Artie's breath left him when he realized what he was holding, and he nearly dropped it, horrified.

Bat was likewise stunned, and looked at Grady, to see a satisfied smirk on his face. He sat up and looked at his cousin again, with sympathy.

Artie took a shuddering breath, in an attempt to calm himself. He tried to bury his emotions for the moment, aware of the extreme danger that he and Bat still faced, and tore his gaze away from the bloodied material, looking back at Grady.

"Did I just succeed in accomplishing something that scores of men have tried and failed to do?" Grady asked. "Did I just kill the mighty James West, and break up the famous West and Gordon team?" He laughed.

Rage filled Artie, and he took a step towards him.

Grady swung the gun at him. "Ah ah ah!" he scolded.

Artie stopped, the anger not leaving his face. "You are going to pay for this," he said. "I don't know how or when, but you will pay, I swear it."

Grady smiled. "How will you ensure that once you're dead too? You and Mr. Masterson both," he said, gesturing towards Bat with his gun.

Artie gave no answer to that. If looks could kill, Grady would've disintegrated by now.

Grady chuckled. "I'll leave you alone for your last few minutes of life…with what's left of your friend." With that, he backed out the doorway, and left.

Artie closed his eyes, feeling the jacket in his hands but unable to look at it.

"Artie," Bat said.

Artie opened his eyes and looked at him, with a sigh. "We have to get out of here," he said, again.

Before he could do anything, however, two of Grady's minions walked into the room with rope. One of them headed towards Artie, grabbed the jacket from his hands, and threw it to the floor, before yanking his arms behind him and tightly tying his wrists.

The second man did the same with Bat, roughly pulling him up from the bed and ignoring his pained gasp.

Artie fought to get away, squirming in the man's grasp, but the other minion held a gun to Bat's head.

"Want him to die right here?" the man asked.

Artie stopped resisting, and the men pushed them both towards the door, one of them holding Bat's arm as he painfully limped. They were brought outside and over to a tree where something ominous hung.

A noose.

Artie was in a state of shock. Jim was apparently dead, and Bat Masterson was about to hang. His best friend and cousin would both die on the same day; two men that Artie regarded as the brothers that he never had…and he would probably be next. The government was about to lose three of it's most trusted lawman.

Artie tried to get his hands free of the rope, vowing to himself that if he was going to die, then he was going to try—somehow—to take Grady with him…the man who had killed two of the people who meant the most to him in the world.

They reached the tree, and the man who'd been sitting outside the window brought the chair over and put it under the noose. Without warning, two of the men grabbed Bat and lifted him up by his elbows, standing him on the chair where he teetered a little on his wounded leg. He looked at Artie, shocked that the situation had come to this. He had survived every near-encounter with death time and time again, but it looked like his luck had finally run out. He gave his cousin a slight smile, showing no fear for Artie's sake, even though he was horrified that Artie would have to witness this.

Artie looked at Grady, inwardly panicking as one of the men stood on the chair and pulled the noose over Bat's head. He struggled in the henchman's grasp. "Grady!" he urgently said. "What can I offer you to change your mind?"

Grady shook his head, not even pondering the notion. "You don't have what I want."

"How do you know that?" Artie said.

"Because no one can give me what I want," Grady answered, angrily.

Artie quickly figured out what he was referring to: his brother. "Grady," he said. "Listen to me…the law is the law. Your brother committed a serious crime and received the legal punishment for it. No one likes it, but he should've known better and not murdered those men. You can't blame that on anyone but him."

"Yes I can!" Grady exclaimed. Before Artie could say anything else, Grady kicked the chair out from under Bat.

Bat gasped as he dropped and the noose pulled tight around his neck. A second later, a gunshot sounded, and he continued to fall, landing on the ground in a heap.

Everyone looked towards the shot, to see James West standing there, shirt bloodied, pointing a rifle at them. "Drop the guns right now, and untie them," he shouted. "Or Grady dies." He walked forward. "Grady…if you shoot Bat or Artie, I'll fill you full of holes and let you bleed to death!"

Grady was shocked to see Jim alive. "But you're dead!" he exclaimed.

"Do ghosts carry rifles?" Jim asked. He walked closer, still pointing it at Grady. "Untie them!" he exclaimed again.

One of the men quickly untied Artie, who dropped to his knees beside Bat, who was gasping on the ground, the noose still tight around his neck. Artie loosened the noose and pulled it off, before shoving at the man who was untying Bat and working on the ropes himself.

Jim reached them and looked down at Artie and Bat. "You two all right?"

Artie glanced up at Jim, feeling shaky. He'd almost lost his best friend and cousin, and in the blink of an eye, everything had changed. "For the most part," he said, getting the ropes off Bat and helping him sit up.

"Sheriff!" Jim suddenly shouted.

Unexpectedly, a dozen men came running out of the trees. "I told you to wait for us, West!" the sheriff answered, as he neared them.

Jim sighed. "It's a good thing I didn't," he said, looking down at his friends.

Bat looked at Jim as Artie helped him up. He rubbed his throat and frowned at Grady, whom the sheriff was handcuffing. "Your timing was perfect," Bat said, his voice sounding a little hoarse.

Artie smiled at Jim, with undisguised gratitude. "It usually is."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Grady was hanged the next morning. They found out that the dead man who Bat had been accused of killing had been one of Grady's henchmen; he'd sacrificed one of his own men in his deranged quest to kill Bat Masterson…and only succeeded in getting himself killed instead.

A few hours later, Jim opened the door to the train and stood aside so Artie could help Bat limp inside. They'd had Dr. Allens examine him again; who confirmed that Bat did in fact have a mild concussion, and after taking care of business at the sheriff's, they'd left town.

Artie brought Bat over to the couch and helped him lie down; making sure that a pillow was comfortably under his cousin's injured head. "How's that?" he asked.

Bat blinked a few times, the change in position making him dizzy. "Fine," he said. He looked up at them both. "I can't thank you two enough," he said. "I would probably be dead now if it weren't for you."

Jim nodded. He hadn't been shot in the gunfight with Grady's men…he'd run out of bullets, and smeared blood on himself from one of Grady's henchmen and played dead. After they dumped his 'body', he'd run back to town and burst into the sheriff's office, taking one of his rifles, telling him to get a posse and follow him, and dashed back on the sheriff's horse. "I couldn't let Artie lose his favorite cousin."

Bat smiled.

The telegraph suddenly started clicking, and Artie headed over to the desk to write it down. It was Colonel Richmond, telling them that they needed to be in Wyoming in five days, and the details of the case would be forthcoming. "Did you catch that, Bat?" Artie asked.

"I did," he answered, eyes closed.

"How would you like to come?" Artie asked, glancing at Jim, hoping that he wouldn't mind.

Bat opened his eyes and looked at them.

"You might as well spend time with us instead of recovering all alone in some hotel," said Artie.

"Interesting idea," said Bat. "I think I will."

"There's one condition though," said Jim. "You'll have to leave some girls for us."

Artie laughed and went to pour them some brandy.

Bat made a contemplative face. "I suppose I could…" he carefully sat up and accepted the glass from Artie. "But what would be the fun in that?" He raised his glass towards his cousin's.

Artie laughed again, and clicked their glasses together.

Jim shook his head with a smile. He was in trouble now.

THE END