Author's Note: Here's the rest of the tale.

Diamond in the Rough

Part 2

Zorro led the way to a spot where they could observe without being seen, though both men kept part of their attention on the other still wary in the newness of their truce. As they got into position, Diamante pulled out his spy glass and handed it to Zorro. He preferred to be the one with his hands free.

"I count seven in sight. Too many for a scouting mission," Zorro said. "And it's unlikely they're a bunch of vaqueros out for a morning ride. I know the area around here."

"But it's too soon for an ambush," Diamante said. "Unless..." He had a sudden dark realization. There had been talk of speeding up the transportation at some points, with a messenger sent ahead to alert the next man along the line. He had thought it as bad an idea as this entire ostentatious parade. Romero should have been executed for his crimes both times, not given yet another opportunity to escape and cause the deaths of more innocents.

"What?" Zorro's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Unless Santos Romero is coming through sooner than I thought, and I didn't receive the message." Diamante would be willing to bet a year's pay that there was a dead messenger somewhere between San Juan Capistrano and Los Angeles.

Zorro looked again. "Did you come alone?"

"No, but none of them are near enough at this point," he said. They would come looking for him if he didn't meet them back at their rendezvous point, but that was some time away, and he had no idea how well prepared these men were, much less their purposes. But that gunpowder couldn't have been there long. They wouldn't risk water getting into it.

Another thought struck him. Seven men was a small number for an ambush even relying on gunpowder. He started looking around. He couldn't be sure but he thought he heard horses coming from behind them. And that cut him off from his own horse as well. At least he knew Phantom was clever enough to stay out of range. Zorro wasn't the only man in California with a well-trained and loyal horse. He'd heard stories of Toronado, but he wouldn't trade his Phantom for anything.

"So that sound wouldn't be your men," Zorro said.

"I doubt it," Diamante said grimly. "You know this area better. Where's a better vantage point? We're too close to the charge."

"At least, the one that we know about," Zorro corrected. "But you're right. Follow me."

He led the way up the slope to the east and around some large rocks to another hidden dip which gave them a chance to see who was coming.

"Where's your horse?" Zorro asked.

"Not where I could get to him without being seen," Diamante said. "What about yours?"

"The same," Zorro said. He peered around. "It looks like a larger group coming this way."

Diamante nodded. He wasn't sure what they should do. He couldn't even be sure that they had ill intent. It could be a coincidence though he doubted it. And despite his earlier doubts, he believed that Zorro wasn't involved in any plot to release Romero. It didn't clear him of his guilt at Devil's Fortress, but it did mean that for the moment, Diamante trusted Zorro not to betray him.

Soon he had the confirmation he needed when a group of three dismounted and made their way close to where he and Zorro were hiding. Diamante made to move but Zorro stopped him having realized where they were heading. Out of sight, they could hear the men speaking.

One asked, "Are you sure they'll be here this morning?"

"Oh, si, Maite said it was in the message they took from the soldier. They thought they'd fool us by coming sooner. Idiots," another said.

"How long now?" asked the third.

"Any time within the next two hours," the second said.

"That's cutting it close," the third said.

"Nacho didn't want us to draw attention to ourselves. Besides the big stuff was already set up. All we need is to be in position," the second said. "Now we just wait for the signal."

There was the sounds of motion and then silence. Diamante moved cautiously to try to get a look at the men while Zorro did the same. They had their backs to them and were leaning up against a hill. Silently the two men looked at each other. Zorro pointed to the two men on the near side and then himself and then the last man and Diamante. Slightly annoyed at Zorro but not willing to argue the point at the moment, Diamante nodded his head. Moving separately but silently, they made their way towards the men. Pulling his pistol from his belt, Diamante prepared himself to strike. He was a bit contemptuous about how little attention they were paying to their environment. When he was within range, he hit the man with the butt of his pistol. As the man fell, he saw Zorro bang the heads of the other two men together.

Looking around, Diamante saw and heard no one. Apparently they hadn't drawn any attention. It didn't take them long to disarm the men and tie them up with their own belts and gag them with their bandanas.

Moving the weapons out of sight of the bandits, Zorro spoke to Diamante in a whisper, "Three down, and an unknown number to go. Will you follow my lead?"

Diamante disliked yielding to the bandit, but his pride was not so fragile that he would insist on doing things his own way. There was no denying that Zorro was intimately familiar with the terrain and had more experience fighting against large groups of men than he did. He cursed himself for not having the forethought to have taken at least a few of his men with him. Had he, things would have gone differently. But, he was left with no viable alternative other than to put his trust in a masked stranger. He nodded.

He followed Zorro as the man took a circuitous route through the terrain, weaving through boulders, crawling through shrubs and tall grasses, moving quickly from one tree to another, seeming to know exactly where to move to keep out of sight. At one point they crawled up a slope to look down and see five men hiding against a hill that looked over the road. Diamante looked around. They should have lookouts checking back, but he didn't see anyone. Were they truly that arrogant and foolish? Wait, no, he saw a sixth man further back, his eyes taking in the area. They were fortunate in being in an area hidden by shadow and thus not readily visible. He looked to Zorro who's eyes seemed to have taken in everything his had, but was still scanning the entire area around him. In a sudden movement he grabbed Diamante's sleeve and whispered, "Behind us. In the sky."

Diamante looked back and saw a flock of birds rising the sky. Curious.

"That's a signal of some kind," Zorro said softly.

A moment later there was a loud whistle from the watchman, confirming Zorro's supposition. Damnation, Diamante thought, that can only be about the prison caravan. I don't have time to get to my men even if I could get away.

"I'll take out the watchman, if you can maneuver in a position to be behind those men," the bandit said.

"I assume you have more of a plan than that," Diamante said.

"Yes, wait for the distraction and then pick your targets," Zorro said before moving off.

Diamante raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged and moved on. It was a challenge to find a way around that didn't leave him exposed to the road and whatever men might be there. He had to move more slowly than he liked and as he moved he managed to get a look at the road and saw men on the other side running what could only be a fuse from what was likely another buried barrel.

He wished he knew how close the convoy was. It had to be close, the men were focusing on the road as they worked. He eyed the fuses speculatively. If an explosion could be set off early... that would warn the soldiers on the road and signal his men, but he didn't know how much was buried or what else it could set off, though he assumed from how close the men were to the barrel and the haste with which they worked, it couldn't be that large, just enough for a good distraction. However, he had promised Zorro he would attack here, and in any case, he'd have better luck at the fuse on this side of the road if they dealt with the men. Glancing around, he couldn't see Zorro— or the lookout for that matter.

And then he saw Zorro, walking casually behind the men watching the road, one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other hidden behind his back

"Ah, gentlemen," he said, "good morning. If I might have a word."

The men turned and stared incredulously. Frozen for a moment at the sight of the famous bandit, before they recovered enough to aim their pistols at the man who faced them nonchalantly. Diamante quickly made his way behind them not wanting to miss his chance.

"Pistols are a very poor choice of weapon," Zorro said. "Such inaccurate and limited things. Now a whip..."

And with that, he brought his hand from behind his back, swung it over his head and snapped his whip back, striking the two men nearest across the face. Reflexively, they dropped their pistols. In their dazed state, they never saw Zorro's fist coming.

At the same time, Diamante delivered a swift kick to back of the knee of the largest of the remaining three men, who went down instantly. The other two spun to face him. Diamante struck at the closest one as Zorro's whip wound about the feet on the last one. With a hard pull, he was sent smashing face first into the ground.

"And the watchman?" Diamante asked.

"He's alive," Zorro shrugged, "but in for a rather nasty headache when he finally awakes."

"Hope he stays down," Diamante said, "since we're about to have a lot of company." He could hear the rumble of the convoy now, something he'd missed in his concentration on the fight. But that was probably also what was keeping the rest of the revolutionaries off their backs since they were needing to remain concealed for their ambush.

Diamante grabbed two pistols and headed for the road. He was barely aware of Zorro moving around him in the same direction. Reaching the top of the hill, he saw the lead horses of the caravan rounding a curve in the road and his head twisted to look across the road, he could spot a spark of flame traveling down the nearly invisible fuse. He raised one pistol and fired across the road, hoping against hope to hit the fuse, but at least wanting the shots to warn the riders what they were heading into.

As he fired, he saw Zorro moving into the middle of the road closer to the riders in order to draw their attention. He could see the horsemen slowing and signaling the wagon behind them when two explosions rocked the other side of the road, throwing debris and dust into the air. He could hear the sound of startled horses rearing and the clamor of the men. However, he couldn't see what had happened to Zorro as the cloud of dust covered the road way, and he started running towards the prison wagon. He cursed the fact that the wind was blowing directly in that direction and that it was difficult to see through the dust cloud. But he could see the shadowy figures of men in the smoke and not all were soldiers. He drew his sword as he heard the clash of steel before bringing out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, protecting himself against the dust.

He almost stumbled into one of the soldiers and barely avoided taking his sword to the chest. Fortunately, it was a man who knew him, Lt. Montoya. "Captain Diamante!" he exclaimed. "How many men besides Zorro?"

"Possibly a dozen if not more, but ignore Zorro; he's not the threat right now," Diamante said. He kept moving on, hearing the lieutenant calling out orders to his men, and the sudden clashing of swords told him that the revolutionaries were having a fight on their hands. But his goal was reaching the prisoner.

His eyes stung from the dust cloud, as he drew close to the prison wagon. The horses were moving skittishly in their harnesses, but the brakes kept them from moving the wagon much. But as he maneuvered towards the back of the wagon, he saw what he'd feared. A soldier lay face down in front of the cage, and the door was swinging wide open and a figure was jumping down from the back, shackles swinging from his hands.

Damnation, Diamante thought, someone smuggled keys into him. Heads are going to roll over this. He ran towards Romero sword ready. As he reached him Romero swung the chains at him, forcing him to back up as the man snatched up the sword of the fallen soldier.

~Z~Z~Z~

Manuel dropped to the ground and backed against one the wagon wheels. His shaking hands gripped his pistol tightly. Shots and angry yelling rang out from all directions. But in that moment, none of it was as loud as the sound of his mother's voice in his head.

She had begged him not to go, that his place was at home, that he was only fifteen and she didn't want to see him die the way his father had following that fool brother of hers. But when his uncle's men rode up to the house and told Manuel that he had been taken prisoner and they needed another man to help free him, he didn't need any convincing.

Manuel had waited for a long time to take revenge on the soldiers who had killed his father and here was his chance. His mother might be content scraping by day-to-day, being ground down by the Spaniards like all the other weaklings but he wasn't. He was going to fight and show her that he was a man and not a boy.

But nothing was turning out the way he had imagined.

He squinted through the dust, trying to make out what was going on. Suddenly, a man, one of Romero's appeared out of the surrounding cloud. He was sprinting toward the carriage and came within a few feet of Manuel when there was a loud crack. A thick black cord wrapped around his neck and an instant later, he was yanked backwards, out of sight.

Another man came crawling on hands and knees from beneath the carriage, right next to Manuel. He was almost clear of it when he lurched forward, falling flat on his face. Frantically, he clawed at the ground but no avail. He disappeared, dragged back to the other side. A few seconds of incoherent babbling followed but was abruptly silenced as the carriage shuddered from an unseen impact.

"Madre de dios," Manuel muttered as, in his panic, he pointed his pistol in random directions.

Slowly, the noise about him grew more and more distant. Wary, he continued looking about, trying to identify the threat but still didn't dare move from where he was. A scream pierced the quiet and one of Romero's hired thugs went flying face first into the carriage door, bounced off, and landed hard on the ground where he lay motionless.

The dust began to settle and a breeze carried away the smoke. A lone, hazy shadow in the midst of it all became man, dressed in black and wearing a mask. Manuel had heard of Zorro but never, not even in his wildest imagination, thought he would meet him face-to-face, especially not under circumstances like these.

Manuel willed himself to stand. He pointed his weapon at the dark figure. "Stay back, señor!" he squeaked, not sounding nearly as authoritative as he had hoped he would.

Zorro looked him up and down a couple of times with his steely eyes. "You should be more careful. If you don't know what you're doing with one of those,"in a motion almost too quick to see, Zorro snatched the pistol away, "it could go off."

"What are you going to do with me?" Manuel asked timidly.

"This is no place for a young man." Zorro motioned with his head to one of the horses milling around in the distance. "Go home."

~Z~Z~Z~

"This is familiar, is it not?" Romero asked tauntingly as he circled.

"Very," Diamante replied flatly. He moved in sync with Romero, keeping his eyes on him and his sword at the ready.

Romero feigned a swipe at Diamante's legs only to bring the chains swinging upward. The end of the shackles grazed his cheekbone. It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage but it stung and sent him reeling back. Seizing his advantage, Romero charged with his sword out in front of him.

But Diamante was quick to recover. He parried, sidestepped, and slammed his fist hard into the side of Romero's head as he stumbled past. The blow would have knocked almost any other man unconscious but Romero was a tough, seasoned fighter. Instead, he rolled with the hit and sprang back to his feet.

The two clashed swords, trading blows again and again. Romero lacked the grace and finesse of a master swordsman but more than made up for it in ferocity. He kept swinging and slashing as Diamante blocked and dodged. This was not elegant. It was combat in the purest sense and just what his uncle had trained him for.

Romero's eye was beginning to swell shut on the side where he had been hit. After another minute or so of fighting, sweat ran into Romero's good eye, forcing him to blink hard and momentarily blinding him. It was all the opening Diamante needed.

Diamante put all the force he could muster into striking his opponent's sword, knocking it to the side. In the next instant, he drove his heel into Romero's chest, sending him flying back into the carriage. He bounced off, dropping the sword. Diamante followed through by kicking it out of his reach.

"Get up."

"This will come to nothing, señor," Romero sneered as he slowly stood. "I may get locked up," he swung his chains at him, "but I'll get free. I always do." Again and again, Romero swung at him with increasing ferocity. "You'll end up just like all the other swine I've put out of their misery. And then, the streets will run red with the blood of my enemies."

Diamante's eyes narrowed in his focus as he dodged and deflected each blow. Yes, I know, he thought.

"Come on!" Romero roared. "Try to take me away! Do your duty!"

At that moment, Romero swung hard, overbalanced and left an opening that Diamante took. He lunged forward and thrust his blade directly into Romero's heart.

The outlaw staggered back off the blade. He gasped a few times before his legs gave way and he fell to his knees, and then face first to the ground and was still.

"I always do," Diamante said softly, approaching the body.

At that moment a pistol shot went off behind him striking the ground near his feet. Whirling around he saw Zorro wrenching a pistol from the hands of a woman, who turned on him angrily striking at him until he grabbed her in a firm grip.

"Traitor!" she screamed. "You should be helping us not these pigs who oppress the people."

"Señora, I don't support anyone who uses rhetoric as an excuse for their own crimes," Zorro said. They were standing next to the open door of the cell and Zorro adjusted his grip in order to grab the shackles and quickly locked her to the bars, while she screamed curses at them both.

Zorro whistled and then looked over at Diamante who returned the look coolly but said nothing. He could hear the approach of horses in the distance; however, Zorro's black horse appeared as if by magic. Leaping into the saddle, he raised his fingers in a salute before turning and riding off.

Moments later, Lt. Montoya stumbled around the corner of the wagon. "We've got them all now. Zorro even pointed out some men over that hill. And he fought like a demon. I don't understand it."

Diamante shook his head as he retrieved his wife's handkerchief from where he had dropped it during the fight. "I don't think we need to understand it; just be glad today he was on our side." He looked around at the many bodies unconscious or otherwise on the ground around them. "We've got more pressing matters to deal with."

~Z~Z~Z~

"Diego, you should have been here," Don Alejandro said, when Diego approached him later that day outside the tavern. "I was in the jail with Mendoza checking over the cells in anticipation of the arrival of Santos Romero. And a good thing too, considering what happened and how many men we've had to lock in. Not to mention figuring out where to hold the...ahem... lady. Captain Diamante's a closed-mouthed one, but the soldiers who had been transporting the prisoner weren't so silent."

"Talkative soldiers, hmm," Diego said. "Clearly not trained by the captain, then."

"No, indeed. In fact he was quick to shut them up once he heard them talking. But before he did, they said enough."

"What?"

"They were shocked that Zorro was fighting on their side and impressed with how he dealt with so many of the rebels."

"Did they really?" Diego said.

"Well, reading between the exaggerations that's what their stories came down to," Alejandro said. He leaned closer. "I think most of them aren't too eager to chase after him in the future. Not that it's likely at the moment since they've got more prisoners to transport. Captain Diamante's been working on the arrangements for that since they returned."

"I imagine it's more complicated now," Diego said. "Do you think he's too busy to speak at the moment? I do need to get the official story of today's events for the paper. I'm still putting out a special edition, but it's going to have to be significantly revised."

Alejandro shrugged his shoulders. "It won't hurt to ask, son. The busiest part happened while you were off doing whatever it was you were doing."

"An experiment father," Diego said quickly. "Involving sunrise and..."

"Yes, well," Alejandro quicky interrupted, "you had better get the newspaper business out of the way."

"You have a point," Diego replied. "No time like the present." He crossed the plaza to the alcalde's office.

Captain Diamante was leaning over the desk going over some papers. He looked up, an irritated expression on his face. "Yes?"

"Sorry, am I interrupting you?"

"Yes, but it hardly matters at the moment," he said, straightening up. "There's not much more I can do here. What do you need?"

"I'm here on behalf of the newspaper," Diego said. "I wanted to get the official story about the attack on the convoy and the death of Santos Romero."

"Official?" Diamante raised an eyebrow. "Are you having issues with the unofficial story that I'm sure you have already heard?"

"No," Diego said. "It seems fantastic enough. But I want to know the version I'll put in the paper."

Diamante stared at him for a moment before speaking. "I can't give you all the details. Suffice it to say that revolutionaries attacked the prison convoy with an explosion that caused more confusion than injury. During the fight that followed the revolutionaries were all either subdued or killed. Romero was a casualty of the fight. Frankly, that's all I can give you until a proper 'official' statement comes from Monterey."

"And Zorro?"

"What of him?"

"By all reports he was there."

"Yes, but officially, I have no comment about his presence."

"But unofficially?" Diego prompted.

Diamante sighed. "He was... helpful," he said. "I still cannot approve of his general actions, but he has my gratitude in this one instance. However, that is very unofficial." Diamante's voice was firm.

"I understand," Diego said. "So a final question for you, Captain."

"Yes," Diamante said.

"Now that your mission here is complete, is there any chance of you taking on Los Angeles as a permanent post?"

Diamante smiled a crooked smile. "Highly unlikely, Don Diego. I believe that there are more highly placed men vying for the position, and once these prisoners are delivered to Monterey— by ship, if such a thing is available— I will be returning to San Diego, provided, of course, that the governor does not take too much offense at the death of his prized catch."

"By ship?" Diego asked. "Wouldn't that be a bit cramped?"

Diamante looked grim. "The prisoners don't have to be comfortable, and neither do I or my men." He rose from behind the desk and crossed with Diego to the door. "I hope you will forgive me for cutting this short, but there are some preparations to which I should attend before the day is over."

"In that event, I wish you well, Captain,"

"And I you." Diamante proffered his hand, which Diego shook.

Diego walked to the tavern where he found Alejandro sitting at his usual table, drink in hand. He sat across from his father and Victoria quickly appeared.

"Buenos dias, Diego. Can I get you anything?"

"Some of your lemonade, if you have any."

"Of course," she smiled, "I'll be right back."

Alejandro tossed back the last of his drink. "So, you saw the Captain."

"Yes."

"It really is a shame that he has to leave. I mean, I knew it was just wishful thinking on my part, but a part of me still hoped he might stay on as our new alcalde."

"That would have been a welcome change, but he has obligations elsewhere. Still," Diego half-smiled, "we can hope that our next alcalde will be a just, reasonable man."

"Indeed. Though" Alejandro mused, "if he isn't, we can always rely on Zorro."

"But Zorro is still only one man. Don't you think that the people of this pueblo should learn to stand up for themselves at some point?"

Alejandro said nothing for several moments. "Sometimes I wonder who he is. What his life is like when he isn't wearing the mask." He looked out the window but not at anything in particular. "Yes," he sighed, "you're right. This pueblo does have a history of putting quite a burden on the man. After all he has done, Los Angeles should learn to stand on her own. It's only fair to Zorro."

Victoria returned with a tall glass. "Your lemonade, Diego."

"Thank you."

"Enjoy and let me know if you need anything else."

Diego watched Victoria go about her business in the tavern. He thought about the life he had long hoped to have, particularly with her. No matter how he tried, he couldn't envision that happening as long as there was a need for the man in the mask. "Yes, that would be a lot more fair to Zorro."

And to me.

The End

End Notes:

I think I violated about six tropes by letting Diamante live in the end, but the truth is I liked him and had no intention of killing him off, and I will likely use him again even in an alternate continuity. In any case, I liked the idea of an authority figure who isn't corrupt and who has an actual valid reason to distrust Zorro (his release of prisoners at Devil's Fortress), and he's a married man because I thought that would also be a change and give him an additional reason for not wanting to extend his time in Los Angeles, not that he could since De Soto is coming.

It was also fun to have a meet, fight, team up situation, even if the action sequences were terribly trying and required all of Ghetto Outlaw's talents to make them interesting. And while most of the action scenes were a mix of mine and his work, the scene with young Manuel the revolutionary was all his, as I knew I needed more Zorro in there but had no idea how to work it in.

Also, as this was not initially meant to be part of the challenge it was difficult to come up with a reason for the alcalde to be in jail so it was just mentioned in passing. And for the death, I wasn't going to kill any of the main characters, as that's not my thing, but I wasn't going to have Zorro kill anyone, so I left that to Captain Diamante, as I wasn't sure if referring to the deaths of Ramone and de la Fuente really qualified, and Romero was quite vile and unrepentant so I didn't feel at all bad about sending him to his death.

And the genesis of this story was the idea that it was likely that not all of the prisoners in the Fortress were merely political prisoners like Victoria's father but some actually dangerous men as well, thus the creation of Santos Romero, revolutionary and terrorist imprisoned to prove a point. I actually softened the wording on some of his misdeeds as he was a truly evil man.

Another thing that struck me was the lack of consequences of Zorro's actions at the Fortress. He released who knows how many prisoners, political or otherwise, striking directly against Spanish authority, and he could be blamed for the death of Ramone. Something more should have occurred, and I also wanted Diego to feel some of the weight of responsibility for some unintended results of his improvised escape plan. After that the plot practically developed itself as I worked out what was going to happen and why. It was the action sequences that made it difficult to finish.

This is my first and possibly last attempt to write a proper New World Zorro episodic style tale. I find writing Zorro's part difficult as he tends to come off as a bit sententious, and I prefer coming up with scenarios that minimize Zorro's appearances and rely on Diego using his cunning instead. And having little Victoria and Diego interactions was also a trial for me, but I was trying to keep everything canonical for once.

And Dapot: I am continuing to work on Love Has No Rhyme and No Reason, but it's slow going. This story was actually finished before the last two stories of that one. I've held it back for a while. But thank you for the compliment, and I am trying to speed up work on the last two 3rd season stories. Generally, I work on more than one story (not necessarily in the same category) at the same time.

So since this was an experiment for me, all feedback is very much desired, as I'm not sure I actually accomplished what I set out to do.