Won't Let Go

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.


Warning: Slash, Incest, Established Couple, Violence, Supernatural


Rating: FRT


Italics and/or* indicates thoughts


Won't Let Go
Chapter 3


"How did you find out you were wrong?" Dean asked the older man.


"A week after the attack on Bo, strange things started happening again. Just like the first time around, they started off small, more pranks than anything else. The longer it went on the more serious they became until about ten days after the first prank. I wasn't here that time, Luke can tell ya what happened," Jesse told them.

"It was just after sunset, Daisy was at work and Uncle Jesse had gone to the Boar's Nest for a beer. Me and Bo were sitting outside, um, talking, when Bo got up and went inside. He said he'd be right back, just needed to get something. Damn it I should've gone with you," Luke berated himself as he turned towards Bo.


"Luke we talked about this now, it ain't your fault. There wasn't anyway for you to know what would happen," Bo reassured his lover, giving his hand a light squeeze.

Watching the two of them and reading between the lines, Dean had the feeling that they were more than just cousins. However, right now they had more important things to worry about than the love life of the Duke cousins. "Let me guess, this spirit attacked Bo again?"


Luke swallowed hard, the memories of that day still too fresh. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax before going on, "Yeah, it did, like I said, I was outside and Bo had gone into the house. He hadn't been gone long when I heard him screaming. When I got to our room, I saw Bo pinned to the wall by something. I couldn't really tell much about it, the outline made me think it was a person but that's all I could tell. It was doing something to Bo, I couldn't tell what though, not then," Luke paused, shuddering at the memory. "I ran out to the barn and grabbed Unlce Jesse's shotgun and a shell filled with rock salt. The whole time I was getting the gun and the shell, I could hear Bo screaming. As long as I live I won't ever forget that sound. I did my best to block it out, I had to if I was gonna do what I had to do. When I got back to the room, I realized I couldn't shoot it, not without hitting Bo. I didn't know what to do, I yelled at it but it just ignored me. There wasn't anyway to pull it off of Bo or to jump it. I stood there in the doorway, holding that shotgun, knowing that it was useless unless I could make that thing move and I started praying. I was praying for help, praying for a miracle and then I remembered it...the crucifix Aunt Martha had always kept on the wall of the living room. I ran out to the living room, grabbed the crucifix and got back to the bedroom as fast as I could. When I got back, I yelled at it and threw the crucifix right through it, well that got it's attention and it turned towards me. That was what I was waiting for, as soon as it had moved away from Bo, I fired and it disappeared. Maybe y'all can explain this, but when it vanished and Bo collapsed, I saw the marks it had cut into his chest disappear too. I'm glad they did, but I saw the cuts, saw the blood and Bo damn sure felt it, so why did they vanish like they'd never been?"


"It cut your chest, right? What did it use?" Sam asked.


"It didn't use anything that I could see, it just pointed at my chest and I could feel something cutting into me. I've been cut before, but this was like nothing I've ever felt, I don't think I can describe how bad it hurt. Why does it matter what it used to cut me?" Bo asked, a little confused by the question Sam had asked.


"It matters because, knowing what it used to cut you with helps explain why the cuts vanished with the spirit. More than that though, it tells us more about the spirit and that will help us figure out who the spirit used to be."


"Sam we don't really know much about this kind of stuff, could you just tell us what it is you've figured out?" Luke asked, the irritation and frustration he felt coming through loud and clear.


"Now look I've about had it up to here with you," Dean growled at Luke. He could understand the man's frustration but he wasn't about to let him take it out on Sam. "If you give the kid a chance, he'll explain it okay?"


"Dean it's okay, Luke's just worried. Okay, well for starters a spirit can kill using weapons that exist on this plane of existence or they can use their own power as any weapon they like. Before you ask, yes they can kill using only their own power, but this spirit didn't do that. The fact that the cuts vanished with the spirit tells us that we're dealing with a young spirit, relatively speaking. In the spirit world a young spirit could be a week old or a couple of hundred years old. Of course the more hatred the spirit feels, the faster it learns, and the quicker it gains power. When this spirit gains enough power, the marks won't vanish with it, and if they're severe enough they could cause death. Luke you said you saw the cuts, were they just random cuts or did they form something recognizable?"


"Oh they formed something alright. They spelled the word...die," Luke answered, barely getting the last word out.


"Thank you Luke, Bo, I know that couldn't have been easy for either one of you, but it does help." Sam assured them.


"Okay Sammy, enough with the chick-flick moments." Dean muttered, just loud enough for Sam to hear. Ignoring the dirty look from his brother, Dean turned back to Jesse, "Is that when you called our dad?"


"Yeah, but all I got was his answering machine. I left a message and hoped he'd get back to me before something else happened. Things didn't work out that way though, a week after that attack, it all started again. The last attack came three days ago," Jesse told them.


"Was Bo the target again?" Sam asked.


"As a matter of fact he was, you think that's important?" Luke asked.


"And you don't?" Dean asked, annoyed that people never seemed to notice the importance of who the target was.


"We just didn't realize. I mean each time it happened Bo was alone, we just thought it was bad luck. Never thought about him being deliberately targeted," Jesse explained, before the two younger men could come to blows. He didn't know Dean all that well, but he knew how well Luke would take the inference that he had failed Bo...not well at all. The last thing they needed right now was to be fighting amongst themselves, "So if Bo's the target of this spirit, would he be safer somewhere else?"


"Not necessarily, it depends on whether or not the spirit is tied to this farm. It could be connected to Bo, in which case he won't be safe anywhere, until we get rid of the spirit. So what we know is; we're dealing with a young spirit, the spirit is targeting Bo for some reason, and this all started about two months ago. Now if the pattern continues, we have a couple of days before it starts up with the pranks again and about twelve days until it tries another serious attack," Sam summarized what they knew. "Does anybody have anything to add?" He waited several minutes, continuing only when he was sure nobody was going to speak. "So now we have to figure out who we're dealing with. Mr. Duke has anybody been doing any digging here at the farm in the last few months, maybe accidently disturbing a grave?"


"No, the only digging we've done is plowing the fields. We've been plowing those fields for five generations, if there were any graves to be disturbed, it would've happened before now."


"Alright then, not a disturbed grave. Now this isn't meant to insult you or anything, but have there ever been any violent deaths on the property, or suicides?" When he was met with three heads shaking no, Sam went on. "Okay, if the spirit is connected to Bo himself, the visits may have been triggered by a special event. When this all started, was there an anniversary of a death, maybe a murder or suicide. No? Okay well it could've also been the anniversary of an important date for the spirit, a birthday, a wedding anything..."


"Jud! Why didn't I see it before, damn how could I be so stupid?" Luke yelled out, interrupting Sam.


"No! Please no," Bo cried out, turning white as a sheet, and beginning to shake with fear. It had been bad enough having a ghost coming after him, but the thought of it being Jud nearly paralyzed him with terror.


"It's gonna be okay Bo, I promise I won't let him hurt you again," Luke whispered as he drew Bo into a protective embrace.


"Who's Jud?" Dean asked.


"Jud was my brother, all of this stuff started about the time of his birthday."


"Okay, and why do you think he'd try to kill Bo?" Dean asked.


"Because he tried to kill him while he was alive," Luke explained, keeping an arm around Bo as he spoke. "Guess we might as well tell y'all, me and Bo ain't just cousins, we're lovers."

"I guess Jud didn't take the news well?" Sam asked.


"Nope, he left here, went and told some local boys that Bo was gay. He didn't tell them about me though, well they kidnapped Bo and beat him pretty badly. Lucky for Bo, they didn't really want to kill him, just convince him that it was wrong to be gay. When that didn't get Bo killed, Jud snuck into the hospital and tried to poison him. I was in time to stop him, but the poison caused Bo to have a mild heart attack and he had to stay in the hospital a few days. The day before he got out, Jud escaped and when we got home he was waiting for us. He tried one last time, obviously it didn't work and he was arrested again. I went to see him, before he was transfered to Atlanta and a week later he hung himself in his cell."


"Well from what you just told us, and considering that Bo has been the target, I'd say it's probably Jud then. So all we need from you is directions to his grave," Dean told them.


"Why?" Luke asked.


"Because that's where we're going to have to go to force Jud to cross over. See when a spirit decides to stay here and cause trouble, there's a simple way to force them to cross over. We salt and burn Jud's bones and he'll have no choice but to cross over," Dean snarled, getting really tired of the way Luke kept doubting them. "What?" he asked, not liking the looks on their faces.


"You're saying if a person's body is burned they can't stay here?" Bo asked.


"Yeah, why?"


"Because Jud was cremated, which means..." Luke explained.

"It can't be Jud, damn," Dean finished for him. "Great, just great, why can't it ever be simple? Sam, you got an...Sam!" Dean yelled as Sam suddenly clenched his fists into his hair and began to fall. Catching his brother before he could hit the floor, Dean held him while he rode out the pain of the vision.


"Luke call an ambulance," Jesse ordered.


"No, no ambulance. He'll be fine in a minute," Dean insisted.


"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.


"Yeah, I know it looks bad, but there isn't anything a doctor can do." Dean looked at the kind eyes of the older man and decided to trust him. "Mr. Duke, Sam has visions, he just has to ride it out."


*Sam stood in the corner of an old cabin, suddenly his brother was there. He saw him standing in the middle of the room, looking down at the floor. Hearing a whimper of pain and terror, he tried to find where it was coming from. Before Sam could locate the source of that pain filled whimper, the door slammed open, revealing Luke, a shotgun in his hands. Raising the shotgun, he pointed it directly at Dean and pulled the trigger.* "Nooooooo!" Sam screamed as he jerked from the vision.

"Sammy? You okay? What did ya see?"


"It's Sam. I...it didn't make any sense," Sam whispered, rubbing one hand against his forehead.


"What didn't make sense Sammy?" Dean asked, deliberately antagonizing his younger brother, knowing it would bring him out of his dazed state quicker.


For several minutes, Sam just looked at him, the dazed expression never leaving his face. Finally his eyes began to clear and Dean knew he was becoming more aware of what was around him, "It's Sam...."


"Okay Sam talk," Dean ordered, his tone making it clear he expected to be obeyed.


For all his talk about Dean being a good little soldier, always jumping to obey their father, Sam was no better. Only in his case it was Dean's orders he was most likely to obey, at least when his brother used that tone. "I saw you Dean, you were in...an old cabin I think. I could hear somebody whimpering, but I couldn't see who and then Luke came in and..." Sam trailed off, shuddering at what he'd seen.


"Luke came in and...what Sam?"


"He shot you Dean," Sam replied.


"That doesn't make any sense, why would I shoot Dean?"


"I don't know, I saw you shoot him and then the vision stopped. I know it doesn't make sense, but that's the way they work. It's not like watching a tv show, where all the answers are laid out for you in a nice straight line. I wish it was, it'd sure make things a lot easier," Sam told Luke, trying not to snap at the older man.


"Alright, that's enough for tonight. You boys have had a long trip, and we've been up since sunrise, I think what we all need right now is a quick supper and a good night's sleep. Dean, you and Sam can sleep in the guest room. Bo you show them where it is, me and Luke'll get supper on the table," Jesse told his youngest. Moving to the refrigerator, he began to pull out the ingredients he would need, ending the conversation.

"Come on y'all, Uncle Jesse's right. We're all too tired to think straight and we still got a few days," Bo told them, turning towards the hall that led to the guest room.

TBC


Okay, y'all know how that muse is. Hungry as ever, please send food in the form of reviews.