Part 3 – Chapter 35

Hutch felt sick to his stomach and with a growl he turned away from the cell. 'Stay with him' he told Traff as he bolted for the door, Dobey hot on his heels.

'Hutchinson where are you going?' the Captain yelled as he followed the fleeing blond.

'Don't try an' stop me' Hutch flung over his shoulder. 'I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I'm gonna get the story from the horses mouth once and for all.'

Ignoring the angina-like pain in his chest, Hutch took the steps up to the next floor two at a time and sprinted along the corridor to the interview room occupied by Rigger, Barrie and Fisher. He burst in on them, making Rigger look up in surprise, but neither interviewer had chance to stop the golden whirlwind as he whisked past them, took a hold of Fisher by the neck and pulled him bodily to his feet. Even the cool and calm Edgar Fisher's eyes flew wide open as he came face to face with the furious cop and Hutch slammed him back against the wall, his hands tightening significantly around the thin man's neck.

'Your plan failed ya sick bastard. My partner survived an' he's downstairs. He's gonna tell us exactly what you did to those kids, but it'd be easier on you if you told me first' Hutch ground out, staring coldly into Fisher's eyes. The older man regained his composure with admirable timeliness and he smiled back at Hutch, although there was no warmth in the watery blue eyes.

'David won't tell you anything, I know that for sure' he said calmly. 'You don't have a thing on me, and you won't ever have.'

Imperceptibly, the blond cop's fingers tightened and Fisher stiffened slightly, rising up on his toes as he fought for breath. Hutch shook him slightly.

'You know that do ya? What did you do to him?'

'Does he know you detective? Is David the man you used to know, or is he a stranger? More to the point, are you a stranger to him?'

Hutch's lips whitened as he fought to keep his temper. 'I'm gonna ask you one last time asshole. What have you done to my buddy?'

'Nothing very much. He's doing it to himself. I merely planted a suggestion and now his mind is torturing his body when he tries to remember. I haven't laid a finger on him, I swear.'

'Tell me how to stop the cycle.'

Fisher smiled that infuriating smile. 'You can't. He's locked into it. Memories mean pain, it's a simple equation. Enjoy your new friend. Think of it as a challenge getting to know him again. You never know, he might not like you the second time around. After all, he tried to kill you last time.'

Hutch let out an animal yell and started to squeeze his fingers round Fisher's throat. The thin man gurgled, his eyes bulging as Dobey and Rigger struggled to disengage the blond cop from his hold. Hutch fought manfully, his temper now lost completely at Fisher's inflammatory words, but eventually Dobey pulled him away from his target. The blond continued to struggle in the black man's grip as Dobey manhandled him towards the door.

'I'm gonna nail you sucker. I'm gonna make sure you never see the light of day. Have they told you about the tapes? I found 'em you know. I found all of 'em an' I know what you've done. You sanctimonious bastard, I'll make sure you get the fuckin' death penalty.'

For a moment, at the mention of the tapes, fear flashed across Fishers face, but he recovered his composure quickly and stared back at the angry blond cop, smiling, but saying nothing more. Dobey hauled Hutch from the room and closed the door behind him as the blond clutched at the pain in his chest and cursed, bracing himself on his outstretched arm against the corridor wall as he fought to regain his composure.

'What the hell did you think you were doing Hutchinson?' Dobey yelled, his face angry. 'Threatening someone like Fisher isn't the way to go and you know it'.

'You saw Starsk…. or the man that looks like Starsky. Shit Cap, if Fisher can hypnotise him enough to shoot me, what else has he done at him huh? And how am I gonna get him back? He looked so…. lost. I needed to do something.'

'Yeah, you did, but not that, throttling him won't solve anything. Now Fisher knows we've got the tapes and he can start preparing some other sort of defence. Nice move!'

Defeated, the blond looked up. ''M sorry. I…. I need to get back downstairs to Starsky, but I still feel like I need to do something.' His face held a hint of hope. 'I need to call Beth…. and Liz. Can you do that for me Cap'n, please? It's important.'

Dobey's attitude softened. 'Sure' he grunted. 'Get back to Starsky, I'll do the phoning. Go.'

Without a backwards glance, Hutch walked slowly back down to the cells and made his way along the narrow dimly lit corridor to find Traff still kneeling by the side of the bars. Inside the cell, Starsky was sitting on the ground, his back against the wall, holding his head and rocking as though in pain. The soldier got to his feet as Hutch appeared and the two men moved away from the front of the cell.

'How's he doin'?' Hutch asked softly.

'He's like a stranger. He don't recognise me, or the Metro. It's like his mind's a blank. What did you get out of Fisher? That is where you went shooting off to isn't it?'

'Yeah, but he's tight. Never said a word' Hutch replied bitterly.

'Did he even admit he'd done somethin' to Curly?'

'No, he just somethin' about a suggestion and Starsky tortouring himself.'

Traff sighed. 'Damn! He looks like he's in pain when he tries to remember anything.'

'Yeah, well that part Fisher did tell me. He said somethin' about him being locked into a cycle and the more he tried to remember the more he'd hurt. Bastard!'

'Look, I think it would be better if I left you two alone. He seemed to recognise you and I think any more people around him at the moment would just muddy the waters' Traff said gently.

Hutch nodded. 'Yeah, I guess. Dobey's phoning Beth and Liz, I thought maybe Beth could help him and we need Liz to make sure he doesn't have to go back to the Pen. Maybe you could stick around and talk to them when they arrive? Bring them up to speed? I'll um… well I have no idea what I'm gonna do.'

Traff patted the blond gently on the shoulder. 'You'll fine a way. If anyone can, you two will be able to work it out together.' As the soldier walked away, Hutch sighed and called Andy over.

'Let me into the cell?'

'I dunno Hutch. I shouldn't. Rules say….'

'Fuck the rules! C'mon Andy, it's me an' Starsk. I promise we aren't gonna do anythin'. C'mon buddy, just let me in huh?'

The young man had a moment of indecision before grabbing his keys and opening the cell door. Hutch walked in slowly and carefully, eager not to scare the brunet. He winced as he heard the door clang shut and locked behind him as Starsky looked up.

'Hey buddy. How're ya doin?' Hutch asked quietly.

The brunet snorted softly. 'You tell me. Everyone here seems to know me better'n I know myself.'

'Well, we're gonna try to fix that. Will you let us help?' Hutch came to sit down beside his partner, not too close, giving the brunet some space. He rested his back against the wall and waited.

'You know me don't you?' Starsky asked, his eyes staring carefully at the wall opposite as though not wanting to remember too much.

'Yeah, you could say that' Hutch said, feeling surreal in the extreme. 'Starsk, I know that rememberin' hurts you, and I know why, but I don't know how much to tell you without ya being overwhelmed. I don't want to make you hurt again buddy.'

'Try me. I think not knowing hurts just as much as my head exploding. I'll tell you if it gets too much. I feel like I know you and I feel like I know this place, and the cop on the door called me detective and said I was a cop, but I don't remember.'

'Trust me?' Hutch asked softly. For a moment, familiar indigo eyes bored into his and Starsky knitted his eyebrows in concentration.

'I get the sense I used to. Has anything changed?'

'Not for me buddy, no. We were partners, cops…. for a long time. Over ten years.'

'Were?'

'Well we still are, but things happened' Hutch said hesitantly.

'Yeah? Like me attemtin' to murder someone' the brunet snorted softly. 'That's why that bounty hunter picked me up. Who?…. And how?'

Hutch refused to flinch from the question. 'Starsk, there's another guy, someone we were both investigating. He um…. well he made you do it Starsk, you weren't accountable for your actions.'

Light dawned in the deep blue eyes and Starsky looked down at his hands, almost lost for words. 'Made me? As in instructed me? Or forced me? What? And who? Oh, my god! It was you wasn't it? I tried to kill you.'

'You remember?' Hutch asked.

'No, thank God, but it was you wasn't it?'

'Yeah, you shot me. Three months ago, but it wasn't you Starsk, you were forced to do it, I don't blame you.'

'Forced how? Tell me.'

Hutch wondered. Would telling Starsky somehow upset the balance he'd achieved, or would it help? God he wished Beth was here to give him some guidance. Deciding to err on the side of caution, the blond shook his head. 'Later buddy. We can talk about that later. Like I say, I don't blame you.'

Starsky looked away. 'Maybe I blame me. Or at least I would if I could remember. Shit, this is a lot to take in. This mornin' I was just some turkey with no past fixin' cars. Now I'm a cop who tried to murder his partner. And the freaky thing is, I see you and…. This is gonna sound crazy but when I was sick, when Juanita picked my up from the ocean, I saw you in my dreams. I knew you were important to me but I didn't know why and I didn't know who you were. I still don't really remember you. We were close….and you say we still are. I look at you and I feel like I'm looking at my brother – if I have one. I know your face and I know your voice and I remember….shit!' The brunet clutched at his head again and bent it to his knees.

Automatically, Hutch reached out and pulled the brunet into an embrace and instead of pulling away, Starsky rested his forehead on Hutch's chest as the blond rubbed circles onto his back, the inherent closeness taking over from memory and programming. 'Easy partner…. Don't think, don't try to remember. We're gonna get through this, I promise.'

Hutch's velvet voice soothed through Starsky's fears and for a while they stayed like that, each man taking comfort from the other. For a while Hutch could almost believe that things were back to normal and he had his partner back. Eventually though, Starsky pushed himself away and looked up into the blond's face.

'Sorry' he mumbled.

'For what? We both needed that. Better now?'

Starsky snickered. 'Better? Dunno. You tell me. Am I better? Am I gonna start shootin' you again? Am I gonna go to prison?' Suddenly the bars seemed to close round him and the brunet closed his eyes, a vision of a tall man in a dark blue uniform standing over him overwhelmed him. A feeling of foreboding and the feeling that something bad was going to happen flooded him and he moaned softly grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes.

'What? What is it?' Hutch asked worriedly.

'Dunno…..memories? I…was I in jail before?'

'Yeah, do you remember?'

'Kinda…. Big guy. He's standing in front of me and he's…. he's….. Noooo, please God no.'

Immediately, Hutch reached for Starsky again but the smaller man jerked himself away, breathing deeply, the blurry memory of Rafferty's violation leaving him feeling raw and dirty. Slowly he lifted his head. 'If that's what I'm gonna remember, I don't wanna go there' he mumbled and rested his head back against the wall, his eyes closed.

'There's lots of things you do want to remember though' Hutch said. 'We had good times together and you've got friends who want to see you again.'

'Yeah? The guy that was here with you knew me, didn't he?'

'That was Traff. Tom Trafford. You knew him before you knew me. You served in the Army together.'

'Wow! I was a soldier?' Starsky's eyebrows raised.

'Uh huh, and you've been a cab driver too.'

'Ok, Army, cabs and cop. Don't seem too bad. I can handle that. I thought you were gonna tell me I was one of those geeks that drove flash cars and liked expensive cameras.'

Hutch's face broke into a broad grin.

'What? Starsky asked with the shadow of his former self shining through. 'What did I say?'

'Um, nothin; buddy. Just um… when you get out of here, you're in for a surprise.'