My Four Sons

by Raven McBain

Bo thinks about the tragedies that have befallen him and his family. He specifically dwells on the three young men who, for different reasons and each in their own way have become like sons to him

Title: My Four Sons

Author: ScifiRogue Kane

Rating: K+

Warnings: angst

Spoilers: If you've seen up to Friday, September 29, 2006, then you have nothing to worry about. It mentions the John/Hugh's recent car accident, the Adriana stalker story, various aspects of the Spencer storyline, and the prison riot/Christian's "death".

Summary: Bo thinks about the tragedies that have befallen him and his family. He specifically dwells on the three young men who, for different reasons and each in their own way have become like sons to him

Setting: Bo's in his office, he's just found out about Hugh.

Distribution: ask first

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. If the show belonged to me, things would have been done things waaayy differently. (Though I would love to own Mikey McBain and Hugh Hughes)

Dedication: To anyone who has ever lost a best friends or family member to tragic circumstances, especially my close friends who have lost people close to them lately or anyone who has had to survive through tragic times.

Author's notes: Two young men from my home town, who were close to people I care about died in car accidents last year and the events on the show sadly reminded me of those tragic deaths. We must always remember those who have passed on, for then they never actually left. Sometimes the hardest thing is being strong for the people you love even when your own heart is breaking. This was originally just about John and Hugh and I don't know how Rex snuck in there but it fits. Oh and I don't know much about Drew at all I just know Bo had a son who died so I just mentioned him once, because I don't know enough about him to actually write about him. Well read and reveiw, no flames please or I will send the flying monkeys after you, though constructive critism is encouraged because something is wrong wit this but I don't know what.

Bo was strongly beginning to suspect that there was some kind of curse on the Buchanan's, or maybe it was the whole damn town. It was possible he had just been to too many funerals, sat at too many hospital bedsides, seen too much heart ache up close and personal lately that it just seemed to occur to the people he cared about more often then anybody else. He had seen heartache occur to others but it never affected you as much then as when it was your own, your friend in a body-bag or wrapped in bandages laying in a hospital bed, your niece having her heart ripped out again, your girlfriend crying her eyes out at her son's bedside, your friends and neighbors who having to deal with the loss. He had hoped he would never again feel the pain of losing a son and he thanked God everyday, that he still had Matthew, but John, Rex and Hugh existed in his heart as well and as a result he was barely holding on to his sanity as he did what had to be done.

Rex Balsom was swiftly becoming the bane of Bo's existence; the smartaliky kid seemed to get into trouble on a daily basis yet Bo cared about his safety. It had happened slowly, but somehow Rex had gone from the punk kid that Bo would gladly arrest to someone he truly cared about. When Rex worked with Bo to clear Jen's name and eventually avenge her death something had changed in them both, it had created this bond that Bo couldn't understand but he didn't want to risk losing it by trying. Rex was growing into the kind of man that Bo would have been proud to call his son, even if he did drive him mad by going off without thinking. The boy lived by his own rules and he worked by his own code, which meant that many times Bo agreed with the kids intentions but not his actions, like hiding Todd Manning. That had nearly been the end of their friendship, because the betrayal was so deep, Rex hadn't trusted him and had put lives at danger by keeping a desperate man out where he could do harm to himself or others. It had taken a long time to get past that, and he thought Rex had learned his lesson about going about it on his own, but he did it again and it got him shot. Rex ran off, by himself to save Adriana and got himself shot! Rex was safe, he was still stupid and would probably put his life at risk again soon but he was safe. Thank everything that was sacred the bullet hadn't killed him, it had been close, a collapsed lung, but the young PI was out of the hospital and with the women he loved, at least one happy ending.

This left Bo with two more young men who he cared about, one dead and the other in critical condition, covered in burns. John McBain and Hugh Hughes didn't deserve the hands that fate had dealt them and the timing was worst of all.

John had finally come to terms with his past and was going to live in the present. He and Natalie could finally make a life for themselves without the ghosts of his past causing trouble. His guilt about his fathers death was put to bed he had his fathers murderer behind bars, Spencer Truman was going to pay for Thomas McBain's death. That was where John had been headed when he met his death, he had been going to his father's grave. Not only was John a damn fine cop but he was an amazing friend, always there when you needed him, and he was the love of Natalie's life. Bo had been so glad to see his friend slowly giving up on the past, letting go of his demons and letting people love him. Just a few months ago he had been afraid that John's demons had got him and taken him away from those who loved him, but he'd been brought back. That was what Bo hated, why had John escaped his demons only to be taken by death. Why had Natalie gained John fully only to lose him forever? Natalie was Bo's niece and he loved her so much, she had lost so much already that he was afraid that this would kill her. John had survived a plane crash, a prison riot and so much else only to be done in by a car crash, fate had a ugly sense of humor, and Landview was the butt of all it's jokes it seemed.

While the other two young men had sprung dramatically into Bo's life, Hugh had snuck in rather quietly. The young ADA seemed brash, even arrogant to others but in reality he was just afraid, afraid that he would be rejected by the world, as he perceived he had been rejected by his birth parents. He made mistakes, based on his emotions and yes his pride, but he was only human. The entire town had damned Todd Manning as a baby killer, not just Hugh, it was Spencer and not Hugh who was responsible for Manning's execution, but Hugh wore the guilt around his neck like an albatross. It seemed a cruel fate for Hugh to find out that the man he hated, who used him as a pawn, was his biological father. It shook the way Hugh saw himself, he was no longer the hero he tried to be but a villain. Bo had prayed that Hugh would come through it realizing the kind of man he truly was, a good man. Paige's heart was breaking right now, the woman Bo loved had just found her son; fate wouldn't take him from her now, would it? Hugh had been going to visit his adoptive parents, the amazing people who raised him, in order to reclaim his belief in himself, when he was in the accident. Bo simply had to believe that Hughes was strong enough to pull through.

Bo was still dealing with the loss of his son Drew and maybe he always would be, that's what made this so much harder. Bo's actual family was going through enough heartache lately, his father was in the hospital, his great –nephew was dead, his actual son's mother had just got out of a long coma, his nephew was dealing with sterility, betrayal and alcoholism, one niece was recovering from DID and the other had just learned another person she loved had died. He should be focusing on them and the fact that the women he loved, had finally come clean about her past, her role in John's fathers death and the fact that she had a son, who she had just found, but could now die soon. But all he could focus on was those three young men, and his own son Matthew, how much he had been through and how strong he was, giving his father hope that maybe they could all get through the bad things life through at them. Acea would get better, Kevin and Kelly would find their way back to each other and support her baby, Jessica was already getting through her problems, slowly, Hugh would heal and form a bound with his mother and maybe one day Natalie would be able to live with John's ghost. Heck maybe one day he would too. Bo reached across his desk for the phone; he needed to call Matthew.