Revenge

Chapter 26

Hi Readers:

There seems to be a little confusion about my statement that the Trilogy is soon to end. I don't intend to stop writing S and H stories, (of course unless life throws me a wobbly!) just finishing up this three parter...this epic Ryan saga !

That being said, over the next couple of months I have signed on with a group of other writers to create a selection of stories about the boys in the present day...Its called "Present Tense Big Bang" and promises to be very exciting. Stories, vids and art of the boys in the NOW (same guys, same ages approximately as in series, but brought forward to 2013) Look it up if you don't already know about it. I can't write the site here but if you google Present Tense Big Bang 2013 Starsky and Hutch it will take you there. Unfortunately though these stories must not be posted or shared with the public until the editor presents the entire production to the public. This means that I will be kept busy with writing a story that I cannot post in any way online until the entire project is all done. You will all get to read the story and all of the others (and wow there are some great writers contributing) when they are complete in around March 2014. Starsky and Hutch super fest time!

So yes, writing on this site may prove to be a challenge for me over the next couple of months.

Who knows? When the last word of Revenge is done - I may manage to take on my Present Tense story and still keep creating chapter stories for fanfic posting. I certainly have written more than one story at the same time before. Depends on RL and personal demands I guess.

*******Now back to this story and this chapter. This chapter brings us to the climax of this epic tale and will be one of the very final chapters.

Spoiler Alert!

In this chapter be prepared for some surprises and some anxious moments. Do not jump ahead on the page or you will spoil it for yourselves. I cannot tell you anymore ... but don't get too upset by what happens ok? This story had to lead to something like this in the end...the tone of it was always dark.

Thanks again for being great followers and I hope to be able to keep writing more S and H stories over the next months.

XXKerrys2Boys

Revenge

Chapter 26

Starsky sucked in a lungful of air through his burning throat and gave a half wretch half cough.

His view of the world remained speckled with black and red dots and which was only just starting to come back into focus. He was still on his knees having pulled his body back from where Ryan had held him in a forced bear hug before tumbling off to the side of the now still and gasping body.

Still clutching his hand tainted with Ryan's blood to his throat he spoke in a roughened voice to his downed opponent.

"Like the - the feel of that Ryan? Like the feel of my knife in your fuckin' guts - you bastard?"

He leaned in close and hovered over the top of him to ensure eye contact. Pure hate was carved in every hard-set feature of his face.

"Maybe I should - twist it a bit – bit –" he gagged and choked "…more for you? Really set you off screamin'. Christ, it's what I should do…..want…want to do. What you – fuckin' deserve."

He could barely manage the words before a paroxysm of harsh coughing overtook him and he fell back a little battling for air.

Ryan eyed him back with equal measures of hate but said nothing.

Riley was now at his side, down on his knees.

"You ok? You 're not hurt anywhere else?"

"No – just ….can't breathe yet. Got to get my breath back for a moment. Shit – "

Still breathless from the fight, the effort of trying to extract enough oxygen from his shallow gulps of air left his face contorted and strained. He ran his hands down his throat trying to relax his tight throat muscles.

Riley supported his back as he coughed but Starsky waved him away, motioning instead with his chin over toward Hutch.

"Don't worry – 'bout me… get Hutch. Go – untie him. Lie him up against – the wall - and – put my jacket – it's over there – his head – under his head. "

Yet another cough stopped the flow of his words as Riley nodded, touched his shoulder and stood to go to Hutch.

"Don't worry I'll take care of him. Stay here till you can breathe better. You look like you're about to keel over. I'll get Hutch off the chair and more comfortable before I go down and call in help. You can wait with him and watch Ryan."

Relieved that Riley was able to go to his partner while he was wary of leaving Ryan's side, Starsky watched him approach the still unconscious Hutch.

Control of his breathing was returning gradually and the dizziness that had nearly claimed him was all but receding. He had to clear his head and formulate the next steps.

He looked again at Ryan, who remained still except for the shudders of pain that were rippling through his body from the deep knife wound. Although he was heavily compromised and dazed with heavy pain, Starsky would have preferred to have him cuffed to some solid fixture until Riley could call in some back up.

Automatically his hand went to reach for his gun and met with air. Christ he wished he had his Beretta.

Ryan's gun? The gun he had dropped – shit.

He needed to retrieve the gun wherever it was and get Ryan covered. He looked over at Riley where he was kneeling beside Hutch's chair, his own gun now holstered as he worked away quickly at the binds on Hutch's wrists. Looking about the expanse of rooftop his eyes could not pick out the grey gun on the dull white landscape. He tried to recall where it might have ended up during their extended wrestling match.

"Riley. Riley. I – need – your gun." He could barely throw the words across the distance so that the younger man could hear him.

Riley stopped his progress and looked up at that the call. He had successfully thrown the ropes aside and was in the process of trying to gently hook Hutch under the armpits to lay him on the ground. It was awkward and difficult with Hutch being so tall and such a dead weight in his current condition. Starsky grimaced at Hutch being pulled and maneuvered so uncomfortably. So used was he to being the one to move Hutch around whenever he was hurt or injured, his body and its proportions as familiar to him as his own, instinctively he felt the pull to be taking care of his partner. A quick glance down at Ryan found him moaning deeply with his eyes closed. With a knife buried in his gut and his body weakened by their extended wrestling bout, he didn't see Ryan going any place soon.

Starsky called out as best he could with his throat still catching painfully. He could only manage disjointed phrases.

"Riley! Wait – let me help you move him - need to - support him up against the wall. His ribs …he can't breathe well - I also need – your gun – over here –"

It would take only a moment for them both to work together to get Hutch into a better position for his comfort and breathing and then he would get back and cover Ryan.

As he took his weight on his feet, his legs still felt unsteady beneath him. Feeling like he was about to fall he went to grab at air when an unyielding arm grabbed at him first. Held upright and pinned against a chest he was no longer at risk of falling. He smelled the bloodied metal of the blade before he felt the press of it on his neck. The thick forearm wrapped about his chest urging him roughly forward a few jerky steps.

Starsky wondered if he would ever forget the picture of shock on Riley's face. He had stopped in his tracks with his efforts to move Hutch, mouth wide with shock. His face was so pale and bloodless that Starsky thought he was going to be sick.

In contrast, Starsky knew his own face would hold a completely different expression. He had the bizarre desire to laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of it all.

Fuckin' unbelievable! Just fuckin' unbelievable Starsky!

Was there no end to the living nightmare that was Ryan? What was this whole living hell he had been thrust headlong into? He was starting to feel like he had stepped into one of his favored late night horror flicks. He should have realized he couldn't really win out against Ryan. He no longer seemed human, but an evil force that defied reality, a man who seemed to defy the parameters of normal life.

Behind him Ryan breathed raggedly into his ear as he held the knife firmly in place.

"Yeah well – yet again as a cop you're off your game Starsky. Told you before – Hutchinson makes you weak. Should of let Junior over there handle your partner."

"Nah wrong again asshole. My real weakness is that I keep thinkin' like a damn cop and not like the man who does what he FUCKIN' needs to do! I should've jammed that blade in your eyeball when I had the chance you son of a bitch."

With his body pulled back against Ryan's front Starsky's hand brushed against the warm sticky wetness behind him. He recoiled at touching something so integral to Ryan - his life force. He did note however that the the bleeding was substantial.

"Still at least I get to see you squirm with the pain of the wound. Ya' shouldn't have pulled the knife out Ryan. Dumb, stupid move. First rule in basic first aid. You could bleed out in no time now."

Ryan's last stand was not without effort and Starsky could feel the tremors running through his big body as he fought back the excruciation of the gut wound.

"I'll last and the knife is working better for me on your neck than it was in my gut."

And yet the statement lacked power and Ryan's usual contemptuous surety.

He continued propelling Starsky toward the stairwell doorway and called out to Riley weakly. Riley was once more at the ready with his weapon.

"Get down on your knees beside your blond friend there but first get that gun off me and slide it across to here. I don't want a repeat performance of your rookie ballistic skills. You don't get to be the hero of the day this time Riley."

Starsky directive was harsh and firm.

"No! Riley. Don't you fuckin' dare give that gun over to him."

"You want your throat slit from ear to ear Starsky? You want Junior there to have to live with that?" He asked the same of Riley. "You prepared to watch me sever his jugular? I'm damn good at severing arteries. Made short work of Dobson's when I slit his wrists. Took a little longer to die than Starsky will with this nice plump jugular – but it still isn't pretty for you to see."

Riley started at Ryan's admission of Dobson's death.

"You killed him. I knew it. I always knew it."

"Want do you want a fucking gold star? Just know that I'll do the same with Starsky if you don't hand me that gun."

"Don't listen to him Riley. He won't kill me. Take your best shot Riley! Take it. I don't want him walking away from here. "

Starsky could see the pain in Riley's young face. The agony of indecision and terror so clearly tearing him apart.

"He's mad Starsky. Insane. He'll kill you. Even if I keep the gun I can't get a shot at him with the knife on your throat. I have no choice."

"Listen Riley. Are you listening to me? You give him that gun and he'll find a way to use it against us both. Right now he has me – not you. He doesn't have you Riley. You can take a shot. Please Riley – take your best shot and save Hutch."

Ryan was pressing the knife harder now as he forced their slow progress to the door. Starsky knew the stink of blood filling his nostrils was no longer just the blood from Ryan's wound but his own as it trickled down his neck.

Riley saw Starsky's blood too.

"Starsky? I can't – don't make me – I can't let this happen. Hutch

would – if you died like that - it would… "

There were tears in his eyes and his face was crumpling under the stress.

Sadly Starsky understood the kid's agony.

Riley couldn't risk Starsky's life in the quest of trying to take Ryan down. If Starsky were to die at the hands of Ryan this way, it would leave Hutch with the realization that his gruesome death might have been averted. Starsky understood that Riley knew as well as he did it that for Hutch to wake up to that…to find his body sprawled in a bloody heap with his throat cut….. It would be the end of him.

It was just too much to ask of Riley.

Starsky spoke quietly and carefully to him. It was obvious the young cop was breaking under the pressure.

"Ok. Its Ok. I understand. I understand Riley. You don't have to do it. You don't have to take a shot."

But even if he doesn't take the shot there's still the gun. Ryan wants his gun and then Riley's life will be on the line too.

"Forget his gun Ryan, forget Riley. You've got me, it's all you need."

Ryan didn't answer and Starsky could feel his body still and intent behind him – tensing and preparing to move. The next words surprised and confused him.

"Bend down with me as I go or you'll be the one bleeding out. Bend now."

Pulling them both down in a semi squat Starsky half wondered if he was fading out from blood loss. Then he felt Ryan reaching down and across. The movement had him grunting with fresh pain.

"Riley?"

Starsky called but could see that Riley was almost paralyzed with his own fear, the gun still up but his arm shaking noticeably as he tracked Ryan's moves.

Then he heard the click behind him and figured it out.

Ryan had just located and retrieved his missing gun.

"Forget your gun Junior. I've got my own weapon and it feels so nice in my hand. Just as nice as having Starsky's throat under the knife in my other hand."

Riley's eyes darted to Starsky and in them Starsky could see that the situation was all too much for the young cop. He was neck deep not just in a dangerous situation but also a highly emotional one. The game plan just kept shifting and sliding beneath him and he was losing orientation fast.

"Your fuckin' odds just keep getting better and better don't they Ryan? So now you have me, a knife and a gun – "

"And you. I've still got you don't forget that Starsky."

"Yeah that's right – me. Like I said, then we can go now. Leave Riley – he's just a kid. This isn't about him, this is about you and me. You've got two choices Ryan and you better settle on one fast. Hand yourself over now or take me with you."

"Hand myself over? After all of this? After what I've waited for and gone through?"

Ryan attempted a laugh – desperate and halting.

With each word he was edging closer to the doorway and with his body pressed hard up against his back, Starsky felt the vibration of his pain filled body and the tension in his limbs as he poised for something. It was not knowing what that 'something' was that had every hair on Starsky's neck standing on end.

"Your choice Ryan. You'll have a chance of living if you get that bleeding stopped. Even if you live through this part Ryan you're gonna' need surgery and soon or you'll be dead by the morning. Take the knife away Ryan and drop the gun. It's a dead end for you either way if you try to walk away from here and go under someplace with no medical attention. You're screwed – screwed whether you run now or pull me along for the ride."

Ryan attempted to suppress a deep groan but Starsky felt his torso buckling as he fought against the urge to bend over and support his wound.

"You know I'm not going to make it much further with you as a human millstone around my neck. You know I'm on borrowed time to get clear of here. You'll only slow me down. But you're not about to make it easy on me are you Starsky? You'll fight me tooth and nail when I go to run."

Starsky merely shrugged and felt the knife's edge again as he raised his shoulders.

"Your call Ryan."

"There's another way. I could swipe this blade across your neck now and drop you in seconds. No Starsky to drag with me, no Starsky to stop me making a break."

"You won't do it. You won't kill me. You're too sick, too entrenched - too - just too completely fucked in the head about what I am to you. So that brings you back to just two choices Ryan. Make one."

Starsky's goading declaration appeared to snap Riley out of his immobility.

"Starsky don't provoke him. For God's sake just let him go."

Ryan's voice, weaker with each moment was soft and almost caressing against his ear.

"But you know you won't ever let me go will you Starsky? It's not in your nature is it? You'll stop me at whatever price. I can't let you do that Starsky. I can't."

Starsky heard the resignation in the pained voice before the body pressed so closely to his once more tensed. He could feel that Ryan was garnering his wilting reserves.

His arm, the arm that held his gun dropped away and Starsky exhaled with the sudden release of forced pressure. He could feel Ryan's shoulder extending back as he rattled with the door. His other hand, the one which held the knife remained steadfastly in place with the blade scraping skin as a reminder that it was still deadly close to its target of a vulnerable pulsing jugular. The door grated, hinged metal on metal, as it levered open a little behind them.

Ryan was going to make a break. Starsky readied himself for his own move.

He wanted to make eye contact with Riley one last time to reassure him, to steady him enough to do whatever he might be able to do to help him in the next few crucial moments. However the younger cop's eyes were fixated on what was happening behind Starsky's back. He was zeroing in on Ryan's hand – Ryan's gun hand. Starsky felt the blood rush into his head, alarms clanging in his temple, every cop instinct in him on red alert.

Ryan's lips were brushing his hair, the deep voice so close that his words were a whispered kiss on his cheek. Starsky held his ground, saving his move for what really mattered and fought down the need to recoil again - always - from the repulsive touch.

"What you told Riley is right. I wouldn't have used the knife on you. The day I stabbed you in that alley you became mine Starsky. The wound you carry on your side is my mark. Mine. I could never kill you. I can't kill what is mine, but I have to go and I have to make certain that you won't stop me."

"You'll never make it Ryan. You'll be dead before the evening falls."

"You lived. You lived through the night, lying in a filthy infested alleyway where I left you."

"I lived because Hutch found me. I lived because I got medical help. You can't do the same when you're running from the law Ryan. You're gonna die."

"I'm going and you won't stop me."

"As soon as you drop that knife from my neck you know I'll round on you Ryan. You know it. Either you'll have to knife me now or shoot me when I turn because I'm not fuckin' lettin' you walk away from this."

"You will. You'll have no choice."

The clinging presence of Ryan shifted from Starsky's back at the same time that the sharp press of the blade lifted away from his throat. A freedom, a release of sorts – but only until Ryan's next words filled him with dread.

"Remember what I said to you? Your greatest weakness is my strength."

NO!

Starsky went to pivot, to dive at Ryan and get hold of his arm. He understood with cold certainty what was about to happen.

He never got to move even a fraction because three things happened in quick succession.

The discarded knife clattered and bounced on the concrete at Starksy's feet, then almost straight after the knife fell the door opened to its widest as Starsky felt its edge knock his shoulder and heard Ryan step backwards. The last sound trumped the other two. A blast from Ryan's gun shattered the air behind Starsky's shoulder. The whistling bullet had Starsky forgetting all about turning around. All he wanted to do now was to run forward.

Forward toward Hutch. Forward to where the bullet had been directed.

One, two, three.

Three things that changed everything.

Starsky saw them all lined up in his mind for months later, like some hideous short list to prompt memory in a test.

On the count of one Starsky gets to live, on the count of two Ryan gets to run and on the count of three Hutch gets to die.

Starsky would always remember the sequence of the events but not the sounds that went with them.

He would never be able to call back the sound that the gun blast had made, nor the sound of Ryan finally making good his escape through the door. The sounds were lost to him but not the clarity of the emotion that they elicited and the visual aftermath that they caused.

The sight of his partner's body being slammed in the chest with a bullet as he sat slumped already unconscious was hard to compete with after all. Hutch's body was thrown back violently as he sat in the chair, his lifeless arms that Riley had just released from the tight binds twitched wildly with the force of the bullet's impact. His body jolted once then twice with the sheer physical assault of the attack before the chair tipped and swayed but held its ground. Its occupant however was not so lucky at holding his center. Starsky had only enough time to watch the blood bloom and spread across Hutch's chest before his partner toppled sideways and crashed heavily to the ground.

Riley's cry was deep and soulful, the reverberation of it bouncing across the concrete before it flew away into the afternoon sky. He had dropped to his hands and knees crawling the last few feet toward the bleeding body.

In contrast Starsky's scream was so very different, something silent and primeval. It filled his chest and his lungs but found no outlet. Exquisite agony trapped inside of him. It ripped and clawed at his insides demanding release. In that one terrible moment when he saw Hutch's body slam backwards he felt his own flesh and blood being pulled asunder as though his centre, his heart was being torn from his chest.

His greatest weakness was dying in front of him, if not already dead and his own life force was ebbing away with him.

Ryan had done the very thing that would give him clear passage.

He had made Starsky choose between the man he hated the most and the person he loved more than any other.

Of course Ryan had known.

For Starsky there was no choice.

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