Warnings: violence and bad language and bigotry.

Disclaimer: S&H don't belong to me and no profit is being made.

Thanks for your kind support! Sorry for the delay in posting.

CHAPTER 7

The next morning Starsky and Hutch arrived separately. Hutch was sitting at his desk as his curly-haired friend arrived. Bracing himself, Hutch wasted no time in starting off the argument, despite his serious misgivings.

"Where the hell were you, Starsky? Late as always! I suppose you were out on the town with your latest girlfriend!" Hutch snarled.

"What's with you, Hutch? I guess you didn't have a date last night!" Starsky retorted.

"Let's see…oh our Captain was beaten up and left for dead but I guess that's not important to you, not if you were having a good time!" Hutch kept the anger in his voice.

"I heard this morning and have been talking to the uniformed officers about it. But I'm not sure why you're so pissed off. I've gotta…"

"You should have been here, Starsky!" Hutch put all the anger he could into his voice.

"Right, I'm supposed to hang around IN CASE someone from the precinct gets hurt!" Starsky snorted back.

"NO but you're supposed to be available in case of emergency. I mean, where the hell were you?" Hutch stood up and glared at Starsky.

"I've got a life, Hutchinson, and contrary to what you might think, it doesn't always have to revolve around you!" Starsky growled.

"No, it doesn't have to revolve around me, but it's me who gets you out of trouble or has to pick up the pieces when you make a mess of things. Having you as a partner at times is like working with a child!" The silence was deafening and Hutch's heart skipped a beat at the expression on Starsky's face. God, how he hated doing this, and it was only just beginning. Please, please, please, Starsky, don't let this get out of hand and know that these are only words and I don't mean any of it.

"Well maybe you shouldn't bother, if I'm such a nuisance to you." There was a slight trembling in Starsky's voice. He knew that Hutch didn't mean what he'd said and he knew this was just a role they were playing but it hurt nonetheless. The words had come from somewhere and touched something inside him. His old insecurities, the taunts he'd listened to throughout his life…Easy Starsky, he said to himself, this is just a job. Hutch doesn't mean what he's saying, any more than you'll mean what you have to say to him before this is finished. Please God let this be finished sooner rather than later.

"I won't then but don't come crying to me if you get into trouble--AGAIN!" Hutch suddenly knew he couldn't do this. He couldn't deliberately hurt his partner and it was a truly lousy and dangerous idea, but he didn't have a chance to say anything else as Starsky turned around and stormed out. Every instinct that Hutch possessed was screaming at him to go after him but he knew he couldn't. Maybe they'd be able to laugh about this, eventually.

The bickering between them was nothing new but it was much louder than usual, with none of the underlying humour which usually laced their arguments or even normal discussions. People noticed, particularly Ben and Rayner who were paying particular attention.

Ben, who knew where Starsky had been, was surprised that he didn't come out and say something, but with his own partner hovering around, he didn't feel he should interfere. They'd sort it out, they always did, although he was alarmed at the anger and intensity of their argument and Starsky storming out nearly floored him. Something didn't feel right to him but he wasn't sure what. He didn't fail to notice Rayner's interest. Forget it, partner, he chuckled to himself. He fully knew that Rayner wanted to work with Hutch, and why. Think again, those two are inseparable. Even though this argument seemed more intense than their usual squabbles, Ben refused to believe it was too serious. Rayner approached Hutch, finding the whole scene fascinating.

"I don't know why I put up with him, he's impossible! The investigation into Dobey's attack is going nowhere and he's stormed off in a tantrum!" Hutch sighed and looked at Rayner as if struck by a new idea.

"Do you want to come with me to talk to Dobey? No use waiting for that overgrown child to stop sulking." Rayner was pleased and saw no reason to be cautious with talking to Dobey. He knew Dobey hadn't seen his attacker and he wouldn't be able to tell them anything.

"Yeah, sure, Hutch. Let's go!" They walked out, leaving Ben stunned.

A short time later, Starsky returned.

"Starsky, what the hell is going on? You and Hutch--you let Hutch go off with that creep?" Ben was astounded.

Starsky shrugged, knowing this was going to be very difficult. He really wanted to confide in Ben but he couldn't risk it. He knew how much Ben detested Rayner, and although he could be trusted, the situation was too volatile and they couldn't risk any slip-ups.

"He's getting impossible, Ben. Nag, nag, nag, constantly. We seem to be arguing all the time these days and you heard him, he thinks I'm a child. He's just got this superior attitude…" Starsky found it impossible to continue. Giving Hutch himself a hard time was nothing new, but talking badly about him to someone else was something he just couldn't do. Ben noticed but misunderstood the reason--he thought Starsky was fighting back anger.

"You never told me, and until today I've not noticed. I mean you guys argue, but it's always in fun." Ben said gently.

"I thought you had enough partner problems." They exchanged a glance. Ben still couldn't believe that this problem wouldn't be solved. They were a tighter unit than he and Pete had been. "The fun times seem to be hard to come by these days and our arguments aren't fun. I just keep hopin' that things will get back to normal. We've had tough times before, it's just that we seem to be attacking each other lately." Starsky sighed sadly.

"If you want to talk, Starsky, I'm here but I can't imagine you won't sort it out." Ben looked at his friend with concern.

"Maybe…" Starsky was deliberately vague, hating this more than he thought possible, hating the argument with Hutch and hating lying to Ben. "He's such a jerk at times and he's gettin' worse." He returned to his desk, leaving a very unsettled Ben.

--

Rayner watched Hutch drive. He remembered how defensive Hutch had been of his partner only last night, so he was a bit cautious in believing things could be that bad between them. However, Hutch was playing it right--hinting at continuing problems with his idiot partner, trying not to overplay it and succeeding.

"I don't know what it is with Starsky at the moment but he's driving me nuts." Hutch gave a long suffering sigh. "He disappears without telling me where he's going, acts like a child when I try to talk to him and then storms out!"

"I thought that you were friends." Rayner was still trying to feel his way, remembering all too well the icy glare he'd incurred when he'd made the slip up last night.

"We were… I mean are, it's just that having a child for a partner can be very tiring, you know." he managed to grin at Rayner, hating every second of this conversation but knowing that it was required. "He's a good cop, and a good friend, but he's like an over-excited child and it wears me down."

By the time they got to the hospital, Rayner was believing that there was a wedge which could be driven between Starsky and Hutch. If he could drive it home further, split them up, he could end up with a decent partner at last. Ben would be very pleased to be reteamed, not that he cared less. Maybe Starsky and Ben could work together and if so he could get rid of both of them. He'd failed with Dobey but only because of that damn witness. He'd eventually win, get rid of the people he considered undesirable in the Department. He grinned to himself at the thought.