Duke walked along the wall, making sure to feel every turn of every corner. FInally, he felt a door. He tried to find the knob. When he did, the door opened and he yelled "Bart?"

"Over here." He heard.

Duke walked into the other room. Only... It wasn't another room. It was a basement. With stairs. But Duke (Nathan) was blinded so he wasn't aware. With the first step, he fell. Down the staircase, with every step more painful than the last. A strange feeling for Nathan, considering he hasn't felt pain in a long time. One step was different, felt like there was a hold in the middle. Sharp wood surrounding the hole pierced into Duke's knee. Every tiny woodchip felt like several tiny slivers imbedded in Duke's skin. At the bottom of the staircase, it was pitch black. Most likely because of the blindfold, but that wasn't the case because the blindfold unknowingly slipped off while he tumbled down the stairs. He stayed on the floor, trying to figure out what hurt most. Nathan realized that Dukes upper-body was okay, his shoulder hurt a bit and his legs were aching, the only thing that gave Nathan intense pain was the woodchips that sliced into Duke's knee.

"You alright?" Bart asked.

"I'll live. What about you? What happened?" Duke gripped his knee.

"Well, one stair gave out and my foot was caught in the hole. I managed to pull myself out but I fell down the other steps. There's bood everywhere so I was trying to find a first-aid kit, which is down here. But I didn't expect to fall. Can you stand?" Bart replied.

"I'll try to. Where's a light-switch?" Duke (Nathan) placed a hand on the wall and tried to pull himself up.

"You should be right by it." Bart answered.

Duke managed to get himself off the ground. He groaned in pain a few times but managed to calm himself down.

"Man, this sucks." He mumbled.

Limping, he felt the wall for a light-switch. In no time he found it and flipped the switch. Brightness filled the room. He could see, which also made him realize that his blindfold was off.

"Duke?" Bart looked up at him from the ground.

"Uh.. Not quite." He told him, still dragging himself along the wall.

Ignoring that, Bart commented "why're you here?" Bart noticed the wound in Dukes knee. "Oh, you shouldn't be walking on that. I'd get you an ice-pack but..."

"Look, I have to tell you something quick. You know about the troubles, right?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, everyone does." Bart replied.

"Well, you have one. And it's deadly." Duke informed.

"What? What do you mean?" Bart questioned.

"Look, those two guys that came to the bar. Before they died, they swapped bodies. We don't know why but it's because of your trouble. They died because of your trouble." Duke explained.

"Oh my god." Bart gasped.

"Do you know why your trouble would do that?" Duke asked.

"Um... Well, not really. Oh, growing up, my family motto was 'before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes' I even have a tattoo of that on my arm." Bart tol him.

"When did you get that tattoo?" Duke remarked.

"About a week ago. Wait, you don't think my tattoo started my trouble?" Bart guessed.

"Probably, i mean, Ben and John were fighting before they died. And so were me and Duke." Duke mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Bart asked as he put the pieces together "Oh my god."

"I'm detective Wuornose." Duke admitted.

"So Duke is-" Bart was interrupted.

"Upstairs. And dying. Because of your trouble. I'm sorry." Duke told him.

"What do I do? How-how can I reverse it?" Bart replied.

"Well, Duke has a trouble. Luckily, when you swapped our bodies, you swapped our troubles. Dukes trouble is that he can cure troubles. Even in your family. Nobody will get it again. The only thing is that it only works... If I kill you." Duke explained.

"Oh." Bart said, a mix of sadness and shock in his voice.

"But there's a way I can stop your trouble, I think." Duke inquired.

"How?" Bart croaked.

"Cutting off your tattoo." Duke suggested.

"You think that'll work?" Bart asked.

"I hope." Duke began to yell "Parker, we need a first-aid kit!"

"Wait, you say if um... 'Duke' kills me, the troubles will end in my family? Like... My kids?' Bart double-checked.

"Yes. But if we get the tattoo off-" Bart interrupted by shaking his head.

"You're not sure though, it may not work."

"What're you saying?" Duke asked.

"My girlfriend, the one I was going to see in Boston. She's pregnant. She was going to come back here with me, driving, you know. A road trip. My trouble is killing people and that's on my conscience. And if Duke dies, and I could have saved him. That's on me, too. I'd rather die than have that for the rest of my life." Bart explained.

"But, the tattoo. It could work." Duke said.

"And if it doesn't? Duke's dean." Bart looked at (Nathan) sympathetically and gave a slight nod. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, he dialled some numbers and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Julie. Um... I can't make it to Boston. I just want you to know, I love you. And remember, I'll love you forever, I'll love our baby forever and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I have to go. Goodbye." He closed the phone and started to chuckle "Voice-mail."

Duke pulled the gun from his pockets. "Look, I-I don't want to kill you. That's a last resort."

"Look, Nathan was it?... It's okay." Bart gave a slight smile.

"No, it's not. We're going to try and save you first and that's that." Duke demanded.

"Why such a sudden change of heart?" Bart inquired.

Duke sighed "Duke was right. You are a good guy. And if I have to kill you to save someone like Duke, that wouldn't be right."

"Someone like Duke? You don't like him? He always talks about you. Not good things all the time but he still talks about you. Heck, when we were having drinks and sharing nachos, he wouldn't shut up. If I had a friend like Duke, I'd do everything I can to save him." Bart replied.

"Duke's not my friend." Duke informed.

"Shame." Bart shook his head.

"Come on, let's get your foot healed up. Where was that first-aid kit?" Duke asked.

"On the shelf beside the cooler." Bart answered.

Duke (Nathan) leaned against the wall for support and opened the first-aid kit. He grabbed bandages and proceeded to walk to Bart. While holding the gun in one hand, finger subconsciously on the trigger, he knelt beside Bart.

"Now, this'll hurt a bit." Duke proceeded to wrap the bandage along Bart's foot. Scratches and a few gashes caused a lot of blood surrounding the foot itself. While wrapping the bandage, Duke accidentally got a drop of blood on his hand.

He paused. Duke's eyes turned a white/silvery colour. "What the-"

"Are you alright?" Bart looked at his eyes.

"Duke!" Duke yelled, his head facing the roof "Duke!"

"He can't be dead already... He just can't be." Bart noticed the gun in Duke's hands. Duke (Nathan) was in arms-length. Bart grabbed the barrel of the gun and put it to his forehead. "Please, he can't die because of me. No-one should die because of this."

"No, it's not fair." He replied.

"Life isn't fair. Please, Nathan." Bart pleaded.

With that, Duke's finger still on the trigger, Bart's hands still on the barrel. In that moment, Nathan used Dukes 'superior-strength' and tried to yank the gun away from Bart's hands. But in the struggle, Bart accidentally cocked the gun and Duke's finger clinched on the trigger.
In an instant there was a loud, booming, bang.