Hi all!

Yeah, know I said I would wait and post everything together, but I have been getting emails and reviews of people going MAD without being able to read more. Cabrillo State Mental Hospital called and said that they can't take the overflow; so I have been ordered to take pity on ya and give you another chapter.

Special Thanks to Jenny K., Joyce B. and Kelli C. (Hugs! You guys are life and sanity savers)

I did warn you guys about those darn waffles... 'Best laid plans' and all that.

Now, presenting Chapter #7 (and only Ch. #7) I will be posting the rest of 'em as I finish 'em

CG Ch #7

Starsky lay on his bunk and stared at the dent Hutch was making in the upper bunk. He was puzzled. Hutch's marathon hand washing hand concerned him. When he asked Hutch about it, he had told him to "Shut the hell up", then had refused to talk to him after that. Just what the hell had happened to Hutch today?

What was he gonna do? Take no for an answer? Had he ever taken no for an answer when it came to Hutch? NO!

His mind made up, Starsky got out of bed and climbed on top of his bunk "Hey, Hutch, you awake?" He could barely make out the form of his friend in the darkness, the dim florescent light near the exit was the only source of light after ten p.m. "Hey" Starsky gently grabbed Hutch's upper arm and shook it "Hut-" the name was cut short when Hutch punched him in the face.

"I told you the shut the hell up! I'm tryin' to get some sleep here!" Hutch snapped at Starsky.

Starsky simply stared, dumbfounded, as Hutch turned over and presented his back to him. After a prolonged stunned stare, Starsky asked "do ya feel better now, or do ya need ta hit me again?"

Hutch had given it a lot of thought and he had come to the conclusion that Roy was trying to pit them against each other. It was the only thing that made sense. Not that Roy's plan was sensible, or that Roy was sensible, for that matter.

He thought he had heard something last night as he was falling asleep. He was fairly certain he had heard someone enter the seclusion block a short time ago. But he couldn't be sure and he couldn't take the chance of cluing Starsk in, not yet anyway.

Hitting Starsky had pained him the most. Having to hit his best friend... it was the worst kind of pain. The ache only deepened when Starsky had offered to let him hit him again. Just like that awful day when Gillian was murdered...

Hutch signed "Just go to sleep, will ya?" Tears leaked unseen from his eyes. He hated like hell to hit Starsky, but he had to distance himself. It was the only way to protect him.

"Okay, for now, but I ain't finished with this subject" 'Not by a long shot' Starsky lay down on his bunk and once more stared at the dent 'What the hell happened to you today, buddy?'

'Finally, progress!' Roy couldn't be happier as he tip-toed unnoticed, out the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wednesday

Morning came too quickly, despite Starsky's Hutch induced insomnia. The morning brought a surprise; four guards arrived at the cell, Roy, Randal, Will Gardner and Joe the guard.

"Hey Hu- Sam, wake up!" He pushed his foot against the dent above him a couple of times and quickly slipped on his jeans, pulled on his shirt and then he mashed his feet into his shoes without untying them.

Hutch's jeans encased legs appeared over the side of the bunk and he carefully slid to the floor, landing on his left foot. He avoided eye contact with Starsky. He sat down on the lower bunk and carefully put his shoes on.

Will, the most senior officer, then spoke up "Do you know why we're here Mr. Jones?"

"Yeah, I do" His head hung down. "Let's get this over with"

"Hu- SAM, what's going on?" Starsky edged over to Hutch's side and tried in vain to make eye contact.

"Mr. Jones assaulted a guard yesterday, coupled with the demerits for fighting and damaging prison property, he is to be posted today" Roy sneered.

"What's 'posted'?!" Starsky was alarmed. He shot Hutch a 'why didn't you tell me?' look.

"Both of you, on your feet, turn your backs to us and place your hands in the small of your backs" Will ignored Mr. Harold's question.

Hutch meekly complied and silent urged Starsky to comply as well.

Starsky didn't know what this 'posting' shit was, but there was no way in hell he was gonna let Hutch go through it alone. He placed his hands behind his back and controlled his breathing as best he could. He would make his move before they cuffed him.

"Don't!" Hutch whispered and shot Starsky a pleading look. Starsky's dark blue eyes had steel in them. 'Oh shit' Hutch knew what Starsky had planned. "St- Don't!"

Joe and Randal moved into the cell. Starsky whirled around and punched Joe in the face; he then punched Randal even harder. Nightsticks were brought out and after several hard whacks; Starsky was subdued and panting on the floor. His hands were then cuffed securely behind him.

Starsky looked up from his position on the floor "Sorry I hit you, Joe" he was sorry that he had hit him. Joe had taken him to see Hutch in the infirmary when he had been attacked on Monday. That punch wasn't personal.

"What about me?" Randal whined.

Starsky said nothing, he let his glare do the all the talking. Randal scuttled out of the cell. For the first time, Starsky noticed that Randal was limping slightly. He struggled to his feet.

"Well, Mr. Jones, looks like you're going to have company" Will shook his head. He had never seen anyone fight to be posted before. Well, there's a first time for everything.

They were driven by pickup truck to a small area adjacent to the main prison compound. This section was fenced in as well it shared one side of the compound fencing, but for the three remaining sides the chain link fencing was not as high. One of the guard towers overlooked the area along with the adjoining compound the electronic gate to this adjoining area was controlled from there.

The spot they were taken to was near what looked to be a covered riding arena. A short distance from that was a stable for the mounted patrol horses for the prison. About ten feet from the arena fence were two ominous large looking wooden posts. Each post had several large eyebolts at various heights screwed into them.

Starsky and Hutch exchanged a look. Joe and Randal assisted them out of the truck and lead them to the posts. Roy and Will exited the truck cab and joined the other two guards.

They were handcuffed to separate posts. Their hands were cuffed in front of them and to the post at just such a height that they would not be able to sit down on the ground. They were then told that they would be there for twelve hours. It was now 5 a.m.

Each was given a wide brim hat to wear. Starsky was going to toss his, but Hutch, a.k.a Nature Boy, told him to leave it on.

Will, Roy and Joe got into the pickup and left.

Hutch watched Randal moved off to sit down on a park bench about twenty feet away. He was happy to note that Randal had a slight limp. 'Good, a little pay back for yesterday' He allowed himself a moment of smugness.

"So, this is 'posting'. It don't seem so bad" Starsky looked at Hutch.

Hutch looked back at him "Why'd ya have to hit those guards, Starsk? Huh?" he shook his head sadly.

"Why didn't you tell me this posting thing was gonna happen? Huh? We're partners; remember 'Me and Thee'?" Starsky countered "We have ta stick together"

"That's very loyal of ya Starsk, but some things must be done alone" He avoided eye contact as he said that.

"Since when?" Starsky was getting angry. Hutch's behavior was becoming so un-Hutch like. "Why don't ya tell me what th' hell's going on? Huh? Ya hit me last night! That ain't like you! You can tell me anything, you know that..."

"I know, Starsk and I will tell you, after we get out of here"

"Why not now?" He was getting frustrated.

"Just trust me, okay?" Hutch sighed "'m sorry I hit ya last night"

"Why'd ya do it then? Huh? I think I gotta right ta know"

"You do, buddy, you do... but later, okay?" He leaned his head against the post; he didn't know how much longer he could keep what happened yesterday and the day before a secret from his friend. 'One day at a time, Ken, one day at a time'.

The pair heard a sharp whistle near the gate and turned their attention there. The electronic gate glided open and a person in a cowboy hat, baggy t-shirt and jeans rode in on horseback, leading another horse, a German Shepard trotted along side. The gate slid closed once more.

The pair took careful notice on the entrance procedure for the gate. It might come in handy, if they got the opportunity to escape.

The person, a woman, trotted the horses up near the park bench to the hitching post located there.

The dog trotted over to where Randal was sitting and lifted its leg and urinated on Randal's leg. He jumped up "God Damn it Kate! Control that fucking dog of yours before I shoot the damn thing!"

"Sorry, Randal" The older woman tilted her Stetson hat back a bit as she looked at Randal's wet pant leg through large, thick glasses that rested on a beak like nose "Guess he couldn't wait any longer"

Starsky and Hutch exchanged a look and stifled their chuckles.

Randal glared in their direction as he limped away to change his pants, shaking his wet leg every few strides.

"Good dog!" The woman praised once Randal was out of earshot.

"Miss?" Hutch called, this could be the chance they had been waiting for, and his heart sped up.

"Missus" The woman corrected.

"Missus... Kate, we need your help" Hutch amended.

"Oh, spare me your sad tail of woe, I've heard them all" She threw up her hands and stalked off to the stables, leading the two horses she brought in. She returned a few minutes later with a different horse, which she took into the arena and started to work with it.

"Please, you have to listen, we don't belong here, we were kidnapped" Hutch tried again.

"Heard that one before, just last month" Came the bored reply.

The duo traded a look. Was it possible that Roy had done this to someone else? Yep, knowing Roy, it was possible. "We're police officers, detectives-"

She cut him off. "That's a new one; I'll give you points for originality. I'm not supposed to talk to inmates"

"Fine, don't talk, just listen!" Hutch snapped, fed up.

Shaking her head, she cued the horse to canter on.

"Hutch! What the hell are ya doin'?" Starsky whispered angrily, then to the woman he called, "Please don't listen to him, he's just having a bad day" He went on to try to explain their predicament. But the woman kept to the far side of the arena making it impossible to give details without shouting.

Randal, having changed his pants, returned shortly after that, he pulled the park bench into the shade of the arena.

The temperature was beginning to rapidly rise. It was about 6 a.m. and already in the eighties. Starsky's temperature was on the rise as well. "Dammit Hutch, what th' hell's gotten inta ya? Ya probably just blew th' best chance we've had so far of gettin' outta here"

Hutch just hung his head. He wanted to stick to his plan of pretending to break off his friendship with Starsky to protect him from Roy. But just how to do that without telling Starsky? Should he tell him? What would work best? Hutch wished he had the answers. His gut told him that Roy would know that they were just acting, no matter how hard they tried. But, if Starsky didn't know, maybe Roy wouldn't either...

Best to tell Starsk some of what happened yesterday and then stick to his plan "Okay, you win, Starsk, I tried talking to the nurse while Randal was out getting lunch. She ignored me; it was like I was a piece of meat. She just put ice on my leg and left. I was handcuffed to the bed. I couldn't hurt her or anything, why couldn't she just listen?" It had hurt not to be treated with common courtesy or respect that every human was entitled to, including criminals.

"Go on, ya assaulted a guard yesterday as well, I'm guessing Randal, right? He's limping today" Starsky watched as Hutch's head dipped lower "What?" It was so frustrating, he was mere feet from his friend but he had never felt further away.

"I was handcuffed to the bed... so I kicked him" The quiet reply.

Starsky wanted details "Why'd ya kick him?" he asked softly, he had an idea why, but he had to hear it from Hutch.

"He tried to k-" Hutch cleared his throat "k-kiss me" That wasn't all, but that was all he was prepared to tell Starsky at this point.

"Dat little shit!" Starsky snapped his head about and glared at the little guard. He turned back, "What'd ya do?"

Hutch smiled "Kicked him in the nuts"

"Good for you! Stupid little shit" Starsky glared at Randal once more. He knew Hutch was leaving something out. He silently vowed to make Hutch talk about it once they were back in their cell, for privacy sake.

The morning pasted with the duo killing time by watching the woman give riding lessons to the guards. It was interesting to see just how the mounted horses were trained. The guards practiced various techniques for separating a suspect (or in this case an inmate) from the others as well has handcuffing and breaking up groups of rioters, all without ever getting off their horses. They also worked on something they called "drill team" which reminded Starsky of military marching drills.

Starsky grew a little concerned that he and Hutch might be used as guinea pigs for the practice session that the guards were having. Those animals were huge. But much to his relief, they just practiced on each other.

The morning wore on.

Starsky was rapidly revising his opinion that posting shit wasn't so bad. The heat was getting unbearable and it wasn't even noon yet. Sweat rolled off his whole body. Hutch had told him to keep his sleeves rolled down to help retain moisture and prevent sunburn. He had rolled his up for a while but then the metal cuffs got so hot, he rolled the sleeves back down again.

"Dammit, it's really hot. My brains are beginnin' ta fry" Starsky panted.

"What? They're just beginning?" Hutch was leaning against the pole, trying to take his weight off his right leg, which was starting to really hurt again. "I always thought your brains were more than half baked to begin with"

"Hey, whaddya mean by that?"

"Thought that was pretty self explanatory" Hutch wiped ineffectively at his brow.

"Uh huh" No sense in arguing with Hutch, it was just too hot. "Wonder when we can get a drink? I'm parched" He looked over to where Randal sat in the shade, sipping water. He licked his dry lips.

The other guards had departed after the morning training session, even the instructor packing up her stuff to leave. She turned on the hydrant located near the arena and started to fill a couple of large jugs. The sound of running water was so good.

"Hey Randal, we could use some water, please!" Starsky called.

Randal merely opened up his newspaper and started to leaf through it without looking up.

Starsky tried again "Yo, Randal! Some water, please?"

Randal turned down an edge of his paper and smirked at him before going back to reading.

Starsky gritted his teeth and apologized "Look, Randal, I'm really sorry I hit you this morning, okay? May we have some water now? Please?"

He continued to flip through the paper, ignoring Starsky.

Hutch merely leaned against the post, not even looking at Starsky, not looking at anything in particular. Resigned.

Starsky had been growing more concerned all morning. Hutch was just not acting like... Hutch. He hadn't responded at all, on any level to him in the last hour. He just leaned against the post.

Starsky was about to ask again when the woman hollered.

"Randal!"

"What?" Randal drawled out.

"You know the law" She gritted out.

"What law?" He asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb, the Arizona State law that states that anyone asking for water must be given some" She snapped.

"Oh, that law" Randal took his time getting up and he sauntered over to the hydrant and picked up the metal cup that hung there and filled it. He muttered vile comments about her and her dog and what he thought they did together under his breath as he got the water.

Starsky noticed that the woman fiddled around with her horses until both he and Hutch had had a drink. He nodded his thanks.

She turned away without acknowledging him and whistled for the gate to be opened.

He wondered if she would contact the police to make any inquiries about them, but realized that neither he nor Hutch had given their names. He ground his teeth in frustration. What a mess. He leaned on the post and stared through the distant chain link fence to the open desert and watched the heat waves shimmer off the sand and desert plants.

Hutch was aware that Starsky was upset with him. He had blown it and all the couldas, shouldas and wouldas in the world wouldn't change anything. Not now. Now he had to commit himself to his course of distancing himself from Starsky. He knew that Roy and Randal were beginning to focus their attention on him. And he intended to keep it that way. He swallowed dryly.

Hutch lowered his head. He couldn't decide who was worse; Roy was nasty, crazy and Randal wanted him. He fought the urge to vomit. He needed to retain all the fluids he had in this heat, also he was concerned that if he started, he wouldn't ever be able to stop. 'God, give me strength to get through this'

At 5 p.m. they were taken back to their cell block. Only they were put in separate cells now. Starsky's stomach knotted up even tighter then before. This was not good. Hell, none of this whole damn mess was good, none of it their fault... he slammed his fist repeatedly into the wall that now separated him from Hutch.

He called to him several times, but Hutch didn't even answer. He tried reaching through the bars and around the wall, to make contact, nothing. He finally wore himself out and slid down the wall to sit on the floor next to the bars and stared without seeing the adjacent wall.

Hutch listened to Starsky rant and pound on the wall. The hardest thing was to see Starsky's hand flailing about and not to grab onto it and hang on for dear life. He leaned his head against the connecting wall, his palms flat against it 'It's for the best buddy, I'm doing this for you'

Two days

TBC

Author's note: Strange but true, there really is a law in Arizona that anyone asking for a glass of water must be given one!