Disclaimer: I don't own Starsky and Hutch, just trying to spread a bit of the love that they created.
A word of thanks: To Cindy and Elsa, "It was more than just the beta work."
Related episode: Missing scene Survival
Note: this was the first story I ever posted online so please be gentle.
"Nothing is Everything"
By Kreek©October04
Chapter 1
Starsky was scared, scared of what he would find. It was not the Torino that drove him through those hills at breakneck speed, it was his fear.
"Be alive… just… be alive…"
He felt it, deep down inside. He felt Hutch dying. He didn't know how he knew, but it drove him, pushed him on.
The Torino nearly lost its grip in a sharp turn, and he almost went over the edge. It roughly brought him back to reality. He drove a bit more carefully after that.
A silver Ford stood parked on the side of the road.
His heart pounded in his chest when he also saw black skid marks revealing the terrible ordeal his partner had gone through. He hit the brakes and was out in a second. There was only one reason Humphries would be here. To make sure his partner was dead.
Anger rose inside, born of that same fear that kept him going and he ran down the hill.
Vic Humphries never knew what hit him. Starsky let go of the man.
And then he saw it… or what was left of it.
The feeling of anguish rose when he took a good look at the car, Hutch's car, upside down and for a split second his mind filled in the blanks: the car crashing, pushed off the road, Hutch helpless to stop it, crashing over and over downhill, until it finally came to a halt. How could anyone survive that?
"Hutch, Hutch!"
He raced to the other side of the car… and his eyes fell on the broken, pinned body that was his partner.
"Be alive…God, be alive" he begged again as he fell to his knees and carefully picked up Hutch's head, instantly relieved to feel his partner's spirit still burning inside.
"We made it partner."
A soft moan almost made his heart jump with joy, but it was tempered by the terrible pain the sound betrayed. He quickly put him down.
"Hutch, you're going to be okay, you hear me, before you know it, you'll be harassing pretty girls with your vicious health shakes again."
He stood up and frantically looked around for something, anything that could help him get the weight of the car off his partner's legs. But there was nothing that sufficed… nothing he could use as a lever. And since the car was on an incline, there was no way he could lift it by himself.
Sirens made him sigh with relief, glad that he'd had the sense of mind to call an ambulance on his way over here.
"You hear that!" His voice sounded far more cheerful than he actually felt. "Here comes the cavalry. Just hang on for a bit longer." He crouched down close to his partner again, carefully feeling his way around his arms and ribs. At least they seemed to be fine.
But Hutch was cold, so very cold.
"Hutch…" he whispered urgently and took off his shirt to wrap it around his partner as best he could without hurting him. If anyone was shivering however, it was Starsky. He could still feel his partner dying, his soul fighting now to be released out of the cold vessel that was his body.
"Hutch…" Starsky put every feeling of fear and anxiety he had inside that one word as he desperately tried to reach him.
Finally, a soft moan.
"Stay with me will 'ya… just stay with me."
Chapter 2
Hutch's scream tore apart the mountain air and ripped through Starsky's heart like a knife through butter.
"Stop it! Dammit STOP IT!" He screamed at the ambulance workers who tried to get the car lifted enough for Starsky to grab his partner and pull him out from under it.
One of the two men who'd introduced himself as Oscar released the lever he was holding and glared at Starsky. "Sir… please… I understand your concerns but you have to let us do our job… we know what we're doing."
However, Oscar's calm voice and professional manner did nothing to calm him down. Starsky had seen them use this tone of voice for far too many times in situations where there was no happy ending. He was up in a second and grabbed the big black man by his shirt.
"Look mister," a cold threat entered his voice. "He screams one more time like that, I swear that car won't be the only thing that tumbled down this hill."
Oscar just stared at him until Starsky released him.
"Sorry…" he muttered and paced away a few steps and turned with a helpless look in his eyes. "Can't you just cut up the car so it breaks away in pieces?"
"We don't have the equipment, and if we wait for a rescue team to arrive, your friend might not make it."
Starsky went down to his knees again, gently stroking the sweat-filled blond hair from his partner's eyes. "Yeah, yeah… just hurry up will ya."
"We can't give him morphine so we can't do this any other way, just… trust us."
"Hear that Hutch, trust them."
"Starsk…" It was almost too soft to be heard.
Hutch could barely speak; the pain he was in blocked out all his senses. He was trying to stay alive, but he was so tired. Only the eyes betrayed the fight he was still fighting, and when he opened them, a tear sneaked out.
Starsky freaked out. He knew what this meant, what his partner was doing. He could read him like an open book. He heard the sorrow in that one word and saw the last bit of energy Hutch had, reflected in his eyes. It was love, love he directed solely at Starsky. A tear that was meant for Starsky alone.
Starsky moved himself an inch from that face and whispered, "You give up on me now, partner, and there's nothing in this world that stops me from killing Vic and everyone he surrounded himself with. You hear me… nothing."
Hutch's eyes widened, then he squeezed them shut.
"Now!"
Starsky reacted like a whip snake upon hearing Oscar's voice, pulling his partner from under the car in less than a second.
No sound. No screams. Hutch had lost consciousness.
Chapter 3
The battered old Ford stopped in front of a red traffic light. Since Hutch was in no shape to drive yet, Starsky had taken up the task to drive it himself.
Hutch was still a bit stunned by his friend's sentimental actions. The man had bought him a car! "Starsk… I still don't know what to say… it's… it's beautiful."
Starsky eyed the terrible interior of the car before turning his eyes on the traffic light again. "It's old, it's rusty, and it's also in desperate need of an air refresher buddy," he stated dry.
"I love it!" Hutch exclaimed happy, catching his partner smiling at that.
Starsky quickly hid his smile and tried to keep a straight face. "Yeah well, just don't throw this one down a hill, will ya? They're harder to come by than you think."
Hutch looked at him as the light turned green and they drove on. Starsky continued a bit more serious, "Just don't do that to me again."
The sincerity with which his partner always managed to get straight past every shield Hutch had managed to build up never ceased to amaze him. As always, it cut right through to his soul.
"Starsk… did you mean what you said back there?"
"What?" Starsky answered a bit temperamentally, never taking his eyes off the road.
"You know what I mean Starsk, that 'nothing' speech you gave me." Hutch retorted with the same sharpness in his voice, and then he calmed down, cooled off considerably by the events that kept playing in his head. He couldn't remember much of the whole scene, just the terrible pain … and Starsky's voice.
Starsky gave him a quick look, before turning his eyes on the road again. "Well," he began, "I had to say something." He shrugged, looking just like a lost child for a moment. "You were giving up."
And he was. Hutch knew that all too well. He would have done anything to get rid of the pain… anything.
He turned away from his partner and leaned back in the passenger seat. "I know," he said softly.
For a long time he didn't say anything,
"Hutch," Starsky suddenly began and pulled the LTD over to a halt. As soon as he stopped he turned to his partner. "Look, I don't know what I would've done…would you? Huh?
Hutch just kept staring out the window.
Starsky gave him an intense gaze, than he softly probed, "…If it had been me lying underneath that car, huh?"
Hutch just shook his head.
He tended to close off when emotions got confused and he didn't want to share them. His partner knew that and had given him the space to do so.
Until now Starsky had not mentioned one word about it. About what exactly had happened between the two of them… when Hutch was about to give up everything… Every thrill he experienced when life was good to him, every rush of adrenaline when he lived life to the fullest, and every joy he felt for being alive when he watched a simple sunset; and Starsky…
Everything he loved.
But now that the whole thing had come up, Hutch knew his partner was not about to let it go. They had to talk. Somehow the words would not come.
"Okay," Starsky started when the silence obviously began to get to him. "In all likelihood…? Yes. I think I might've gone after the ones who did this to you."
"And turn into a killer." Hutch answered coldly, still staring outside.
"God, I don't know Hutch. It was the only way I could reach you... What else could I have said, huh? Will you please look at me?!"
Hutch turned, his eyes showing the wet film of tears. He looked at his partner's worried face.
"Hey." Starsky said, worry evident in his voice and startled by the sudden tears. He put his hands on his partner's shoulders.
"You know what Starsk, about you reaching me and all?"
Starsky shook his head.
"You were right, damn you Starsk, you were right."
A big smile spread across Starsky's face. "Yeah?"
Hutch nodded, a smile appeared on his face and he wiped the tears away with his hand.
"Okay, come on."
Before Hutch could stop him Starsky was out of the car, had opened the passenger door, and motioned for Hutch to get in the wheel chair, which he'd gotten out of the trunk.
"Get in, partner."
"Starsky…"
"Get in!" he chirped impatiently and nodded at the sign of the place he'd conveniently parked in front of.
"You've never truly lived until you've tasted one of Sammy's homemade peanut butter burritos."
Hutch just stared at him then murmured as he clumsily got himself into the chair:" burritos in the morning… this stuff'll kill ya."
"What?"
"Nothing, Starsk, nothing."
The End