Disclaimer: No copyright infringement meant with story. Characters owned by ZPI

AN: Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favs! They make a person feel good! Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy this chapter!

With some rest, the pain in his back had lessened. Diego had risen from the cot several times to walk off some extra stress. The guard kept a close eye on him as he paced the short distance of the cell. He returned to the cot a third time and sat down with a sigh.

Suddenly, he heard some scuffles. The guard leapt up from the chair, prepared for anything, but making sure he stayed away from the cell and Diego's reach. He moved into the corner of the room, in order to cover both Diego and whoever would enter the jail.

"Don't you think you should check out there to see what is going on?" Diego asked, in the slim hope he could trick the soldier into turning his back to Diego.

"That is exactly what you would want me to do, isn't it? However, I was ordered not to leave you alone for even a second, Don Diego."

Diego considered for half a second the chances of his being able to take out the iron bars and climb out of the window before being shot in the back. However, because the solider was being super vigilant, Diego decided he had no chance of success.

The door opened suddenly, and Mendoza walked in. "At ease, Lopez. I will now take over."

Diego found himself impressed by the amount of confidence Mendoza exuded, even though he could tell he was nervous. He hoped Lopez didn't catch it. Diego wondered what Mendoza was up to, and suddenly was nervous for his friend. However, he also became extra vigilant.

"Begging your pardon, sir, I have my orders straight from the Alcalde. I was not to leave this post without orders from him directly. He said I was especially not to take orders from you."

Lopez took his eyes off Mendoza for only a second, to look at Diego, to ensure Diego wasn't up to something. That allowed Mendoza to quickly take a dart from behind his back. He hurriedly threw the dart at the soldier's upper chest. Diego recognized it as one of his "sleeping darts" and watched as the soldier fell over, unconscious. He allowed himself a moment to marvel at the uncharacteristic quickness Mendoza had shown.

Mendoza rushed to the cell, after getting the key from the unconscious soldier and unlocked the door. Diego gripped him by the arm. "Thank you, my friend."

"It is the least I can do, for all you have done for me over the years." Mendoza smiled shyly at Diego. "With or without the mask."

Mendoza then quickly updated Diego on how he had been under house arrest, per Alcalde's orders, since this afternoon. "I don't understand why the Alcalde thought I would help you get out of jail. I thought I hid my disgust about how he treated you this afternoon. However, I guess he isn't allowing anything up to chance."

"I am very surprised as to how the Alcalde has stepped up with all of this. He has certainly attempted to make sure nothing gets in his way of seeing me hang tomorrow morning. Certainly if it hadn't been for you, he would've succeeded."

"Not just me, Don Diego. Some of the townspeople took care of the guards outside the barracks and my room. I saw Felipe hide his horse in Victoria's stable, so I thought perhaps he had also hidden some of Zorro's tricks as well. I found some of your sleeping darts and thought it was the best thing we could use in such tight quarters."

"I am pleasantly surprised with you, Mendoza. I believe we have all underestimated you over these years. Especially the Alcalde. However, thank goodness he did." Diego took a breath, let it out, and then asked, "What now, Mendoza?"

Diego wasn't too surprised with the return of the timid Mendoza. Mendoza hesitated, then said, "I don't know. I haven't been told what we were going to do next. I think it depended upon whether this part of the plan worked."

Diego smiled and patted Mendoza on the back. "That's okay, Mendoza. Let's go check on my family."

"Pedro and Carlos are outside on guard. Should they come with us or stay here?"

"They should stay here on guard just in case."

Diego opened the door to the jail and looked out carefully. The pueblo appeared quiet. No one was around. He motioned to Mendoza, and they went outside. Pedro approached them, and Diego updated them on the plan. Pedro went back to tell Carlos. Diego and Mendoza ran across the pueblo to the tavern. Diego continually scanned the pueblo for any danger. He noticed curtains moving as they approached the door.

He barely reached the door when it opened being greeted by the smile of Don Francisco.

"Diego, it's good to see you. Come in quickly."

He walked in, and was greeted with a raven-haired blur. He wrapped his arms around Victoria in a welcome hug.

"You are safe. I was so worried, Diego."

"It's not over yet, Victoria. We have to move quickly. So have we heard whether the Alcalde is secured?" Diego asked.

Both Victoria and Don Alejandro looked at Diego in wonder. They had never heard such authority come out of his mouth before.

Don Francisco considered the question. "Oh, one of the men should have come over here to report." A look of concern crossed his face. "I wonder if something went wrong."

"Everyone stay here. Mendoza and I will go over there to check."

Don Alejandro objected. "I think you need one more man with you. I will come with you as well."

Felipe signed to Diego. "Felipe, I would rather you wait here as reinforcements, if needed."

Felipe smiled, recognizing it as partly an excuse, but also understanding Diego's concern about guarding Victoria. He walked over to a corner of the room, opened a sack, and pulled out Zorro's sword and sheath.

Diego smiled and thanked Felipe. Don Alejandro looked at the sword and shook his head. Victoria approached Diego and wrapped her arms around him. "Be careful, I just got you. I can't stand to lose you," she whispered.

Diego cupped Victoria's cheek and whispered, "Don't worry, we'll be back soon."

Diego again took the lead, opening to door and checking for any possible danger. He motioned to the other two men, and they made their way to the Alcalde's quarters.

~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~

After eating supper in his quarters, the Alcalde could not help but be pleased with himself. He could not get over the fact he finally had succeeded with getting rid of the two biggest pains in his arse since he was assigned to this dustbowl four years ago. To not only get rid of Zorro, but effectively both of the de la Vegas, it was just too much to hope for.

He had to admit, this plan had taken a lot of work. He had spent many hours picking just which soldiers he wanted to be posted where, who he could trust, and what to do to cover every possible escape measure Zorro would try. This plan did take several months to execute, due to his having to recruit new lancers so as to avoid any possible misguided thoughts of loyalty other lancers may have held.

He had reviewed his list. Diego was secure in the jail, Don Alejandro and his cohorts were secure at the tavern, and all other possible sympathizers quelled. Lancers guarding all of the above. Ramon felt pretty good about it. He even had several lancers guarding his door, the outside door of his entrance, and around the perimeter. Ramon had figured there was no chance of Diego escaping but he still was not taking any chances. Not this time, when he was so very close.

The thought of rebellion never occurred to him, that the affection the pueblo held for one man, for one family, would finally galvanize the small pueblo into action.

Because Ramon was so self-involved in his thinking, he didn't hear the scuffles occurring outside his door. Instead, he was contemplating making the rounds, one last time, before retiring, to ensure de la Vega was indeed secure in his cell and his family at the tavern. He replaced his slippers with his boots, and was about to open the door when it opened instead to reveal Miguel and Reyes, two of Don Sebastian's men.

"Good evening, Alcalde. We need to ask you to go back into your room."

Ramon looked at the two men, looked down to see they both had muskets in their hands, and looked back at them. "What is this? How dare you pull a gun on your Alcalde?"

"I am sorry, Alcalde, but we townspeople want Don Diego to have a fair trial. You will not give that to him, so we have decided to take back our pueblo. You need to stay in your room, or else we will put you in jail."

Ramon shrugged, and appeared to turn back into his room. Instead, he quickly turned towards Reyes, catching him off guard, and grabbed the musket out of his hands. He then used the momentum to hit Reyes alongside the head. Ramon then turned to Miguel, punched him in the stomach, and then gave him an upper cut.

Looking at the two unconscious men, Ramon felt a moment of pride and then shock. He had never done anything like that before. I must have learned it from all those years of watching Zorro. He found some rope and bound the two men, then gagged them. Wouldn't want them sounding the alarm. He decided to brace them up into a sitting position on the floor next to the bed.

Ramon went to the window and looked out. The pueblo appeared quiet. He did not see any sign of the extra guards he assigned, either outside his house or the tavern. He grabbed his sword, and his pistols and went downstairs.

It was no longer a matter of pride making sure de la Vega hung tomorrow. Suddenly the Alcalde was worried about what the pueblo had planned. It appeared to be more than just a casual attempt by some of the townspeople. It was possible all of his men were captured.

He reviewed his possible choices. He could run and attempt to make it to Santa Paula, where he could make his case before the Emissary. He could leave Los Angeles and give up everything he had. Maybe he should go to Spain. He had never been there, but it sounded wonderful from what the de la Vegas often described.

Or he could hunt down de la Vega and take care of him tonight himself. He then could excuse it as self-defense. An evil smile crossed Ramon's face. Years of hatred against Zorro and the de la Vegas coursed through his blood. Even now, he was in such a position because of Diego de la Vega.

Ramon went over to the window in his sitting room, stood at the side of it and carefully looked outside. Movement at the tavern caught his eye and he watched as the door at the tavern slowly opened and Diego, then Mendoza and Alejandro, walked into the pueblo. They started their way over to the house.

Thinking quickly, Ramon decided to sneak out the back door. He decided he was going to take his chances in Santa Paula.

Diego and the other two men approached the Alcalde's house. Diego didn't see anything to alarm him, except for the fact one of the men was to come downstairs and guard the house outside.

"If they aren't here, they both must be upstairs with the Alcalde," Mendoza said.

They went upstairs, and found no one guarding the Alcalde's bedroom door. Diego put a finger to his lips, approached the door carefully, and opened it quickly. The three men observed the two still unconscious by the bed.

"Oh, no, where did the Alcalde go?" Mendoza asked, worriedly looking around.

"If he were smart, he would be halfway to the Americas now," Alexandro said.

AN: So sorry for the wait for this chapter. This story isn't flowing like I want. I actually have to plot this thing, sheesh. Not sure about this chapter, but will post this. Let me know what you think, and thanks for the reading and reviews!