Author's notes: Sorry for the delay in posting, which was not due to Ernesto after all, but just life. Which only gets more complicated from here, so the next chapter is probably another week away.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard or any of the main characters, and they've never made me a dime. Not that you can get anything with a dime anymore. Andy's name belongs to Warner Brothers but the rest of it is, I must admit, my fault. Oh, and regardless of what you read here or see on TV, cars belong on the ground, not in the air.

Chapter 11 – Business That Bears Looking Into

"How do you reckon they're doing out there?" Bo asked his older cousin.

"I'm sure they've got it completely under control," Luke answered, affecting a confidence that he didn't really feel. Bo wasn't fooled.

"I wish there was something we could do to help."

"Me too, cousin."

The boys sat in silence for a while. They just weren't any good at being cooped up together like this. Even as children, when one or the other of them had been sick, they'd found ways to keep from sitting still for too long, whether it was getting out toy cars and setting up imaginary and incredibly complex race tracks, or even, in one infamous incident while they were recuperating from the chicken pox, playing a modified game of baseball in their bedroom. In fact, that one had led to the only time in their childhood that they were forced to sleep in separate rooms. After their uncle had heard the crash of glass exploding out into the back yard, Luke had been hauled off to spend the rest of the evening and overnight with Jesse in the master bedroom, while Lavinia spent the night in the boys' room with Bo. The window had long since been replaced, but there were some dings in the wall that survived as permanent reminders of the game. The boys were more proud of those than all the baseball trophies they'd later bring home.

They were too old for such games now, and besides the Louisville Slugger was back at the farm in their closet. They hadn't seen anyone all day since Enos had left after breakfast, so they couldn't even ask for a checkerboard (under normal circumstances Bo wouldn't play with Luke anymore, having long since grown tired of losing to his cousin) or a deck of cards (Bo could beat Luke at almost any game there, though).

For the millionth time, Bo got up to pace the cell. Luke smirked at the boy. He'd obviously never figured out how to deal with idle time, and if there was one thing Luke might be grateful to the Marines for, it was the opportunity to learn to appreciate the chance to sit still for a little while.

"Anything new in that corner since you was last there, Bo?" The look he received in response was half dirty, until Bo's eyes lit up.

"Look what I got, Luke," Bo said, holding up the prize he'd just dug out from underneath the cot.

"A pencil?" One eyebrow went up. "You so bored that you're actually gonna write somethin', cousin? I ain't never seen you do that unless Jesse was standin' over you threatenin' to tan your hide."

"Funny, Luke. No, look at this." Bo started to sketch on the smooth concrete floor. Shaking his head, Luke joined Bo down there.

"Whatcha doin', Bo?"

"Drawin' our car."

Luke chuckled. Well, why not? Pencil wasn't anything that Enos couldn't get off the floor with a mop and some extra elbow grease. And it would kill some time. "Let me see that pencil, Bo. You're gonna need a bigger chassis than that, to fit the engine we're gonna build."

"Listen, Mr. Duke, I think you'd better let me do the talking," Andy cautioned as the group headed for Sheriff Coltrane's office.

Jesse snorted. He was not favorably disposed towards Agent Roach, and not because of his job, and not because of the deal they'd just made, but because of the way he'd treated Daisy. Jesse could see that she still had feelings for the man, despite their talk last night. "You listen. You might have a diploma, and you might have a badge. But you ain't got the wherewithal to deal with J. D. Hogg without my help." Softening a little as he remembered that the revenuer didn't have to help them at all, Jesse added, "We'll call it a team effort."

"Yes, sir." Andy was surprised to hear himself say that. He didn't think he'd called anyone sir in at least five years. This Jesse Duke commanded respect, and Andy could see just how hard misleading him must have been on Daisy.

The newly formed "team" consisting of Jesse, Daisy, Andy and Cooter found themselves in luck. As they approached Rosco's closed door, they could hear that Boss was already in there with the sheriff. Andy knocked, but didn't wait for an answer before entering. Best to keep the local law off-guard in this negotiation.

"Good afternoon, Commissioner, Sheriff," Andy began. It was clear that the two men were startled and unprepared for the group that had joined them in the cramped quarters.

"Why, Agent… Agent…" Boss began.

"Roach," Rosco helpfully supplied.

"Dat, Rosco… Agent Roach. To what do we owe the pleasure?" the portly man asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, Commissioner, I need your signature on these papers. Yours too, Sheriff."

"What papers?" Boss asked, but snapped them out of Andy's hand and into his own before the man could answer.

"You just take your time and read them carefully," the agent suggested, his arms folded across his chest.

Boss sat at Rosco's desk with the sheriff hovering right behind him and reading over his shoulder. After skimming a few paragraphs, the commissioner gasped.

"Let the Duke boys off with probation? I ain't signin' these papers, no way, nohow. Those criminals down there are goin' to the federal pen where they belong. Why, they're a filthy smudge on Hazzard's clean name."

"J. D. you…" Jesse began, hearing both Daisy and Cooter join him in protest. They were all shushed by Agent Roach's next words.

"You might as well, Commissioner Hogg. As you can see, the Federal Government is not interested in pursuing these charges. Without my testimony, the boys will probably get off scot-free."

"Scot-free, you say… I don't think so, Agent. There's enough evidence with Deputy Strate's testimony alone. And even if they did get off, you'd be setting yourself up for charges of false arrest. On account of, if you don't testify to what you found, then you had no reason to arrest them boys in the first place and you could lose your badge, not to mention the lawsuit they could file…" Boss called his bluff.

Giving his "team" a stern look to keep them quiet, Roach took the next step himself. "Well, now, I don't think you need to worry about me and my badge, because I've got something a little bigger that I can give the Federal Government if I need to. Though I, myself, am largely concerned with violations involving alcohol, tobacco or firearms, the government is interested in all kinds of illegal and unclaimed revenue. And I have evidence here," the agent held up a canister of undeveloped film, "that shows at least one source of undeclared income that you, and I suspect your sheriff there, have. And I'm quite certain that this is not your only illegal activity. I can ensure my value to the government by beginning to track your activities very carefully, Mr. Hogg."

Jesse saw the doubt in his old friend's eyes before the blustering began. "I don't know what you've got there Agent… what's-your-name, but I'm sure it doesn't tie me directly to anything."

"Maybe not, Boss," Cooter jumped in before Roach could stop him, "but them Winter boys that is on that film will give you up in a heartbeat to save their own hides. And everyone in town knows they ain't smart enough to have set up that little operation out there all on their own."

While Andy was busy glaring at Cooter, and Boss and Rosco were exchanging a wordless look, Jesse finally, quietly, spoke up.

"If you all don't mind, I'd like to speak to J. D. alone for a minute."

Once again, Andy found himself muttering, "Yes, sir" along with the rest of the crowd, then filing out of the office into the main squad room. How did the Duke patriarch make him do that?

"Hey, Luke?" The boys has broken the pencil in half, then used the metal frame of the bed to fashion a reasonable point on the second half so that they could sketch simultaneously. Luke was working on the finer points of the engine, while Bo had begun to detail the exterior of the car itself. The blonde was just adding a star to the rebel flag he'd drawn when he felt compelled to break the silence.

"Yeah?" his older cousin answered, not looking up from his work.

"I still don't think we're gonna get five years or anything, but even if we do, it was worth it."

"How's that?"

"Well that whole chase last night, I keep replaying it in my head. An' I still feel bad about how it ended and all, but you know what?"

"What?" Luke finally gave the boy his full attention. Seemed like he was in for another interesting ride through the unusual logic of his younger cousin's mind.

"All I really keep thinking is how great it was, where the cars just kept coming at us, and we were making all these moves to escape them." Indigo eyes glowed with excitement at the memory. "An' I'll tell you now, if they hadn't outnumbered us we would have gotten away for sure."

Luke chuckled, "Prob'ly."

Bo got serious for a moment. "It was fun, Luke, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Bo, it was a lot of fun," the older cousin said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder, and meeting his eyes. A quick smile passed between them, before they returned to their masterpiece on the cement below them.

"Now, Jesse, you ain't gonna talk me into nothin'. You're just wastin' your time," advised the man in white.

"Well, that may be J. D., but my life's about to change in a very big way no matter how this ends up. Either I lose my boys, or I lose my business. Things like that make a man think about all the good things he's had in life. Good times, good friends… like you J. D. We was good friends once."

Hogg sat down in Rosco's chair, and out of habit opened a drawer, seeking food or 'shine, either way, something to distract him. There was nothing useful there.

"Yep, Jesse, we was. But those times is long gone now."

"That may be, but that don't change the past." Jesse helped himself to a chair, seeing as J. D. Hogg would never think of offering him one.

"No, I guess it don't," the commissioner said, getting up and heading for a filing cabinet to search the drawers. Dang that sheriff, he didn't keep anything useful in this office, just paperwork and handcuffs and other tools of his trade. Not a piece of candy or a potato chip to be found anywhere.

"J. D., sit down. All that pacin' is makin' me nervous." Boss managed not to say 'yes sir,' but he did sit.

"Now, J. D. I know what this is all about. We've known each other all our lives, and at one time we was as close as those boys of mine down there. An' we did a lot of the same things they do, fishin' and chasin' girls…"

The fat man actually smiled, "We sure did."

"And we did our fair share of competin' too, remember? If I got a four point buck, you'd have to get a six pointer…"

"Yeah, I always was a better shot than you was, Jesse." The farmer rolled his eyes, but decided that this was not a time to quibble over such an unimportant exaggeration.

"I think you never got over the fact that Lavinia fell for me, not you, J. D."

"Bah, you don't know what you're talkin' about, Jesse," the fat man bluffed.

"Maybe not," Jesse said agreeably. "But I do know this: you sent that agent after my boys. And I know why you did it. It's okay, J. D., I understand. But you should sign the papers. Because I know you don't want to kill me, and that's what you'd be doin' by sendin' my boys away like that. I know that all you want is my 'shine customers, and you'll get them, 'cause my part of the deal is that I won't make no more 'shine. And you know that if I sign that paper, I'll stick to my end of the bargain." Seeing the other man waver, Jesse gave him one more thing to think about. "Besides, take it from me. You don't want that Andy Roach lookin' into your business. He's ruthless. And you got business that bears lookin' into."

Daisy had chosen to go outside onto the steps of the building for some fresh air while she awaited the results of her uncle's conversation with Boss. She didn't turn around when she heard the door behind her open, having a pretty good guess as to who would have followed her out.

"Daisy," he said carefully.

Yep, precisely who she'd thought. Over the weeks the only consistent feeling she'd had about this man was turmoil. That had not changed.

"Andy, I…" she swallowed, still not turning towards him. "I guess you know we can't see each other any more," she finished.

The agent nodded, slowly. "I think I knew you'd say that, though I kind of hoped you wouldn't," Andy answered her.

"I ain't mad anymore. I came to you this mornin' plannin' on usin' what we'd had with each other to get you to help us Dukes. An' then I found out you was tryin' to help us already, even though you're the one who caught the boys. I don't understand all of it, but I ain't mad anymore."

"I'm glad to hear that, Daisy."

She finally turned around to see hazel eyes mirroring her own blue pain. "It just ain't fun anymore, though, you know?" she said. "It just hurts now."

They stood in silence for a moment, then Daisy spoke again. "I gotta ask you one thing, though I know the answer's not gonna help either way…"

The next words came gently, "Go ahead, sweetheart."

"I wasn't crazy, was I? We did have somethin' together, didn't we? You wasn't just using me?"

This time Andy looked away for a moment to gather himself, then looked back. "Well, when Joe Higgins introduced us, I knew about your family, what you did for a living, and that no one had caught you. You're all kind of a legend at the ATF, you know. So, I really wanted to catch you all. And the first few times I came into the Boar's Nest, and we seemed to hit it off, I thought maybe you'd spill the beans or something. So I started spending time with you." Seeing the pain in Daisy's eyes, Andy hurried to add, "But as soon as I knew you a little better, well, I really liked you. And when I said I loved you, that was true. And I realized that part of why I loved you is because of who you are, and who your uncle brought you and your cousins up to be."

"Uncle Jesse's real special. He didn't have to take any of us in, but he did, and he couldn't have loved us more if we was his own. Which is why me bein' part of what happened is so awful," Daisy said quietly.

"You never told me a single thing that would help me catch your uncle or the boys. And after a while I decided never to ask. I did watch the farm after dropping you off at night, but I never learned anything there. You didn't have anything to do with them getting caught, and," Andy grinned, "you all sure did make it real hard to catch them. If anything, we got lucky." Daisy wasn't smiling. "Or they got unlucky…" he trailed off, his own smile gone. Neither said anything for awhile, lost in their own thoughts, both studying the step beneath their feet.

"You weren't crazy, Daisy. We had something."

"Thank you, sugar," the young woman said, finally lifting her eyes, then her hand to touch his shoulder. Quickly, she kissed Andy Roach on the cheek, then walked past him and back through the doors to see if her family needed her.

The group reassembled in Hogg's office this time. It was a little larger and accommodated their slightly increased numbers – Deputy Strate had joined them – more comfortably. Commissioner Hogg pulled himself to his full five and a half foot height, puffed out his chest, which only further expanded his stomach, and began to pontificate.

"Now see here Agent… what's-your-name, I'm gonna sign this here agreement, not because of what you think you can threaten me with, but because I hate to see any Hazzard youth bein' sent away like that, without givin' them the chance to rehabilitate themselves right here. Why, I've known those two boys all their lives, an' I'd just hate to see them in any real trouble."

As Cooter watched the entire room roll their eyes, he was reminded of something his mother had once had a habit of saying: 'Cooter Davenport, don't you make that kind of a face or it just might get stuck that way!' He bit his lip to keep from snickering, just as he had always done when his mother dispensed her invaluable advice.

"And you, Sheriff?" Andy asked.

"Well, I…"

"The Sheriff will also sign the agreement," Boss Hogg interrupted.

"But…"

"Dat, dat, dat… Rosco," Hogg started, meaningfully, "elections is comin' up. You don't want an investigation goin' on right now."

"But, Boss, I didn't…"

"Rosco!" the man in white snapped.

"Gyu. I'll just sign that document, then."

In the excitement of the boys' release, the details of how it had happened were not immediately revealed. All Bo and Luke knew was that their pencils were down to stubs, their breakfast had long since ceased to sustain them, and they were seriously wondering if everyone had forgotten about them. Just as they were considering the indignity of screaming for attention, they got more than they anticipated. Daisy and Cooter had been able to run the fastest, and were there first, announcing the good news. Enos was not far behind, with the keys to the cell already in hand to unlock the door. Before they could step out, their family and friends were inside with them. Hugs, kisses and slaps on the back were exchanged with wild abandon. A rebel yell or two could be heard in the next county.

"Wijit!" Rosco stood back, twitching in frustration. It wasn't that he wanted to see the Duke boys hauled off the prison, because as annoying as they could be, he kind of liked them. He was just tired of feeling shoved around, told what he should do without being consulted. He was, after all, the sheriff, but somehow that didn't seem to matter when Boss Hogg kept making his decisions for him. He was just grateful that those Dukes were generating so much noise that they couldn't hear the sounds that were involuntarily escaping his lips.

"Hey, Enos, you don't mind if we dig up the floor do you?" the sheriff heard Bo Duke asking his deputy. "We got some important plans drawn up on there."

"You Dukes just get out of my jail now, gij, just go. Get home before I charge you for defacing county property, ijit!"

"All right, Rosco, all right, we're goin'. Thanks for the hospitality, though. Feel free to come on out and visit us at the farm if you get to missin' us too much," Luke said with a wink as the happy group left the jail to head out into the daylight.

"Just… go. Gyu." As the din faded, Rosco found himself alone once again, without any friends. Even that wet-behind-the-ears dipstick deputy of his seemed to have people that liked to be around him. The sheriff sat down at the desk that faced the now empty cells, and sighed.

"Are those dang Dukes gone?" Rosco jumped and turned to see the only man he didn't really want to talk to right now entering the jail area.

"Jit! Yes, Boss, they just went."

"Good. At least it'll be quiet around here for a little while."

"Boss? Why did we just sign that agreement? All you been tryin' to do for the past month is bust them Dukes for makin' 'shine."

"Why, Rosco, I did it for you."

"For me, gyu? How's that, Boss?"

"Well, on account of I want you to get re-elected, Sheriff, and you don't need an investigation besmirching your good name," Boss simpered.

"So, you're tellin' me that it had nothin' to do with them pictures that Roach had, you was just tryin' to save me?"

"Why, of course, Rosco. You are my brother-in-law, ain't you?"

At that moment Rosco made a conscious decision. He could be lonely, or he could accept this man's friendship on the terms that it was offered.

"Well, wasn't that nice of you, khee khee, my little fat buddy."

Luke held the document in the light where he and Bo could read it together. He could feel his cousin tensing next to him, even as he read the words he knew had upset the blonde.

In return for the freedom of Lukas K. and Beauregard Duke, the family is never to make nor sell whiskey again…

"Easy, Bo," he said so quietly that only the boy right next to him could hear. It did no good.

"Uncle Jesse? How could you sign this?" Bo asked, his voice wavering in that way he'd always hated. The meal they'd just had was churning in his stomach at the thought of what his uncle had given up.

"Because it meant that you wouldn't have to go to prison, son."

"Maybe, but it means givin' up the moonshine business. You ain't got no other business."

"Now, Bo, I want you to listen to me real carefully. You too, Luke." The older man paused while he considered just how to make his kids understand. He looked across at the two of them, sitting side-by-side on the sofa, close enough to feel each other's warmth. The features of their shared bloodline were vividly apparent to their uncle, who could see shadows of each of his brothers in them. "There's things we can live without, and then there's things we can't. We can make our way on less money. We can even find a way to do without the farm, if we have to." Jesse held up his hands for silence, stopping both boys from the interjections they had been about to make. "I don't want to, and I don't plan on it, but we could, if we had to. What we can't make it without, is each other. In real value, we're all each other's got. Everything else is worthless."

"But Jesse, it just woulda been five years, not forever," Luke finally got some words in.

"Only five years?" Jesse yelled, startling himself as much as his nephews. "Boy, how many years do you think I got on this Earth that you're willing to dismiss five of them like they're nothin'? You especially. I just got over worryin' about you every minute of the day. For three years while you was over there," the old man gestured, finding he couldn't even say the name of the country, "I didn't hardly sleep for not knowin' whether you was in danger, hurt or worse…"

This was news not only to Luke, but Bo as well. Their uncle had never let on how much he'd worried after his oldest charge. Carefully, so as not to elicit another outburst, Luke tried again.

"But 'shine makin' is a family tradition. You yourself taught us that we ain't never had no other trade, not since we settled in these parts more than two hundred years ago."

"We have other family traditions that have been around longer than that. Lookin' out for each other and stickin' together are two of them. An' if we do them two things, we can do without the old line of business. With three good, strong men, we can plant other crops besides corn, maybe cotton, and we can harvest and sell them. If times is lean, you boys can do odd jobs, and we got Daisy's income…"

"Plus what's left of the money I earned in the service," Luke added.

"And then there's what we're gonna make racin'," Bo said with a grin.

"Boys, makin' whiskey was a good trade for a lot of years, but its time has passed. I knew that back when you was kids, but I was too stubborn to give it up. Facin' the idea of you two bein' punished for that stubbornness… I planned to give it up even before we was offered the deal. So you boys didn't make me do nothin' I wasn't gonna do anyway."

Everyone sat in silence, not sure what to say, until Uncle Jesse spoke again, gruffly.

"Now get out there and do your chores. Did you think they was gonna do themselves?"

"Yes sir."

"And when you's done with that I want you to come in here and rest. Bo, you ain't been cleared by the doctor for hard work yet, but as soon as you are, you boys can start buildin' a fence around that back pasture."

"Uncle Jesse?" Bo's voice went up that register, the one that indicated confusion.

"Well, we's gonna need to get us some beef cattle to tide us over until we can plant new crops come spring. And besides," Jesse somehow managed to keep his face stern, "you boys just spent the night in jail. Did you think I wasn't gonna come up with extra chores to punish you?"

"Yes sir."

The patriarch smiled as he watched his boys push and shove each other out the door, pretending to be annoyed with one another, but obviously just enjoying the chance to roughhouse after being penned up all night.

"Be careful, boys," he called after them.