Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warning: Angst, Tissue Warning

Rating: FRT

Through The Looking Glass

Chapter 6

Arriving back at Cheyenne Mountain, Cooter was surprised to find Colonel O'Neill waiting for him when he reached level 28. He had known he would need an escort, but had been expecting to see Major Davis waiting for him. "Colonel O'Neill, shouldn't you still be debriefing Bo?"

"Called it short for the day, and it's Jack," the Colonel answered.

"Is everything okay with Bo?" Cooter asked, worried about his friend.

"Yeah, just Maybourne being a jerk, as usual. I decided to give Bo a break, the fact it ruined Maybourne's day was just icing on the cake."

"From what I've heard, that doesn't really surprise me any," Cooter replied with a smile. "Is Bo in his quarters?"

"Probably, want me to show you where that is?" Jack offered.

"Thanks, so Jack you said earlier that Bo's had a few nightmares. How do you know that?" Cooter asked, as they walked down the corridor.

"I was walking by his quarters, heard him screaming. He won't talk much about what happened to him. I do know he told Daniel about something, and whatever it was had Daniel in the bathroom afterwards throwing up."

"Dang, you ain't got any idea what it was?"

"No, Danny hasn't said," Jack replied, coming to a stop. "That's his quarters there," Jack told him, pointing to a door a few feet away.

"Thanks Jack, for everything," Cooter told him, shaking the Colonel's hand before turning towards Bo's door.

Bo jumped slightly when the knock sounded at his door, afraid it would be Maybourne and not wanting to deal with him, he ignored it.

"Bo, you in there buddyro?"

Hearing Cooter's voice, Bo smiled and opened the door. "Man it's good to see you," Bo said, grabbing Cooter and pulling him into a hug. "Get on in here," Bo said, moving them into the room, and shutting the door behind him. Pulling away from Cooter, Bo held the other man at arm's length and studied him carefully. "Cooter, I..." Bo broke off and grabbed Cooter for another hug. "I thought I'd never see ya again Coot," Bo whispered into his friend's ear, his voice thick with emotion.

"Same here buddyro, I still can't hardly believe you're alive," Cooter replied, patting his lost friend on the back.

Drawing back, Bo moved to sit on the end of the bed, motioning Cooter to take one of the chairs. "So tell me about Hazzard, Cooter. How are Luke and Daisy?" Bo asked, anxious for news of his family.

"Well you know Hazzard Bo, it hasn't really changed none, except that Rosco is now Boss and Sheriff." Cooter told him, not surprised when Bo began to laugh at that. "Ol Red took over my garage when I went to D.C., though nowadays his daughter Mavis does most of the work."

"Mavis? Well guess that makes sense, she always did like hanging out around the garage with her daddy."

"Let's see now, um, Rhuebottoms is still operating, folks in Hazzard seem to prefer a small general store to one of the big chains. Dr. Appleby retired, but we still got a good doctor..."

"Cooter! What about Luke and Daisy? They're okay ain't they?" Bo asked, interrupting his friend.

"Yeah Bo, they're okay, but they ain't the same as when you last saw them," Cooter began to explain. "Bo when we couldn't find you after the earthquake, it was hard on your whole family. Luke took it the hardest, I think he blamed himself. He stuck around Hazzard for a while, but he just couldn't handle all the memories I guess. He got Coy and Vance to come stay with Jesse before he left town, ended up working for the Forestry Service."

"Forestry Service? Well what's he do for them?"

"He's a smoke jumper, or he was anyway, he came home a couple of years ago when Jesse got sick. When Jesse passed away, Luke stayed to keep up the farm, I think he's happy enough. Not near as happy as he's gonna be though when he finds out you're still alive."

"And Daisy?"

"She got conned by some slick Romeo into marrying him. After he left her, she started going to college, get this Bo. She graduated from Duke University, has a Ph.D in ecology. She lives in Hazzard, but she travels a lot for her work so she's not there much. She's even worked on a couple of projects for the government."

"Wow, I can't hardly believe that. I always knew Daisy was smart enough to do anything she wanted, but still...wow. I just hope I'll get to see them someday, I know if Maybourne and Kinsey have their way, I'll never see anything outside this base and a prison."

"Jack said Maybourne was being a jerk today, hopefully it'll be the last time you have to put up with him though."

"How's that?" Bo asked, wondering just what his old friend was up to.

"Well, let's just say I went to see his boss and we made a little deal," Cooter told Bo, not wanting to tell him the whole story.

"Found some dirt on Kinsey huh?" Bo asked, surprising Cooter into silence for several minutes.

Cooter's jaw fell open, shocked that Bo had put it together with so little information. "How did you figure that out?"

"I ain't stupid Cooter. I know Kinsey is pulling Maybourne's strings, and I know the only way you're gonna get a man like Kinsey to back off, is blackmail. So what's he doing, having an affair or stealing?"

"He's having an affair. Dang boy that's gonna take some getting used to," Cooter said, still surprised by the changes in his friend. Seeing the look of pain on Bo's face, Cooter shook his head at his own stupidity. "I'm sorry Bo, I didn't mean to act like what you've been through was just another type of growth."

"It's alright Cooter, if I do get to go back home...home, never thought I'd be seeing Hazzard again. I suppose a lot of people are gonna notice changes, especially Luke and Daisy. I think that's gonna be the hardest part of going home, not being able to tell my family about what happened to me." Bo said, looking down and beginning to pick absently at the blanket.

Pulling his chair closer to the bed, Cooter reached out and covered Bo's hand with his own. "I know Bo, but at least you'll be home. Speaking of what happened to you, what exactly has Maybourne been giving you such a hard time about?"

"How much do you know about the Gou'ld and the stargate?" Bo asked, before answering Cooter's question.

"They told me all about the program on the way here. I'm sure there's still plenty to learn, but I know the basics."

"I'm not real sure what Maybourne's problem is Cooter. He just can't seem to accept my word when I tell him what all happened. He acts like I'm hiding something from him, like I'm protecting the Gou'ld or something. I've tried to get it through to him and so has Colonel O'Neill, the man just can't seem to grasp the idea that I didn't ask for this. I swear to you Coot, if I could go back in time and know what I do now, I would've thrown myself under those rocks when the cave-in happened."

"Bo!"

"I know, Dukes don't give up, we fight with everything we have right up until we die. But you don't know what it was like Cooter. I could feel Ocasta..."

"Ocasta? That was the Gou'ld that you found in the caves that day?"

"Yeah, the Gou'ld that stole fifteen years of my life, and would've taken the rest if I hadn't gotten lucky," Bo spoke bitterly. "Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, I could feel Ocasta burrowing into my neck, could feel him picking his way through my brain and taking control. I fought him Cooter, just like Uncle Jesse taught me and I paid for that Duke pride every day for the last fifteen years. That would've been bad enough, but I wasn't the only one who paid. He hurt so many people, mostly because he knew how much it bothered me and hurt me. And Cooter, I'm not talking about a few people, I'm talking about thousands of people who suffered and died, at my hands. Thousands of people who looked into my eyes as they died, terrified and in more pain than you could ever imagine. Then I got lucky and I got to come home to Earth, something I never thought would happen, unless it was as Ocasta's slave. I came here expecting to answer a lot of questions and I knew some would be hard, but I didn't expect somebody like Maybourne. I didn't think I was going to be treated like a criminal. The way he acts, you'd think I found Ocasta on purpose and asked to be his host, instead of being forcibly taken."

"Bo?" Cooter tried to get his friend's attention, disturbed by the bitterness and pain he heard in Bo's voice. "Bo, please look at me buddyro," he tried again. This time he was rewarded when Bo lifted pain filled, blue eyes his way. "Aw Bo, I wish I could've saved you from all of that," Cooter spoke quietly, leaning forward and drawing the younger man into a gentle hug. Keeping his arms wrapped around his friend, Cooter waited, not really sure what to do, but some instinct was driving his actions. Feeling his friend beginning to shake, Cooter heard him taking several quick, harsh breaths, trying to regain control of himself. Cooter could feel his anger growing as he listened to Bo desperately trying to hold in fifteen years worth of pain, and he cursed Kinsey again. Silently Cooter promised that he would find some way to get Luke or Daisy the necessary clearance. Finally Bo drew away from his friend, standing up he walked to the bathroom, refusing to look at Cooter.

Sitting in the main room, Cooter could hear the sound of running water as Bo tried to cover up the sounds of his sobs. Deciding that the kindest thing he could do for Bo at this point was to give him some privacy, while he tracked down a certain lapdog, Cooter stood up. Walking over to the bathroom door, he gave a quick rap, "Bo, I'm gonna go take care of something. It okay if I come back in about an hour, maybe we could go get some lunch?"

"Ye...yeah Cooter that sounds good. See ya in an hour," Bo replied from behind the closed door.

Cooter was nearly to the door when he heard the bathroom door opening behind him.

"Cooter? I know it's not much, but I just wanted to say thanks," Bo spoke quietly.

"Sure thing buddyro, anytime," Cooter replied, giving Bo a quick, short nod before walking out the door.

Twenty minutes later, Cooter finally tracked Harry Maybourne down in his quarters. Knocking on the door, he barely waited for Maybourne to open it before pushing his way inside. "Colonel Maybourne, I'm Senator Davenport. I understand you've been involved with debriefing Bo Duke."

"Yes sir, if you're concerned that he's going to hold anything back, let me assure you that I won't allow..."

"I'm not concerned about that at all Maybourne. Actually what concerns me is the way you and Kinsey seem determined to treat Bo as though he committed a crime. Now, has Kinsey contacted you in the last hour?"

"No he hasn't," Maybourne tried to go on but was interrupted again.

"Then I suggest you call him...now!" Cooter ordered, seeing exactly why Jack O'Neill didn't like this man. After only spending a couple of minutes with him, Cooter knew him for what he was; a weasel and that might be an insult to weasels.

"I'm sorry I can't do that Senator Davenport, I don't know how to reach him," Maybourne bluffed, badly.

"Give me your phone Colonel," Cooter demanded, snorting derisively when Maybourne pointed to the phone on the table. "No Maybourne, the phone you keep in that briefcase over there," Cooter told him. "Now, I'll bet if you pick that up and start dialing, the number will come to you," Cooter suggested, making it clear that it'd better.

"Yes sir," Harry mumbled. Picking up the phone, he dialed the number for a similar phone that Senator Kinsey carried. "Hello Senator, yes sir we're through for the day...but sir he's not telling us...yes sir. Senator are you sure? Yes sir, I'll see you in thirty minutes," Harry replied, hanging up the phone and closing the briefcase.

"Have a plane to catch?" Cooter asked, his voice calm and pleasant.

"As if you didn't know. I don't know what you said to him, but this isn't over," Maybourne informed the Senator from Georgia, angry that he had been ordered back to D.C. .

"Well now, don't let me stop you," Cooter replied, stepping out of the room and heading for his next stop.

"Come in," General Hammond called in reply to the knock on his office door. "Senator Davenport, is everything alright?"

"No sir, but it will be soon I hope," Cooter replied. "Maybourne and Kinsey will be on their way back to D.C. within a few hours, shouldn't have anymore trouble from them. Now, what do we need to do for Luke or Daisy to get clearance?"

"Not much actually, I was making very good headway in getting them clearance before Maybourne and Kinsey interferred."

"Good, I just came from seeing Bo and I think y'all are right, he's gonna need somebody he can talk to. Next thing is, has the Pentagon come up with a cover story to explain where Bo's been for the past fifteen years?"

"I don't think they've settled on anything yet, though I've heard mention of saying he's been in a coma," George replied.

"Nah, that'll never work. Not in Hazzard, for starters, everybody in town that was able, was out there for two days. If there had been any other way in to them caves, they would've found it and if Bo had been outside the caves, they would've found him. The other thing you have to understand is that Hazzard isn't like anywhere else. A cover story that would work in any other town in the country, will never float in Hazzard. Y'all better let me and Bo work up a cover story, we both know Hazzard and between us we'll come up with something."

"Okay, you come up with something that'll work and I'll take it to the Pentagon for approval," General Hammond agreed. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes sir, would it be okay if I took Bo off the base for lunch? I think he's getting a bit stir crazy, he's a Duke ya see and they never have done well being cooped up like this."

"I don't see why that would be a problem, let me just call the front gate and tell them," Hammond agreed, reaching for his phone as Cooter left.

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Stepping outside, Daisy watched her cousin Luke as he pulled the tarp from the old orange Charger. From where she stood, she saw Luke lovingly caressing the General's hood in a ritual she could set her clock by. Three times every year, he would go through the same steps. First he would take off the tarp, followed by the loving caress. Next, yep right on schedule, he would open the hood and begin tuning the old fellow up. After several hours of this, he would climb into the passenger seat and turn the engine over. In all the years since Bo's death, this was as close as the General ever got to being taken for a drive. Pressing the horn once, the strains of Dixie would be heard in the air and then he would turn him off and climb back out. Once again covering the General with the tarp, Luke would walk down to the creek. Daisy never knew exactly what he did down there, but she knew it had been one of Bo's favorite places and he always returned with tears streaking his face. Three times every year, he would put himself through this and Daisy wished every time that she had the strength to get rid of the General, forcing Luke to let go. Even when he'd been with the Forestry Service, Luke had come home for those three days. He had done this on Bo's birthday, and again on the General's birthday, but today, the anniversary of Bo's death was always the worst. Resigning herself to being able to do nothing but watch as her cousin tore himself apart again, Daisy prayed as she always did for the strength to help Luke through this terrible day.

TBC

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