"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"
Unknown

"I told you so."

Starsky groaned and rolled his head against the damp, rough tree bark behind him. His senses slowly fed his mind information and the cruel, cold world around him started to take shape. Cool rain water pattered peacefully against fleshy green leaves as it dripped from the sky. The smell of dirt and forest and purity rushed into his lungs. A gentle breeze blew warm air over Starsky's skin, eliciting a shiver and goose bumps from the detective.

He groaned again, because Starsky was quite vocal, and opened his eyes. The sky was still overcast and dull, and it hid the sun behind a blanket of wet clouds. Starsky had no idea what time it was, but he imagined it to be late afternoon now. His hands were tied behind his back, securing him to a large tree. He tilted his head back and looked up into the foliage. He wondered what kind of tree it was. Hutch would know.

"Hutch!"

There was movement to Starsky's side, then a familiar grumble. "Jesus Starsk, I'm right here."

Starsky pulled against his bindings as he fought to reach his friend. "You alright?" he asked, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. His last image of Hutch had not been a comforting one. "What happened?"

"Well, it appears that someone tied us up."

Starsky rolled his eyes. "To you, turkey, what happened to you?"

Hutch took a deep, shuddering breath and relaxed against the tree he was tied to. "I'm not sure," he said, closing his eyes and swallowing. "Everything hurt all at once." He paused for a moment, and a bird chirped overhead. "I haven't felt anything like that since…Forest."

Starsky let his gaze drop as his mood darkened in a Pavlovian response to the mention of Ben Forest.

The man had caused both of them enough heartache and pain to last a lifetime. If Hutch was mentioning the man now, he must truly be hurting.

That worried Starsky.

He looked around the quiet campsite. "I'll get us out of here, don't worry."

Hutch huffed and visibly fought back a sarcastic remark.

Starsky searched the campsite for any sign of their captors, Frank and Elaine. All was quiet and still. The tent still stood in the clearing, somehow seeming more dark and spooky than it had at first. Starsky's gaze fell to a dark lump behind the tent and suddenly, everything made a lot of sense.

The large mass of wet fur was a dead bear. It lay in a heap in the mud; the once-noble animal now reduced to a pile of rotting meat. Starsky almost felt sorry for the beast. It's death meant that the couple were poachers. Poachers with weaponry and the skill to bring down large game. That meant they were dangerous. So where were they?

Starsky looked to Hutch. The blond was leaning against the tree again, his wet hair laying flat against his head as rain trickled over a collection of cuts and bruises. His splinted leg lay straight out in front of him, trembling slightly. Hutch looked pale, and sick. Starsky took a deep breath, praying that a means of escape would come as easily as the oxygen.

"Hello!" Starsky called into the trees. He wasn't sure what would happen if Frank or Elaine did return, but it had to be better than sitting here waiting.

Nothing happened. Had they really left he and Hutch here alone? The couple were either new at this hostage stuff or very experienced.

Starsky glanced at Hutch and laughed. Of course they were alone. They were injured, tied up and utterly defenseless. There was no way to escape. No where to go.

"What's so funny?" Hutch mumbled, not even opening his eyes to glare at Starsky.

"Nothing's funny. At least, not like 'ha-ha' funny. More like ironic funny." Starsky sighed. "If you have an idea, now would be a great time to share."

"I heard them talking. They won't be back until dark."

"Yeah? Where'd they go?"

"Something about meeting a buyer. I can't really remember that part."

The clouds seemed to part just the tiniest bit. "So now what do we do?" Starsky asked as he gave the ropes around his wrists an experimental tug.

Fire coursed through his veins with enough force to steal his breath. Stars twinkled in Starsky's vision as his broken arm made itself known once more. How had he managed to forget about it? Adrenaline must be a very potent thing.

Hutch was watching him intently now. "Don't move around," he said softly, and Starsky wanted to reply that he already figured that out.

Starsky took quick notice of his other aches and pains. He felt like he had survived a cave-in. A pounding headache beat viciously against his skull, not wanting to be forgotten. Starsky swallowed and pushed his stomach back into its proper place. "Don't you have a knife or somethin'?" he asked to take his mind off the nausea. "Don't you nature boys always carry around pocket knives and stuff?"

Hutch chuckled but it ended in a coughing fit. When he could breathe again he replied, "You watch way too much TV Starsk."

"Hey, I'm good at what I do. Most of the time, it's nothing."

Hutch rolled his eyes. "I'll agree with that."

A snap echoed through the campsite and everything fell silent.

"Did you hear that?" Starsky whispered. His heart began to beat a little faster and the throbbing pain in his arm faded into the background.

Hutch shushed him with a quick glare. He glanced sidelong at Starsky then looked back to the shadows of the forest.

Starsky followed Hutch's lead and scanned the perimeter of the campsite for any sign that Frank and Elaine had returned. A small bush rustled and the motion caught the attention of the two detectives. Whatever was out there was probably going to be dangerous. Maybe it was a relative of the dead bear seeking revenge. Maybe it was a rabid wolf. Were there wolves in this forest? Maybe it was Big Foot.

When every last one of Starsky's muscles had clenched in fearful anticipation, a figure emerged from the shrubbery.

"Gordo!"

Hutch's exclamation cut through the ringing silence and the shaggy brown dog trotted across the campsite and over to his friend.

Starsky let out a big breath. "Good God dog, don't do that to me."

"He's not dead Starsky, can you believe it? I thought-"

Hutch was cut off as the wriggling dog leaned against the blond and licked his chin.

Starsky smiled. He had to admit, he was glad the dog hadn't become bear food. His partner was smiling for the first time all day, and that made Starsky feel better. Maybe there was magic in these woods.

"Hey Hutch, tell that mangy mutt to get us free and I will buy him a burger with everything on it from Huggy's."

Hutch tried to glare at Starsky but a long wet tongue kept licking at his cheek.

Starsky snorted and looked at the mud he was sitting in. His brow furrowed as he began trying to figure out a way out of this situation. Doing so only made his head hurt worse.

The sudden lack of miserable rain made Starsky look up. Before he could question the clouds, his eyes locked on his partner and the dog and he froze. Hutch was leaning forward, as much as the rope would allow, with his head against the dog's head. Starsky listened hard but could barely make out Hutch's quiet mumbling. The dog stood with it's tail down and his eyes closed, giving the appearance that he was not only listening but understanding.

Starsky shook his head and started to turn away when the dog turned and bounded ten feet away, then stopped and looked back between Starsky and Hutch. It barked in impatience.

Starsky raised an eyebrow. "What's he-"

"Give him a minute," Hutch replied gently. His blue eyes were trained on the dog.

Starsky looked at the dog. It trotted back to Hutch, it's tail wagging, and stopped in between Hutch's legs. It whined and looked behind it to the trees. Hutch simply shook his head. The dog's ears went back against it's head and his tail stopped wagging. He looked at Hutch a moment longer, then stepped lightly over Hutch's splinted leg and circled the tree.

Starsky stared.

The dog sniffed the ground and cried, then began digging at the base of the tree. His strong front feet pounded the earth as pointed toenails raked the dirt. After a few moments, the dog stopped and cried again, seemingly at a loss on what to do next. Then the dog looked around and scooted closer to the tree, then plopped down with an 'oomph'.

Then he began to chew on the rope.

Starsky's jaw dropped. "What- how- what-"

Hutch turned his head and smiled at Starsky. "He said he likes his burgers medium-rare."

The dog's jaws worked hard on gnawing through the rope around Hutch's wrists. Starsky wondered how the animal could control the obvious force behind those strong jaws and avoid clamping down on Hutch's hands. Starsky just acquired a lot more respect for the four-legged stray.

"Is this going to work?" Starsky asked as the dog paused to lick it's lips.

"Of course it will, Starsky. You just have to open minded and have a little faith."

"If you're too open minded your brain will fall out."

Hutch glared at Starsky but the tiniest of smiles was pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Is that what happened to you?"

Starsky grinned. "My brain works just fine, thank you."

There was a moment of silence as Hutch tilted his head back to look into the sky. "At least it stopped raining. That's good news, right?"

"I'd say for surviving an cave-in and a bear attack and being tied to some trees, we're doin' alright."

"How's your arm?"

"Oh, it hurts pretty bad."

"Vision?"

"Multiple. How's your leg?"

"Sill there. We gotta get your head checked out. You can't afford to suffer any more damage."

Starsky huffed. "Like a permanent limp will make you more attractive to the ladies?"

Hutch opened his mouth to reply but was cut off when his hands suddenly fell freely to his sides. "Good boy!" he praised as the dog trotted around the tree to Hutch's side. His words earned him another lick on the cheek.

"Good, now get over here and untie me and we can get out of here," Starsky said, pulling with his good arm against the ropes.

Hutch braced himself against the ground and pushed upwards against the tree. He struggled to keep his good leg under him and avoid putting weight on his broken leg. He sort of hopped around a bit and the dog skittered away until at last, Hutch found his balance and stood up straight.

Starsky felt his heart ache a little at the sight of his partner struggling so hard with the simple act of standing. Hutch hobbled closer and hesitated before slowly, gingerly lowering himself to kneel awkwardly behind Starsky. Hutch said nothing as he pulled on the ropes. Within seconds, the rope fell away and Starsky brought his hands before him to rest in his lap. Hutch shifted and sat beside him.

"Thanks," Starsky said as he settled his broken arm in his lap.

Hutch reached out beside him and grabbed the fabric that had been Starsky's sling. "Here, let's get this back on."

Starsky ducked his head as Hutch placed the damp, make-shift sling over his head. Hutch was leaning close, and Starsky couldn't help but smell the sweat and blood that clung to his partner. He tried to look into Hutch's eyes but the blond would not meet his gaze.

After placing Starsky's arm in the sling, Hutch moved away. "You've got to keep it still," he said off-handedly.

Starsky nodded, saddened by Hutch's dampened demeanor. He studied the blond for a moment before the dog shook itself and the sudden action reminded Starsky of their new order of business.

"We're free, what are sitting around here for?" he asked light-heartedly as he stood up. The earth swirled around him, forcing him to reach out blindly and brace himself against the tree.

Hutch chuckled dryly. "Don't move so fast," he said as he rose to his feet also. As before, he hopped in place before finding his balance.

"No kidding," Starsky muttered. He would have rolled his eyes if he weren't afraid his head would fall off. He took a step forward and the dog dashed out before him, taking up it's role of a canine scout. "You ready to blow this joint?" Starsky asked as he ducked under Hutch's arm.

They hobbled forward together as Hutch replied. "I was born ready."

Starsky cocked his head. "Isn't that my line?"

"I'm borrowing it."

"Borrowing it without permission," Starsky corrected, and before Hutch could reply he continued, "Let's check out the tent. Maybe they have something in there we can use."

Hutch nodded and swallowed audibly. His eyes closed for a brief moment as Starsky struggled to navigate them to the large green tent.

"You with me?" Starsky asked with a sidelong glance to his friend. Although Hutch didn't actually look worse, he had looked pretty beat up for some time now and it was a growing concern in Starsky's mind.

Hutch nodded his head. "I'll give ya a warning before I puke."

Starsky snorted. "Gee, thanks pal."

"'S what friends are for," Hutch mumbled in reply.

The dog stood before the tent with his tail wagging and an expectant look shining on his face. Starsky brought them to a stop and pulled back the tent's opening flap, allowing the dog to dart inside first. There were no growls or yelps, so Starsky maneuvered Hutch and himself through the awkward opening.

One small kerosene lantern hung from the center of the tent, casting a flickering, dim light against the dark fabric. A small table, no bigger than a card table, sat in the center of the tent. The dog sat next to the table facing Starsky, it's tail sweeping back and forth in a maddening rhythm and a big dog-smile on it's face.

On the table, dramatically spotlighted by the small flame overhead, sat the most beautiful 2-way radio David Starsky had ever seen.