Ok…I know…I know… so I wont bother with excused…just know I have been very busy but have not forgotten about you all… hopefully my next update won't be so long in coming. Thank you to all my readers and for those who take the time to review. I still don't own em…an' I still ain't makin' no money off 'em. Jordyn

It was another dark and dreary day two weeks later. The rain seemed to fall non-stop lately, threatening Georgia with floodwaters. The forecast remained grim at best. Still, for the Duke family, the sun had never shown brighter, for Bo had been allowed to come home.

He was able to sit up now, well wrapped in blankets to prevent him from having to fight off a cold, on top of the other things he was contending with. Bo tried his best not to mind so much, and idly flipped through car magazines or sorted and re-sorted his old baseball cards, too weak to do anything too strenuous. Though he minded the prescribed bed-rest, he didn't mind the time with Luke who scarcely left his side. It suited Bo just fine. Things seemed clearer when Luke was with him…easier.

"I ain't so scared when you're here…you take care of me," Bo had confessed with a small whimper when Luke had caught tears welling in his eyes when he informed his cousin that Jesse was making him go home from the hospital to rest. Since that day, Jesse had given up trying to talk sense into his oldest charge. Luke wouldn't hear it. If Bo felt safer with Luke, then with Luke he would be… period.

"Wish I could go outside," muttered Bo softly as he watched the rain patter against the window.

"Go out? You crazy cousin?! It's cold and wet out there…" began Luke a little confused.

"I know…but if I went out…I'd be happy to get to stay inside, but I can't go out…so I ain't happy," explained Bo with a wistful look on his pale face.

"I know, buddy," said Luke sympathetically. "Ya just gotta sit tight a while longer. You was so sick…an ya had so many close calls…."

"I know," said Bo miserably. "I just…"

He stopped as a thoughtful look came on his wan face. His memory had started coming back, piece by piece. It didn't take much…a smell…a sound…a laugh. Just segments of the giant jigsaw puzzle of his mind really, and he had come to rely on Luke to help him piece them together.

"What is it, Bo?" asked the older cousin, putting a hand on Bo's shoulder. Luke Duke had never been the clingier of the two cousins. Physical contact was something he could take or leave. Bo on the other hand was different. He had always sought after hugs, even as a child, and if they weren't offered, he initiated them. It was part of what made Bo, Bo. Luke recognized this and tried, in his own way, to give Bo opportunities to be himself.

Feeling his cousin's hand on his shoulder brought Bo from his thoughts. He looked up at Luke swallowing. "I- it was raining… I… I was by a bus stop…crying…"

Luke nodded a little. "That was when I left for the Marines."

The thoughtful look came on his face again, his eyes soon growing wide as he stared at his cousin…the memories of that time coming back in droves. With all his strength he grabbed Luke in a tight hug and sobbed against him, not letting go.

Luke was taken aback to say the least. "Hey…hey it's alright….shhhh," he whispered, taking Bo more in his arms and rubbing small circles on his back.

"S'not! They…you was….they said you was…." Bo choked hard reliving the day that the telegram arrived.

"I'm here now, brother. I made it," assured Luke soothingly albeit uneasily.

The war was something he never did like talking about with Bo. It wasn't that he couldn't talk about it. He could. He simply chose not to. The reason was two-fold really. First off, he was home now, not in Nam. He had adopted the Marine term FIDO as his mantra: Forget it, Drive on… and to most areas of his life, he applied it. Of course, war wasn't something you could forget, but he refused to let anyone or anything control him and that included Nam. The other reason he didn't bring it up was Bo. Luke took his role as big brother seriously and, never did outgrow the desire to protect Bo and Daisy. Bo had always been tender-hearted… and sensitive. Had he known the things Luke had seen, he'd be plagued with nightmares, just as Luke had been for the first couple years. Luke didn't wish that on anyone.

"You…they…you was a p-p-prisoner?!" asked Bo choking a bit on the last word, his arms wrapped around his cousin's torso.

Luke sighed and ran a hand through the mop of uncombed curls on his cousin's head. "S'ok….I ain't no more…."

"Th-they hurt you…you…you came home…your leg…you…they …"

Luke sighed softly. "Hey…hey…it's over now…was just a sprain really…I can still outrun ya," he added gently by way of a joke, hoping to lighten the mood.

Poor Bo hardly heard him. He just embraced Luke again sobbing into his shoulder.

Luke hugged him gently, his hand against the blonde's mop of curls. "Hey…hey…s'alright…"

"Th-they beat you…you come home…s-slept…with the light on….an…an n-nightmares….b-bad ones…"

Luke let off a soft sigh. It had never occurred to him that when Bo's memories started coming back it wouldn't just be the happy ones. "It's over Bo," he said in an effort to keep his voice soothing despite what they were talking about.

Bo pulled away from Luke tears still running down his face as he bit his lip and looked at his cousin, seeing for himself that it really was over just as Luke said.

Luke took out his handkerchief and tenderly wiped Bo's tears. It pained him to see his cousin so upset.

"How… how did you…?" asked Bo softly looking into Luke's brilliant blue eyes, with his own misty ones.

"How did I what?"

"Survive…" answered Bo his voice barely audible.

"I had to," answered Luke simply. "I made you a promise I'd come home… an' Dukes don't lie. I knew you needed me. I couldn't not…"

Bo sniffed hard at that. "F-for me?"

"Well, Daisy and Jesse too of course, but you was the one got me through it…" He smiled a little revealing something he had never told anyone. "I…after…they uh…well..." He paused not sure what to call the barbaric tortures he went through. "After they questioned me…" he began leaving out the rest, "I used t come back t my cell…an' talk t' you…"

"T-talk to me?"

Luke nodded flushing a little. "I imagined you could hear me…and I imagined…you answered me…they thought I was crazy," he laughed an empty laugh. "But it helped, 'cuz it motivated me…all I could hear was you…telling me to come home… an' I told myself I would…alive if possible."

Bo couldn't help hugging Luke again, burying his face on his shoulder.

Luke just held him close. "You got me back…now I'm gonna return the favor. Things'll be ok…I promise ya…"

Bo nodded swallowing hard, feeling for the first time that things really might be ok. After all, Luke said so, so it must be. He yawned looking up at the cousin he idolized. Luke helped him lie down, gently pulling the crumpled blanket over him.

"You're tired," said Luke softly. "You best get some rest."

"Kay," answered Bo trustingly. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me?"

"Course…" said Luke without hesitation.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Luke swallowed and nodded his hand gently brushing back the hair from Bo's eyes. "Love you too brother…rest now…"

Bo nodded and closed his eyes reaching out and taking hold of Luke's hand, holding it while he slept.

You know what to do!