Advantage Point
"Hutchinson… Starsky!" Captain Dobey called the two Detectives into his office a few days after the arrests had been made into the attack upon Lloyd Herman Eckworth, and Hutch's girlfriend Abigail Crabtree. Hutch still bore the tell-tale scars of their vendetta, which had seen him severely injured and his girlfriend almost killed. His right hand was still heavily swathed in bandages, although nothing could compare to the pain he'd felt at having to let his girlfriend go. Following the attack, which had left her fighting for her life, she had decided that she couldn't remain in Bay City anymore and had returned home to her family.
"What is it Cap'n?" Starsky asked as the pair entered the Captain's office, closing the door behind them.
"I've just received a report from the hospital on that kid you arrested." He explained. "Tommy… Tommy Marlowe… brain tumour, lucky if he's got three months tops."
"Poor kid." Starsky sighed, as Hutch slid into the nearest chair, and he sat down beside his partner.
Dobey nodded. "It would appear that he's seen sick for quite some time, which would apparently explain his sudden change of character."
"Then I guess Arnie really did take advantage of the poor guy's situation." Hutch growled.
"Scum like Arnie don't care whose toes they tread on or how many lives they screw up." Starsky nodded in response. "So long as they get what they want in the end."
"Rest assured that Arnie's going to get what's coming to him." Dobey reassured the two men. "As for the kid, our hands are tied, there's not a judge or a jury in the city worth their reputation who could convict a dyeing minor."
Hutch sighed, expression haunted by the memory of what he'd seen in that dirty motel room. "I could have killed him for what he did to Abby… gone against everything I believe in." He snarled. "I became a cop to protect people, but when I saw the pain, the fear in his eyes, I thought… who was there to protect Tommy from the likes of Arnie?"
"We're police officers Hutch." Dobey looked across at him. "We do our job and we do our best, we all became cops to protect people, but we cannot save everybody… Tommy's in the best possible hands now."
"He's just a kid." Hutch sighed.
"I guess the street doesn't discriminate on age." Starsky said sadly, patting his friend gently on the back. "Life can be unfair… but there's still something we can do. Put our case together against Arnie, get justice for Tommy, Lloyd and Abby… you alright partner?" He asked him.
Hutch nodded, looking across at his best friend. In that moment the two shared a moment of mutual understanding – liquid blue pools meeting with sapphire orbs. It was a sign of a true friendship, and the close bond which the two men shared.
"Haven' you two got work to do?" Dobey barked.
"Yes Cap'n." Starsky nodded. This provoked a smile from the two men – despite the fact that Hutch's heart was still evidently heavy – and they immediately leapt to their feet and turned to leave the room.
They didn't notice the smile upon Captain Dobey's face as they closed the office door behind them, but they didn't have too. Everybody in the department knew how much he cared for and valued the two men. It wouldn't have affected him quite so much if it had happened to anybody else.