Disclaimer: I don't own Starsky or Hutch or the Torino. Shame really, but that's how life is. I do however own the right to complain if anyone tells me I have no write to right this. That I will have to fight people over

The key was exactly were he knew it would be and since knocking was getting him know where Starsky reached for it and opened the door. Instead of hearing the soft singing or humming of his partner, the first thing he was aware of when he entered the room was the smell of cooking meat. It was such a strong delightful smell that Starsky momentarily forgot what he was doing there and just inhaled deeply. The smell caused saliva to build up in his mouth, but he swallowed it and entered the apartment.

"Hutch" He called out. He looked around the dimly lit apartment and frowned. He knocked on the bathroom door, wondering if he partner was shaving of something.

"Hey Hutch there's no need to freshen up for little me" He said in a sweet almost feminine voice. He knocked on the door again, but got no reply. A sudden wave of paranoia pasted through Starsky and he started searching the apartment, checking everywhere, including under the bed, the cupboards and the greenhouse, but there was no sign of Hutch.

Starsky leaned against the breakfast bar in the kitchen and sighed. It's then he remembered the smell of food coming from the oven. He bent over the stove, and opened the oven. The joint was cooking well, but it was nowhere near ready.

"Damn no sampling" Starsky muttered to himself. He closed the oven door and leaned back against the counter. Since the room appeared in the same state as always and the door hadn't been busted open Starsky chose to ignore his paranoia and just assume Hutch had popped out for a quick moment.

Starsky opened the fridge and took out a beer. He popped it open and went to slump himself down on the couch, putting his feet up on the table.

"Here's to loneliness and hunger" Starsky said, raising his bottle to the room and taking a long swig.

The oven gave its salute to the toast with loud bang followed by a stream of sparks.

Friday night, Hutch should have remembered. The liquor store was always busy in the evening. Teenagers buying beer, under aged kids trying to convince the guy at the counter that they were over 18, husbands buying wine for romantic dinners and Hutch looking for a nice red wine to go with his joint. Even though he was in a hurry he didn't want to just pick any old bottle and risk spoiling his dinner.

In the end he chose one that he had used the last time he cooked for his partner, he remembered being complimented frequently during the night and the following day at work. He picked up the bottle and joined the queue. The kid at the front was trying to convince Jim the owner that he was old enough to drink, even though he looked no older than 14. He was using what Hutch assumed was a fake ID, but good old Jim wasn't buying it. He sent the sulking child out and moved on to his next customer, a heavyset man buying a case of beer.

"Big game on tonight?" Jim asked. The man shook his head.

"Nope, couple of my old friends from Texas are coming over and we're going to drink and party til the sun comes up" Jim smiled as he put the beer through the register.

"I bet your girl won't enjoy that" The man grunted, but smiled.

"Boy won't she, but she's arranged to go to her sisters house for a girls night of...well you know girly stuff" Jim and the man shared a small chuckle while Jim packed the beer up.

"That'll be 20 dollars"

Hutch looked at his watch then back at the counter. As much as he liked friendly Jim, his consent talking to the customers always held up the queue. Hutch needed to get back before anything went wrong with his dinner.

"Have a nice night," Jim said as the man turned and left.

"Hey Ken, how are ya?" Jim asked as Ken placed his bottle on the counter.

"I'm all right Jim, you?" Jim shrugged.

"Ah you know, can't really complain" He picked up the wine and read the label before putting it through the register.

"Hot date?" He asked. Hutch shook his head, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips.

"No not tonight" Jim smiled.

"Ah dinner with your partner then" Hutch's smile turned into a frown.

"Am I getting that predictable?" He asked. Jim smiled.

"Sorry, but whenever you buy wine it's either for a lady or ya partner, but hey that's your business. Nothing to do with me" Hutch sighed.

"What are we turning into buddy?" Hutch thought "A married couple"

"That'll be eight dollars," Jim said shaking Hutch out of his thoughts. Hutch silently paid the man and gave him a smile to thank him. He turned to leave, but was stopped by Jim calling his name.

"Have a good night and sorry if I offended you" Hutch looked back over his shoulder and gave the man a sincere smile.

"Thanks Jim" He said before leaving the shop. Once outside he stopped briefly, momentarily forgetting that he had to get back to check on dinner.

Did he spend too much time with Starsky? Did they spend too many nights together? Was that a bad thing? He shook his head lightly to get rid of the nagging questions. So what if they did. He'd rather spend most of his time with Starsky than so many of his nights alone.

He brought himself back to the present and remembered the oven was still on. He started back down the street towards his place, walking fast.

Halfway there he heard sirens coming up behind him, he knew instantly that it wasn't a police siren or an ambulance, which left one other: a fire tuck. Hutch's heart missed a beat as he watched the truck zoom past him at an alarming rate. It came to a halt not far from where Hutch stood frozen.

"Oh God" He whispered "Oh please no" He ran after the fire truck, almost dropping his bottle as he went. Just before he reached his place he could smell smoke and see grey clouds rising up from his building. He knew even before he reached the apartment that it was his place that was on fire. He stopped dead outside and watched the firemen wrestle with the water hose, trying to get it working.

Hutch stared at the burning building in disbelief. He had not been gone long and everything had been fine before he left. What could have happened?

He turned around so his back was to the blaze, but it was then he noticed the familiar red car with the white stripe parked outside his place.

"Starsky" Hutch spun around frantically, searching the sidewalk for his partner. A heavy sick feel settled into his stomach as he eyes wonder back on to the fire.

"STARSKY" He yelled running towards the building. An arm stopped him around his waist pulling him back.

"You can't go in, sir," The fireman said "You have to get back" Hutch fought against the man, and managed to throw him aside.

"Get off me, STARSKY!" Two more firemen went for Hutch, tackling him to the ground before he got much closer to the fire.

"There's nothing you can do," One of the firemen said firmly. "Just stay back" Hutch struggled against the two men, but there heavy frames coupled with the fact there were two of them, prevented him from fighting them off. He stared through them, watching his home burn, watching, hoping and praying his partner wasn't in there. Praying with every thing he had that if he were he'd be all right, that they'd find him alive and well.

It had taken almost a full hour to put out the blaze; the firemen had gone in a little before that to check the place out. Hutch had been forced to wait, sitting in the passenger seat of the Torino his eyes never leaving the building. Captain Dobey had arrived by then and was stood beside Hutch, one hand on his shoulder the other dangling limply by his side.

Hutch had said so many silent prays in his head over the last hour that he ran out of things to say. He knew now for sure that his partner had been in the building when the fire started, the only question now was, would he be all right?

When the firemen made there way into the building Hutch jumped out of the car and stood as close as he was allowed. Dobey stood right beside him, both men holding their breaths. It seemed to take forever for the firemen to search the place. Fortunately they only needed to search Hutch's apartment everyone else in the building had gotten out when the fire had first started. It had occurred to Hutch that if Starsky was in the building when it started how come he hadn't come out.

"Oh God. Maybe he's hurt" He thought "Maybe he was taken by surprise when the fire started and hit his head" He stopped such other thoughts from plaguing his mind and just focused on the building in front of him.

With each second that ticked by Hutch's anxiety began to build to the point where he feared he'd pass out. He vaguely heard someone shout inside the building but couldn't make out the words. The shout was repeated and this time he heard it loud and clear.

"We got a body," It yelled. Hutch felt an ice cold hand squeeze his heart and his legs instantly turned to jelly.

"No no no no" The voice in his head chanted over and over as he ran towards the fireman who was emerging from the building with what appeared to be a body slumped over his shoulder. Even though he couldn't see the face he knew who it was. The body was dumped on the grass, the head slumping to the side. Hutch dropped to his knees beside the burnt figure. The face was burnt so badly it was impossible to make any kind of identification; never the less, Hutch stared at it. His stomach protested against his stare, but Hutch couldn't pull his eyes away. The only things on the head that wasn't burnt away were a few stray curls.

Hutch reached a shaking hand towards one of the curls, but when he touched it, it fell from the head. His eyes trailed down the body, taking note of the remains of a leather jacket and singed jeans, but what caught Hutch's attention was the left hand. The fingers were burnt almost down to the bone, but buried in the flesh of the little finger something glistened, causing all new waves of nausea. Starsky's rings, the ones he always wore on his little finger. He had to move his head a little closer to get a good look, but there was no doubt they were his.

Hutch's face completely drained of all colour, the world around him began to spin. He heard his Captain's voice somewhere to his left, but the words were drowned out alone with the rest of the world. He hit the ground before anyone could reach out to stop him. His last thought was of his partner.

TBC