A/N: Thank you to those who are reviewing. I so appreciate them! Icy Waters, thank you for your comment about dashes. I will try to use them more conservatively.

CHAPTER TWO – What If

From the arroyo, Garcia waited another few minutes before calling out again. "Zorro! Are you there, Zorro? Have you found anything you can use yet?"

No answer. Garcia waited a few moments, and called out again. "Zorro! Zorro? Zorro, are you there?"

No answer. The weight of the silence hit Garcia in the gut like a sledge hammer. I've been left to die. Zorro has slipped away. But no, he thought. Zorro is not like that. He wouldn't leave me alone in the arroyo like this. Something must have happened to him. But what? The feeling wasn't unlike the horrible feeling he'd felt when he realized he'd forgotten to give Old Juan an important note from Don Diego. The de la Vega hacienda was taken over by Administrado Varga, the man who called himself the Eagle. He was an evil dictator who wanted to rule over all California as emperor.

"Zorro! Zorro? Are you there, Zorro? I am still here…me…Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia…I am still here…waiting…"

Garcia shut his mouth. He looked around to see if he could find something to help him get out of the arroyo. If I only had toe and hand holds, a stiff rope, a tree branch, or a ladder, he thought. I could climb out of here without help. This was one time he wished he weighed a lot less.

Z

Zorro blinked his eyes open. His head hurt. What happened? He rose to an elbow and looked around. He grunted as his head reminded him he'd been knocked out. He didn't know for how long. He put a hand to his head and started to rise, only to be reminded that his foot hurt.

"Sergeant Garcia! Are you still there? This is Zorro." He called into the night, as he hopped up on one foot.

"Zorro! Why didn't you answer me?" Garcia tried to keep the panic and irritation out of his voice.

"Sorry, Sergeant. There is good news and bad news. The good news is I found a perfect tree branch to help you. The bad news is my foot is worse. I tripped on a rock, and knocked myself out. That is why I could not answer you. I am very sorry. I will crawl if I have to. But it might take a little longer to get to you."

"I can go nowhere, Senor Zorro. I have nothing to do but wait. But Zorro, can we talk as I wait for you?" Garcia was hopeful. Maybe he will give me a clue to his identity, he thought. Then, I can capture him later, collect the reward, and retire from the Army. That's all he could think of whenever he saw Zorro.

"Certainly, Sergeant. What would you like to talk about?" Zorro grunted as he began to hop up and down the length of the long, thick tree branch. He noticed he could break off a smaller branch from the main that he could use as a crutch.

"Oh – I don't know…ohhh-hh-hhh…" Garcia stood at the side of the arroyo when he swayed again, and had to throw his hand out to catch himself.

"Anything you like, Sergeant. Sergeant, are you all right?" Zorro heard the groan from the grove of trees.

"Just a little dizziness, Zorro. Otherwise, I am fine."

"You probably have a slight concussion, Sergeant. I will bring the branch as soon as I can."

Z

It took Zorro fifteen minutes to drag the thick branch to the edge of the arroyo. Upending it, he used the branch as a large walking-type stick, managing to drag both it and himself to the arroyo.

"Here, Sergeant. Grab ahold of the smaller end. I will hold the thicker end up here." Zorro put the branch down and sat on the thick end and. He leaned over to help reach Garcia's arms to pull him up.

It took a lot of heaving and hauling, grunting and groaning, but Sergeant Garcia finally crawled out of the arroyo. At one point, it seemed the branch was going to break. They both heard it crack. With one great, swift effort, and Zorro's arms pulling him, Garcia was hauled out of the arroyo.

Both of them were out of breath, their lungs heaving. Garcia was out of breath from climbing and trying to hold on. Zorro was out of breath trying to hold on to Garcia so he could climb. They sat there, one on either side of the thick branch.

"You know, Senor Zorro – you are not such a bad fellow, after all." Garcia smiled, as he tried to get his breath under control.

"You know Sergeant, neither are you." Zorro reached over the branch and gave Garcia's arm a friendly slap. "You are a good man, Sergeant." He paused for a breath. "I just wish you weren't a soldier, out to capture me for the reward."

"Gracias, Zorro. And si, sometimes I wish you didn't have a price on your head…" He paused a moment. "Why do you go against the government, Zorro?" Garcia looked at him questioningly.

Zorro drew in a breath, and let it out slowly to get his breathing under control. "Sergeant, I think you are acquainted with the concept of justice, are you not?"

"Oh, si, Zorro. I think so." His brow furrowed; he wasn't sure where Zorro was going with this.

"May I ask you a question?" Zorro thought. He wanted to feel Garcia out, to see where he stood personally. He thought he already knew, but wanted to confirm it.

"Si, you may ask any question you like. If I know the answer, I will be happy to tell you." Garcia's expression reflected his sincerity.

"Is it justice when tyrants reign and the people are oppressed? Or taxed until they have nothing left? Or beaten just because they oppose injustice? Is it right to unlawfully, without merit, imprison caballeros, peons, or vaqueros?" Zorro's voice had an edge to it, but he tried to keep the worst of the passion out of his tone. He didn't want to antagonize Garcia. They had to work together to get out of this jam they'd both gotten themselves into.

"Senor Zorro, I am a simple soldier who follows orders. I cannot let my personal feelings interfere. I must follow orders, whether I like them or not."

"Sergeant, if you were commanded to execute me, would you do it? Knowing that you would be killing the only person who has kept a corrupt and tyrannical government from running rampant on the people? Would you do it? If you knew my identity, you had caught me, and you discovered it was your best friend in the world – would you do it?"

Garcia felt there was more to this question than Zorro was asking, but he didn't know what it was.

"A soldier follows orders, Zorro. That is all. I would be hanged if I didn't." Garcia's voice had an almost pleading tone to it.

"Si, I know that. But, let's play a little game, shall we?" Zorro smiled.

"What kind of game?" Garcia looked puzzled again.

"A game where we pretend you know who I am…and I turn out to be the best friend you've ever had. We'll play a 'what if' type game. I'll ask you questions. You ask me questions, and we'll discover what we want to know, all right?"

Garcia took a moment. "All right, but I don't know what my best friend has to do with it."

"You will have to use your imagination, Sergeant."

"Oh – si. My imagination…" He scratched his head, and shook it slightly, trying to understand where Zorro was going with this.

"First of all, Sergeant…who is your best friend? Who would you trust your life to? Who do you have the most fun with? And who trusts you?" Zorro knew the answer, but pretended he didn't.

"My best friend? That would be Don Diego. He is my best friend." Garcia smiled. "I like him very much."

"Okay. Let's pretend that beneath my mask, I am Don Diego. Can you do that?"

Garcia laughed out loud. "It is hard for me to think of Don Diego behind your mask, Senor Zorro. He is the least likely…" He paused a moment as his imagination got into the game. He frowned. "I would not like to think that Don Diego would do that to me. He would not be Zorro who tricks me, who plays me for a fool."

"No one would like to think that, Sergeant. But let's just say for argument's sake, I'm Don Diego de la Vega. You caught me, and you have been ordered to execute me. Could you do it?" Zorro was serious, but if Garcia had looked closely, he would have seen a twinkle in Zorro's eye.

Z

Bernardo looked at the clock. Zorro should have been back an hour ago, he thought. He descended the stairs from the small room off Diego's fireplace, and went to the cave. As he went through the tunnel, he heard Tornado snort, and knew the stallion had returned. But where was Zorro? And why didn't Tornado stay with him? Bernardo didn't know the answer to those questions.

Z

Garcia said nothing for a moment. Zorro could tell that all kinds of emotions were running across Garcia's face. Then, he saw determination, which meant he'd made a decision.

"If you were my best friend Don Diego, and I was ordered to execute you…si. I would have to do it. But I would not be happy about it. And I would try to see if there was some other way to get him out of it."

Zorro stretched out a hand as Garcia struggled with his balance. "Here, use my hand to help balance yourself. Once you are up, you can help me up, all right?"

"Si, Zorro. Gracias."

Once up, they walked away. As they walked, Zorro picked up where the conversation had left off.

"How would you try to get Don Diego out of it? If I was your friend Don Diego and I am Zorro, and you caught me."

Garcia thought a moment. "Well, I could look the other way if an escape attempt was made."

"Really? How would you do that?" Zorro was intrigued. He cocked his head to one side.

"Well, you have tricked me before, Zorro. You could use one of your tricks again. You once put a bag over my head and told me to stand in the corner with a sword at my back until you said to move – but you had already left."

Zorro laughed. "Si, I remember that. It's a good trick, Sergeant. You should try it sometime. How else could you get me out of it? If I were Don Diego?"

"I don't know, Zorro. I'm sure there are lots of ways. I think it would depend on you, on Don Diego, and what he wanted to do. He always has good ideas."

"Si, he is an intelligent man." Zorro paused a moment. "What if no way was found to get me out of it? Would you execute me? If I was your best friend Don Diego even though you wouldn't like to, would you still do it?"

"Si. I would."

"You would." Zorro was incredulous. He shook his head.

Garcia groaned and swayed. He put out a hand. Zorro grabbed it. They stopped a moment as Garcia's dizziness passed. Garcia picked up where they left off.

"If there was no way to release Don Diego, I am but a mere soldier who follows orders, Senor Zorro. My duty is to follow and obey. I would have to, but I would not like it."

"But what about your conscience, Sergeant? Doesn't that bother you? When you are ordered to punish and imprison innocent people?"

"Si, it bothers me, but what can I do?"

"Sergeant!" Zorro exclaimed as he threw out his hand, as his 'good' foot stepped on a rock. He started to fall. Garcia put his arm out and Zorro grabbed it. They stopped a moment, as Zorro regained his balance. "Sergeant, have you ever thought about disobeying an order?"

"Are you all right now, Zorro?" Zorro nodded.

Garcia remembered the question. "I couldn't openly…disobey an order. I would be court-martialed. Then I would be executed! Zorro, can we stop playing this game now? I do not like it. We are going around in circles. There is nothing I can do. I am a soldier. I do my duty. I follow orders, right or wrong. If I am given a bad order, I do not get in trouble for obeying, but the Commandante gets in trouble for giving it."

Zorro said nothing for a while. Garcia let out a huge sigh. In his heart, he knew something had changed in his relationship with Zorro. He could tell Zorro was irritated about something, but he didn't know what. They stopped another moment for Zorro to rest his foot.

"I see your point, Sergeant. Now, I think we should be going, don't you? We have a long way to go…"

"When do we sleep, Zorro? I am tired. It is very late. I am sleepy." Garcia pulled himself up on his feet.

"We don't, Sergeant. We can't afford to. If you do have a concussion, you shouldn't sleep. But now I know for sure that for you it is duty above everything, even friendship...I think we should be going."

Garcia didn't have a proper response to that statement, so he remained silent.

Z

Don Alejandro de la Vega was in the Library at the huge desk, working on the accounts for the rancho, when Bernardo knocked on the door, then came in. Alejandro turned and remarked, "Bernardo, where is Diego? Have you seen him? He missed supper."

Bernardo gestured 'horse riding' and put his hand to his forehead in a searching manner. Alejandro interpreted. "You don't know, but you think he went riding. When?"

Bernardo was a little vague. He alternately shook, then nodded his head and put his hands in the air for a moment, then put up three fingers. "Oh. He went riding three hours ago, you think?"

Bernardo smiled and nodded his head.

"It's dark now. Do you think we should go look for him, Bernardo?" Bernardo thought a moment, and looked at his watch again. It was hard to know what to do. He looked up and nodded to Alejandro.

"Which direction do you think he went?" Both of them headed towards the de la Vega stables. Bernardo tugged on Alejandro's arm – signing that he should stay home in case Diego came back. Alejandro agreed, then gathered a few of the vaqueros for a search party.

Bernardo hurried back to the hacienda, dashed through the cabinet in the sala and down into the cave. He mounted Tornado quickly, trying to convey his feeling of urgency to the stallion.

TBC