the Outsiders or Any recognizable characters affiliated, although I did create my character Collin Warner and his backstory.

"Dallas, I run these streets"

The others hadn't known about Collin's street life, they just knew that it existed. Steve seemed to have a good idea of what the newcomer was capable of, but kept it under wraps for the sake of his friendship with Dallas. Two-bit had seen the aftermath the first day he'd met the Warner kid in that alley but hadn't really looked into it after that. But Dallas grew up with it, he saw it first hand back in New York. He saw the quick flash of a blade, the strong hit of a fist, the sharp words off a tongue.

Collin was never part of a gang out there in New York, he lived for himself, fought for himself, and stood up for himself. The gangs all knew of Warner and Warner knew all the gangs, he had respect from those who mattered but stayed out of any turf wars that didn't concern him. Gangs went to Collin if they needed extra numbers for rumbles and He could make it happen, pull together a couple more who just wanted to get some action. You could say that Collin Warner knew about all the happenings in his city whether people knew it or not.

That's why he was waiting for the new kid to show his face around town, it was an opportune moment that they had met, saving Collin the trouble and saving Dallas from those thugs. They were young back then, just freshly ten years of age but the little Warner boy had a reputation already and he liked to use it to his advantage whenever he could.

But there was a time where that reputation got to his head, it may have been the medication, the stress, the loss of his mother still weighing on him, it could have been a number of things, but Collin was losing his edge. He and Dallas had become a pack of two over the years, a package deal to anyone who needed their help, but as Collin began to get sick he started to compensate for what he believed he'd lost in his health.

Dallas began seeing the signs early on, the sixteen year old Warner boy began to pick fights that he otherwise would have let be, he'd get into trouble only to prove that he still could, whether he was doing it to prove it to someone else or to himself, Dally didn't quite tell. His friend started to become moody towards Dallas, "You should have done it this way" Why the hell did you get caught?" "I told you this shit was a bad idea Dallas" Collin would get mad over the little things and the boy's relationship faintly started to grow apart.

Dally was still always there for his now sick friend whether Collin wanted him there or not. Thinking back on it now, Dal realized that his friend was trying to push him away so he wouldn't be there when it really got bad but back then, Dally didn't care. Collin was there for him when he got thrown in the cooler and got tough, now it was time to return the favor. So he stuck through it, all the hard times, the rough patches, Dally was there for Collin and he wasn't planning on leaving.

That was until their falling out.

It had been a real bad day for Collin, his dad had come home with a cold- meaning Collin couldn't help his father or risk getting him sick with TB too- so he was stuck at the house cleaning everything before his father settled in. After he was through with that, he'd gone out walking the streets in search of some action but came up empty after an hour of wandering. Soon after he searched for a card game but lost what little money he'd scrounged up that week, for someone who won as often as he, a losing streak like that was sure to dampen one's mood. Dallas was out doing god knows what and it was starting to get dark, the buildings casting long shadows over the cracked pavement. The sound of sirens put Collin on edge even though he'd done nothing wrong to warrant any police intervention that day, but they still managed to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

With the night creeping in on him, Collin's cough got worse with the cold and so did his temper. The cough was a weakness and he hated it, he wanted to hide his sickness but knew it was no use when the damn cough was so prominent. You can't call it a smoker's cough when you barely even smoke anymore.

He wanted to head home but knew he couldn't so he pulled his jacket closer around his body and started the trek down the street towards the run down diner on Tim Shepherd's land.

Collin had it easy when it came to turf, if he doesn't claim any turf of his own then he is of no threat to anyone else's. He knew the score and stayed out of it, this gave him the freedom to do what he wanted when he wanted. You couldn't do that in a gang.

Once he stepped into the diner, it seemed as though all conversation ceased, the thugs and hoods all turned to look at the Warner boy and had it not been for his reputation and ego, Collin would have been scared. Instead, he locked eyes with Tim Shepherd across the room and approached with the confidence of a king.

"You hear about your boy Dallas?" Tim started and Collin's face dropped, he shook his head. "Well I heard from the rats that your boy ended up liftin' a coupl'a bottles off the liquor store and got the cops called on him, you mighta heard the sirens earlier. Looks like he lost 'em but they're still lookin'."

Collin dropped his head low on his shoulders and sighed, a small dry cough followed it out, "Great, now I've gotta go find him. Thanks Shepherd."

"No problem, hey if you want me to go with you, I can help"

"Naw I got it man, I know where he's at." Collin said and turned for the door, so much for a burger at this joint before he found a place to stay for the night.

It didn't take long for Collin to catch up with his friend, Dallas was all grins when he'd seen Collin walking through the abandoned warehouse towards him. What he couldn't see was that Collin was absolutely fuming.

"What's this I hear about you jackin' booze from the liquor store and gettin' chased by the fuzz?" Collin kept his voice soft, he couldn't quite yell anymore due to his troubled lungs but his tone still came through.

"Collin, I was just having some fun, man." Dal shrugged.

That sparked something in the warner boy, "Damnit Dallas! I ought to call the cops on you man! Why do you always go for the five finger discount? You're gonna get into some real trouble one of these days and I won't be here to get you out!" He was yelling now and the pain in his chest made him regret it instantly- it was the pain, not the look of betrayal on Dallas' face- that was his story and he was sticking to it.

"You wouldn't" Dal's eyes were hard, boring straight into Collin's.

"I wouldn't."

Dallas shifted his posture, not quite believing Collin's words, but relaxing just a bit. Collin knew this look, Dallas was suspicious. "How'd you even find out anyways?"

Collin huffed out a laugh with a roll of his eyes, "Dallas, I run these streets. There isn't anything I don't know about, especially when it concerns one of us. By now you should have known that."

"I run these streets? I thought we run these streets, we stay together Collin or did you forget that?" God he was so mad, how could Collin say something like that? Has the last six years meant nothing to him? "Mister high-and-mighty, if you don't need me anymore I guess I can just leave then."

Collin didn't back down, "Fine then, if you get into trouble, don't come find me. Let's see how long you last. If I remember correctly, if it weren't for me you wouldn't have lasted an entire day on the streets. Go on Dallas, you'll prolly get thrown in the cooler before long."

Dallas moves forward, getting into Collin's face "Fuck you man." The alcohol on Dal's breath ghosted over Collin's face.

Collin shoved the younger teen away and turned his back to leave when he was hit from behind. In his rage Collin's hand shifted to his jean pocket where his new pearl-handled butterfly resided but thought better of it, he wouldn't seriously hurt Dallas. So they scrapped, scrapped for all they were worth. Each got their hits in left and right, the sound of skin hitting skin echoed through the empty warehouse building. The fight could have gone on for hours if it weren't for the cheap shot Dallas put in. It ended with Collin struggling to breath on the concrete after Dallas hit him in the diaphragm, knocking the air from his damaged lungs. He rolled to the side just in time to get the toe of Dal's boot in his stomach before the victor walked away to leave Collin to struggle to breath on his own.

That night was a cold one for the two brothers.

It had been weeks before the two had come face to face again, they tended to stay away from each other while the sting of each other's words still had effect. It had been a long time since Collin was on his own without Dallas to back him up and he found that he'd started to compensate for the loss once again. Collin started to talk himself up more to the people who threatened him, he had to watch out for himself now that Dallas wasn't so he developed quite a few dangerous traits in hopes that it would keep him safe in the streets of New York.

Dallas on the other hand had created new allies, he didn't rely on himself like Collin did before they met so the first thing to do was break off from what Collin was so used to. Building his own little gang was the easy part but building the reputation certainly was not. Usually it took years to build up a name like Shepherd's let alone claim any turf of your own but Dallas Winston was well on his way to doing both in the short time without Warner. Dallas thought it was fun to be in a group for once, having more than one guy to run with, it gave him a whole new meaning of the word fun. He felt like he had a bit more freedom now that he was on his own, didn't have to worry about doing anything that Collin wouldn't be okay with. Now he lived for himself, fought for himself, and stood up for himself.

Dallas had fought hard for his turf, it had almost come down to a rumble with an opposing gang but after days of hostile words and a few scraps between members, Dally had won out. It hadn't been very hard to build up his reputation after that, other gangs began to recognize that Dallas and Collin had broken up and started to take sides if it came down to it. Dally knew that Collin still had his ear to the ground in case someone made a slip, Dally knew that Collin was still keeping an eye on him even if it wasn't for the same reasons anymore.

Dallas had a feeling that Collin Warner would become a problem.

And a problem he did become.

After a month of separation, Collin began snooping around Dal's turf, walking the lines until he was told to leave. This was what Warner was good at, staying just barely on the sidelines until the time was right then he would make his move. Sometimes he did it himself, others, he would call people to back him up. Dally and his new gang knew this, Shepherd's gang knew this, and most others did too. If Collin Warner wanted to be a problem, then he would become one.

Collin's pushing had grated on Dally's nerves. He became reckless and tried to protect what little he'd built. Finally he'd just approached his former friend after getting fed up with the pressure.

"What do you want Collin?" He asked catching the other at his line.

"I didn't realize you were one for pissing contests Dallas." Collin kept his voice smooth and demeanor collected. Dal took a look at the Warner boy and realized just how bad he looked. More than a few pounds had dropped off his body during the month and he looked tired. Despite standing strong, everything about Collin just didn't look right, he looked extremely sick.

"I'm just surviving Collin."

Collin huffs a laugh and starts to turn away, "Right, well you get on with that and I'll get out of your hair."

"What's it to you man? Why are you lurking around here so much, I ought to have my boys rough you up a bit to keep you away."

"You wouldn't."

"Maybe I would." Dal shrugged.

Collin walked away. He now had to face the fact that he's lost Dallas and he won't be getting him back.

"What no goodbye?" Dally shot out sarcastically.

Collin only shook his head and kept walking. "Don't call me from a jail cell Winston."

Dallas refused.

No matter how many times the guard asked him, he wouldn't use his phone call. He didn't have anyone who cared anymore, his parents could give a shit about him, Mr. Warner would definitely tell Collin that he'd called, and Collin would say I told you so. So he didn't touch his phone call.

Collin betrayed him anyway. He said he wasn't going to call the fuzz yet here he is, sitting in a jail cell after he got caught driving a stolen car. Those guys that he'd called a gang threw him under the bus so fast it made Dal's head spin. The cop asked who'd hotwired the car, fingers were pointed and Dally was arrested. Dallas had a lot of time to think about what he'd done to his relationship with Collin. They were supposed to be brothers, they used to be at least and now they were on to stabbing each other in the back. Bigger and better things. He laughed to himself.

It was an all time low, four months in the cooler with no chance of getting out early for good behavior. And it was all Warner's fault.

That is until they'd met again in Tulsa Oklahoma a year and a half later when fate pulled the two brothers back together again. It took a lot of explaining for Collin to clear up the situation on what had really happened that day and Dally still made jibes about it but they were good again. In reality, Collin had nothing to do with the cops getting called on Dally, the owner of the car had seen it drive past with four hoodlums in the seats and reported it. Collin had learned through the grapevine but by the time Dallas was to get out, he was getting sicker and his dad wanted to move to New Mexico for the dryer climate.

Looking back now that Collin was gone, Dallas knew he shouldn't have let Collin push him away like that. They needed each other whether they realized it or not and it had only hurt them to break up how they did. Hindsight is always 20/20. Now all that Dally could do was remember how his friend used to be. The others didn't really know about his street life, but Dallas saw it first hand in the streets of New York, the streets that they ran together.

Fin.

Alright, so there's another installment of my "Remembering Collin Warner" series. Not gonna lie, it could be read as a prequel either before or after the first book but I'm just gonna keep it after so there's more information tying it all together. Please tell me what you thought about this story in the review box below, I don't care what you say, just lemme know.