Author's Note: Yay! Got hit with some inspiration for the end of this chapter. I was really struggling with it for a while and then I was like "Oh! Why hadn't I thought of that before!" So I hope you like it! Also for the first half of this chapter I will say… get the tissues! I was tearing up while writing it.

Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Chapter Thirty Three

Here Comes Goodbye…

The next four days passed by far too quickly for anyone's taste. Soda returned to work with Steve and Two-Bit and he spent most of the time in the garage with Steve. They didn't speak any more about what was going to happen after Steve left, they simply worked side by side and just enjoyed each other's company while they could.

The night before Steve was to ship out he brought his small amount of things over to the Curtis house and spent the night on their couch, while Two-Bit slept in the recliner again. The five Greasers stayed up late in to the night, talking, drinking and reminiscing while doing their best to enjoy what little time they had left together. However despite everyone being up so late the night before, every single one of them got up early in order to see Steve off.

The day was appropriately overcast and dreary as everyone piled into Darry's truck early that morning. Darry helped Soda up into the bed of his truck even though he knew it would probably be uncomfortable for Soda with his injured leg to sit back there and he should really sit up in the cab. But he just didn't have the heart to suggest it as Steve climbed up into the back. He didn't want to be the one to separate the best friends right now. Two-Bit sat in the back with them while Darry climbed into the cab along with Pony. He opened the back window as he drove, but the three in the back were silent the entire way, just as they had been over a year ago when they had been driving Soda to be shipped out. And just like last time Darry had the dismal sensation of driving a family member to a death sentence.

Darry parked the truck at the bus station and climbed out. Soda, Steve and Two-Bit didn't move and Darry simply grabbed Steve's small bag and patiently waited. Finally Steve sighed and started climbing out of the bed, closely followed by Two-Bit. Darry started to move over in order to help Soda out of the truck, but to his surprise Steve turned and reached up to help him instead.

"Thanks Steve," Soda mumbled.

"Yeah, no problem," Steve said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

The five of them stood around, all avoiding looking at the bus that was sitting ominously on the other side of the parking lot.

"You're gonna be okay," Soda finally spoke up, breaking the long silence.

Steve looked up and gave him a halfhearted smile. "Yeah, I know," he said, trying to sound confident, though his voice wavered slightly.

Darry glanced down at his watch. There were only a few minutes until the bus was supposed to leave. He ran a hand through his hair, hating how painful it was to once again say goodbye to one of their own, not knowing if he would come back or not.

Two-Bit reached out and clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Now you be good over there," he said, trying to grin but failing at it miserably. He stepped closer and pulled Steve into a hug. Steve had never been a very touchy feeling kind of person, but he returned the hug whole-heartedly before pulling away a minute later.

As Two-Bit shoved his hands in his pockets and moved away, Pony timidly stepped up, looking a bit unsure. "I brought you something," he said. He pulled what looked like a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to Steve. As Darry watched him unfold it he saw that it was a photograph. He clearly remembered when they had taken that picture years ago. The entire gang was in it, even Johnny and Dally. It was something his mother had done just before she had passed away, wanting a picture of all her surrogate children. Pony had kept the picture on his bedside table ever since they lost their parents.

"You sure?" Steve asked slowly, looking at Pony carefully.

Pony nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said simply.

"Thanks Pony," Steve said as he tucked it carefully into his pocket. It was one of the few occasions when Steve actually called Pony by his name rather than just calling him 'kid.' Pony, with a burst of courage, quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Steve. It was an odd sight, considering that even though they tolerated each other better Pony and Steve had never been close, but Steve returned the hug without hesitation. After just a moment the embrace broke and Pony quickly stepped back to stand with Two-Bit.

Darry figured it was his turn next, since it seemed natural that Soda would get the final goodbye. He stepped forward and immediately pulled Steve into a hug just like the others had.

"Be smart over there," Darry said. "Use your head and you'll be fine, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Steve said a bit gruffly as he hugged him back.

Darry pulled away and looked down at Steve, straining to smile. "When you come home we'll throw you a big party," he assured him, trying to sound confident.

Steve's smile was just as strained. "Thanks Darry."

Darry nodded and stepped away, glancing over at Soda who had been watching the scene with uncharacteristic seriousness. He looked up at Darry and met his eyes as he shifted his weight and held out his cane slightly. Darry got what he was trying to do and went over and carefully took his cane from him, freeing up both of his arms. Steve stepped up and embraced his friend tightly. They were both silent for a minute.

"You take care of yourself, you hear?" Steve finally said, pulling away from Soda slightly, but still keeping a hold on him in order to support him.

Soda let out a humorless laugh. "I'm supposed to be tellin' you that," he pointed out. "Don't you worry about me none. I'll be runnin' marathons by the time you get back."

Steve smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure you will, buddy," he said.

"You'll write to us, right?" Soda said hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll write every chance I get," Steve agreed steadily.

As much as it pained him, Darry finally had to speak up. "The bus it about to leave," he said gently.

Steve nodded slightly, the smile slipping off his face, looking grim. Darry moved closer and handed Soda his cane back so that Steve could let go of him. Then he handed Steve his pack. Steve looked up and met Darry's eyes as he slung the pack over his shoulder and without saying a word they seemed to communicate a mutual understanding that Darry would take care of Soda while Steve was gone and do his best to keep him from falling apart. As much as they all knew that Steve was going to struggle with being drafted, they all knew that Soda was going to have a very rough time dealing with it as well.

"Goodbye, Steve," Soda said.

Steve nodded. "See you, Soda," he returned.

Then with what seemed like a great effort Steve turned and started walking toward the bus, his posture a little straighter and more defiant than usual. Soda was stiff as he stared after him, gripping his cane so hard that his knuckles were turning white. No one moved as they watched Steve slowly board the bus. Only a minute later the door to the bus closed and with a hiss he started off, disappearing around a corner in a matter of minutes.

"C'mon, Soda," Darry said gently, placing a hand on Soda's shoulder. Soda posture immediately deflated at the touch. It happened so suddenly that reacting on pure instinct Darry quickly brought his other hand around to grab hold of Soda, honestly afraid for a moment that he was going to collapse right there in the parking lot. Soda stumbled a bit, but seemed to catch himself and didn't actually fall, though he did grab onto Darry with his free hand for stability. As he looked up at Darry, he could plainly see the pain in his younger brother's eyes and wished desperately there was a way to fix this. "C'mon, little buddy, let's go home," he said softly.

Soda simply nodded, a hollow look in his eyes, and allowed Darry to lead him back over to the truck, helping him up into the passenger's seat. Pony and Two-Bit, who had been carefully watching from several steps away, both climbed into the bed of the truck. Darry walked around and climbed into the driver's seat, starting up the truck and glancing into the back to make sure Two-Bit and Pony were settled before carefully pulling out of the parking spot and slowly starting back off toward home. As they drove a light rain began to fall with light rumbles of thunder in the background, reflecting the mood of the dismal Greasers.

Back at home there was a somber atmosphere hanging over the group. There was an empty feeling as they entered the house as four instead of five. Darry could vividly remember this same feeling from when Soda had shipped out. It was so unfair that all of them had to go through this again.

Soda immediately collapsed into the recliner, staring vacantly at nothing in particular. Pony looked up at Darry unsurely and Darry just shrugged. He was at a loss. He knew there would be no comforting Soda right now.

"Anyone hungry?" Darry tried lamely.

The only response he got was silence. He sighed and headed into the kitchen anyway, feeling like he had to do something to bring some sense of normalcy. He had taken the entire day off of work and had even allowed Pony to skip school so that what was left of the Greaser could spend the day together. In the kitchen he concentrated all his energy on just making breakfast, doing everything he could to block out thoughts of how they would survive this, how Steve would survive this, how Soda would survive this especially If Steve didn't come home. He forced himself to live in the present and just deal with one thing at a time. For now all he had to worry about was not burning breakfast.

Two-Bit quietly entered the kitchen and helped Darry move all the food into the living room, setting up on the coffee table. Everyone started dishing out servings onto plates except for Soda, who hadn't moved a muscle.

"Soda, you want somethin' to eat?" Darry tried, looking at his brother with concern. Soda silently shook his head. Darry sighed. "You really should eat somethin'," he said.

"I'm not hungry," Soda said flatly. He bit his lip and Darry noticed that he was trembling slightly. What little self-control he had managed to maintain for Steve's sake was beginning to crumble. Pony seemed to see this as well as he put his plate down on the coffee table and moved to perch carefully on the arm of the recliner that Soda was sitting in. Carefully he placed his hand on Soda's shoulder and Soda reached up and put his hand on top of his brother's.

"It'll be okay, Soda," Darry said as he moved closer.

Soda rapidly shook his head, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "H-He's not comin' back," he murmured as tears began to fall and he body began to shake.

"No, you can't think like that, Soda," Darry said as he crouched down next to the recliner. "Steve's got as good a chance as anyone of comin' home, maybe even more so than a fair few. He'll try just as hard as you did to get back home."

Soda nodded vaguely, though clearly he wasn't comforted. He shifted a bit and then slowly dragged himself to his feet. "I'm gonna go lay down," he mumbled clearly looking to avoid the situation. He turned and heavily began limping from the room.

Darry looked after him with concern and was about to implore him to come back when a loud crack of thunder tore through the air. None of them had noticed the storm gaining strength outside. Soda's reaction was immediate. He yelled out in fear and pain as he jerked violently and dropped to the floor, throwing his arms up over his head in an attempt to protect himself.

"Soda?" Darry said cautiously, stopping himself from rushing right to his brother's side, not wanting to spook him even more. Soda had curled himself into a ball on the floor and was shaking violently. "Soda, it's okay, you're safe." There was a bright flash of lightening and then another loud crack of thunder and Soda tensed, whimpering to himself as he continued to shake. Darry took a deep breath as he carefully inched closer to his brother. "Soda?" he tried again, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Get out, get out, get out," Soda murmured fearfully.

Darry took a breath as he crouched down and risked reaching out and gently touching Soda's shoulder. Soda flinched away.

"It's okay, Soda," Darry repeated. "It's okay, you're home."

Lightening flashed again with the loudest crack of thunder yet, shaking the whole house. A moment later all the lights suddenly went dead, bathing the entire house in total darkness.

"Christ, you've got to be kidding me," Darry heard Two-Bit mutter somewhere on the other side of the room.

Darry blinked, impatient for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He didn't like not being able to see what was going on, especially with Soda panicking like he was. "Two-Bit, go into the kitchen and check the drawers for a flashlight," he said.

He heard some banging as Two-Bit felt his way to the kitchen, bumping into a table on the way.

"Darry?" came Soda's small voice.

"Yeah, I'm right here, little buddy," Darry said, feeling relief. He reached out blindly, feeling for Soda's shoulder again. This time he didn't flinch away.

"Pony?" Soda questioned timidly.

"I'm here too," Pony answered from somewhere behind Darry. He heard some shifting around before he felt Pony's hand on his back as he felt his way over to his brothers.

"W-what's happening?" Soda stuttered fearfully.

"It's just a storm," Darry said steadily. "It's just thunder and lightening. It's okay, it won't hurt you."

"I… I can't see," Soda said, sounding panicked.

"The storm knocked the power out," Darry explained. "Two-Bit's lookin' for a flashlight."

Lightning struck again, followed by a powerful boom. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could just make out the outline of Soda laying on the floor.

"Darry," Soda whimpered. "Darry help…"

"C'mere little buddy," Darry said gently. He pulled Soda off of the floor and Soda immediately leaned into him as Darry securely wrapped his arms around him. Soda was trembling like a leaf as Darry pulled him in close. "It's okay, Soda, it's okay," he soothed.

A light caught Darry's eye and he turned his head to see Two-Bit standing in the doorway, flashlight in hand.

"I found it," he said quietly, looking at the scene in front of him with a grim expression.

Darry looked down at Soda and in the dim light he could see that Soda had his hands clapped firmly over his ears and his eyes close, though tears were flowing freely down his cheeks. Darry had never been in a battle before, but he could imagine that the bright flashes followed by the loud booms had to be really similar to the sound of a grenade exploding, which was how Soda had gotten injured.

Pony moved in closer, worry etched in his every feature making him seem much older than just sixteen, and placed a hand on Soda's back. "We're here, Soda," he said gently. "The storm will pass soon."

Yeah, this storm will pass, Darry thought to himself. But it won't be the last one.

Every time there was a crack of thunder Darry could feel Soda tense as he held him close. He knew that healing from all this was going to be so much more difficult as they worried about Steve's fate. It was going to be another very long year…