Friends or Lovers?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.


Warning: Slash, Angst, Violence


Rating: FRM


* indicates thoughts


Friends of Lovers?
Chapter 11


Jud looked out the window, shaking his head, "I can't believe Jesse did this."


"I know Jud, none of us can believe it," Luke said. "Are you sure you can handle this?"


"He's my cousin too Luke. I'll do whatever I have to if it'll get him back home where he belongs."


"Okay, well then let's get this show on the road. The first thing we need to do is arrange for you to be passed out, but not the way they expect."


"Passesd out? Can't I just pretend to be passed out?"


"I don't think that's a good idea, too easy to be discovered. I got a way around it though...hypnosis."


"Hypnosis?"


"Yep, we have you hypnotized so that with one word you pass out and with another you wake up. I already talked to somebody about this and he said it can be arranged so that it'll only work once. What we'll do is wait until we pull up at the address then I'll say the word that'll make ya pass out so they think you've been drugged."


"How am I gonna help y'all if I'm passed out?"


"That's the easy part, we'll be right behind y'all so as soon as you get there, we'll show up and I'll say the word that wakes you up."


"Okay that sounds like it could work, but Luke we don't know how many people there might be or if they're armed, shouldn't we have some help?"


"We will," Luke assured his brother as they drove towards the farm. "I was gonna handle it by ourselves, but I realized that it would be safer for all of us, especially Bo if we had help. That's why I called the FBI, they're the ones who gave us the tracking device and it's one of their people who will hypnotize you. They'll be following behind us and will come in as soon as we make our move."


"Sounds like you've got everything worked out," Jud said.


"I hope so...took a bit to convince the feds to let us be a part of this."


"How'd you do it?"


"I pointed out that I already had a way to find the compound, something they hadn't been able to do. I also told them that after what Bo's already been through I ain't letting them handle it without us. They could either let us be involved or we'd manage it on our own and they could explain to the press how a bunch of hicks did something they couldn't."


Jud couldn't help laughing at that, "I bet they didn't like that."


"Nope, but I don't much care about their egos or bruised feelings. We're gonna be moving fast Jud, as soon as we're home we'll be getting you hypnotized so we can go get Bo."


"How long have they had him?"


"Only a couple of days, but that's more than enough time to do serious damage to his mind and body."


"Then let's bring him home," Jud said, clapping his hand on his brother's shoulder.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________


"How are things progressing with Bo Duke?" Pastor Jensen asked of the young man seated in his office.


"We're a little behind the normal schedule, he's a stubborn one," Mark replied.


"Hmmmm, in your opinion what would be the most effective way to break him?"


"When he's not begging for sleep, he talks about his cousins and that they'll find him. They seem to be very important to him, I believe they may be the key to breaking him."


"How so?"


"If the uncle could get us a recording of their voices, we could rig up a message to convince him that they don't approve of his choices," Mark quickly explained.


"That's a good idea, I'll give his uncle a call and ask if it would be possible. In the meantime continue working with him," he instructed, dismissing the younger man.


"Yes sir," Mark acknowledged, quickly leaving the pastor's office.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________


"We'll be right behind ya little brother," Luke assured Jud as they pulled up outside the address he'd been given.


"I know ya will Luke, I ain't worried," Jud smoothly lied.


"Ya ain't got to lie to me Jud, I know you're worried."


"Maybe just a little, but I trust ya Luke." Taking a deep breath, Jud steeled himself for what was to come, "Let's do this."


"Alright...Rumplestiltskin," the moment the word left Luke's mouth Jud collapsed in the seat, like a puppet with it's strings cut. Getting out of the borrowed car, Luke manhandled Jud from the vehicle and into the building. "Hello my name is Bill Kane, I spoke with pastor Jensen about my brother Jud," he said to the middle-aged woman at the desk.


"Yes sir, if you'll bring your brother out back we have a car and driver who will escort him to the treatment center." Standing up from her desk, she led Luke down a short hallway to the back door and outside.


Following after her, Luke suppressed a groan as he supported his brother's dead weight in the narrow hallway. Settling Jud into the back seat, he made sure to put the seatbelt on him before he shut the door. He jumped back, startled by how quickly the driver left the parking lot. Thankfully he had been blessed with good eyesight and a quick memory, allowing him to make note of the lisence plate number, in case they needed it. "Well I guess that's it then," he said as started for the corner of the building.


"There is some paperwork that needs to be filled out," the secretary said, stopping his progress.


"Of course," Luke said, trailing her back into the small building. *Good thing the FBI and Cooter are in place to follow Jud, or we'd lose him for sure,* he thought as he walked down the hall.


Twenty frustrating minutes later, Luke was finally free to leave. Sliding across the hood, he quickly slid behind the wheel and grabbed the cb mic as he turned the key. "This is Lost Sheep 1 calling Crazy Cooter, you out there?"


"I'm here Luke, where are you?" came Cooter's reply.


If Luke hadn't already known how worried Cooter was, the lack of his usual cb greeting would've told him something was wrong. "I'm just pulling out of the office where I dropped Jud off at, which direction do I go?"


"Head south on Hwy 7, we're about fifteen miles away from ya."


"They're still on the highway then?"


"Yeah."


"They ain't spotted ya yet have they?"


"No, thanks to that tracking device I can stay far enough back to keep from being seen. I know there's FBI guys out here too, but they're blending in good. That was a good idea of your's Luke, putting them in loaners from the garage instead of their usual sedans. I don't know why they think nobody will spot them things?"


"We agree with ya boys, but unfortunately the higher ups are the ones who make those decisions," the voice of Agent Sean Harrison came over the cb.


"Sorry about that Agent Harrison," Cooter sheepishly apologized.


"Nothing to be sorry about, you're right. Maybe if this operation goes off well we can convince Washington to let us use cars that really do blend in better."


Luke absently listened to the conversation as he sped to catch up with the others, no way was he going to depend on anybody else to keep his brother and cousin safe. "Cooter I see ya just ahead of me," he called when he spotted the mechanic's pick-up.


"Good cause they just took the exit to Covington," Cooter said, flipping on his turn signal and following them.


"Mr. Davenport let them get at least a mile ahead of you, we don't want you to be spotted at this point," Agent Harrison instructed.


"A mile?" Cooter asked, trying and failing to keep the worry from his voice.


"We'll know where they are, the tracking device remember?"


"Oh yeah, okay," dropping the mic, Cooter focused on the task at hand.


A short time later, the car that held Jud pulled into a long driveway. Followed a couple of minutes later by Cooter, Luke and a half a dozen FBI agents. As they neared the large mansion hidden by numerous trees, they suddenly sped up, surrounding the car as Jud was being pulled out.


"FBI, freeze!" Sean ordered, his green eyes flashing with anger.


"What is the meaning of this?" Pastor Jensen demanded from the porch.


"Kidnapping!" Sean snarled.


"Kidnapping?" the pastor asked, sounding shocked. "You've been given erroneous information sir, this young man is here, at the request of his family, for treatment."


"Geronimo!" Luke called startling the men who were holding Jud between them.


Hearing the word that brought him from his trance, Jud instantly came awake, pulling away from the startled men.


Seeing their patient moving towards the agents, one of the men grabbed Jud. Quickly ducking the punch that Jud threw at his face, the man returned the punch, hitting Jud in the gut.


Using his training as a boxer, Jud ignored the punch and hit back with a vengenance. After a short fight, he had his opponent on the ground, unconscious. Looking around, he saw that with the exception of the man on the porch the only ones left standing were on their side.


"You can't come in here," Pastor Jensen insisted as he blocked the entrance.


"Are you Pastor Jensen?" Sean asked.


"Yes I am," Jensen replied, drawing himself up to his full height. "I'm in charge here and you can't simply come busting in here like this, treating us like criminals."


"You are under arrest sir for the kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment of Bo Duke," Sean informed him. Grabbing the older man's wrist, he pulled him away from the door and spun him around to face the wall. Slapping a pair of cuffs on his wrists, he began to read Jensen his rights.


"You can't arrest me," Jensen protested. "I'm doing important work here, the Lord's work. Besides Bo Duke is here for treatment, at the request of his family so there is no kidnapping," he smugly told him.

"That'll be for a judge to decide, but from where I stand it's kidnapping," Sean calmly said.


"Where is he?" Cooter snarled, grabbing the pastor and pulling him from Sean's grasp.


"Who?"


"Bo Duke, that's who."


"He's receiving treatment."


"Where?"


"You can't go in there, the treatments must not be interrupted."


"Cooter, let him go," Luke ordered, pulling his friend away from the pastor. "Come on, the FBI is starting the search."


"Yeah," looking at the pastor as though he were something to be wiped from his shoe, Cooter followed Luke and Jud into the building. As they made their way through the halls, the three of them could hear shouts and protests coming from all over the building as the feds rounded everybody up. "Luke ya don't think they might have Bo somewhere else do ya?" he asked.


"I don't think so, otherwise Jensen wouldn't have tried so hard to keep us out."


"But what if he isn't here?"


"Then there's probably some kind of papers that'll tell us where he'd be," Luke assured him. "I know you're worried Cooter, we all are, but we'll find him I promise."


Acknowledging his friend with a nod, Cooter continued checking rooms. Hearing a voice coming from behind the door of the next room, he turned the knob and shoved the door open.


"Please...sleep...please," Bo softly plead.


"You must accept...who are you?" Mark demanded, glaring at the intruder.


"Get the hell away from him," Cooter snarled, moving into the room as he spoke.


"Get out of here," Mark ordered, holding the cattle prod in front of him as he took a step backwards.


"I don't think so!" Stepping closer, Cooter forced the man further away from Bo. As the man lunged forward, the cattle prod extended, Cooter sidestepped him and grabbed his wrist. Raising his leg, Cooter repeatedly brought the man's wrist down over his bent knee, forcing him to release the cattle prod. "You bastard, what did you do to him?" he snapped, slamming the man against the wall.


"We're only trying to save him from his sinful behavior."


"Save him?" he asked, slamming his fist into the man's gut. "By torturing him?" punctuating the question with a right cross to the jaw. Drawing back his arm for another punch, Cooter was startled by a strong grip on his own wrist.


"Cooter stop!" Jud snapped. "Bo needs you," he pointed out, softening his tone.


"Bo?" Letting go of the other man, Cooter turned back to his lover, reaching him in only a couple of steps. Kneeling down next to the chair, he began loosening the straps that held the younger man prisoner.


"Please...sleep," Bo begged.


Sharing a concerned glance with Luke, Cooter doubled his efforts to free his lover.


"He hasn't said anything else," Luke said, as he worked on the other side of the chair. "I don't think he realizes we're here."


"Damn them," Cooter snapped as the last strap came free.


"Cooter?" Bo whispered.


"I'm here lover, I'm here," he quickly confirmed.


Timidly reaching for his lover, Bo surprised them all when he suddenly jerked his hand back.


"It's alright Bo, you can touch me," Cooter encouraged.


"Real? Not...imagination?"


"I'm real Bo, you're safe now," Cooter assured him, laying his hand on the younger man's shoulder.


Falling foward, he collapsed into his lover's arms. "Knew ya'd find me," he whispered.


"Always," Cooter softly spoke, holding his lover close.


"I want to go home."


"We will love, as soon as you're checked out by a doctor."


"No...home, don't want doctor."


"I know darlin, but ya need to see a doctor."


"Need sleep, that's all," Bo protested.


"Do it for me love, please."


"Okay," he finally agreed.


Sean took in the scene as he came into the room. Motioning to one of the other agents, he had him take Mark into custody. "I take it that's Bo?" he asked Luke as the eldest of the Duke cousins joined him at the door.


"Yeah that's Bo," Luke confirmed, his voice laced with obvious affection. "Bastards were torturing him," he snarled as he watched his cousin with his lover.


"I'll need to get a statement from him, but that can wait for a day or two."


"Thank you."


"There's an ambulance waiting out front." Seeing the surprised look on Luke's face, he explained that they hadn't known what condition Bo would be in, so it seemed like a good precaution.


"Good idea, but I don't think he'll be willing to go in an ambulance."


"What if they let Cooter ride along?"


"He might then...I'm not gonna force him to though."


"Nobody's asking you to."


Nodding, Luke stepped back over to his cousin's side. Kneeling down next to the chair, he ran his fingers through Bo's hair. "Bo there's an ambulance waiting out front, what do ya say we get you out of here?"


"Okay," Bo tiredly agreed. Letting Cooter help him to his feet, he only managed a couple of steps before he collapsed.


"Bo!" Cooter yelled, barely managing to catch his lover in time to keep him from hitting the floor.


The moment the younger man fell, Sean was on the radio ordering the ambulance attendants into the building. "Paramedics are on their way inside," he quickly informed the men kneeling protectively around their fallen friend.


As the paramedics entered the room, the others moved away from Bo, giving the men room to work. "Blood pressure's 90 over 60, respirations are strong, pulse 76," one paramedic informed his partner who wrote down the information.


"Is he going to be okay?" Cooter asked.


"I think so sir, but we do need to get him to the hospital." Putting action to words, he helped his partner load Bo onto the stretcher and out to the ambulance.


Following closely behind them, Cooter climbed into the back of the ambulance.


"Sir you can't come with us."


"I'm not letting him out of my sight," Cooter firmly informed him.


"You can follow us in your own vehicle, but you can't ride in the ambulance," he said, grabbing Cooter's arm.


"I done told you I ain't letting him out of my sight," Cooter snapped, jerking his arm free.


"Alex, let him ride along."


"But Frank the regulations..."


"Can be bent every once in a while. I'll ride in the back, you drive," Frank said, climbing into the back and shutting the door.


"Thank you."


"Ain't no big deal, Alex is still kind of new he hasn't learned yet that there's times the rules should be bent." Frank explained. "He's important to ya, isn't he?" Frank asked as he monitored Bo's vitals.


"He's the best thing that ever happened to me, don't know what I'd do without him," Cooter softly replied. "That ain't gonna be a problem is it?" narrowing his eyes at Frank.


"Not for me, and not for the hospital staff," Frank assured him.


"Good."


"What happened to him?"


"He was kidnapped and tortured. His uncle arranged it, he was trying to cure him," came the bitter reply.


"So they were trying to convince him that he's not gay?"


"Yeah, some group calling themselves Christians saving Gays."


"I've read about groups like that. I suppose they really do believe they're helping, I just can't figure out how they can think that."


"Me either. Ummmm, Frank I know they don't usually let family and friends into the exam rooms..."


"Don't worry..."


"Cooter," he supplied.


"Don't worry Cooter, I'll explain the situation to the doctor, I"m sure he'll let you come in with your friend."


"Thank you."


______________________________________________________________________________________________________


Cooter stood against the wall, nervously watching as the doctor and nurses hovered over his lover. After what seemed an eternity, the doctor approached him. "Is he going to be okay?" Cooter fearfully asked.


"He's going to be fine Mr...?"


"Davenport, but you can just call me Cooter."


"I'm Dr. Lewis and as I said Cooter he's going to be just fine. Bo has some superficial burns covering his chest, he's mildly dehydrated and exhausted. Thankfully all of these problems are easily corrected. I am however concerned about the mental and emotional repurcussions of his ordeal."


"You think he'll need counseling," Cooter matter of factly stated.


"That doesn't bother you?"


"I was expecting it, I just hope he can get through his uncle's betrayal this time."


"This time?"


"Yeah, Bo and his uncle were kidnapped last year by a man who wanted revenge. His uncle was brainwashed into torturing Bo, physically and mentally. It took him some time to get past it, but this time his uncle is the one who kidnapped him."


"You're telling me it was his uncle who tortured him this time too?"


"No, but he handed him over to those who did." Studying the other man, Cooter hoped he wasn't about to make a mistake. "Ya see me and Bo fell in love with each other..."


"And his uncle didn't approve."


"Exactly, so he took him to these people who were going to cure him. I will give him this much, I don't think he really knew what they would do."


"That doesn't excuse it," the doctor snapped.


"No sir it doesn't, and I'm sure it won't make a difference to Bo."


"Do you know somebody he can see, or would you like me to reccommend somebody?"


"I know who to take him to, but thank you. You said he ain't hurt real bad, so when can I take him home?"


"Tomorrow, I want to keep him overnight for observation and so we can rehydrate him. When he does go home, I'll prescribe an antibiotic burn ointment and a mild painkiller. That along with plenty of rest and he'll be fine physically."


"Good...I should go tell his family, they'll be worried," Cooter absently said, never taking his eyes from his lover.


"If you like I could do that," Dr. Lewis offered.


"You'd do that?"


"You stay here with Bo, I'll let his family know what's happening."


"Thank you."


"You're welcome son," glancing over his shoulder at Bo, he looked back at Cooter. "He's a lucky man to have somebody who loves him so much."


"No sir, I'm the lucky one," Cooter corrected. Pushing away from the wall and stepping to his lover's side, Cooter carefully picked up Bo's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________


"Cooter," Luke called as he, Jud and Daisy quietly stepped into Bo's hospital room a short time later.


"Hey y'all," Cooter absently greeted them as he combed his finger's through Bo's hair.


"How's he doing?"


"Okay I guess...he ain't woke up yet," he told them, his voice thick with concern.


"The doctor said he was exhausted, I suppose it's normal that'd he'd still be unconscious," Luke comforted.


"Yeah, that's what the nurse said. She said he wasn't really unconscious, just deeply asleep."


"Well there ya go."


"I'd still feel better if he'd wake up. Did Sean get all of them?"


"Yeah, he'll need to get a statement from Bo later, but he said it could wait a day or two."


"What about Jesse?"


"What about him?"


"Is he still in jail?"


"I don't know, I guess so. You want me to call Hazzard and ask Rosco?"


"Would you?"


"Sure thing buddyro, I'll be back in a few minutes." Luke left the room, in search of a payphone, not wanting to use the phone in Bo's room in case he got bad news.


"Is there anything we can get you Cooter?" Daisy asked when Luke had left.


"Only thing I need is for Bo to wake up."


"I know sugar, but in the meantime ya need to take care of yourself too."


"I can't think of that right now Daisy."


"Daisy's right Cooter, besides you're not going to be much use to Bo if you collapse yourself," Jud pointed out.


"Maybe later," he told them. Laying his head down next to Bo's, he held his hand as with the other he continued to finger comb his lover's hair. "I love you Bo, please wake up darlin," he whispered in the younger man's ear.

Down the hall in a small waiting room, Luke sat in an uncomfortable chair, his head in his hands. The conversation with Rosco had been short as the sheriff gave him news he really didn't want to hear. Hanging up the phone, he had started back to Bo's room, only to realize that he had no idea how to break the news to the others. So here he sat, fighting for control of his emotions and trying to find the words he would need when he returned to his cousin's room.


TBC


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