Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews, they are so much appreciated. It warms my heart to know that you are really enjoying SB so far. For those of you who have been wondering: this is NOT a death story, I don't write those… the OC's however, are a whole other matter. My advice is to not get too attached to them. Okay, on with the story…


Chapter 4

Starsky didn't like what he'd just heard anymore than the blond did. He sighed. Knowing Hutch, it was not a bright idea to go storming after him right now. His partner needed some space, if only for a few minutes.

Jumping off the stool, he quickly drank the last of the beer. Deep in thought he did not notice the woman walking up to the table Hutch had just vacated. She took a seat in the now empty chair.

He put down the empty glass and was about to check up on his partner when he suddenly noticed the lady looking up at him. She was an older woman, a brunette with a pretty face whose soft features and wrinkles around the eyes told him the familiar story of the hardships of life. The large green eyes fixed him to the floor.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I would like to ask you something." Her calm voice sounded both intelligent and wise.

Starsky, gallant as ever, couldn't find it in his heart to ignore her and walk out. Though she was an older woman; she was a woman and, as a man, you did not ignore a woman. Apart from that there was something in her eyes that seemed to unsettle him a great deal. Curiosity got the better of him.

Knowing his partner was probably brooding in the Torino and wouldn't mind it in the least to be left alone for a while longer, he graciously approached her.

"Sure Miss…?"

"Delilah, but you can call me Lilly."

"Starsky, David Starsky," he said, taking the seat in front of her.

"I saw your friend helping out that little boy earlier."

Starsky frowned. "Oh?"

She nodded at the window seat.

"Oh," Starsky said, realizing she must have seen it from there.

"That was a very nice thing to do."

Her green eyes, friendly and curious, somehow seemed to pierce right through him, intensifying the uncomfortable feeling he was experiencing.

"Well, we know where that boy is coming from. We're just trying to help."

Now it was Lilly's turn to frown at him.

"We're cops. Detectives," he hurried to explain.

"Of course," she said smiling, as if she had already known that they could not possibly be in any other profession.

"Look Lilly," Starsky started, trying to get to the point. It was beginning to annoy him that she seemed to know all about them, and he only knew her name. "You just wanted to know why my partner gave that boy some money, is that it?"

Her smile faded. She stared at him, her eyes clearly showing that that was not it. Starsky could tell she was sizing him up, pondering over her next words and trying to decide exactly how to say them.

Lilly kept her silence and looked like she was not going to speak anytime soon. Starsky stood up to leave. "If you'll excuse me ma'am, I …"

"Do you think…?" she suddenly interrupted him with a soft voice and a serious look on her face, "that he can go on without you?"

Starsky froze. She pierced him with her green eyes and waited patiently for his answer.

Confused by the sudden question, not to mention that annoying yet friendly glare, he deliberately made it look like he misunderstood. "The little boy?"

She smiled. "No, your partner… would he make it without you?"

Starsky was not known for his incredible patience when threats were uttered against him or Hutch. With all these weird murders going on lately, plus the recent news that a Forest was probably out to get them, he could not afford to take her words lightly. His voice dropped a few octaves. "I hope," he said as he slowly walked over to where she sat, gripping the chair's backrest with his left hand and leaning in close to her, "that wasn't a threat I heard, lady?"

She visibly shrank away from him, obviously shaken by his reaction. She stood up, putting some distance between the two of them. "No, that's not what I meant."

"Well, what did you mean?" Starsky let the anger show in his voice, while slowly sitting down on the table.

"It's hard to explain."

"Try anyway, sweetheart."

She was silent for a while before speaking. "Sometimes when I see people I can… tell certain things about them." She began pacing the floor.

Starsky eyed her suspiciously. "So can I, it doesn't take much of a genius…"

Much to his surprise she cut him short, going straight to the point. "I can sense more than others Detective. When you two came in…" She stopped her pacing and looked up. Starsky didn't move an inch as she walked over to him and gently grabbed his arm.

"You're soul-bonded," she carefully stated, almost as a warning. "Did you know that?"

Staring at her, Starsky was not sure whether to believe what he had just heard or not. He decided to just play along for now, knowing there was more to life than what the eye could see. He and Hutch had both dealt with their share of psychics and other weirdoes. But most of those had a screw loose. Most of those had wanted them dead. Without a doubt, these cases had caused a lot of fear and anguish for the both of them.

However, the fact remained that she had hit the truth. He knew that, without ever having to think about it. And in his eyes that made her very dangerous.

Cautiously he freed his arm from her grip.

"Yeah," he said carefully, sizing her up, "I know that."

Somehow she did not look dangerous, more concerned than threatening. He had to give it to her, she stood her ground and did not step back as he leaned forward, pointing a finger at her. "And if you know that, you must know the answer to your first question. What's your point?"

She looked at him, sadness colouring her features. "I'm just trying to warn you Detective, his future feels very, very lonely."

Starsky jumped off the table, stating in a cold angry voice, "Look lady, whatever premonition you think you've got going, I am not going to die."

She didn't flinch. "I never said you would."

"You're saying he's going to…?"

"I'm not saying anything, I just…," her voice softened to a whisper and her eyes unfocused as she apparently tried to access her feelings. "Something's going to get to him…" She looked up with a confused expression on her face. "That's all the warning I can give you."

From outside a horn suddenly sounded and he realized his partner was getting impatient. Taking a deep breath, Starsky wrenched his eyes free from hers, hesitated briefly, and then walked over to the door.

"Just remember…" she started to say before he exited the bar. She walked over to him and grabbed his arm again, emerald green eyes piercing his blue ones. "Your soul will never forget… remember that."


Chapter 5

Starsky pulled open the door on the driver's side of his red Torino. A striped tomato his partner called it, but right now Starsky couldn't care less. It kept him dry and that was top priority at the moment.

Entering the car he found Hutch to be already there, watching the huddled pedestrians on the street. Starsky closed the door and sat back. "Are you all right?"

Hutch turned to look at him. "Yeah," he replied. "Look, let's just see if Dobey's got any info on this okay?"

Starsky looked at him. Focusing on the case instead of on the fear, as Hutch was doing right now, was a good reaction. Detective instincts kept their heads clear. It had saved their necks a couple of times.

"Okay," Starsky agreed, started the engine, and drove off.

He could feel the tensed anger building up in the two of them at the fact that Forest, a name his partner had tried so hard to forget, was out and about now.

Benjamin Forest had been dangerous; the man had been ruthless when it came to money, possessions and love. His brother could not be that much different. Starsky felt the anger rising at the thought of all the young lives that man had taken.

To top it all off, Lilly's words still rang in his mind, increasing his anxiety tenfold. He decided right then and there that it would be absolutely pointless to worry about what she had said. There were more important things to worry about right now.

Hutch shook his head: "Starsk, I can't believe someone would kill all those kids just to get on our nerves, I mean what's the point."

"I don't know," Starsky answered, trying to keep his eyes on the road. He kept his emotions in check and instead let his partner vent his anger on him.

Hutch settled down a bit and sighed. "You know, sometimes it seems like we're not making any difference at all out there on the streets. We pick up one creep and in comes another. So we pick 'em up again, and again, and again."

Starsky smiled grimly. "Then that's what we'll do Hutch, that's what we'll do."


The moment Starsky opened the door accessing homicide, Captain Dobey's voice shattered through the room. "STARSKY, HUTCHINSON… GET IN HERE!" Hutch sought after the source of the booming voice and was just in time to see Dobey disappear inside his office.

Smiling at his partner, Starsky held the office door open for him. "You know, we better solve this case in the next twenty-four hours partner. Even the Cap's working late." He followed Hutch into the room. It was furnished with a couple of desks which as usual were cluttered with files and long overdue paper work. "You know, I actually think he might've lost some weight over this recent case of ours," Starsky continued.

Hutch shot a conspiring glance in his direction, both men thinking the same thing. The blond couldn't help but feel a smile forming on his lips. Starsky grinned and said, "Yeah, guess we better make that forty-eight hours!"

Hutch took off his jacket and threw it across his desk. He had his gun belt strapped over his black turtle neck and tried to loosen the belt up a bit by tugging at the leather straps. Then he walked over to the water tank, poured himself a drink and followed his partner into the Captain's office.

Dobey had sat down behind his desk. A stern look made it clear he was in no mood for jokes today. "I have some news for you two," he started, his voice surprisingly mild.

Hutch almost smiled at that. Their Captain always tried so hard to be the tough stern commander, but never quite succeeded with the both of them.

"We know Cap'n." Starsky interrupted him, anger apparent in every word.

Hutch eyed his partner for one moment. He knew Starsky had kept a lid on his temper for his sake. Up till now.

"You know?" Dobey asked, clearly surprised.

Turning his attention back to Dobey, Hutch nodded. "Huggy told us."

Dobey looked from one to the other. "That snitch of yours is gonna be the death of me someday."

Starsky walked over to the desk, put his hands down and leaned in to face his Captain. Knowing what was to come, Hutch sank into a chair in the corner.

"What we want to know is…," he heard his partner begin dangerously calm, "how this could've happened? The department knew about the Forest Family's reputation… the ruthless drug dealing kind." He leaned in a bit closer. "And what you're telling me now is that no one has bothered to keep an eye on Forest's brother? No alarm bells were going off as he settled himself right here? At the exact same place his brother got busted?"

Dobey sank back in his chair. Hutch noticed the captain had unconsciously put some distance between him and the angry detective standing in front of his desk. Dobey crossed his fingers "The Feds were keeping an eye on him, but when he kept quiet, they let him loose. They assured me that there was no chance in hell that the Forest Family would ever pick up their old habits again."

Starsky exploded. "Their old habits! Captain! The last time their 'old habits' surfaced I had to pick up a broken Hutch from the street! They'd drugged him, strung him out!" The words were accompanied by a stiff pointing hand in Hutch's direction.

"Starsk," Hutch intervened, raising a hand, not sure as to what to say.

His partner kept ranting, oblivious to Hutch's objections and the slight pain that surfaced in his eyes at the graphic description Starsky was now throwing in their captain's face.

"It took him weeks to recover, and you're telling me the Feds think they've changed? You saw what they are capable of!" He was shouting now.

"Starsky," Hutch sighed.

At the softness of his voice Starsky turned around and their eyes locked. Hutch saw his partner's anger and frustration subsiding a bit.

The brunet turned back, pinning Dobey with an icy stare. "Men like that do not change and you do not let them loose on the streets," he finished.

"I know!" Dobey retorted. "I was there, remember?"

Starsky was silent for a moment.

Standing up, Hutch put a hand on his friend's arm while leaning over Dobey's desk.

"Captain, Starsky's right, men like that don't change. Men like that want revenge." The softness had all but disappeared from his voice, and a hard unemotional tone had taken over. "And if he so much as picks on a stray dog, Starsky and I'll be on him so fast he'll never know what hit him."

Turning, Hutch looked Starsky in the eye for a moment and then left the room. As he entered the squad room, he heard Dobey yelling his orders behind him. "You do that!"

"We will, Cap," Starsky said. He followed Hutch out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Hutch picked up his jacket. His partner sat down at his desk and put his feet up. "Well," he said, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. "We can't do anything about it tonight. You're going home?"

"Yeah." Hutch answered with a slight smile. Starsky nodded, understanding. "I'm tired Starsk, see you in the morning."


Starsky watched his partner leave. He could not help but remember the wreck Hutch had become after Ben Forest had shot hypo after hypo filled with 'the good stuff' into him. They had gotten him so addicted that the blond would have told them anything they wanted to know. At that point, Starsky was sure he even would have sold out his own partner.

The strong sympathetic, caring man that was his partner had turned into an addict, a user with only one objective, to get more of the 'happy stuff'. Lucky for him his survival instincts had kicked in and had made him escape. Lucky for him Starsky had found him, crumbled on the streets.

And then the cold turkey had begun …

Starsky's optimism would not let him stray down that path for too long. His partner had recovered due to sheer strength of character. But Starsky wondered how deep the scars really ran.

"Deep," he guessed, "but you move on."

He sighed, put his feet down, and picked up a form to fill out today's report. It was going to be a long night.

Tbc