Hi All!

Sorry it took so long to update, I had to do some re-writing. I hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks for the reviews, I enjoy reading them and they help me to improve my writing skills, so thank you for that!

Special thanks and big hugs to Kreek, again, you were correct! Hmm, I seem to say that a lot about you (wink)

Chapter 5

The Other listened to the Guide. His enemy. The enemy of all of which he stood for. The Guide was a shinning beacon, a ray of hope. The Other shuddered, for hope was a foul four-letter word to him. The Visitor had his work cut out for him, though Starsky was beginning to fail. That was good. For once he failed; he would become part of the grand scheme. The plan to end all plans, the scheme of all schemes, the most grand of all designs. It was a plan that filled The Other up as he drifted through the white space.

The Other drifted away; his thoughts were focused on the grand scheme and how to accomplish it.

XXXX

The cold was growing. Its icy fingers caressed his skin. Feather light touches of paralyzing cold stroked him. Starsky opened his eyes and looked about him, all was white. Endless white. It was neither hot, nor cold. It just was. Why had he just felt so cold? Why had he felt anything at all? Why should he ask himself questions that he had no answers to?

Slowly, the answers came, as if whispered in his ear.

It is easier not to ask. It takes effort.

It is easier not to feel. Feeling hurt.

It is easier not to think. It takes concentration.

It was easier just to drift in the white space. Untroubled. Unfeeling. Unhurt. Just drift in the white space.

The Visitor was pleased as he shifted and moved away into the expanding white space.

XXXX

Hutch sat back down in his comfortable chair. He sank down into the cushioned seat and leaned back onto the padded backrest. This had to be the most comfy chair he had ever sat in. Exhaustion was making his mind wander a bit. Why should he concern himself with how comfortable he was? It didn't matter what his comfort level was. He should be concentrating on helping his friend recover, but how? What more could he do?

He looked at his motionless friend. There was no bad guy he could take on and no human opposition he could confront, now that Berry Brockman was out of the picture. But he knew he had a battle on his hands. He was going to have to fight to save Starsky. He knew he had to fight… he just wasn't sure what he was fighting but he had a feeling it wasn't anything substantial, nor was he certain just how he was going to go about saving his friend. He only knew that it was going to be a long night. He should rest while he had a chance for he had a feeling that he would need every bit of all the strength he could muster. He just wished that he could a name to whatever it was that he had to fight against.

A yawn caught him unaware and forced his jaw wide open, it made a little popping sound as he put his hand over his mouth, covering it. What had his grandmother told him about that? Oh yeah, that the original purpose for putting ones hand over your mouth when yawning was to keep evil spirits from entering your body. She had also told him that yawning meant that Death was calling you and to ward it off, you had to snap your second finger and thumb to chase Death away. Grandmother Hutchinson had a superstition and a superstitious cure for nearly everything.

Hutch shook his head to clear the cobwebs and to force away the silly thoughts that were running through his head. He then clenched his jaw trying to keep another yawn from escaping. Maybe he could put his head down for just a few minutes. Starsky was motionless, save for his regular breathing. He rubbed his hand over the exposed arm and gripped it lightly for a moment. "I'm right here buddy… anytime you feel like waking up…" Silence met his words. Hutch leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. In moments he was asleep.

XXXX

Before going to bed that night, Berry Brockman had the idea of perhaps changing the angle of the story. With the survivor's recovery in doubt or at least bound to take more time then he wanted to waste on this story, he had gotten the idea to go after the blond detective's side of the story. It was almost as if the idea had been whispered in his ear.

When he awoke in the wee hours of the morning, he knew that he had to get into Hutchinstein good graces. He would go to the hospital alone and take his tape recorder. He could then begin to work on his new angle for the story. He decided that he would leave cameraman Rob Olson at the motel. If all went well with this meeting, he could send the cameraman back to get some filler shots. Exteriors of the hospital, busy staff members working franticly to save the poor last survivor and any other sappy drivel he could find.

Berry wasn't sure what it was. Maybe intuition, maybe his reporter's instincts, whatever it was, he had the feeling that the survivor would not make it. So he would work the 'friend of the victim' angle. That way he would have a dramatic, but sad Human Interest story. With the blond cop's good looks and concern for his friend that just oozed out his very pours on onto the TV screen… The viewers would love it, especially women.

God, he could just imagine the mail and the marriage proposals that the cop would get. Too bad that they didn't know what he did. The blond wasn't attracted to women. Of course, it just meant that there would be more women for him. Berry grinned at that thought. Stupid fag cop, he didn't know what he was missing.

Berry wondered if he could get the blond to cry. It always made for great viewing when some man got all weepy and started to blubber over something "Boo hoo, my kid fell down a well. Oh, my house burned down… My wife may die…" Whaaa whaaa whaaa, sob, sniffle, whine, 'pity me, pity me'. It was all so highly entertaining to him.

Now, all he had to do to get back on track with this story was to make nice with the cop. He looked over at his restlessly sleeping cameraman. The jerk. It was a good thing that he had gotten those pictures of Rob, literally, screwing around a few years ago. How the cameraman could let a little thing like an attack of conscience bother him so much that he couldn't get a decent night's sleep was beyond Berry. It was such a waste of time and effort, not to mention a good night's sleep. He would not need his bleeding heart, wife-cheating cameraman along. He could handle this part himself.

Berry was at a loath to take the cameraman with him to the hospital, nor would he tell the man about how he would be working the story. It had all been in a dream that he had tonight, it had been so compelling that he had awoken very early with this great idea on how to work his new angle for the Snow Village Ski Chalet disaster story. He had the idea to go at it from the blond cop's viewpoint. It was almost as if someone had whispered the idea into his ear, urging him to go back to the hospital and talk to the blond cop and the sooner, the better.

He grabbed his coat and the News van's keys and headed out the door as quietly as he could. He had a story to report.

XXXX

Hutch was awakened by sound.

"Pssst!"

The blond roused himself and blinked owlishly "Who is it?" he croaked out, his voice gummy with sleep. He turned his head about to see who it was. He bit off a groan of annoyance when he recognized the figure in the doorway.

"Officer Hutchinstein?"

It was that damn reporter "Hutch-chin-son" the blond enunciated each syllable as he stood up. He had to get that stupid son of a bitch away from his partner. Now.

"Oh, sorry-"

"If you disturb my partner, you will be more then sorry" Hutch cut the man off with a quiet growl as he neared the doorway. "I don't want you anywhere near this room again, do you hear me?" He walked forwards, not stopping, which forced the reporter to walk backwards out of the room to avoid getting his toes stepped on.

The reporter had a sheepish grin on his face and blushed "That's why I came down here… to apologize for my behavior earlier" The reporter glanced up and down the hall "Can we talk somewhere private for a moment? That's all I ask" the man nervously twisted a ring on his right hand. He made brief eye contact with the detective before his eyes darted away again.

Hutch pulled the door to Starsky's room shut and blocked the entrance with his body. He then crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin, looking down his nose at the reporter. He didn't say a thing. He simply let his hostile stare and silence do all the talking.

The reporter cleared his throat and reached up to tug at his suddenly too tight shirt collar. "Um, we got off on the wrong foot here… I just want to say I'm sorry… really sorry for what happened before, I was a jerk, okay?" The man looked about again "Please, can we talk elsewhere for just a few moment? I don't want to disturb the other patients, or…or your partner. Please? Just a few minutes?" He tugged at his collar again.

Hutch stared at the man and let him squirm for a few more long moments. "Alright, you have five minutes, then I don't want to even see you near this hospital again, is that clear?"

"Crystal" The reporter did an about face and headed for the stairwell three rooms down from Starsky's room.

Hutch looked back up the hall to make sure that someone wasn't trying to sneak into Starsky's room while he was distracted by the reporter. He saw no one. The reporter entered the stairwell just before him. There was a window in the door; he could keep watch for any intruders while his listened to what the reporter had to say. Not that it was going to change his opinion of the man.

Once in the stairwell, he gave it a visual once-over out of habit, the area was clear of anyone besides them. He stood so he could clearly see the door to his friend's room "What is so important that you had to come down here in the middle of the night to do it?"

The reporter tugged at his tight shirt collar and looked at the floor "As I said, I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. It was unconscionable-"

"You're damn right! You had no business being in there!" Hutch cut the man off "I really don't want to hear any more of this, I'm going back to my partner" he reached for the doorknob; the reporter had all the time he was ever going to give the man. Enough was enough.

The reporter grabbed his wrist "Look, damn it! This has been bothering me, I couldn't sleep, that's why I came down here and it hasn't been five minutes, you said you would give me five minutes of your time and-" his opportunity was slipping away from him like grains of sand in an hourglass.

Hutch glared at the reporter "Let go of my arm. If you choose not to let go of my arm, I will choose to cuff you and arrest you," Hutch hissed at the man. He had had all he could stomach of the reporter.

"You said I could have five minutes-" The man repeated.

Hutch snapped his hand around and easily broke the weak grip of the reporter "Funny, seems like sooo much longer then five minutes to me" he shook his head and grabbed the door handle. It was time to get back to his partner.

Frantic, the reporter moved to stop the blond… his story was slipping away from him, his golden opportunity "I-I know about you two" He pressed his hand on the door to keep the cop from opening it just yet. He knew he didn't have a prayer of stopping the man physically and it would be just plain stupid to even try.

Those words got Hutch's attention "What do you think you know about us?"

"About you two being partners" the reporter's eyes darted up and down the staircase, looking for anyone who might around. He would keep the cop's secret until it was convenient to make it public.

"So? We're partners… what's there to know?" Just as he said it, Hutch realized what the reporter was trying to say. And what the reporter was probably going to try to do with that very incorrect information. "First you grab me and now you are trying to BLACKMAIL me? That's it Berry. You just wrote yourself a ticket to jail, turn around and put your hands on the wall" Hutch directed as he moved closer to the reporter. He patted his pockets, searching for his handcuffs.

Berry moved forward to plead his case "No, wait… wait, you've got it all wrong here… I just came down here to apologize… I don't want any trouble, really, I just" he didn't know what made him do it, but as he moved forward, he grabbed the cop's arm again.

Hutch readily broke the handhold of the reporter and moved to slam the reporter against the wall. He did not notice how close to the steps he had gotten until his foot slipped off the landing to the step below. That small stumble threw him off balance for a split second.

Berry spotted the slip and pushed the cop as hard as he could. He didn't think about it. He simply reacted. He then watched as the cop tumbled down the concrete steps, his body making sick, hollow thumps as it hit and bumped it's way down the fifteen steps to the next landing before coming to a complete halt.

As cold sweat broke out all over his body, Berry swallowed hard, the gorge wanting rise in his throat as he stared at the limp and still cop's body.

"Oh shit"

XXXX

In the white space, the Other smiled.

TBC