Title: "One more step" – Chapter 10

Author: IROS

Fandom: Starsky & Hutch

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights, I don't get money and this is for entertainment only. Oops! Errors are entirely mine.

"Starsk," he said gently nudging him along the Bay City Police Station.

"Okay," the curly said quietly. He turned and walked through the door without another word.

He had the distinct impression that eyes followed him as he slightly limped down the hall to Dobey's office. Do guys get stared at this much after a night out, I surely look terrible, Starsky questioned as he silently resisted the urge to yell at the onlookers. It didn't get much better when he walked into Dobey's office.

Why all the department wouldn't stop staring at them from behind the shades? Of course, everyone in the department knew that Starsky had pushed too much his luck those last weeks, pushed everyone until even Dobey lost his temper with him the last time they met. He'd just finally yell to Starsky not to move on Big Tony until they got the name of his supplier and got him on tape. It was no secret Starsky had fought those orders every step on the way for more than 4 months, unable to keep an eye on his partner, not having news from him and than he had tried to get in touch against Dobey strict orders.

"So, Cap. Here we are, what's the rush..." Starsky demanded immediately which won him a reproving stare from his blond partner.

Dobey looked up at him with that look he had that told you he wasn't in the mood for bullshit. "You have something on your face, Starsky. You better remember to use a napkin from time to time," Dobie commented breaking the silence and the stares between them while the curly cleaned with his thumb some cookie crumbs out of his face.

He'd known Dobey would be pissed as hell; didn't have a choice when it came down to it. He had not obeyed his orders in the end and now his only choice was to put himself into the Captain's hands, pushing back that irrational panic still worming his way through him.

And there had been an edge to Dobey's voice in that previous innocent remark that made him want to get this meeting over with so they could get the hell out. Dobey leaned back with his chair against the wall and fished for something inside his left pocket.

"Hutch. The keys. They're yours. You left them behind when you went under." Hutch stuffed the keyring back into his pocket, with no further remark, like Dobey and himself had already all set between them.

So today Dobey was doing the talking, and obviously he was not in a talkative mood and that was fine with Starsky. Talking would be too risky in his present frame of mind. All he had to do was stand back and look ready to deal with whatever their captain will suggest.

"Detective Hutchinson, you have your orders. I'll suggest you get ready for a further call and rest some in the meanwhile. You look like you need it."

Then Dobey had turned his attention to the closed folder on his desk, dismissing them without a word but for a final "Detective Starsky. Please stay," when Hutch had already trespassed his office door.

"He did held out," Dobey said out of the blue and without looking back at him.

"What?" the curly couldn't feel more confused than he already was.

"You gave me a hell of a nightmare those last weeks to try and get assigned to get his back. You thought Hutch wouldn't be physically or mentally competent but he did hold out. You've worked together many years now and yet you are very protective of one another. It's the same in any war, isn't it, detective? You form lifelong bonds under that kind of pressure."

"What doesn't add up?" The raw feeling of concern Dobey was referring to was just bubbling under the surface again. Starsky had not been very keen on the plan when they had lain originally to get his partner undercover on Big Tony's entourage, and hearing Dobey talk it through in such a patronizing way really got all the alarms ringing.

"He is out of the woods, Cap, right? Is he?" Starsky retorted angrily. His response won him a sharp glance from Dobey that did little to comfort him.

"He said he could hold long enough to get the info," Dobey said nonchalantly. "If I pull him out now I would blow the mission…. meaning all those weeks undercover would have been for nothing. It was his decision then and he is just sticking to it now."

"What? What is this? What are you saying? Have you ordered Hutch going under for a second time?

"He just didn't want you to know so you did not get too tempted to intervene but we are full grown men around and I don't see how that helps."

"Oh, this is about me?" Starsky replied, completely ticked off.

"No, detective. You are not paying attention. Or maybe you are paying too much attention but only to yourself." The "detective" was the indicator that Starsk better kept his mouth shut for good if he wanted all the information. "This is about your partner. Not about you. You did enough to pester us all for nothing, 'cause Hutch didn't need anything of that. All of us just needed you was to play it quiet and put up with his absence. But now you can do something useful and help your partner."

Shit. Shit. His hands were in right balls; when he uncurled his fingers the flesh of both palms was embedded with pale half-moons where the nails had bitten the skin. So, instead of snapping out a sharp scolding, that was the last thing he expected to be facing.

"Hutch needs some friendly support at this time. It's not just having the guts to go down that alley again. He's got them. It is that he needs to get rid of all that shit his head is flooded with to go under again. To do a clean start. He needs his best friend by his side right now, accompanying him through this few days he can get his head out of the water and regain some new strength. I can easily see on his face that he is on the verge, about to crash, and we cannot allow it for his own sake. Not that I can't understand it after having Big Tony's Magnum 45 pointing at his head at one point."

For a fleeting moment he felt anger and betrayal both from Dobey and from Hutch. He hated that his friend was keeping secrets from him but he hated even more he could no longer get an accurate read on his brother. It was just before Starsky got struck by a bigger picture of those last few days events, of his huge error of judgment and the real and terrible extend of his acts. A spasm on his leg rattled him from his uneasy stance.

"Read Detective Hutchinson's report before you meet him again. It should help. There. Sorry about keeping you in the dark before. I hope you do respect and honor that I am sharing this with you and do not use it trying to deter him because there is no option for him right now. It's not in my hands anymore."

"Read it in here and get the folder back to me before leaving," Dobey couldn't quite finally cover the worry in his voice.

"Yeah, thanks, Cap." Starsky did his best to sound calm when it hit him that he had been ordered by Dobey to help his brother to meet certain death, but the expression didn't carry much weight in his rearranged face. The subsequent realization that it has been him the one who had given away enough details as for Big Tony connecting the dots, blowing Hutch's cover, his stomach turned over and he swallowed down bile and really wished with all his heart that was just one of his combat nightmares.

TBC