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Bus Stop
(Part 8 in the 'Rosey Malone Series')

By

Sue M

   "Well, Rosey, that was another great meal, as usual," Hutch complimented. He had been invited to the Starsky house for dinner. It was the Sunday night after Rosey and the children had been kidnapped. It was the last day of our favorite detective's special leave. They were scheduled to return to work the next day. Rosey and David had not told Hutch their news about the new little Starsky expected in about eight months.

   David looked at Rosey and she gave him the indication to go ahead and tell him. He cleared his throat and fold Hutch, "There was another reason why we invited you tonight, besides to thank you for being our friend and supporting us during the recent crisis. During routine examinations done on Rosey and the kids at the hospital, it was found that my wife is going to have another baby." He gave Rosey his patented grin.

   Hutch looked at both Rosey and David and he could see that they were both thrilled at their new addition. "Well, Starsk, I see you hit the target once again."

   David laughed, " Yeah, Hutch."

   Hutch laughed and then he realized something, "One thing that has crossed my mind. Didn't Eugene use some sort of drug to knock Rosey out?"

   "Yes he did."

   "Wouldn't that affect the baby?"

   "It might, " David answered.

   "David…" Rosey began to think of all the things that could go wrong with her baby.

   "Honey, " David looked in her eyes and he could see tears starting to form in them. He got up and went over to his wife. He sat down on his haunches and put his arms around her. She put her head on his chest. "Honey, don't cry."

   "But, David, I really want this baby."

   "Me too, Sweetheart, me too."

   "If anything is wrong, I don't know what I will do."

   "Rosey, we will face this together." He put his hand on her stomach. "This is my baby, too."

   "David, I don't want to have an abortion."

   "Honey, first thing we should do is talk to the doctor. I am sure there are tests that can be run to see if there is anything wrong with the baby."

   "Good idea."

   "Feel better, Rosey"

   "A bit."

   Hutch jumped in, "I hope I didn't start anything here. I was just concerned."

   "That's okay, Hutch." Rosey stated. "I am sure the question would have come up sooner or later."

   David stood up and he took Rosey's hand and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay now, Sweetheart?"

   "Yeah, but I am still scared."

   "Hey, the baby survived a kidnapping. I am sure everything is going to be okay. Any tests that are run, I will try and come with you. After all, I am the father of this baby. Right?"

   "Yup, you had better believe it, Copper." Rosey smiled.

   "Hey, that's better. Now dry your tears." David wiped her tears and kissed her on the cheek. "Now, let's get these dishes done and how about some Monopoly?"

   "David, that sounds wonderful," Rosey said.

   "Ready to lose another game, Starsk," Hutch said with an evil grin on his face.

   "Why not?"

   So after the dishes were done and put away, the adults retreated to the living room to play some Monopoly. Of course, through the years, David still was a rotten player, but he loved to play with Rosey and Hutch, anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~

   The next day was an unusually lovely day in Los Angeles. As Starsky and Hutch rode into work in the Striped Tomato, the dispatch came over the radio. "Attention all units. A 413A at 231 Glenholme Avenue, school."

   Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "That's not far from here."

   "Okay, let's go for it." Starsky answered.

   Hutch picked up the radio, "Control, this is Zebra 3. We are responding. ETA is two minutes." Hutch put the red light on the top of the Striped Tomato and Starsky put the petal to the medal.

   "What a way to start the morning." Starsky observed. They sped off to the address, and when they arrived there, there were cars surrounding a small yellow school bus. A crowd had gathered around the area of the vehicle. Several uniformed policemen were trying to hold the back.

   "Well, this does not look good," Hutch commented as Starsky brought the car to a halt. Our two detectives got out of the Striped Tomato and headed towards the bus.

   The scene at the bus was one of horror. Many mothers were standing around sobbing with their hands over their mouths. A man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, had a knife held to the bus driver's throat.

   All of the children had been ordered to sit in their seats with their heads face down. Starsky and Hutch moved through the crowd. They showed their badges to the uniformed officers. Hutch began to ask what what was going on. From what he could understand, the bus had just finished picking up the children for morning classes and was dropping them off at the school when the man with the knife boarded the bus and took the children hostage.

   Hutch could not help but notice amongst the crowd was a young woman with medium-length, raven colored hair. She appeared to be in her late twenties and Hutch was drawn to her. There was a sense of peace about her he could not help but to be drawn to. As he watched her for a brief second, he knew that when this crisis was over, he wanted to introduce himself to her.

   "Well, Starsk, do you want to flip to see who goes up the side?"

   "What?" Starsky looked at his blond friend with a stunned look on his face.

   "If this bus is like most, the manufacturer must have made a latch at the top of it as an escape hatch. One of us should climb to the top and be able to get in that way."

   "Hutch, let me do it."

   "Starsky, don't you think I should do it. You have a wife and two kids, and one on the way."

   "That's true."

   "Yeah."

   "Okay, " Hutch patted his friend on the back, "good luck."

   "Yeah, Hutch, you too." Starsky said realizing what he had got himself into. Starsky went to the back of the bus to survey the situation. Hutch went to the front of the bus.

   Starsky decided the ideal way to get up to the top of the bus was to get a long ladder. So he went to a couple of the houses along the street. Then he noticed someone had a huge ladder in their garage. He went to the front door to explain the situation to the person who answered the door. With the assistance of the person, Starsky brought the ladder over to the side of the bus.

   Meanwhile, Hutch had gotten his badge out of his pocket and he went to the front of the bus. He made his way through the crowd. Hutch began to talk to the people in the crowd. While he was making his way through the throng, he was keeping one eye on what his partner was doing. He saw Starsky come around the side of the house with the other person and the ladder. When Starsky brought the ladder closer to the bus, Hutch pounded on the locked door and he indicated he wanted to enter the bus. The driver pleaded with the hijacker to open the door. Hutch was still watching Starsky from the corner of his eye.

   Hutch walked up the stairs of the bus slowly, with his hands palms up, but still showing his badge.

   Starsky continued to bring the ladder to the back of the bus with the help of the other person. He made his way through the crowd of bystanders. With the help of the person, he put the ladder on the side of the bus near the opening. He climbed the ladder, with the person holding the ladder steady. He was able to open the latch without much trouble. When Starsky had it open, he carefully climbed on top of the bus, and with feet first, entered the bus. Several of the children, who were seated near the opening, saw a pair of legs coming through the roof and started to yell and scream.

   Then Starsky jumped to the floor of the bus. As his feet touched the bus floor, Frank turned around. When Frank's attention was elsewhere, Hutch grabbed the emergency button to open the back door. He yelled 'NOW", and told all the kids to escape out the back of the bus. There was a rush of children out the back and many of the adults rushed to comfort and take the children away from the scene.

   Meanwhile, Starsky ran to the front of the bus. He tried to grab the knife from the intruder. While Starsky and Frank battle over the knife, Hutch came from behind and pulls him off his partner while Starsky managed to grab the knife off him.

   Hutch grabbed his handcuffs and started to read Frank his rights.

~~~~~~~~~~

   By the time Starsky and Hutch had finished their reports and Frank was taken away, it was noon.

   After Frank had been taken away, Hutch turned to Starsky and said, "be with you in one second, Starsk."

   "Where are you going, Hutch? I think Captain Dobey would like to see us at least once today."

   "Yeah, but give me a sec. I want to talk to one of the people here."

   'Well, why didn't you say so. Female, I suppose."

   "Yeah,"

   "Hey, anytime to help you in your love life."

   Hutch just shook his head and hurried after the raven-haired woman before she disappeared in the school with the rest of the staff and the children. "Excuse me," Hutch said as he tried to get her attention. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

   "Me?" she asked.

   "Yeah."

   "Hey, that was wonderful the way you handled that guy."

   "Thanks, all in the line of duty. Just doing my job."

   "Hey, I really have to get to my class."

   "Hey, can I call you sometime? Coffee or dinner?"

   "Hey, that sounds great. Oh, by the way, my name is Ashleigh Mayer."

   "Hi, Ashleigh. Ken Hutchinson, but everybody calls me Hutch."

   "Hi, Hutch. Can I borrow your pen and notepad for a sec and I will give you my number."

   "Sure." He handed her the notepad he had been writing his notes down and gave them to her.

   She wrote down her phone number and handed the pen and paper back to Hutch. Hutch thanked her, excused himself and went back to where Starsky was waiting for him. Hutch watched Ashleigh disappear into the school. Starsky commented, "Not a bad looking lady, if I might say so myself, Hutch"

   "Thanks."

   "You got her phone number, I trust."

   "Of course."

   "Well, let's get to work and get the reports done."

   "Good idea, Starsky."

~~~~~~~~~~

   Rosey had phoned her doctor as soon as the office was open and had made an appointment to see him later on that afternoon. Elizabeth came to the house to baby-sit DAS and his sister. David accompanied her to the doctor's office. The doctor was not concerned about the baby being exposed to ether. However, he said just a precaution, he could make an appointment to have an amniocentesis anytime after her eighth week of pregnancy.

~~~~~~~~~~

   The day of the amniocentesis was a lovely day in Los Angeles. Rosey was scheduled to have the procedure done in the hospital in the afternoon. David had arranged to meet her there, and once again, Grandma was baby-sitting the Gruesome Twosome. David stayed right with her throughout the whole procedure.

   When the technician came over to Rosey with the large needle, David took his hands around her head and shielded her from the fear. He reassuringly told her he was right there with her, that he loved her and that he was not going to leave her. When it was over, he looked into her eyes and told her he loved her and how proud he was of her because she had not moved during the whole procedure. He was so proud of her, he bought her a cute little teddy bear at the gift shop.

   The results were scheduled to take up to four weeks.

   While the Starskys waited for the results for the tests, the Department had cited Starsky and Hutch for a citation for actions above and beyond the call of duty.

THE END