So this isn't exactly my first venture into The Outsiders. The other story was just a take over. This one is all my idea. Well, with the exception of the characters, their not mine. Well, the made up ones are mine, but the ones that matter, their not mine... BUMMER!!! Ms. Hinton, if you would like to share, I would love to have an Outsider Birthday next month... seriously... that would just rock!

I don't own anything... at this rate, I never will.

The Outsiders belong to Ms. S. E. Hinton, I am merely borrowing them for my own personal pleasure.

With that said, please enjoy. Also... please read and review. I dearly love hearing what is said about my work. Good, solid criticism helps bunches. Just remember that I am a human being and get my feelings hurt too, so please do not flame me to hard if you don't like it. Just tell me in a few short words if that is the case. Otherwise... please, enjoy the fruits of my labor:-)

Chapter 1

It had been a long hard day of work for Soda and Steve. They had worked on a Mustang with hole in the radiator, a completely torn up front quarter panel on a ragged out Impala and then there was the black Camaro SS with the flat. That one had been easy to work on, especially since the blond driving the car handed Soda her phone number. The day didn't get any better as it went on.

"Hello." A voice came from out of the blue.

"Just a sec." Soda acknowledged from under the hood of the Pontiac. "This stupid fan belt…" Soda grumbled before he stood up laying his wrench to the side of the car.

Soda licked his lips as he reached over and grabbed the orange shop cloth and wiped his grimy hands on it. He then wiped the perspiration from his eyes before turning to face the person talking to him. It was about a half an hour before the end of their shift.

"What can I do…" Soda was interrupted by a gun being shoved forcefully in his face.

"Not one word."

Soda nearly jumped out of his skin. His mouth hung agape as the barrel of the weapon was pushed directly onto his forehead.

"You don't want to do this. Take what you want, just don't…" The boy nearly lost his lunch when the hand holding the weapon brought the cold hard steel of the gun down across his forehead. It didn't knock him out. In fact all it did was cut a nice slice across his brow above his right eye.

"Get up and get in there." The masked man pulled the downed Curtis brother to his feet and shoved him into Steve who was being pushed towards the door of the gas station as well.

Steve had to almost carry Sodapop into the building in order to oblige the man. Soda held his hand over his head and stumbled as a direct result of the impact. They were followed in by both men. They were using black wool ski masks to conceal their identities. One shoved Steve and Soda into the corner of the room while the other began to ransack the office.

Steve and Soda watched as the one shoved his hands into the cash register and pulled out stacks of bills. He quickly pushed them into a bag and then greedily went back for more.

"You okay, Soda?" Steve asked still holding the other boy on his feet.

"Shut up." The one holding the gun on them interjected coldly.

Soda wrinkled his brow as he held his head. He felt tired. It would have been so easy to lie down on the floor and close his eyes. Sleep was a good thing right then.

"Where's the safe." The one tearing the office apart shouted.

"What safe." Steve shot back.

Soda was struggling to comprehend what was going on. Blood was pouring from the cut and all he had were dirty rags to try and stop the bleeding.

"Its right there, but you need a key." The one holding the gun on Steve and Soda pointed his finger at the wall.

"Behind this painting? That's just grand." The burglar ripped the canvas art work from the wall and tossed it onto the floor in front of the two boys.

"So which one of you worthless grease monkeys has the key?" The other shouted nervously.

"We don't have the key." Soda half whispered.

"Take what you want, you already have the money in the register, then just get the hell outa here." Steve growled.

There was a door slam outside of the building bringing the eyes of all four up.

"Who the hell is that?" The one holding the gun on the two asked.

Soda took a deep breath. He remembered that Darry was going to pick him up there at five.

"Steve…" Soda whispered a look of terror in his eyes.

"Look, just take what ever and get out. We won't try and stop you. Just don't hurt anyone." Steve's voice quivered as he heard the footsteps nearing the door.

"Hurry up!" The one holding the gun to Steve and Soda rushed the other along. "Just take what's in the drawer and we'll be out the back door."

The bell on the door rang as it was pushed open.

"Soda…"

BANG!

--

Ponyboy trudged back to the lot with Johnny right beside him. It was a cool fall day and the leaves were just starting to turn a brilliant shade of red. The sun was beating down on them, but the breeze kept the heat from becoming too much for them. Neither of the two was talking about much of anything as they made it to what was left of the back seat of an old sedan.

"Gotta smoke, Pony?" Johnny asked quietly.

"Nah, I smoked the last one at lunch. If I hadn't gotten that "D" on my history test I probably could have saved it till now." Ponyboy complained.

"You got a "D" on a test? Darry's gonna kill you."

"Don't rub it in, Johnny Cade." Ponyboy ran his hands nervously through his hair. "Now that I think about it, I could use a smoke right now."

"You think if we went to the DX, Soda might spot us the money for a pack?" Johnny asked fidgeting just a little.

"I dunno, maybe." Pony answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

Neither of the two made a move to stand up. They both seemed as if this was the day they just wouldn't care. The two leaned back on the broken down seat and watched the clouds as they passed. They both watched and waited quietly as the world around them spun around and around. They didn't say much to each other. They neither one talked as they watched. There were days when both of them found it easier to just sit back and keep their mouths shut as opposed to talking when they had nothing to talk about.

"You know, Soda gets off work in about fifteen minutes…" Ponyboy stated sitting up and looking over hat his friend.

"Yeah, and…" Johnny replied looking back at Ponyboy.

"Darry's picking Soda up today. Maybe Darry would just buy me a pack and not ask anything the stupid test."

"That's wishful thinking, isn't it, Pone?" Johnny asked raising his eyebrow.

"I guess." Ponyboy responded picking up a stick and tossing it into the distance just to see where it landed.

At that moment the sound of sirens tore through the air. Both teens sat up and looked to see the emergency vehicles as they passed by.

"Wonder what happened?" Johnny asked quietly.

"Dunno, can't be good with all that going by." Ponyboy responded never breaking eye contact with the flashing red lights.

"Come on; let's go see if Darry and Soda are home yet." Ponyboy smacked Johnny on the knee as he stood up shoving his fists into his jacket pocket.

--

The house was dark when Ponyboy and Johnny walked up to it. It was quiet, there was no television blaring in the living room. The house didn't have the smell of anything cooking on the stove in it. That was really out of the ordinary since it was three males living in a house together. They all ate, and ate a lot.

"Shouldn't they have been home by now?" Johnny asked in his quiet voice.

Ponyboy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he walked in the door.

"Anyone home?" He shouted as he tossed his coat down on the couch.

"You think they had to work late or something?" Johnny asked sitting down on the couch and looking at the blank television screen.

"Maybe." Ponyboy answered getting up and walking over to the television and flipping the knob to bring the magical box to life. "I bet they'll be home soon."

"Hope so, I'm kinda hungry and Darry asked if I wanted potatoes tonight." Johnny said rubbing his stomach.

"So you're staying for dinner?" Ponyboy asked realizing how much his stomach was growling.

"Yeah, probably just sleep on the couch if you don't mind. Dad and mom have been fighting a lot here lately." Johnny added.

"Sounds good to me, Darry won't yell at me if you're here." Ponyboy sighed looking at the television.

Both boys sat staring at the tube watching it as The Lone Ranger and his trusty side kick Tonto saved the Wild West from evil. It didn't take long before Ponyboy's eyes were falling closed. Johnny pulled his knees to his chest and he too wound up lost in a dream land until there was a knock at the door.

"What the…" Ponyboy jumped off of the couch.

The sky was orange as the sun was beginning to drop below the horizon.

"Ponyboy." Dallas Winston was pulling the door open and walking into the house.

"Geeze, Dally, what time is it?" Ponyboy asked as he looked at the much older Greaser through the door.

Dallas Winston took one last drag on his cigarette and discarded it onto the porch. He stood nervously in the living room looking at the two teens. His leather jacket was hung proudly on his well built frame.

"Where's your brothers?" Dallas asked curtly.

Ponyboy was still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes when Johnny chimed in.

"Hey, Dally." He stated groggily.

"Hey Johnny. Pony, where's Darry and Soda?" Dallas asked again. This time he sounded off more urgently.

Ponyboy looked sleepily around the room. It was later than when he started watching the television earlier. No longer was it The Lone Ranger, now it was some sort of marionettes in space ships on the television.

"Work, I guess. What time is it?" Ponyboy asked as he began to get his bearings.

"It's almost seven, Pony." Dallas continued looking down at his watch and then back at Pony and Johnny.

Ponyboy nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Dallas, they were supposed to be home hours ago. What's going on?" Ponyboy demanded.

"Shit…" Dallas shook his head.

"Dallas, where's Darry and Soda?" Ponyboy almost shouted.

"Something's going on down at the DX, Steve aint home neither." Dallas said running his hand across his mouth. "Come on." He grabbed Ponyboy's arm and pulled him out the door with Johnny following close behind him.

Two Bit Mathews was rushing up the sidewalk as the boys were running towards Buck's red convertible.

"Someone's been shot at the DX!" Two Bit shouted as he caught up with the three.

"Shot…" Johnny responded.

The words resonated in Ponyboy like nothing else could. Someone's been shot at the DX. Ponyboy almost crawled out of his skin. He could feel his body moving in ten different directions as he caught the grim expression of Dallas's face. His mouth hung agape as he tried to piece all the words together.

"Darry… Soda…" Ponyboy choked on his words.

"Come on, Kid." Dallas yanked Ponyboy the rest of the way along. He shoved him in the car with Two Bit and Johnny both jumping in the back seat.