There's No Place Like Home by The Muse (PG-13)

[nickygabriel]

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: none
Length: long
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read: I love post-SR stories, especially case stories and this one is one of the best ever written. If you like post-SR when they still are cops – though in a slightly different way – this fic is for you. For me Hutch is perfect here with all his flaws, fears and hopes.

There was as much admiration as resentment among these men; coming from hardy pioneer stock, they respected toughness, and Starsky — and by association, Hutchinson — had just k-o'd one of their toughest.

Hutch glanced across at his partner, standing there in the midst of a room full of men who would as cheerfully have slipped a knife between his ribs as look at him. He saw the man gasping painfully for air, damp curls hanging limply in his face, but nothing could hide the defiant tilt to Starsky's jaw as he faced down the hostile crowd.

For the briefest instant, their eyes met. Hutch's full of concern and Starsky's with a savage, blazing triumph. The tableau froze, time slowed and stopped. For Hutch, the room came into sharp focus, a supernatural clarity that accented every detail, every sensation. He saw — really saw — his partner in that instant, and that was when something — something deep within him — snapped.

There's No Place Like Home