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"Hazzard"ous Duty
Title: "Hazzard"ous Duty "Hazzard"ous Duty Part 1 Though they would have preferred driving The General out to pick up their cousin, both Bo and Luke knew that would take too long, even with their driving skills. So, here they stood at the Hazzard County Airport waiting for their flight to leave for Denver. "You're sure you'll be all right while we're gone?" Luke asked, concern weighing heavily in his voice. "Don't you worry none, Daisy and I can keep an eye on those worms for the few days you're away. You just be sure to bring Ezra back with you," Uncle Jesse comforted. "Yeah," Daisy added,"nothing's going to happen for a few days, so we'll just keep a low profile and keep an eye on things. You just get back here with the calvalry." **Flight 44578 for Denver is now boarding at gate 1** "That's our flight, we best be going," Bo offered. Hugs were quickly exchanged as the two young men headed for their gate. Concern marring her pretty face, Daisy asked, "Do you think they'll be OK, Uncle Jesse? Do you think Ezra will come." Jesse released a sigh, "I don't know Daisy, I just don't know."
"'Ey, Ez," Vin Tanner shouted through the undercover agent's apartment, "ya got any of that carpet stain cleaner stuff?" Ezra felt the shudder run the length of his spine, thank God he'd had his rugs scotch guarded last month. "Yes, Mr. Tanner. It is in the laundry room in the cupboard above the washer." "Thanks!" came the shouted reply. What had he been thinking? Ezra questioned himself. Not only had he spent six greuling weeks undercover, but had still somehow managed to be volunteered to host the party to celebrate the case's closure. So far two beers, three slices of pizza and two large blobs of salsa had found their way onto his white carpet, regardless of the fact the food had been set up out on his patio. Releasing a sigh, Ezra wondered if this day could possibly get any worse. "Hey Ez!" JD called out, as he used a pizza-grease stained hand to move aside the white sheer hanging across the livingroom window. "Looks like you have company." A sound which could almost have been a whimper to escaped him. It was most likely the neighbors coming to complain about the noise. Walking to his front door to meet his unexpected visitors, he opened the door. JD watched in fascination. He had never seen Ezra respond like this, not even to some of the pranks that went on. Enthralled by the sight before him, JD committed every moment of it to memory, wishing he had a camera to use to record it. Ezra's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the two men approaching. Worse than any nightmare he could have imagined, he failed to notice as all color left his face, his mouth dropped open and his hand lost its grip on the half-full wineglass. Stepping back from the door and raising his arms defensively to deny the apparition, Ezra tried to scream, "No!" but all that came out was another whimper. The sound of the shattering wine glass brought the other five men to the room, their attention focused locating the threat to their teammate. They noted JD staring at Ezra. "What's going on," Chris demanded, scanning the room. "Some men are coming up Ez's walk," JD offered as way of an explaination. Walking up to the still horrified man, Vin gently laid a hand on Ezra's shoulder as he looked out the door. Scanning the two men who were now almost the the door, he decided they didn't really look like trouble, but he remained wary. Forming a protective semi-cirle around Ezra, the six men watched in fascination as Ezra re-composed himself, turned and requested someone find a towel with which the fallen wineglass could be cleaned up and then turned to meet the two beaming men who had just spotted him through the door. Opening the screen door, the taller of the two men, a young looking, broad-chested blond, called out, "Cousin Ezra!" before engulfing the undercover agent in a huge hug. The shorter, but just as muscular, dark-haired man, followed with "Great to see ya, cuz, as he, too, hugged the unresponsive southerner. Noticing the six men standing around Ezra exchanging confused and somewhat stunned looks, the blond asked, "So, ya goin' ta introduce us to your friends?" Shaking himself, he recovered some of his composure and began introductions, "Bo. Luke. These are my co-workers and friends. The young man staring with his mouth open is JD Dunne. The mustachioed man next to him is Buck Willmington. Next to him is Nathan Jackson. Then Josiah Sanches. Chris Larabee is the blond gentleman with the green glare and finally the gentleman to my left is Vin Tanner." Turning to partially face his friends Ezra continued, "Gentlemen, my cousins, Bo and Luke Duke." Quick greetings were exchanged as the six men welcomed the cousins into Ezra's home. A calculating look appeared in Vin's eye as he watched Ezra interact with his cousins. Yep, Bo and Luke might be a good source of dirt on Ezra. "So, when was the last time you all saw each other?" Vin asked. "Shoot," Bo said, "I thik last time we saw ol' Ez here was when he teachin' me how ta drive." Luke nodded in agreement, "Yep, sounds about right." A wicked grin appeared on Luke's face, "Course, I think Bo showed him a thing or two about driving too." Ezra smiled. He had indeed been teaching Bo how to drive the last time he saw his cousins from Hazzard, of course, no one had bothered to tell him that Bo already knew how to "drive like a Duke". The experience had been one of the most enlightening and terrifying of Ezra's young life. The other six ATF agents turned curious faces to Bo who was just grinning and shaking his head. "Let's just say driving in Hazzard County is a little different than driving in the city," was Bo's enigmatic reply. "So what brings you gentlemen to our fair city?" Ezra interupted before his friends could acquire more of an explaination from the new arrivals. The relaxed attitude and smiles left the cousins as their reason for this visit came back to mind. Looking at the seven men before him, Luke took a moment to decide if he should reveal his information before these men. Ezra had said they were his co-workers, but could he trust them? He sure never trusted Ezra's co-workers at the FBI. Reading his cousin's uncertainty, Ezra encouraged, "It's Ok. Whatever you have to say can be said in front of them." With a nod of acknowledgement, Luke began, "About two weeks ago, Uncle Jesse and I were meeting with the committee setting up the Great Hazzard Chili Cookoff." Luke noted that Josiah and Vin leaned forward at the mention of the cook-off. Josiah had a look of interest, Vin just looked hungry. "It's a big deal for Hazzard and people from all over will be coming to compete since it's a qualifying event for the National Chili cook-off. I'd gone into the warehouse to make sure we had everything we'd need to set up the stands for everyone. I was in the back, hidden from view when I overheard some men talking about a shipment, how the cook-off was the perfect cover." Luke had also heard them call Roscoe the most innept sherrif in twenty counties, but didn't feel that was necessary information. "Anyway, I got curious. Over the next week and a half Bo, me, Uncle Jesse, Daisy and Cooter kept an eye on the men." Leaning forward and picking up the narrative, Bo continued, "Three days ago we were out back of the warehouse when we heard the men. They were talking about their shipment." Looking directly into Ezra's eyes, he said in a low tone, "They were talkin' about fourteen crates of guns being in Hazzard and a bunch more comin' in in time for the cook-off." Buck let out a low whistle. Even not knowing what type of guns, fourteen crates plus more would be too many. "What about your local ATF branch?" Chris asked. Bo and Luke exchanged a glance and Ezra smiled slightly. Luke began an explaination, "In Hazzard, we, uh, don't exactly have the best relationship with the ATF." "More because of the alcohol than the firearms," Ezra supplied. Though JD still looked baffled, most of the others picked up the reference as one to moonshine. "There's another reason, though," Bo added. Exchanging a glance with Luke and seeing his cousin nod his agreement, Bo took a deep breath before continuing. "When we went to tell them about the gun shipment, the man we were supposed to talk to is the same one that we saw talking about the shipment coming in." The cousins were met with seven angry faces. "God damn traitors," Vin muttered. "That's a serious accusation," Chris said, not wanting to believe what he had heard, but unable to deny the truth in the cousin's voices. A hard mask fell across Luke's face as he matched Larabee glare for glare. Ezra picked up on his anger immediately. "Mr. Larabee was not questioning your report," Ezra soothed, knowing that alienating his cousins or angering them would be a very unwise mood. "He was just trying to communicate the seriousness of the accusation. Such a charge will prove sensitive and require delicate handling with regard to the internal consequences." Luke nodded that he understood, but refused to break the challenge of Larabee's gaze. Though he tried to see the situation objectively - after all, here he is, a complete stranger to the man, accusing a fellow ATF officer of the worst sort of betrayal - Luke was having a hard time convincing himself Larabee hadn't been questioning the honor of a Duke. Sensing the potentially ugly situation that could develop, Nathan stepped in. "I'm assuming you came to Ezra to ask for his help?" he asked. Bo sighed. "We didn't know who else to go to, who else to trust. Uncle Jesse remembered that Ez had been joined the ATF and knew we could count on family. So, after we tried calling you and didn't get a hold of you, Luke and I came out to ask in person." Ezra nodded as he thought back to his time spent in Hazzard County. A small smile crept across his face as he remembered the trouble that seemed to stick to Bo, Luke and even Daisy. Though his stay had been short, it had been adventurous, and one of the happiest times of his life. Nodding in agreement, Ezra turned to Chris, "Mr. Larabee. I don't know what would be involved in my going out to help my cousins, but I feel I must help." Vin slapped Ezra on the back. "Hell, Ez. Yer as much our family too, even if it ain't by blood. We'll all be goin' if we can swing it," Vin encouraged, his eyes challenging Chris to deny the truth of his statement. The others agreed with Vin. Chris eyed the men before him. His own inclination was to go along and help Ezra out, but he had a huge uphill battle politically not only to get permission for his team to operate in Georgia but also to let them check out the ATF agent in question - and all without letting people in on it. This would not be a normal operation and broke any number of rules and procedures. Of course, when had anything his team did been normal. With a resigned sigh, he said, "I'll talk to Travis tomorrow and see what we can arrange." Smiles broke out around the room at the pronouncement, leaving Chris with the thought, 'God help Hazzard County'.
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