Disclaimer: I do not own the guys; I just tend to play with them a bit…

Author's Note: Brook and I would like to dedicate this story to a good friend of ours who is taking a hiatus from writing;

Shawne, please don't stay away too long…you are so talented and will be terribly missed, but ALL your fans will be eagerly awaiting your return!

Love you girl,

Delia and Brook

No Turning Back

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hutch looked at Starsky stunned and shocked; it took him a moment to realize that the shot didn't come from his direction, but from the side of him. The tall blond looked over, seeing Billy standing there, gun in his hand, a blank expression on his face.

Starsky slowly turned his head, looking at the young boy too, allowing what just happened to register in his mind.

"Billy…: Hutch gasped as he slowly approached the boy, noting his blank stare on the child's face as if he had no idea of the gravity of what he had just done. "G-g-gimme the gun Billy." Hutch asked, holding his hand out in front of him.

Billy looked at the tall blond, blinking once, turning the gun around in his hand and handing it butt first to the detective.

Starsky's knelt besides Kiles, checking his neck for a pulse and finding none. He looked up at Hutch shaking his head, indicating to his partner that the man was dead.

Hutch knelt down next to Billy, looking up briefly at the helicopter that was coming closer; he knew that somehow Dobey would find a way to track them.

"Billy, why'd you shoot him?" Hutch asked sympathetically, his hand on the small of the boys back.

Billy continued to look at the man on the ground, the blood smeared on his chest, and spoke eerily unemotionally, "Someone had to do it…" he said in a monotone voice and as simply as a matter of fact more then anything else. "I didn't want him to havta." He tipped his head at Starsky who was looking at both of them.

Hutch turned and locked eyes with Starsky, their pleading expressions with each other speaking volumes. They realized two things at that moment, first, that what both of them had admired as being a maturity beyond years of this troubled teen, was in actuality a sense of duty and even possibly a motive that this child had from the beginning. Second, what just transpired here, before their eyes, if the information fell into the wrong hands, and if even the police found out that this child shot and killed this vile man in cold blood, his life would be ruined. If Kiles' followers ever were freed or found out that this child killed one of their leaders, there was a chance that they may retaliate against him, or his father who was still far from being safe.

Hutch looked back at the boy, worried and amazed at the same time. It wasn't natural for a child this age to take another human life so unemotionally, feeling no remorse, but more of a solemn duty to see to it that this man never hurt anyone ever again. The tall blond was torn between duty and loyalty, to save this child from the cold reality that would soon beseech him, the police, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, all questioning him, wanting to delve deep into the boy's psyche.

"Gimme the gun." Starsky spoke, determination in his voice as he held out his left hand, palm up.

"What ?" Hutch asked, turning back towards the brunet.

"Hutch, just gimme the gun," Starsky repeated himself with a slight flip of his fingers, asking that his request be granted.

Hutch handed the stunned brunet the weapon he had taken from Billy, as he looked back up at the helicopter that was preparing to land off in the distance. He heard the nearing sounds of sirens as they wailed in the heavy air. Starsky quickly wiped the gun clean with the tail of his shirt and then grasped it tightly in his hand firmly; he pointed it and fired one round into the ground. Hutch knew immediately what he had done; he had just destroyed evidence and could loose his badge for that one action.

"Starsky, what in the hell do you think you're doin'?" Hutch asked his partner, his brow furrowing.

"He saved our lives Hutch…" Starsky spoke without even looking at the blond, "we owe him one, an' you know it." He stated with absolute conviction and Hutch knew that there was no way that he would talk his friend out of this, and besides, what was done, was done.

Starsky knelt down next to Billy taking him by both shoulders and pulling him in closely, looking him intently in the eyes. "Listen here Billy and listen good…in a few minutes the cops are gonna be all over this place, and they're gonna ask you a bunch of questions and I need you to do me a big favor, you understand me?"

Billy nodded nervously as Hutch shook his head and Starsky continued, "They're gonna ask you what happened here and I want you to tell them that I was the one that shot Kiles…" The brunet jerked Billy closer, "Do you understand me? You haveta tell them that it was me that killed him."

"B-b-but why? I don't understand, I didn't do anything wrong." Billy stammered as he stared into Starsky's dark and tired eyes.

Hutch chimed in, backing his partner up as usual, "We know you didn't do anything wrong Billy, but they'll take it easier on Starsky then they will on you…it's real important you do what Starsky says…can you do that for us?" Hutch asked.

"Well sure I can…if you two say so…I trust you two, so if you want me to lie to the cops I will, but I don't have any problem telling them the truth neither." Billy added.

"I know you don't Billy, but trust us, its best if you just do things our way." Starsky explained as the young man nodded in agreement. "So this is how it went down…they told us to get outta the car…and you took off…when you heard the shots you came back to see if we were okay…by the time you got back, he was dead…you didn't see anything, you don't know how it happened. Let Hutch an' I handle the rest, you got me?"

"Yes Sir." Billy responded, earning a smile from both Starsky and Hutch, that was going to be a difficult habit for the boy to break.

The pure exhaustion and adrenalin finally took its toll on Starsky as he fell back, landing hard on his butt, putting out both of his hands against the ground to support him as his surroundings spun wildly.

"Whoa, you okay there buddy, come on hang in there," Hutch immediately noted Starskys condition and rushed to his side, easing him down to the ground, laying him on his back. "Just lay back for a sec, it'll pass." The blond turned towards the boy, "Billy get me something to put under his head."

Hutch looked out, scanning the area, now seeing vehicles with red lights glowing, approaching from the dusty trails; he looked back down at Starsky, seeing the color drain from his face as he broke out in a sweat.

The brunet swallowed hard, blinking his eyes slowly, and then opening them and trying his best to focus on his partner, "M'fine Hutch, just got a little woozy. Really, m'okay." Starsky mumbled as his left hand reached up and patted Hutch's chest lazily.

"Sure you are Buddy." Hutch answered as Billy returned with a jacket he had retrieved from the back seat of the limo, wadding it up and handing it to Hutch.

Hutch reached down and gingerly placed his hand at the nape of Starsky's neck and lifted his head, placing the soft jacket underneath and carefully laying his head back against it making sure he was comfortable.

"Just take it easy for me until help arrives, can you do that for me?" Hutch pled his partner, his pale eyes locking with Starsky's dark indigo orbs.

Starsky snorted slightly, a brief smile breaking over his face, "You got it…not 'cause I agree…but just because…" he inhaled deeply, "m' too tired to fight."

The brunet settled back, closing his eyes, sighing deeply, finally realizing that the nightmare that he had endured, that both he and his partner had endured, was finally over and behind them. Now it was time to rest, relax and most of all heal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After returning briefly to the hospital, both Starsky were treated, kept for observation and released. Hutch needed to have some more minor surgery to repair some tearing and damage to his wound. Starsky's ankle was healing well, and the horrific carvings on his back were fairly superficial, after having some minor tissue grafts, the scarring was minimal, and there was no residual remnants of the word, labeling him as something that many wanted him to be ashamed of, instead of being proud of his heritage.

In the meantime, Dobey had coordinated and executed a search and seizure of the compound in Rosita, Mexico with the full cooperation of the Mexican authorities. Billy's father was located and rescued. He was severely ill and frail and ended up in a medical facility in San Diego, to be triaged, evaluated and treated before the trip back to Bay City. Both detectives managed to keep this a secret from young Billy as they continued to tell him that they were working on the case, making sure that his father was going to pull through before the announced that he had been found. They no knew that no matter what, young Billy had troubles that ran deeper than either man realized psychologically. They didn't want to add any stress or false hope to his already delicate psyche.

Dobey managed to pull a few strings within the system, and Billy was allowed to stay with him and his family while Starsky and Hutch were recovering, and arrangements were being made to bring his father home. The large black man noted the boy's solitary type behavior, how he preferred to spend time alone, entertaining himself, rather then interaction with the family structure. He made a point of making sure that the boy was seen, evaluated and treated by a counselor. He needed someone that he could talk to, confidentially about what he had experienced inside that camp, things that he may not want or be able to share with others that had too close of a relationship with. Strange as it sounded, Dobey knew from experience, that often victims found it easier to talk to strangers, then people they were too close to.

Both men made it a point to visit Billy the day that they were released from the hospital, they also made sure that they were in contact with him frequently, wanting him to know that they had not abandoned, nor forgotten all that the child had done for them. One night, the three of them actually had a sleep over at Hutch's place, complete with junk food and an all night marathon of western movies, but they had to make sure he was back with the Dobey's the next morning. The courts had made an exception for this boy, and placed him with the Dobey's as a favor, so they all needed to follow the orders set forth by the California courts.

The day finally came that they had all been waiting for. Several days after Starsky and Hutch had been released from the hospital; arrangements had been made for Billy's father to be reunited with his boy, the man's whole reason for living and reason for sacrificing everything he possibly could, in the hopes of one day being reunited with his son.

Starsky and Hutch went to Dobey's house under the premise of taking Billy out to the park for the day.

They pulled up in front of their Captain's house in Starsky's bright red Torino, the brunet revving the engine twice before killing it. Both men exited the vehicle in unison as they closed the door, Hutch waiting for Starsky to round the car before both of them making their way up the walkway to their superior's front door.

Just as Starsky raised his arm to knock on the door, it was pulled open quickly, startling the two officers. Billy stood there, his eyes wide with enthusiasm as he looked up at his two friends. Hutch smiled broadly, his arm still in a sling, its mobility restricted to allow his chest muscles to heal properly.

"God its good to see you guys…I thought you'd never get here." Billy said excitedly.

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other, smiling. "You ready to go kid, we got a big day ahead of us." Starsky said, winking at the boy. "Hutch is gonna play some ball with you at the park."

Hutch snorted in laughter, noting his incapacitated state. "Yeah, that's gonna happen."

Dobey approached the doorway, standing behind the young man, "Now you to take it easy and have him home before supper or you'll both answer to Edith." He warned them.

"Will do Cap." Starsky promised as the three of them made their way back to the car.

They drove towards the park, talking about minute things, the weather, Edith's cooking, Calvin and Rosie Dobey as well as the big man himself, their Captain. Billy seemed to be settling in well, things moving along, and he was adjusting.

The trio arrived at the park, Starsky pulling his monstrous car into a stall right near the play ground. Both detectives climbed out of the car, with Billy making his way out after Hutch. The brunet tossed the keys to the tall blond, over the roof of the car, and Hutch caught them perfectly, snatching them out of mid-air. Starsky reached behind his front seat and dug out a Frisbee and a football, planning on playing catch with the boy, even if Hutch wasn't up to it, Starsky was.

Hutch popped the trunk and using his good arm, he retrieved a small cooler that the two had packed, full of snacks and strawberry soda. The three of them walked towards an empty picnic bench, Starsky and Billy playfully lobbed the football back and forth between them, the smile on the boy's lips, made Starsky's face light up. Just knowing what today held in store, made both detectives excited and nervous all at the same time.

Hutch opened the cooler as Starsky and Billy spread out over the lush green lawn, tossing the football back and forth, each backing up with each throw, increasing the distance between them.

Hutch watched the two males, as they threw the ball back and forth, his mind wandered back and he couldn't help but be so thankful to still have his partner in his life. He came so close to losing him, both physically and mentally. Hutch had been staying at Starsky's place since their release from the hospital. He was there for the countless nightmares that came back to haunt the brunet in the middle of the night, waking him up, trembling and sweating. The tall blond, accompanied his friend to many sessions with a therapist, watching as he nervously and sometimes reluctantly opened up and spoke about his experiences at the hands of these men and Hutch's heart would break all over again, especially since he realized that many of these atrocities happened while Hutch was there, in the camp, and did nothing about it. The guilt nearly consumed the blond, as his other half spoke about his nightmares and fears.

Hutch envisioned the look on his friend's face when these dreams would wake him from his restful sleep and it tore at Hutch's heart as the blond had to struggle to push the guilt from his mind, remaining there, putting up a strong front to help Starsky though his memories and his nightmares. He noticed that as the days passed on, and his healing progressed, the dreams and fears weakened in strength and frequencies, and for that, he was grateful.

He blinked quickly as Billy's laughter, pulled the blond back from his own thoughts and memories of the terrible events, making him smile as he watched Starsky, take off his shirt, exposing his nearly healed back to the world, not afraid of public scrutiny. Now the curly haired brunet, clad only in his denim shorts, frayed wildly at the hem, continued to toss the ball and catch it when it was returned.

"Go long!" Starsky shouted at the boy as Billy excited and ran back, prepared to receive the brunet's pass.

Starsky threw the ball hard, over the child's head as Billy backed up as far as he could and watched the ball fly past him. The ball rolled to the feet of a man who was wearing a wide brimmed hat and a suit, covered by a trench coat, the collar pulled up high around his neck. Billy looked back at Starsky, for the okay to follow the ball.

"Don't just stand there Billy, go get it!" Starsky shouted playfully at him.

He watched the man bend over and pick the ball up as he ran towards him, his hands held out in front of him, preparing to receive the ball back from the gentleman.

"Thank you Mister," Billy said respectfully, his eyes growing wide and his heart skipping several beats as the man looked up at him, locking eyes with the boy.

P-p-pop???" Billy stammered, blinking hard, not believing his eyes as the haggard man smiled broadly at the boy.

"How you been son?" The man spoke, his eyes welling with tears.

"Pop!!!" The full realization finally hitting the boy as he lunged forward, grabbing him around the waist with both arms, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Oh God, Billy boy. It's so good to see you again!" Billy's father said, burying his face into the top of the boys head, sobbing uncontrollably. "I never thought this could be happening."

"I always knew you'd come back pop, always!" Billy responded as the boy in turn, buried his face in his father's chest, sedated by listening to his father's heartbeat, and feeling his chest rise and fall as he too sobbed outright with shear happiness and elation.

Hutch approached his partner as both of them stood their, smiles wide on their faces, enjoying the site of doing as they had promised, reuniting the two and making sure they were safe.

Federal Agents took over the case, dealing with the International Affairs ramifications from this investigation. The government had Billy and his father testify against any remaining suspects that were rounded up in the camps and in return, they received new identities and new lives. After the trial and subsequent convictions of all remaining persons, Billy and his father were ready to move ahead and move forward with their lives together.

4 WEEKS LATER

Starsky and Hutch just entered the squad room, making their way to their desks, glad to be back at work, even if it was limited duty. They enjoyed their usual light banter back and forth.

"She liked me, not you Blondie…she only talked to you to make you feel good." Starsky quipped as Hutch looked up, furrowing his brow.

"Is that so? Well if she liked you so much, then why'd she give me her number?" Hutch questioned.

"She was hopin' you'd hand it over to me!" The brunet answered quickly, earning him a snort of laughter from his partner.

Dobey's door opened as the large man poked his head through the portal, "Starsky, Hutchinson…can I see you in my office for a second?"

Both detectives exchanged glances, Starsky shrugging as Hutch spoke up, "Sure Cap…" He responded as both men entered his modest room, closing the door behind him.

The partner's took a seat opposite of Dobey's desk as the rotund black man picked up a small card off of his desk and handed it to the tall blond.

"This was sent to the office in an envelope addressed to me with no return address, when I read it, I knew it was actually for you two." Dobey explained.

Hutch read the writing on the post card, his face flushing as Starsky looked on curiously until Hutch handed it to his partner. Starsky read the child's writing for himself:

I just wanted to let you guys know that pop and I got here fine. We are safe and pop said that I have you guys to thank for that, but I already knew that. I don't think thanking you is enough, you gave me back something that is worth more then…heck, I don't know what.

Thanks,

The Goat

Starsky looked up at his partner, his eyes brimming with moisture, locking with Hutch's equally damp sky blue orbs as they both smiled and nodded at each other, thankful that they were able to help and glad it was all behind them.

The End