Disclaimer: I do not own the guys; I just tend to play with them a bit…

Dedication: Thank you to all my many friends that I have found through writing fan fiction, you all know who you are…

Warnings: This one may be a bit dark at times and some scenes of torture lie ahead…

No Turning Back

Chapter One

Hutch sat at his desk, looking at the clock. His partner was late again. Only difference was this time, Dobey was waiting for him. He had already poked his head out of his private office twice, looking to see if the dark haired detective had arrived yet, leaving Hutch to have to try and make excuses for his friend. He could feel Dobey's frustration increase with every passing minute. Hutch knew that he had a new case to discuss with them, but he also knew that his Captain would prefer to speak with both of them at the same time. Hutch could feel his own irritation at his partner start to peek as time passed by.

Finally, Starsky came bouncing through the swinging doors as Hutch's head snapped up to meet his whistling partner. The tall blond stood to meet the brunet as he entered the room completely.

"Where in the hell have you been? You're almost an hour late and Dobey's been hollerin' for 30 minutes…asking me where the heck you were…" Hutch spat as Starsky smiled, raising a hand and passing him by.

"Look, if you had a night like I had, you'd understand…" Starsky responded as he took off his jacket and draped it across the back of his chair.

"Whatsa matter, what happened last night?" Hutch asked with genuine concern.

"Remember Sheila, the waitress from Harry's bar and grill, the one with the big…" Starsky raised his hands to his chest but was cut off by his partner.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know her, what about her?" Hutch asked impatiently.

"Well, her an' I went out last night…" he paused looking down at his desk modestly, "…then we went back to my place for a night cap." He looked up at his partner, his eyes sheepishly searching Hutch's icy blue ones for understanding.

"And?" Hutch prodded.

"And what? Do I really have to spell it out…she came back to my place…an'…an', well, let's just say she kept me up all night, I barely got any sleep at all…I'm beat, you're lucky I was only an hour late, this morning she was trying to get a command performance, if you know what I mean." Starsky explained as Hutch felt his face flush in anger.

The blond pursed his lips together as he spoke, "You mean to tell me, that you're late…"he looked around noticing that other detectives were taking note of their conversation he lowered his voice "…cause you got lucky? Is that what you're trying to tell me buddy?"

"You're just jealous…" Starsky snipped back as he thumbed through some folders on his desk, "If ya' want I can ask Sheila if she can hook you up with one of her friends, or maybe even her sister…she's also got big…"

"Starsky," both detectives snapped their heads around to find themselves face to face with a very angry Captain, "just what in the Sam hell took you so long to get your sorry behind into work?" The rotund black man asked, his eyes bulging.

"Well you see Cap' I was just telling Hutch here that last night…" Starsky caught his partner's eye, catching the warning, "…um last night I think I may have eaten something I shouldn't have…" The brunet shrugged at the tall blond, swearing he saw him blush. "And it made it hard to get outta bed this morning, sorry Cap, it won't happen again, I assure you."

"See to it that it doesn't! No both of you in my office, now!" Dobey bellowed as he turned and went back into his room, leaving the door open.

Hutch waved his arm gallantly, offering Starsky the lead as he took up the rear. Starsky knew that he had let his partner down, and he would have to make it up to him, he knew that lunch would be on him, probably for the rest of the week.

Starsky entered first and took his seat on the left of Dobey's desk, leaving Hutch to close the door and take the chair on the right. Their Captain sat behind his modest desk, it looking almost too small for a man his size, he rifled through a tan folder on his desk, separating photos and papers as his two finest detectives got settled in, exchanging curious glances with one another in anticipation.

"I got a lead on a new case I want the two of you to work on…I know you don't normally do missing persons, but I think there is more to this one." He handed the folder with the separated papers to Hutch, who leaned forward to take it willingly. "The family of this man," he directed them to the photo on top, "believes that something has happened to him."

"Why's that Cap?" Hutch could tell form the condition that the photo was many years old, it was even discolored slightly.

"His name is Gordon Silverstein, he's a 29 years old transient." Dobey explained.

"Well if he's transient, what makes him a missing person, where's he's missing from?" Starsky asked as he leaned over to look at the photo.

"It seems that even Mr. Silverstein had a routine, a routine that he had committed to firmly for the past 5 years. Every Friday night he would call his sister to check in. Now, they all knew that he was a drunk and was homeless, but the weekly phone calls were always placed, no exceptions…"

"And he stopped calling?" Starsky questioned.

"That's right, he stopped calling about four weeks ago, but from what his sister said, the last call from him is what has her so worried." Dobey explained.

"How's that Cap?" Hutch raised one eyebrow in query.

"He said that he had a run in, a run in with an anti-Semitic group that had threatened him and that he was scared…the following week, the calls just stopped."

Starsky sighed with a heavy heart, being Jewish himself made it hard for him to comprehend or have any type of compassion for people that felt that way, Hutch looked over seeing the strained look on his partner's face, knowing that this case was going to be a difficult one for him to have to face. The realization that people out there still felt that there was a 'superior' race, and that they needed to secure their place in this world.

"Where do we start?" Hutch asked his superior officer.

"Well, we checked the sisters phone records and the calls from her brother always came from the same place, a bar just on the outskirts of town."

"Looks like that's our starting point." Starsky said as he started to rise.

"Correction Starsky, it's his starting point." Dobey said pointedly as both Starsky and Hutch exchanged worried glances.

"Whattya mean by 'dat?" Starsky asked, his heart skipping a beat.

"Exactly what I said…I want Hutch to go in, alone…no offense Starsky, but you'll stick out like a sore thumb in that place. I want him to go into the bar, maybe poke around a bit…see what you can learn without letting on that you're a cop, at least not at first…I think that to be able to find out what really happened, you may have to go all the way in." Dobey explained.

"An' just what in the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime?" Starsky inquired, the feeling of fear and anticipation beginning to rise in the brunet's soul. They never liked when one had to go in without the other, it made them nervous, and for good cause, it always too a potentially volatile situation and actually increased the danger 10-fold.

"You're gonna sit back and do the leg work, check into leads, run the checks on the suspects, and basically keep your eye on him from a distance. I can't send Hutch in, claiming to be an anti-Semite and then show up with his obviously Jewish friend, now can I?"

"I don't like it." Starsky blurted out in protest.

"I knew you wouldn't, but we have no choice, this is they way we have to play it…now what I was thinking was you go in first Hutch, maybe appear there a few times, mingle with the regulars, then when the time is right, I'll send Starsky in, you and he will get into some kind of an altercation, where you will make a show of your disdain for a man of his…shall we say his values and beliefs." Dobey concluded.

"I think this assignment stinks Cap." Hutch retorted sharply.

"I know you do son, so do I…I myself have been subjected to racism all my life and believe me, there have been many of times that I have had to swallow my pride and go along with something for the greater good." Dobey looked up at the brunet who was now pacing the room, "You gonna be able to handle this assignment Starsky, or do I need to make some changes in the roster?"

"Nah, you don't need to make any changes, if you're about to send my partner into a hate group, I'll be damned if anyone besides me is gonna be watching his back…even if it is from a distance."

Both Starsky and Hutch locked eyes, the one action speaking volumes with out voicing a single word out loud. This was going to be hard on both of them, equally appalling and uncomfortable, but at least they could do this together and try to make it as easy as possible for the other, knowing that their best friend was with them the whole way.

"Now I think that when you two get together in the bar, Starsky you and he need to start a confrontation, I think you really need to take it over the top…make it a physical fight, we need people to see and believe that Hutch as much prejudice as possible. I know it is gonna be tough, but we have to make sure it's believable." Dobey stated.

"You want us to actually fight?" Hutch inquired, not completely comfortable with the idea.

"I think that is going to be the only way, don't you?"

"Look Hutch, it won't be the first time that we've had to pretend to fight, remember when we took on IA, and fought Knight and Williams…I had to deck you then, but you got over it. Look at this as your way to get even." Starsky joked.

"I don't want to have to hit you Starsk." Hutch added.

Starsky crossed the room and knelt next to his partner's chair, placing a supportive hand on the blonde's forearm.

"What, you afraid I'm too much of a sissy to take a punch from you? Give me a break, you can't hit that hard." Starsky tried desperately to make this easier on his friend. "Look Hutch, I know this is going to be tough, but you can do this, we can do this Buddy, you an' me."

Starsky stood and looked at his Captain. Dobey flipped his head slightly towards the door, giving the curly haired brunet a subtle hint to leave the two alone.

"You two keep talkin', I'll be right back, gotta use the John." Starsky excused himself and rushed out of the room and headed down the hall. In normal circumstances, he would have never left the room, anything that Dobey had to say regarding the case could have been said in front of both of them, but Starsky sensed the difficult time his partner was having with this one, and he really felt that Dobey needed to talk to him alone, and get to the root of Hutch's uneasiness.

As soon as the two were alone, Dobey opened the conversation, "You don't have to do this Hutchinson."

"Whattya mean?" Hutch asked, his mind elsewhere.

"I can see how you're struggling with this and I need to make sure you're okay with it." Dobey stated.

"M' fine, I just hate to think about a group of anti-Semitic people getting too close to me…you know…Starsk used to tell me about people he knew, back in New York, some of them were really prejudice, but then when he moved out here, it was even harder on him, a nice Jewish boy from New York, he stuck out like a sore thumb…I just hate the thought of trying to get close to a group like that, they make my skin crawl." Hutch spoke with a deep resolve and intent in his voice.

"You think I don't know about racism Hutchinson?" Dobey asked, looking up through hs brow at his officer.

"I'm sure you know all about it Cap'n, but I still think it stinks…"

"Would it make it any easier if I bring in someone else instead of Starsky to take your heat? I mean I don't have a lot of options, but I'm sure I can find someone. If that is what you decide, it stays between these four walls and you an' me…nothing gets past those doors. Hey, there's always Rosenfeld in traffic…"

Hutch furrowed his brow at his superior, "Cap, Rosenfeld is in his fifties, I'm not gonna pick a fight with a man that is about to be a grandfather!"

"Well, what about Steinmetz?" Dobey offered.

"Just forget it Cap, leave it at Starsky, I'll be fine…I just need to talk to my partner." Hutch said as he rose and moved to the door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open, "We'll check in with you tomorrow."

Dobey watched as Hutch disappeared behind the door, he knew this was going to be a tough assignment for the tall Nordic, but he also knew he would face it like he did everything else, bravely and unwaveringly.

As Hutch walked down the busy hallway towards the bathroom, his mind flashed back to a time when he and Starsky had set up another fight, a public feud when the were trying to catch some vigilante cops that were taking the law into their own hands and murdering suspects before they ever got to trial. They were at a bar called Nellie's and they staged what started out as a verbal confrontation, in front of several uniformed officers, and it escalated into a physical fight. Hutch would never forget the look on his partners face after the brunet's fist had connected with the blonde's jaw. He saw the instant pain and concern that nearly overcame the rambunctious detective, and how Starsky had to fight with the urge to run to Hutch's side to make sure he was okay, and to apologize for decking him. Hutch would never forget the haunted look that washed over his partners face, he himself didn't want to have to feel that kind of pain, and he didn't want to hurt him, physically or emotionally.

Hutch paused briefly at the door to the men's room, he slowly used his right hand to push the door open, taking his time as he passed through the doorway. He found his boisterous partner standing at the sink, washing his hands, looking up and catching his eyes in the reflection of the mirror in front of him.

"You an' Dobey done already? I figured I'd come back an' you two would still be at it." Starsky quipped.

"Yeah, were done…I'm taking the assignment Starsk." Hutch announced.

"I see, well if you've decided to take this, then may I suggest you get your mind on this case, and off of the fight with me. You need to just let it go, I know it's hard…you an' me have been trained to watch each others backs and protect the other one, not hurt them…but you gotta let go of that, even just for a little bit…it'll be okay, I promise…it won't be easy, but it'll be okay…" Starsky said his cobalt blue eyes trying desperately to pierce his partners. Hutch avoided his friends all knowing glare as he turned to walk out of the men's bathroom.

"Since when did you get all philosophical?" Hutch snorted as Starsky moved towards the door too.

"Me? Philosophical? Is that what that was called?" Starsky enjoyed making fun of himself as well as making fun of his buddy. "And you try to make it look hard to do…" The brunet shook his head as he made his way through the door that hutch held open for him, causing the tall blond to smile, shaking his head as well and following his spunky partner out of the station and to his Torino.

To Be Continued…