These next two chapters are both rather short. Later chapters are longer. Enjoy!

I still don't own anything or anyone.

Chapter Five - A Flap of the Butterfly's Wing

Outside of The Pits, Steve Barlow waited for his partner to get into his car. But Hutch stood for a moment, thinking.

"Barlow, did you notice the guy who was sitting at the bar?"

Steve searched his memory. "Little guy? In the rumpled white suit, and hat?"

"Yeah, him. Did it seem like he was listening to us?"

He considered the question. "Maybe. Could have been. You think he was?" If Hutch thought the stranger was eavesdropping on them, he was probably right. Steve knew very well how lucky he was to have been partnered with the famous Kenneth Hutchinson. When you were with the best, you paid attention.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's go."

They went back inside. The little man in the white suit had already left.

"Forget somethin'?" Huggy asked, spotting them.

"The guy who was in here before, you know anything about him? I think he was listening into our conversation."

Huggy swore softly. "Yeah, he coulda' been. He's a reporter, new in town, from Chicago, looking to make some contacts for information. Name of Carl Kolchak. I'm sorry, Hutch, I didn't think."

"Aw hell." Hutch looked pained.

"Well, what did he actually hear, anyway?" Steve pointed out. "It's no secret that this stuff is out there, or that we're looking into it."

Hutch sighed. "Starsky and I haven't had such great luck with reporters in the past."

Steve looked away. There it was, and no point to complaining or pointing out that it wasn't Starsky and Hutch any more, it was Barlow and Hutch. To Hutch he would always be second-best, no matter how good he was, and there was nothing he could do about it.

It wasn't that he wanted to come between Hutch and his original partner. He didn't. And he knew, even if he did want to, there was no way he ever could. He certainly didn't envy Starsky's place in Hutch's bed, that was something in which he hadn't the slightest interest. But Steve had a strong streak of hero-worshipper, and it had been the biggest thrill of his career when he learned he was being paired with half of the famous Starsky and Hutch duo. It would have been nice to feel, just once, as though he wasn't the unworthy replacement.

Not that Hutch had ever been hostile, or unpleasant to him. In fact, he'd gone out of his way to try and make him comfortable, knowing that it wasn't his fault he couldn't be with Starsky, and not wanting to make him feel bad. The fact that he had trusted him enough to tell him the truth about his relationship with Starsky proved that there were no hard feelings. But he simply wasn't Starsky, and that was all there was to it.

Oddly enough it was Starsky who had made Steve feel more accepted. Realizing that Hutch was having trouble adjusting to someone new, he had taken the time to tutor Steve in what Hutch was expecting. It had worked out well, and the two men had forged a partnership of their own, dedicated to keeping Hutch safe. Steve knew he owed Starsky a lot for his help.

But it still left him the very junior member, and with all his hero-worshiping heart, he yearned for some way to prove himself to Hutch, prove himself worthy of being his partner. He had hoped that this drug case might be the way to do it. It was the first really big case they'd been assigned since they had been teamed together.

But all of that was neither here nor there. The immediate worry was the reporter.

"Do you think he'll be a problem?" he asked Hutch anxiously.

Hutch sighed. "Probably not. Huggy, do you know where to get in contact with him?"

Huggy shook his head. "No, but he's coming back in a day or so, when I've had time to look into him a little."

"We can check him out with the Chicago PD, too," Steve pointed out.

"Yeah. Minnie should be able to pull up something. Huggy, you find out what you can, too, and let us know."

And with that they had to be content.