CHAPTER 3

Dobey came out of his office with a very subdued Ben and a tall, thin, redheaded man. Starsky watched the new man with some alarm, sensing something was amiss. The new detective had the coldest eyes Starsky had ever seen and an involuntary shudder went through him as the introductions were made. Rayner shook hands with Hutch willingly enough, but seemed to freeze when he was introduced to Starsky and an instant and mutual dislike was born. Starsky couldn't explain his reaction at first, but the sight of the very subdued Ben didn't help. For once he held his tongue and tried to be civil. It wasn't easy, especially when he noticed Rayner barely acknowledged his new partner, Ben.

Hutch also picked up on the tension but tended to think, at that point, that it was understandable. Replacing a partner, he shuddered at the thought, couldn't be easy and Ben was still grieving for Pete. He also noticed the instant antipathy between Starsky and Rayner and Rayner's reluctance to shake Starsky's hand. Everyone was still reeling from the tragedy, and tensions were still high, so he decided not to make a point of it. It wouldn't be easy for any new officer under these circumstances.

"Look, it's nearly lunch time. Why don't we go and grab some lunch," Hutch said lightly. He wanted to try to lighten the atmosphere.

"No thanks, I'm going home to see my wife," Rayner was polite but very cold.

Ben relaxed at Rayner's refusal and nodded. "I'll join you. Let's go!" The words were barely out of his mouth as he rushed out of the room. Starsky and Hutch nearly had to run to catch up with him. They met outside.

"What gives, Ben?" Starsky was very disturbed, but wasn't entirely sure why. His instincts were telling him that they were heading for trouble and he hoped he was wrong.

"Can't you guess, Starsky? You saw him--he hates me, hates you and was barely civil to Dobey!" Starsky understood instantly and was chilled, but Hutch hesitated about jumping to the awful conclusion.

"He's nervous..." but Ben didn't let him finish.

"NERVOUS! No way. He's a cold fish that one, and a bigot to boot. You saw him Hutch-- he shook your hand, but could barely look at me, Dobey or Starsky and he's my friggin' PARTNER!" He walked off then declaring that he wasn't hungry and needed to think.

"Starsk?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of." Hutch was appalled at the implications and wanted to think positively.

"It's a serious thing all right. Dunno how serious yet, and I hope we're wrong, but you saw him. We've gotta watch out --a bigot is all we need." Starsky sighed sadly. Bigotry was such an ugly part of human nature and something he'd come across during his life. He'd never understand it but he had no illusions about how difficult it could be to deal with, especially in a fellow officer.

"Let's go eat." Starsky forced a grin, wanting to move onto more pleasant thoughts.

--

Driving home that night, Hutch tried to bring the subject up again.

"I had a good talk to Rayner this afternoon. He's a bit of a cold fish, but I'm sure it will be okay."

Starsky sighed deeply. Rayner had pointedly ignored him, and he couldn't believe it would be okay. He'd had too much experience of bigotry and blind hatred to believe that it could be.

"Hutch, you've never been hated for being what you are, not for who you are. You've never been called names just because of your culture and background, so you can't possibly understand what we'll be up against if this is the case. Ben has a partner who at best won't watch his back, and at worst will want him dead, and you can probably include Dobey and me in that equation." Starsky took a deep breath. Despite the fact he was a tough street cop and was faced with man's cruelty towards each other on a daily basis, it still saddened him. He'd had to toughen up over the years but his basic compassion remained and he couldn't understand why people behaved like they did. He'd experienced very difficult periods in his life, and although he'd told Hutch most of it, there were still moments he had no wish to relive. Even at the precinct at times, he'd been called names, or been forced to listen to Jewish jokes. Sometimes he wanted to talk to Hutch, to ask him to help try to understand why people had to make jokes, but the opportunity never arose. He wasn't by nature a worrier, and he preferred to avoid difficulties if he could. Hutch had always accepted him for what he was, and the acceptance had grown into the best friendship a man could ask for, and he knew Hutch loved him. The background stuff simply never came up because it was completely irrelevant to their relationship. Starsky knew that if Hutch was aware of some of the things he still had to listen to at the precinct, from some of Hutch's friends, even though the friends indulged mostly in jokes, then those friendships would be finished. He didn't take the jokes too seriously so he'd managed to keep them tucked away in his mind. Most of the time he could just shrug them off. It was just occasionally that something might sting. He'd not had to face real hatred from the precinct, but he was painfully aware at times of the differences which existed. He had no doubts about his importance in Hutch's life, and maybe that was why he never saw the need to talk to him about his insecurities. They didn't seem so important when Hutch was around.

"As I said before, Starsk, it's a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of without proof." Hutch wondered if he was missing something. He'd never stopped to think about Starsky being Jewish, or whether he had troubles at times. It didn't matter to him. Starsky was just Starsky, the best friend he could ever wish for and the best partner.

"It is serious, very serious. Hutch, have you ever been called names, horrible names, just because of your background? Or beaten up and abused? Spat on? Of course not, and I'm glad 'cause I wouldn't wish that sort of hatred on anyone, especially you. This type of hatred is dangerous and if the bigot is a nut, deadly. We're dealing with fanaticism, Hutch, the worst kind. I'm not saying that Rayner is a nut, I just dunno yet, but I do think he's a bigot. However, it'll be impossible to prove unless he slips up and makes a mistake. With Ben as his partner, he just might." Starsky sighed again at the prospect and just hoped that it wouldn't hurt Ben.

"Starsk, I still think you're being a bit unfair and not giving him a chance. You're basing your assumption on his first day and he could've been nervous. Let's face it, replacing a partner who's been killed wouldn't be the easiest thing…" They exchanged looks at this. Neither of them wanted to pursue that particular line of thinking.

Starsky continued to look at his partner and best friend. For the very first time, the difference in their backgrounds was becoming all too apparent.

"Forget it, it won't affect you anyway." Starsky suddenly wanted to change the subject very badly. However, he'd chosen precisely the wrong thing to say and Hutch exploded.

"Whadda you mean it won't affect me! How can you say that, PARTNER! Anything, anything at all that affects you, affects me, especially if it could hurt you!" Hutch paused, realizing that he had to find out the truth. If George Rayner was a bigot, he could hurt Starsky, and he wouldn't stand for that. He couldn't and wouldn't ignore the situation if there was the slightest chance of Starsky being hurt.

Starsky watched him thinking and had a pretty good idea of what his thoughts were. He relaxed. Hutch was very non-judgmental and would prefer to give Rayner the benefit of the doubt, unless it put him at risk. He grinned at the thought knowing his partner wasn't going to ignore a potential risk to him. It both warmed and gratified him knowing how much Hutch cared. He might prefer to give the newcomer the benefit of the doubt but he wasn't going to bury his head in the sand over a potential danger. It would be good to think they were mistaken but Starsky seriously doubted it. Rayner's attitude to both he and Ben seemed contemptuous at best, and he barely afforded Dobey the respect that his rank alone deserved. Of course it was very early days but Starsky tended to trust his gut instincts and they were screaming out warnings to him. Once again Starsky was truly grateful for the miracle of his friendship with Hutch. In many ways he did consider it a miracle for they were so different--not just backgrounds, but with tastes too. However, they were united in things that mattered. The differences never counted as Hutch saw him and cared about him for who he was, as he did Hutch and nothing else was important.

They both relaxed with their thoughts and continued on in a companionable silence, the moment of tension having passed as they both recognized what was important.