Artie shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he continued to work. The bright, warming light of the afternoon was shining through the windows of the Wanderer, glinting off the object the agent was steadily piecing back together. His leg still hurt, but that was to be expected. His shoulder, which he had been beginning to think everyone thought was a pincushion, had been properly cleaned and bandaged, just as his leg had been. As he worked his mind went over the case they had just completed.
...
Artie had freed Jim from his bindings, and James had run off to capture Torres.
Artemus Gordon sat on the carpeted floor of the Assassin's chamber. Despite the blood that poured from the wound in his upper thigh, pooling on the floor, Artie felt unnaturally relieved. Yes, he was sitting there, bleeding, bruised, and with one heck of a headache, but he was free. Free from the hypnosis, or even the threat of ever being put under it again. That dreaded lamp was ruined; smashed on the floor not far from him. Artie laughed nervously, but it came out sounding more like a strangled sigh.
He looked down at his leg. The pants were torn, and a large, dark circle soaked the fabric on his right limb so that it clung wetly to his skin.
That needs to be taken care of, he though, but made no move to do so. He was just so tired...and sore. He glanced over toward Miss Gilbert. She's still tied to that chair.But still he made no move to get up. The floor was a welcome comfort after standing for what must have been hours. Artie was a good actor, but it had taken everything he'd had to pull this performance off, and now he felt totally drained.
Artemus wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at his leg as though it fascinated him, watching as the blood stained his clothes and the carpet. Suddenly someone ran into the room.
"Artie?" It was Jim.
The younger agent strode over to him and kneeled beside him. "Artie, you're losing a lot of blood! We have to bind your leg and get you to a doctor!"
Artemus just looked up into his face and blinked owlishly.
Jim shook his head sadly. Artie was probably in mild shock. He had been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. Blood loss and exhaustion had really taken a toll on his friend.
Taking Artie's pant leg and giving a sharp tug, Jim tore the material off so he could get a better look at the bullet wound. It looked terrible. Jim couldn't even see the actual hole where the bullet had entered; too much blood covered it. Using the pant fabric he had taken off, Jim wrapped his friends leg tightly. Sitting back on his heels, he took in his makeshift bandage. It would work for now, but that bullet was still lodged in there. Jim would have to find a doctor to get it out.
Next he looked at Artie's shoulder, again choosing to just rip the fabric to get to the wound. The shirt was already ruined. The puncture marks had clotted, which was a good sign. It meant they were already beginning to heal. Jim didn't like the way they looked, though. Red, irritated circles surrounded the three holes. Three times Artie had been stabbed. It filled Jim with anger. Torres had had no right to do this to anyone! But Torres was dead...he couldn't hurt anyone anymore...
"Jim?"
"Artie!" Jim looked into his partners eyes, trying to see how much Artemus was really there. "How do you feel, pal?"
Still blinking slowly, Artie ran a hand, his left one, through his dark hair. "I've...I've been better." He looked around nervously. "Torres?"
"Dead."
A look of relief washed over Artie's face, but was quickly replaced by concern. "J-Jim, you didn't kill h-him?!" He struggled to rise to his feet, but Jim held him firmly.
"No," James replied. "He fell into the water below ground...sank to the bottom. He...he wouldn't accept my help."
Artie sighed, relaxing slightly. "I can't say I'll miss him," he said with a smirk. It was only a small glimpse of the true Artemus Gordon, but West was glad to see it. Artie's smile faded just a tad. "He was an interesting man, Jim."
Jim nodded slowly. He found it hard to feel any real sorrow for the lose of the assassin, after what he had done to Artemus. Jim couldn't believe that Artie could find it in his heart to give the monster a compliment. But that was just who Artie was; a gentleman to all, both friend and foe.
"Let's get you to a doctor, Artie." Jim rose, carefully lifting his friend with him.
Artie's head spun, no doubt a side effect of his loss of blood. He tried to ignore it as he cast a concerned glance at Miss Gilbert. "What about her?"
"I'll get her." Jim didn't admit that he had, in truth, forgotten all about the young woman. His thoughts had been fully on Artie, as his injuries were far more severe...Of course, Jim didn't know that for sure. For all he knew, Miss Nina Gilbert might have a concussion, or a fractured skull...Inwardly, the agent felt slightly embarrassed. "Do you think you can stand?"
Artie shifted his weight to his uninjured leg, hopping slightly to find the right balance. "Yeah, Jim."
West let go of his partner hesitantly, afraid that he would fall once he released his hold. But Artie remained upright, though a little unsteadily.
Jim went and untied Nina from her chair and lifted her on his shoulder, as he had done earlier that day in the saloon. Then he returned to Artie, taking hold of his partners uninjured arm. "Let's go."
Jim took them back to the Wanderer, yelling for Orrin Cobb, their engineer and the only other man within hearing shot at that moment, to go and fetch the nearest doctor. The man dropped the work he had been doing on the outside of the Wanderer to go do as Jim asked.
The doctor arrived shortly after. He inspected Artemus first, removing the bullet from Artie's thigh, and cleaning it and any other injury he could find.
Then he moved on to Miss Gilbert. She was awake now and sat quitely, smiling up at them with that same old childish grin. Artie and James had half hoped that the knock on the head would have cured her of the hypnosis, but it hadn't. Torres hadn't left a loophole in her trance like he had with Artie.
The doctor declared her healthy, though badly bruised. No concussion, just a cut, though he did wonder about her strange behavior.
"Thanks, Doc," Jim said, leading the slightly frazzled man out the door. Closing it, James came back to Artie. "What now? Is she going to stay like this forever?" He gestured to Nina who sat looking around her curiously.
Artemus rubbed the back of his neck. "Jim...I don't know. If only...Jim!" He jumped up quickly. A little too quickly. He teetered dangerously as the room began to spin, but Jim was beside him at once, holding him steady.
"Easy there, Artie! You heard what the doctor said! You have to take it easy!"
"I know, Jim, I know," Artie said excitedly, brushing off the help as he regained his balance. "I know how to help Miss Gilbert!"
Jim's eyebrows rose comically. "How?"
"Now, Jim, that's the thing. I need you to go get something for me...
...
And now, here Artie was. He sat, rather stiffly, with the now completed lamp in his hands. It had taken some time; a day and a night, in fact. But now it was finished.
Artemus had made Jim bring him the smashed light from Torres' chamber. It hadn't been to bad; not with some of Artie's experimental glue he had created...granted, by accident. Taking the pieces he carefully put the cursed thing back together. Miss Nina Gilbert had been put under hypnosis, and by gum she needed someone to pull her out of it!
Jim watched as Artie carefully moved the lamp over to another table, the one by the couch where he and Miss Gilbert were sitting. Artemus nodded to him and Jim vacated his seat to go stand beside Artie, leaving Nina alone on the sofa.
Lighting the wick, Artie turned to Nina. "Now," he said gently, giving the lampshade a slight turn. "Look at it."
Nina did so, at first blocking it with her hand as the light hit her full in the face. Dark. Light. Dark. Light. Her eyes focused on the pattern and her hand slowly returned to her lap. Artie seemed pleased.
"Good. Good, now I want you to think of nothing. Nothing."
Artie's voice was soft and soothing, and Miss Gilbert found herself listening, taking it in as an odd sensation of clarity began to fill her head. Things were coming back to her. Her education, her family, the death of her uncle, her going to visit Torres, but then, after that, nothing...
"Now, your eyelids are getting heavy," the calm voice said, "You're getting sleepy. Sleepier..."
Nina's eyes drew closed, though they did remain slits so that she could still see the lamp.
"I think that's it, Jim," Artie whispered, "Talk to her- softly."
"Nina?" A different voice this time.
"Yes?" Her answer was quiet, half-awake, but clear.
"You're a student working for your doctorate."
That's right, Nina thought groggily. "Yes...of course I am," she stated haltingly.
Artemus was watching her intently, leaning on the table slightly to take pressure off his wounded leg.
"What was the last course you completed?" Jim pressed, his voice deep, but calming.
Nina paused a moment. "The...cerebral motivations...of human behavior," she said at last.
The two agents exchanged a glance; Artie's face lighting up in a triumphant smile. James leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of Nina's face. "Wake up, Miss Gilbert."
Artie stopped the lamp from spinning.
Nina blinked rapidly, putting a hand to her cheek as she came back to herself, breathing heavily. She looked up at them.
Jim and Artemus stood grinning down at her.
"Welcome home, Miss Gilbert," Jim said happily, bending over and kissing the waking woman gently on the lips.
Nina's head perked up indignantly as she looked around the room with an almost frantic motion, "Home?" she nearly yelled, obviously upset.
"Yeah," Jim replied, already turning on his charm. "Well, it's kind of a long story."
"Oh!" Nina cried, finally noticing what she was wearing. She was still adorned in her showgirl outfit. "Who dressed me in these clothes?" she demanded, a hint of fear and embarrassment in her voice.
Jim and Artie exchanged yet another glance. Jim turned back to her with a 'let me explain' smile. "That's part of the long story."
"Have I been dreaming, or did you just kiss me?" She narrowed her eyes at Jim.
"Oh, well, talking about kisses-"
"Oh, how dare you!" She rose quickly and, to the suprise of both agents, slapped West across the face with a resounding smack. "Oh! The nerve of you two!" She crossed to the far side of the car, glaring daggers in their direction. "How despicable! The unmitigated gall of dressing me like a hussy! Of kissing me while I'm asleep!" She began throwing anything within her reach: pillows, books, cups. "Oh!"
A book hit Jim in the chest as he started to back away.
Artie ducked a flying pillow, his face beaming with a laughing smile. She had actually hit Jim! A girl had actually smacked the legendary king of all heart-throbs, James West! It was the funniest thing Artie had ever seen in his life! His smile faded slightly as he too was forced to retreat to the opposite end of the train car from the wrathful woman.
The two men huddled next to each other, backed up against the wall as the projectiles kept coming. A book slammed into Artie's head, surprising him greatly. Pottery shattered all around them and pages tore and crumpled as books sailed through the air.
"You know, I liked her better before," Artemus declared, attempting to shield himself from yet another book headed his way.
"She was more agreeable," Jim replied, doing the same.
"Yeah."
Nina continued the attack on her rescuers, huffing and yelling all the while. Jim and Artie knew they'd have to wait for her to calm down before an explaination would be able to be given. They would just have to wait it out.
After all, what was one more danger when your a Secret Service agent in the wild, wild west.
THE END
...
Like I said at the beginning of this story, I do not own the names or characters of The Wild Wild West. I write only for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.
This story was an AU, which means it followed the same story line of an episode (in this case, The Night of the Steel Assassin), but I changed it to give an alternate story. As a result, some of the lines and scenes are from that episode. I do not own them either.
Thanks - Zeragii