All usual disclaimers apply, I don't own the rights, I don't get money and this is for entertainment only. Please excuse any errors; they are entirely mine. This is a 'before they met' story.

Nash and Kreek had good questions, so I changed the ending of the story to (hopefully) clear things up.

Cheri, Thanks for the typo catch!

These Dreams
By Starsky's Strut

Hutch stood in a rice paddy, ankle deep in water. He looked about trying to figure out what he was doing there. Off to his right was a small village and to his left was a road and trees. The morning air was humid and promised that the rest of the day would be a sweltering one.

He turned in a small circle, looking for someone, anyone. It was strange. Somehow he figured that there should be movement. People, animal sounds, birds... but there wasn't; just this strange and disturbing silence.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, indistinct but there. He focused on the spot and waited for more movement. And waited. Then from behind him he heard a high pitched whistle. It rather sounded like a fireworks rocket going off on the Fourth of July. He whipped his head around, searching for the source.

Then it happened. The one fireworks rocket was joined by others, lots of others. The eerie quiet erupted into total chaos. The sounds of explosions and screaming beat at his ears. Clumps of mud, plant life and people rained down around him. People? That can't be right Hutch looked harder at what his brain told him was a person. It wasn't a person. Not a whole one anyway. He swallowed hard and looked away.

-Click- it fell into place. Hutch now knew where he was, Vietnam. He just didn't know why or how. Cover, that's what he needed. He had to get out of the open. Where to go to though? Chaos reined supreme, the quiet scene was gone and no place was safe. Panic set in and he bolted for the trees.

"Hey! Over here! C'mon move it, move it!" Someone hollered.

Hutch turned towards the voice and ran as fast as he could. He saw someone beckoning from the other side of the road. Just a helmet and a hand; that was all he could make out. He ducked his head and ran as fast as he could through the paddy. The sound of his own breath was heavy in his ears. He lost sight of the hand. He pulled up, where should he run now? His panicked breath was harsh in ears.

"Ken"

He whipped his head around. Panicked, he needed to RUN! Where did that hand go?

"Kenneth"

Run, he needed to RUN! He started off once more in the direction where he had last seen the beckoning hand.

"Kenneth Hutchinson! WAKE UP!"

Hutch blinked and sat up in bed, his heart hammering wildly in his chest.

"Geez, Ken, I thought you'd never wake up" The woman flicked on the lamp beside the bed.

"Nancy?" He looked around, adjusting slowly to the change in scenery.

"Hello handsome, you were having a nightmare"

"I was dreaming I was in Vietnam and got caught in a fire fight" He trembled.

"Poor Kenny..." Nancy purred as she ran her fingers over his exposed chest. She walked them up to his face and drew him in for a kiss. "I've got something to take your mind off of it" She snuggled close. She kissed him again and broke it off after a bit "You know, I've been thinking about that, if I become a model, I think I will change my name to 'Vanessa'" She kissed him again "What do you think? 'Vanessa'" She slowly drawled out the name "No last name, just 'Vanessa'"

"So, when we're married, you won't take my name?" He arched an eyebrow at her, distracted, thoughts of the nightmare rapidly faded.

"Of course I will, just not professionally" She combed her fingers through his hair "I really want to be Missus Kenneth Hutchinson, the wife of a doctor-"

"I haven't decided if I'm going to BE a doctor-"

"Or the wife of a lawyer"

"I'm not sure-"

She put her fingers to his lips "Enough talking about college majors..."

"A model, huh?" He quirked his eyebrow higher

"Yesss" She nibbled on his ear.

"Well, I DO like what you are wearing right now..." He whispered.

"But, I'm not wearing anything at all" She raised her head and batted her eyes at him.

"I know, it's perfect on you" He pulled her into his embrace.

----

He was standing chest deep in water this time. Ahead of him some soldiers moved with their guns over their heads, to keep them dry. He moved to catch up. The moonlight broke through the canopy of foliage over head. Again it was eerily quiet, only the hushed breathing of the soldiers and the swish of water as they moved through it could be heard. He edged closer to the group. He couldn't see any faces, just helmets that had twigs and leaves stuck to them for camouflage. He lifted his hand to his hair, no helmet. With his blond hair, he could be seen. He looked around for something to cover it up with.

One soldier held up his hand, the others stopped. The signaler flicked his hand off to the right and the group moved towards the bank and quietly climbed the steep incline. Tracers shot skyward from somewhere deep in the jungle, lighting the area up in a red glow. Shots rang out and grenades exploded all around.

Hutch scrambled out of the water and onto the bank, the sucking mud pulled at his feet. Something whizzed past his ear, smacking into the ground next to his hand, kicking mud into his eyes. He franticly wiped at them to clear them. Another bullet struck even closer to him. Harsh words spoken in another language rang out.

"Get down, dammit!" A soldier's voice, the same voice Hutch had heard before, shouted "their comin' in from behind!" machine gun fire erupted all around "Get up NOW, run... Move now! Hurry!"

The soldiers responded to the voice and quickly made for defensive positions, diving behind whatever cover they could find, as the speaker laid down a barrage of cover fire.

Hutch struggled up the bank, heading roughly in the direction of the owner of the voice. A figure moved towards him and made as if to grab him by the upper arm, to pull him backwards. He strained forward, the mud of the stream bank sucked at his feet, slowing him down. He continued forward, trying to escape the grasping hand and a muzzle of a gun was pointed directly at him. He froze and the voice shouted "DUCK!" He ducked and –

"Ken! Wake up! You're dreaming again"

Hutch opened his eyes and looked around, confused; Nancy sat beside him on the bed with a concerned look on her face "You had another nightmare"

"Dammit! These dreams I'm having lately are so real and intense" He drove his fingers through his hair. "Maybe I should quit protesting this war, maybe that's what these nightmares are about" His hair was damp with sweat.

"Did you ever think that perhaps you are supposed to protest? It could be that why you are having them as well. The nightmares are showing you just how bad war really is"

"Yeah, that could be it" He pinched the bridge of his nose "There is this one soldier I keep seeing; only I don't see his face, I just hear his voice or see parts of him... I don't know... What could that mean?" he turned to face Nancy.

"Maybe it doesn't mean a thing. Remember Freud said that "'Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar' Maybe these dreams are nothing but a passing thing with no real purpose..." She yawned "It's just too late at night to be thinking this hard... Just go back to sleep, I have a job interview in the morning. 'Night" She kissed him on the cheek and rolled over and went to sleep.

Hutch thought about it, Nancy was probably right. His subconscious was just doing some dream gymnastics, nothing more, nothing less. None of it meant anything. They were just dreams, really vivid dreams.

----

He was crouched in some bushes. The jungle was thick and he could see only a few feet in any direction. Soldiers were sitting down all around him, looking bored. Some of them slept, helmets pulled down to block the sun.

Oh, I'm dreaming again he realized it was a dream this time. He stood up and looked around. He could hear some rustling, quiet, but there none the less. He focused his attention in that direction. It stopped. Then he heard something off to his left. He peered through the undergrowth.

There was a flash of movement and then a grenade landed quietly at his feet. He jumped back with a yelp. None of the soldiers moved "Hey! Get up, MOVE!" He yelled at them. They didn't hear him. "Shit!" This maybe just a dream, but he still did not wish to see these men, these soldiers blown up.

A figure landed at his feet, seemingly from nowhere, grabbed the grenade and threw it back in the direction it had come from "Everybody up!" Hutch knew that voice. The soldiers moved quickly, rolling to their feet, picking up their weapons and aiming them in the direction that the soldier had hurled the grenade.

The grenade exploded within seconds of being tossed, machine gun fire erupted all around, bullets whizzed and zinged in every direction. The embattled soldiers returned fire. Small branches and leaves rained down on the small group as the bullets cut through them.

Hutch stood his ground. It was a dream and he was in no danger. He kept telling himself that and prayed it was true. What could he do? He couldn't just stand there, for what if he was wrong and he could be killed? Was there any truth to the tale that you would die if you died in your dream? He really didn't want to know the answer to that. He jumped behind a tree.

"What am I doing here?" He muttered. He had no gun, no weapon, nothing to help. He hoped Nancy would wake him up soon. He scanned the area, looking for a better hiding place.

"Retreat!" Someone bellowed. The soldiers responded and began moving away from the action. Hutch followed, not really sure why, it just seemed right. The soldiers helped the wounded as they withdrew deeper into the jungle.

One soldier took up a rearguard position, retreating slightly more slowly then the slowest of the injured. Hutch ranged close to him, scanning the jungle for the attackers. He froze when he spotted the enemy closing in behind the rearguard. "Behind you!" the soldier whipped around and fired, killing the advancing enemy soldier.

"Ken!"

No! Hutch thought as the man was turning towards him; he caught a glimpse of curly brown hair. Just one more second Nancy! It seemed very important to see the man's face.

"Kenny!" Nancy called and gave him a shake. She was getting tired of being woken up nearly every night by these nightmares. "Kenneth Hutchinson!" She gave him a fierce shake.

"Dammit Nancy!" Hutch sat up in bed and glared at his annoyed girl friend. He had the feeling that he would now never know who the soldier was.

The soldier turned towards the person who shouted the warning "Hey thank... you?" The blond was gone. Strange, he didn't remember anyone in his company that had that shade of blond hair. A bullet zinged by his head and there was no time to ponder where the man had gone; he had to catch up to his platoon. He'd thank the man later.

----

Bay City Police Academy, four years later

Hutch walked down the hallway, looking for the room he was supposed go to for registration. He was looking at the paper with the room number on it and not watching where he was going when he bumped into someone.

"Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry" He apologized to the man.

"Hey, no problem, do you know where the room for registration is?"

Hutch looked at the man "room 243..." He locked eyes with the man with the curly brown hair

"Do I know you?" They said simultaneously and then laughed.

"Ever been to Nam?"

"Well... no, I haven't. Ever been to Duluth?"

"Minnesota? No, not only no but hell no! Too far north and too cold for me" The man replied with a laugh.

They looked at each other for a long moment, the feeling that they did know each other still there.

"David Starsky" The man extended his hand.

"Ken Hutchinson" Hutch shook the proffered hand.

"243?"

"Yep"

They walked into the room together and that feeling never did go away.

The End