THE NIGHT OF THE LITTLE MAN

By Andamogirl

WWW

ACT FOUR

Later in the Bayou Saloon

Holding his glass of cold beer, Jim West smiled mischievously before taking a sip. Artemus was 18 but the barman had refused to give him the beer he wanted, giving him a glass of lemonade instead, saying he was too young to drink alcohol. Teenage-Artemus had felt offended, had glared at the barman then had glared at his glass of lemonade.

Jim smiled. "Don't worry Artie, I bet your lemonade is drugged too, like my beer. Drink it while it's still cold, that's better."

Teenager-Artie, dressed in a blue suit, with a golden waistcoat and black tie, his hair slicked back, groaned and gulped his lemonade in two big swallows. "Done." Then he crossed his arms on his chest, brow furrowed, still feeling offended.

But he smiled shortly after, his bad mood evaporating when a beautiful, red-headed young dancing girl came to sit on the chair beside him.

She smiled and said, "You're cute," and she touched his long wavy hair, playing with a lock. "You have beautiful hair."

Blushing with pleasure, Artemus replied, "Thank you and you're lovely too. What's your name?"

She smiled. "Lily, what's yours?"

"Artemus," the teenager said.

Lily giggled. "Artemus? That's a funny name."

Jim smirked behind his beer and whispered, "I always thought so too." Earning a black look from his young partner. "Can I offer you something?"

Lily plunged her hand into her décolleté and suddenly pulled out a small gun. She immediately put the muzzle against teenager-Artemus's neck." Sorry sugar." She looked at Jim, her eyes cold and determined and added, "Don't try anything tricky and cunning Mr. West, or your young friend here dies." She smiled seeing that the older agent kept his hand on the table. "There's a coach outside waiting for you." With her free hand she gestured to a group of cowboys and they joined her. "These gentlemen will lead you to it." At that, the three goons un-holstered their guns, menacingly.

She kissed young Artemus on his lips. "You're just too cute, Artemus," she smiled and headed back toward the bar.

Teenager-Artie sighed and said, "The Derringer hidden in the décolleté is an old woman's trick. And it works each time. Here's the proof!"

Once the two men were sitting in the coach, the doors suddenly locked themselves and bars slid down at the windows using mechanisms activated by the coach driver.

Jim smiled, "We weren't drugged this time, and I'm disappointed."

18 year old Artie nodded. "Hmm, I'm sure Loveless prepared something else to neutralize us." A split second later a thick red gas was released into the cabin. "Knock-out gas," he added and was the first to slide to one side, unconscious.

Jim lost consciousness in his turn shortly after.

WWW

Later in Loveless's new hideout

Screams of pain woke Jim with a start and he looked around him for a few seconds disoriented, rapidly noticing the gray walls, the barred metallic door, a bunk and a bucket – and realized he was locked in a cell. He realized too that he was wearing his underwear only. Loveless had taken every precaution, divesting him of his clothes and of the hidden gadgets inside.

He stopped his gaze on the man – also in his underwear - thrashing on the floor in a corner of the room, grabbing his chest. gulping for air "Artie!"

He was kneeling at his side a split second later and cringed as teenager-Artemus's limbs began to jerk wildly. He changed into an older Artemus, a 25 years old Artemus.

He took his now crying best friend in his arms and held him tight as his whole body was spasming, cushioning his head against his chest. "Hold on buddy…"

Finally Artemus went limp, his breath ragged, and Jim gently lay him down on the ground, brushing the sweat-dampened hair off his forehead. He pressed two fingers to his throat and found the pulse too rapid and erratic for his taste. "It's going to be alright, Artie," he said automatically but it wasn't the truth, he mused. He took the other man's hand in his, closing his eyes in angst. Artemus heart had already undergone a severe strain in the preceding missions and the next transformation would probably be fatal to him.

Shaking his head, Jim said, " No! I'm not going to let you die buddy, I know what to do to bring you back," then he took a blanket from the bunk and covered Artie's shoulders with it.

WWW

Later

25 year old Artemus regained consciousness 30 minutes later, breathing shallowly. Seeing Jim leaning over him he gave a small smile. "How… how old am I now?" he croaked.

Jim smiled and said, "You are in your mid-twenties now. How do you feel pal?"

Artie winced and took a few steadying breaths. "As if the Wanderer had rolled over me…" With Jim's help he managed to move into a sitting position and glanced around him. "Another charming underground cell, Loveless-style."

Jim froze hearing footsteps. "Someone's coming."

Artemus nodded. "I bet on Loveless, he loves…" he trailed off, grimacing.

The door opened shortly after and four thugs each holding a Colt entered the cell, followed by Doctor Miguelito Loveless.

Once inside the cell Loveless observed Gordon with a mixture of curiosity and disappointment. "Mr. Gordon, you grew up," he stated.

Artemus nodded. "Yes, I did. Your machine's de-aging effect doesn't last."

Loveless rubbed his chin, upset. "Hmm, my machine needs to be re-calibrated. It's a very complex machine. That's nothing, that should take only a few hours. Once that is done, I will use you as a guinea pig to see if it works properly. I'm going to de-age you again Mr. Gordon – to a 2 years old boy. But it will be very dangerous, you could die. But if you survive I'll make you my son as I had planned to – and if you die, your partner here will become my only son. But if everything works just right as I'm thinking it will, I'll have two sons to raise." He grinned and added, "We'll see each other again soon, gentlemen. Enjoy these last hours between adults to share memories and say goodbye. By tonight, James West and Artemus Gordon will cease to exist."

Loveless sniggered and left the room, followed by his four henchmen. The door was locked. The silence came back.

Rubbing his chin, Artie said, "At least we won't die."

Jim helped his young partner to sit on the bunk, and then took his place beside him. "Yes, and at least we'll be buddies again, no better than that, we'll be brothers," Jim said smiling.

Artie shook his head and chuckled. "Loveless won't transform us into toddlers, Jim." He unfolded the elastic waist of his short black underwear, revealing a thin cord of a gray chemical compound and a miniaturized timer detonator he had hidden there. "I came here prepared," he said before laughing softly. "Each time Loveless captures us, he takes our clothes, leaving us wearing only our underwear. It was easy to gadget-ize my underwear." He rolled the chemical compound in his hand and inserted the tiny timer detonator inside. "With this, I'm going to destroy Loveless's machine."

Jim chuckled. "Ah! Artie, you're priceless!"

Bowing, Artie smiled and said, "Let's get out of here… and let ourselves be caught by the guards. I need to put my explosive and detonator on that machine."

WWW

Much later in Loveless's lab

Framed by two armed thugs, feeling the muzzles of their Colts against his back, Jim saw Artie stagger then collapse on his knees deliberately at the base of the machine, right beside the control panel.

He didn't see his partner stick the explosive connected with the timer against the base of the machine. He didn't see him set the timer on 1 minute – the others didn't see it either – but he knew the job was done. The explosive and the detonator were in place. Artemus was very agile with his hands, he had he hands of a magician, he mused.

Jim watched two other henchmen push Artemus into a chair and then, they wrapped a rope around it, tightly, immobilizing him. Then they placed electrodes on his head, chest, arms and legs, connecting him to the de-aging machine.

Artemus started struggling against the ropes.

Loveless standing beside the control panel, beaming, said, "I have to re-calibrate my machine. It should take a minute or so. Everything is going to work perfectly."

Once Artemus was positioned the two goons moved backward and un-holstered their guns, staring at James West, ready to shoot him at the slightest suspicious movement.

Loveless verified the settings of his machine and then pushed a red button. A small hum of electricity started running through Artemus via the electrodes. Artie's whole body tensed and he convulsed. He made strangled noises and screamed.

One minute later the whole control panel exploded, sending pieces of broken equipment everywhere as well as sparks and flames.

Miguelito Loveless was thrown backward by the deflagration and crashed gracelessly to the floor. His head cracked painfully against the leg of a table and he lost consciousness.

Two thugs immediately ran toward him and took him away from the showers of sparks and the big flames surging from the heavily damaged machine.

Jim seized the occasion to elbow his guards in their midrifts and then punched them with all he had. Once the goons were lying on the floor, KOed, he hurried to free his partner, slumped against his restraints, the ropes taking his weight.

He lifted Artie's chin up, gently, frowning in worry. "Artie!" He noticed that his partner was barely conscious and panting.

Struggling to stay awake, Artemus whispered, "Jim… help… me," eyes going blank then fluttering shut.

Jim threw Artie over his shoulder and headed toward the door as flames rapidly spread to the curtains and soon the whole lab was a huge blaze.

With Artie thrown over his shoulder, Jim followed the goons holding Loveless, still unconscious, and they all exited the bunker a few minutes later.

He let Loveless and his henchmen escape them into the forest – he had something more important to do: take care of his partner.

He gently laid Artie on the ground at the foot of a tree and glanced at the smoke escaping from a vent. Loveless's new underground hideout was burning.

He shook his best friend's shoulder. "Artie, wake up buddy! We're out, we made it, and we're safe. Come on, open your eyes."

Artemus's eyes suddenly shot open and he screamed at the top of his lungs as he convulsed, his face twisted in agony, tears running down his face. He writhed wildly on the ground as he aged again, his body changing again, aging again. The screams were progressively replaced by awful strangled noises as Artemus couldn't catch his breath, his chest on fire.

Then, all of a sudden Artie went limp. Jim laid his head on Artie's chest; he listened for a heartbeat and found none.

He immediately reacted. Placing himself at Artemus's side, he pushed his right arm in tight, so as to be closer to his partner and taking Artie's head in his hands, he pulled it back gently, his chin upward. He opened Artie's mouth, then breathed into it, before starting regular chest compressions, letting the ribcage recover its shape between each compression. He did the same thing several times, increasing the pressure each time before he abruptly stopped when he heard a distinct thud. 'I broke one of his ribs,' Jim thought with a guilty grimace. "I'm sorry Artie," he said.

Artemus suddenly started gasping, his breathing labored. He opened his eyes wide and looked up at Jim blearily, blinking. He gritted his teeth and groaned, feeling his chest on fire with each breath he was taking. "Oh boy! That hurts!" he croaked, his throat made of sandpaper.

Jim grinned practically sobbing with relief. "You're back!" He put his hand on his partner's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It's alright Artie, I'm here. Take it easy. You're safe." Then he noticed that the other man was 45 again. He grinned and let out a long sigh, deeply relieved. "It's over, Artie. You're not going to change anymore. You're an old man again ". Then overjoyed he laughed aloud.

Tbc.