The Monster's Roar!

As Hutch looked at the mirror, he feared the worst, but his instinct, as a cop took over. He walked, briskly, through the corridor. He had to get to his Captain, and fast!

Starsky had just relieved himself. It was a ritual he had started years ago and it had never failed him. He wasn't about to stop now, when he needed it most

He was washing up when WHAM! The world went black.

Two of Marcus' goons dressed as doctors placed him into a wheelchair, another, dressed as an escort officer handcuffed him to it. They left the restroom and walked quickly towards the front door. A police officer stopped them, "what the…." He began.

"He's just been sentenced. Collapsed in the dock" said the escort officer to the policeman, nodding towards the two doctors.

"Well you can't take him this way" advised the officer. "It's like Bedlam out there. Here I'll take you this way." He led the way. The goons smirked as they followed him. This was too easy.

As they approached the back door one of the doctors's administered a shot that rendered the policeman unconscious. They placed him in a janitor's closet and left the building.

Bundling Starsky into a dark van they "decided to teach the pig a lesson" and began to beat him. There was no struggle. Starsky was out of it and his body lay crumpled and bleeding on the van floor, whilst they enjoyed their onslaught.

As Starsky came round he was greeted with terrible pain and the face of an angel. An angel with a knife. He flinched. But she looked so kind and he was hurting so much. She brought the knife up and his attempt at bravado made her smile. She liked him, the handsome, dark man. She felt he had come to save her. She reassured him and her words were like a comfort blanket. So much pain, so much pain. When she offered to bathe him he would have committed to anything just to stop the pain. Slowly she peeled off his clothes. His body was battered and bruised. She stroked every cut, caressed every bruise until he was as relaxed as he could be. She helped him into the water and watched him for a while, fascinated. He will save me she thought but first I must save him.

When she was told to give him a drink she prayed it would kill him. Let him sleep, may he never awake.

He had tried once to escape and they had captured him. They enjoyed punishing him too. They tied him, arms raised, like a sacrifice. Somehow he managed to sleep. Every so often they would wake him with a kick or an object to burn his skin. Eventually they left him and he was surprised to wake the next morning, surprised he had survived…………………………………..

After he was rescued Hutch insisted he go to the hospital. Dobey ordered it! Starsky objected but deep down knew his body needed to heal.

His mind would take longer.

Was it because he had been in Nam? IS that why he knew what to expect? He knew all about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He still had nightmares of the night his father was killed, of the young soldiers, in his platoon, that were going home in pieces………….. in bags.

He had learned to store the images away in his mind. Every so often they would invade his thoughts, like a monster roaring through his head. Every time they found a body, another victim. Every time he would go to bed and wake in a cold sweat. On those nights he usually stayed at Hutch's, or Hutch stayed at his place. They had been partners for so long that even Hutch knew when the monster would roar.

Starsky would do it again. He'd file the images away. Every so often the monster would roar and Hutch would be there. The White Knight and Starsky knew he was safe.