Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm back! I do apologize for the onslaught of Harry Potter fanfictions lately that may have been blowing up some of your emails if you get notifications from me (I'm in a competition, hence the rapid fire chapters on one of those stories lately). So to make it up to my faithful Outsiders fans, I give you a brand new story! This one won't be too long, maybe ten chapters tops, I'm just easing into some new Outsiders material. But I hope you like it!

Calling on Saint Christopher

Chapter One

Oh my God, this hurts like hell
I had that dream again where
I was lost for good in outer space
Tell me, doctor, how to shake
A waking nightmare that is only
Worse when I am sleeping

(Jack's Mannequin - Kill the Messenger)

Darry had always enjoyed early mornings. He liked the quiet, peaceful feeling the neighborhood had before everyone started to wake up and get ready for the day. He and his dad used to be the first ones up in the mornings, as they were the only two in the family that were considered "morning people." These days, the mornings were a solitary time for Darry though. It had been hard, at first, to be the only one awake during this time that he used to share with his father. But, he had learned to appreciate the quiet in what had become such a hectic time in his and the brothers' lives.

That day, as Darry made his coffee and moved around the kitchen, he was unaware that anything was wrong. It seemed like just any other morning. He sipped on his coffee as he made his way through the living room, eyeing the empty couch. He knew that Steve and Soda had gone out last night; usually Steve would come back and crash on their couch when they were out late. It was a little odd that he hadn't, but it certainly was not unheard of. Darry was quickly able to shrug off any ideas that this was all that unusual.

He headed out to the front porch to retrieve the paper. It was a cool morning, but not overly cold as spring was finally upon them. The sun was just starting to come up over the neighborhood and the sky was clear. Darry leaned down and picked up the paper. He started to turn to head back in to the house, but then froze as something caught his eye. Or rather the lack of something. The driveway was empty.

"You've got to be kidding me," Darry muttered to himself with a sigh of frustration.

He had let Soda and Steve borrow the truck last night, since Steve's car had stalled the other day and they hadn't gotten a chance to fix it yet. He knew that Soda wasn't working today and he didn't have a curfew or anything, but still not being home at six in the morning was a bit excessive, especially since Darry needed the truck to get to work in an hour.

"I'm gonna kill those two," he muttered to himself as he turned and headed back into the house. It wasn't the first time either of them had stayed out all night, but Darry didn't like them doing that with his truck when he needed to use it in the morning. He thought Soda was more responsible than that.

Darry headed back into the kitchen and settled himself at the kitchen table with the paper. He knew that there was no use calling Steve's house. There's no way they would have stayed there and all that would do is piss off Steve's father. All he could do was wait and hope that they turned up before he had to go to work and that the truck wasn't in too bad of shape after their night of partying.

Time passed and everything remained quiet. Darry eventually started on breakfast and soon enough it was time to wake up Pony for school. There had still been no sign of Soda or Steve or his truck. Darry was starting to get frustrated. If he was late for work because of them then he swore he was going to knock their heads together.

Darry headed into Soda and Pony's bedroom. Pony was curled up on his side of the bed, but one hand was reaching out toward Soda's empty side of the bed, as if he were reaching for his brother that wasn't there.

"Pony," Darry said quietly, reaching over and shaking his youngest brother's shoulder. "Pony, time to get up." Pony groaned and tried to burrow deeper under the covers. Darry smiled lightly as he pulled the covers down farther. "C'mon, Pony, you don't wanna be late for school."

Pony mumbled incoherently, but managed to push himself up into a sitting position and then yawned loudly. He glanced over to the empty side of the bed. "Where's Soda?" he said, his voice still thick with sleep.

"He ain't home yet," Darry sighed.

"He stayed out all night?" Pony asked.

"Yeah," Darry confirmed.

"You'd kill me if I was out all night," Pony grumbled.

"Don't you worry, Soda's gonna get a serious talkin' to when he gets home," Darry promised. "Now c'mon, get goin'. Breakfast's almost ready."

Pony sighed as he slowly dragged himself out of bed and headed out into the hallway. Darry headed back into the kitchen to finish up breakfast. By the time Pony had showered and dressed, Darry had breakfast on the table.

"Soda's still not home?" Pony asked as he slid into his chair.

"No," Darry said an edge to his voice. "And he's got my truck and I gotta leave for work in twenty minutes."

"That's not like Soda," Pony pointed out.

Before he could answer, Darry heard a car door slam outside. He sighed with relief. "Bet that's them." He pushed his chair back from the table and headed out into the living room, fully prepared to start yelling at his thickheaded little brother. As he walked out into the living room, Steve was just coming through the front door. He was stumbling a bit and Darry couldn't really tell if he was hungover or still drunk. "Where the hell have you guys been?" Darry demanded loudly.

However, he was slowly beginning to realize that something was wrong. As Steve stumbled over to the couch, Darry looked back over at the door expectantly. But the second half of the duo didn't immediately appear.

"Keep it down," Steve mumbled as he fell onto the couch. He squinted up at Darry. "Where's Soda? I think I left my keys in the truck, I can't get in to my house."

Darry stared at him for a long minute. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as the reality of the situation was finally starting to dawn on him. "Steve… Soda ain't here," he said slowly.

"Whaddaya mean he ain't here?" Steve slurred confused. "Where is he?"

"I thought he was with you," Darry said. All his anger toward his brother instantly melted away and was replaced with concern. Something was clearly very wrong here.

As Steve looked up at Darry, he seemed to be sobering up right before his eyes as he realized the seriousness of the situation. "He was. But he left early last night. Said he wasn't feelin' great and headed out with the truck."

"When did he leave?" Darry questioned, staring at Steve hard.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno, man…"

"Think!" Darry commanded.

Steve jumped. "Jeez, you don't have to yell. It was before midnight. Maybe around eleven?" He glanced around the room as if he thought he'd spot Soda hiding somewhere. "He really didn't come home last night?"

"He really didn't," Darry said tensely. "Did you see the truck when you walked in just now?"

"Can't say I noticed," Steve admitted.

"Where were you two last night?" Darry questioned. He needed to get as much information as possible in order to figure out where they should go from here.

"We drove out to a drag race outside of town," Steve told him. "Just like we've done I dunno how many times."

"How did you get here if he took the truck?" Darry asked.

"I hitched a ride," Steve said. "I told him I didn't mind leavin' early with him, but he said that I should stay."

Darry ran a hand over his face. His mind was racing and he was finding it hard to concentrate on any one thing. He tried his best to focus. "Okay, so when he left last night, he said he wasn't feelin' great? Was he sick?"

"He didn't seem sick," Steve said. "He just seemed worn out and tired. He did work a double yesterday after all."

"Had he been drinkin'?" Darry asked.

Steve cocked an eyebrow at that. "Of course he hadn't. He never drinks."

"Did you actually see him get in the truck and leave?" Darry persisted.

"No," Steve said slowly, sounding a bit guilty. He went on quickly. "But when we left most of the cars were cleared out. I didn't see the truck."

"Yeah, you also didn't notice it wasn't there when you were walkin' up the damn driveway," Darry snapped.

Steve glared at him. "Hey, this ain't my fault!" he shot back. "He probably just had car trouble on the way home."

"You two are supposed to look out for each other when you go out," Darry said angrily.

"Hey, you know I always have his back!" Steve said loudly. "He said he wanted to go home and he didn't want me to go with him, what the hell else was I supposed to do?"

Darry sighed loudly in frustration.

"So… where is he?" Darry turned at the sound of Pony's voice. His youngest brother was standing in the doorway from the kitchen. By the look on his face it was clear that he had heard what was going on.

"We don't know," Darry said flatly.

"He said he was goin' home," Steve insisted. "Why would he go anywhere else? I bet you anythin' he just had car problems and got stuck somewhere."

"Well clearly somethin' went wrong, because he's definitely not here," Darry pointed out. He took a deep breath. They needed to take action. "Okay, your car won't run, right?" Steve shook his head. "We need to get a car. Run over to Two-Bit's house and drag him out of bed. Get his car and get back over here. Make Two-Bit drive too; you're in no shape to be drivin'."

Steve was up and out the door in a matter of seconds. As the door slammed behind him, Darry made his way over to the phone that sat on the side table next to his recliner.

"Who're you callin'?" Pony asked tentatively as Darry picked up the receiver.

"The hospital," Darry said dully. He didn't like the thought but he knew through painful experience that it had to be dealt with before they started driving around aimlessly.

"You… you think he's hurt?" Pony asked.

"Well somethin' sure as hell ain't right," Darry said. He glanced over at Pony and saw how much that statement scared him, instantly regretting how blunt he had been. He made an effort to soften his tone as he spoke again. "Don't panic yet, Pony," he tried to assure him, even though his own panic was barely contained. "We just need to take this one step at a time."

Darry had to describe his brother to three different nurses before they were able to definitively tell him that no one matching that description had been admitted to the hospital since eleven o'clock last night. It was only a small relief though as he hung up the phone and told this to Pony. They still had no idea where Soda was. And the really troubling part of the whole thing was that only six months before Pony had run away with Johnny to Windrixville. Soda knew full well what that had done to their family. He'd never willingly put his brothers through something like that. If it were at all possible to call them and tell them what happened he would have done it. That made this whole situation that much more foreboding.

Darry picked up the phone and called in to work next. There was no way he was going to work while his brother was missing. Luckily his boss was understanding about the situation. As he hung up, Darry could only hope there was some simple answer as to why Soda never made it home last night.

Darry heard a car pulling up outside. He quickly grabbed his jacket and slid on his shoes that sat by the door. He was anxious to get going. So anxious that it took him until he got to the steps of the porch to realize that Pony was right behind him.

"Pony…" Darry started as he paused at the bottom of the steps.

"You can't make me go to school today, Darry," Pony jumped in, already knowing what Darry was going to say. "Not with Soda missin' and everythin'."

"I wouldn't say he's missin'," Darry hedged uncomfortably.

"Then what would you say?" Pony demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at him defiantly.

Darry paused, trying to think of a less negative way to portray the situation. He came up with nothing. He sighed in defeat. "Alright, you can come."

Pony looked relieved as he followed him down the walk to where Two-Bit's car was waiting for them on the curb. Without a word, Darry opened the passenger side door and made eye contact with Steve, jerking his head toward the backseat. Steve sighed, but didn't put up his usual fight as he climbed out of the car and moved to sit in the back with Pony. Darry slid into the front seat next to Two-Bit.

"You okay to drive?" Darry asked as he studied Two-Bit critically. It was early in the morning, especially for the likes of Two-Bit, but even so, Darry was surprised at how awake Two-Bit seemed.

"Sure," Two-Bit said easily with a grin, despite the situation. "I haven't been to bed yet."

Darry raised an eyebrow at that. "You been drinkin'?" he asked.

Two-Bit shook his head. "Not for hours. I was consumed by an intense game of poker over at Buck's. Steve caught me just as I was gettin' home." He shifted the car into drive. "So, let's go find our wayward Greaser, shall we?"

Despite Two-Bit's laid-back attitude, Darry felt tense as they took off, following Steve's instructions from the back seat to get back to where the drag races had been the night before. He couldn't help but fear for the worst. It was practically hardwired into his brain at this point. It had only been a year ago when their parents hadn't come home one night.

Darry took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together. He was getting ahead of himself. There had to be a less devastating explanation for why his little brother never came home last night. There just had to be. Their lives just couldn't possibly handle any more loss.