They were able to borrow the cabin, and that Friday morning, Starsky was loading the car while insisting that Hutch take it easy and not do any work. Hutch wasn’t going to argue with that – he’d had a few days to recover but not everything was healed yet - so he stood back watching as Starsky tried to find a place for Hutch’s guitar on the almost-full backseat, and wondering if Starsky would prefer it if he did help to load the car. It was much more amusing to watch though, as Starsky shoved things around in an attempt to make more room.

They had spent those last few days discussing every detail of the case together, and were just beginning to come to terms with everything that had happened. They both agreed that they deserved a break after all that, although Starsky wasn't as happy as he could have been with the choice of destination. Hutch felt slightly mean for guilting Starsky into coming on this trip, but only slightly - how else was he going to get his own way? And he'd made sure that Starsky knew he wasn't really to blame for recent events.

“We should have gone in my car. You’d fit more stuff in it,” Hutch pointed out.

“Yeah, maybe if you emptied all that junk out of your backseat, and I’m not expecting that to happen anytime soon."

"You could clear it for me."

"Why would I wanna do that? It's a health hazard. Anyway, I can’t be seen driving that thing.”

“Starsk, you do know we’re only going for three days, right? Two and a half, really,” Hutch teased, wondering what his friend had in his giant bag.

“Ha ha,” he answered sarcastically, as he finally managed to wedge the guitar in. “I wanted to be prepared.”

“Gee, are you sure you remembered everything?”

Starsky had insisted that they take as many of their own food supplies as they could this time, so that they had to spend less time in the town. When Hutch had questioned that, Starsky had responded that the more time they were in the town, the more likely it was that someone would commit a crime for them to solve.

“Yeah, I think so,” Starsky answered Hutch’s question, either not hearing the sarcasm or choosing to ignore it. “Do you want to check if there’s anything left inside?”

Hutch obediently went back into the apartment and peered around, not seeing anything else waiting to be put into the car. “Yeah, Starsk, I think you got it all,” he called back.

“Okay. Let’s get going.”

Hutch obediently came back to the car, where Starsky opened the passenger door for him with a mock-courteous gesture, and got in, watching in amusement as Starsky tossed some items off the driver’s seat before he could get in.

***

Starsky had resolved not to complain on the car journey, although he didn’t know if he could keep that up once they got to their destination, and so he restricted his conversation to almost-sensible topics. Hutch was touched by his effort; he knew Starsky couldn’t be that happy about this trip.

Starsky was slightly concerned, given their record with these trips, but he was genuinely sorry that Hutch had had to go through everything he had, and was willing to take him if that would help to cheer him up after the ordeal.

They arrived that afternoon, having stopped a couple of times on the way so Starsky could buy snacks. Hutch had further entertainment watching Starsky wrestle all the items he had brought out of the car, until he took pity on his partner and helped to move some of the smaller stuff, despite Starsky’s protests that he had it under control.

With that done, Starsky sent Hutch to “go and enjoy the nature”, as he put it, while he searched for the food supplies he had brought.

Several minutes, and some muffled grumbling later, and Starsky called out “Uh, Hutch? I think we might have to go into the town after all.”

Hutch grinned. “Did you forget something?” he asked innocently.

“Maybe,” was the answer.

“Well, looks like you’re gonna have to go to the store.”

“But I’m starved!” Starsky whined.

“See if there’s anything been left in the kitchen,” Hutch advised.

***

Hutch sat outside the cabin while Starsky rummaged around in the kitchen. At the moment he had his eye on a squirrel that sat on a low branch of a nearby tree. After some of their previous camping trips, he didn’t trust wildlife so much any more. Starsky emerged from the kitchen cupboards long enough to call to Hutch, “All that’s in here is peanut butter and instant custard!”

“Fine,” Hutch answered.

“I take it that doesn’t mean you want the custard on your sandwich? Then again, with your eating habits...”

Hutch ignored Starsky, concentrating on the local wildlife again. A few minutes later, Starsky emerged from the cabin with their uninteresting lunch. “I can’t believe we forgot the supplies!” he told Hutch.

“You mean you forgot the supplies. You said you’d put them in the car, Starsk.”

“I thought I had. You should have checked.”

“I did check! How was I meant to know you left them in your bedroom?”

“You could have looked in there. That means, when we go to the store later, I get to choose the food.” Starsky nodded decisively.

Hutch wondered what obscure Starsky-logic had caused him to come to that conclusion. “No you don’t. I trusted you to pack properly and look where that got us.”

Starsky put on a fake pout. “Aw, you don’t trust me?”

“Not where food is concerned.”

“I remembered the bread, and the beer. If I’d remembered the snacks, we’d have all the important stuff.”

“Well then where is the beer?”

Starsky sighed dramatically. “It's inside. You don’t think I’d forget that do you? Why d’you think my bag was so heavy?” he grinned and disappeared inside again.

***

“I’m watching you,” Hutch told the squirrel, giving it the Hutchinson warning finger. The animal ignored him completely, ran down a nearby branch, and snagged the remainder of his sandwich which he'd left on the table, running back to the safety of the tree. Hutch glared at it. The thing obviously wasn't afraid of humans though.

Starsky came out of the cabin again. “Who were you talking to?”

“Damn squirrel.”

Starsky looked around, “What squirrel?”

“He took my sandwich.”

“He did... you sure you didn’t just eat it yourself?”

Hutch gave him an annoyed look. “Yes, I’m sure!”

“Okay, I believe you!” Starsky held up his hands in self defence. Starsky thought for a moment, then said casually, “Well, if he did eat it, that’s your own fault.”

“How do you figure that out?” asked Hutch in annoyance.

“Squirrels like peanut butter. You should have had the custard.” Starsky tried hard to keep a straight face, but it wasn’t easy while watching the look on Hutch’s face.

He was treated to a Hutchinson Warning Finger of his own, which only made him more amused, until he took pity on Hutch and suggested that it was time to go and buy food. Starsky insisted that Hutch go to the store with him. “If I leave you here with all this wildlife, who knows what might happen? Can't have you getting into trouble again,” he asked, mock-serious.

“Oh, I’m not staying here. If I leave it to you to get food, you’ll come back with popcorn and pizza and nothing else.”

“Hey, I would have brought you back a carrot. But when we get there, we gotta make it fast. In and out before anyone can commit a crime or do anything weird. These are our days off.”

"Okay, buddy, whatever you say," Hutch told him, amused.

Starsky nodded, satisfied, and pulled Hutch to his feet. "Come on then."

***

Safely back at the cabin later that day, with Hutch safe, new food supplies, and without having met any weird people in the town, the pairr were relaxing, and Starsky was almost content, but he was still thinking about the case.

"Hutch? Do you think we could ever become like that guy?"

Hutch knew who he meant. He had been thinking about the same thing. He had already come to the conclusion that he and Starsky would be able to save each other from ending up crazy, or corrupt, or anything of the sort, as long as they had each other, and if they were in trouble, they should be able to help each other. He tried to think how to phrase this to Starsky without sounding overly sentimental. He had been disillusioned with the force himself at one time, but Starsky had been with him then, and they were still here. Starsky was looking at him expectantly, and he made himself come up with an answer.

"I don't think so. He didn't have a 'me and thee' system."

Starsky picked up on Hutch's meaning and gave a small smile, happy with the answer. "That's right, he didn't."

"So, do you think you're going to like this trip?" Hutch asked, changing the subject.

"Well, nothing's gone wrong yet. But I told you before, we shouldn't tempt fate." Hearing a sound, Starsky sat up suddenly from where he had been lounging. "What was that? It's not a rattlesnake is it?"

"I don't know. I told you there were no rattlesnakes here, but I suppose there could be." Hutch smirked, hiding the pack of peanuts he held at his side.

The End - Thanks for reading, and thanks so much again for the reviews!