Endless thanks to Tricia and Starsky´s strut for helping me with the corrections of this story. Also, I must say that Delia has given me a lot of very helpful ideas to write this last chapter.

Okay, so the story I began writing about three months ago is about to end. The experience of sharing this piece of fanfic with all of you has been a great, enjoyable one, and now I only want to say thanks to all the fantastic people I have meet here. A bunch of wonderful writers and readers that have helped me more than I can say along the whole process of writing this story.

For all of you, a big, long-distance hug.

Chapter 15 (Finale)

The ride to Hutch´s place was made in comfortable silence. Hutch drove, noticing Starsky's contentment, and meanwhile, Starsky was basking in the peace-filled bliss that he was actually sitting in the seat of his cherished Torino. The seat of his beloved car, which oddly enough, he had never asked about during his entire stay in the hospital. Maybe because he didn´t want to know that the car had already another owner, or maybe simply because he was too distressed to think of it.

About twenty minutes later, the car halted in front of a big two-floor house in a wealthy area of the city. The house was much larger and more luxurious than either apartment Hutch had lived in while being single. Actually, it seemed rather the mansion that Hutch´s parents owned in Duluth, and Starsky looked at it with a strange feeling of uneasiness nagging his insides. This one was a stylish, expensive house, about that, he was positive, but he was not quite sure about if that was the kind of place where Hutch could feel truly comfortable.

"Okay Starsk, we're at home." The blond detective said before getting out of the car and trotting around its' nose to help Starsky to his feet.

Starsk whistled softly "That´s really your place?" He asked still looking at the white front of the house.

"´Fraid so, partner." Hutch answered with a poorly hidden note of disgruntlement in his voice. "Come on Starsk. I´ll help you with those stairs."

Both men climbed the flight of stairs up to the entrance slowly, where Hutch dug into his jacket pocket, producing his key while Starsky lean back against the wall, panting slightly after the trip upstairs.

Once he unlocked the door, the blond one lead his partner into the large hall, exquisitely decorated with expensive furniture, contemporary paintings hanging on the white walls and several designed items of decoration all around.

"Welcome Starsky. Make yourself at home." Hutch said taking his jacket off and tossing it carelessly onto a black sculpture made of stone, about six feet high that faintly resembled an armless human form.

"What´s that?" Starsky asked unable to help himself, sizing up the item from top to bottom with a slight frown.

"Art, design, whatever…You know, that´s one of those things that become exponentially more expensive, as uglier they are." The blond one explained derisively.

Starsky grinned and was about to say something when he and Hutch heard steps coming closer to the hall, before seeing Megan appear and walk towards them.

"This is a fine work of contemporary art, Mr. Starsky, though obviously Ken is unable to appreciate it." She said as a greeting to Starsky, while picking Hutch´s jacket from the figure and handing it back to her husband.

"Are you going anywhere?" Hutch asked the woman, seeing her wearing an elegant black suit and silk white blouse.

"I am going to the hospital to work out some stuff. Tomorrow I´m going back to work." She said tersely.

"But…Rachel?" Hutch asked in astonishment.

"I've hired a babysitter, Ken. Mrs. Walsh. A retired pediatric nurse from the hospital. She's already with the baby."

"Wait, wait a moment, Megan. Who is that Mrs. Walsh? And why in hell didn´t you tell me anything about her?"

"I´m telling it you now, Ken. But I will stress the fact that I´m just informing you. I am neither asking for your opinion on the matter or much less asking you for your permission to have her to take care of the baby." Megan said coldly, almost exactly quoting the words that Hutch had told her a couple of days earlier in the hospital.

"Now, if you don't mind, I must go" Megan added. Then she opened the door and left, leaving both men plunged in a bewildered silence for a few seconds.

"It's okay, it's okay." Hutch said seemingly for himself, running both hands through his hair. "Come in on, Starsk, let's go sit down in the living room, you must be tired."

"And you must be very pissed off…aren't ya?" Starsky asked plainly, going straight to the matter as both men headed to the living room.

"YES DAMN IT, YES!" Hutch exploded, throwing the jacket that had been still hanging around his arm against the wall forcefully. "I´m very pissed off, fuck! Looks like the main purpose of my wife is to drive me mad!...but I don't care, I don't give a shit about who she has hired to take care of Rachel! Right now I´m going to throw that woman out of here and that´s all!"

"Take it easy Hutch, will ya?" Starsky said soothingly while sitting down on the white, soft leather couch. "Maybe the lady is a good choice after all. You've heard Megan. She is a retired pediatric nurse. How about giving her a chance? Huh? Why you don't meet her before making any decisions?"

Hutch breathed deeply, considering Starsky´s words before speaking. "Alright Starsky…I´m going to see her. But if I don't like what I see, I´m going to ask her to leave right now, no matter what Megan says! Be right back." Said that, Hutch turned, climbing the stairs to the upper floor where the baby's room was.

He stayed upstairs for some minutes as Starsky waited, carefully observing the well-appointed room until finally Hutch appeared back in the living room, carrying the baby in his arms.

"Looks who came to say hi to her Uncle Starsk." Hutch announced sitting in the couch beside Starsky, holding the precious baby out for him.

"Hey, little one! Uncle Starsk was missing you a lot." Starsky said snuggling Rachel against his chest as his face changed into an expression of utter tenderness.

"What about the babysitter?" The brunet asked while caressing with his thumb the tiny hand of the baby.

"Well…I think I like her, Starsk. She seems to be a nice woman, very sweet with the baby. Besides, she showed me her references. Good ones, actually"

"So, are you going to keep her?"

"Think so. At least I´m going to try her out for a few days. I guess that there's no point in firing the lady just because Megan was the one who hired her"

"Good thought, partner." The brunet agreed.

"Yeah, I guess so. However, I´m going to make a phone call. I need to check on those references." Hutch said getting to his feet and producing his notepad from his pocket while heading to the phone table.

He dialled the number of Mr. and Mrs. Atkins, the last ones to hire Joan Walsh as babysitter. Hutch asked Mrs. Atkins a few questions about the woman, and the most important reason, what ended her contract of employment. The answer was simple, as Mrs. Walsh told Hutch; the Atkins had to move to San Francisco.

Once content with the answers, he hung up the phone, going back to sit on the couch, where Starsky and little Rachel seemed to be in their own world. The curly haired man was explaining in a soft cooing voice to the baby, which sounded like a tale about the adventures of two little kittens on a farm, while she stared at Starsky´s face as if she was able to understand which he was saying, never loosening the grip of her little hand around his pinkie.

"What are you telling Rachel?" Hutch asked bending near her and Starsky and gently caressing the baby's head with his finger.

"A tale. One that mom would make up for Nicky and me. We loved it and she had to tell it night after night to make us sleep."

"I see." Hutch said smiling, once more delighted in seeing how his friend changed when he was near the baby. Every time that Starsky had Rachel in his arms, he seemed to be surrounded by a pacific happiness that nothing else seemed able to give him.

"Guess what, buddy?" He asked rising from the couch, squeezing Starsky´s shoulder fondly. "I really think that Mrs. Walsh won't be needed here. Rachel couldn't find a better babysitter than you…Okay, I´m going to take your travel bag to your bedroom, Starsk. Later, I´ll fix us something to eat"

Wondering if his partner had heard a word of what he said, Hutch picked the duffel bag containing the clothes and toiletries he had buy for Starsky, taking it to the guestroom.

xxxxxxx

The next days at the Hutchinson´s were a quiet routine. Starsky, despite Hutch´s efforts to make him feel at home and the joyful time he spent with little Rachel, still felt quite out of place in that big, luxurious house, so different from his former apartment and from the modest but warmth place where he had been born and grew up back in New York. He was looking forward to starting his search for his own apartment.

On the other hand, Megan, back at work, spent as much time as possible at the hospital, and as far as Hutch was concerned, it was totally okay with him, especially taking into account that the few times that she was at home, mostly at suppertime, a heavy, dense silence hung between all three. The nights, when Hutch and she were together, sharing their bedroom wasn´t much better either. Though the blond one was doing all his best to prevent Starsky from noticing it, the arguments and the reproaches exchanged in low, hissing voice were quite usual between Hutch and his wife.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Walsh had turned out to be a fine babysitter, besides a caring, maternal woman who enjoyed cooking appetizing meals for Starsky and Hutch while the baby was asleep. She took a liking to Starsky particularly, making sure that the convalescent brunet did feel as comfortable as possible at every moment. As a result of that, Megan began to say that she was looking for another babysitter to replace Mrs Walsh because she hadn't been a good choice after all. According her viewpoint the kind elder woman was surpassing the limits of her duties, besides spoiling the baby too much and growing too fond of her. Paradoxically, Hutch who at the beginning had wanted nothing but to dismiss Mrs. Walsh even before exchanging a word with her was now totally adamant about keeping her.

By then, and upon Starsky´s request, Hutch was working to get back his normal life as much as possible. Since he knew that as long as Mrs. Walsh was at home, his partner would have all that he would need. Hutch began resuming his routine of jogging a mile every morning before breakfast. Besides, he used to go to work to the precinct for a few hours every day to keep his work updated.

That morning, the day started as usual. Megan had the day off, however, being even more of an early riser than Hutch was, and unwilling to cross paths with Starsky in the house any more than needed, she ate her breakfast very early in the morning. Later, she headed to her study, to, as she told Hutch, make some phone calls and read her mail and the newspaper, making clear in no uncertain terms that she did not wanted to be disturbed under any circumstances. Meanwhile, Hutch went on his morning run, returning a short while later. He then helped Starsky, who was already awake and dressed to go downstairs to have breakfast with him and finally, the blond one left to go to the precinct.

Neither men expected the whirlwind of events that were about to happen…

xxxxxxx

The first one to realize that the day was going to be less quiet than he hoped was Hutch. He entered in the squad room, sitting down at his desk and filling out some paperwork with his typewriter. For a while, he kept working uneventfully. Then Hutch noticed that the typewriter was running out of ink. He fumbled in his desk drawers looking for a new cartridge, finding none, so the blond one got to his feet and headed to the supply room.

He was halfway there when all broke loose. First, Hutch heard a door open so forcefully it banged against the wall somewhere above him, then footsteps rushing downstairs towards him.

"Freeze! Don't move!" Hutch recognized the voice of one of his fellow officers giving the halt command to somebody. He drew his gun, and began to climb back upstairs to help his companions; he had reached the landing when, without giving him time enough to react, Hutch saw a strong, tall black man, big like a gorilla rushing upon him, lifting him effortlessly over his head and throwing him forcefully against the opposite wall.

That´s the last thing he was able to register before all his surroundings went blank.

xxxxxxx

During the time that Hutch wasn´t home, Starsky felt alone and was bored out of his mind. The next day was his weekly appointment with Dr Callahan, but that morning he had nothing to do and since he wasn´t too confident yet with his balance to go upstairs on his own much less to walk the stairs down the street, nor did he want to give Mrs. Walsh the extra work of helping him, he only had one option; stay on the first floor of the house, whiling away the time until Hutch´s return.

He decided to make himself comfortable. He laid down on the couch and turned on the TV set, distractedly running through all the channels with the remote until he stumbled onto a morning chat show that attracted his attention for a few moments until his eyelids grew heavier and he began to fall into a light slumber that soon turned into a deeper sleep.

At first, his sleep was peaceful, though a strange dream began to creep inside his mind. The first sign was the loud noise of something crashing against the floor. Then, a noise even louder and the weeping of little Rachel coming from upstairs reached his ears, fully awakening him with a start. It was then when Starsky realized that the noises weren't part of any dream but something very real and that he was in big trouble.

"It was time that you woke up, damn idle!" The feminine voice spat. The blue eyes of the woman were blazing with an insane hatred that froze the blood in Starsky´s veins. However, what scared him utterly wasn´t her look, but the small, silver gun that Megan aimed straight against his chest.

"Megan?…What are you doing?" Starsky asked trying to keep calm while struggling with his uncooperative plastered leg to sit upright on the couch.

"What I should have done much earlier, Mr. Starsky. Get rid of you once and for all."

"Megan…Megan listen, the baby is crying. Where's Mrs. Walsh? You should go check on Rachel. Maybe she could suffocate or something." Starsky advised, feeling truly worried for little Rachel, despite the bad situation he was in at that moment.

"Oh, come on, Mr. Starsky! Really, do you think I am THAT dumb?" Megan snapped. "The kid will be okay. She must have woken up startled by the noises, that´s all. I´ll go check on her in a moment, but not now. Now I have more important things to do." At that moment, Megan said the quick glance that Starsky gave to his crutches that leant against the couch's arm.

"NO!" She shouted out, snatching the crutches with one hand while with the other one she kept aiming at Starsky. She then throwed forcefully both crutches against the display cabinet, breaking the glass with a loud crash.

"Megan, listen…Listen to me, please. You don't wanna kill me…You don't really wanna do it. You´re a doctor. And doctors´ main mission is to save lives…They don't kill people…You´re about to make a mistake, Megan. A huge one." Starsky said in the calmest voice he could utter, while assessing his chances of getting himself out of that scary situation. But those chances were very little, given that most likely he wasn´t going to be able to move fast enough to dodge a point blank shot.

"No, Mr. Starsky. You´re wrong. My only mistake has been not to do this much earlier, the first time I saw you lying half-unconscious and almost dead on that stretcher in the ER. Back then, it could have been much easier. But I didn´t. Instead, I did my best to save your life, and look what I got as a reward…Since that day, Ken's only concern has been you. You and your recovery, you and your welfare, you and only you. Nothing else has mattered for him, neither I nor our baby."

"That´s not true, Megan, Hutch…"

"Ken only cares about you, don't try to deny it. And that´s not fair! He has a family now, a wife, a kid. We are the only ones that should mean everything to him, not you. But I´m going to put an end to this. And I´m going to do it right now." The woman explained, expressing an odd calmness about her.

"What are you going to do Megan? Kill me?" Starsky asked, trying to gain some time, yet feeling himself trapped as a mouse in the claws of a cat.

"Of course Mr. Starsky. I´m going to kill you."

"To go to prison later and maybe to the electric chair? Do you really think I am worth all that? Think about it, Megan. Just think." The woman smiled evilly, never moving the gun away from the aim at Starsky´s chest.

"Now I see it. You think I am stupid, don't you?" She asked to Starsky, pouring scorn in every word. "So let me tell you something my dear Mr. Starsky. You are the stupid one here. I have everything carefully planned, and nobody's going to find out that I was the one who killed you. Now I´m going to shot you, after that, I´ll trash this place a little more, then I´ll get rid of this gun and I´ll put my gloves back in the drawer where they were. I´ll tear my clothes a little and I´ll hurt myself, you know, to make everything appear completely realistic. A simple flesh wound will be enough. And once all of this is done, it will be the right moment to call Ken at the precinct. I´ll tell him, of course, in the middle of a deep state of shock that two masked men broke in, killing you and hurting me. I´ll beg him to get over here and well…Even somebody as thick as you can picture the rest, I guess."

"Hutch isn't going to believe your story, Megan. He's too good of a cop to buy that crap, and you, being his wife should know it." Starsky stated in a soft voice, doing his best to stare into the woman's eyes and not in the gun clasped between her gloved hands.

"Yes. He will. He'll believe it, Mr. Starsky. He won't have any other choice. Must I remind you that there's no witness in here?"

"Mr Walsh…" Starsky began to say.

"Forget that old soppy woman. I gave her the day off and she's not going to come back until tonight. And now, no more talking, I've got something to do...I must kill you."

"Killing me is going to do nothing but ruin your own life, Megan." Starsky said, knowing that his words would be useless. That after two years of torture, he was finally going to die, just when he had begun to enjoy the good things of life again.

"You´re wrong, Mr. Starsky. By killing you, I´ll get back Ken's love. Plenty, unconditional…" She said while tightening her grasp in the gun.

Later, Starsky would remember all that happened during those seconds as portrayed in slow motion in front of his eyes. The soft click of the gun's catch being released, the noise of the gun discharging, the burning pain of the bullet biting his flesh, and the guttural scream of Hutch as he, coming apparently from nowhere, rushed in with a feline jump towards his wife, knocking her down to the floor at the very moment in which she was pulling the trigger, making her miss the aim at Starsky´s chest.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU DAMN BITCH? WHAT!" Hutch screamed pinning Megan against the floor as she struggled like a wild cat to get free from her husband's grip.

"HE MUST DIE! DAMN HIM! HE HAS TO DIE OR WE´LL NEVER BE ABLE TO BE A TRUE FAMILY!" She yelled out, still struggling as Hutch dragged her to her feet. Megan took advantage of that moment to land a strong blow to Hutch's groin with her knee making the blond one to fall to the floor bending over himself in pain, momentarily out of breath.

Then she fell to her knees looking frantically for the gun that had slid from his hands to a corner of the living room, when surprisedly, she saw Starsky who had managed to drag himself towards where the gun was, retrieving it.

At that moment, Hutch, already back on his feet tried to reach out for Megan, when facing her defeat, she jump to her feet uttering a loud, blood-curdling scream. Then, the woman, dodging Hutch´s attempt to grab hold of her, rushed towards the front door, leaving the house, the door slamming behind her back before either man could do anything to stop her. Seconds later, they heard a loud squealing of brakes coming from the road in front of Hutch´s place. None of them could guess the cause of that noise nor they cared too much at that moment.

xxxxxxx

The immediate concern of Hutch was to check on Starsky. The curled haired man lay on his side onto the floor, bleeding from a wound in his right arm. Meanwhile, upstairs, little Rachel kept crying desperately.

"Starsky!…I´m sorry. I´m very sorry Starsky…I couldn't…I was unable to shoot at her." Hutch apologized.

"F-forget that, Hutch." Starsky said among gritted teeth.

"You´re hurt, Starsk...You got shot!" Hutch said, hastily checking on Starsky while glancing upstairs from were the sound of his daughter's cries were coming.

"I-I´m okay Hutch…just a flesh wound, but Rachel…Rachel is alone!...Megan gave the day off to Mrs. Walsh! Go to check on the baby, for God sake, Hutch, go now!" Starsky pleaded.

"Wrap your arm with this, Starsky, be right back." Hutch said giving his jacket to Starsky before darting upstairs.

xxxxxxx

The next few minutes were a blur. Hutch stormed into Rachel's bedroom, taking the crying baby in his arms and doing his best to soothe her while hurrying back downstairs to call for an ambulance and a police unit before getting a clean towel from the linen shelf and returning to Starsky´s side.

"Here Starsk. Wrap this towel around your arm." Hutch said helping Starsky with one hand while with the other one he kept holding Rachel.

When a few moments earlier he had picked the baby from her cot, Rachel's face was red and flustered by the long weeping and her little body was shaking, though otherwise, she seemed to be okay. Soon, cuddled in the safety of her father's arms, she began to calm down. Was only then when Hutch could settle the baby in the couch to help Starsky to sit down there.

"Tell…tell me something, Hutch." Starsky asked among panting breaths "What are you doing here?...It's not too early to you to be back home?...and what's happened to your head, by the way?" He inquired noticing for first time the bandages around Hutch´s head.

"Oh, well, It's a long story Starsk. I was on my way to the supply room to get a cartridge of ink for the typewriter when a black version of the Incredible Hulk ran over me, throwing me against the wall, and knocking me out, so once I came around and after a trip to see the precinct's doc, Dobey put my ass in a black and white and sent me home, but apart from a killing headache I´m okay, buddy, nothing to worry about."

"Oh…" Starsky uttered totally lost. By then, both men heard the sirens of the ambulance and a patrol car wailing in the distance, getting closer.

"The cavalry's here, Starsk. Could you watch over Rachel for a sec while I open the door?" Hutch asked rising from the couch.

"Sure, Hutch…go." Starsky said in pain-filled voice, holding tightly the towel around his injured arm

In a few strides, Hutch reached the front door opening it to let the paramedics in, when he saw something that made his heart miss a beat.

The paramedics weren't heading towards the house but towards a spot in the middle of the road were a growing crowd of people was gathering around something that, from where he was, Hutch was unable to make out. At that moment, he saw too a patrol car pulling to a halt near the scene.

"God in heaven…" Hutch mumbled, somehow guessing what he was about to see, and already going down the stairs to approach the crowd

"I didn't see her officers! I swear you that I didn't see her in time to stop!" A tearful woman was frenetically explaining to both police officers. "She crossed the road without looking, without giving me time to pull the brakes! I couldn't help, officer! I couldn't do anything to avoid hitting her! You must believe me!"

Hearing, yet not totally registering the chaos around him, Hutch kept pushing his way among the crowd until he stood next to a body already wholly covered with a white sheet and settled in the stretcher that the paramedics had brought along.

The blond one kneeled down, picking the sheet and moving it apart a few inches, just enough to see the corpse's face.

"Megan…"

"Did you know that woman, sir?" The oldest of both police officers asked Hutch.

"Yes. I did…At least I thought so."

EPILOGUE

That Sunday afternoon, the weather was perfect, warm and sunny yet not too hot. Starsky and Hutch had taken little Rachel to spent a day in the park and at that moment, after having eaten their lunch both men were lazily lying down onto a blanket spread on the grass with the baby sitting between them, playing with some wooden cubes and babbling unintelligible sounds.

By then, little Rachel was already ten months old, and she had turned into a true little beauty. Her hair was a soft white-blond color, the same shade of Hutch´s hair and her baby blue eyes looked at everybody and everything with the same intensity her father did. Also, especially for Starsky´s amusement, Rachel liked to point at people with her tiny index finger when trying to get anybody's attention.

"Did you put enough of that babies´ sun lotion on her skin, Hutch?" Starsky asked while fingering the silky locks of Rachel's hair.

"For the third time, Mother, yes." Hutch snorted. "Actually, the kid is slippery like a butter bar. Besides, maybe you haven't noticed it, but this is only late March, the sun is still quite mild and Rachel has her sweater and pants on, so stop worrying, will ya?"

"Okay, okay...forget it" Starsky said closing his eyes again as Rachel climbed onto his torso and reached out for his sunglasses with her little hand, all the while giggling and babbling cheerily while both men kept lying onto the blanket, just enjoying the caress of the sun on their faces.

Many things had happened in their lives during those months after Megan's death. Right after the funeral, and once her parents had taken all the woman's belongings with them, Hutch started taking the necessary steps to sell the house he had shared with his wife, while looking for a new place to live. He found the right one just a couple of months later. It was an old yet nice three-bedroom house near the beach where Hutch moved, asking Starsky to move with him, at least until the brunet could find an apartment of his liking. Thing that, truth to be told, Starsky wasn´t in a hurry to look for. He'd felt very comfortable and happy living with his best friend and little Rachel and Hutch felt the same way, so what started as a temporary arrangement had all the chances to end being a definitive one or at least one that would last for a long time.

They had also taken Mrs. Walsh to live with them, and at that moment, especially given that a few weeks earlier both detectives were back at work full time, the job the woman did taking care of Rachel made her simply indispensable.

On the other hand, Starsky, though doing desk duty, had a good chance to be cleared for active duty in the near future. Already he had ended his psychotherapy sessions with Doctor Callahan, having finished his physical therapy about two months earlier too, so for all the accounts, he was back in shape and eager to go back to the streets. His emotional trauma after the ordeal he had went through along two years, was locked somewhere in the deepest of his mind, but as Dr. Callahan had told him in their last session nobody was expecting that so much horror would vanish completely off. Everything would be okay if Starsky was able to keep looking ahead to the future and all the good things he had gotten in his second chance in life, while keeping the ghosts of his past at bay where he could deal with them.

Of course, Hutch had ghosts of his own to beat as well. His failed marriage with Megan and the horrible way in which it had ended wasn´t easy to forget, as wasn´t easy to overcome either the irrational guiltiness that kept torturing him every time he recalled which Diana Harmon had done to Starsky. The only thing that gave Hutch a small amount of reassurance was the growing conviction that something beyond his understanding kept protecting him and Starsky. If not, he couldn't picture how it could be possible that the two women that had tried to kill Starsky had both been killed in violent car accidents shortly thereafter…

xxxxxxx

Both men were still soaking in the quietness of the moment, with Rachel soundly asleep snuggled against Hutch´s side, when some steps approached towards their spot in the grass. Starsky cracked one eye open just to see the beautiful brunette that kneeling down in the blanket bend towards him to kiss his lips.

"Hey, sweetheart! What are you doing here?" He asked propping on his elbow to look appreciatively at the young woman.

"Nothing special, you know, every time I see a handsome curly-haired guy dozing off under the sun, I can't help myself. I have to kiss him." She joked.

"Hey Merrick" Hutch greeted the woman.

"Hi Hutch, how ya doing?" Marcia Merrick greeted him back, caressing little Rachel´s head before getting to her feet.

"You don't wanna stay?" Starsky asked standing too.

"No, I must go back to the precinct. But how about dinner at my place tonight? Salad and meatloaf."

"Sounds great. I´ll bring the wine." Starsky said as he and Merrick walked a few feet away, arms around each other's waists. Then, after exchanging some more words, they kissed each other before parting ways.

"Tell me something, Starsk. Are you really dating Merrick?" Hutch asked once Starsky sat down back onto the blanket.

"Well, looks so." Starsky answered contentedly.

"I don't get it Starsky, really, I don't. The very first day you'd come back to the precinct; the first time ever you saw that girl and next day, voila! You're dating!" Hutch punched his palm with his fist for emphasis.

"Well, you know, blame my welcome party at the precinct, that and Minnie's contact lenses, of course."

"Minnie´s contact lenses? What does that have to do with you both dating, Starsky?" The blond one asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you remember when the party was in full swing and Minnie started to fuss around asking people in the squad room not to move their feet, because she had lost one of her new contact lenses?"

"Well, at that moment I was on my way to the ice machine to get more ice for the drinks, but yes. I remember it." Hutch answered.

"So then Merrick and I started looking for that thing." Starsky kept explaining while gesturing vividly with his hands "We both got under your desk at the same time and well, you know, we look at each other's eyes and, well…" He grinned mischievously. "Starsky´s charm is too hard to resist at such a close range, I guess."

"Yeah, I see…Starsky´s charm." Hutch mocked shaking his head. "Okay, prince charming, how 'bout coming back home?" He changed the subject, getting to his feet "The breeze's starting to grow a little cold for Rachel."

"Sure, let's go." Starsky agreed picking gently the sleeping child in his arms as his partner folded the blanket and gathered the rest of their picnic stuff.

Though he didn´t needed to say it, Hutch was happy. Happier than just a few months ago he thought it would be possible. He had by his side the two people that meant the most for him. His daughter was growing up healthy and happy; his best friend was enjoying every minute of his life in that intense way that only Starsky could do, so, as far as Hutch was concerned, everything was fine with the world. He and Starsky had come back from hell, and after years of pain and hopelessness finally, life was again what it had to be.

Life was good.

THE END