Thanks to the usual suspects.

Chapter 10

"Now what?" Daniel asked, watching their ride disappear down Bay City's main street.

A real estate broker scouting Mandalay Hill for possible urban development had picked them up in a white sedan. The man, wearing a black business suit, seemed amused at finding them stranded alongside the road. Beneath black, curly bangs his inquisitive blue eyes sparkled playfully when he'd asked for an explanation.

"Car broke down," was all Jack revealed.

Apparently, the answer satisfied their ride, either that or Curly was wise enough to stop asking questions because he brought them all the way back to Bay City without further word.

Now having been dropped off on the busy sidewalk, Jack turned to watch the shops on his left-hand side. "We should go get us some decent clothing."

Daniel nodded. "Finding Starsky and Hutch will be easy enough, I suppose."

"Yep, not too many men fit their descriptions. Finding them should be a piece of cake. Then we simply pick them up."

"Jack, they're not objects. We can't just pluck them off the streets."

His commanding officer stared at him for a moment, then stated, "They're not real. It's better for all of us if we get them out of here as soon as possible."

"Not real to us, no. Not real on our plain of existence, but that's not what it is like for them. Think about it Jack. If they actually live the lives of those two cops you hold in… in such high regard? Think of how they must feel right now. Think on how they will act when you come barging in with your gun drawn?"

He could see understanding dawning in his commander's eyes. "All right, so we'll be careful when we-"

"We have no right to treat them that way."

Jack sighed in frustration, walked away and turned back again. "Daniel, you of all people should know there's a bigger picture to keep in mind here."

"Yes, I know that. And if one of 'em turns out to be a Goa'uld you do what you have to do, but until then…" he hesitated. I'm not telling you anything new here. We've dealt with something like this before. Back then you accepted the reality from that other universe quite readily. Squinting he eyed Jack, noting his odd behaviour. The man seemed on edge. That wasn't like him. "Why are you fighting me on this?"

Jack stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face. "Fine," he said, clearly avoiding Daniel's underlying concern. "We'll do this your way."

Starsky stared at the theatre's billboards, his eyes large with disbelief. Beside him his partner looked equally stunned.

His initial shock passed and his face split into a wide grin. "Hey, you wanna go to the movies tonight?"

"That's not funny Starsk! That's absolutely not funny!"

Energetically, Starsky started to make his way across the street, heading toward the theatre. "Come on, let's check it out."

His friend stayed put.

It took him a couple of seconds to realize Hutch hadn't follow. Starsky turned. "Come on!"

"I'm not going in there! We need to find a way out of this mess, Starsk. Can't you see how wrong this…" Hutch abruptly staggered backward against a shopping window.

Already halfway across the street, Starsky instantly felt his enthusiasm drain, leaving a cold sense of worry. He quickly made his way back through honking traffic. Finally reaching the sidewalk, he went to hover over his partner. "Hutch, are you okay?" He supported his friend into a more or less upright position. "Hey, Hutch!"

"Yeah, I'm all right. I'm just so damn tired all the time."

Starsky looked around and spotted a large hotel at the end of the street, probably the one where the contest was being held. "D'you think you can walk over to that hotel?"

Hutch peered down the street. "We can't afford a room in there, Starsk."

"You worry about walking, I worry about the room 'kay?"

Hutch nodded, obvious feeling too tired to fight him on this.

Although pollution clouded the scent of his query, the man he'd bitten was easy to follow. However, finding his way through the humans' settlement turned out to be a lot harder. Confused, Cerberus sat down on his butt to watch Memorial's entrance from across the street. A hospital! My, my, how society has progressed. It won't do the blond any good though.

This could pose a problem. He doubted he could stroll into Memorial without attracting attention. After all, his outward appearance was still one of a large black Rottweiler and to the best of his knowledge, dogs weren't allowed in hospitals. Sitting still for a few minutes he studied the people walking in and out, his ears twitching as he attempted to adjust to the higher sound level in the city. He picked up voices, but nothing of any interest to him. A breeze grazed his nostrils. Instinctively, he threw his nose in the air and was promptly gripped by three loud sneezes. Each consecutive one worse than the last.

Dammit, Cerberus! Mind the pollution. Keep your sensitive nose on the ground! How many times do I have to remind myself! Nose on the….

His thoughts halted when the afternoon air suddenly carried a familiar scent of sweat and blood. Careful not to make the same mistake twice, Cerberus kept his nose close to the pavement trying to determine where the scent would lead him.

Close.

The two men… the blond he'd chased and the brunet, they were close. He looked back over his shoulder at the direction he'd come from. Doctor Jackson and his friend weren't far behind. If he played his cards right, they'd all walk into his trap tonight. With any luck he'd kill four birds with one stone.

His master would be pleased.

Good.

Starsky led Hutch through the huge revolving doors of a well lit lobby, lushly covered with red carpet. Leather armchairs and comfortable beige sofas were scattered spaciously throughout the wide hall of the Sheridan hotel. Some of them were occupied.

Sitting close to the doors, a couple watched them enter. As he put Hutch down on the nearest sofa, Starsky heard the young girl whisper elatedly to her boyfriend. "Wow, they sure look like them. These could be the winners."

Ignoring the annoying couple, Starsky focused a worried look on his partner. "I'm gonna try and arrange us a room. Are you gonna be all right here for a while?"

Hutch nodded, his face looking pale as he sank back into the cushions of the comfortable couch. Starsky could tell that his partner wasn't acknowledging his surroundings at all.

"Hurry up," Hutch replied hoarsely.

Remembering his friend's reluctance to be left alone a few hours ago, Starsky squeezed his shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy." He turned, giving the madly whispering couple a deadly stare.

They stopped talking, freezing on the spot beneath the brunet's cold glare.

Darting past them, Starsky headed for the reception area on the far side of the lobby. He looked back over his shoulder and noticed the couple had resumed their whispers. Luckily, they left Hutch alone. His eyes locked onto his partner who sat slummed on the sofa. With one elbow leaning on an armrest and his hand supporting his head, Hutch didn't look so good. Starsky's view of him was blocked when he encircled a large palm decorating the center of the lobby.

He reached the front desk.

The girl in charge of reception –Julia, judging by her nametag- was neatly dressed in the hotel's colors of red and dark blue. Looking at a small screen, which function Starsky could only guess at, she droned with a carefully made up smile, "Welcome to The Sheridan, sir. How may I help you?" She looked away from the screen, her large brown eyes settling on him.

Before Starsky could start the speech he intended to throw at her, using a considerable amount of charm, Julia added, "Oh, you must be here for the look-a-like contest. We have a room reserved for you." She ducked and disappeared beneath the counter. Surfacing again, she presented him with a room key.

"Uh, thanks…" Starsky managed to say, unable to believe his good fortune. "What do I owe you?"

Julia gave him a quizzical look. "These rooms are all paid for by the network sponsoring the contest, off course. Just sign here."

"Off course." Too baffled to say anything more, he signed using an alias and headed back to his partner. On his approach, the soft talking couple once again fell silent. He frowned when he noticed Hutch had fallen asleep, his head still resting on his arm. "Hey Hutch," he kept his voice low, making sure the boy and girl couldn't hear him.

Hutch raised his head.

"Come on, pal. I've got us a room." Starsky grabbed his friend by his arm and pulled him up, then proceeded to drag him over to the elevators. A few minutes later he opened the door of a luxurious hotel suite. He didn't really pay much attention to the room. For now, all he noticed was the thick beige carpet, the two large beds, and the smell of a fresh breeze coming from two wide open French doors across from him. He settled his friend down on one of the beds.

Hutch immediately fell asleep.

Worried, Starsky stared at him. Taking in a deep breath, he tore his eyes away from his friend and walked over to the French doors. Before closing them, he looked down on the busy traffic. In 1976 he'd known this area like the back of his hand. But now the foreign street below might as well be located in a city he'd never visited, like Houston or Denver. Grimly he watched the people going about their business three floors down.

Hutch is getting sicker by the minute. He's right. We have to get out of here. Despite Starsky's excited behaviour earlier, which he mainly kept up as a front for Hutch, the feeling of being at the wrong place in the wrong time became ever pressing, pushing all other awareness aside. And since his friend was out of commission for a while, he knew it was up to him to find some answers.

Tbc