Feedback: Always shamefully solicited, but please remember, none of us are professionals so when critiquing, be lenient.

Disclaimer: I own the rights to no one, even myself sometimes as I allow Starsky and Hutch to take control and make me write. The OC's are mine, and the story belongs to yours truly.

Authors Note: This story is a sequel to 'Offspring' which can be found on my web page. It won third place for romantic relationship story. (Torino Award) I had told everyone that I had planned a sequel, to further explore the possible relationship between Starsky and Hutch's sister, Kelli. Well here it is, just to recap…Starsky and Kelli became close when Simon Marcus' goons had kidnapped them. Kelli, at the time, had an abusive boyfriend, Bobby, which she quickly ditched (with Starsky and Hutch's help.) Well, Bobby was gone, but not for good…

Second Chance

Chapter Ten

Mrs. Hutchinson rushed to her daughter's bedside as Dr. Hutchinson grabbed Starsky's wheelchair and yanked him back, away from Kelli. Hutch reached out, quickly snapping his father's wrist off of his partner's chair.

"Let go of him!" Hutch spat as his father glared into the blonde's icy blue eyes. "He tried to help her, why can't you understand that? Bobby's to blame in all of this, not Starsky!" He shouted, obviously continuing their conversation from the hallway.

"Dr. and Mrs. Hutchinson…" Starsky began, "I tried to help, I really tried…"

"Well from the looks of things, you didn't try hard enough!" Dr. Hutchinson snapped as he looked over at his daughter laying in the bed, her mother hovering over her sobbing.

"My poor baby…look what they did to you…my little girl…" She fussed as Kelli closed her eye, sighing heavily.

"Mother, please…" she moaned.

"It's okay baby, I'm here, Daddy and I are going to fix this, don't you worry, we're here now." Mrs. Hutchinson cried.

"Fix this?" Hutch asked sharply. "Fix what?!? Fix the fact that her ex-boyfriend attacked her and my friend…?"

"Shut up Kenneth," his father's voice bellowed and echoed in the small room. "I think you and your friend have done quite enough! Getting her to run off with you two, into the mountains, without even telling us? How could you have done this to your sister? You are as much to blame as he is!" He shouted pointing an accusing finger at the brunet in the chair.

"How could we have done this?" Hutch exclaimed in disbelief. "I don't believe you are saying this! We didn't do anything, Bobby did!"

"Well the two of you just had to come back here and throw yourselves in Bobby's face. What'd you expect him to do? Of course he was going to snap!" The elder Hutchinson spewed.

"I cannot believe that you are actually defending him!" Hutch yelled as he watched Starsky sitting there in uncomfortable silence. He knew that his partner had probably already thought about all of this and he already felt guilty enough without their father adding to his guilt.

"He's right you know." Mrs. Hutchinson chimed in, "Bobby left her alone until you two came back. He was trying to get over this, but you two had to start it up again. Now he's out there, angry and he is holding Kelli responsible." She stated calmly as she continued to dote on her daughter. "Mr. Starsky, I think it would be best if you left, this is a family matter." She encouraged.

"Mom, stop." Kelli groaned. "I want him to stay."

"Honey, you're in no condition to know what you want right now, just let your father and I take care of you…" She stated.

Kelli exhaled in frustration and in pain as she gave up. She didn't have the strength to fight with her mother, at least not now.

"Hutch, would you take me back to my room please?" Starsky solemnly asked his partner.

"No, I wont. They're right Starsk, this is a family matter, and as far as I am concerned you are family!" Hutch stated as he moved past Starsky and towards his father, trying to get him to listen to the voice of reason, but knowing there was a slim chance of that happening. "What happened to Kelli was horrible! But you two need to place blame where blame is due…on Bobby, not on Starsky or me!" Hutch shouted.

"Oh, make no mistake Kenneth, I do blame Bobby. But I don't think that you two coming back here, rubbing salt into the wound, helped any." Dr. Hutchinson explained angrily. "A part of me thinks that your friend over there enjoyed seeing Bobby angry that he and Kelli were together. His macho attitude cost your sister dearly…she was a competition to him and nothing more!" He yelled as Kelli moaned from her bed, both out of pain and frustration.

"Hutch please," Starsky pled, "I really want to go back to my room." He said as Hutch looked at his pained expression.

"Fine buddy, I'll take you back." Hutch exclaimed as he walked towards Starsky's chair, turning around briefly to address his parents. "Look, an Officer Benton should be here soon to take her statement, ask him to wait until I get back."

"That won't be necessary Ken. She won't be giving any statements." Mrs. Hutchinson stated as she hovered over her daughter, fluffing her pillow and helping her get readjusted.

"Whatya mean that won't be necessary?" Hutch asked furrowing his brow.

"Exactly what I said, Kelli won't be giving any statements to anyone!" His mother looked up at her son, locking with his eyes for the first time since they entered the room. "She isn't going to be pressing any charges Ken. I won't let her."

"You've gotta be kidding?" Starsky blurted out earning him an irritated glare from both parents.

"I won't let them drag her name through the mud, the accusations that people would make; I won't have her subjected to the shame and ridicule." She explained.

"Her or you mother?" Hutch quipped as his eyes bulged in anger.

"We're a small town here Ken, you know that. People will talk, every time she walks by, they'll be whispering and saying bad things about her, is that what you want for your sister? I think it would just be best if we let it go, put it behind us and tried to move on."

"Please stop, everyone…" Kelli sobbed, "please stop fighting."

"I'm sorry Kel." Hutch was first to think about his sister's feelings, "I'm going to take Starsky back to his room and then I'm coming back. Just don't make any decisions until I get back, okay?" He pled as he and Starsky left the room.

"There aren't any decisions left to be made." Mrs. Hutchinson commented after they were out of ear shot.

oooOOOooo

Hutch was helping his partner climb back into his bed, getting him settled.

"Listen Starsk, I don't want you to take anything my parents said literally. They didn't mean it." Hutch tried to ease his partner's guilt.

"Yeah they did, an' I wouldn't blame ya' if you felt the same way." Starsky said solemnly. "You trusted me with her and I let you down."

"Stop talking like that, you're not doing yourself or Kelli any good." Hutch argued.

"Yeah, well I don't care what you say, your parents are right an' you know it." He spat. "I didn't protect her like I should have, and now she is paying the price for it."

"Damn it Starsky, now your starting to sound like my father. Bobby's a sick man and he needs to be held responsible for what he's done."

"I agree, but so do I?" Starsky retorted. "By the way, where's Beth?" Starsky felt guilty for just now noticing her absence.

"Don't ask." Hutch answered changing the subject quickly before Starsky blamed himself for that too.

"Look, I'll be back. I want to be there when Benton comes to question her. I've got to get her to give a statement, with or without my parent's approval." Hutch excused himself and headed for the door. "You gonna be okay?" The blond asked as he looked over his shoulder.

"Me, I'm t'rrific…" Starsky mumbled as he sighed heavily and looked up, staring at the tiles on the ceiling.

"Okay, don't go anywhere; I'll be back as soon as I can." Hutch promised and then continued on his way.

oooOOOooo

Hutch pushed the door open just in time to hear his mother's voice. "You heard me, she's not pressing charges!"

"But ma'am, forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but your daughter has been the victim of an extremely violent crime. The person responsible could literally go free without your daughter's testimony; do you really want that to happen?" Benton tried to reason.

"What we want to happen, is what is going to be best for our daughter, and forgive me for pointing out the obvious to you young man, but I think we would know better than you what is in her best interest." She retorted curtly as Dr. Hutchinson nodded in agreement.

Hutch's heart broke to see Kelli lying there in silence. He knew that their parents were just worried about what the town would think of them or their daughter and not what Kelli was going through. That was always his parent's first concern, their social status. It always came first in their household and this was no exception. If word got out that Kelli was the victim of a rape that could somehow tarnish their reputations. He was sure that his parent's were more concerned about their own reputations over Kelli's and that just ate him up inside, knowing that she would probably go along with what ever her parents told her to do, she usually did.

"Now I am afraid I really must insist that you leave our daughter alone, she needs her rest." Mrs. Hutchinson concluded as her husband walked the officer towards the door.

"Kel, are you sure about this?" Hutch asked his sister, hoping that just him being there would give her the strength she needed to stand up to their parents.

She looked over at her brother with her one good eye as he saw the tears forming. "It's okay Ken, please just let it go. They're right…it's better if we just drop it." She insisted wearily, not having any fight left in her.

"And what about the next time he decides to come after you, what then?" Hutch asked in anger.

"Don't you worry about that Ken, we've got it all figured out. We are going to see to it that she is safe, something that you and that partner of yours failed to do." His father's words cut through Hutch's heart.

He and his father never did get along, but when Hutch decided not to go into med school and to pursue a career in law enforcement instead, that just drove a larger wedge into their already fragile relationship. If you didn't see things Dr. Hutchinson's way, then you were automatically wrong and black-balled from being allowed to have any type of redeeming qualities. As far as his father was concerned, Hutch was a first class disappointment that he rarely talked bout in his social circle of friends.

Hutch couldn't stand being in the same room as his father, he felt his chest tightening, and he needed to get away. Benton followed the tall blond as he bolted for the door. "Well if you're not going to press charges, then at least I know Starsky will…I'll be back later Kel." He assured his sister before making a quick exit.

oooOOOooo

Starsky lay, propped up in his hospital bed, Officer Fisher stood at the detective's foot, notepad in hand.

"And then what happened," he asked Starsky, his brow raised in query.

"We were sittin' by the lake, just talking, enjoying each other's company when outta nowhere I felt something hit me across the upper back." Starsky explained.

"So you and her were sitting side by side and neither one of you saw him approach?" Fisher asked.

"No, we weren't sitting side by side," Starsky mocked, hating to have to go into too much detail, he knew how these things could be turned around. "She was laying on the ground and I…" he paused.

"And you what Detective?" Fisher prompted him to continue.

"I was on top of her." He finished, thanking the heavens above that Hutch was not here for this, even though it was innocent enough, it could be misconstrued as something more than it was.

The door flew open and Hutch burst into the room, a little upset that the officer he had already grown to dislike was questioning his partner.

"And exactly what were you doing on top of the victim?" Fisher asked as Starsky's face contorted in discomfort to have Hutch walk in at this particular moment.

Nuthin', I wasn't doin' nuthin', we were just playing around, ya' know…I was tickling her and she was laughing." Starsky blurted out so he could clear up any confusion that might be plaguing his blond friend. "Next thing I know…WHAM…something hit me hard across my back and I rolled off of her and onto the ground." Starsky could hear the edge in his own voice as he became increasingly more irritated with the line of questioning. He was beginning to feel like a suspect instead of a victim. "I heard her scream and I tried to go for my gun, but I couldn't move my arm, it just wouldn't work."

"You mean to tell me that there was no way for you to get to your weapon?" Fisher emphasized.

Hutch moved to be closer to Starsky's side as he continued to recount the events, he knew that it was the officer's job to get to the bottom of the investigation, but he didn't like the way this particular officer chose to do it.

"Just where in the hell do you get off treating my partner like a criminal here? If he said there was no way for him to get to his gun, then there was no way. He shouldn't have to repeat himself. He's not the bad guy here, remember?" Hutch defended his partner.

"If you want to stay in this room, then I suggest you don't interfere with the questioning Detective Hutchinson." Fisher warned the tall blond.

Starsky held up his right palm in front of him, "It s'okay Hutch, really…" He returned his attention to Fisher, "no, I really couldn't grab my weapon. See I'm a southpaw, a leftie…and seeings how it was my left shoulder that was broken, I couldn't very well grab the gun from my holster under my right arm, now could I?" He snapped causing Fisher to bite his lip in frustration.

"And then what happened…" Fisher said quietly.

"Well then he grabbed Kelli by the hair and was jerking her around…she was crying, begging him to stop, but he wasn't listening to her, he was just so mad." Starsky sighed heavily trying to push the memory and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach away. "He made her handcuff me to the tree, and then he duct taped my mouth shut."

"Kelli cuffed you to the tree?" Hutch asked.

"Yeah, he told her if she didn't he'd kill me, so she did what he said…Oh God Hutch. She was so scared, and I just sat there, couldn't do anything to help her…do you have any idea how that felt?" Starsky told his partner, her brother as Hutch leaned in and pulled Starsky closer to him in comfort.

"I'm sorry buddy, I couldn't imagine how that musta torn you up." Hutch said sympathetically.

"Please finish Detective Starsky." Fisher prodded as he was running out of patience.

"Well after he taped my mouth shut, he hit Kelli, hard across the face…last thing I heard was Kelli begging him not to hurt me, she said she'd do anything if he would just leave me alone…" Starsky allowed his voice to trail off into the well of guilt that he was holding.

"Anything?" Fisher repeated as both Starsky and Hutch looked up at the obnoxious officer, "Do you think that meant even having consensual sex with him?" He blurted out as Starsky only saw the blur that once was his partner, fly across the room and grab the uniformed officer by the shirt…

To Be Continued…