Prisoner - An Outsiders Fanfiction Story

It Was Socs, Alright

It was late at night and the gang sat at the table in the kitchen, eating miserably, Darry having insisted they at least stop looking and go home to eat.

They were hardly eating though. Soda and Pony all picked at their food, barely lifting their forks.

Steve and Dally were both frowning with hard eyes, slowly eating. Not a word was said and the room was deathly quiet except for occasional sighs that were heard every few minutes.

The screen door slammed and six heads quickly looked up in expectance.

Tim Shepard slowly walked in, holding his head, sporting a split lip and black eye, his face all swollen.

The gang gawked at Tim's bruises and Darry slowly rose. "What the hell happened to you, Shepard?"

Tim kept calm, face neutral. "Well, ya know how we assumed it was Socs who took Two-Bit? Well, it was definitely Socs, alright." He huffed, managing a nod.

The gang stiffened and sat up straighter, looking at Tim expectantly.

Darry grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer, frowning at Tim. "Whatta ya mean? What happened?"

Tim took the ice pack and put it to his face, sighing a little. "Well, I saw Mathews."

"You did?" Soda almost stood, gaping, wanting to know if his buddy was alright.

"Is he alright?" Johnny squeaked.

"He......" Tim stopped a minute. "He sorta was."

"Sorta?" Dally frowned. "What's sorta?"

"Well, he looked like his face had been pounded in about a thousand times. And he was scared to death. And he was cryin'." Tim swallowed, lips pursed.

The gang gulped and eyed Tim with big eyes.

"Two-Bit, cryin'? Dang......" Ponyboy frowned, licking his lips nervously. They all knew Two-Bit never cried.

"W-Well, well, then what happened?!" Steve urged.

"Socs showed up. I told Mathews to run and took 'em on myself but then he came back and well.......they uh, they got 'em." Tim frowned, not liking to admit he had lost a fight. "Knocked me out clear cold."

The six Greasers slunk deeper into their seats, mortified.

"They took him again? Our Two-Bit?" Soda whispered, suddenly teary-eyed.

"Who was they? The Socs," Steve growled.

"Dunno. They was beatin' my head in too much for me to notice. They's was five of 'em. I'm sure if I saw 'em again I could point 'em out." Tim nodded with a huff.

"Whatta we gonna do?" Pony whimpered out a little, frowning deeply, scared for his friend.

"Well let's go out and bust down every one of them d*** Socs' doors!" Soda suddenly growled. "He'll be at one of 'em.....!"

"Soda, it ain't that simple," Darry swallowed. "We gotta have a plan first. Gotta think this through."

Soda's eyes were narrow and he opened his mouth to argue in protest but Tim spoke, looking grim.

"Darrel, there's somethin' else ya need to know. Two-Bit, he uh, he had a collar on him."

"A collar?" Steve repeated.

"What like some d*** dog's collar?" Dallas sneered.

Tim nodded. "Yep. Had it right around his neck and his name was right on there, clear as day."

The gang swallowed, processing this new information.

"Oh my god," Soda suddenly spoke. "What if they've made him some kind of slave?!"

"Soda-" Darry started as Johnny flinched.

"They-they could be making him do awful chores right now!" Soda was suddenly fearing the worst. "They could be making him do manual labor! We gotta save him!" Soda jumped out of his seat, suddenly filled with energy.

"Now wait a minute, Soda," Darry started.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Soda urged, grabbing Steve, bringing him to his feet.

Tim frowned as he watched them.

"Soda, just wait.....Soda, Soda!" Darry huffed, wide-eyed at his Soda. "We-We can't just rush out, you barely ate."

"How could I eat knowing Two-Bit's out there being tortured," Soda almost growled. "Now come on!"

"Soda, it's gettin' late," Darry sighed, frowning. "Maybe we should just call it a night and-"

Soda scowled at his brother. "Well you can go the f*** to sleep. But I ain't just gonna lie around while Two-Bit's in trouble. Come on, Steve," He huffed and marched out, Steve following.

Dally cleared his throat quietly and got up, following them out as well.

Darry sighed and shook his head, exasperated. "Why don't you sit and eat with us, Tim? We'll figure this out later."

Tim sat and got a plate. "Yeah, we'll get it figured out, Curtis. We'll get Mathews back."