DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE OUTSIDERS.

Darry's POV:

"Hey Darry, are you almost ready to go?" Soda shouted from the bedroom.

I rolled my eyes, but I really can't get mad at that kid. "Soda, I've been ready for the past fifteen minutes. We're all waiting for you."

Suddenly, there was a crash, and my eyes met Steve's as we both tried not to laugh.

"You ok in there little buddy," I called over the sounds of muffled cursing.

"Uh… yeah. One second."

About five minutes later, he came crashing into the living room. I smiled to myself when I realized he was still missing a shoe, and I watched in amusement as Ponyboy automatically reached under the couch he was lying on to toss it to him. This is the reason I get Soda up earlier than he needs to be in the morning. Otherwise, none of us would ever get to work on time.

When he was finally ready and we were heading out the door, I turned to Pony and Two-Bit for a few last minute instructions. I don't know why I bother pretending Two-Bit's in charge. He has the sense of a mule. Pony was right when he said he'd be more apt to baby-sit for Two-Bit than the other way around.

"Listen, you two. Take it easy today. Pony, the doctor said you shouldn't overexert yourself, so no leaving the house, ok?"

Two-Bit nodded, and I knew that he would listen. He wasn't going to risk letting Pony get sick ever again if he could help it. Pony nodded too, and I was glad to see he wasn't putting up much of a fight. But we'd kind of agreed not to do that anymore anyway, so I smiled at him quickly.

"Oh," I added, trying to make this sound like a casual afterthought, "I might have to work a little later than usual, so don't worry if I'm not home till 8 or so."

"Ok," Pony said, yawning and settling in to watch some Mickey. Two-Bit was already settled down in front of the couch with a huge piece of chocolate cake, and the two of them looked plenty comfortable, so I left without another word.

The last thing I needed was Pony asking why I was working late when I hadn't done it in a while. Truth was that I didn't want anyone to know where I was going after work. It wasn't anything I was ashamed of. It was just something I needed to do on my own, and I was afraid if I told Pony or Soda, they'd want to come too. I wasn't ready for that yet.

It was already 7:00 by the time I pulled up to the cemetery. It was getting dark, but I found my way to Johnny's grave without hesitation. I'd only been there once before on the day of the funeral, but I'd known then that I would have to go back, so I'd carefully memorized the coordinates.

When I was finally standing in front of the grave, though, I felt the same way I had the first time I stood in front of my parents'… like I'd been struck dumb. For a while, I just stood there, staring at the inscription. All it had was his name and the date.

After I'd been standing there a few minutes, I let out a deep breath.

"Hey Johnny," I said softly. I always kept my voice down in this place. I never wanted people to think I had the idea that anyone residing here could actually hear me, but somehow, talking made me feel better about being in this silent place.

I paused and then just plunged ahead. "I just want you to know that we're all real proud of you and everything. I know you'd have saved those kids even if you'd known it would end like this, and that's what makes you the hero the newspapers finally said you were. But Johnny, Soda and I, we never got to thank you for that other thing you did. I know the cops might have charged you with murdering Bob if things hadn't turned out like this, but you saved another life that night. I wish you were here right now, but even though you're not, I have to believe you know how much we appreciate you saving Pony. And I know he appreciates it too."

Here I had to stop. My throat felt tight as I thought of how close Soda and I had come to losing our little brother that night, and I stared at the headstone, wishing I'd gotten to the hospital in time to say this in person. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Thanks, Johnny," I managed to whisper. "Thanks for Pony."

As I turned to walk away, I swiped roughly at my eyes. I needed to cool it before I got home. I knew the others would all get here, too. Unless someone asked for company, though, this was also something where we all probably understood the need to do it alone.