Chapter Nine

Starsky backed up, keeping Hutch behind him. Having both men in the same room, made the resemblance seem all the more remarkable. There was no difference between them except Keith wore a blue shirt and Hutch's shirt was brown.

Keith walked in, handing Hutch his gun. "Come on, we gotta change shirts to get out of here. There's two of my friends guarding the outside." He looked at Starsky. "I take it you got the other one locked upstairs somewhere."

Starsky nodded, not quite knowing what to make of what was happening. Was it some sort of trick?

Both men exchanged shirts. Starsky was still holding his gun on Keith but knew there was no way he could shoot someone who looked so much like his partner. He might as well have been holding a water gun against the man.

"You're going to hold that gun on me," Keith said, now dressed as Hutch. "Then we're going to march out there." He looked at Starsky. ""It was Kira, wasn't it? Hutch would never have slept with her."

"Not after I told him I was in love with her."

Keith shook his head, clearly in admiration. "You're something else, Brother. All that talk about sharing women."

Hutch shrugged. "Had to do something to get a message to my partner."

Hutch was avoiding Starsky's eyes. His partner seemed torn and on a major guilt trip. He was clearly conflicted about his twin. He still looked out of it, too, although whatever they'd given him seemed to be wearing off. Adrenalin, Starsky thought.

"Route 66 was genius too. I thought you were still in Bay City, licking your wounds."

"What tipped you off?"

"Kira. She said she knew you weren't serious when you said you loved her."

Starsky sighed. He'd felt guilty about using her. He planned to apologize when he got back. If they got back.

Keith stared at him. "You need to pat me down because I know you don't trust me. I can't blame you after what I did."

"What changed, Keith?" Hutch asked.

Both brothers looked at each other. Then Keith spoke.

"You did. You both did, really. I thought I was looking for money, but what I found was worth more. That and I didn't think I could kill someone in cold blood. I mean…. I thought I could. I'd done it in Viet Nam, but that was in self-defense. Not outright murder."

"Then why all the subterfuge?" Hutch asked. "Why not just tell Starsk what was going on. You could have confessed everything."

"Simple. I had five hungry people on my payroll, and they had stopped trusting me a long time ago. They had started watching me like they were watching Starsky. They had two things going for them. One, I didn't want to go to jail for my part in the scheme. And two, they had you, Brother."

Both blonds stared at each other. Starsky could see what it was costing his partner, the conflict in his eyes. He felt something for Keith, maybe even love. And yet this same brother had stolen a year from him. Had threatened Starsky's life.

They both had a rule—no one picked on a man's partner.

He knew Hutch well enough to know this whole thing was costing him dearly. He was feeling guilty, like he'd betrayed Starsky. But that wasn't true. Starsky was also feeling conflicted by the twin. Keith had plenty of time to take him out. Yet, he hadn't, saving his life instead.

"We gotta get out of here," Keith said.

"I didn't see anyone when I came in," Starsky said.

"Neither did I. Which means they're probably in the shed out back gambling and getting drunk. If we're lucky, they won't see us leave."

Keith stood in front of Hutch. Starsky put his gun back in the holster and stood beside Keith. Then they headed out.

Outside the wind had settled and thunder sounded in the distance. Starsky scanned the darkness, looking for Red's car. It would be almost impossible to see from this vantage point, but he hoped the man had taken off as he'd ordered.

"My car is to the left," Keith murmured. And they all headed in that direction.

Starsky was just starting to breathe easy when he saw a man step out. He was a large, beefy man. He was certain he hadn't been one of the men following him over the months.

"What's going on, Keith," the man said, his gun aimed on the trio.

"His partner finally figured it out," Hutch said as Keith. "So, I figured it was time to get rid of them."

"'Bout time. Me and the gang had started thinking you were going soft. We were thinking of pushing things along."

Hutch laughed. "Not for that amount of bucks. We gonna be set for life."

Beefy laughed. "Got that right."

And then it happened. Starsky could see two men running in their direction. The shorter man was the one he'd knocked out and left tied in Hutch's room. The other man must have found him. They were in trouble. Both had guns aimed at them. "Stop them," one man shouted. "Don't let them get away."

Beefy wasted no time in pointing his gun at them and firing off a round in their direction. Hutch was already moving, pushing Starsky to the ground, Keith falling right beside him. Hutch fired one shot and Beefy fell to the ground, clutching his chest.

Starsky stood up, grabbing his own gun from the holster, aiming and firing at the two guards heading in their direction. The shorter man crumbled to the ground, but the other kept coming, firing as he moved. Starsky was aware of movement to his right but had no time to see what was happening. He aimed his gun, firing at the advancing man, and watched as he fell to the ground. Only then did he turn around. What he saw took his breath away.

At first, he thought it was Hutch and Keith was holding him. But then he saw the color of the shirt. Keith. And he was bleeding from the abdomen.

"I'm sorry, brother. I'm so sorry," Keith whispered.

Hutch took off his shirt and pressed it on his brother's abdomen.

Starsky ran over and checked to make sure both guards were dead. By that time, he could hear sirens and figured Red had called them. No way could they have gotten there so quickly, otherwise.

Hutch was on his knees next to his twin. "Don't leave me. I just found you."

He looked like he was in shock.

Starsky ran over, dropping to the ground. "Let me take over."

Hutch seemed reluctant, his eyes were wide, face white, he met Starsky's eyes.

"You're bleeding." Starsky said, seeing the blood on his partner's shoulder for the first time. It looked like a flesh wound, but Starsky was terrified. "Let me do this."

Hutch sat back, breathing hard. And Starsky took over.

"He stood in front of me," Hutch said. "He took a bullet for me. It should be me lying there."

The cops pulled into the driveway, followed by Red and an ambulance. Hutch stood up and passed out.

Epilog

Awareness came slowly to Hutch, but he didn't want to open his eyes. It had been that way for a long time. Most of the time he slept and watched the passing days much like he had in captivity.

Starsky was always there, but Hutch wouldn't acknowledge him.

He was in a hospital, but not in the same room that he had arrived in that night. This one had bars.

He was lost, someplace where he was still held in a room, his brother his only company. He ate, slept, felt Starsky's hand in his. Heard his partner begging him to speak. But there were no words for what he had done. He'd let Starsky down. He'd let Keith down. He'd made mistake after mistake. He didn't deserve forgiveness.

Hutch didn't know what to do with his feelings. His twin brother had saved his life, saved Starsky's life too. Starsky told him that Keith was in a prison hospital and expected to live. Keith girlfriend had been arrested, too and was now in jail.

All this, Hutch had learned one day as Starsky sat by his bed, telling him everything would be alright. But it never would. Things had been set in motion that could never be undone.

"Hutch, I'm here. Going to be okay," Starsky said, tightening his grip on his hand as if he were physically trying to pull him out of his deep depression. "The doctor said what you're going through is normal. You've been through a lot, partner. But I'm here. Not going anywhere. You gotta know that none of this is your fault. Then you gotta open those baby blues and talk to me."

Hutch felt a warm hand on his head as Starsky came to sit beside him. "Please! The doc said we can leave when you do that. You're going to be okay. You had a flesh wound and a mild concussion from hitting your head when you passed out. That's all. We just got to get you home."

Hutch knew it was time to face his partner. He needed to beg for forgiveness. He had no right to it.

He opened his eyes. Sunlight streamed in through the window, but there were bars there. The psych ward, he thought.

"How long have I been here?" he asked, seeing the relief in his partner's eyes.

"About a week. They wanted to make sure you wouldn't do…do…."

"Kill myself?" Hutch sat up. "I would never do that to you." He took his partner's hand. "I just didn't want to face you after what I've done."

Starsky held his hand even tighter, his eyes watering. "All you did was to love your brother. Ain't nothing wrong with that. It's who you are."

Hutch was vaguely aware of the time he'd spent there. He figured Starsky must have gotten permission to stay because he could feel him sitting next to him the entire time.

His parents had been there too, begging for his forgiveness, saying that they loved him. But he wouldn't acknowledge them, and they'd finally left.

Then Starsky was there, telling him that his father had agreed to hire a lawyer to help Keith.

Hutch wanted to shut the world out. So, he pretended that he was still alone in the summer house.

But Starsky wouldn't let go. He was the one person who had never given up on him. Yet, Hutch had betrayed his partner, his brother, by loving his twin. He would admit that to himself now.

Starsky moved closer, still holding his hand. "None of this is your fault."

"It won't ever end. Never," Hutch murmured.

"But it will. I'll tell the doctor you're awake, then we go home and work on this together."

"Is this the psych ward?"

"They wanted to make sure you wouldn't try to…"

"to off myself?" Hutch said, the question hanging between them.

"I told him you would never do that to me," Starsky said this with a sincerity, but Hutch was a broken man. Didn't know how to put the pieces back together again.

Hutch sat up. "I need to make a confession." He looked at the brunet, imagining what would happen when he admitted his sins. Starsky was going to hate him. He would hate him for putting a near stranger before him.

"I…I betrayed you," he started. Starsky still held his hand. "I maybe could have done things differently, so you wouldn't be in danger. And I…I care for my brother. Love him."

"And what's wrong with that? I sorta like the big lug myself."

Hutch stared at Starsky, not believing what he was hearing.

"Your brother had plenty of time to get me. Instead, he had my back. Even saved me a few times."

Hutch couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm not too happy about how all this started. But I know the ending. Your brother found something worth more than all the money in the world. He found you. And I know personally how much that means."

Hutch dropped his head. "I'm just so sorry."

"But we'll all be okay. Your brother will serve time, but then that's where we come in. When he gets out, both of us will be there for him. And I'm going to have to learn how to handle two Blintzes." Starsky smiled, ruffling Hutch's hair. "Gonna be challenging, so I'll need all the help I can get."

Hutch met Starsky's eyes. "I don't deserve you. I…." And then he was crying and Starsky was holding on to him with everything he had.

"Gonna be okay, Hutch. You'll see."

They stayed that way for a few minutes. Then Starsky spoke. "Now, how about we end this very soapy scene and get that doc in here to release you. Dobey gave us a month off to do whatever we want. So, it's up to you."

Hutch looked out the window. "I think I'm ready for a little vacation. You know, in the great outdoors."

He knew he was pushing it. Starsky hated outdoor stuff.

"Okay, this time. But it's gonna cost you."

Hutch laughed. "What's the price?"

"When we get back, there's gonna be a ping-pong rematch."

Hutch ruffled Starsky's hair. "A rematch?"

"Yeah, you won the last two, but I've been practicing." He moved his hand back and forward in a ping-pong motion. "I'm ready and able."

Hutch was enjoying the levity. He had everything now—a twin brother and the best friend a man could ever have.

"You know what I always wanted to do, Starsk."

"What's that?"

"Take Route 66 from here to California. Imagine the adventure."

Starsky had a faraway look on his face, then smiled. "Sounds like just the thing we both need. But we're traveling during the day. No night driving."

Hutch raised an eyebrow. There was something the brunet wasn't telling him. But there was plenty of time to find out what that was.

"It'll be fun," Hutch said, warming to the subject. "We'll get some camping equipment and just enjoy the sights alone the way."

Starsky smiled, taking his hand. Their eyes met for a moment, communicating their deep feelings for each other without saying a single word. It felt good. Normal.

Hutch started humming a familiar tune.

"What's that?" Starsky asked as he reached for the call button to summon the doctor.

"Where have you been, partner? Who doesn't know this song."

Starsky laughed. "Okay, let's hear the words."

Hutch started singing, his voice clear. He sung a few bars, Starsky smiling as he remembered the catchy tune. Then he chimed in too, ending with the famous line.

"Get your kicks from Route 66."

The End

A/N: Thanks to the wonderful people on the Starsky and Hutch Fans and Fanfiction group who answered a question for my muse who woke me in the middle of the night and asked why Hutch did it. This is the result of that answer.