I've been tryna' write Luke's marine homecoming into this story, but I never could do it. I was listening to mercyme's 'finally home' and it clicked. I changed up the words quite a bit to fit my fic. btw its a gr8 song to listen to if ur mourning the loss of a loved one. anyway, on with the story:

OCTOBER 1975

Bo knew that he'd best be gettin' on home soon, Uncle Jesse was probably worried sick over him. But, he'd be even more worried when he saw the condition that his nephew was in. He tried to get up, but it all hurt too much. He was also struggling to breathe.

It was getting cold out, and the dark clouds above were crying softly, as if they knew the pain he was in. The sun was setting fast, and it would soon be too dark to see.

Then, like a Godsend, Cooter Davenport came tooling down the road in his truck. He stopped when he saw a mess of battered Duke laying sprawled out on a rock.

"Bo, what happened to you?" Cooter rushed out of his truck and over to Bo.

"C-cooter? Th-thank God." Bo tried once again to get to his feet, but he couldn't.

"Bo, who done this to ya?" Cooter realized that Bo'd been beaten upon closer inspection.

"A b-buncha city...dudes in a hotrod...mu-mugged me..." Bo coughed.

"Aw, Bo, you're bleedin' a lot kiddo..." Cooter helped him to sit up.

"I know it..." He wheezed.

Cooter helped Bo to his feet.

Seeing that Bo was about to fall over, Cooter picked him up and hauled him out to his truck.

"You're freezin' cold, Bo." Cooter took his jacket off and put it over Bo's shoulders.

"Thanks." Bo burrowed his soaked head into the worn old truck seat.

"Jesse, this is crazy Cooter, you out there?" Cooter picked up the CB.

"Yeah, this is Jesse Duke. Listen Cooter, have you seen anythin' of Bo? He was s'posed to be home an hour ago."

"Yeah, I've got him with me. Seems some no goods ruffed him up but good."

"Is he alright?" Jesse asked.

"I think so. I'm gonna get him home right quick. I'll see you then, I'm gone."

Cooter pulled up at the Duke farm, and by this time, Bo was asleep.

"C'mon, buddy." Cooter opened the door and picked Bo up in a bridal carry, bringing him to his uncle, who'd set everything up on the couch to clean Bo up.

"Oh, Cooter, what happened to him..." Jesse accepted Bo into his arms and onto the couch.

"I don't know, I found him like this." Cooter knelt next to the couch.

Jesse first took a towel to Bo's wet hair, not wanting him to end up with pneumonia or a cold, if that wasn't already in the cards.

Then he turned his face toward him and began to clean his bloody mouth.

Cooter took a blanket that Jesse'd prepared and wrapped it around Bo's shoulders, replacing the wet jacket.

"Help me take his shirt off." Jesse started in, and Cooter helped as requested.

"Oh..." Cooter sighed when he saw all the bruises on Bo's chest and sides.

"At least there ain't no open wounds." Jesse sighed as he wrapped more blankets around his nephew.

Cooter took the soaked shirt and put it in the sink.

"Cooter, we almost there?" Bo slurred.

Cooter trotted back in from the kitchen.

"Yeah, you's home now, Bo." Jesse assured him.

"Uncle Jesse?" Bo opened his eyes.

"I'm right here, son." Jesse started in on Bo's raw knuckles.

"I'm cold..." Bo leaned into his uncle, where he fell asleep.

Jesse an' Cooter finished cleaning him up, then they took him to bed for the night.

He awoke a few hours later, not so cold anymore. He looked over at the nightstand, the moonlight shining in just the right place so he could see the framed picture of Luke. He remembered how close he was to seeing him again, and a few tears fell.

He began to whisper softly to himself:

I'm gonna wrap my arms around my brother's neck

And tell him that I've missed him

And all the things I swore I would say

Words just won't come yet

There's so much I wanna say

There's so much I wanted you to know

I'll tell him all about the man that I became

When he finally makes it home

Luke sat on a airplane, surrounded by other home-coming Marines like himself, but he was zoned out: All of the noises and people around him were drowned out, as he imagined the wonderful day that was coming up, the day he'd come home to Hazzard to see his family again, after almost two years.

A few tears escaped his eyes as he whispered into his shirt sleeve:

I'm gonna wrap my arms around my brother's neck

And tell him that I've missed him

I'll hold him so close to me

And tell him I love him more than he could know

Then I'll be taken by the fierce love of Daisy

Her glowing embrace

Then I'll grab my uncle, holdin' him so tight

And tell him all about the man that I became

And hope that it pleased him

When I finally make it home

well thats that for this chapter :)