Chapter Text
Ponyboy lay there on the ground, his back to the stone wall of the alleyway. This is how I’m going to die, huh? Stabbed in an alley after being jumped by a group of Socs. Just like a greaser, he thought through his panic: just another kid added to the statistic of teen deaths from gang violence. He stared at the switchblade in his chest. He heard his own breaths shallow and fast, each one causing a pang in his chest. He felt blood bubble up his throat as he coughed. Ponyboy tried to shove the cough down his throat to avoid the pain in his chest, but the harder he tried, the worse it got and the more it hurt. He heard a bubbling noise. If it weren’t for the mounting panic, he would have noticed it was coming from the wound in his chest. Slowly, Ponyboy felt himself slip into sweet, blissful blackness. The last thing he saw was someone who looked and sounded like Dallas walking by and calling his name, and upon seeing him in the alleyway running over right before Ponyboy passed out.
The first thing Ponyboy noticed when he awoke was that he was in no pain. Memories of sharp, painful gasps filled his mind. The next thing he noticed was that he was sitting on his knees in front of someone. Their presence filled the room, or what Ponyboy assumed to be a room anyway. He didn’t really see any doors or any walls. The beings spoke softly. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ponyboy. I’ve been waiting for your arrival.”
Ponyboy would have asked who they were, but as he opened his mouth to do so, he felt as if the information prodded itself into his mind, as if it belonged there. He knew them. He had known them, and he always would. And then they spoke again softly. “You’ll understand when you’re back down there. I promise. For now, you just have to be content with knowing it will all make sense in due time. I just wished to allow you a moment of rest before I sent you back down there my child.” Ponyboy wanted to kick and scream. What did they mean it would all make sense in due time? What were they talking about! But before he could ask, he felt a wave of calm come over him, and once again, he slipped into the dark.
I’ve decided that I’m getting quite sick of waking passing out and waking up in new places, Ponyboy thought flatly. Except unlike the last place this one wasn’t unfamiliar, he knew where this was. He had lived here all his life. He was home. The first thing he noticed was that no one looked up at his appearance in fact they all seemed upset for some reason? Why? Ponyboy thought I’m back, and I feel better than I ever have why do you all look so sad?
And then he noticed that someone was in Dallas’ arms and that someone was him. He walked over afraid if he moved to much they’d notice him, an imposter outside of their own skin. Dallas’ eyes were burning with rage Ponyboy wasn’t unfamiliar with this look he had seen it once. But he couldn’t understand why Dally looked like this right now the only time he had ever seen this look on Dallas’ face was after Johnny got jumped, so why did he have it now?
And then as Ponyboy laid his eyes upon his body, images flashed through his head. Memories that weren’t his filled his head, watching through Dallas’ head as he called out for Ponyboy, who was supposed to be home 3 hours ago, finding him unconscious against that stone wall blade in his chest, rage and worry filling his head. As he immediately started to feel for a pulse, begging in his head, please not Ponyboy, not him. Not him, the only one of them yet to be truly ruined by the world they lived in. Ponyboy and Johnny both, except the only difference was Johnny had been broken by this world already, not Ponyboy, the one shielded from the worst of it by design, please not him. The rage that coursed through Dally’s mind as he desperately prayed for someone, anyone, to make sure he was okay, just to find no pulse. The feeling as He watched through Dally’s eyes as a tear slid down his face. Tough as nails, Dally cried over him? Ponyboy “Who liked to watch the sunset and could barely kill a duck when he went hunting” Curtis was being cried over by Dallas Winston? The boy who would harass little kids because he hated them that much? The boy who would go around stealing just because he could? The same Dallas Winston who would beat up anyone who tried to tell him what to do? It felt as if Ponyboy was watching a bad dream.
And then it hit him, why Ponyboy was here instead of up in the afterlife. He understood what they meant now. Ponyboy Curtis has become Dallas Winston’s guardian angel. Ponyboy had become one of Tulsa’s toughest guys, guardian angel. And with the realization, he felt fluffy white wings sprout from his back, and a small glowing golden halo appeared over his head.