Disclaimer: I do not own the guys; I just tend to play with them a bit…
Dedication: To many of my friend's that inspire and sometimes push me to write…THANK YOU ALL!
Warnings: This one may be a bit dark at times and some scenes of torture lie ahead…The views of this story are in no way reflected by the author!
A/N: This one is drawing to a close, just a few more chapters, I want to thank ALL of you that have been reading and reviewing through out. Feedback is important to a writer. Special thanks go out to my partner in writing, Brook, with out her, I may not even be writing right now, so thank you!
No Turning Back
Chapter Twenty-Three
'You can't go in there Sir!' They heard a female voice shouting from the other room.
'Get outta my way!' Starsky recognized Hutch's angry voice.
The door to the office flew open as Hutch wheeled through, fighting and pushing the whole way with young Billy right behind him.
"Get the hell away from him! Don't you dare touch him!" Hutch shouted out, his brow furrowed as he fought to stand up, trying to get out of the wheel chair.
Starsky looked over at his partner, his gaze softening as his eyes rose to look at his best friend.
"S'good to see ya' Hutch, but I'm afraid you're too late." Starsky smiled his crooked smile as he held up the syringe for his partner to see and Hutch's rage continued.
"I don't know where in the Sam hell you got your degree, but just who in the hell do you think you are?" Hutch spewed as he limped forward, towards the surprised doctor who was retreating behind the safety of his desk. "What'd you give him?" Hutch demanded as he leaned against the desk for support.
Hutch looked back over his shoulder watching as Starsky's gaze glazed over, his head lobbing to the side slightly as Billy took a seat next to him on the couch, his tiny hand reaching out and softly stroking Starsky's dark arm, soothingly.
"I asked you a question!" Hutch bent forward threateningly. "What'd you give my partner?"
"Partner," Starsky murmured, "Ah Hutch, I love it when you call me that," Starsky snorted in a drunken stupor as his head rolled back, finally resting on the back of the leather couch, his eyes trying hard to focus on the ceiling, blinking slowly.
"N-n-nothing that is going to hurt him, I assure you…it is merely a sedative, something to relax him. Your partner was showing signs of distress, and I just wanted to calm him down." Doctor Rubens tried to explain.
Hutch turned and slowly started to make his way to his partner, "Well you succeeded in that." He snapped sarcastically as he knelt next to Starsky, placing his large pale hand on the brunet's knee, sighing heavily.
"It is a perfectly acceptable form of therapy; sedatives are commonly used to make a patient more willing to talk about their experiences." Doctor Rubens attempted to reason with the blond who just ignored him and concentrated on his partner.
"M'sorry buddy…I didn't mean to let you down again." Hutch said quietly.
"S'okay, this shit ain't that bad Hutsch." Starsky slurred, still fighting to stop the room from spinning. "Can we go back to the room now?"
Hutch let out his own burst of laughter as he strained to stand, "Sure we can Buddy, sure we can." The tall blond turned to look at the man behind the desk. "Think you can manage to get us another wheelchair for him, and maybe some help?" Hutch quipped sharply.
Looking deep into the tall man's intense icy blue orbs, the doctor quickly reached for his phone, dialing a three digit extension before speaking into it and requesting a wheelchair and two male orderlies to assist in the transfer of both the patients from his office.
They returned to their room and Starsky was helped into bed, snoring before the covers were pulled up over him. Hutch smiled at his peaceful partner as he too carefully climbed into bed himself. Billy sat in the chair that he had placed right between the two detectives, equally spaced, showing no favoritism. He looked at Starsky, a smile washing over his face as he saw him sleeping peacefully and worry free.
Hutch and Billy made small talk, keeping the conversation as light as possible. It was long before Dobey and a uniformed officer entered the room, looking at both his officers and then at the young boy in the middle of the two beds. Billy's large brown eyes looked up at the big black man. There was a certain amount of intimidation in the boys' face, knowing that Dobey held a bit of authority frightened the child.
Dobey moved closer to Hutch's side, glancing back at Billy. "Hutchinson, we need to talk…alone." He mumbled as Hutch looked over at Billy and then at the officer with Dobey.
"Hey Billy, why don't you and Officer Smithers here, go to the cafeteria and get something to eat, you must be starving." The blond suggested.
"Nah, m'fine…I've gone longer without eating." He stated as if he were proud of his accomplishment.
"Well that's fine Billy, but you don't have to go without eating anymore." Hutch stated with a flip of his head, "now do me a favor and go with Smithers for a little bit, Captain Dobey and I need to talk." He remembered that this child had the mind of an adult and he needed to talk to him with facts, not trying to sneak one by the child.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Billy asked as he stood up and headed for the door. "Try not to fall asleep before I get back," he said, looking back at the blond, "I don't want them to take you away either."
Hutch smiled and winked at the young man as Officer Smithers led him out of the room.
Dobey looked back at his detective, his eyes darting over to Starsky and then back, "S'he okay?" he asked with concern, noting Starsky's obviously deep sleep.
"Yeah, he will be…this is their idea of helping…drugging him into to spilling his guts about what happened to him…you know as well as I do Cap', he'll talk when he's ready to, and not before…" Hutch quipped, the irritation in his voice cutting and sharp. "I don't want them forcing him again like that…can you talk to them?"
"Damn straight I will…don't worry, I'll see to it, that doesn't happen again." Dobey assured the blond then sighed heavily. "Look Hutchinson, there's still no sign of Andrews or Kiles and that has me a bit worried. I wanna put a guard on you and sleeping beauty over there, just until they are rounded up. The guys we did get out of that camp are singing like songbirds, so I don't think he'll need to testify at trial, or at least I am hoping he wont, but I'm not gonna feel confident about that until those two are behind bars."
"So that's what Smithers is doing here…" Hutch concluded.
"Well not exactly, Child Protective Services wants Billy to be made a ward of the court." Dobey blurted out as Hutch sat up abruptly, the searing hot pain that shot through his injured shoulder causing him to gasp.
"No way Cap, you can't do that…you can't put him in some foster care, not after all the shit that kid has gone through." Hutch protested. "He needs Starsk and I to see him through this, we promised to find his father and get them two back together." Hutch pled.
"I'm afraid it's out of my hands. He's a minor and the courts have the final say, there's nothing I can do." Dobey said solemnly. "You don't expect him to stay here at the hospital with you two until you're released do you? We're doing everything we can to locate his father, but we don't even know if he's still alive."
Hutch knew that his captain was right, after seeing what his partner had endured and what kind of people they were dealing with, there was a very good chance that his father may already be gone.
"Well I hope for the kid's sake, that isn't the case." Hutch stated as he looked over at his stirring partner.
"You an' me both, you an' me both. But until we find out for sure, someone has to take care of that boy, and CPS thinks that foster care is the best way to go for now."
Hutch looked up at his Captain, "Can you just do me one favor Cap?"
"Sure, what is it?" Dobey asked, his curiosity peeked.
"Try an' wake Starsky up, I know he'd wanna say goodbye."
Dobey approached his sleeping officer as he reached out a hand, placing it on his shoulder and shaking him gently. "Starsky, come on Starsky, I need you to wake up for me." The large black man gently coaxed the sleeping man.
Starsky stirred, muttering something under his breath as Dobey shook him a little bit harder, "Come on son…we need to talk."
With a shout and a jerk, Starsky woke up quickly, his eyes wide with fear, unsure of his surroundings as Dobey jumped back.
"Starsk, its okay…" Hutch's voice instantly causing his partner to relax, "It's just us, you're okay buddy."
Starsky let out a sigh of relief as he let himself fall back against the pillow, blinking his eyes and swallowing hard.
"Starsk…we need to talk about Billy." Hutch said, his voice calm and soothing.
"Wh…what about Billy, what happened?" Starsky asked, fighting against the drugs that coursed through his system, "S'he okay? What happened Hutch?"
"He's fine, it's just that…" Hutch's voice trailed.
"CPS came to me and want me to turn Billy over to them." Dobey interjected seeing how the blond was struggling. "They're placing him in foster care until they can locate his father or family member."
Starsky's eyes danced around the room, over at Hutch, who was avoiding the contact, and then back to Dobey.
"B…but you can't do that…he needs us…" Starsky protested, then looked at Hutch, "he needs us Hutch." he pled.
"I'm afraid we don't have a choice, they've made their decision," Dobey continued, "They've reviewed the case, and know that neither one of you are capable of taking care of him, and he sure in the hell can't stay here at the hospital while you two are recovering."
"Don't let 'em do this Blintz." Starsky begged, ripping out a piece of the blonde's heart with every word. Hutch knew that Starsky would have trouble with it, but he also knew that Dobey was right. "He saved our lives."
"I know he did Buddy, but Cap's right…this hospital ain't no place for a kid his age. He needs a bed to sleep in and three square meals a day…you know that as well as I do…" Hutch explained as he watched Starsky's face pale, knowing that the brunet realized that this was the only option for the time being. "I think we both need to try and explain this to Billy, make it easier for him to accept."
Starsky nodded in agreement as he fought against the sickening feeling that was entering his soul, knowing what was right, but wanting to do otherwise.
The door to the room opened as Smithers and Billy entered. The young boy carried a tray of food, piled high. "I brought you guys something too, the man said it would be okay, an' I figured you two would be as hungry as I was." He spoke as he set the tray down on the empty chair, immediately noting the somber mood that blanketed the room.
He looked at the three men in the room as all of them were looking at each other, "What is it?" he asked knowing that what ever was coming would be bad news. "Is it my dad?" He swallowed hard.
"No…no…nothing like that." Hutch jumped in immediately.
"Listen son…" Dobey started, putting his arm around the boy's shoulder, just to have him twist away from the contact and move towards Hutch, sitting next to him on the bed.
"What's wrong Hutch…what's goin' on here?" His eyes were wide with anticipation and wonder.
Hutch looked over at Starsky and then back at Billy, putting his large hand on the boy's arm, "I'm afraid that…that the courts want to place you with a family…" He felt Billy's body tense up. "It's their job to make sure you're safe and well taken care of."
"But…but I'm fine, I wanna stay here with you two…I promise I'll be good, and I wont be no trouble at all, I swear." Billy stammered, feeling the burn of tears that started to well up in his eyes, fighting to hold them back.
"Its not that Billy," Starsky spoke up, "it has nuthin' to do with you bein' good…this hospital is no place for a kid…you need a bed to sleep in, and food on a table…not on a tray." Starsky stated, struggling to convince himself as well as the boy in front of him.
"But then who's gonna watch out for you guys?" Billy asked with a definitive tone of concern and desperation in his voice.
"Us?" Hutch asked, a smile crossing his lips, "We'll be fine. Our Captain there will make sure of it." The blond dipped his head and looked at the boy sitting there, his big brown eyes searching his sky blue ones. "Trust me Billy, if it were up to us, you'd stay here…but I think this is probably best…"
"An' as soon as Hutch an' I are up and around, we're gonna come see you, and get you back with your Dad, just like we promised." Starsky interjected.
"You guys really think he's still alive?" Billy's words cut through the two, "Cause I don't…there's no sense in wastin' your time lookin' for my old man…even if you do find him, who knows what they did to him…I'm not so sure I wanna know…" he stated looking over at Starsky. "I mean, no offense, but look at you…I don't wanna see my Pop go through all the crap you are goin' through. He ws a strong man, and a proud man…I just as soon remember him that way." He said strongly as he stood and moved towards Smthers. "So I guess that's why your really here…to take me to a new family."
Billy grabbed a sandwich from the tray and a small carton of milk as he walked towards the uniformed man.
"Hey kid…" Starsky called out causing Billy to turn back around and look at the brunet in the bed, "Hutch and me ain't givin' up, we're still gonna find your old man." He assured the boy as he noted the lack of emotion on Billy's face.
"I know you will…" Billy stated and then turned and pulled the door open, disappearing through it without so much as a goodbye, Officer Smithers following close behind.
The door closed and Starsky and Hutch exchanged painful glances, both of them feeling the need and the urge to go after the boy. Starsky paced the back of his hand against his head, sighing heavily as the weight if the boys words and the drugs that still ran through him, fought for control of his emotions. Hutch slapped his leg in frustration as he looked up at his Captain.
"So tell me Cap, what have you guys turned up so far?" he asked hopefully, "Any leads on Andrews or Kiles?"
"Nothing on them…but we found some paperwork in the office that may just be lead us to that boy's father as well as some other missing men." Dobey explained peeking both of the detective's curiosity. "It's not definite yet, but it's a start."
"Exactly what is it?" Starsky spoke, closing his eyes as the sedatives tried to work their magic.
"Seems that there is a paper trail leading to some of the men that were sold for slavery; some documentation, we don't have positive ID's yet on the victims, only thing used were first names and initials. But there is some contact info on the sheets and we got the guys in R & I checking out each one. We've got a couple of Kiles men that are singing like birds, against that man. When we find that bastard, we should have an airtight case against him." The rotund man spoke wearily.
The three of them sat there in silence, each one pondering and struggling with their own thoughts and demons as all of their concentration eventually returning to little Billy. This was the hardest part of the job, personal involvement. Minutes passed that seemed like hours, Starsky had dozed back off ever so briefly before an intruder burst into their room, shouting and ranting, making it very difficult to understand her.
"Captain Dobey," she said, breathing hard, "I'm sorry, Captain Dobey." The large black man rushed to her side as Hutch turned to look at her and Starsky was once again roused.
"What is it?" Dobey asked, his face contorted in concern.
Both Starsky and Hutch's heart leapt into their throats as they heard he spew her next words.
"Someone…someone attacked your officer…in the parking garage…they knocked him out…he's…he's in the emergency room…" she ranted.
"Billy...!" Hutch shouted.
"M'sorry…they took the boy with them…one of the other nurses saw the whole thing…they took that boy that was in here, they grabbed him…" She finished as the three of them exchanged worried glances.
To Be Continued…