Starsky sped his red Torino towards his apartment. It was late at night (or early morning, depending on you looked at it) a time when most sane people were sound asleep in their beds – and that’s all Starsky wanted to be doing. It had been a long, and very tiring day, he and Hutch had put in several hours of overtime into solving a case.
     “Why didn’t I just crash at Hutch’s … before I ‘crash.’” Starsky wondered, as he yawned and tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes.
It was a dark moonless night and the car’s headlights did little to cut through the darkness. Suddenly, a car heading the other way suddenly flashed it’s headlights on, the high beams momentarily blinding Starsky. For that brief moment Starsky lost control of the car, swerving slightly to right the tires hit the loose gravel at the side of the road. Starsky cursed under his breath, trying desperately to regain control of the car but his attempts were futile. He had been going quite fast when he hit the gravel the Torino skidded into a ninety degree turn, then was sent into a roll side over side. The car rolled two and half times, before coming to rest on its hood.
     The other car had turned around and came to stop next to the red car. Two large men got out and approached Starsky’s car. One of them bent down and peered into the car, while the other held a flashlight. Starsky hung limply from the seat, as he had fortunately been wearing his seatbelt, though his head was laying against the steering wheel a streak of blood ran down his temple and along the side of his face. The man reached in and pressed two fingers against the side of Starsky’s throat, checking for a pulse.
     “He’s alive, just out cold.” He said as he reached into the car and undid Starsky’s seatbelt.
Starsky dropped limply down against the roof of the car and was unceremoniously dragged out of the car by one arm. He was dragged behind the black car, as the man with the flashlight opened the trunk. Starsky was picked up roughly, as though he was nothing more then a sack of potatoes and thrown into the trunk. The trunk was shut and the two men climbed back into the car, which then sped away from the scene of the accident.
     Hutch debated not answering the phone, it was barely past dawn and since he hadn’t even got home until after 3am, he barely had 2 hours of sleep. The phone was ringing persistently – obviously whoever it was wasn’t going to give up.
     “Yeah what?” Hutch grumbled sleepily as he answered the phone.
     “Ken, it’s Captain Dobey.”
Hutch suddenly felt more awake, the only time Dobey used his first name it meant there was trouble. “What’s going on?”
     “There’s been an accident.”
     “Starsky?” Hutch asked worriedly, praying his first conclusion was wrong.
     “I’m afraid so.”
     “Is he okay?” Hutch asked, panic starting to set in
     “Ken, it’s complicated.”
     “What the hell do you mean it’s complicated?” Hutch asked crossly, though Dobey knew Hutch was just worried about his partner.
     “They found his car … they didn’t find him.”
     “What? How is that possible?”
     “Ken, listen to me. I think you should come out here and see for yourself.” Dobey told the detective and gave him the location of Starsky’s car.
Hutch hung up the phone and quickly got dressed, not caring that he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing yesterday. His heart was pounding as he raced out to his battered, old LTD. The car was refusing to start, seeming to remind Hutch why they had been using ‘the striped tomato’ recently.
     “Start damn it.” Hutch cursed the car, slapping a hand against the steering wheel.
The start of this day was beginning to seem like a bad dream to Hutch, and he had the feeling that it was only going to get worse. It took a couple tries before the engine finally started and he sped away quickly.
     The first thing Hutch saw when he arrived at the scene of the accident was the upside down Torino. Hutch parked his car and slowly approached Dobey who stood next to Starsky’s car. He found himself checking the license plate as though trying to disprove that it was Starsky’s car (even though there was only one ‘striped tomato’ around, anywhere).
     “Any idea what happened?” Hutch asked Dobey, his eyes still locked on his friend’s car.
     “Not yet.” Dobey said. “There’s skid marks for several feet.”
Hutch glanced back at the road, noticing the skid marks for the first time. “Rolled a couple times.” Hutch said quietly, his voice sounded almost disconnected as though he were trying to treat this as just another traffic accident.
     “We think he may have just lost control of the car and …” Dobey started to say but Hutch cut his sentence short.
     “Starsky wouldn’t 'just' lose control of the car, he’s too good of a driver for that.” Hutch said defensively.
Hutch started to walk around the car, investigating closer, searching for a clue as to how the accident happened, searching for something that would lead him to Starsky.  He bent down and looked into the car, noticing the dried blood on the steering wheel. The sight of the blood made his chest tighten and he stood up quickly, looking away from the car.
     “This accident wasn't an 'accident'.” Hutch said.
     “How can you be so sure?” Dobey asked.
     “Because Starsky is gone.”
     “Maybe someone saw it happen and took him to the hospital.”
     “If that was true then why didn’t the hospital contact me … or at least the precinct, Starsky would have his ID on him.” Hutch said. “Someone did take him but not to the hospital.”
     “Are you sure?”
     “Well you don’t see him around here anywhere do you?!” Hutch asked, yelling by this point, drawing glancing from the other officers that were there investigating the car crash.
     “Calm down, Hutchinson.” Dobey said, in a firm voice, even though he understood why Hutch was so upset and felt like yelling himself.
     “How the hell am I suppose to be calm when Starsky’s missing? We don’t even know how bad he was hurt in the crash or …” Hutch’s voice trailed off, it wasn’t a line of thought that he could finish.
     “I know. I am worried about Starsky too, but getting upset isn’t going to help us find him.”
Hutch looked away from Dobey, and back at the car, he knew that Dobey was right but he couldn’t help but get upset not while his partner, his best friend was out there somewhere possibly hurt, and he didn’t have a single clue where to even start looking for him.
Dobey stepped closer to Hutch and placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “We’ll find him.”
     “This day just keeps getting worse.” Hutch mumbled more to himself then Dobey.
     Starsky moaned softly as consciousness slowly began to return to his body. There was a sharp pain in his head that kept him from being able to think straight, and his whole body seemed to ache dully. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the light for moment until his eyes adjusted to the brightness. Starsky took in his surroundings, it was a small, simple room there was only a chair and the bed he was lying on. He was startled from his thoughts by the sound of the door being opened. Starsky looked over and saw two men come into the room, one stayed by the door and the other came and sat down on the chair next the bed.
     “I see you’re awake.” The man commented needlessly. “How are you feeling?”
     “My head is killing me.” Starsky said, bring his fingertips up to his aching temple, almost expected to feel blood. “What happened to me?”
     “You were in a car accident, don’t you remember?”
     “No, sir.”
     “Do you remember who you are?”
Starsky seemed to think about the question for a moment, as though it was the hardest question he had ever been asked. “No … why I can’t I remember who I am?”
     “You must have amnesia. It’s common with a head injury, like the one you have.” The man said, a small smile curled at the edges of his lips. “Do you remember anything about yourself? Or anyone?”
Starsky thought about the questions for a moment, and the harder he tried the worse his head hurt so he gave up. “No. I can’t remember anything.”
     “Well, David, I will tell you everything you need to know.”
Starsky assumed ‘David’ was his name, and looked to the man, who he didn’t remember, for the answers about his life.
     “You’re name is David Starsky. My name is Edward Newbourer, I run our organization, and you, David, are my right hand man.”
     “Organization?”
Edward grinned at Starsky. “You might say Mafia.”
     “Really?”
     “Yes, David.” Edward said. “You’re accident happened because a nosey cop has been digging a little too deep into our operations.” Starsky looked confused, so Edward explained. “This cop caused your accident, you’re lucky we found you, that cop had left you for dead.”
     “I thought cops were suppose to be the good guys.” Starsky mumbled.
     “Depends on your point of view, from our point of view they are the enemy. This cop in particular, he has been a thorn in our side for far too long.”
     “So, this cop tried to kill me?”
     “Yes.”
     “I’ll teach him a lesson.” Starsky said coldly. “I’ll make him sorry he ever crossed our path.” Starsky sat up ignoring his headache. “Who is this cop?”
     “Detective Kenneth Hutchinson.”
     “Well, Detective Hutchinson is about to learn the true meaning of the word revenge.”
Edward grinned, though Starsky couldn’t notice the evilness in the grin that made the man look like the devil himself. “Come along, David, we’ll get you something for your headache and see to beginning our revenge on Mr. Hutchinson.”
Starsky nodded, he stood up slowly and followed Edward out of the room, already trying to formulate plans to get revenge on the man responsible for his accident, responsible for his pain.
     Hutch reluctantly followed Dobey’s suggestion, which had in the end turned into more of an order, and returned to his apartment. He could barely function with as little sleep as he had, and the only thing that was keeping him going was worry for his partner. He showered and shaved and put on a fresh change of clothes. Dobey had told him to get some more sleep, though Hutch doubted that he could sleep no matter how exhausted he felt. So instead he went into the kitchen and made a cup of overly strong coffee hoping the hit of caffeine would help him to wake up. Hutch paced around his apartment, as he sipped at his coffee, trying to think of who they had ‘irritated’ lately that would led to Starsky’s kidnapping.
     “Damn, that’s a long list.” Hutch mumbled as he thought about just how many people that would include from past and present cases. He and Starsky had brought down many criminals that would love to get revenge on them. There were many people who want to hurt – or even kill them. Hutch shuddered at that thought. “Don’t be thinking like that, Hutchinson.” He scolded himself.
     Hutch went to The Pits, even though the bar was deserted in the morning time he knew that Huggy would be there.
     “Hey, Hutch. Where’s your better half?” Huggy teased as his blond friend entered the bar.
     “That’s what I’d like to know.” Hutch said, approaching the lanky black man who was dressed in outrageous looking clothing, typical of Huggy.
     “What’d ya mean?”
     “I was hopefully that you had heard something.” Hutch said sullenly, it was obvious that Huggy had no information for him.
     “Starsky missin’ or something?”
     “Yeah.” Hutch said and proceeded to tell Huggy about how they’d found Starsky’s car.
     “There hasn’t been any word on the street about anyone wanting to kidnap a cop.” Huggy told Hutch, seeing the disappointment in the other man’s light blue eyes.
     “Not a single clue.” Hutch said quietly.
     “If I hear anything you’ll be the first to know.” Huggy said. “If anyone can find Starsky it’ll be you.” he offered reassuringly.
     “How when I don’t even know where to begin?” Hutch asked angrily, pounding his fist against the solid wood bar.
Huggy just stood silently not knowing what to say to comfort his blond friend, knowing the only thing that would be of any comfort to Hutch would be to find Starsky safe and unharmed.
     Hutch spent the next several hours searching for any clue as to where Starsky was. Nobody had any information, most hadn’t even heard about Starsky’s kidnapping. He was no closer to finding his partner now then he was when first learning of his best friend’s disappearance. Hutch leaned back against his beat-up, brown LTD, he sighed in frustration as he ran his hands over his face – oblivious to the figure in the shadows of the alley watching him. The man watching Hutch was dressed completely in black – tight black jeans, and black turtleneck beneath a black leather jacket, he was even wearing black boots. Dark curls accented his face as he watched Hutch with darkened eyes. Hutch would only have to look at the man to know it was Starsky.
     Starsky reached inside his jacket and pulled his gun out of its holster. He aimed the gun at his intended target and squeezed the trigger once. Hutch heard the gunshot from somewhere behind him and before he could even react the bullet shattered the passenger side back window of the car, the bullet becoming lodged somewhere in the LTD’s interior. Hutch quickly ducked behind the car, out of the line of fire as he drew his magnum. By this time everyone who had been out on the street had all taken cover within the surrounding buildings. Hutch carefully peered over the hood of the car, aiming his gun in the general direction the shot had came from as he searched for the gunman. He noticed a figure in black clothing disappearing into the shadows of the alley and assumed that had been the gunman.
     “Wonder if he had anything to do with Starsky’s disappearance?” Hutch wondered. “This probably has everything to do with Starsky’s disappearance.”  He answered his own question.
Deciding there was no time to waste in catching the man, and possibly getting the answers he needed to find Starsky he didn’t bother to call the precinct to report the shots fired. Hutch carefully moved around the car, knowing unlike normal he had no one there to cover him, he cautiously watching the entrance of the alley. He flattened his body against the warm brick wall of the building, to the left of the alley, listen for any sound to alert him to the gunman’s location. Hearing nothing he turned and moved into the alley, his gun extended out in front of him. There was still no sign of the gunman, and Hutch prayed that he hadn’t gone in a side door of either building. He watched the shadows for any sign of movement, but the alley appeared deserted. He moved further into the alley.
     “Where the hell did you go!?” Hutch yelled, frustrated that he had so easily lost the other man.
     “Right behind you.” Starsky said, stepping out from the shadows of a doorway. He stood behind Hutch, his gun aimed at the blond man’s back.
Hutch froze, for a moment, he didn’t have to see the man’s face to know who it was, he knew the voice perfectly well – knew it was Starsky. A sense of relief washed over him like a tidal wave just hearing his friend’s voice that he didn’t even stop to wonder why Starsky had shot at him.
     “Starsk …” Hutch said, spinning around to face his partner. He immediately noticed the difference in Starsky’s attire and a dark look in his blue eyes unlike any he had ever seen before. “Wh-what’s going on, Starsk?”
     “Drop the gun.” Starsky ordered.
Hutch was confused but he complied with Starsky’s command automatically, without a second thought. After all he didn’t worry about being in any danger from Starsky so he had no reason to be armed as he stood there talking to his friend. “You gonna put your gun away now too, buddy?”
     “I ain’t your buddy.” Starsky said coldly.
     “Since when?” Hutch thought, he and Starsky had been friends since the first moment they had met at the police academy. A part of him suddenly wished he hadn’t dropped his gun, but he dismissed that as foolishness. “Are you okay, Starsk?”
     “Hate to disappoint you, copper but I am perfectly fine.”
Hutch just stared at Starsky for minute, this man who stood before him so unlike the Starsky he knew – and if he didn’t know any better he would’ve sworn Starsky was undercover. “Why would I be disappointed?”
     “Don’t you try to play your head games with me, Hutchinson. I ain’t about to fall for any of your lies.” Starsky said and grinned wickedly. “You know I could just pull the trigger right now and put an end to this game.”
     “Why don’t you?” Hutch challenged, he new under normal circumstances Starsky would die before shooting him – but this wasn’t a normal situation. Hutch knew something was wrong, but for some reason he thought it was best to try to act as though things were normal.
Starsky shrugged, as he holstered his gun. “Guess ‘cause I like ‘playin’ with ya.”
Hutch breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Starsky put his gun away, it was one less thing to worry about. But his relief was to be short lived.  Starsky swung his fist connecting solidly with Hutch’s jaw, sending the taller man stumbling backwards from the force of the blow. Hutch would’ve fallen to the ground if he hadn’t backed against the wall, he rubbed his aching jaw and looked at Starsky.
     “What the hell did you do that for?” Hutch asked.
     “You really don’t catch on too quickly, do you?”
     “Catch on to what, that fact that you’re out of mind.” Hutch said, normally it would’ve been a tease now it was more of a taunt.
Starsky’s eyes darkened with anger and he lunged at Hutch, driving his fist into Hutch’s stomach. Hutch gasped as he felt the wind being knocked out of him. He didn’t want to fight back, he didn’t want to chance hurting Starsky, but it was beginning to be obvious that he didn’t have much of a choice. Starsky prepared to strike Hutch again, but this time Hutch blocked the punch and shoved Starsky backwards. Hutch took a couple steps away from the wall, watching Starsky closely to anticipate his attack. He knew all Starsky’s attacks just as Starsky knew his which always left them quite evenly matched when sparring.
     “Starsk, what’s …” Hutch started to ask when realization of what was wrong suddenly seemed to dawn on him. “You have amnesia.”
 Starsky looked at Hutch, obviously puzzled. “How the hell do you know?”
     “Because I knew you and this isn’t like you.”
     “How would you know?”
     “Starsk …” Hutch said and sighed deeply in frustration. “How can you not know who I am?” he mumbled.
     “I don’t even know who ‘I’ am.” Starsky shot back.
     “I’m sorry, buddy.”
     “I told you, I am ‘not’ your ‘buddy’.” Starsky said, his voice almost a growl.
     “Are too.” Hutch said, trying to make and maintain eye contact with Starsky to try to get through to his friend, but his efforts were proving to be futile.
     “ARE NOT!” Starsky yelled, and rushed at Hutch in a blind attack.
Hutch was slightly surprised but prepared none the less for the attack. He grabbed Starsky, using the dark-haired man’s own forward momentum to shove Starsky against the wall. He pinned Starsky against the wall, feeling his friend fighting to break free, he held on tight as he could without actually hurting Starsky.
     “Calm down, Starsk.” Hutch said quietly.
     “Go to hell.” Starsky spat.
     “Feel like I already have.” Hutch thought to himself. “Someone obviously filled your head with a batch of lies. Who?”
     “It’s not lies and none of your business.”
     “Starsk …” Hutch started to say, his words were interrupted by the sound of siren breaking through the silence, obviously someone else had reported the gunshot.
Starsky used Hutch’s momentary distraction to make his move, he drove and elbow back into Hutch’s stomach. Hutch coughed as the air was once again knocked out of his body. His grip on Starsky loosened enough for Starsky to break free and quickly vanish once again into the shadows of the alley. Hutch thought he heard a door but couldn’t be sure.
     “FREEZE! POLICE!”
     “I’m a cop.” Hutch informed them as he slowly turned around to face the two uniformed officers.
     “Yeah right.” The younger of the two said, keeping his gun aimed at the blond.
     “He is.” The older officer informed his rookie partner. Then looked at Hutch. “Hutchinson, isn’t it?”
Hutch nodded, and moved to retrieve his gun from the ground.
     “Thought so. I can never keep the two of you straight.”
The young rookie officer just stood there looking utterly confused, slowly putting his gun back in the holster, just as the two elder officers had done.
     “Any word on your partner?”
Hutch wasn’t sure how to reply, he didn’t want to get Starsky in trouble and knowing the incident that had happened could do that he decide it was best to tell a white lie. “Not really.”
     “Did the gunfight out here have anything to do with Starsky’s disappearance?”
     “Yeah. It was just one shot to get my attention.  Courtesy of whoever took Starsky.” Hutch said, he knew Starsky would be long gone, and started to walk back towards the entrance of the alley.
     “I hope you find him.” He honestly told Hutch, after all anyone who worked in the same department as Starsky and Hutch for any length of time knew how close the two detectives were. “We’re all keeping an eye out for him.”
Hutch gave a slight nod, he knew that no one would find Starsky unless he wanted to be found and he knew that Starsky didn’t want to be found. Hutch knew that now began a game of cat and mouse between him and Starsky though he wasn’t sure who was the cat and who was the mouse.
     Over the next several hours Hutch saw no further sign of Starsky. He became increasingly worried with each passing hour, knowing know that Starsky was in fact in trouble. He knew that if someone was taking advantage of Starsky amnesia that it would make his friend vulnerable to an attack. Hutch was getting frustrated in his search, if Starsky pulled a disappearing act under normal circumstance he knew he would be able to find his friend in no time, knowing how his friend thought he’d know where Starsky would think to hide. It was dark and Hutch was beyond exhausted he knew he needed to go home to get some rest, that pushing himself to the point he dropped from exhaustion would do no good. So he returned to his apartment to get at least a few hours of sleep.
     Hutch was startled to find his door slightly ajar when he arrived at his apartment. He drew his gun from the holster, and shoved the door open with the gun. He cautiously stepped into the lit apartment, his gun held ready.
     “About time you came home.” Starsky said, from where he sat on the couch.
For a moment things felt almost normal, as though for some reason Starsky had been there waiting for him to come home and had just forgot to shut the door. Hutch glanced around the apartment, noticing that Starsky had been on a destructive rampage, nearly causing as much damage as Diana had caused when she went on her insane rampage. Only this time the destruction actually scared Hutch a little because it had been done by Starsky and this time he had nowhere to run. Hutch glanced at Starsky who still hadn’t moved since he came in, he just sat on the couch absently fiddling with the white knight piece from his chessboard. Hutch wondered if Starsky had chosen that piece at random or if there was a significance behind it, and he wonder if Starsky knew what that significance was.
     “Starsk …” Hutch started to say but his sentence was cut short by Starsky.
     “SHUT UP!” Starsky yelled he grabbed his gun and aimed it at Hutch’s head.
     “Put the gun away.” Hutch said, setting his own gun down on the table and stepping away, hoping that would convince Starsky to follow suit.
     “No … I don’t want to.”
     “C’mon, Starsk. You don’t really want to shoot me.”
     “The hell I don’t.”
     “If you really want to, and not just because someone told you that you should, then by all means pull that trigger.” Hutch said calmly, surprised at how sure he felt that Starsky wouldn’t pull the trigger.
Starsky finger moved to close around the trigger and Hutch found himself holding his breath in wait.  “That’d be too simple.” Starsky said, returning his gun to his holster.
     “Simple?” Hutch thought laughingly. “We need to talk, Starsk.”
     “You want to talk, do you?”
     “Yes.” Hutch said, hoping that Starsky was going to agree, hoping that he could talk some sense into his friend, to make Starsky remember the truth.
     “Well,” Starsky started to say, standing up. His eyes narrowed at Hutch and he smiled almost evilly. Without warning he leapt at Hutch knocking the taller man to the floor. He was practically sitting on Hutch’s stomach, his hands roughly pinning Hutch’s shoulders to the floor. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
     “Starsk, I don’t know what you were told but how can you believe that we are enemies?”
     “I told you I don’t want to talk to you.” Starsky said coldly. He swiftly moved his hands to clamp tightly around Hutch’s throat.
Hutch struggled to try to get free, trying to shove Starsky’s hands away, but Starsky had him at a great disadvantage and he couldn’t get the leverage to shove Starsky away. Starsky kept one hand around Hutch’s throat and reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a little black box. After a moment Starsky pulled away his other hand and Hutch coughed as he tried to catch his breath, his lungs were burning and with how Starsky had him pinned down he still couldn’t get all the air he need. Starsky set the box on Hutch’s chest and pulled out a small bottle, holding it in his right hand, he pulled a needle out of the box. Hutch’s eyes widened, ever since Forrest he had been terrified of needles, and he tried to twist away.
     “Please … Starsk … oh God please don’t.” Hutch begged, watching as Starsky filled the needle.
     “Oh what’s matter? Big tough cop afraid of a little needle?” Starsky teased cruelly.
     “Please, Starsk. You know … you …” Hutch stumbled over his words, not sure exactly what to say, after all right now Starsky didn’t know.
Starsky set the bottle back in the box, and grabbed Hutch’s arm with his free hand. He shoved Hutch’s shirt sleeve up. Hutch looked at him with pleading blue eyes, he knew his words were useless, wondering fearfully what was in the needle. Hutch screamed as the tip of the needle pierced his skin, which only made Starsky laugh. Starsky finished the injection and pulled the needle back, he put the needle away and tucked the box back into his pocket.
     “Nighty night, Blondie.” Starsky said, unkindly patting Hutch’s cheek.
Hutch blinked his eyes, feeling darkness suddenly start to invade his mind and body, he assumed he had been given a tranquilizer of some kind. “Starsk …” Hutch whispered softly, calling out to his friend one last time before sleep claimed him.
     Hutch moaned as he started to wake up, his head was throbbing as a side effect of the tranquilizer he had been given.
     “Wake up.” Starsky said, slapping Hutch across the face hard enough to form an instant bruise.
Hutch slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at Starsky, hating to wake back up to this distorted version of reality. He tried to move but found he was tied to a chair, his arms behind his back.
     “Where are we?” Hutch asked, aware of his new surroundings.
     “Not something you need to know.”
Hutch was about to press the issue when the door of the room opened. A man with salt n’ pepper hair stepped into the room, his eyes almost as black as the suit he was wearing. Hutch’s eyes narrowed at the man with a look of pure venom.
     “I see our guest woke up.” Edward said, grinning at Hutch.
     “Yes, sir. He just woke up.”
     “I am sure he wishes he was still asleep.” Edward said, stepping closer to Hutch. “Don’t you, Hutchinson?”
     “You won’t get away with this.” Hutch replied coolly, and with more confidence then he felt.
     “Oh really?” Edward questioned and leaned to whisper in Hutch’s ear, to quietly for Starsky to hear. “You think your partner is gonna save you?”
     “I’ll get you for what you’ve done to Starsky.” Hutch said through clenched teeth.
Edward stepped back, grinning like a Cheshire cat at what he felt had been an easy victory over the two cops who had been given him so much trouble. “You’re in no position to making threats. You should’ve minded your own business, detective.”
     “And you shouldn’tve messed with Starsky.” Hutch said his eyes spoke of the revenge he desired.
Edward glanced at Starsky for a moment, seeing the dark-haired man standing there, quietly, intently listening to the conversation. “You want revenge on the one who tried to kill you, don’t you?”
     “Yeah.” Starsky replied quietly.
     “Starsk, don’t listen to him. He’s lying to you.”
     “You know he’s lying to try to save his own life. He’ll say anything to keep you from killing him.” Edward told Starsky.
Starsky drew his gun and aimed it at Hutch, his face set in determination to finish the game and Hutch knew that this time Starsky was intent on pulling the trigger.
     “C’mon, Starsk, it’s time to play who do you trust, partner.”
Starsky froze for a moment his body trembled slightly as Hutch’s words seemed to hit him with a powerful force. He couldn’t understand why the blond cop’s word effected him so deeply.
     “Don’t listen to him.” Edward said sternly. “End the game of cat and mouse.”
Starsky tried to steady his gun by gripping his left wrist in his right hand. His dark blue eyes locked on Hutch. He was so intently focused on Hutch that he never even heard Edward’s bodyguard, Tommy, come into the room.
     “PULL THE TRIGGER!” Edward yelled at Starsky.
Hutch looked at Starsky catching Starsky’s dark blue eyes with his own pale blue eyes. “Me and thee.” Hutch whispered, the words that were practically his and Starsky’s motto.
Starsky suddenly felt numb those words, those very familiar words, played over and over in his mind. He opened his hand, dropping the gun to the floor and stared blankly at Hutch wishing he could remember this man, wishing he could remember the truth.
     “Starsk?” Hutch questioned, hoping that he had finally got through to Starsky. He watched his motionless friend, who still appeared to be lost.
     “I told you to SHOOT HIM!” Edward yelled at Starsky, who gave no indication he had even heard him.
Tommy grabbed Starsky by the shoulders and gave him a hard shake to break him from his reverie. Starsky didn’t even blink once seemingly deeply lost by whatever captivated his mind.
     “LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Hutch yelled.
Hutch struggled hard against the bonds for the first time, trying to break free to come to Starsky’s aide.
     “Forgot him. We’ll deal with him later.” Edward said.
Tommy threw Starsky against the nearby wall. Starsky’s head struck the wall, knocking him into unconsciousness, and he slumped weakly to the floor.
     “STARSKY!” Hutch yelled out to his partner.
     “Fun game while it lasted.” Edward said, grinning at Hutch. “I was hoping it would at least last until he killed you.
     “Damn you.” Hutch cursed, barely diverting his attention from Starsky’s motionless body long enough to glance at Edward.
     “Afraid the next accident your partner has will be his last.” Edward told Hutch. “It will be your last as well.”
     “Want me to go get everything ready, boss?” Tommy asked.
Edward nodded and dismissed Tommy with a wave of his hand. After Tommy left Edward turned his fully attention back on Hutch.
     “Unfortunately I have to resort to plan B. I liked plan A so much better, and to think it wasn’t even what I planned. I just planned on you playing white knight charging to the rescue. Imagine my surprise when the little accident left detective Starsky with amnesia. It was fun to fill his head with all those lies, surprisingly easy to make him hate you.”
Hutch just glared at Edward, not giving him the satisfaction of fighting back.
     “It didn’t take much to turn your partner against you. He had no clue who you even were.”
     “He didn’t even know who he was so it stands to reason he wouldn’t know who I was.” Hutch said defensively.
Both the men had stopped paying attention to Starsky, both focused on their verbal argument. Starsky woke up slowly, he heard the argument, he knew Hutch was one of them but couldn’t place the other voice.  He tried to remember what had happened, but only had a few fleeting memories that didn’t make much sense. He sat up slowly, his head felt like it was going to fall off as he did so. Starsky looked at Hutch, panic gripping him when he saw his partner was in danger. He reached for his gun, only to find it wasn’t there, and he debated his changes attacking their captor unharmed. As he moved to try to stand he felt a gun in the pocket of his jacket. He pulled the gun out and looked at it.
     “Why do I have Hutch’s gun?” Starsky asked himself, unable to find any reasonable answer to the question – just like all his other unanswered questions.
He decided that he would have to get his answers from Hutch later, all that he cared about now was rescuing Hutch. Starsky stumbled slightly as he pulled himself to his feet. He steadied himself against the wall for a moment, waiting for the pain in his head to ease. He slowly crept closer to Hutch, and the other man who he now recognized as Edward Newbourer.
     “Freeze.” Starsky said, pressing the muzzle of the gun into Edward’s side. He glanced at his partner. “You okay, Hutch?”
Hutch stared at Starsky for a moment, he hadn’t seen Starsky approach Edward.
     “Hutch?” Starsky asked worriedly.
     “I’m fine.” Hutch replied.
     “Not for long.” Tommy said, as he came back into the room, drawing his own gun.
Starsky spun around, his vision was distorted from the quick movement, and he almost collapsed. Tommy fired once, the bullet whizzed past Starsky’s head and became embedded in the wall.
     “You damn idiot, you could’ve hit me.” Edward cursed.
Starsky regained his equilibrium and used Tommy’s momentary distraction to fire off a single shot. Starsky’s aim, even given his current disadvantage, was far better then Tommy’s and the bullet found its intended mark. Tommy’s body was thrown backwards as the bullet caught him squarely in the chest, he collapsed the floor and drew one final breath before he died. Edward shoved Starsky and tried to make a dive for Starsky’s, early dropped, gun.
     “FREEZE!” Starsky warned.
Edward seemed to debate for a moment, then complied with Starsky’s order. He stood straight up and looked at Starsky. Starsky kept the gun on Edward as he moved to untie Hutch’s hands.
     “You okay, Starsk?” Hutch asked concernedly.
     “Yeah.” Starsky fibbed, not admitting that his skull felt like it was about to crack open.
Hutch could tell that Starsky wasn’t actually okay, and gently took his gun from Starsky. He stood up and turned Starsky around, helping his friend sit down on the chair.
     “Just take it easy, Starsk. I’ll take care of everything else.”
     “Kay.”
Hutch took the rope and grabbed Edward. “Game’s over. You lost.”
     “Maybe this time.” Edward retorted.
     “There won’t be a next time.” Hutch said, as he tied Edward’s hands tightly behind his back.
     “There’s a always a next time, detective.”
Hutch shoved Edward roughly to the floor.
     “Temper, temper, Hutchinson. Be careful wouldn’t want you to go down for police brutality.”
Hutch’s eyes darkened with anger, he was sick of this game Edward kept playing. He was angry at the man who had taken advantage of Starsky’s amnesia, anger at what Edward had put both him and Starsky through. Hutch aimed his gun at Edward’s head.
     “The game is over.” Hutch said coldly.
     “Hutch.” Starsky said sternly to get his partner’s attention.
Hutch glanced at his partner, though his gun remained leveled at Edward’s head.
     “I don’t know what happened, but it ain’t worth it.” Starsky told Hutch.
Hutch sighed and lowered his gun. “You’re right.”
Starsky grinned. “Now there’s something I don’t hear you say very often.” He joked, trying to ease the tension of the situation.
Hutch grinned, he was more grateful, then words could describe, to have his best friend back. “That’s because it don’t happen very often.”
     “I am often right … it’s just rare you admit it.”
Hutch moved closer to Starsky, and gently gripped on of Starsky’s shoulders. “It’s good to have you back, buddy.”
     “Why? Did I go somewhere?” Starsky asked, still feeling clueless as to what happened.
     “Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it later.” Hutch said.
     It took several hours to sort through the paperwork after they finally managed to call for backup. Starsky and Hutch sat in Dobey’s office explained what had happened to their captain, though Hutch was doing most of the explaining.
     “I can’t believe that I actually tried to kill you.” Starsky said after Hutch had finished telling him and Dobey what happened.
     “You weren’t in your right mind at the time.” Hutch said and smiled at Starsky. “More so then normal.”
     “Gee, thanks, babe, love ya too.” Starsky mumbled, though he still felt guilty about the fact that he had hurt Hutch.
Hutch could see the look of guilt in Starsky’s eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, Starsk.”
     “I coulda killed you.”
     “I doubt that.” Hutch said.
     “I coulda. You said I almost did.”
     “I don’t think you ever would’ve pulled the trigger.” Hutch said.
     “But …” Starsky started to argue, then realized Hutch was right, even if his mind hadn’t remembered Hutch his heart had remembered his best friend and that kept him from being able to pull the trigger. “I did hurt you.”
     “Got more bruises from you just from sparring.” Hutch said with a smile, trying to ease Starsky’s worries.
     “But, the needle ….”
     “It’s okay, Starsk. We’re both okay. We made it, partner, and that’s all that matters.”
Starsky smiled slightly, as though realizing all over again what a good friend Hutch was.
     “He’s right, all that matters is you are both okay.” Dobey said, letting his presence be once again noticed. He knew the detectives had been so involved in their conversation that they had forgot he was there, it wasn’t the first time that had happened after all. He knew that they had needed to talk so he hadn’t interrupted them earlier.
Starsky and Hutch turned to look at Dobey, as though startled by the other man’s presence for a moment. They left Dobey’s office, and headed to the garage both just wanting to go home and sleep.
    Suddenly Starsky seemed to think about something.  “What about my car? Where’s my car?”
     “Towed off to the junkyard.”  Hutch told him.
Starsky’s eyes widened in worry. “Really?”
     “Yeah, really. The striped tomato was crushed along with all the other junkers there. So I guess now it’s more ‘ketchup’ then a tomato.”
Starsky paled slightly. “You let ‘em destroy my car?” he asked, sounding like a little kid who had lost his favourite toy.
     “Hey, I was rather busy at the time. Had other things to worry about.”
     “How could you let ‘em crush my car, Hutch?” Starsky whined. “Some friend you are.”
They stepped into the garage and it took Starsky a moment to realize his car was parked in it’s regular spot, even though the evidence of the accident he been in was still apparent, the car was in one piece. Starsky’s face lit up with a bright smile and he hurried over to his car. He stood looking at his car for a moment, then spun around to yell at Hutch. Hutch was standing right behind him, and once Starsky turned around they were practically standing nose to nose. Hutch just grinned, wordlessly teasing his friend.
 “Hutch.” Starsky said angrily. “I am going to kill you.”
Hutch just smiled at his best friend, glad that his teasing Starsky about his car being destroyed had achieved the desired effect. After all he knew Starsky would only make that threat if his mind had been taken off of what had ‘almost’ happened that day. He smiled knowing things were back to normal, he had his best friend back.