Author's Note: As promised, this chapter is much longer than the last one with much more going on. Yay! I've been working up to this chapter for a while and I really like it, I hope you do too. Please review! :)

Chapter Twenty-One

The Visitor

Boxing with his punching bag had quickly become a very routine activity for Soda. Darry had gotten Soda some tape in order to wrap his hands and protect his knuckles at least a bit, though he still ended up splitting a few of his knuckles. Darry figured that he would look into buying Soda some actual boxing gloves soon, since Soda had taken to it so well. Things were finally starting to even out after all this time.

After a few days Soda had returned to work, after assurances from both Steve and Two-Bit that they would keep a close eye on him in order to keep him out of trouble. Steve had told Darry in private that they had started keeping Soda more in the garage and he was able to do more and more with the cars. Darry felt relieved since it seemed so normal for Soda to be working on cars and Darry knew that it made Soda feel happier.

It was a Sunday afternoon. Darry had only worked half the day but both Soda and Steve were working a full shift at the DX while Two-Bit was off spending time with his own family. That left Darry and Pony alone for the afternoon. This was no longer as uncomfortable as it was when Pony was thirteen. Darry and Pony had seemed to have figured each other out over the years and got along much better these days.

It was late in the afternoon when there was a knock at the front door. Darry sent Pony a confused look, who just shrugged back at him. They had been in the kitchen, Darry working on dinner and Pony sitting at the kitchen table working on his homework. They both knew it was very odd for someone to be knocking on their door. Darry sighed as he headed out of the kitchen and went to see who was there. It had been a long day and he really wasn't up for dealing with strangers right now.

As he opened the front door he saw a man he had never seen before standing on their front porch, looking a bit unsure. He really wasn't much of a man. Darry figured he was probably at least a few years younger than him, but probably still older than Soda. He was sporting a buzz cut and wore a pair of old blue jeans and dirty t-shirt. He shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"Can I help you?" Darry asked.

"Are you… Darry Curtis?" he asked curiously, cocking his head to one side and studying him.

Darry nodded, unsure how this random stranger would know his name. And not even his proper name at that, he had used his nickname. He felt suspicious by this new development. "Yes," he confirmed.

"Hi," he said with a smile. "I'm looking for a guy named Sodapop."

"He's not here," Darry said slowly, still eyeing the person in front of him, unsure of what to make of him.

"Ah," he said, looking disappointed. He paused for a moment, thinking something over. "Would you mind if I waited around till he got here? I came an awfully long way."

"Sorry, but how do you know Soda?" Darry finally asked bluntly.

"Oh, sorry!" the boy said as if he just realized that Darry had no idea who he was. "My name is Seth, Seth Atwood. I was in Soda's unit over in 'Nam."

Darry was taken aback for a moment, unable to react. Soda had never mentioned anyone that he had fought with over in Vietnam. He had been improving so much lately and Darry wasn't sure if someone showing up from the war would be a good thing or a bad thing. But Darry figured he couldn't just send this kid away.

"C'mon in," he invited, stepping aside. "Soda is just at work, he should be home any minute though."

"Great, thanks," Seth said earnestly as he stepped in.

As Darry closed the door behind him Pony came out of the kitchen, looking at the scene curiously.

"Hi," Pony said unsurely, looking between Darry and the newcomer, confused.

"Pony, are you Ponyboy?" Seth said with a smile. Pony looked even more confused as he nodded.

"This is Seth Atwood," Darry said. "He was in Soda's unit. Over in Vietnam."

"Oh," Pony said, his eyes wandering over to Darry. He could tell that Pony was wondering whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing as well. Would this be something that would trigger Soda again?

As Seth sat a bit awkwardly on the couch, Darry had just about decided to send Pony out on a fake errand so that he could run and warn Soda. He hoped that since this guy seemed to know a bit about Soda's life – at the very least he knew the names of Soda's brothers – that meant that he had been a friend to Soda over there. But Darry still didn't really like Soda getting any surprises right now, especially something that would remind him of the war. But before he could figure out how to convey this message to Pony he heard car doors slam just outside. Too late.

Darry held his breath as he heard Steve and Soda's voices coming up the walk. A moment later they walked into the house, Soda smiling at both Darry and Pony, overlooking the visitor on the couch.

"Hey Soda," Darry said as casually as he could, trying not to seem too tense. "You got a visitor." He indicated Seth.

"Hey!" Seth said brightly as Soda turned to him. A look of shock took over Soda's face. "I gotta say, you are a lot less bloody than the last time I saw you."

Darry tensed even more as he studied Soda's face, wondering how this comment would go over.

Suddenly Soda grinned. "What the hell are you doing here?" Soda said, a hint of laughter in his voice. Darry relaxed as he realized that Soda seemed genuinely happy to see this person. That was a huge relief.

"Oh I just decided to go for a little drive," Seth said as he stood up.

"Don't you live in Oregon?" Soda asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well nothing like a nice, scenic twenty-five hour drive to clear a person's head," Seth said with a shrug.

Soda limped forward and hugged Seth like he would his own brother and Seth returned it.

"It's good to see you," Soda said as he pulled away.

"You too, Curtis," Seth said. He looked down at Soda's cane, seeming to take it in for the first time. "Glad to see you still got both your legs too."

Soda laughed lightly. "Yeah, though one isn't working real well right now." He hobbled over to the recliner and heavily sat down.

Darry discreetly signaled Steve and Pony to follow him back into the kitchen, figuring he'd give Soda a little privacy. Pony went back to his homework at the kitchen table and Darry went back to working on dinner. Steve sat in a chair at the kitchen table, his eyes still on the doorway to the living room. Clearly he was uncomfortable leaving Soda alone with someone that they didn't even really know. The Greasers were such a tight knit gang, it felt odd for Soda to be friends with someone none of them had ever even met before. Also Darry hadn't failed to notice how much more protective Steve had seemed toward Soda since the incident at the gas station.

"He really did seem happy to see that guy," Darry pointed out to Steve, hoping that would help him relax a little. "He seems harmless enough."

Steve nodded vaguely, eyes still on the doorway. "As long as they don't go to talkin' about war stories that might set Soda off," he mumbled.

"We just gotta trust Soda," Darry said.

Steve just sighed, clearly not wanting to admit that Darry was right. Darry himself had a hard time admitting that he was right. He felt a little like he was tossing Soda back into the deep end of the pool after he had almost drowned. But he also thought that just maybe talking to someone who really understood what he was going through might do him a world of good. He could only hope.

XxXxX

Soda hardly noticed as Darry, Pony and Steve left the room. He was too focused on this very unexpected turn of events. He never imagined that he would actually see anyone from his unit on this side of the ocean and out of harm's way. He was very conscious of the way his muscles automatically tensed and his senses searched for signs of danger just like they used to when Soda would talk with Seth while they had been deployed. It was odd having a conversation with him when there was no danger to worry about.

"Well, you got lucky," Seth said, nodding at Soda's bum leg as he sat back down on the couch. "Remember Jerrod? He got both his legs blown completely off about a week after you left. I heard he survived, but he'll be stuck in a wheelchair the rest of his life."

Soda frowned at his news. He hadn't been terribly close with Jerrod; he was a quiet guy that mostly kept to himself, probably a few years older than Darry. That didn't make the news any less troubling.

"What else happened after I left?" Soda asked, though at the same time he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know.

Seth sighed and his happy-go-lucky expression seemed to melt away. He looked really grim for the first time since Soda had met him. Seth was always joking around; he had reminded Soda a lot of Two-Bit in that way. Perhaps that was why he had become so close with him, because he had reminded him of home a bit. He also made it easier to gloss over the carnage that they had seen in battle by making a joke of it. It was just easier to deal with that way. Soda had seen him be serious in the heat of battle, but never this grim. It was obvious that if Seth wasn't able to make a joke out of what went on after Soda had been sent home that it had been really bad.

"Pretty much all hell broke loose after you left," Seth said seriously. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I actually kinda envied you for getting out when you did. I mean, it was bad before but it only got worse. It seemed like the enemy was always one step ahead of us, I lost count of the number of times we got ambushed." Soda recognized the haunted look in his friend's eyes. It was the same look he had seen many times when he had looked at his own reflection in the mirror.

"I'm glad you made it out," Soda said earnestly.

Seth nodded vaguely. "I got lucky. Don't know why, but I did." He paused. "Mike didn't make it." Soda felt himself pale, remembering how both Seth and Mike had carried him back to base after he had been injured. "I was standing right next to him when he got taken out."

"In all fairness, I shouldn't have made it either," Soda said quietly, admitting it out loud for the first time.

"Are you kidding me?" Seth said, surprised. "You making it out was probably the one scrap of justice I saw over there. You know how many guys that you pulled out of bad situations? You know how many guys wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you? Half a dozen, at least."

"Well, I wouldn't have made it out if you hadn't come back for my noble ass," Soda said with a light smile. "Maybe that was a reason you made it out too."

Seth gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, maybe," he said. He paused for a moment, clearly thinking over his next question. "How… how have you been adjusting to being back?"

Soda's face turned dark as he remembered how he had hurt Pony. "It's been… rough," he said truthfully.

"I've only been back for a few weeks," Seth said. "I've been jumpier than anything. My little sister slammed her bedroom door one day and I hit the ground and covered my head like I was being shot at."

"I've had some similar reactions," Soda said. "I wish that was the worst of it."

"But… does it get better?" Seth asked, hesitatingly, as if he wasn't real sure he wanted to hear the answer. "Does it get easier?"

Soda was quiet for several long minutes as he thought it over. "I've been home for almost three months now," he started slowly after doing the math. "The first day I was home was great, especially after spending so many weeks in the hospital. I felt so happy to be back home with my brothers and my friends. Then the first night… the nightmares started." Soda glanced up at Seth who met his eyes. He instantly understood that Seth had his own share of nightmares as well. Soda took a deep breath to steady himself as he went on. "There's been a lot of anger… frustration… especially because of my injury. Things got so bad at one point I wanted to just give up. But I was lucky to have my brothers and my friends. They helped me a lot and things are still rough sometimes but I do think I am dealing with it better. But I don't think I would have gotten to this point alone."

Seth was quiet as he absorbed this. "My sister isn't old enough to understand any of this," he said slowly. "Both my parents just look at me funny… like maybe I'm…"

"Dangerous," Soda finished for him.

Seth looked up at him and smiled. It wasn't that he was happy that somebody thought of him as dangerous. It was that someone clearly understood where he was coming from.

"I was thinking about going to visit my uncle in Texas," he said. "He enlisted in the military in World War II and also fought in Korea. I mean, my dad's an accountant. He's never dealt with anything like this."

Soda nodded, suddenly realizing that perhaps he was actually very lucky to have grown up on the rough side of town. His brothers and his friends were used to dealing with bad situations. They were all used to hard work in order to be happy.

"That sounds like a good idea," Soda agreed. "And the bright side is you are almost to Texas already." He smiled and Seth grinned back.

"Hey, dinner's ready," came Darry's voice. Soda jumped a little as he had forgotten for a moment that anyone other than Seth and himself existed. "Seth, you wanna stay for dinner?"

Seth smiled at Darry. "Sure, that'd be great," he said.

Darry, Pony and Steve all brought the food out to the living room as they had become accustomed to doing since Soda's injury. It was terribly uncomfortable for him to try to sit in a chair at the small kitchen table; there just wasn't enough room for him to stretch his leg out.

"So you're from Oregon?" Pony asked curiously as they ate.

"Yep," Seth said with a friendly smile. "Born and raised just outside of Portland. I hadn't so much as set foot out of the state before I got drafted last year."

"Wow, you did come an awful long way to see Soda," Pony said.

"Oh, there was actually another reason," Seth said as if he had just remembered. He seemed a lot more scatterbrained than Soda remembered, but he also knew that he was the same way when he first got back. He remembered several times he had left the stove on after he would make himself breakfast. Seth dug in his pocket for a moment. "You left these back in Vietnam. I found them after the helicopter took off. They must have fallen off when they were loading you up."

Soda reached out his hand and Seth dropped his dog tags into it. He stared at them for several seconds, surprised. He hadn't put much thought into where they had disappeared to, he figured maybe the hospital staff had taken them after his surgery since he wouldn't need them anymore.

"Thanks," Soda said with a small smile.

"I didn't know if you'd want them," Seth said with a shrug. "If you don't you could always destroy them. That might be liberating." He laughed.

Soda laughed as well. As he looked down at the tags he remembered resenting them when he first got them. That was how they were supposed to identify his body in the event he was killed. It was a constant reminder to him that he wasn't safe anymore. It was almost as if the military expected him to die, they had already planned for it. It would have been one thing if he had volunteered for this like so many other men did for God knows what reason, but this had been forced on him. Looking at the tags now reminded him how he overcame the odds. He made it home, even if he was a little broken.

"You were with him when he was loaded into the helicopter?" Pony asked, obviously unable to help himself.

"Yeah I was," Seth confirmed.

Soda looked up and could tell that Seth wasn't going to say anything else about the matter, so he decided to speak up for him. "He actually helped carry me back to base after I got injured," Soda pointed out. "That was after he dragged me away from the ambush 'cause I couldn't run with my leg all busted up."

Darry, Pony and Steve all stared at Seth for a moment, newfound respect in their eyes at they looked at this stranger who had shown up on their doorstep. Seth was suddenly very interested in eating his food.

"You make it sound like a big deal or somethin'," Seth said with a shrug. "I was just doin' what you always did."

"Sounds like a huge deal to me," Darry spoke up seriously. "It sounds like you are the reason our brother came back to us."

"Yeah, well, after everything he did over there, he deserved to make it home," Seth said, finally looking up from his dish.

Darry reached over and clapped Seth's shoulder in a very brotherly way. "Thank you," he said simply.