Luke Duke did not fear death.

Luke lay on his stomach from where he fell, feeling dizzy. He had crushed the rattler that had lunged at him when he fell, and the last one was coiling an arm's length away, taking its time. The minutes dragged out slowly, taunting Luke with every heartbeat he counted. No sir, Luke was not one to fear death; he had always figured that if it was something inevitable, why fret over it? But he had always assumed that his death would have been something much different then slowly being poisoned to death on a cold stone floor, literally counting the seconds until a large snake finished him off. His arm had already begun to swell, and his head was swimming.

"You know, Luke…I almost thought you would win." Preston's voice cut into his pounding head, a taunting reminder of his impending demise. "I guess I was wrong. But you did put up a good fight. Maybe your cousin will be a better player?

Luke wanted to snap his head up, but that would startle the last snake into attacking. He couldn't form a logical response, but Preston continued.

"I met him when he was looking for you. Nice kid, blonde, yellow shirt….what was his name…Ben? Bob? No. Bo, that's it. Bo. I got his signature, if you don't believe me."

Luke couldn't get his tongue to move. The large snake was buzzing even more dangerously, and Luke could feel it beginning to tense; Preston's voice agitating it.

"I think when this is all over… I will see if he wants to play. See if he can actually survive."

Luke saw the snake's eyes change and rolled as it lunged, irritated by Preston's voice. Luke avoided the snapping of the snake's mouth, and drove the knife he had been clinging to upwards. The snake hissed, slithering away across the floor.

"Luke, don't you know you are supposed to avoid moving after a snake bite?" Preston sounded more gleeful then he had a right to, Luke thought. "It speeds up the poison."

Luke was now lying on his back, head pounding and arm aching more than he had ever felt. And Preston was still not shutting up.

"He gave up, you know. Bo? He stopped looking. They all did. No one cared enough to keep up the search. I bet no one will even cry when they find your body."

Luke managed a shaky laugh. "You're lying."

"What was that?" Preston's voice was taunting.

"You're lying." Luke was trying to keep his thoughts straight around the pain. He was having trouble breathing and his vision was blurring. He knew the venom was beginning to take effect.

Preston sounded angry. "How do you know that?"

Luke could hardly get the words out…he felt drowsy and weak. "Bo would never give up. None of them would. They will find me. And you are going to wish you were never born."

His head fell back; he couldn't even look for the snake anymore.

No sir, Luke Duke did not fear death, and he supposed that was a good thing; because he was looking it right in the face.

Bo and Co. better hurry up! Luke's fading fast, folks!

Bo careened to a stop in front of the old Morlen house, saying a slight apology to the General for the rough treatment. He was out of the car and almost to the porch before he realized he had beaten all the others there. He wasn't surprised; he had taken a shortcut-over two creeks. But he wasn't waiting.

He opened the front door and searched the room with his eyes. The building looked as if it would fall at any moment, cobwebs and dust coating every surface. Bo spotted footprints in the dust, leading through the house to a door; Bo assumed it would lead to the basement. The rest of the party was right behind him, but Bo was not waiting. He threw open the door, seeing a man descending the steps inside.

It was the man Bo had run into. Bo took in the man, the gun he was holding, and the crumpled form of his cousin on the floor past the stairs in an instant; anger flooding him mind.

Bo could not control himself; the next thing he knew he had tackled Snake to the floor; the man hadn't had much warning before Bo had collided with him.

Bo heard the gun skitter across the floor, but was focusing on keeping Preston in the chokehold he had. Preston elbowed him sharply in the stomach and Bo's grip was broken. The larger man rolled over and punched Bo squarely in the face; causing the Duke to blink in pain. He responded with a few punches of his own, causing the other man to grunt. Preston got to his feet and kicked Bo sharply in the ribs, but Bo kicked upwards on the back of the man's knees. Preston crashed onto one knee and cursed as Bo crashed into him again, slamming his head against the stone floor with the impact.

Bo was actually winning the fight until Preston broke his chokehold again and punched him in the jaw. Bo saw stars as his head hit a crate behind him sharply. He shook his head and cleared his vision to see Preston grab the gun and grin in triumph.

"Looks like I win. Again!" He laughed in triumph, blood dripping from his lip. He aimed his gun at Bo just as Agent Thomas shouted "Freeze!"

The FBI agent had a gun trained on Preston, and he meant business. Preston's face turned ugly, but he dropped the gun. Bo was already beside Luke, noting as he crouched the snake bodies littering the floor. He shuddered as he kicked one away from his cousin.

"Luke! Luke, answer me." He said, cradling his cousin's head. Luke's eyes were unfocussed and Bo felt his heart drop out of the bottom of his stomach. "Luke!"

His cousin flinched, and Bo shook him slightly. "Luke?"

"B…Bo?" His cousin's speech was slurred and he raised a hand weakly. "Sna…ake…got away."

"No, no, Luke. We got him." Bo reassured him, turning to Cooter who had just arrived, breathless. "Get an ambulance! Hurry!"

Cooter nodded, turning and avoiding crashing into Rosco, who arrived a day late and a dollar short as usual.

"No…B...Bo…snake!" Luke said again. "Rat...tler…still…here…"

"Shh, shh. Calm down." Bo said gently, seeing the red, swollen arm. The two clear puncture marks told him what had happened. "Oh, Luke!" He whispered. "When did this happen? How long?"

"Twen...ty…minutes…" Luke gasped. Bo felt his heart sink again. He knew bites had to be treated quickly as possible, and that Luke needed to lay as still as possible.

"Stay still, Luke…try not to speed up your circulation, okay?" Bo said quickly. He pulled a bandana out of his pocket, and tied it around his cousin's arm, not tight enough to cut off circulation of course, but slow it down. He felt like he was locking the barn after the horse had already been stolen, but he had to do something, or he would go crazy.

Rosco and Boss were arguing with each other over something, and Agent Thomas had already gone up the stairs with Preston.

"Hey! Rosco; we need water to wash this wound out. And he's feverish." Bo snapped. "Hurry!"

"I, ijiit! There's a creek out back!" Rosco said eagerly.

"Then get some water, please! Luke needs it!" Bo said shortly. The sheriff clattered up the stairs.

"Bo?" Luke sounded insistent. "Snake…it got away…the last one. I didn't kill it."

Bo realized what Luke was saying then. He spun on his heel, looking over the cellar floor with keen eye.

"Did he saw a snake got away?" Boss said suddenly, jumping up on the bottom step.

"Yes, Boss. Do you see it?" Bo asked anxiously.

"Good gravy, no I don't see it! You would know if I saw it, you numbskull!" Boss sputtered.

"Bo?" Luke was saying again. Bo turned back to his cousin. "Yes, Luke? What is it?"

"I knew you…would find me." He sounded peaceful. "Thank you…for not giving up. Tell…Daisy and Uncle Jesse I…love them."

"Luke?" Bo said sharply. "You tell them yourself when we get you to the hospital, you hear me? Don't you dare be talking like that, like you are going to-"

"Bo, here's the water." Rosco handed Bo a rusty cup full of creek water.

"Here, Luke; drink this. You need water." Bo handed the cup to Luke, casting a look up the stairs. "Where is that ambulance?"

Luke pushed the cup away weakly. "Can't drink, Bo…dizzy…"

Before Bo could do anything, the sirens of an ambulance could be heard.

"You hear that, Luke? You hear that?" He looked down at his cousin with a relieved smile on his face that fled instantly.

"Luke?"

His cousin was limp in his arms.

"Luke!"

Bo was curled in a hospital chair, his fingernails digging into his palms. Uncle Jesse and Daisy had met him there, their faces pale and drawn. Luke had been alive, barely, when they had arrived at the county hospital, and there had been no news since they had taken him back.

"He'll be fine." Uncle Jesse said, as if there could be no doubt. "He's got Duke blood in his veins, and that's enough to overpower any rascally snake venom." He nodded with total faith.

Daisy tried to nod, but she could not. She looked at the waiting room, at Rosco, Boss, Cooter, and Enos, and she couldn't help but think that if Luke should not pull through, he would be leaving a lot of friends behind.

A white-coated doctor with a trim beard and spectacles came into the waiting room. "Family of Luke Duke?"

Bo was out of his chair and standing in front of the doctor in a moment, closely followed by Uncle Jesse and Daisy. The rest of their friends hung back, not feeling it was their place.

"I'm Dr. Winters; I took care of the patient. Fortunately, we were able to administer an antivenin for Mr. Duke. Unfortunately, a lot of venom was able to circulate in his system. He's going to live; he's strong and healthy." The doctor hastened to add at Uncle Jesse's stricken look. "But he is going to be very weak for a while; his body will have to throw off the toxin itself. You were lucky to find him when you did; another ten minutes and we might have a different outcome."

Daisy breathed a sigh of relief. "So he is going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, I believe so.

"Can we see him?" Bo asked.

Dr. Winters looked regretful. "I am sorry; as I said, he is very weak and needs rest. He should be able to return home tomorrow, but I would like to keep him overnight for observation."

Uncle Jesse didn't look happy, but nodded. "You're the doctor." He smiled weakly, and the Dukes and friends left in a somber mood.

Bo tossed and turned on his bed, seeing Luke's unfocused eyes over and over, feeling the limp weight of his cousin, remembering the panic that had set in. He finally sat up. He wasn't going to sleep anyway, and he had a piece of unfinished business left to do.

Author's Note: This is the second to last chapter; and I am a little saddened. I had a lot of fun writing this. Just a note or two: I am not a doctor; I did take a little bit of creative license with the effects of rattlesnake bites. I kept as close as possible with the symptoms; the timeline is a little faster than real life. Reviews are welcome, and the last chapter will be coming soon. Thank you all for your continued interest and support! :)