Dun, dun, dun! Wow, it's been awhile, but I finally decided to update this story. Life's been busy. I'm sorry guys, I'll try not to do it again. So, I'm turning 15 next Thursday (dang, am I too young for this?), so I think you guys sending as many reviews as possible would be like, the best birthday present ever. So send me some, all of ya.

By the way, I got a couple of randomly plotted one-shots in the works and one's almost done so look for it soon. That's what I was working on when I should've been working on this. Please review.

Chapter 5

Luke's heart skipped a beat, and his feet were frozen in place as his cousin's blood curdling scream pierced his ears. He looked down to see Patch laying face down at his feet.

"Bo?" he softly uttered.

Next thing he new, Rosco's voice was yelling "FREEZE!" Luke noted the lawman's gun had a veneer of smoke protruding from its barrel.

The next sound couldn't have made Luke happier. It was Bo, and the blonde Duke was chuckling.

"That was a weird moment," Bo commented. "I'll say," Luke agreed. "I ain't even sure what happened."

"Well, Rosco just started firin' blindly," Jesse said, "but he didn't hit nobody."

Cooter nodded in agreement. "Patch went down cause you hit 'im over the head."

"Oh," Luke said. "But wait, why'd ya scream, Bo? Dang near gave me a heart attack."

Bo blushed, but he smiled. "Sorry. I had one a them big ol' spiders on my arm. You know I hate them things."

Luke sighed and ruffled his cousin's honey blonde hair. "You scared ten years off me, Bo, I swear."

"Me too," Jesse told them. "Don't do that again."

"Sorry everybody," Bo apologized sheepishly.

"It's all right," Luke assured. He wrapped an arm around his taller cousin's shoulders and led him over to Patch's car. "That was a good shuck 'n' jive once again, cousin. I'd hate ta think a what would've happened if ya hadn't done that."

"Well, it wouldn't of anyways, not with Uncle Jesse followin' behind us," Bo reminded him.

"But Rosco side-swept me, so by the time we'd a got started, ya'd been long gone," Jesse put in.

"Cooter was still with us," Bo shot back.

"Let's not argue about this," said Luke. "Let's just take this overgrown sixth grader and get Daisy and Jude an' make sure Jude gits to arrest them." He expected Rosco to protest, but the sheriff made no sound.

Rosco, at the moment, feared the wrath of the Dukes more than that of Boss Hogg. Also, this was a rare occurrence, but Rosco was having one of those days he had every few years where he wondered what happened to make him so crooked. What did he have against Jude Emery? He had never met the man. Why shouldn't he help him lock up dangerous criminals? Well, there was one reason, but for now, he'd just forget about the fat man who wore white.

Not to mention, if he had an active part in the arrest, maybe for once he could get a reasonable share of reward money. He decided he wouldn't share any with his brother-in-law.

"All right, let's go," said Bo. "Should we tie up Patch or somethin'?"

Luke nodded. "Rosco, could we borrow yer handcuffs?"

"Sure," Rosco replied without hesitation. He pulled his handcuffs out of his belt and locked them tightly around Patch's wrists. Luke and Bo picked up the large man and tossed him in the rear seat of the car.

"You wanna drive, cuz?" Luke asked his younger cousin.

Bo sighed. "I'd love to, but I'm still 'injured', 'member?" He used finger quotes for the word "injured". "You can drive."

Luke shrugged in response. "We'll take the General," he announced. "Uncle Jesse and Rosco, would ya'll take this clown?"

Uncle Jesse nodded to his oldest. "I sure will, Luke. Let's git goin."

Everybody nodded and boarded their respective vehicles. Cooter was in front, followed by Jesse and Rosco, and the General brought up the rear. Once they arrived at Rosco's car, Jesse and Luke drove around it, while Cooter stopped to pick it up. The two cars continued the trek to Snake's hideout.

-----------------------------------------------------

Daisy cringed at the sight of Snake's evil smile. She hadn't been paying attention to the conversation between him and Jude. The worry of her being the only Duke cousin left plagued her mind. The only thing she knew was what had been said before Bo and Luke were taken away and the two had been alone in the cabin. Snake had told Patch to take Luke and make sure he and the car went off the edge of Widow's Peak. Of course they didn't mind Bo tagging along.

For everything else, Daisy's mind was too clouded to know. Until Snake smiled that snake-like smile. Then Daisy became attentive once again.

"I'm sure by now them boys are long gone," Snake announced. "Soon we'll git you two outta the way an' then we'll go after the uncle an' finish him too."

It was all Daisy could do not to jump up, chair and all, and attack Snake and beat the man to a pulp. She just hoped her cousins weren't already gone. Of course, knowing them, they'd get out of it. They always did. But what about Uncle Jesse?

-----------------------------------------------------

Luke had suggested to Jesse over the CB that they come at Snake's hideout from opposite sides. So Jesse and Rosco had turned off, leaving Bo and Luke alone on the road.

Well, not completely alone. The Dukes didn't notice the blue van on their tail until they were almost there.

The Duke boys rode in utter silence until Bo looked in his side-view mirror. He furrowed his brow and cleared his throat.

Before he could heed any warning, the van rammed into the General's back bumper, scaring Luke senseless.

"What the…!" he exclaimed. "What's he tryin' ta do?"

Bo shook his head. "Who is he?"

The car rammed again. This time, Luke lost control and went off the road. There was a ditch there, and with Luke's speed combined with the van's force one last time, they hit it head on and flipped over. The anonymous driver of the other car drove off without seeing if the orange car's occupants were okay.

-----------------------------------------------------

Bo groaned as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Once it passed, the young man took a few moments to collect his thoughts. Shaking his bleary head, Bo pondered what had occurred. After recalling about the pale blue van, other events flashed to his mind. Then he remembered—

Luke! As fast as his neck would allow, Bo whipped his head in the direction of his cousin. He panicked upon seeing the other man unconscious, blood slowly oozing from a small gash on his temple. Glancing over his cousin, Bo noticed the odd angle at which the brunette's arm was twisted. The blonde struggled against gravity and the car, desperately seeking for a way out. He looked toward his window, sighing when he found nothing but brown. He was trapped. The only way out was for Luke to get out first. In fact, if Luke hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, he would have crushed the younger man.

"Luke," Bo mumbled. "Come on, Luke, time ta wake up now." He gently nudged his cousin.

Bo grinned when a soft moan erupted from his best friend's mouth. "That's it Luke, come on!" he coaxed.

"Aw Bo," Luke groaned. "What the heck happened? I feel like I been hit by a truck."

"Close. It was a van. You all right, Luke?"

Luke winced at the sharp wave of pain. "It hurts, but I'll live. How 'bout you? You ain't hurt, are ya?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Bo reassured him. "I was just worried about you. But I am trapped down here."

"Well maybe I can get out," Luke said.

"Nah, Luke yer hurt," Bo insisted. "You don't need ta put yerself through that."

There was no dissuading the eldest Duke cousin, however. By the time Bo had uttered the last word, Luke had already pulled himself halfway out, suppressing gasps of pain.

"Come on out Bo," Luke grunted. Hesitantly, the blonde man climbed out of the mangled General Lee. He instantly turned to his injured relative, who sat on the ground. He subdued his own gasp at how terrible Luke looked.

Luke sat cradling his obviously broken arm. Bo realized Luke climbing out of the General had agitated the man's injuries badly. He needed medical attention before his head bled to death. With his teeth gritted, Luke was breathing heavily.

"Bo," he said wearily. "Take the ketchup off yer leg an' git goin' without me."

Bo was outraged by this request. "Luke Duke, there ain't now way I'm leavin' you alone when yer hurt like this!"

"Bo, Uncle Jesse and Daisy could be in more danger than me. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself."

"How do ya think I'd feel if ya bled ta death here?" Bo protested. "I can't do that, Luke. I would never be able ta live with myself."

"How do ya think I'd feel if somethin' happened ta them?" Luke said. "How would you feel? I'll just CB Cooter an' I'll be fine."

Bo had no answer. Instead, he just stared blankly at his cousin.

"Just go already! I'll be fine! Luke insisted. "Git outta here!" His persistence was wearing down at Bo, he could tell. He and Bo exchanged a few more words like this.

So Bo did the hardest thing he'd ever done. He swallowed his own stubbornness, turned his back to his cousin and walked down the road, tears sporting in his eyes.

Ol' Luke's real self-sacrificin', ain't he? I sure hope Bo made the right choice. Stay tuned, ya'll.