I got some great reviews for this chapter:) Thank you to all of you who continually review, follow, and favorite for this story. I'm glad you like it, and there will be a story that I think all of you AU people will like called "Aid for the Helpless." It will be the Johnny story. Enjoy!

I don't own the Outsiders.

Dally POV

The fist hit me with the force of a rampaging bull. I heard something crack, and felt pain, but wasn't sure if the crack was the mans hands or my face.

"So, you do have your memories. You sneaky little bastard." I groaned as they pummeled me to the ground.

"Run!" I choked out to Johnny's mother. She gave me one look of pity, then took off to the empty lot where her son so liked to sleep.

I felt a momentary sense of satisfaction, then something harder than a fist hit me, and I cried out. "Darry!"

I yelled, but there was little hope of him finding me before they beat the life out of me.

"Please. Please stop!" I screamed at the men surrounding me, but they just laughed.

"You little liar! No one would have misses you if you died! You may be 'tough Dallas Winston' but nobody like you. They are scared of you, and that is why they pretend to respect you! You slime!"

"No. I'm not tough, please." I began to whimper loudly, and I receded into my thoughts, each blow bringing me jarringly back to the present.

I thought about Johnny's last words to me. "Tuff 'Nuff." I thought about what Tim said about being Tuff, and how I could choose how 'Tuff' I wanted to me.

And right then, I wanted to hurt those people. The people that taunted me, that hit me, that thought they were better than me.

I began to get up, every inch of my body screaming in protest. I stood shakily on my feet and slapped the head Soc with as much force as I could manage (which probably wasn't even that much.)

"You-" The soc sputtered. I felt triumph, just for a second, and then it faltered when I recognized the tool in his hand.

A gun.

"No, please, don't kill me." I fell to my knees before him, pleading for my life.

"You killed my family." He said, sounding on the brink of tears. "My sister, my father, you killed them. Do you even know my sisters name?"

"No, I didn't kill-" But then a memory surged to the fore lines of my mind, and I saw a girl and her father, dead, while the sun set on the New York City skyline, burning the blood a shimmering orange.

I had killed someone. Two people. If I concentrated, who knew how many people I could remember killing.

"Do you know her name?! If you know her name, I'll let you live." The mans voice was shaky.

I held up my hands, my thoughts reeling. I pressed my forehead to the gun. "I'm sorry. Please, take my life if it makes you feel better. I deserve it."

The mans eyes flashed. "Stand up and take it like a man."

I stood in front of the gun, my hands still raised, and closed my eyes.

"No. Open your eyes. I want to kill you in cold blood, just like you did my family." I obliged, liking this option less, but knowing that in a couple of seconds, it wouldn't matter anyway.

"Dally!" I heard my name being called, but I didn't care. I deserved this, deserved death. I didn't want to die. It wasn't a suicde. It was a sacrifice. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"DALLY!" Someone screamed my name louder. They were so close I could hear their footsteps.

"Do it. For your family. Avenge their death." I whispered to the man. He cocked the gun, but instead of pointing it at my head, which would have killed me for certain, he pointed it to my rib cage.

"I hope you die in pain." The soc hissed.

Then, all I heard was the sound of a gun, and then pain. I was vaguely aware of the socs running foootsteps, and then voices.

Voices that I recognized. I opened my eyes to find Darry, Pony, Soda, and Tim kneeling next to me.

"Dally." Darry's voice was thick, as if he were holding back tears. My eyes frantically searched for his face, then fixed on it. I tried for a smile, and a hot crimson liquid poured from my mouth.

"Brothers." I managed to say, although I wasn't even sure if they could understand me. Darry let out a sob and held my hand tightly.

"You're gonna be ok." Tim said shakily. "You have to be ok. Don't worry. We will get those stinking socs."

"Fighting...no good." I searched for Pony and gave him a half smile. "I'm not gonna say stay gold."

Pony nodded, tears streming down his face. "Ok. Dont say anything, help is on the way."

"No." For some reason, it was vitally important that they understand the message that I was trying to get across. "You are tuff 'nuff. Don't try..."

The pain was too much. My ribcage was shattered, along with my heart. I knew I was dying.

"I love you." Was all I managed.

In my last moments of life, I reflected on how lucky I was. Not too many people had their last words as "I love you" and I wanted it to stay that way.

My brothers sobbing seemed miles away, in a different universe. I thought about Johnny, and I was happy that now, because I was changed, maybe I could tell him what he meant to me.

Maybe I would have the nerve to say that he was like a brother to me, and that I had missed him.

Maybe. I closed my eyes, and took a deep, shuddering breath.

Than I felt myself relax, and I died.