OK, here's your update. Thanks for the reviews guys! Responses next time..
Chapter 1
"Starsky, will you stop going on about it?"
"Do you know how long I've waited for that? I'll tell you! Since my last one was stolen!"
"OK, leave it!"
"You promised you'd protect it with your life!"
Hutch sighed and looked out of the window. The conversation had been continuing in this vein since Starsky had picked him up that morning. After Hutch, in his wisdom, had been stupid enough to own up to his partner that he had scratched Starsky's cherished Fats Domino record, which the other Detective had just managed to obtain. And Starsky was not going to let him hear the end of it.
"I was crazy to lend it to you. You don't even like "Blueberry Hill" that much!"
Hutch groaned. "Starsk, I said I was sorry. Look, I'll buy you another one, OK?"
Starsky gave his partner a hard stare and then swung his Torino around a bend a little too quickly, making Hutch exclaim, "Watch it!"
Starsky ignored the comment. "Where you gonna find another record, hey, buddy boy?! It´s taken years for me to get hold of the one you ruined!"
Hutch declined to reply to this. He shook his head in wonder. He knew Starsky would keep on at him the whole damn day about this, and he seriously considered leaping out of the speeding Torino--even that seemed like a better option than staying in the car with his sulking partner.
Starsky mumbled under his breath for a while, glancing at Hutch every so often, a frown on his face. He was just about to make another scathing comment, when suddenly, a car shot out in front of them, making them both jump. Starsky slammed on the breaks, just avoiding hitting the out of control vehicle. Starsky and Hutch gave each other "here we go" looks and then both shot out of the car and rushed towards the other vehicle. It had come to a stop. The cops saw that there were two men sitting in the car and they were arguing furiously.
Starsky pulled out his badge and shouted, "Get out of the vehicle!" One of the men leant out of the car window and aimed a gun at the dark haired cop. Hutch shouted a warning to his partner, who was already diving to the ground. The suspect fired, missing Starsky by inches.
Starsky spun around, pulled himself up and returned fire. The armed man took a bullet in the chest. He grimaced in pain and then fell back. As Starsky approached the felon cautiously, his friend jumped out of the car and ducked behind it for cover. As he also aimed a gun at Starsky, Hutch realized that the punk had a clear shot at his partner.
With no time to warn Starsky again, Hutch threw himself at the man. He grabbed the scum just as he was about to fire and pulled him to the ground. They struggled for a few seconds, each gaining the advantage at different times. Hutch's fist connected with the other man´s face, temporarily stunning him. Hutch took this opportunity to reach for his cuffs. The punk recovered and shoved out at Hutch, hitting the blond in his chest. Hutch grimaced in pain and grabbed his chest, releasing his hold on his target. The man, seeing Hutch's weakness, struck the cop hard in his chest. Hutch fell to his knees, gasping, the pain ripping through him. His attacker smiled down at him with crooked, yellow teeth and then pulled out a knife. He reached out for Hutch, but froze, when he felt the tip of a gun against the back of his neck.
"Drop it!" Starsky commanded. The man hesitated, still holding on to Hutch.
"Don't do it, pal," Starsky warned. The guy gave up and opened his fist, dropping the knife to the floor.
Starsky grabbed the thug and forced him away from Hutch, shoving him up against the car to check him for any further weapons. Finding none, Starsky quickly cuffed the man. When the guy was safe, Starsky checked inside the car. His eyes grew wide when he saw the bag of money sitting on the back seat. He turned to Hutch, who had picked himself up off the floor.
"You ok?" Starsky enquired, concerned for his friend.
"Fine," Hutch replied, though his hand was still clutched to his chest. "The guy just caught me by surprise, that's all."
Starsky gave him a disbelieving look. "I would have stepped in quicker, Blintz, but--"
Hutch interrupted. "I said it´s fine, Starsk."
Starsky frowned, but didn't say anything else. He first took the bag of cash from the car and then pushed the thug towards the Torino. The scum was complaining about the rough treatment and Starsky was losing his temper. That was when the felon noticed his friend.
"Hey Jerry!" he exclaimed. "You killed him, you filthy pig!"
Starsky gave the man a look to shut him up and then slammed the door, leaving the guy to scream obscenities at him from inside the car.
Starsky joined Hutch, who seemed lost in thought. "You sure you're all right, buddy?"
Hutch glared at him. "I told you, everything's great!"
Starsky shook his head. "I know you're hurtin', buddy. I'm guessin' it's the same old pain?"
Hutch tutted and turned away. "OK!" he snapped, not looking at Starsky. "It's still painful from when that nutter beat the crap out of me with an iron bar, even though it WAS six months ago. Happy now?"
Starsky sighed, took hold of Hutch's arm and pulled him round to face him. "`Course I'm not happy, Hutch. But you should have told me--"
"Why, Starsk?!" Hutch snapped. "So you could fuss over me?!!!"
Starsky gave him an exasperated look. "No, Hutch! So I could look after you!" He lowered his voice. "Like you took care of me."
Hutch squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then touched Starsky's arm. "That was different, Starsk. You nearly died. Hell, for a few moments, you did die!"
Starsky chuckled under his breath. Hutch was kidding himself. Starsky didn't want to think about how close he came to losing his partner during the Corley incident. It had taken a lot of time and coaxing to get Hutch over his whole ordeal and even now, he still suffered from the pains and the memories left over.
"You came back to work to soon Blondie," Starsky mumbled. Hutch raised his eyebrows at him.
"You can talk!" he shot back, but gave Starsky the ghost of a smile.
Starsky laughed and patted Hutch's shoulder. "Lets get this turkey back to the station, buddy. And his bag of treats here. Gotta find out where this came from." Starsky then looked thoughtful. "Remember the Cap wants to see us about something "damn important." I reckon we don't wanna be any more late than we are already."
Hutch smiled. "OK, let´s go."
They both walked towards the car, where their captive was still screaming his head off.
"Shut the hell up!" Hutch snapped at him as he got carefully into the car. Starsky got in the other side and shook his head when the con gave him a murderous look.
"Jerry was my best friend you bastard," the man hissed. "You're gonna pay!"
"Yeah, yeah," Starsky replied absentmindedly. His thoughts were still on his partner and the pain he knew friend was sometimes in. He wished he could help Hutch, but the Doctor had told them that full recovery would take a while. The Doctor had also made it painfully clear to Starsky that Hutch was lucky to be alive. Just one more beating...
Starsky shivered.
Hutch glanced at him. "What's up, Starsky?"
Starsky shrugged. "Nothing, partner." He then turned to Hutch, a serious look on his face. "I wanna make one thing clear though, OK Hutch?"
Hutch game him an ominous look. "What's that?"
"The Fats Domino problem is not sorted out yet, got me?"
Hutch laughed. "Sure, Gordo, whatever you say," he said.
The day had certainly got off to an interesting start, Starsky thought to himself as Hutch began to hum "Blueberry Hill." Starsky gave him a killing look as he started up the Torino.
TBC
Chapter 1
"Starsky, will you stop going on about it?"
"Do you know how long I've waited for that? I'll tell you! Since my last one was stolen!"
"OK, leave it!"
"You promised you'd protect it with your life!"
Hutch sighed and looked out of the window. The conversation had been continuing in this vein since Starsky had picked him up that morning. After Hutch, in his wisdom, had been stupid enough to own up to his partner that he had scratched Starsky's cherished Fats Domino record, which the other Detective had just managed to obtain. And Starsky was not going to let him hear the end of it.
"I was crazy to lend it to you. You don't even like "Blueberry Hill" that much!"
Hutch groaned. "Starsk, I said I was sorry. Look, I'll buy you another one, OK?"
Starsky gave his partner a hard stare and then swung his Torino around a bend a little too quickly, making Hutch exclaim, "Watch it!"
Starsky ignored the comment. "Where you gonna find another record, hey, buddy boy?! It´s taken years for me to get hold of the one you ruined!"
Hutch declined to reply to this. He shook his head in wonder. He knew Starsky would keep on at him the whole damn day about this, and he seriously considered leaping out of the speeding Torino--even that seemed like a better option than staying in the car with his sulking partner.
Starsky mumbled under his breath for a while, glancing at Hutch every so often, a frown on his face. He was just about to make another scathing comment, when suddenly, a car shot out in front of them, making them both jump. Starsky slammed on the breaks, just avoiding hitting the out of control vehicle. Starsky and Hutch gave each other "here we go" looks and then both shot out of the car and rushed towards the other vehicle. It had come to a stop. The cops saw that there were two men sitting in the car and they were arguing furiously.
Starsky pulled out his badge and shouted, "Get out of the vehicle!" One of the men leant out of the car window and aimed a gun at the dark haired cop. Hutch shouted a warning to his partner, who was already diving to the ground. The suspect fired, missing Starsky by inches.
Starsky spun around, pulled himself up and returned fire. The armed man took a bullet in the chest. He grimaced in pain and then fell back. As Starsky approached the felon cautiously, his friend jumped out of the car and ducked behind it for cover. As he also aimed a gun at Starsky, Hutch realized that the punk had a clear shot at his partner.
With no time to warn Starsky again, Hutch threw himself at the man. He grabbed the scum just as he was about to fire and pulled him to the ground. They struggled for a few seconds, each gaining the advantage at different times. Hutch's fist connected with the other man´s face, temporarily stunning him. Hutch took this opportunity to reach for his cuffs. The punk recovered and shoved out at Hutch, hitting the blond in his chest. Hutch grimaced in pain and grabbed his chest, releasing his hold on his target. The man, seeing Hutch's weakness, struck the cop hard in his chest. Hutch fell to his knees, gasping, the pain ripping through him. His attacker smiled down at him with crooked, yellow teeth and then pulled out a knife. He reached out for Hutch, but froze, when he felt the tip of a gun against the back of his neck.
"Drop it!" Starsky commanded. The man hesitated, still holding on to Hutch.
"Don't do it, pal," Starsky warned. The guy gave up and opened his fist, dropping the knife to the floor.
Starsky grabbed the thug and forced him away from Hutch, shoving him up against the car to check him for any further weapons. Finding none, Starsky quickly cuffed the man. When the guy was safe, Starsky checked inside the car. His eyes grew wide when he saw the bag of money sitting on the back seat. He turned to Hutch, who had picked himself up off the floor.
"You ok?" Starsky enquired, concerned for his friend.
"Fine," Hutch replied, though his hand was still clutched to his chest. "The guy just caught me by surprise, that's all."
Starsky gave him a disbelieving look. "I would have stepped in quicker, Blintz, but--"
Hutch interrupted. "I said it´s fine, Starsk."
Starsky frowned, but didn't say anything else. He first took the bag of cash from the car and then pushed the thug towards the Torino. The scum was complaining about the rough treatment and Starsky was losing his temper. That was when the felon noticed his friend.
"Hey Jerry!" he exclaimed. "You killed him, you filthy pig!"
Starsky gave the man a look to shut him up and then slammed the door, leaving the guy to scream obscenities at him from inside the car.
Starsky joined Hutch, who seemed lost in thought. "You sure you're all right, buddy?"
Hutch glared at him. "I told you, everything's great!"
Starsky shook his head. "I know you're hurtin', buddy. I'm guessin' it's the same old pain?"
Hutch tutted and turned away. "OK!" he snapped, not looking at Starsky. "It's still painful from when that nutter beat the crap out of me with an iron bar, even though it WAS six months ago. Happy now?"
Starsky sighed, took hold of Hutch's arm and pulled him round to face him. "`Course I'm not happy, Hutch. But you should have told me--"
"Why, Starsk?!" Hutch snapped. "So you could fuss over me?!!!"
Starsky gave him an exasperated look. "No, Hutch! So I could look after you!" He lowered his voice. "Like you took care of me."
Hutch squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then touched Starsky's arm. "That was different, Starsk. You nearly died. Hell, for a few moments, you did die!"
Starsky chuckled under his breath. Hutch was kidding himself. Starsky didn't want to think about how close he came to losing his partner during the Corley incident. It had taken a lot of time and coaxing to get Hutch over his whole ordeal and even now, he still suffered from the pains and the memories left over.
"You came back to work to soon Blondie," Starsky mumbled. Hutch raised his eyebrows at him.
"You can talk!" he shot back, but gave Starsky the ghost of a smile.
Starsky laughed and patted Hutch's shoulder. "Lets get this turkey back to the station, buddy. And his bag of treats here. Gotta find out where this came from." Starsky then looked thoughtful. "Remember the Cap wants to see us about something "damn important." I reckon we don't wanna be any more late than we are already."
Hutch smiled. "OK, let´s go."
They both walked towards the car, where their captive was still screaming his head off.
"Shut the hell up!" Hutch snapped at him as he got carefully into the car. Starsky got in the other side and shook his head when the con gave him a murderous look.
"Jerry was my best friend you bastard," the man hissed. "You're gonna pay!"
"Yeah, yeah," Starsky replied absentmindedly. His thoughts were still on his partner and the pain he knew friend was sometimes in. He wished he could help Hutch, but the Doctor had told them that full recovery would take a while. The Doctor had also made it painfully clear to Starsky that Hutch was lucky to be alive. Just one more beating...
Starsky shivered.
Hutch glanced at him. "What's up, Starsky?"
Starsky shrugged. "Nothing, partner." He then turned to Hutch, a serious look on his face. "I wanna make one thing clear though, OK Hutch?"
Hutch game him an ominous look. "What's that?"
"The Fats Domino problem is not sorted out yet, got me?"
Hutch laughed. "Sure, Gordo, whatever you say," he said.
The day had certainly got off to an interesting start, Starsky thought to himself as Hutch began to hum "Blueberry Hill." Starsky gave him a killing look as he started up the Torino.
TBC
