A/N Inspired by the April SHFAFF fiction prompt - "Stop laughing!"
Stop Laughing!
They burst through the door just in time to see their suspect hightailing it out of the bedroom window. Starsky quickly glanced at Hutch.
"I'll follow. You cut him off."
Without needing to say anything further, they both moved into action. Hutch back out into the corridor and then down the three flights of stairs towards the entrance to the building; and Starsky through the window and out onto the fire escape.
The suspect was young and fast. He'd already made it down the three stages of the metal platforms and ladders and was dropping onto the ground. Starsky followed as quickly as he could, yelling, "Police. Freeze," as he went, although he had no expectation of the perp stopping.
The youngster had made it down the alleyway at lightning speed. Starsky didn't think a professional athlete doing the hundred yard dash could have gone any faster. Starsky reached the last ladder and realised the last two rungs of it were broken. It was quite a drop to the ground. He gauged the distance and decided he could make it without injuring himself.
Taking a deep breath, he dropped, remembering to bend his knees and land on the balls of his feet. Then took off running again. Ahead, the suspect had reached the fence at the end of the alleyway. He leapt onto a pile of crates and propelled himself over the wooden fencing, kicking the crates over in the process. With a sense of futility, Starsky sped up.
Meanwhile Hutch scrambled out of the front door, nearly knocking over a woman who was coming the other way. He shouted an apology and continued hurtling to the left and around the corner. He looked this way and that as he ran; keeping an eye out in case the suspect had already made it out onto the street. There were quite a few people out on the street, even though it was early, but no sign of Johnson. He came up to the green fencing and heard a lot of noise coming from behind the fence that blocked off the alleyway.
"Starsky? You got him?"
"Nah, he made it over the fence before I could catch him," Starsky said. His head appeared over the top of the fence. "He used some crates to climb over. No sign of him then?"
"No, he's long gone. He must have been quick!"
"He was! Reckon he was a track star when he was at school."
"All right, I'll let Dispatch know to put an APB out on him."
"I'll meet you by the car."
"You going back up the fire escape?" Hutch asked.
"Yeah, some of the crates broke when Johnson went over so I'll never get up high enough to make it over this fence," Starsky explained.
"Okay."
As Starsky's head disappeared, Hutch went back to the Torino and contacted Dispatch then he sat inside and waited for Starsky. Ten minutes later he was still waiting. Frowning, he left the car and decided to investigate. He took the lift up to the third floor this time and went into Johnson's apartment. No sign of Starsky.
Feeling mildly worried, he went through the bedroom to the window and peered out onto the fire escape. What he saw made him start chuckling. Starsky had dragged a crate to the bottom of the fire escape and was trying to jump from it to reach the ladder. With every futile attempt, he was getting more and more cross.
Hutch started down the first ladder and walked along the platform, still chuckling. When Starsky heard the sound of laughter he looked up.
"Where have you been, Blintz? Took you long enough to come and investigate!"
Hutch had reached the last platform. He peered over the railing at his partner.
"Having trouble?" Hutch teased.
"Yes, I'm having trouble! The ladder's broken and I can't get back up."
"You need to be taller or have springs in your shoes."
"It's not funny! Stop laughing!"
Hutch grinned. "It is pretty funny."
Starsky glared at him. Hutch attempted to sober up.
"I'll go find the building supervisor. See if he's got a ladder or a key to the basement door down there," Hutch said pointing to the small door at the bottom of the fire escape.
Starsky looked at it.
"You did try the door, I take it?"
Starsky walked over to the door. It opened as soon as he turned the handle. From above, he could hear hysterical laughter. He sighed. He was never going to live this down.