I am baaaaack! Muhahah! So my trip went well, I made it in one piece. Although I am now out of work….which is depressing. But hopefully I'll put my spare time to some good use by updating! I really hope you enjoy this and please leave reviews!!

Also…this chapter has violence/cursing. Be forewarned.

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I was so damned scared I held hands with a crazy man

I was so damned scared I held hands and wound up with a crazy man

But he wasn't crazy

And I wasn't scared

We were just brothers who stood there and stared

--Harry Connick Jr.

XXXX

"It ain't gonna be you this time," a voice said joyfully. "But boy, oh boy, will you still die." A laugh crackled somewhere to the left of me. Cocking my head, I tried to make sense of the familiar voice.

"See who you stuck me with? Thanks a load kid," Dallas Winston said. He walked up to me and stuck a smoke in my outstretched hand. And then to the taunting voice he said, "Shut your trap."

Blinking, I whipped around to see Jimmy Logan sitting on a barstool. The cigarette in my hand vanished. Rubbing my closed eyes, I whispered, "Go away. I shouldn't be dreaming about you any more." Then, I opened them to look pointedly at Dally. "Either of you."

Dallas put his right hand over the left side of his chest and smiled coldly. "Aw, you're breaking my heart, kid." Surprised at his vehemence I drew away from him. The backs of my legs hit something stiff and they buckled, causing me to sink into a mound of blankets. Frightened, I suddenly found various tubes running out of my body to bags of liquid hanging high above me.

Dallas's smile relaxed. "Hate to burst your bubble," he drawled, "but you've earned it. We may come and go but we'll always be here. Bugging the crap out of you."

"But why him?" I nodded at Jimmy Logan.

"Because he's a memory too," Johnny said, appearing. "You'll never forget him."

"Unfortunately," I muttered. But I smiled at Johnny. It was good to see him at least.

"Hey I'd be thanking me," Jimmy intoned. "I helped you get your head screwed on straight."

I raised an eyebrow. "Right."

Dallas affected the appearance of a teacher. "Now tell me Ponyboy Curtis, what have you learned these past few years?" He folded his arms over his chest; Johnny snickered.

I stared at him. "That everyone dies." The answer to his question was obvious.

"Well, that's not exactly a brain buster," Jimmy snorted.

Ignoring Jimmy, Dally seemed as if that wasn't the answer he wanted. But it was an answer that worked for me. He nodded slowly and chewed at the inside of his lip. "Not quite."

Johnny flicked one of the tubes. "Don't forget what you learned. Away from Tulsa. Without us." I frowned at him. But before I could say anything Johnny slid a shot glass over to me. "Drink it." It was filled with brown liquid.

Grimacing, I pushed it away, almost feeling bad for refusing my old friend. "No."

"You won't be disappointed."

Biting my lip, I took the shot, swallowing it down in one gulp. Chocolate milk. Metallic chocolate milk; almost the taste one would get when biting into a piece of tinfoil."It tastes bad."

Dallas smirked. "It usually is." I jerked as the tubes filled with my blood and I-

I awoke on the verge of a scream. It died on my lips as I sat up abruptly, clapping my hands over my mouth. Despite the warm house, I shivered, my t-shirt drenched in sweat. At least I hadn't hollered. That was a start. My eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Again, the dreams were a catch-22. Dally and Johnny were a welcome sight, although the messages and people they brought with them usually weren't. Distracted by that I frowned.

Just once why couldn't I see my parents?

Then just as quickly as I had thought it, I shook it off. That was better left buried.

"Dallas," I whispered leaning back into bed, hating what I'd been stuck with, "You're a son-of-a-bitch."

XXXX

Even though Shakes and I were technically on summer vacation it seemed as if everyone was infected by it. "Greetings," Two-Bit crowed shuffling into the house, Steve and Sodapop bounding after him. Shakes and I had been watching a daytime movie. Shakes briefly rolled his eyes at me. I got what he was saying and regretfully muted the TV. We'd never figure out the plot with these three around.

Without missing a beat, Darry's strong voice wafted out of the back bedroom. "What happened to working on a weekday?"

Soda shot me his famous grin and yelled back, "Weaseled today off. What about yourself Dar?"

Darry was silent but I could practically hear him grumbling to himself.

"Pony." Two-Bit tossed me his wallet. It landed on my lap with a plop.

"What?" I asked looking up in surprise.

"Go buy me some beer."

"You're so lazy," I flung the wallet back. "Get it yourself."

"Come on. You could run there and back by the time I made it out the front door. Do you really want me to huff and puff all the way to the convenience store?"

I raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, then you could use the exercise."

Steve laughed at that, saying, "Listen to the kid. He has a point."

Wounded, Two-Bit looked down at his stomach. "Now is that some wisecrack about my small, nearly non-existent beer gut?" Behind him, Soda nodded enthusiastically at me. I bit my lip and tried not to laugh.

Darry came out of the bedroom. "Ponyboy, why don't you go? We could use some chocolate milk."

"Darry, you're supposed to be on my side," I moaned, scowling at Two-Bit who beamed at me.

"I'll go with you," Shakes said, slapping my leg. He pulled himself up from the floor and away from the TV. "I need some smokes anyways."

"While you're there," Soda said sheepishly, "mind getting me some playing cards? I need a fresh deck."

"Sure." I said with resignation, snatching the wallet back from Two-Bit. "Since it was your bright idea," I said taking a five-dollar bill.

XXXX

We went down to Granger's, a gas station/convenience store. It was kind of scummy but it did the job for quick beer runs. The muggy summer day left us panting as we pushed open the creaky door. "I have got to get air conditioning," Shakes complained as we entered the store, the doorbell above us jangling. Shakes made his way to the ICEE machine and filled two cups with bright, red strawberry slush. He held up the cups. "Sugar buzz?"

I grabbed the chocolate milk, cards and Two-Bit's beer, and juggled them over to the cash register. The door jangled behind me as the cashier began to ring up the items. I held my hand out to Shakes for the ICEE's. "Give me those. Two-Bit's paying."

His hand came out to meet mine when it jerked abruptly. Before I could catch it, the cups fell to the tile, spilling syrupy red liquid everywhere.
"Shakes, wha-?" I broke off as his eyes widened, staring past me to the door.

Inadvertently I stiffened, feeling the tension mount in the small store. Slowly, I turned around to see a slim guy in his late twenties. He wore dirty jeans, a brown flannel shirt and long scraggly brown hair. And his most important accessory: in his right hand he held a gun.

An older man with a wife and a young daughter crouched behind a row of Campbell's Soups. A boy our age stood frozen, mouth agape.

Of all the days, of all the places…we would have had to come here.

Stamping toward the cash register, he roughly shoved me aside. Shakes grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Feeling my eyes on him, the guy snapped, "What are you looking at?"

Briefly, I flashed back to what I had said to Trevor: Not much.

Shakes, seeming to read my mind, tightened his grip on my bicep and pulled us further back. "Shut. Up."

The robber - Slim - smiled slyly as the clerk, a woman, fumbled with her cash register. Her glasses slipped to her nose and she was shaking as she punched buttons. "It's coming. It's coming," she chattered nervously.

"Darlin', darlin'," Slim drawled. "I probably should ask for the money, but it would be more fun to do this." He put the muzzle to her face and pulled the trigger.

Her scream never had a chance.

Brain matter and blood sprayed the counter as Shakes and I stumbled backwards in horror. "Holy shit," Shakes whispered.

The woman and her daughter whimpered in the corner of the room as the husband put his arm around them protectively. Aghast, my hands flew to my mouth, as I stood there wide-eyed. Shoot, I had seen violence before. If you wanted a front row seat, all you needed was a ticket to Vietnam. However, this was…evil. Cold blooded.

"Get down! All of youse!" Slim screamed flinging the gun in our direction.

How did we get into this mess…oh wait…I thought remembering… "I'm going to kill Two-Bit," I told Shakes grimly as we crouched on the ground.

The guy laughed maniacally and paced the floor. His black boots sank into the puddle of red syrup and he nearly slipped in the mess. I shut my eyes briefly; it was the image of blood. "Who did this?" he asked the room with angry amusement. "Who spilled this mess?"

The room was eerily silent. No one breathed; no one wanted to speak. Slim turned to Shakes. "Was it you, you little shit?" I tensed beside my friend. Shakes eyes flashed anger but as he had reminded me earlier, he kept his mouth shut.

Slim chuckled and suddenly lowered the gun down to Shakes's forehead. The muzzle pressed against it. "I really don't like liars," Slim stated. Shakes's wide eyes met my own.

"Oh god, don't-" I yelled but was cut off by Slim pistol-whipping Shakes across the face with the gun. Shakes's head jerked back from the impact of the steel, a raw, red mark on his left cheek.

"That," Slim began, "was just a warm-up." He cocked the gun again.

Before I could stop myself I blurted, "I did it!"

Shakes pale face jerked up, his eyes shooting me daggers. "Ponyboy, please stop talking."

"Hmm," Slim said forgetting about Shakes and walking over to me. He scrutinized me closely and brushed the stubble on his chin with his free hand. "Interesting. A hero in our midst."

My mouth wouldn't quit. "Lucky you," I muttered absently, trying to formulate a plan in my reeling mind. Shakes took a sharp intake of breath and bowed his head.

Slim's eyes narrowed and stared down at me. "But heroes have such a short life expectancy. Didn't you know that?"

I clasped my eyes shut as I felt the cool muzzle of the trigger brush my forehead. I prayed Darry and Sodapop would forgive me when they heard that the cause of my death was my own smart-ass mouth. I could see the headline now: Local Greaser literally talks self to death

"Leave the kids alone," a loud voice boomed. Tentatively I forced my eyes open to see the older man standing up. His wife and daughter began to cry. "Buddy, just take the cash and leave. There's a back door to this joint."

Sit down, sit down, sit down, I chanted, my heart in my throat.

"Well. I rest my case." Slim cocked his head, smiled wolfishly and shot the man in the stomach. Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup sprayed everywhere and the man fell back into the mess, gripping his stomach in pain.

"Kevin!" his wife shrieked, clutching at her daughter.

"What the hell?" I screamed at Slim, my voice cracking. Unconsciously, my hands crept down to my stomach where I had my own bullet scar. Slim, not hearing me, pulled a pack of smokes from his back pocket and lit one up.

Furious, I tried to leap up but Shakes grabbed my arm, hard, when he saw my eyes dart from where I was to where the man lay moaning. "Don't you even dare," he hissed.

"He'll die."

Shakes winced but held my arm firm. "Yeah. I'd say we've had some close calls today too."

Ignoring him, I wrenched myself away from Shake's vice-like grip. I had to help the guy; he had stepped in for me. On hands and knees I scooted swiftly over to the moaning man and threw my hands on top of the wound. I was thankful I knew most basic med skills from the army: staunch the blood."Why'd you do that?" I whispered to Kevin, nausea churning inside of my icy stomach. But something else was there, pushing the fear away. Anger.

"Why not?" he replied weakly. "I'm a man of action." He grinned at me, blood on his lips.

"I hate to break up this charming scenario," Slim snapped, tapping my shoulder casually with his gun. "But get your ass back over there."

Kevin would die if I left. I kept my eyes firmly away from his wife and child, unable to bear their stares. "No." Shakes already pale face turned even whiter.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly," Slim said almost jovially.

"You're right. You didn't. No and go screw yourself." I met his eyes stubbornly, my voice even.

"Ponyboy!" Shakes snapped. "Don't be an asshole." Glancing at Shakes, I saw he was close to crying. All I could do was smile apologetically at him and keep my hands on Kevin's stomach. My hands were covered in his blood, the slick wetness moving between my fingers. The blossoming wound was spreading underneath his back on the grimy tile, blood running into the knees of my jeans, soaking through.

Slim whipped the gun out and held it against my forehead. Only this time Slim's hand wasn't so steady. The gun shook in his grip. Good. I had unnerved him. Then, Slim whipped the gun away from me and fired two angry shots at the checkout counter. Darry's chocolate milk exploded, milky droplets showering the room.

Metallic…

"Fine. Stay with the corpse." Slim nudged Kevin's foot with his toe and began to pace the room. "But keep talking kid," Slim told me, his face clouding over. "You may soon be joining him."

And from the look in his eyes, I didn't doubt him.

XXXX

Alrighty…let me know what you all thought. I tried to not make it too cheesy….so…hoped you enjoyed! Leave reviews, ramblings and crazy mutterings! ;)

Also. P.S. Pardon the plural mistakes on Shakes's name...it just confuses me! ;) Too many 'S's