Disclaimer: Don't own a thing. "The New Broom" was written by Philip John Taylor.

Summary: A new alcalde, a new set of problems.

Author's Notes: I must admit I'm not an expert on either the history or geography of the time period, so when in doubt I tend to go with what the show does. So while I find it completely unbelievable that Diego could go to France, conduct his business, have an adventure and be back in California in the space of three months, that's what the show said (and since in "All for One", the alcalde is supposed to be in Mexico City for three months rather than dead, it got moved back before "Devil's Fortress"). So in accordance with that I figure that three months is also long enough for news of Ramone's death to make it to Spain, where a new alcalde could be appointed and have his job taken by De Soto, and for De Soto to arrive in California.

Also this story is a little more experimental than the other two, and I'm not sure if it's really a successful experiment or not. While I do use a little dialogue from the episode, I didn't use any of the scenes from the episode itself. They're all either before, between, or after scenes. I hope I've managed to get this story to make sense on its own, but it is probably best if you've seen the episode, as I've only made a few small modifications to the actual story.

Also I must express a sincere thank you to everyone who's bothered to review, favorite or follow these stories. I'm so unsure of what I'm doing here all feedback is more than welcome.

Here Comes the New Boss...

... Same as the Old Boss

(The New Broom)

For Diego, the last two and a half months had been incredibly busy and filled with an uneven mixture of satisfaction and frustration. While his father had been recovering, Diego had by necessity had to do more work around the rancho, as well as taking over the buying trips that his father couldn't do. It was a relief to be able to do the work to his father's satisfaction, as he was tired of disappointing him more than he had to. If it wasn't for the fact that his father still thought he slept too much because he still had to ride as Zorro, Diego would be very happy with how things were going at home.

And that was the major source of his frustration. With the death of the alcalde, Diego had hoped that he'd be able to retire Zorro. However, because of a series of raids by bandits that Mendoza and his lancers had been singularly incompetent in handling, he was spending as much time as ever wearing the mask. Much as he liked Mendoza personally, he wanted to punch him for letting things get into the condition they had. As far as he knew, Mendoza hadn't done nearly so badly when Ramone had been away in Mexico City, and he couldn't understand what had happened to him this time.

Perhaps, the fact that the alcalde was dead and wouldn't come back had somehow led to this particular failure in leadership on Mendoza's part. Diego didn't really care why; all he knew was that he was hoping that no one put together the times that Zorro didn't show up with the times he was out of town. There had been enough flux in the troubles that he thought he should be fine there, but it was still a concern. As it was he just settled for knowing that Victoria and his father were busily expressing their displeasure with Mendoza rather than adding any additional fuel to the fire himself.

Of course, what had frustrated him more than anything was the fact that he'd been hard pressed to get any time with Victoria. Between his work at home, the trips for his father and his rides as Zorro, he'd hardly had any time to call his own. He'd hadn't realized before how much he'd come to rely on those brief moments with her as Zorro, until he had to give them up. He tried telling himself that it was a good thing for Zorro's relationship with Victoria to cool off before he started to show his own romantic interest in her, but it didn't make it any easier. He longed to be able to start courting her openly. But considering that the new alcalde was due within a month, it seemed most prudent to wait to see what kind of a man they got before deciding the best way to proceed with a courtship.

The final bit of aggravation happened just when things had started to even out. His father was healed enough to insist on taking charge again, and the worst of the bandits had been taken care of. Diego finally thought he was going to have enough free time to get back to his experiments and finish his work on a particularly challenging project that he intended as a surprise for Victoria, when he was suddenly hit with the worst cold he'd had for some time. It was worse than the one he had the previous Christmas.

All those times of faking colds and the one time he wanted to be healthy, he found himself confined to bed, feeling absolutely miserable. The first three days were spent miserably coughing and sneezing and sleeping when the medicines he'd been taking actually worked. By the fourth day, he was beginning to feel human again though he ached all over and still had a nasty cough that was being treated by a honey/lemon/rum concoction that Maria the cook swore by. Despite that, he was tired of being in bed, but for once his father was insistent instead of exasperated.

It had been a long morning, and he knew he'd been annoying Felipe with his restlessness. He didn't feel like sleeping the day away, but he didn't feel well enough to read. He'd been staring dully at the ceiling when Felipe returned followed by Victoria, whose smile was enough to brighten his entire day.

"Hola, Diego," she said, coming up to his bed. "I hear you're doing better."

"Much better now," he said, taking hold of her hand and looking longingly into her eyes. He had the feeling Maria had doubled the rum in his cough medicine as he was feeling a bit woozy from his last dose.

Victoria smiled slightly, then in a teasing tone, said, "Felipe tells me you haven't been a very good patient today."

Diego glanced at Felipe who shrugged and gestured as if to say, "It's true."

"I must admit I can think of other things I'd rather be doing than lying here staring at the ceiling all day," he said, still holding her hand.

Victoria blushed a little, and when he realized how his words sounded, Diego blushed a little as well. His head was very fuzzy, and he was disappointed when Victoria pulled her hand away in order to move a chair close to the bed.

"Anyway, I thought I'd give Felipe a reprieve from your bad mood and come sit with you a while," she said as she sat down.

Diego looked at Felipe who signed that he wanted to read before he went and grabbed a book before going to sit in the farthest corner of the room from the bed.

Victoria glanced back at Felipe. "Your father doesn't think it's a good idea for me to be in your room alone, despite your weak condition. So Felipe can get some relaxation, and we can talk. Or I can read to you if you like." She reached out to touch his hand comfortingly

"A little of both would be nice," he said. "You have a very soothing voice. Is there any news of note?" He curled his hand around hers. She had such nice hands.

"I don't know if your father already told you, but the new alcalde is due to arrive in two weeks."

Diego tried to think. His father had said something, but he'd been feeling too fuzzy-headed at the time. "I'm not sure. Do we have a name?"

"I'm afraid not. Mendoza was just notified of the arrival date. Of course, now, Mendoza's managed to start pulling himself together, so on the bright side, there's little danger that Zorro will be needed before our new alcalde arrives," Victoria said.

"That's a comfort."

"I thought it might be," she said and then looking at him more closely. "I don't think this is doing you much good. Would you like me to read to you now?"

Diego really wished he hadn't taken that last dose of medicine. It was making it very difficult to focus on the woman he loved, but at least he wasn't coughing at the moment. "Only if I can still hold your hand."

Victoria stood up and placed a light kiss on his forehead. Her lips felt very cool to him. "I don't suppose that would do any harm," she said with a smile. Looking over at a stack of books on his bedside table, she asked, "Is there any particular one you'd like to hear?"

"No, querida. Pick what you'd like." He didn't think he could do much more than pay attention to the sound of her voice anyway.

Victoria looked over them and picked one that looked interesting. Sitting back in the chair, she opened the book and then reached up to take his hand again. He knew that it was awkward for reading, but he'd missed her too much lately. They'd had so little time alone, and even then they needed to be cautious— he needed to be cautious. He didn't think Victoria had fully realized what a strain on his self-control that night in the windmill had been. It was what had prompted him to be extra careful on the journey back from the Devil's Fortress, considering how alone they had been for the trip.

He looked at her as she started reading, and a mischievous thought came to his mind. After all, at the moment, he was hardly in a condition to more than mildly flirt with her with Felipe sitting across the room and his head woozy from his medicine. However, he wondered exactly what he could do within those boundaries. After all, it had been so much easier to flirt with her when he knew he only had a moment before he had to disappear. There was a certain amount of freedom within limitations. Well, he was holding her hand, and it might be fun to see if he could distract her from her reading, just a little.

Watching her from beneath his eyelashes and only half-listening to what she was reading, he started gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, just barely touching her skin. It was less than half a minute before he heard her catch her breath and stumble slightly in the reading. She darted her eyes upward, while he tried to look innocent. When she went back to reading, he continued lightly caressing her hand. She started hesitating, looking a little flushed as she continued. Finally, she stopped and looked him straight in the eye.

"I thought you wanted me to read to you," she said with a smile.

"I did— I do," he said.

She shifted the chair a little closer to his bed, so she could prop the book on top of the covers. "I'm not sure that you do," she said softly, running her fingers over his hand. "You know that two can play this game."

Diego smiled at her but before he could speak, the opening of the door startled them both. Victoria grabbed the book and sat back in the chair just as Alejandro came around the corner to check on his son. If he thought there was anything suspicious about their behavior, Alejandro didn't say anything. However, he did insist that Diego needed to get some sleep, so they didn't really get another moment alone before she had to leave. Diego reluctantly drifted to sleep, dreaming of a future where she wouldn't have to leave at all.

~Z~Z~Z~

Two weeks later, Diego was driving the carriage to the pueblo to pick up Victoria for his father's party to welcome the new alcalde. He had been a little worried about his father's calculating expression when he told him what he was doing. Of course, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if his father more than suspected his affections for Victoria, but at the moment, he was too nervous about the immediate future to want to deal with the added pressure of his father's opinions on the subject.

He had been quite surprised to discover that Ignacio De Soto was the new alcalde. From what he remembered of him from the university, he would have expected him to have a posting somewhere larger or on a battle front. He'd always seemed ambitious, determined to reach the top in spite of his lack of connections. Diego also remembered that he'd truly loved Madrid; he knew people born there who didn't know it as well as Ignacio. Los Angeles was a far cry from Madrid. Diego wondered if Ignacio had been given or if he'd sought the assignment.

Diego had great hopes either way that Ignacio would do his best for the pueblo. Coming from an unprivileged background, he should have sympathy for the plight of the farmers and peons who'd suffered under Luis Ramone, and correcting that man's mistakes as well as properly running the garrison should be a good way of satisfying his ambitions, whatever they might be. He was sure that Ignacio was a good choice for the pueblo; he just wished he could get rid of the slight feeling of anxiety that was nagging at the back of his head.

It was a relief to arrive at the tavern. Victoria looked beautiful as ever, and it was a pleasure to help her into the carriage and know that for the two mile trip back they would be free to talk to one another without dissembling.

"Did you know our new alcalde well?" was her first question.

"No, not really. He made quite an impression on me." He remembered very well the student that seemed to make it effortlessly through classes, the one who'd thrown himself so enthusiastically into the theatricals, and the one who'd seemed to be more than a little sensitive to his less than privileged background. Fighting down a nagging doubt, Diego said with more enthusiasm than he felt, "He's just what this pueblo needs."

Victoria didn't sound nearly so sure. "I do hope you're right."

Still focusing on the positive, he said, "Well, if I am, tyranny and injustice might be things of the past in Los Angeles."

"And you can finally tell your father what you've been doing," Victoria replied with considerably more enthusiasm.

"And we should be able to convince Felipe that he shouldn't hide the fact that he can hear any longer," he said, thinking about the other important secret, one that he'd been telling Felipe wasn't really necessary even if it had been incredibly helpful.

"He's as stubborn as you are," Victoria said with a smile. "I should be cross that I had to find this out for myself. Neither of you told me."

Diego was a little embarrassed. "It's his secret really. And he already..."

"I know," Victoria interrupted mildly. "Neither of you were very happy when I figured out your secrets."

"When did you find out?" Diego asked. Felipe hadn't mentioned it.

"Your last trip to San Pedro. He slipped up, and I asked," Victoria said. "He did agree to teach me his signs so that we could argue better." She grinned. "It's coming along quite nicely, and it was fun keeping a secret from you for a while."

"Well, if you've won over Felipe, perhaps between the two of us, we can convince him, especially if Zorro can retire."

"Yes, if..." Victoria sighed. She looked at Diego nervously. "If he can't, I have to know: is the alcalde at all aware of how well you can fight?"

Diego shook his head. "I don't see how he could be. I'd really only just started with Sir Edmund when he graduated, and I never entered any competitions. I preferred to focus on my studies, and getting a reputation for being a good swordsman would have been too distracting. Most of my more advanced training was private."

"Good," Victoria said, sounding much relieved. "Then we're ready whatever happens." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head, wishing the trip was longer or that they could skip the party entirely. He sighed as he saw the hacienda ahead. Well, they did need to get to know how Ignacio planned to handle his new responsibilities before they could make any solid plans for the future.

~Z~Z~Z~

It was two o'clock in the morning when Diego and Felipe slipped down into the cave, and Diego was still furious at De Soto. He'd had such hopes for him, yet he should have realized; he should have paid attention to that feeling of uncertainty. Of all the misinformed, arrogant, ambitious fools. Had De Soto always been this way? Diego now understood that De Soto felt that the quick capture of a notorious bandit was a sure way to promotion to a better command, a larger town.

Damn the man. He could have actually found out whether Zorro was an actual threat before deciding to capture him using such heavy-handed methods of placing all the leading citizens of the community under house arrest in the de la Vega hacienda, just because he suspected them of being possible conspirators with Zorro. And launching his excesses with the damnable declaration of bringing Los Angeles to heel...

Diego was at least grateful that De Soto wasn't as ruthless as Palomarez. He certainly wasn't very clever or politic by immediately alienating the people who could be his best support. Did De Soto really believe that the distance from Madrid would allow him such sweeping powers? There was still authority in California that he'd have to answer to.

But more than anything at the moment, he was glad that he'd managed to get out of the way while his father was managing to figure out how to accommodate everyone at the hacienda, his anger practically a palpable force. Diego wasn't even sure who had been given his room as he'd insisted he'd rather sit up reading. It was the one way he could be sure of keeping the library to himself, and disappearing while everything was being settled kept him from letting his own temper get away from him.

Diego finished changing his clothes, and somehow he'd managed not to kick over anything in his rage as he kept thinking of how tired he was of Zorro. It had been almost three years. Three years of having to defend the people from unjust leaders or bandits because of the failure of leadership. When he started, he never expected that he'd be doing this for years. And now it looked like there was no end in sight if De Soto couldn't be persuaded that doing his duty would be the better choice.

He finally turned to Felipe, who had been staring at him with some concern. "What is it?"

Felipe signed. "You're too angry. It's not safe."

Diego took a deep breath. "You're right. I need to calm down, especially if I'm to give our new alcalde a proper introduction to Zorro. Perhaps, we can convince him that trying to capture Zorro is not an easy step to promotion."

Felipe looked skeptical.

"If nothing else," Diego said, as he started saddling Toronado, "Zorro will make sure he understands that such heavy-handed methods are not going to get the results he wants. Maybe if he gets concerned with how he looks to those higher up, that will keep him in line. I'm sure that Zorro can torment him indefinitely if necessary. Our school days may be over, but I'm not adverse to playing some childish pranks."

Felipe smiled at that. Diego felt calmer now and more in the mood to deal with De Soto. He knew he had a few hours before De Soto would return to the cuartel, and he planned to have a surprise waiting for him.

~Z~Z~Z~

It had always been ridiculously easy to break into the cuartel, and this time was no exception as half the lancers were at his family's hacienda and the other half was busily sleeping. With the shutters closed, it was unlikely that anyone would notice the light, as Zorro spent a little time looking around De Soto's quarters. He glanced at a portrait of Machiavelli on the wall. De Soto's inspiration, perhaps?

De Soto's things had already been unpacked, and Zorro looked through the alcalde's wardrobe with amused contempt. Had De Soto always been so vain about his appearance? He couldn't really remember. Standards in Madrid had been quite different than here in California, and he'd never really paid attention to fashion anyway. The important point was that there was room enough to hide in there when necessary.

His perusal of De Soto's clothes finished, Zorro looked around the room before fastening on the bed as the appropriate thing to booby trap. It really didn't take that long to loosen the fittings sufficiently so that it would collapse the moment anyone tried to sit on it. And once that was accomplished, there was nothing to do but wait. He looked around, since he had no intention of spending the next couple of hours in that stuffy closet.

He saw some books on a table. Glancing at the top one, he saw it was Machiavelli's The Prince. So indeed an inspiration. It had been a while since he'd read it. He glanced inside and was appalled to see what a truly dreadful translation it was. Clearly, De Soto had not been joking about cheating, or he never would have been satisfied reading this version. Zorro wondered how he'd managed, without the money or connections for really good bribes. Probably found a scholar more in need than himself. Someone smaller, easily bullied perhaps. His former optimism thoroughly gone, Diego tried to remember more about De Soto.

They really had been only bare acquaintances. Seniors and freshman didn't socialize, and all he could remember from the time in the dramatic society was the relish with which De Soto played Judas. Truly, all Diego seemed to remember were the superficial things students talked about like De Soto's apparently natural talent which had been mentioned along with how amazing his ability was considering his background.

Still frustrated, Zorro tossed the book back on the table and settled back to wait.

~Z~Z~Z~

Diego leaned back against the wall and stared up at the sky. The first conflict was over, but he had no illusions that the war had been won. He still wasn't sure if humiliating De Soto so completely was about strategy or anger.

Oh, it had been fun toying with him. The bed had collapsed on cue, and he'd gotten to mock his clothing sense. The fact that De Soto in the ensuing sword fight managed to slice his own beloved painting of Machiavelli had been a delightful bonus. De Soto was a marginally better swordsman than Ramone, but he was no real challenge. Zorro had taken great pleasure in punching him out before tying him and forcing him to ride backwards to the hacienda in order to release the prisoners.

However, Diego was well aware that while personally satisfying, he'd made De Soto more determined to capture Zorro if only to avenge his own humiliation. But at least, De Soto was now aware that his excesses would not go unanswered. Diego had also been careful as himself to point out that an obsession to capture Zorro could just as likely harm his career as help it. With all that, Diego still wasn't sure if there could have been a better way to handle the situation.

"You look very grim, Diego." Victoria's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Shouldn't you be happier? Zorro made our alcalde back down completely, and your home is no longer a prison."

Shaking his head slightly, he looked down at her. He took her hand in his. "I'm sorry, querida. I think it's just disappointment. I was so hoping that things would be different." He sighed. "Well, perhaps they are in a way. Ramone wanted land and influence. De Soto wants to return to Madrid a hero. But it doesn't change the fundamental injustice of it all."

Victoria reached up to caress his face. "I know, mi amor. But we will still fight it the best we can and hope that this tyrant does not last as long. And we can still continue our plans for the future. We can't let this make us lose hope."

Diego let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You're right, of course. I'm just afraid that I've made things more difficult. But we will find a way." He leaned down and kissed her.

THE END

Next up: "A New Lease on Love." As the first episode whose plot is seriously affected by the change, this one is probably going to be long. But hopefully not so terribly long to write as I've spent a lot of time plotting out just what to do with this one.

Technically speaking the next two episodes in production order are "The Buccaneers" and "A New Beginning." However since the only basic change I see in them is Zorro being more courteous and less flirtatious, I'm skipping them. They still happen; they'll just be referred to in passing in the next story, and there'll be a shorter time frame between them.