Kenneth Hutchinson sat quietly in the dark corner in Ingrid's living room. He knew where his grandmother kept an extra key, and with no one else at the house, he let himself in, then sank into the corner. He couldn't keep chaotic thoughts at bay, and he felt his head might explode. Not sleeping, he sat without moving until sunrise began to light up the house. Even then, he found it difficult to move, but after a cup of coffee he began to check the family pictures in the house. He picked up a recent one of Mickey and put it next to Aunt Lena – no, his Mother Lena to compare and it was more obvious than before that Mickey had to be Lena's daughter. It made sense now why Mickey had been called "Little Lena". And comparing his own picture with Lena's, and it was just as obvious that he could only be Lena's son. Bemused, it was clear why he never felt a part of the family other than with Ingrid and his grandfather, Carlton, when he was alive. Charlatan had found out and taken great delight in exposing the fact to Mickey and himself. Feeling numb, he wondered if he truly cared that Lena was his real mother and that Carl and Cynthia were not his parents. They were cousins, just as all the grandsons and granddaughters, except for sister Mickey. Mickey. The thought of his sister having a mental breakdown – just as Lena had, saddened him. He still couldn't believe that Mickey, always before as tough as any other member of the Hutchinson family, would crumble under the pressure. He wondered what he would do if it had been Starsky that had been killed and then losing Ingrid would do to his mental state. He had succumbed to pressure before and developed anorexia. And though they tried to hide it, anytime he stopped eating and sleeping, the fear he would relapse was always in Mickey and Ingrid's eyes. He closed his eyes. Part of him wanted just to stay in the corner and just be numb. He couldn't. Whatever else, he was going to get to his sister. It shouldn't be too hard. He was pretty sure where Joshua would have put Mickey, and as Mickey's brother, he should have access. Plan made, he made himself get up, drink another cup of coffee, shower and change clothes. He and Mickey always had clothes stashed at their grandmother's house.

"What do you mean, he's not here?" Joshua fumed. Then, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell. I just don't want any further curve balls thrown. And Ken was the best pitcher with the curve balls." As he alluded to Ken's pitching, he tried to smile.

Dave Starsky was shaking his head. "It's my fault. When he didn't argue, I should have known better. He just seemed too docile. That ain't like him."

"Not your fault." Joshua put a hand on Starsky's shoulder. "Nothing has been normal in this family for a long time. Believe me, no one would have predicted that it would be Mickey – sometimes she seemed the strongest of us all – Mickey, that would have a mental breakdown. Mickey," he repeated. "Of course. He would go to Mickey."

"Would he be allowed to see her?" Dobey questioned.

"As her brother, probably."

"And remember, Hutch has a lot of experience undercover. Like the time he went undercover with me at the asylum."

"Captain, could you stay here in case he calls? And maybe get in touch with Huggy, and see if there is any information from his end? I'd like to go with Joshua and check to see if he is with Mickey."

"Of course. Why don't you give Huggy a head's up?"

Starsky moved over to the phone, giving Huggy a brief description of the happenings. Huggy expressed sorrow and concern, and asked Starsky to give Hutch a big hug from him. He promised to keep them informed of anything he could learn, and then said something that none of the rest of them had thought of. "You know, sister Mickey may be safer in the hospital than on the streets."

"Yeah," Starsky had responded. "Yeah, she very well could be safer there."

Joshua's face showed puzzlement, until Starsky informed him and Dobey what Huggy had said.

Dobey said, "I don't get it. It seems if someone wanted Mickey dead, they had plenty of opportunities. And yet, she hasn't even been harmed."

"Something to think about, Captain." Restless as ever, Starsky said, "Let's go."

"Keep me informed," Dobey requested and Starsky nodded.

Joshua was right. Ken had found a way to see his sister and when they peeked in through the glass, both were deeply moved. Ken was holding Mickey so tight that not even a piece of paper could come between them. He was rocking her back and forth, tears falling from his blue eyes. Mickey, on the other hand, though she was clinging to her brother, had more of a blank expression on her face. Both watched for a few minutes, until they heard Ken say, "I'm going to get you out of here, Mickey. I'll look out for you. I know you're not crazy."

"Ken," Joshua said quickly, entering the room with Starsky following. He noticed Ken had tightened his grip on his sister and looked up with defiance on his face.

"Ken, Mickey needs to stay here."

"Hey, Buddy, Joshua is the doctor here," Starsky began.

"I don't care!" Ken flared. "She is not crazy, and I won't let her stay here!"

"Ken, you are not a doctor and you're not seeing clearly because of your love for Mickey."

"I know her better than anyone else living."

"You're not objective. Mickey is better here. She is safer. And she will get the treatment she needs to get better."

Ken was still shaking his head.

"Blondie, Huggy is checking from his end and he was the one that said Mickey is safer in the hospital than out on the streets. Especially if you believe someone is after her. You know that, Blondie. If this was anyone else but Mickey, you could see that."

Ken looked at Starsky's face and seemed to be listening.

Joshua put in, "When you had anorexia, you couldn't see it. You didn't listen to anything anyone said, even Ingrid and Mickey, and what you saw in the mirror was distorted. No matter how thin you got, you saw yourself as chubby as Carlton always teased you about. It wasn't until Mickey grew too thin; you saw it. I know you love her more than the rest of us, but that makes you unwilling to see. Trust me, Ken, I have never lied to you or done anything to you or Mickey. I'm not anything like Carlton."

"I will kill Charlatan for this," Ken said coldly, sounding much like Mickey did before she pulled the trigger.

Joshua meet Starsky's eyes and sighed.

"Ken, come with me. I'll ask Chief McCallum to post guards and limit the number of people who can see Mickey. You don't want her on the street the way she is," Joshua tried to soothe. "I'll let you see Mickey anytime you want to," Joshua added.

"Buddy, trust me, it's Me and Thee, remember? We will work together, as we always do, and figure this thing out. We'll keep Mickey safe. And besides, Huggy asked me to give you a big hug from him. Hug from Huggy, how about it?" Starsky opened his arms as Joshua picked up Mickey and put her back on her cot. She didn't move.

Ken looked from one to another with suspicion in his face but walked tentatively to Starsky and allowed him to pull him into a tight hug, while Joshua pulled a bottle of coke from his pocket and gave it to Ken. "Here, your favorite, and though it is not as good as water, it does have caffeine."

"Thanks." Ken was thirsty, and downed the coke quickly, relishing the burn in his throat as it went down. "But this doesn't change my mind. If Charlatan hadn't been trying to break us, Mickey would be fine. It's his fault and I intend to do something about it."

"Killing him won't solve anything; and Mickey needs you. You can't help her in jail."

"He can't hurt her anymore if he is dead." Pent-up fury caused Hutch to tremble and his voice to shake.

Joshua shook his head in defeat. He looked over at Starsky and gave a quick glance towards the bottle of coke. Starsky nodded in understanding. Five minutes later, he was ready to catch his partner as he crumbled.

"I hate this," Joshua sighed. "But I can't let him go after Carlton. If it comes to that – if it comes to that, I may have to commit Ken as well. To protect him from himself. Why don't you put him in my car; I'll drive over to my parent's house with him. If you can, I'll drop you off at the church and you can drive Mickey's car home."

"Of course," Starsky responded, patting his unconscious partner on the head. "Don't worry, Blondie, I'm here for you." He helped Joshua carry Hutch to Joshua's car.

Joshua dropped Starsky off at the church parking lot after giving him Mickey's keys. She drove a brown Ford Galaxie, like her brother, and that made Starsky smile, but hers was clean and neat, and not battered. Which is why a note on the floor was conspicuous and Starsky picked it up and then dropped it like it was a snake.

He waited until he pulled in at the house, parked the car, and went inside to see Dobey and Joshua talking. Silently he handed the note to Dobey.

"What does it say?" Joshua asked, seeing their sober expressions.

Dobey looked at both. "It says, your brother's next."

TBC