Hot Summer Nights Ch. 06

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

Warnings: Slash, Angst, Non-Con, BDSM

Rosco stalked into the jail, damn that birdwatcher! Everything had been perfect, for him anyway, and then some damn busybody had to go and interfere. Yesterday had been a rotten day, the pictures that man had taken of him and Bo had ruined everything. Well, he supposed it wasn't a complete loss, at least he'd gotten the evidence Bo could have used against him, destroying it on his way back to the jail.

He wanted that boy back under his control, and by god he would find a way to make it happen. First though, he had an itch he needed to satisfy. In the course of his research, he had come across the name of an underground club which specialized in the stuff he liked. The problem was, while he could remember the name, he couldn't remember the address. Hoping that he would be able to find something in the Atlanta phone book, he headed to the cabinet they kept it in. "Damn it Enos," he cursed when he saw the empty drawer. "Where the hell did you put it, you dipstick?" he asked himself as he scanned the room. Moving to another cabinet, he began what would prove to be a fruitless search. "The library," he grinned. "They'll have a copy," he muttered to himself as he left the jail. Hurrying across the street and down the block, he soon arrived at the Hazzard County Library. Stepping inside, he was surprised to find Miss Lewis missing from the front desk. Quietly walking through the small building, he soon found her in the children's section, reading a story to the little ones.

"And then the Queen looked at the little man and asked him, Is your name Rumplestiltskin?" Miss Lewis read.

Rosco gasped, falling back against the cart of books he had been standing in front of. "Sorry, I, uh, tripped," he stuttered an apology.

"Are you okay Sheriff?" Miss Lewis asked.

"I'm, uh, fine Miss Lewis...I just tripped...I'll, uh, see you later." Turning around, he stumbled from the quiet building, his mind reeling under the bombardment of memories. Atlanta, the police seminar, somebody in his room, Bert Samuels, hypnotized, raping...oh god, I raped Bo Duke...turned him into...oh my god, what have I done? Rosco's knees buckled.

Cooter saw Rosco come out of the library, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. Wondering what in the library could have the sheriff that upset, he watched him curiously. "Rosco!" he yelled as he ran across the street. Kneeling next to the sheriff, he put a hand on the older man's shoulder; the flinch surprising him. "You okay Rosco?"

"Cooter?" Rosco asked in a dazed voice. Looking around, he noticed the gathering crowd, all of them gawking at him. Pulling together what dignity he had, he placed a hand on the mechanic's shoulder and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm fine Cooter."

"Sure ya are Rosco," Cooter scoffed. "Men that are fine always fall down for no reason."

"I tripped, that's all," Rosco lied.

Cooter eyed him doubtfully, he'd seen the fall and it sure didn't look like that to him. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided if Rosco wanted to deny he had a problem it wasn't any of his business. "Well if you're sure you're okay, I got work to do."

"I'm sure, thanks Cooter," Rosco thanked him, giving the other man a shaky smile. The excitement over, the crowd dispersed and the sheriff made his way back to the jail. What was he going to do now? he asked himself as he collapsed into his chair.

"Rosco, what are you doing in here?" Boss demanded. "Shouldn't you be out on patrol?"

"I don't feel so good Boss," Rosco whined.

"Hmmm," Boss eyed him speculatively. "You do look a might peaked."

"I feel peaked," Rosco mumbled.

"Fresh air would probably help, so you get on out there and start patrolling," Boss ordered. "I don't pay you to feel peaked."

"You don't hardly pay me anyway," Rosco mumbled under his breath as he walked out of the office. Pulling away from the courthouse, he drove out of town with no idea of where he was going. He drove aimlessly for more than an hour, until driven by morbid curiosity he headed for the old sawmill. Parking his car, he walked inside. The moment he walked in the door, memories assailed him; he felt ill. He would never have imagined he could do such things to another human being, especially Bo. Moaning miserably, Rosco wished he could blame the whole thing on Bert, but he knew that would be a lie. It was bad enough what he'd done to Bo and he knew it could never be made right, but he wasn't going to make it worse by lying to himself or the boy. "I know what I have to do, but first I've got to see him."

Bo sat at the picnic table, staring at nothing. A hand on his shoulder made him jump, "Luke," he whispered in relief. For a second he'd thought it was Rosco.

Luke looked at him in concern, "You okay Bo?"

"Yeah," Bo softly replied.

Luke wrapped an arm around him, "You don't sound very convincing."

"I know, I'm just trying to figure out how to tell Uncle Jesse and Daisy."

"You gonna tell them today?"

Bo shrugged, "I was thinking about it. I don't want Rosco to be able to do this to somebody else, the sooner I turn him in the better."

"Bo, there's something I think you may need to do before you go to the State police." Licking his lips, Luke nervously broached the subject with his cousin. "Ya should probably go see Doc Appleby."

"Doc? Why, do I need to see him, I ain't sick."

"Bo," Luke began, keeping his voice soft and gentle, "he can check you out, gather evidence for the case."

Bo paled, "Oh God," he moaned. Jumping up from the table, he raced to the side of the house, retching into the bushes.

Luke pounded his fist against the table, cursing Rosco for what he'd done to his cousin. "I'm sorry Bo, if I could save you from it I would," he apologized when his cousin returned.

Bo nodded, "I know Luke, but ya can't. I just didn't think about needing to do tha..." he trailed off as a familiar car came barreling up the drive.

"Go in the house Bo," Luke ordered. Standing up, he faced the driveway with murder in his eyes.

"No," Bo refused, coming to stand slightly behind Luke.

"Bo, please just let me handle this," Luke plead.

"Luke, if I can't face him here, how am I going to face him in a courtroom?"

Luke sighed, his cousin was right, but damned if he had to like it. "What the hell do you want?" he demanded as Rosco stepped out of his car.

Rosco drew in a deep breath, glancing nervously between the two cousins. At least Jesse and Daisy aren't here, he thought to himself. "I need to talk to Bo..."

"I ain't got anything to say to you Rosco."

"I know ya hate me Bo, I don't blame ya a bit for that, but you don't know the whole story."

Luke growled, "You don't really think there's any excuse you could use that would justify what you did to him, do you? Even you can't be that stupid."

Rosco hung his head, wringing his hat between his hands, "I was hypnotized."

"You expect me to believe that Rosco?" Bo scoffed. "I saw your face when you were ordering me to...you enjoyed it Rosco, you can't get out of trouble by denying it now."

"I don't expect to Bo," Rosco quietly offered. "Matter of fact, when I leave here I'm going to Atlanta to turn myself in to the State police. I ain't lying about being hypnotized, but you're right too Bo, I did enjoy it and for that I should be punished."

"You serious?" Bo asked. It hadn't escaped his notice that Rosco was acting more like the man he'd always known and not like the monster he had become.

"As a heart attack," Rosco replied. "Besides, the reason this happened to you is cause Bert Samuels wanted reven..."

"Who?" Bo interrupted.

"Uh, Bert Samuels," Rosco repeated uncertainly. He wondered why it mattered.

"Describe him," Bo ordered, a sickening suspicion forming in his mind. As the sheriff described the man who had hypnotized him, Bo realized that Bert Samuels and the birdwatcher were one and the same. "Rosco, what did he tell you to do, exactly?"

Rosco swallowed, "He said the next time one of you Duke boys was in the jail as the only prisoner I was to...rape you," he mumbled.

"Why one of us?" Luke asked.

"He wanted to destroy me and Boss for sending him to prison. From what he told me, before he hypnotized me, he figured that since Boss is my brother-in-law, he'd be ruined by what I did. It was you boys stopping one of Boss' frame jobs that made him turn on Samuels and send him to prison, so Bert wanted revenge on you too."

"He didn't tell you to turn me into a slave though, did he?"

Rosco shook his head, feeling sick as he remembered the things he'd done to the boy. "That's why I'm turning myself in. It wasn't right what I did to you Bo, nobody, least of all you, deserves to be done like that."

Bo shared a look with his cousin as Rosco turned back to his car. "Rosco wait," he called out. Stepping from behind Luke, he walked over to the sheriff.

"You want to hit me Bo?" Rosco tiredly asked. "Go ahead, Lord knows I deserve that and more."

"Rosco, what did you mean, least of all me?"

"Oh, well, I just, um, that is, you're a good man Bo and ya didn't deserve the things I did to you."

"Why did you do it then? I know the first rape was cause of Bert, but the rest of it was your own idea, I want to know why, I deserve that much."

"I don't know Bo, I never thought about doing anything quite like it before that night." Rosco didn't tell him that he had thought of making love to him before that night, but the rapes and the torture he hadn't, so he didn't feel like he was telling a lie. "After I'd done it, it was like it woke up this part of me I didn't even know was there. The more I was able to control you, the more I wanted to control you."

"So it was all about the control?"

"No, not exactly...aw hell Bo, I been half in love with you for a while."

"That's your idea of love?"

"No!" Rosco yelled. He frowned when Bo flinched, cowering away from him, "Sorry," he apologized, lowering his voice. "I don't think that's love, but I guess maybe that the part of me that had been wanting you figured if this was the only way I could be with you, then it was better than nothing."

"I see," Bo mumbled. He did too, sort of. He hadn't told Luke yet, really hadn't planned to, but a part of him had enjoyed being a slave to Rosco.

"Can I go now?"

"I don't want you to turn yourself in Rosco."

"Bo! He deserves to go to prison for what he did," Luke protested.

"Luke's right Bo, I should be locked up."

"No, and if you turn yourself in I won't testify or press charges."

"You don't have to if I confess," Rosco pointed out.

"Look Rosco I ain't saying it was right, what you did, but it started because of Bert Samuels. I don't want to see him getting away with sending you to prison just so he can get revenge against you and Boss."

"Don't you think we deserve it? If it hadn't been for what we did, he wouldn't have gone to prison and none of this would have happened. You wouldn't have suffered," he softly added.

"Okay, that's true," Bo conceded. "But, this guy wasn't some innocent man that y'all framed, he was actually guilty of the crimes he committed, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No, damn it Rosco I ain't gonna let him get what he wants," Bo snapped.

"Why do you want to protect me?" Rosco asked. He didn't understand this at all, the younger man should be offering to drive him to Atlanta, not trying to stop him.

Bo sighed, "I don't know if I can explain it Rosco. It ain't exactly wanting to protect you as much as it's about doing the right thing. Look, you did some horrible things to me, and I ain't likely to ever forget it, but it was started by Bert. I just figure if anybody should go to prison over it, he should."

Rosco shook his head doubtfully, "I don't know how we're gonna do that."

"Well it's illegal to hypnotize somebody against their will, ain't it?"

"Yeah, but we'd have to prove he did it."

"Rosco's right Bo," Luke chimed in. "There ain't any proof to tie Bert to what happened, and he ain't likely to just up and admit it."

Bo smiled at his cousin, "Well then Luke you're just going to have to figure out a way to get him to."

"Just like that?" Luke asked.

"Yep, I got confidence in ya cousin," Bo smiled.

Luke scowled playfully at his baby cousin, "I'm glad somebody does."

"You sure about this Bo?" Rosco asked.

"I'm sure Rosco," Bo assured him.

"I don't know if you boys should be doing anything," Rosco frowned. "Look at what Bert already set you up for, he could do worse."

Bo stared at him, "No he couldn't Rosco. The only thing he could take from me now is my life."

"Exactly, I don't want to see you dead Bo."

"I don't plan to die Rosco, but I can't let him get away with what he did to both of us."

"Do you really think Luke can come up with something?"

"I really do."

"What if he can't?"

"Then you can turn yourself in, if that's what you're determined to do."

"All right, I'll give him the chance."

"Thank you Rosco."

"No Bo, thank you for...just for being you," Rosco smiled. Climbing back in his car, he drove away from the Duke farm, with more hope for the future than when he'd arrived.

TBC

Hope y'all liked it. Please feed the muse with reviews.