Chapter One

Hutch grinned as he watched his partner gyrating on the dance floor with his girlfriend. He dropped his arm over the back of the booth bench and pulled his own date, Irene, in for a kiss then picked up his beer and took a long swig.

"What are you smiling about?" Irene asked, laughing.

"Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the show," he gestured toward Starsky and Michelle out on the floor.

Irene leaned into Hutch and they both watched the couple until they headed back to the booth.

Starsky was still wiggling his hips as he approached the table. Michelle sat down and breathed a sigh of relief as she fanned herself. "I'm broiling." She picked up her drink and took a sip.

"Ah, Michelle, Ma Belle. You're a lightweight."

Michelle looked incredulous. "A lightweight?"

"That's what I said," Starsky smirked.

"Well, give me a minute and I'll be back out there."

Starsky flopped down next to her. "See what I mean? A lightweight."

"Give her a break, Starsk. You've been out there almost non-stop."

"Thft, what do you know old man? You two danced one dance."

"Two," Irene held up two fingers.

"Woop-de-doo," Starsky said twirling his own finger in the air.

Irene looked over at Hutch. "He has a point. We have been fuddy duddies tonight."

"Challenge accepted, my dear," Hutch said gallantly as he slid out of the booth and reached for Irene's hand. The two danced out onto the floor as Starsky and Michelle watched.

Starsky looked over at his girlfriend and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Nuh uh, I'm serious, Dave. I need to take a breather. I need to save my strength."

Starsky's lop-sided grin widened. "Oh yeah, what for?" His eyebrows waggled and Michelle giggled. A few minutes later Hutch and Irene returned to the booth. "Already? You oughta be ashamed, Grandpa."

"Yeah yeah, stow it, Starsk. I'm tired," Hutch said leaning back.

"Tired? From chasing down that suspect? Oh come on."

"Lighten up, David," Irene said. She leaned into Hutch and kissed his cheek.

"What do you say, Ma Michelle?" Starsky pointed at the dance floor. "One more for the road?"

Michelle let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble?" Starsky asked with a leer.

"Uh, Starsk," Hutch began, "that's not what you think it means."

"Shut up, Partner. It's all in how you say it." Starsky took Michelle's hand and they slid out of the booth leaving Hutch and Irene shaking their heads.

Hutch paid the tab as Starsky and his girl finished their dance. They met at the door.

"Hang on, gotta make a pit stop." Michelle hurried down the hall to the ladies room.

"Not a bad idea. Be right back," Irene said and followed her.

Hutch leaned against the wall and smiled at his partner who was grinning as he watched the girls disappear. "You two seem to be getting serious."

Starsky looked over at his friend and nodded. "We are. If she's not at my place, I'm at her's."

"That's great, Starsk. I'm happy for you."

"What about you and Irene? She seems great."

Hutch's smile faded a bit. "She is, really. She is."

"But?"

Hutch shrugged. "I don't know. I have yet to find someone that…" his voice trailed off.

"That makes you feel like you did with Gillian."

Hutch looked down at his shoes and nodded. "Yeah."

"It'll happen, Hutch. It will."

Hutch looked up at Starsky. "So, you and Michelle…you feel about her like you felt about Terry?"

Starsky looked away. After a moment, he said softly, "No."

Hutch felt bad and placed a hand on Starsky's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry, Buddy."

"It's okay," Starsky said with a small smile. He heard the girls returning and looked down the hall. "Terry was a once in a lifetime, ya know?"

Hutch drew in a breath and nodded before putting on a smile for Irene. He put his arm around her and led her out into the parking lot. Starsky did the same with Michelle.

The next day Starsky came bounding into the squad room with even more pep than usual. He called out a hello to a uniformed officer as he punched the man in the shoulder.

"Hey, watch it, Starsky. That hurt," the man said, rubbing his arm.

"Oh, sorry about that, Ted. Don't know my own strength." Starsky started bouncing on his toes and punching at the air like a prize fighter readying for a match. Ted took a step back, turned away and retreated quickly. Starsky just shrugged and bounced over to Hutch who was sitting at his desk. Hutch threw up his hands.

"Easy, Starsk."

Starsky stopped bouncing and waved a disgusted hand at his partner. "Aw, you're no fun."

Hutch got up and poured himself a cup of coffee. "I'd offer you a cup but I think you've had enough already." He placed his mug down on his desk and sat back down.

Starsky sat down across from him. "Haven't had any coffee today." He picked up a file and opened it.

Hutch paused mid sip and looked up surprised. "What? How can that be? Without coffee, you wouldn't even be out of your apartment by now, let alone be this…animated."

"Yeah, I know. That is pretty much what Michelle says. I think it is my morning run that gets me pumped."

Hutch had to put down his coffee after almost spitting it across the desk. "Morning? Run?"

"Yeah, I've been known to jog!" Starsky said defensively.

"Jog, yes – but usually after I beg you and never in the morning. How long has this been going on?"

Starsky picked up his pencil and began to tap it on the desk as he browsed through the folder in front of him. "A couple of weeks. Michelle and I had gotten into the habit of walking in that park near my place, you know the one?" Starsky looked up and Hutch nodded. "We stopped one day to try a free sample of an energy drink and the woman and I started talking…"

"Wait, what woman?"

"The woman giving out the samples."

"Oh, so this is about a chick. And Michelle was with you?" Hutch screwed up his face and tsk'ed his tongue. "Starsk." Hutch shook his head back and forth.

Starsky looked up again. "No, it isn't like that. Geez, Hutch. Get your mind out of the gutter, would ya?" Starsky made a face back at his partner as Hutch chuckled. "This woman is old. Probably close to 52 or somethin'! Anyway, we got to chatting about things and I went back a few more times." Starsky started tapping the pencil on his chin as the thought. "She was saying she was going to start putting her cart out on the path in the morning."

Hutch waited for Starsky to continue but when he didn't, he prodded, "And?"

"I don't know, for some reason I just started going out early. I really like this energy drink and I buy one, sit and enjoy the scenery then go for a run."

"What the heck is an energy drink, anyway?"

"She said it has vitamins and junk in it. Actually sounds right up your alley, Hutch. This one takes great, though. Nice and sweet."

"Sounds like just a bunch of sugar and caffeine if you ask me. You shouldn't put that into your body, Starsky."

"Well, I like it. Besides, I felt bad for her. Wanted to help her out, ya know?"

"Why's that?"

"Well, being blind, she has limited chances to…"

"She's blind?"

"Yeah, didn't I mention that?"

"No, you did not."

"Well, she is. Just trying to help her out. Besides, it got me running, didn't it?" Starsky picked up another pencil and started a drum solo on the various office supplies on the desk, ending with a rim shot on the hat of the ceramic pig to his left. Hutch just shook his head and went back to his report.

At the end of the week, Hutch was still amazed at the energy his partner had each morning but it was becoming a little more annoying every day. The other men and women in the squad room cleared a path when Starsky came in each morning. And when it was Starsky's turn to drive, Hutch swore he was going to leave dents in the shape of his fingers in the armrest of the Torino.

Hutch picked up the phone as it rang. He covered his free ear to drown out the sound of Starsky's foot thumping beneath the desk. He hung up the phone and stated, "Let's go, Starsk. That was Old Joe. He said he just spotted Richard Prescott over on Fifth."

"All right!" Starsky exclaimed, grabbing his jacket and heading out of the squad room. "I'll drive!"

Hutch's stomach lurched at the thought of riding in the striped tomato again.

Hutch scanned his side of the street, glad that Starsky had to slow down once they arrived on Fifth Avenue. "Anything?" he asked without looking over at Starsky.

"Nope, nuthin'."

"Turn around and head down again. Maybe we missed him."

"Okay," Starsky said as he made a sudden u-turn. Cars screeched to a halt on both sides of the road and horns blared.

"Holy shit, Starsk!" Hutch yelled out as he grabbed onto the armrest yet again. "You are going to get us both killed."

"Oh ease up," Starsky replied calmly.

Just as Hutch was about to continue his complaint, he spotted Prescott stepping out onto the sidewalk from a pawn shop on his right. "There!"

Prescott had heard the sound of the horns and squealing tires when Starsky u-turned. He recognized the Torino and broke into a run. Starsky gunned the engine, sped ahead then slammed on the brakes so Hutch could jump out and chase Prescott on foot. Hutch barely had time to push the car door shut behind him when Starsky hit the gas and raced down the road to cut Prescott off.

Hutch broke into an easy run, knowing it wouldn't be difficult to catch up with the overweight man. He called out for him to stop but was not surprised when Prescott continued to run down the street. Hutch closed the gap and would have been able to grab the suspect by the collar but suddenly he saw a flash of red to his left as Starsky pulled into the alley ahead of Prescott, jumped out of his car, quickly climbing over the hood, then vaulted into the air, landing on top of the man.

Hutch slowed down, realizing Starsky had Prescott but was shocked at what he saw next. Starsky, flipped the man onto his back and without warning, punched him in the face. Prescott was caught off guard and didn't have a chance to shield himself from the attack. His lip split open, spraying blood.

"What the…?" Hutch said to himself, he covered the last few yards between him and his partner quickly, just in time to grab Starsky's fist before he could land another blow on the stunned man beneath him. He pulled Starsky to his feet.

"Starsky, what the hell are you doing?" Hutch yelled. He was shocked when Starsky spun around and raised his opposite fist as if he was going to punch Hutch. "Whoa!" Hutch pushed Starsky away. Starsky stumbled back then looked from Hutch to Prescott still lying on the ground.

"Oh," Starsky said quietly. "Sorry, Hutch."

Hutch knelt down and grabbed Prescott's wrist as he pulled his handcuffs from his belt. He had to wrestle briefly with the man on the ground as he was trying to scuffle backwards away from Hutch, afraid he would again be punched.

"Relax, Prescott. You are under arrest." Hutch continued to recite the Miranda rights to the now-handcuffed man. He glanced over at Starsky who was still in the spot he was in when Hutch pushed him. Hutch opened the back door of Starsky's car and carefully guided Prescott into the back. He then opened the passenger side door and went to climb in. He looked over at Starsky. "You coming?"

Starsky came out of his shock. "Yeah, I'm comin'."

"Do you want me to drive?" Hutch offered.

"No," Starsky stated adamantly.

Once at the station, Hutch put Prescott into an interrogation room, uncuffed him and handed him his handkerchief.

"Th…thanks." Prescott took the cloth and carefully dabbed at his still dripping lip.

Starsky entered the room and went to close the door behind him but Hutch whirled around, placed his hand on Starsky's chest and pushed him back into the hall. "A word, please," Hutch hissed. After shutting the door, Hutch turned to Starsky. "What the hell was that about?" Hutch said, barely able to control the volume of his voice.

"What?" Starsky asked, obviously not aware of what his friend was asking.

"What do you mean, 'what'? You used excessive force on Prescott. I would have had him if you hadn't jumped him.

"Hey, you don't know that for sure."

"Oh come on, Starsky! Of course I know it. And you know it too. What was that back there? Not to mention you almost clocked me too!" Hutch forced himself to calm down as people in the corridor stopped to stare at them.

"Yeah, sorry. Sorry, Hutch. Just got caught up in it, ya know?"

"Oh really? If you were a rookie, I'd say 'Sure, I know.' But you're not and you may have just blown our case; you know that, don't you?"

Starsky hung his head but didn't reply. Completely exasperated, Hutch turned back to the interrogation room door. "Stay here. I'll handle this one myself."