Dukes of Hazzard
Title: The Baseball Bat
Author: Numb3rsfan
Beta: Anakin's Girl 4eva
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes, though I wish I did.
Summary: Remember the scene in 'Farewell, Hazzard' where Bo and Luke were talking about the time Luke hit Bo, and Bo's head broke the wall? Well, this is my version on that tale.
Chapter One
It was a warm, sunshiny day in Hazzard. The Duke farmhouse was quiet, but this was because Bo and Luke were at the baseball field. Luke was playing, and Bo was with his Uncle Jesse, in the stands, cheering for Luke and his team. The Hazzard baseball team that Luke was playing for, was called the Eagles, and the opposing team was called the Cardinals.
The Cardinals were up by one run, and it was the bottom of the last inning, with Luke at home plate.
"Come on Luke, hit me home!" Luke's friend, Cooter Davenport, who was on second base, said to him.
Luke raised the bat and looked down at the batter, waiting for the pitch.
Not two seconds later, the pitch came. The ball came straight down the middle, where Luke was waiting for it.
He waited until the last second before he swong. The ball went far across the field, flying over the fence on the far side.
The Eagles rushed out and surrounded Luke, congradulating him, while the dissipointed Cardinals slowly made their way off the field.
While Uncle Jesse climbed down from the stands, Bo was already down and racing across the field. He ran in to Luke and hugged him fiercely.
"Man, that was a great swing!" Bo said as he looked up at his older cousin.
Thirteen year old Luke Duke smiled as he put an arm around Bo's shoulder.
"Thanks Bo." Luke replied as he led his cousin over to Uncle Jesse.
Luke liked baseball, especially since Bo wasn't playing.
Having something to do, that Bo wasn't a part of, was something very rare to Luke, and he liked it.
It gave him something to do so that he could get away from his younger cousin for awhile.
"Man, I can't wait ta try out! I bet it'll be so much fun!" Bo said with glee.
Luke paled when he head this. Bo was going to try out for the team! This was a disaster! Bo couldn't do this! He wouldn't if Luke had anything to say about it!
"Bo. You wouldn't like baseball, trust me. It ain't yer thing." Luke said, trying to dissuade Bo from trying out.
"Ya make it look so easy Luke! I wanna try it out!" Bo replied.
Luke looked up at the sky. How could he make Bo see that this was HIS sport, and he didn't want Bo to be a part of it?
Since Bo and Luke were still out of earshot of their Uncle Jesse, Luke decided to let his temper do the talking.
"Now ya listen ta me! Ya stay away from those tryouts! Ya hear!" Luke said, shaking his younger cousin.
Bo paled and gulped, scared that Luke was going to hurt him.
Luke released his cousin and watched as Bo ran to the truck and got in, slamming the door behind him.
Sighing, Luke waited for Uncle Jesse to catch up, before they all headed on home.
------------------------------------------------
It was two days later when Bo came home from school, that Luke was waiting in their bedroom, arms crossed. A baseball bat lay on the bed beside him.
Bo gulped as he entered the room and laid his school books down.
"Uh, h..hey, Luke." Bo greeted as he turned to face his cousin.
"Coach Reynolds called. He said ya were at the baseball tryouts yesterday. He also said that ya have promise, an that you were almost as good as me." Luke said, quite angry.
Bo gave a half smile. "Really? He said that?" Bo asked.
"I tol' ya not ta go to them tryout's, yet ya went anyway!" Luke said, rising from his bed.
"There ain't no law that said I couldn't go!" Bo countered.
"I said ya couldn't go!" Luke spat, shoving Bo against the wall.
Bo grunted as his back painfully slammed in to the wall.
"I JUS' WANT ONE THING TA DO, THAT YOU AREN'T INVOLVED IN! JUS' ONE THING! IS THAT SO MUCH TA ASK!" Luke yelled in to Bo's face.
Because Bo hated to be yelled at, his eyes welled up with tears that he could not control.
The tears fell down his cheeks as Luke continued to yell at him.
Luke grabbed Bo's arm and shoved him to the floor, hard.
Bo fell to the floor, cracking his blond head against his bed.
He moaned with pain as he put a hand to his head.
More tears started to fall before Bo looked up at Luke, who was brandishing his new baseball bat that he had gotten.
Suddenly feeling very afraid, Bo crabwalked backwards, out of the bedroom and in to the living room.
Since Uncle Jesse was outside, he had not heard the boys' arguement, nor the fight that had insued.
Luke was in such a rage that all he wanted to do was beat his cousin to a bloody pulp.
How could Bo do that to him? How could he ruin Luke's life like that!
Bo choked back more tears as he stood up, wanting to run.
"Please Luke...do..don't hurt me." Bo begged as tears ran down his face.
Luke raised his baseball bat and hit Bo's cheek, right on the money.
Bo's head snapped back and to the side, connecting with the living room wall with a sickining crack.
Not one sound escaped Bo's lips after that.
He just slumped down to the ground, blood pooling around his head.
Luke looked down at his cousin with a satisfied smirk on his face.
But that smirk turned in to panic when Bo didn't move or make a sound, even when Luke prodded him with the bat.
"Bo, come on, I didn't hit ya that hard." Luke said, prodding Bo again.
Dropping the bat, Luke knelt down by Bo and rolled him in to his back.
Blood coated Bo's face, from his cheek, all the way up to his scalp.
"Bo?" Luke asked, getting slightly worried.
When Bo didn't respond, Luke gulped and ran outside, yelling for Uncle Jesse.
Jesse came around the side of the house when he heard Luke's cries.
"What's wrong, Luke?" Jesse asked.
"It's Bo!" Luke said, the tears starting to run down his face.
Inbetween sobs and gasps for breath, Luke told Jesse what he had done, and why.
Jesse at first was angry, then that anger turned in to fear. Fear for his youngest nephew.
As quickly as he could, Jesse raced in to the house and knelt down beside Bo's still form.
"Is he..?" Luke asked, not being able to finish the question.
Uncle Jesse understood the question and put two fingers to Bo's neck.
"He's alive." Jesse said with relief in his voice.
Luke nearly fainted with relief at hearing those words coming from Uncle Jesse.
"Come on, we best get him to the hospital." Jesse said, carefully picking Bo up and rushing him to the truck.
-----------------------------------------
All the way to the hospital Luke worried about Bo. While the doctors took Bo through the double doors, Luke's worries worsened.
And now, all he could do was snap his knuckles, and glance at the door of the small waiting room, waiting for a doctor.
Uncle Jesse's nerves were frayed as he waited for a doctor.
He didn't know what to think of Luke's actions. He didn't know how to correctly punish Luke for nearly killing his cousin, even if it was over something so trival as the baseball tryouts.
"Luke...I'm very dissipointed in you." Jesse finally said.
Luke wiped a tear from his eye as he looked at his uncle.
"I know, Uncle Jesse. I'm dissipointed in maself, actually." Luke replied.
"You could'a killed Bo. Why'd ya do it?" Jesse asked.
Luke shook his head as he looked at the far wall for a second.
"I ain't sure no more, Uncle Jesse. I was jus' so mad that Bo was tryin' ta do something that I did. I mean, baseball was my sport. Somethin' I could do by maself, an' then next thing I know, Bo's tryin' it out too! I jus' wanna do somethin'...anythin' by myself!" Luke said in a desprite voice.
Jesse nodded his head, knowing how Luke felt.
"That still didn't give you any cause ta attack Bo." Jesse said.
"I know that...I was jus so...so angry." Luke said, looking down at his hands.
He paused for a minute before continuing.
"I didn't mean it! I jus' couldn't stop!" Luke said, nearly in tears.
Jesse put a comforting arm around Luke's shoulders and let the boy cry as long as he wanted.
Finally, two hours later, a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room.
Jesse immediatly stood and faced the doctor.
"How's ma boy?" He asked.
"My name is Dr. Ramsey. I examined your nephew. He has a concussion, but unbelievably, his skull was not cracked." Dr. Ramsey said.
"Will he be alright?" Luke asked, looking up at the doctor.
Dr. Ramsey looked down at Luke.
"Given time, I believe he will make a complete recovery, though he will have to take it easy for awhile." Dr. Ramsey said.
That brought a smile to Luke's face.
"Can we see em'?" Jesse asked.
Dr. Ramsey nodded his head and led Jesse and Luke to Bo's room.
-----------------------------------
Bo was lying on the bed. His head covered in bandages.
There was an IV in his arm and an oxygen cannula on his nose.
Luke crossed to Bo's side and picked up his hand.
Slowly, Bo opened his eyes and focused on Luke.
"I'm so so sorry fer what I did to you Bo." Luke said, almost immediatly.
He lowered his head and started to sob in to Bo's bed.
At first, Bo was scared when he saw Luke, but when Luke started sobbing, Bo began to calm down and even feel sorry for his cousin.
"It's ok." Bo whispered as he reached out and touched Luke's arm.
Luke raised his tear stained face to look at his cousin.
"No it's not. I could'a killed you Bo!" Luke sobbed.
"S'ok, I ain't mad." Bo said quietly.
Luke looked in to Bo's baby, blue eyes and saw the truth of that statement in them.
With a shaky sob, Luke wiped the tears from his eyes.
"If...if ya want, I can teach ya the fine points of baseball." Luke offered, ready and willing to make amends for what he had done.
A small smile broke out across Bo's face at his cousin's offer.
"Really?"
"Really Bo. If ya want ta try out fer the Eagles, then I got no right or cause ta stop ya." Luke replied.
"Thanks, Luke." Bo quietly said.
--------------------------------------------
It was two weeks later that Bo was released.
Coach Reynolds called again and let Jesse and Luke know that Bo had made the team.
The Eagles mid season game was that night and both Luke and Bo would be playing.
At the appropriate time, Bo and Luke headed for the field, and the game began.
The game stayed the same throughout most of the innings, with both sides scoring points.
Finally the last inning came up and the Eagles were just going out in to the field.
The coach didn't need to tell his team that all they needed was three outs to win the game, because his team already knew.
Sammie Fisher took his position at first, while Luke took up his position at second, and Bo took up his position at third.
Luke and Bo gave each other a thumbs up before focusing on the game.
The first runner for the opposing team was an easy out, because he hit the ball directly at the first base man!
Sammie caught the ball and stamped his foot on the base before throwing the ball back to Stevie, the pitcher.
The next few runners got by them, because they really knew how to smash the ball.
Coach Reynolds words of "Just meet the ball, don't kill it." flashed through Luke's mind as the baseball kept sailing over his head.
Finally, one of the shorter batter's came up to the plate.
Stevie threw the ball at the catcher, but the batter quickly bunted the ball before taking off.
Quickly Stevie picked up the ball and threw it to Sammie.
Sammie caught it, but by then the batter had already reached first base.
With a sigh, Sammie threw the ball back to Stevie.
Stevie caught the ball and turned.
He aimed and threw the ball.
The next batter hit the ball, driving it right towards Luke!
Luke quickly dropped to the ground and raised his gloved hand.
The ball smashed into the glove, and nearly rolled out of it, but Luke clamped down on the ball as he stood.
With a smile, Luke threw the ball to Stevie.
"Two down, one to go." Luke muttered.
The next batter for the opposing team was the best batter that they had!
His name was Jacob Armstrong, and when he hit the ball, it seemed to go on for miles!
Stevie gulped as he took aim.
He was so nervous that he gave Jacob two foul balls.
Finally, he threw a pitch and Jacob nailed it, sending it high, towards the stadium lights, and third base.
Bo raised his head, trying to see the ball, but he saw nothing.
"Where is it?" Bo muttered, searching the sky.
He was about to give up when he saw something white coming down, directly at his head!
With a gulp, Bo raised his glove and shut his eyes.
Within seconds, something slammed into his glove with a lot of force.
Bo gritted his teeth and opened his eyes in time to see the ball fly out of his glove.
Quickly Bo dove to the ground and stretched out his glove.
The ball fell in to the glove and rolled forward.
Bo gasped and tilted his glove just enough that the ball stopped rolling.
Not daring to breathe, Bo grasped the ball and quickly stood up, taking the ball out of his glove and holding it high for all to see.
All of a sudden the crowd irrupted in to a loud cheer.
The Eagles all threw their gloves in to the air as they raced towards Bo.
Luke reached him first and picked his cousin up.
"That was an amazin' catch, cousin!" Luke said, very proud of his little cousin.
Bo couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He knew that if Luke hadn't of helped him practice like he had, there would have been no way for him to keep a hold of that ball.
"Thanks, Luke." Bo said, smiling at his cousin.
Luke set Bo down and ruffled his blond hair while all the rest of the team swarmed up and congradulated Bo.
After all of the team and Coach Reynolds had backslapped and congradulated Bo, Bo Duke looked up towards the stands and saw his Uncle Jesse standing there, with a big smile on his face.
Quickly, Bo ran over to him and threw himself in to his uncle's arms.
"Bo, I am so proud of you an Luke. You both did very well." Jesse said, hugging his youngest nephew.
"Thanks, Uncle Jesse, but it was Luke who helped me practice." Bo said, looking over at his older cousin, who had come walking over.
"Bo, I may'a helped ya practice, but ya made the catch all by yerself." Luke replied.
Bo smiled gratefully at his cousin when he said that.
"I also want ya to know, I'm very proud of you." Luke said with a grin.
Now, for Luke Duke to say he was proud of Bo, it was a miracle, because Luke was never one to say he was really proud of anyone! and Bo knew this.
His cousin was proud of him! Luke was actually proud of him!
"Thanks, Luke." Bo said as he released Jesse and turned and hugged Luke.
Luke welcomed the hug greatfully.
He glanced up at Uncle Jesse, who had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
Bo, who was still hugging Luke, had a big smile on his face, and a few tears of joy running down his face.
He was glad that Luke had finally accepted him, and that he was proud of him.
Nothing made Bo Duke more happy, than to have the approval of his older cousin, Luke
"Come on, let's go home an' I'll whip us up some crawdad bisque!" Jesse said, feining excitement.
"Yes, sir!" Bo said, running towards the truck, with Luke right behind.
Jesse followed slowly as he watched the two boys.
He was glad that they had made up and their bond had finally strengthened.
He knew now that Luke would do almost anything for Bo, and vise versa, and nothing made the ol' Duke patriarch more happier than to know this.
"Wait fer me!" Jesse yelled at his nephews as he also jogged towards the truck.
His family was now the tight knit, loving community that it should be, and nothing pleased Bo, Luke or Uncle Jesse more than to have each other as family.
THE END