Decorated for Death (AU) by Beano Smart (R)

[nickygabriel]

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: none
Length: 900K, yes, this story is LONG
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read: Hutch is in his lowest low. He lost everything and what he still had he sold to his Owners. His body, his soul, his past and future. There is only one person who could save him. But it is Hutch’s next assignment – to kill the Other and be rewarded with the greatest prize – heroin. The story begins when Hutch kills Starsky. It’s NOT a death story.

Deep within himself, the Other felt these strange, unfamiliar thoughts swamp his mind, and underneath, making tentative cries for attention, was a sensation that could only be described as an unused feeling. It struggled into life as an emotion -- genuine and real. And he felt the stirrings of deep concern for another human being. Not just an interest for selfish, ulterior motives, but a compassion for someone who had suffered to the same degree as himself and was still suffering.

The next words he spoke, he wanted to count. No easy platitudes would do, and yet he was unpracticed in words of kindness and compassion. Finally, he said in gentle softness, "I once helped you fight your addiction -- I can do it again."

Decorated for Death