THE NIGHT OF THE LITTLE MAN
By Andamogirl
Author's notes: season 2. Episode tag. This story takes place immediately after the episode "The Night of the Bogus Bandit."
References to the following WWW episodes: "The Night that Terror stalked the Town" and "The Night of the Lord of Limbo".
Reference to my story TNOT Deadly Machine.
Artie: Ah, well, as my old Aunt Maude always used to say to me: "Artemus, if you can't win the game, the next best thing is to upset the chessboard."
Dr. Loveless: Oh, you weary me, West.
Jim: I'm sorry. Any particular reason?
Dr. Loveless: Many reasons. You weary me with the sight of your strong, straight body. You weary me with your smug, neatly-ordered mind. Actually, not the worst I've ever encountered.
Jim: A poor thing, but my own.
Dr. Loveless: You weary me with your selfless ant-like devotion to a society that no longer deserves it.
Jim: You're not going to run out of reasons now, are you, Doctor?
Dr. Loveless: You weary me by being. By existing. By your uncanny talent for appearing at exactly the right place at the wrongest possible time. Belladonna, I'll trade you this gun for one that shoots forward. Forever and forever, farewell, Cassius. If we do meet again, well, we shall smile. If we do not, well, then...
TNOT Bogus Bandits
Many thanks to my beta reader Tripidydoodah.
WWW
TEASER
Junction City, Kansas
Territorial Communications Center
Belladonna, Dr. Loveless's henchwoman smiled as she watched Artemus Gordon sway on unstable legs and briefly close his eyes, on the verge of collapsing.
The special agent of the Secret Service was pale and drawn and sweating profusely. He was panting too, each inhalation and exhalation sounded tortured. "Still feeling a bit shocked perhaps, Mr. Gordon?" She asked coldly, with a smirk.
Artie leant against the now un-operative communications machine to find his equilibrium, still pointing his gun at the blond woman. "I'm fine, thank you," he said, his words clipped. "Hands up! I don't usually shoot women, but I'll make an exception for you."
Belladonna slowly raised her hands and waited for the right moment… Exhausted, Artie closed his eyes for a couple of seconds.
Now!
She suddenly lunged and pushed the agent backward, with all her might. Artemus hit the now dead machine and he yelped.
His left arm and shoulder and back were burned and very painful.
The room faded to fuzzy shapes, everything started spinning and he crumpled to the floor, hard, shaking and nauseous.
Artie lay there, aching and jittering and sick, aware in his peripheral vision that Belladonna was leaving the room, escaping in her turn.
Dark spots danced in his vision.
Blackness finally engulfed him.
WWW
Miguelito Loveless had escaped – again.
Glancing around him in the street one last time, James West let out a frustrated sigh and went back inside the Territorial Communications Center to see how his partner was doing.
Artemus had just thrown himself against the main panel of the communications machine putting an end to their Nemesis's plans, but electrocuting himself in the process, he mused.
Belladonna, Loveless's female henchwoman was there too, and she'd end in prison, again. Thanks to some accomplices, she had escaped, a week ago, from the New York Corrections Center for Women where she had been incarcerated for the last six months. Loveless too had escaped from Sing-Sing, at the same time, also thanks to accomplices, he thought.
He entered the Message Section room and blanched with dread as he discovered Artemus Gordon sprawled out on his back, his face slack, eyes closed, mouth opened. Unmoving. He gulped. In a split second he remembered what had happened six months ago: Loveless had electrocuted Artemus with his 'transporter' machine, killing him. "Artie! No! Not again!"
He realized something he hadn't noticed until then, having been too busy 'sparring' with Loveless, all of his attention focused on the little man.
There was a smell of burned cloth and burned flesh in the air.
Electrical burns.
He felt bile rising in his throat, his stomach turning.
Belladonna was gone, he noticed distractedly.
In a flash he dropped to his knees beside Artemus, brow creased with worry, and touched the side of his neck feeling for a pulse. The other man's skin was clammy. Artie was still alive and he sighed in relief. But it didn't last, replaced by deep worry. His partner was badly hurt, badly burnt.
He slid his fingers down to Artemus jaw and gently turned his head from side to side, noticing his best friend's unnatural pallor. "Artie! Wake up buddy!"
Eyes fluttering, Artie moaned and slowly opened them and his face immediately twisted in pain. He hissed in a breath through his teeth. "Aaah!..., It seemed like a good idea at the time to throw myself against that machine, but now, not so much… I got electrocuted again." He gritted his teeth against a wave of dizziness. "But at least I didn't die this time. Good for me. Ow! But it worked. I stopped Loveless's scheme. Ow! Oh boy! My left arm and shoulder and my back… they hurt, Jim." He was shivering now. "I…" He broke off with a grunt of pain as his burns throbbed. "I need… J'm!" He closed his eyes, struggling for breath, and his head rolled to one side as his consciousness slipped away.
Heart clenching, Jim patted his passed-out partner's arm. "Stay here Artie; I'm going to find a doctor." Then he left the room at top speed.
Once outside James looked around him searching for someone who could tell him where to find a doctor – but across the street he suddenly saw a sign with "Dr. Petersen, M.D." placed in front of a house. "Thank God!" he said and ran inside the Territorial Communications Center again to fetch his partner.
WWW
Later in Dr. Petersen's office
Frowning in concern, Jim gently lay Artie down on the examination table and said, "My name's James West, I'm a special Government agent, and this is my partner, Artemus Gordon. He was electrocuted a few minutes ago. He was badly shocked but stayed conscious, but not for long; I found him lying on the floor unconscious shortly after. He has electrical burns on his left arm, shoulder and on his back." Then he took a step back. "Help him, please."
The doctor was very surprised. "What happened?"
Jim sighed. "Long story."
Petersen nodded and auscultated his patient's heart and lungs using his stethoscope. "His breathing is shallow, his pulse is a bit erratic and fast, but it's strong. His heart wasn't damaged, that's good. He's also hot to the touch and has a high fever." He rolled Artemus on his stomach and they could see various burn marks on the brown fringed jacket. "Could you help me to remove his clothes, please, sir? Slowly and gently, I think your friend has some serious burns."
Once the jacket and shirt were gone the two men discovered several nasty burns on Artie's back, left shoulder and arm. The raw flesh was an angry red, marred, with clear blisters.
Jim felt sick.His stomach roiled.
Dr. Petersen nodded. "It's no mystery why your friend lost consciousness, Mr. West. He has second degree burns. It probably hurts like hell," he said. He observed them then touched a few of them. They were moist and blanched under pressure. He nodded again and added, "Fortunately for him those burns should disappear within two or three weeks with no scarring left, but unfortunately they are very painful. I'm going to give you laudanum for pain management and a salve to put on his burns, three times per day; it will help the healing and prevent infection. I'll give you some spare bandages too."
Relief washed through Jim. "Thank you, doctor. Can I leave you with my friend for a moment? I need to send a telegram to Washington using the auxiliary telegraph set up. I won't be long."
Peterson picked up a clay pot containing a smelly greyish salve. "Don't worry, he's not going anywhere. I'm going to take care of your friend."
Jim smiled. "Thanks doctor." Then he left the room.
WWW
Later
Jim West entered Dr. Petersen's office ten minutes later after sending a report to Colonel Richmond… and found the old man lying on the floor, coming around.
But Artemus wasn't there anymore, he noticed with alarm.
He helped the doctor to sit on a chair and asked, "What happened? Where's my friend?"
Dr. Petersen rubbed his scalp where it hurt. "Two men attacked me and took your friend with them. It's all I know. I'm sorry, I couldn't help him."
Frowning, Jim gritted his teeth. 'Loveless kidnapped him, I'm sure of that. He was there with his men, knew that Artie was hurt, knew that I would bring him to a doctor, and Artie was unconscious and couldn't offer any resistance,' he thought. "Are you going to be okay, doctor?"
Peterson nodded. "Yes, go, find your friend."
Jim left the office.
WWW
Later, in Loveless's hideout in Junction City
Miguelito Loveless leaned toward Artemus, lying on the couch. The other man was still unconscious and breathing shallowly through slightly parted lips.
He observed the nasty burns the other man had to the upper left part of his body. A thick layer of smelly salve covered them, he noticed.
He smiled and waved a stern finger, "Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! You have been a very bad boy, Mr. Gordon, and you were punished! But I will make you pay for what you did – you ruined my formidable plan! And, with your partner, you put me behind bars, for six months! I thought you were a lesser thorn in my side, but I was wrong, you're as pesky and troublesome as James West. You are both the same." He suddenly snapped his fingers, his eyes glistening with mischief, a crocodile grin still plastered on his face.
Belladonna frowned, intrigued. "What?"
Loveless chuckled. "Speaking of - bad boy - I just had a brilliant idea! The best I ever had! I don't know how I'll do it yet but I know how to get rid of you Mr. Gordon definitively without killing you…" He rubbed his long hands with glee. "And I'll do the same thing to your annoying companion. And I will make lots of money with that new machine…" Then he laughed like a maniac.
Belladonna joined her boss and frowned in curiosity. "How so Miguelito?"
Loveless looked up at the blond woman and gave a cruel smile. "You'll see, my dear, you'll see. And thanks to that machine, I will have two heirs… " He paused, looking at Artie. "I'm not going to tell you the rest of my plan… I have to have my idea developed before saying anything to you. But, I can tell you that it will be grandiose! I assure you, like everything I do."
Belladonna frowned, surprised. "Are you superstitious Miguelito?"
Loveless shook his head. "Me? Superstitious? No, I don't believe in omens, I'm a scientist. No my dear, I just want to surprise you." He gestured toward the two men who had brought Gordon to his hideout. "Take Mr. Gordon into the blue bedroom and tied him up to the bedposts. I need time to prepare his cell, where he will spend the next few weeks, until I find out how to do what I have in mind." He chuckled evilly. "Poor Mr. West he'll deduce that Mr. Gordon is my prisoner, but he's going to search for his missing partner for a long time, and worry a lot, losing sleep, and appetite, losing interest in his work, wondering if his partner, best friend, and close-to-a-brother is still alive or dead. Good!"
The two men took Artie by his armpits and legs.
Loveless added, "Lay him on his stomach, his arms and legs stretched out; I don't want him to pick up an infection. I'll come to tend his injuries later. I need him to be fine."
Belladonna smiled. "What about letting Mr. West think his partner is dead? – After a while, of course. As the two of them are very close, Mr. West will be devastated."
Loveless looked at his favorite with awe. "It's a real pleasure to work with you my dear. We are both on the same wavelength."
Belladonna smiled broadly, very pleased by the compliment and said; "I'm going to find a man with the exact height and corpulence of Mr. Gordon, that we could use as a doppelganger. His face doesn't matter, as he will be unrecognizable. Beaten to death."
Loveless nodded. "But before that, I will carry out an operation the same as I did the last time with my James West duplicate. He will be perfect."
Belladonna smiled. "Everything you make is perfect."
Tbc.