Partners
by: Takada Saiko and Gabrielle Day
Notes: We own nothing (except a few various characters), still, though we've adored these two... as long as I can remember. Gotta love the 'Me and Thee' duo.
The California night was cool, the breeze coming in off the ocean carried the tease of fresh air and saltwater that almost masked the stench of the alley. Two men stood by the backdoor of a poorly named nightclub that had only opened months before and would be gone before they conducted business again. Their faces were obscured by shadow, only the faintest illumination coming from the cigarettes they both held. They watched silently as others packed the trunk of a beige sedan with cocaine. One of the young men packing the car stood up and wiped his hands nervously on his pants. "What do we do with that?" he asked, jerking his thumb at a large black bag.
"Put it in the car. Take it the docks. Dump it." The taller of the shadowed men said gruffly with an exhale of smoke.
Once the car was packed, the shorter of the smokers handed over a briefcase. "This'll keep you." He said with a laugh.
"Damn straight. Pleasure doing business with you."
"Keep loose, Harry. I'll be in touch." The short one got into the front of the car and it vanished into the night.
"Late night, Hutchinson?"
Ken Hutchinson looked up from what might have been a decent breakfast has it not been tainted with the memories of the phone call he'd just ended before traipsing down to the common cafeteria that most cadets in the Police Academy shared. Hutch frowned at his bowl of would-be oatmeal and turned weary blue eyes up to a grinning John Colby. "Vanessa," he grumbled, and it said it all.
Colby pulled a chair out from the table and sat in it, leaned back slightly. "I hear you're getting a new roommate," he said, changing the subject for his friend's sake. "Some guy in from New York City, just back from a tour in 'Nam and decided to enlist in the police academy here."
Hutch shoved a spoonful of watery oatmeal into his mouth. "You officially know more than I do," he acknowledged.
"He probably won't last long. Thinks he's tough but he won't know what he's in for between the chow and the classes. I wonder if he's one of those science yuppies." Colby mused, biting into an apple.
Hutch shrugged. "He can't be worse than my ex." He said wryly. "How's your aim coming along? Come any closer to actually hitting the paper target?" he asked before Colby could comment on Vanessa.
"Better than yours," the other grinned, lightly punching the blond's shoulder. "When's the new guy comin' in?"
"I don't even know that. I guess I'm lucky to know I'm getting a roommate."
"Ya know, if you'd stayed married, they might have let you out of the dormitories," Colby laughed, scooting away before a half-hazard punch was thrown his way. "Maybe they'll let you marry the new guy!" he threw over his shoulder. "Catch you in class!"
Hutch gave him a half wave and began to clear his tray. "Oh, sure. That'll definitely make me a sure hire later on." he said under his breath. It was odd, getting a transfer during the term like this. Hutch wondered if he already had some police experience, or if his military experience made him an exception. He was sure to be a hardnosed, all for the rules type guy, which Hutch was okay with, as long as he didn't get any ideas about hassling him.
He glanced down at his wrist watch and his eyes widened at the time. He hadn't realized just how long he'd been on the phone with Vanessa until then. He still had to run back and grab his books before class. Shaking his head, set the tray away and jogged up the stairs to the dormitories at a steady pace. He stopped when he saw the door to his room standing wide open.
Hutch stood in the open doorway, carefully schooling his features. His gaze landed on a dark, curly headed figure who was putting stuff in the empty dresser. He was whistling lowly, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hutch cleared his throat. "Um, hi there."
The young man turned, whistle stopping mid stream. Blue eyes smiled. "Ken Hutchinson?" he asked, his accent proving Colby's description at least partially right. A distinct New York drawl had left his lips. He grinned broadly when Hutch nodded and stretched his hand out to shake the blond's. "Dave Starsky," he introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you, Dave." Hutch said. "Are you, uh, in the morning ethics in police work class?"
Dave shook his head. "Naw. I don't start until tomorrow. They're giving me the day to get unpacked and do a crash course orientation. You liking it so far?"
Hutch nodded. "Yeah. It's a challenge, but I like it. Hey, I hate to meet and run but I've got class. Maybe I'll catch you later?" Hutch asked. Eye contact, he decided. Dave Starsky had no fear of eye contact and even the briefest conversation had a strange kind of intensity.
"Alright," the dark haired young man answered. "Catch ya for lunch?"
Hutch watched him for half a second before nodding. Starsky grinned and turned back to his unpacking and whistling without another word. The blond shook his head grabbed his books that he needed, heading out the door.
Hutch slipped into his seat last second and leaned over to Colby. "New guy showed up," he whispered.
"Love at first sight?" Colby teased.
"Yes. I proposed on the spot." Hutch drawled.
The teacher cleared his throat. "We have a special guest today to speak to us about ethics specifically in the area of homicide. I'd like to introduce you to Detective Henry Sykes."
The burly man who had been leaning against the chalkboard casually stood to his full height, which was formidable, and ambled towards the center of the room. He was confident, but watchful. Hutch saw him look at every single member of the class, nodding slightly when they made eye contact. Sykes looked surprised for a split second, but hid it well. "Good morning." he said easily. "I've worked in homicide for ten years now in Bay City. Its hard work, brutal, and there are opportunities everywhere. How you use them defines you."
"Yeah, plenty of dead bodies to go around, folks. Don't push and don't shove," Colby murmured and the students around him sniggered. Hutch rolled his eyes.
Sykes smiled. "Yes. There are plenty of them. Keep in mind who you find standing over the bodies and you'll do well. Death is an ugly, brutal business. There are the druggies, the dealers that are easier to take. But the women, the kiddies...what are you going to do when you apprehend the man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend? What kind of justice will you serve him?" He made eye contact with Hutch who was absolutely still. "Go on, the question ain't rhetorical. You got the bastard, struggling against you, blood of an innocent girl on his hands still fresh. Tell me, cadet, what do you do?"
"Cuff him and read him his rights," Hutch said automatically, but his eyes were wide and unnerved. Sykes gave him a small nod and patient smile.
He shifted his gaze to Colby. "And you? Would you do the same? And then smack him in the face with the butt of your weapon? He is, after all, resisting arrest."
Colby cut his gaze to Hutch who didn't take his eyes off Sykes. He didn't like mind games, which was obviously this man's goal. But he couldn't fault the man's record. His clear rate was practically legendary. After the class was dismissed, and the teacher reminded them of the test next week, Sykes grabbed Hutch on his way out. "You have an interest in homicide, young man?"
Hutch momentarily thought of Vanessa. "Sometimes." he answered with a small smile.
"Those of some questions you'll really have to think about if that's the rout you're taking, son," Sykes said with an encouraging nod. "That and a lot more."
"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Hutch said as he glanced at the wall clock. "Sir, if you'll excuse me..."
"Of course. You have other classes. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." Hutch nodded and scooted out, needing to jog to make it to his next class. That and the next class passed in a blur as he thought about the detective's words. Before he knew it, noon had rolled around and he managed his way to the cafeteria. He didn't even notice that he'd gotten his food and sat down until he heard his name. "Ken Hutch, wasn't it?" Dave Starsky asked as he set his tray down and scooted a chair out for himself. "How was class?"
"Ah, Hutchinson. It was very enlightening." he said.
"That sounds very new agey." Starsky said with a laugh. "What're they teaching here, anyway?"
Hutch looked at him thoughtfully. "Do you think some people deserve to die?" the question was out of his mouth before he could think about it.
Starsky's blue eyes widened and he the sandwich that had been well on its way into his mouth stopped and hung there. "Well... uh... I guess so," he said at last, staring intensely at the blond. "What.. brought that up, huh?"
"Just something the guest speaker in class said. We're going to be dealing with the worst of the worst. They're not always going to get what they deserve." Hutch poked his salad, which had lost any appeal he'd once had for it.
A dark look crossed Starsky's face, a look that seemed like it should be foreign there. "There's plenty of people that don't get what they deserve," he said lowly. "Plenty of good men die and bad ones keep going." He glanced up, his eyes connecting with Hutch's. "You graduated college, didn't you? Stayed out of the war?"
"I did, " the bond acknowledged.
Starsky nodded. "Then I bet you've never seen anyone die."
"Not physically, no." Hutch said after a minute.
John Colby joined them, grinning. "Well, look, it's your first date! You must be the new guy. I'm John Colby, but everyone calls me Colby." He said, offering his hand to Starsky.
"Dave Starsky," the dark haired man answered, shaking the other man's hand. "Date?" Colby grinned and waved it off, watching Hutch look thoroughly embarrassed.
"Guess what I just heard from Sandra down at the dispatch?" Colby asked, eyes sparkling mischievously.
"You have an STD?" Hutch asked.
"Ouch. I'm telling Sandra you think she's that kind of girl." Colby said. "A body just washed up down at the docks. Guess whose jurisdiction it falls under?"
Hutch tilted his head. "Sykes?"
Colby nodded. "You got it, baby."
"Sykes?" Starsky asked around his sandwich.
"The guest speaker I was talking about," Hutch offered.
"I think he'd let us come along for a look if you asked," Colby continued, eyeing Hutch with a look that the blond didn't like.
"Why would you think that?" he asked warily.
"Oh, come on, he obviously liked you." Colby turned to Starsky conspiratorially. "It's no wonder. Your boy Hutchinson here is a boy scout through and through." He turned back to Hutch. "Come on, Hutchinson. I'm dying to do something outside class. You're the ticket."
"Boy scout?" Starsky asked with his nose wrinkled. "Ah, c'mon, Hutch, I had you pegged for a more adventurous type." He turned to Colby. "You think you two could swing one more on this?"
"Guys..." Hutch said. He meant it to come out as a warning, but it fell more to the side of a plea. Two pairs of big eyes turned on him. "Oh, jeeze." Hutch grumbled. "All right, keep your panties on. I'll go ask if we can all go."
A grin broke out on Starsky and Colby's faces. Hutch dug back into his salad, but Colby caught his hand. "You'll have to go now if we hope to get out of the rest of classes today for this."
Hutch started to protest but Starsky cut him off. "We'll treat you later. Go on!" As Hutch was walking away Starsky turned to Colby and asked, "Do you know of any good taco stands around here?"
Hutch groaned to himself, hearing his best friend make nice with his new roommate. This was not a friendship that was going to allow him a breath of air. "Excuse me! Detective Sykes!" he called when he saw the tall cop.
Sykes turned around and looked pleased to see the young man approaching him. "What can I do for you, Hutchinson?"
"Well, sir, one of the other cadets overheard that you might be going out to look at a new case and we were wondering if we might come and observe? We'll stay out of the way." Hutch offered hopefully.
"Down at the docks? I was just about to leave out. You and who else?"
"Colby and Starsky. Starsky just transferred in."
"Green?" the detective laughed. "I don't want to scare the new kid off."
Hutch glanced back to see his friend and roommate standing at the end of the hall. "I don't think that will be a problem, sir. Starsky's former military."
"Vietnam?" Sykes asked and Hutch nodded. "Well, I suppose then. You boys coming?" he called to the two loiterers
Colby and Starsky practically jumped to attention and jogged to catch up to the group. "This will take up the rest of your afternoon, I'll have you know." Sykes said, eyeing each of them. They shrugged, grins unable to be contained.
There was an excited tension all the way down to the docks, all three young men cramped into the back of Sykes' personal vehicle. Hutch was seated against the window, watching the streets fly by until they pulled up and piled out. Cops were swarming the docks and there was what looked like a body bag laid out.
"You don't have to be that excited," Starsky said as he rolled his eyes at Colby.
"It's not that I'm excited the guy's dead," the young cadet explained, "just that we get to see some action."
"You'll be seeing the action from ten feet behind me at all times, if you please." Sykes said.
"Yes, sir." They all chirped. They followed Sykes up to the officer in charge of the scene.
"O'Connor." Sykes greeted. "What have we got?"
O'Conner, stared at the three young men in street clothes hanging around behind the detective, but when no introduction was forthcoming sighed. "Teenage boy. He hasn't been in the water long, from what the ME can tell. Caucasian, no sign of being a druggie."
"How can you tell that?" Hutch asked, squinting towards the bag.
Sykes gave him a look, but grunted at O'Connor when an answer was not immediately given. "Er, well, because there are no puncture marks on either of his arms."
Hutch looked skeptical, but didn't contradict him.
"There are plenty of other ways to do drugs besides shootin' it up," Starsky voiced, looking at O'Conner strangely.
"Listen, kids," the cop said with a frown. "We're working on a murder investigation, so if you don't mind..."
They murmured apologies, but didn't move back any further. When they uncovered the face, Hutch thought it was a credit to them all that nobody upchucked. He certainly felt like it, but couldn't tell if the others did, too. But then, the bloated figure in front of them probably wasn't the worst Starsky had seen. Or caused. He thought. Hutch grimaced to himself. It was hard to picture the buoyant young man in that kind of setting. Hutch's eyes drifted over the bruised face before they covered it back up.
"Any ID?" Sykes asked. O'Connor shook his head.
"Coulda been anyone."
"How many missing teenagers could there be in town?" Colby asked, looking a bit green in the face.
"You'd be surprised," Starsky answered. When eyes turned on him he shrugged. "My dad was a cop in New York City. I heard all kinds of stories growing up."
"If you don't mind," O'Conner snapped, cutting off the running commentary.
"In fact, it might be better if the three of you waited by the car. I'll just have a quick word with Officer O'Connor here."
Starsky and Hutch shot each other a quick look, both feeling the reaction was a little too severe. They had no options, though, and the three retreated to Sykes' vehicle. Colby slumped against the hood, dejected. "That sucks." he grumbled.
Starsky watched Hutch, who was slouched, hands in his pockets, but his bright blue gaze was fixed on Sykes, who had his back to him. "Can you make out what they're sayin'?"
Hutch looked startled by the question. "No."
Starsky stepped up next to him, squinting at the distance. "Somethin' about the third one this month," he murmured, his eyes trained carefully on O'Conner. He turned his gaze back to the blond. "You okay?"
"Something isn't right." Hutch said carefully.
Starsky grinned. "Your Spidey sense tingling?"
The severe look on the blonde's face eased and he smiled briefly. "Maybe. Why would Sykes agree to bring us if he didn't want us to overhear what was going on?"
Starsky leaned back on the vehicle, a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe to give us a sense of what we'd be doing," he thought out loud. "I mean, he probably thought we'd lose our lunches over that and he'd have a point to make." He shrugged. "Or it could be something entirely unrelated. I'm wondering why that O'Conner was so tight lipped about really general stuff. I could understand if it was particular to the case, but the way he was acting was…off."
Hutch narrowed his eyes as a thought struck him. "Maybe he didn't like who he found standing over the body."
Further musings were cut off as Sykes joined them. "All right boys! Back to work for you. Good job not losing your lunches. You all might hack it yet."
"I think the verdicts still out on Colby," Starsky joked, giving the young man a playful shove.
"Shuddup," Colby grumbled.
Starsky grinned as he slid into the car, his mind working quietly on the interesting bit that had been put in front of them. True, it could all be nothing, but there was always that chance, that slim chance, that it was something more. He knew what his gut was telling him, and he wondered if Hutch's was echoing that same idea.
Sykes dropped them off with a wave and a careful look at Starsky, then Hutch. "You boys stay out of trouble now. I'll make sure to say hello if they invite me back."
The three of them waved and watched as he drove away. "Shame that kid had no ID." Colby said. "You think they'll find any family?"
"Hard to say. Face was pretty messed up." Starsky replied.
"Sykes has a great clear rate. You probably need to know who the victim is to find out who killed them." Hutch said.
"What are you two doin' tonight?" Starsky asked suddenly, looking up at the dormitories that they were supposed to be entering. He received two curious glances. "Well, I've been thinking..."
Colby's interest peaked, excited at the prospect of spontaneous mischief. "Yes?"
Hutch looked dubious. "Aren't you supposed to be getting oriented?" he asked.
Starsky shrugged. "Buncha rules and regulations. Can't be any worse than the military." He grinned broadly, a child-like mischief playing in his blue eyes. "What'd ya say that after lights out that we go back down to the docks and do some snooping around?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Colby said. "You never know...we may get promoted to Detective Sergeants straight out of the academy."
Or expelled, Hutch thought. But Starsky was right, there was something very strange going on with the officers investigating the case of the unidentified boy. Cop yet or not, someone needed to push. "All right. I'm in." Hutch said finally.
"Either of you have a car?" Starsky asked, looking between the two.
"Hutch does," Colby offered.
"Why my car?" Hutch demanded.
"Because mine's in the shop," Colby answered.
"Then it's settled. Meet up in the parking lot around midnight?" Starsky asked.
"Absolutely. Hutch's car will fit right in down at the docks. We'll be a real undercover operation." Colby said.
When they gathered late that night, Starsky understood what he meant. He started laughing before he even reached the passenger side door. "You've got to be kidding me! Where did you find this tugboat? Wait don't tell me...down at the docks?"
"It was my high school graduation gift," Hutch grumbled.
"Yeah, that's what, five years ago? What the hell happened to it between then and now?" Starsky asked with a laugh. "Will it even make it to the docks?"
"Listen, looks aren't everything, buster. She's a perfect lady. She's trustworthy and reliable and is solid as the rock of Gibraltar. So can it or you can ride in the trunk."
Starsky's laughter abruptly stopped. "That's really mean, you know that?" he said seriously. They piled into the car and Hutch was sure he heard Starsky still sniggering.
"So you don't have a car yet, Starsky?" Colby asked.
"Nah. I sold mine in New York when I finished my service. I'm a free agent now." Starsky replied waggling his eyebrows. "And Hutch, as much as I like ya, I'm not taking your advice for car shopping."
"The trunk is not as spacious as you might think," the blond warned and Starsky slouched in his seat.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Don't make fun of the man's car."
"To his face," Colby piped in from the back
"Imagine how cozy it would be with two of you in there." Hutch mused. "And how quiet it would be in here."
Colby leaned up from the back and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, cut your lights. I can see the police tape from where they pulled the body in."
Hutch nodded and killed the lights. He pulled the car up behind what looked like a large storage shed and killed the engine as well. Quietly the three young cadets stepped from the car, all jokes dying on their lips. Now it was down to very serious business. There were no more police left on the scene, as nothing was going to be deduced by the moonlight - or what little of the moon shone that night - but the tape clearly told civilians that they were not allowed on the dock at that time. Starsky was the first to scoot under the flimsy barrier and motion to the others.
Hutch was right behind him, wishing they had thought to bring some sort of weaponry. A baseball bat...anything that would help them in a fight. He was a pretty decent fist fighter from his years in college, but the kind of people you might run into out here didn't play by any sort of rules. And if they did it was only one...fight until you or the other guy dies.
"So you think the body had been in the water a while?" Colby whispered.
"No." Hutch whispered back.
"But you said the face was really messed up, and it looked awful." They were standing at the end of the dock, water gently lapping beneath them.
"Most of the swelling was from a beating, didn't you notice the fresh bruises? And the rest of the body wasn't swollen like it had been there a long time."
"What was that?" Hutch and Colby turned at the sound of Starsky's voice. It was hard to make out his face in the dark, but it looked like his eyes were trained on something in the deeper shadows. "I saw something move," he answered the unvoiced question. "Back there. By those buildings."
"Could just be a boat hand," Colby murmured.
"No. This place is sealed off. They're not supposed to be here." The dark haired man stepped towards the sheds, and when he noticed no one was following, he looked back. "You two comin'?"
"Starsky...we're not supposed to be here." Hutch pointed out.
Starsky shrugged. "Suit yourselves." He headed towards the shadows.
Hutch felt something in his stomach twist. "Wait!" he whispered, heading after him
White teeth flashed in a wide grin in the dark. "Change your mind?"
"Well, I can't let you go in without backup," Hutch grumbled. He turned back to Colby. "Watch our backs, alright?"
"No need to ask," his friend answered and the other two men moved upward toward the sheds.
They crept around the side of the first shed, sticking close to the shadows. Hutch caught sight of the movement. Starsky was right again, there was someone else out here on the docks with them. The moved forward until Starsky reached a hand back and caught Hutch's arm. "Wait." he hissed under his breath.
The blond looked nervously towards his roommate. He'd never done anything quite like this before and he wasn't sure what to expect. He watched Starsky count barely moving shadows until he reached a total of three figures in the dark. Three unknown figures that could, potentially, just be boat hands trying to make up for time lost while the police had everything under investigation during the day time. That was the best possibility. The worst was that they were linked to the murder and had come to clear away any more evidence before the police found it the next day.
One of the figures stepped forward, just enough so that his shoes and the bottom half of his pants were visible. "Boss? Is that you?" came the tentative question from the darkness.
Hutch felt his breath catch. He turned a questioning eye to Starsky who was perfectly still. Thankfully they had both thought head to wear dark clothes, and as far as they knew, they were not visible.
"Boss?" the question came again and the two cadets saw the man pull a gun from his belt. "Hey guys, I thought I heard somethin' over there!" he called out to the other two.
Starsky's fingers twisted in Hutch's shirt and Hutch could feel the tension begin to push him back. Retreating was their only option, and it wasn't likely they were going to get away unnoticed. Hutch tensed again when he heard footsteps running in their direction.
"Guys! We gotta get out of here!" Colby's voice rang out.
"Geeze. Run!" Starsky hissed, pushing Hutch back the way they came.
Colby was standing at the bottom of the old, rickety stairs that had led up to the storage houses, and for all the brains that he had, he was standing right in the light. He ducked out of the way as gunshots filled the night, and Starsky immediately ducked and rolled, taking Hutch with him. They landed in an awkward pile of limbs as the blond had not been ready for the movement and Starsky struggled to get up. "Go!" he growled out, trying to untangle himself from Hutch.
"Set it off now!" they heard one of the men yell and the two young cadets finally found their footing.
"That... does not sound good," Starsky managed.
Hutch heard the distinct sound of fire quickly eating its way through an accelerant. He cursed and hauled Starsky to his feet, propelling him towards the water. "Go! Colby, get down!" He shouted. There was a hissing sound and the world behind them erupted
Hutch felt himself lifted off his feet and thrown forward. He might have heard Starsky yell, but he wasn't sure as he found himself tumbling into the water, the moveable substance softening the blow. He forced himself upward and looked around for his friend. Colby might have missed the blast, but Starsky had been right next to him. "Starsky?" he called out, his voice sounding funny to his ringing ears. He bobbed in the water, trying to look around as best as he could.
"Hutch!" Colby called from the bank. At least he'd been able to miss it, apparently.
"Can't find Starsky," Hutch managed to call back, unintentionally gulping in water as he did.
Colby stood from his crouched position, squinting against the darkness and light. His eyes finally came to rest on a figure lying motionless on the edge of the peer, half hanging off and looking unnaturally limp. "I see him!" Colby hissed out, pointing.
Hutch turned in the water, and the sight of the man lying motionless on the pier made his blood run cold. "Starsky?" he called, or tried to. He coughed violently, his body rejecting the ocean water he'd inhaled. He swam towards a place on the dock where he could pull himself out of the water. "Starsky!"
Colby was already at the place and helped haul his friend from the water. "I think we've pushed the limits this time, Hutch," he murmured as they knelt next to the still man.
Hutch didn't reply as he reached a tentative hand to Starsky. It was difficult to tell how badly he was hurt in the lighting they had. "Starsky? Wake up, we need to get out of here," he urged, receiving a groan for his efforts.
"Hutch?" Starsky sounded confused and he tried to sit up, listing violently to the right as he did so.
Hutch caught him and eased one arm over his shoulders. "Hey, buddy. Take it easy. We're gonna get you back, okay? Can you stand up?"
"Did the bad guys get away?" Starsky asked as Hutch and Colby carefully hoisted the curly haired man to his feet
"Yeah, I think so," Hutch murmured. "C'mon, we have to get you to a doctor."
Starsky stopped, squirmy against the two friends. "No, we need to head back to the rooms. If we don't, there's a good chance we'll never see graduation day. They'll throw us out faster than we could tell them not to."
"You were pre-med once upon a time. Think you can patch him up?" Colby asked his friend.
Hutch frowned. "If that's how we've got to do it. Let's go."
It was a slow process, but eventually they got Starsky into the front seat and were on their way. Hutch figured he'd be just fine when he begged to stop for fast food on the way back. And just because they'd been almost blown up, Hutch agreed. It was nearly three in the morning by the time that Colby set off for his own room and Starsky and Hutch limped their way to theirs. After the door closed behind them, both men sank gratefully to their beds. Hutch felt like his back was on fire and he was sure that his shirt was ruined. From his place he glanced over at Starsky, for the first time having any real light to see him by since the explosion. The dark haired man, currently lying sprawled out on the narrow bed, looked slightly flushed and was a bit scraped up, but from where Hutch sat that looked to be the worst of it.
"Your back okay?" Starsky asked suddenly, not opening his eyes as he spoke. "Looked pretty raw when we walked in."
"It's a little sore. Some disinfectant and some aloe and I'll be right as rain. Let me look at your head. I don't want you running around with a concussion."
Starsky waved the probing hands off. Yes, his head hurt, but so did his ribs and he was sure he'd done something to his ankle. His shoulder felt funny, too, now that he was taking inventory. Why did everything always hurt worse an hour or so after? Damn that adrenaline rush.
Hutch considered letting himself be waved off, then changed his mind. He pushed Starsky's hand aside and gently ran his fingers over his roommate's scalp, noting the bump. He noted the slightly swollen shoulder and sore ribs. "I'm going to run down to the first floor and get some ice out of the ice maker. I can wrap your ribs if you like and you should take some i. for the swelling." Hutch said as he stood, pulling the ruined shirt off over his head. He tossed in the trash can and pulled a clean t-shirt out of his drawer. "I'll be right back."
Starsky mumbled an unintelligent response into the bedspread and heard the door shut. He groaned to himself as he tried to sit up, failed, and eventually resigned himself to lying face down against the bed. He had managed, somehow, to come back from two tours in Vietnam relatively intact, and he'd be damned if this got him. He just hoped that it all felt worse than it really was and he'd roll right out of bed for classes the next morning. And training... there'd be a run, for sure. He groaned again at the thought.
Hutch came back to find Starsky snoring softly. He shook his head and jostled him enough to get him to swallow some pills and the man barely stirred after that, even when Hutch cleaned the couple of scrapes and placed bags of ice wrapped in towels against the swollen spots
The blond frowned slightly at how warm the other man's skin felt to the touch and the beads of sweat that had gathered against his forehead in such a short amount of time. "Starsky?" he called quietly. He'd much rather have just gone to bed, but he needed to make sure. "Starsky, wake up, huh?" Two blue eyes fluttered open and his eyelids hung heavily. "What?" he grumbled
"Tell me your name, rank, and serial number. Can you do that for me? And after that, tell me what happened at the dock tonight." Hutch asked quietly.
Starsky blinked several times, shifting his weight so that he had a better look at his roommate. "Listen, Hutch, I know you're playin' doctor and everything right now, but we're going to have a PT run in the morning and I'm going to need a little sleep before that, huh? You too, I'd guess."
Hutch ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Just tell me, damn it, and we can both get some sleep."
Starsky rattled off the information, making a joke about Hutch better not be taking notes on his personal information. He paused when he got to the docks. "You and Colby and me went up there to see if we could figure out anything new because something wasn't right today... You and I went up to the sheds and the men saw us. Somehow we ended up skipping a bunch of space between the sheds and the dock, but that's all a little fuzzy. Did I pass the test, Doc?" Starsky flashed a wide, charming grin at this.
"Yeah. No permanent brain damage assessed." Hutch said dryly. He stood, walked over to his own bed, and collapsed. "Good night, Starsky. Next time, remind me not to let you talk me into snooping around."
The dark haired man chuckled as he braced himself up long enough to pull back the bed sheets and crawl into bed. "You gotta admit it wasn't as bad as it could have been."
"Oh sure. Any step above dead is a bonus." Hutch mumbled. He dragged his pillow under his head, grateful for the cool pillowcase. "Makes you wonder who 'boss' is, though."
Starsky reached up to the lamp and switched it off. "I'd say we can figure that out tomorrow. G'night, Hutch. Been a memorable first day."
TBC
A/N: So I've come to a conclusion. The creators of Starsky and Hutch had no care for continuality. I'm in the middle of rewatching the series right now (been a fan most of my life and don't think I've ever sat down to watch it straight through) and realized that they're all over the board when it comes to number of years, how these two met, etc etc... We actually started this fic off, originally, with them meeting in Bay City just after they'd each been promoted to Detective and assigned to one another, but then I got to the episode... oh good grief, I don't remember the name, but it's called 'the deadly impostor' or something like that. It's when John Colby shows up... Anyway, I found that one and realized they'd been in the academy together, but the first episode leads you to believe that they'd only known each other 3 years... and they talk about how Starsky's spent time in New York... It's all over the place. Ugh. Anyway, hope you enjoy. R&R please. And we'll have the next part up in the next day or so.