A.N - Story based on the argument between Diego and his father on the last episode of NWZ season 3, "The Word."

That dramatic door slamming in anger and frustration is my favourite scene in the whole show. Probably other Zorro writers have written about it many times before, so I am very sorry if this story is more of the same. But, as I haven't read those stories myself, this is all new and original to me. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!

(*) Special thanks to PamZ for her handy transcripts, which I used to reproduce the dialogue sentences from that episode. Those wonderfully detailed transcripts make our jobs as writers much, much easier, Pam. Specially for me, as the DVD's don't show subtitles! XXX

It will be difficult for me, but I'll try to considerably reduce the amount of detailed maiming in this story, so don't be put off by my previous ones. ;)

Enjoy, and please, review! Even if you read this a few years after it was published and you think it won't matter anymore. A review is always welcome and appreciated, regardless how long it takes to get through.

Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: this story is based on the NWZ series. It is a non-profit project intent for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights on the characters belong to Zorro Productions Inc. – (Sadly.)

Chapter 1

(Some scenes and parts of dialogue are taken from the episode "The Word")

ZZZ

"Felipe, no!" Don Alejandro cried when the young man galloped away on his pinto horse.

"He is drawing their fire!" Diego said, proud of Felipe and his courage, but horrified at the same time.

Unable to stop them, Don Alejandro watched impotently how the bandits jumped on their horses to chase Felipe away from the hacienda, as the brave youngster had intended. Eager to help him, he waved his pistol and urged the others to follow him.

"Come on! Let's go!"

"We should get some help," Mendoza said, unsure they could take on the well-armed bandits on their own.

Diego looked through the window as well, anxious. Felipe had an advantage, but the bandits would probably catch up with him shortly. Upset, he realized this time he could not just disappear and get on Toronado. He had to get rid of the soldiers and his father first.

"He is right, Father."

"All right! I'll follow them, and you go for help!" Alejandro tried to walk to the door, but Diego got on the way.

"No. Be reasonable. You've already lost a good deal of blood," he said pointing at the flesh wound in his father's arm. "Go to the cuartel with the sergeant and get help. I'll stay here in case they return."

Diego had said the first thing that came to his mind to be left alone so he could run to the cave to change into Zorro's clothes. At the same time, by sending his father to the pueblo with the soldiers, out of the way from Zorro, he had also tried to stop him from endangering himself foolishly. However, when he saw his father's disappointed face, Diego realized his proposition had sounded ridiculous. And it was too late.

Don Alejandro shook his head in disbelief, and couldn't help himself from bursting in anger.

"Will you act like a De la Vega for once in your life?!"

It wasn't the most appropriate moment to discuss that issue, as time was running out for Felipe, but Diego tried the diplomatic route first, nonetheless raising his voice a little.

"But Father, you don't…"

"Don't but-father me!" Don Alejandro interrupted, exploding like a volcano. "Felipe is in danger of being gunned down and you can only muster the courage to say 'I'll stay here'?"

Stressed by the sorry plight he found himself into, Diego lost his patience as well, and shouted back:

"Father, you don't know the whole situation!"

"I know enough!" Don Alejandro interrupted again, barking his words at Diego. "I know that my only son is… a coward."

He stressed that fact with all the disdain he could influx to the word, looking down at Diego as if he was despicable. A heavy silence followed. Then, Don Alejandro pushed past Diego to leave the room. At the entrance door, he turned round to face his stunned son.

"Diego, if you don't come with us now, I don't want to find you here when I return home," he menaced. The pain he saw in Diego's eyes hurt him like a knife going through his heart. However, Don Alejandro reminded himself that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. "Are you coming or not?"

Diego shook his head slowly. He could not compromise Felipe's chances of survival to satisfy his father's ego and his pride on the legendary De la Vega bravery. That could wait.

Don Alejandro huffed in disgust and left the hacienda. Mendoza gave Diego a sympathetic glance before he and Sepúlveda followed the old don. The sergeant could not believe the heated scene he had just witnessed. He thought the De la Vega's were inseparable, but this argument had opened a huge rift between them. With a sad face, he got on his horse, wondering if Diego would still be there when they returned to the hacienda.

An intense rage got Diego out of the shock. Frustrated to the core, he slammed the door shut behind the soldiers. Shaken, he looked at his hand, still stained with Don Alejandro's blood, his blood. He clenched his fist so tightly he hurt himself, and then he ran to the cave to change his clothes.

ZZZ

Felipe tried to hide in a stable. His heart was racing because he didn't know what to do next. When the bandits started shooting, he thought it was his fault they were under attack. He believed he was endangering everyone in the house, and he felt it was his duty to do something about it. His initial reckless action had work wonderfully to get the bandits away from the hacienda, but he hadn't really planned how he was going to escape from them afterwards. And probably, he could not count on Zorro this time, as Diego would have trouble getting away from his father and the soldiers undetected.

Felipe heard the bandits outside, looking for him, and he stood still, trying not to breathe so heavily. One of the bandits came quietly into the stable. When he was close enough, Felipe signalled to his horse. Neighing, the pinto ran forward, pushing the man out of his way. The bandit fell over awkwardly, and knocked himself out banging his head on a sturdy pail.

Felipe smiled, congratulating himself on his good luck, but his joy would be short-lived.

"Adiós, muchacho," the bandit leader said, aiming a musket at Felipe's chest. "You are a very clever boy. But you know too much."

Felipe froze, swallowing hard, fearing for his life. Then he smiled again when he saw Zorro suddenly appearing behind the bandit. The masked man swiftly placed the tip of his sabre at the back of the bandit's neck.

"Pull the trigger and you'll be dead before you hit the ground."

Zorro was really angry. So much, this could be one of the rare occasions he may have felt capable to carry out such a threat.

All the way there he had been mulling over his predicament. Over the past few years he had been so efficient creating a weak character for Diego that now everybody thought he was a spineless coward. Even his own father. And there was nothing he could do about it, other than acknowledge that fact and carry on with the charade. Having a split personality may have been fun at the beginning, but after a few years of constant wearing at his true self, he felt the whole thing was soul destroying. When he finally caught up with Felipe and the bandits, his emotions ran so high he felt out of control, the seethe of rage overflowing.

The bandit leader swung around quickly and attacked Zorro. He fired the musket but Zorro hit it down with his sword and the bullet went into the ground. They fought fiercely for a while, the bandit using the musket as a sword to parry Zorro's sabre.

Eventually, Zorro managed to hit him on the face, and the dazed bandit dropped his musket. Zorro saw this as an opportunity to vent some of his anger and frustration by using the man as a punching ball. He sheathed his sword, and then took a swing at the bandit, followed by several more. Felipe, baffled, looked at his mentor wondering why he was so aggressive, as he could easily kill that already defeated man with one of those terrible blows.

While Diego found some solace this way, the other bandit regained consciousness and attacked Felipe, hitting his throat. He unsheathed his sword to attack Zorro while he was distracted delivering angry punches, totally unaware of his surroundings for the first time since he wore that mask. Felipe, dazed but still conscious, tried to warn him, but he could not make a sound. When the bandit was about to thrust at Zorro's back, the fear made him shout loudly:

"Zorro!"

Startled, Zorro turned around at the last moment, and the bandit's sword scratched his chest instead of sinking in his back. Even more enraged now, if that was at all possible, Zorro punched that man repeatedly, beating him to a pulp, until Felipe grabbed his right arm to stop him. Zorro shook Felipe's hand off, and was about to carry on when he realized the bandit was already unconscious. That man was still standing only because Zorro was holding him by the collar with his left hand, crushed against the stable wall. Like waking up from a bad dream, Zorro let go of the bandit, who slid down to the ground like a rag doll.

"Sorry. I… I… I don't know what came onto me," Zorro mumbled, apologizing for his cruel, out of character behaviour, ashamed to see that bewildered, frightened look on Felipe's wide-open eyes. "I am so sorry," he repeated. Then, it hit him. "Felipe! You spoke!"

Felipe smiled back at him, as surprised of that fact as much as Diego was.

"You said my name! You saved my life! Say it again."

Felipe tried hard, but nothing came out; words were stuck in his throat again. The youngster shook his head, disappointed.

"I know. You have so much inside. Give it time, huh?" In an affectionate gesture, Zorro passed his arm over Felipe's shoulder. Doing so, he winced in pain, hissing. While fighting, he had barely registered he had been sliced on the chest so badly, but now that it was over, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the area. Felipe moved away, worried, with his white shirt soaked in Diego's blood.

"Are you all right?" he signed.

"I thought I was… but maybe not. Let me see." Zorro looked down. The black silk had a large slash at the front, and it was drenched in blood. Felipe helped him to unbutton the shirt to uncover his muscular torso, finding a large, deep laceration in his pectoral muscles. The wound was bleeding profusely, and it looked serious.

"Damn. This will need stitching. It is quite deep."

Zorro took off the cape to wrap it tightly around his chest, pressing on the wound to stop the haemorrhage.

"Help me bind their hands, although I don't think they will go anywhere. Then you can take them to the pueblo while I go back to the cave. But, you'll need to clean that shirt first."

Felipe nodded and took off his blood-stained shirt to wash it in the stable's trough.

When they had finished tying the bandits' hands, Zorro lifted them onto their horses, on their stomach, and he hissed in pain again. He looked at the bandits, ashamed of their battered state. He wasn't proud of this capture, but he reluctantly marked their trousers with a "Z", the signature he would rather have omitted this time. However, it was necessary as proof that Zorro had been helping Felipe.

"All right, Felipe. Take them away. I'll see you at the cave."

Felipe nodded and mounted his pinto horse. The horse walked away slowly, with Felipe pulling from the reins of the other two horses in his right hand.

Zorro whistled for Toronado. He climbed up the saddle slowly, wincing in pain once again.

How could I be so careless? I should have seen him coming, but I was so out of my mind… Maldita sea!

He cursed to himself for the second time, heading back to the cave at a gentle canter.

ZZZZZ

A.N – Oops. Did I say "no maiming"? Look, I am trying hard! Sorry. Force of habit?