Loveless had decided he needed an outlet for his frustration and he had decided Jeremy was to be it. He had Jeremy tied to a chair and allowed Voltaire to 'interrogate' him. The beating lasting long into the night even after Loveless had grown bored and gone to bed.

When Voltaire had finished and left Jeremy in the room alone, Jeremy's head slumped against his chest, blood flowing from his split lip, several cuts and contusions on his face. His breathing was raspy and uneven. Guys, I sure hope you find me soon, Jeremy thought, I don't know how much more of this I can endure. Jeremy fell into a deep sleep.

Jim woke with a start and immediately regretted moving so quickly. He hurt from head to toe and felt like he had been used as a battering ram. He gingerly sat up and took in his surroundings. The fire had died down some time ago, the embers not even smoking. On the other side of the fire lay his partner. Jim took in his appearance and was dismayed. It appeared Artie wasn't sleeping as well as Jim would have liked. He must have rebroken some of his ribs, oh the doc is gonna love that! Jim guessed as he watched the shallow, uneven rise and fall of his partner's chest.

He rose quietly and went to his partner's side and knelt beside him. Artie's face looked somewhat flushed and his breathing was indeed raspy and uneven. Damn, he needs to be back at the train and under a doctor's care. How the hell am I going to convince him I'm right? Jim thought.

"Give it up, partner, I'm NOT going back to the train without Jeremy," Artie said vehemently as he pushed his blanket off.

"Morning, pal, and didn't your mother ever teach you it isn't nice to read other people's thoughts?"

"I just know my partner. And he's wrong…dead wrong."

"Artie, you're in no condition to continue," Jim tried to reason with him.

"And neither are you, Jim. Your arms can't make for very comfortable riding."

"My arms are not your ribs, pal. Look, I know there's no time to get you back to the train but what if I left you here just while I scouted around," Jim tried.

"No it would waste too much time. Jeremy needs us…okay he needs you…I won't be much help to you in a fight. But I can go along and do as much as I can."

Jim saw this was getting him nowhere so he agreed and helped Artie up. They cleaned up their campsite and him saddled the horses while Artie broke down camp, getting angry glares from his partner when a stray moan or groan escaped. Once they had everything cleared away and Jim again found tracks they could follow he helped Artie mount Mesa and he shook his head in dismay when he noted that Artie leaned forward in the seat, almost hunched over.

"Jim, look over there…" Artie pointed off into the forest.

"Tracks that don't belong to you or me."

"Damn, Loveless knows where we are and he knows we're following him," Artie said tersely.

"That means he'll know when we're coming and from which direction."

"Well, James, ever since this whole mess started you wanted to get a work out…I think you'll get your chance."

"Not quite what I had in mind but I'll make do," Jim smiled.

"Well, when the time comes I just may have some surprises in store for Dr. Miguelito Loveless. Artemus Gordon still has an ace or two up his sleeve," Artie winked at Jim as he prodded Mesa forward.

Jeremy slowly opened his eyes to see Loveless patiently waiting for him to wake. He stared at him as best he could through swollen eyes. He glared at Loveless who only smiled.

"My dear, Mr. Pike, how very unfriendly of Mr. West and Mr. Gordon to have left you to my amusement. You really should be very angry with them."

"James and Artemus will take care of the situation," Jeremy spat.

"I would not be so sure of that if I were you, Mr. Pike. I have been informed they are a bit worse for wear. It seems they wanted to make sure they completely destroyed my house before headed out looking for you."

"What have you done to them?"

"Me? I have done nothing to them, Mr. Pike. Surely you can not think to hold me accountable for any injuries they may have suffered after I had left the farmhouse."

"Dr. Loveless I hold you responsible for everything that's happened and my report to President Grant will reflect that."

"Oh that is too bad…too bad indeed. I had so hoped that you would see things more clearly by this morning…apparently I was mistaken. Voltaire it seems Mr. Pike here is in need of further convincing. Please carry on, I'll be in the other room awaiting the arrival of our friends Mr. West and Mr. Gordon," Loveless said as he jumped down from the chair and left the room.

As they neared what they believed to be Loveless' new hideout, they dismounted and walked the rest of the way, not wanting the horses to give away their presence. Jim looked at his partner sadly, Damnit, why does Artie seem hell bent on running himself into the ground just for a chance to nail Loveless? Jim thought. Artie could feel Jim's dagger look piercing into him and did his best not to notice.

"How many men do you count, Jim?" Artie whispered.

"I see three outside and when the door opened I saw at least two more inside."

"That's what I saw too. That means at least 5 men plus Voltaire. Think you can take a couple of them?"

"What do you have in mind?" Jim asked not sure he wanted to know.

"If we can even up the odds a little I think I can get us in that house. It'll be noisy but that should be the diversion I need to sneak in and get Jeremy out."

"Wait just a damned minute, Artie. YOU sneak in there and get Jeremy out? What makes you think I'll let you do that?"

"You'll be busy being the distraction," Artie grinned.

"No way, pal. That's way too risky."

"No, Jim it's easy with this…" Artie gestured to a goatskin flask he was carrying.

"What's that?"

"Just a little sleeping gas I cooked up."

"That's what took you so long in your lab."

"Yeah but you have to be face to face to administer it. I didn't have time to cook up a proper batch. You keep the guys out front busy and I'll slip inside."

"What about Loveless and Voltaire you can't take them on by yourself?"

"I'm hoping you won't have that much trouble with these guys after all there are ONLY three of them," Artie winked at his partner.

Jim rolled his eyes and waited until his partner had worked his way around to the other side of the men. Then he simply stood up and walked right up to them, startling them.

"Hi, I think Dr. Loveless is expecting me," Jim stated as he grinned at the men.

They continued to stare opened mouthed at him so Jim approached the nearest man and started swinging. Caught off guard, the man fell over backward, knocking down one of his fellow guards. Man is it me or do Loveless' henchmen get dumber every time? Jim thought as he punched one man in the jaw. He knocked another man over the railing and bent to scoop up a broken piece when one of the men kicked him in the ribs.

Jim grunted and swung the piece of railing upward like a club, solidly connecting with the man. He barreled into him, tackling him to the ground. He looked up and saw his partner sneak into the house. Jim grinned as he began to fight in earnest, felling his first opponent easily then turning to meet the other two.

Inside the house, Artie quietly approached the two men in the hallway, his goatskin flask at the ready. The men started when they saw him casually walking down the hall and rushed him. Before they could get their hands on him, Artie squeezed the flask and a plume of bright red smoke emerged hitting them in the face. They staggered back coughing and slowly crumpled to the floor. Artie pulled his jacket away from his face and waved his arm to clear the air of the offending smoke.

"Philistines," Artie remarked as he clicked his tongue against his teeth and continued cautiously down the hall.

Jim ducked then thrust his fist into his opponent's stomach, doubling him over. He chopped his neck and his assailant fell to the ground. He turned on the last guard and grinned. The guard returned his grin as he advanced. They circled each other, Jim glad for the long overdue workout he was getting. He grabbed his opponent by his shirt and flipped him over his head, both men landing on their backs. Jim rolled over and planted his fist in the guard's throat. The guard made a gurgling sound and his face turned red.

He grabbed Jim's arm and twisted, causing him to wince and groan as he felt something snap. Jim brought his other hand down heavily onto the guard's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Jim slammed his fist into the guard's face time and time again until the guard lost consciousness. Man, this feels good, Jim thought as he pushed up from the guard and headed towards the house and his partner, cradling his injured left arm.

He entered the house and looked around. He didn't see his partner but he did find the two fallen guards. He stepped over them and proceeded down the hall. When he reached the corner he peered cautiously around it and saw his partner in front of one of the doors.

Artie was leaning on the door, his face a mask of concentration, his forehead resting on the door. Jim padded down the hall noiselessly, coming up behind his friend. He tapped him on the shoulder and Artie jumped.

"What the…!" Artie spun around and instinctively swung, his arm contacting Jim's injured arm, making him hiss.

"Jim! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Artie reproached, Jim noted his shallow breathing and fine sheen of sweat on his brown.

"You okay, pal?" Jim asked.

"I was doing just great until you scared me out of a few years of my life!" Artie whispered, "What happened to you?"

"I played diversion so you could sneak in and get Jeremy out remember?"

"I said create a diversion not become a walking advertisement for a doctor's office," Artie grinned at him.

"I've had an off week…so sue me. You sure you're ok?" Jim scrutinized his partner.

"Yeah, I'm good…just having a bit of trouble with Loveless' new locks these seem to run on some sort of electrical current. I'm pretty sure this is the room they're holding Jeremy in. I almost have this lock picked," Artie replied as he turned his attention back to the lock.

Jim moved to the opposite side of his partner to get a view of the lock. Artie had placed one of his inventions over the lock and was trying to turn a key on the device. Finally the key turned and Artie reached for the doorknob. Jim grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"How do you know Jeremy's in there?"

"I saw Voltaire come out with his hat and gun belt, so I figure this is where they are holding him,"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Yeah, I tested it. This is the ONLY damn knob not electrified," Artie snarled.

"And you know this because…?"

"Every other doorknob in this hall and that hall over there were vibrating hard enough to make my teeth chatter when I touched them and a couple were hot!"

"Hot? What do you mean hot?"

"I got an electrical shock, okay? My guess would be that Loveless has wired every damn door in this place BUT the one's he using to throw us off track. Can we just go in and get Jeremy and get the hell out of here? Unless you'd care to go looking for Voltaire first and ask his permission?" Artie grinned.

"No that's okay, lead the way, partner."

Artie turned the doorknob and gently eased the door open. He stuck his head inside and looked around. The sight appalled him. Huddled in a corner he saw Jeremy. He leaned back out and nodded to Jim and they entered the room. They quickly ran over to Jeremy and looked down at him.

Jeremy's face was covered in dried blood; his hair caked with it. He had a split lip, contusions and bruises on his face. Artie gently shook him. Jeremy stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at Jim and Artie for a minute before speaking.

"James? Artemus?" Jeremy whispered.

"Yeah, we're here to get you out. Can you walk?" Artie asked.

"Walk? Heck, get me outside and I'll run!" Jeremy pulled himself up the wall.

They crept toward the door and Jim peered out. There was no movement in the hall. He pulled the door open and they cautiously entered the hall. They made their way down the hall and rounded the corner. The guards Artie had dealt with still lay unconscious on the floor. They stepped over the bodies and continued on. When they reached the front door Jim assured Artie he had left it open when he entered. The guards Jim had dealt with were nowhere in sight. They left the house and started across the yard toward the trees where they had hidden their horses.

"Jim, you take Jeremy and head for the horses…I'm going to take care of something," Artie said as he released his hold on Jeremy.

"No way, pal. We all go or none of us goes," Jim replied sternly.

"Jim, I have a little surprise in this saddlebag for Loveless. I'll be right behind you. Go…get Jeremy out of here and get Mesa ready for me," Artie didn't give him time to argue as he turned and went back into the house.