Author's Notes: Here's the conclusion of this story, and it diverges from the episode even more than the first part.

Also, again great thanks to Ghetto Outlaw for his contributions, especially for the Don Alejandro-Diego conversation in this chapter, which he managed to do on a deployment where he's being kept quite busy (to put it mildly and even obliquely). So if there are a greater number of weaknesses in this story than usual, that's because he hasn't been able to do his usual beta work, and this is pretty much all me.

And thank you to everyone who reviewed part 1. This story has now broken the 300 review mark. Thank you.

The Price

(The Reward)

Part 2

The next day Diego and Victoria spent at the hacienda, he kept mostly to bed. Victoria insisted that he needed to rest while she took care of him. Given how tired and sore he was, he needed little encouragement. But the day after, while he was far from recovered, he was beginning to feel restless, and the events at the tavern still weighed heavily on his mind.

After breakfast, Diego had done some reading, tried working on the books before checking on his last experiment, but nothing managed to keep his restlessness at bay. Ultimately, he decided that as Felipe had already taken care of Toronado that morning, spending some time grooming Esperanza would be in order. Working with her had always been a meditative activity for him, and now he was running a brush through Esperanza's mane and patting the side of her neck as she nickered contentedly and occasionally nudged his arm affectionately with her head.

The familiarity of the animal, the quiet of the ranch, the coolness of the breeze, and just being alone all combined to make him feel better but still far from well. Despite his best efforts, Diego couldn't help running the fight through his mind over and over, imagining each time a way it could have ended without a man having to die. But there was no escaping that a man was dead, and even though he knew in his head that he was acting in defense of his love, his heart was still heavy with guilt.

"Diego?"

He turned and there was Alejandro.

"Oh, good morning, Father. You're back. Has Senior Calvillo returned?"

"Yes and I was anxious to return home. I see you are giving Esperanza some much needed attention," Alejandro said as he walked around to the horse's other side.

"Well, I haven't seen her in a while, and I thought that since I was out here, a little grooming would be appreciated."

"Indeed," Alejandro agreed as he stroked Esperanza's muzzle.

For what felt like a long while, Diego said nothing though he could feel his father's stare on him.

At last, Alejandro broke the silence. "And how are you doing?"

Diego drew a deep breath as he tried to collect his thoughts. There was no use in pretending he didn't know what his father was talking about, but he still had no idea what to say. "I don't know" was all he managed.

"You realize the man was a fiend. You were protecting Victoria and yourself. He would have killed both of you without a moment's hesitation."

"I know. I know," Diego said with more frustration in his voice than he had intended. "I just… it's… I…" He looked off in the distance at nothing in particular before looking his father in the eye and saying, "I know we've never talked about this, I mean, not really talked about it, but… you… you were a soldier, and… I'm sure you've done things you regret."

"No," Alejandro replied flatly.

The forthrightness and bluntness of his father's response so genuinely shocked Diego that he actually took a step back. His mouth dropped open and moved dumbly, looking for some kind of response.

"No," Alejandro went on, "we have never talked about it, and now I'm sorry that we haven't. And no, I've never done anything I regret. I regret that I had to do it, but I was fighting for my home and my family. A soldier might tell you he's fighting for God and king and country, but in the end, that is little more than a lot of patriotic tripe. No, in the end, a soldier is always fighting for his home and his family."

"But I'm not a soldier, I…"

"No, you're not," Alejandro interjected, "but you are a man, a man with a wife. You're a husband, and one day you'll be a father. Even if you don't realize it, you were fighting for all of that last night."

Diego couldn't fault anything his father was saying. He walked over to the work bench and leaned against it. "I know. I just… I… I wish thing could have been different."

Alejandro came around and stood next to him. "Of course you do. That's because you're a good man, a truly good man." He put a hand on his shoulder. "You asked me about being a soldier. Yes, I've taken men's lives, and I hated it every time I did it. But you don't have to hate someone to kill them. You don't have to want to kill someone to kill them. Sometimes you're put in a place where it is the only option left you. Sometimes it's the right thing to do. But that doesn't make it easy."

"How do you get over something like that?"

"You don't. There is no getting over it. All you can do is get through it. Fortunately for me, I had your mother to help." Alejandro smiled warmly. "And you have Victoria."

Diego smiled too, though it was only half-heartedly.

"Diego, that man made his decisions, and that is what put him in a grave, not you. Whether or not you believe that, it's still true."

"I know that, at least in my head." Diego sighed. "Unfortunately, the head and heart seem so rarely to be in step. I just don't know what to do."

"Well, you can start by letting me finish with Esperanza. Go spend some time with Victoria. If your head hasn't convinced you, try listening to your heart for a while." Alejandro smiled broadly. "It's waiting for you inside."

~Z~Z~Z~

The next few days Diego and Victoria planned to stay around the hacienda as Señor Calvillo had returned to work, and there was no real reason for them to go to town. They also felt it would be more in character for Diego to remain home to recover from the fight. However despite Victoria's insistence on his taking things easy, Diego had no intention of spending too much time in their room, at least not if he would only be resting, so as the weather was nice, he and Victoria went outside to sit in the garden while he worked on a sketch of her for a new painting. He was glad that he could work from life rather than memory when he wanted to draw her now, though obviously it was more of a strain on her to pose.

Taking a break, Victoria decided to go inside and get them some lemonade. As she disappeared from view, Diego stood up and stretched. He was still feeling sore, but improving rapidly. It was fortunate that he was a quick healer. He turned towards the house, thinking he would help Victoria, even though he knew she would protest, when he heard someone calling out to him. Twisting around, Diego saw a rough looking man entering the gate of the courtyard.

"I'm looking for Don Diego de la Vega," the man said as he swaggered into the yard, hand casually resting on the hilt of the knife in his belt.

Uneasy about the man's stance though it was not overtly threatening, Diego surreptitiously studied the man's appearance. Dirty and unkempt with a light stubble on his cheeks, something about him seemed faintly familiar, though Diego believed he hadn't actually met him before. The memory niggled at him.

"I'm Diego de la Vega," he confirmed. "What is it you want, Señor..." he let his words trail off.

"Narcisco," the man said, dipping his head in a slight nod. "And as for what I want... well, I hear tell you already did that."

"I don't understand," Diego said, though he thought he was beginning to.

"I'm a bounty hunter, Señor," he said, "and I've been tracking Jose Baquero for a while only to find that you're the one to snag the bounty... one I've worked hard for."

"I'm sorry, Señor... Narcisco," Diego said, the name not striking a cord. "But I'm not the one receiving the bounty. It's going to the pueblo's orphans."

"I see," the man said. "Well, that's too bad for me, I guess." He looked around at the hacienda speculatively. "But maybe I'll hang around for a bit. Try my hand to getting another bounty. Just so I haven't wasted my time coming all this way here."

"You can do as you wish," Diego said quietly. "But I can't guarantee you won't be wasting your time."

Narcisco shrugged. "We'll see," he said, before giving another nod and leaving the garden.

As he left, Victoria came outside with a tray, which Diego took from her to put on the table.

"Who was that?" she asked, indicating the departing horseman, who had paused long enough to stare back at the two of them before continuing on.

"He claims he's a bounty hunter who's been looking from Baquero and disappointed to miss out on the bounty, so much so that he's planning to stick around for a bit."

"To go after Zorro?" Victoria asked, her eyes narrowing. "Or do you think something else?"

"I'm not sure," Diego said. "He seems bold enough to think he could catch the Fox, but I'm not sure. I have a feeling there's more to this visit than just a vague asking for the bounty."

"Perhaps," she said. "Maybe he was hoping you were weak enough or fool enough to give up the bounty to him, and hopefully, he's got conscience enough that he wouldn't try to shake down the padre for it." She shivered. "He has the look of a predator, no matter what side of the law he claims to be on."

"That's what concerns me," he said. "If he's after another bounty, there's only one around here that counts."

"But what would he do to get it?"

"I don't know," Diego said. "We'll just have to keep our eyes open."

~Z~Z~Z~

The next couple of days seemed to pass slowly at the hacienda, though Diego was not particularly idle. There was painting and some research for a new experiment. Victoria was going through the household accounts. There still seemed a slight barrier between them that neither was quite able to cross, but Diego had hope that they would find the way soon.

Alejandro and Felipe kept them informed of what was going on in the pueblo. The stranger was staying in the tavern under Señor Calvillo's watchful eye. According to Alejandro he had been asking around about Zorro as well as about what happened with Baquero, more about the money than anything else really, but Felipe felt that he was also trying to find out about Diego and the de la Vegas at the same time. Narcisco had also spent time riding out, but no one knew for certain where he was going, though the main speculation was that he was looking for Zorro for the bounty. However, to be cautious, Don Alejandro had instructed his vaqueros to keep an eye out for the stranger around their property. No one reported seeing anything suspicious.

So after a couple of days of nothing in particular to concern them, Don Alejandro asked Diego and Victoria if they wanted to go for a ride with him.

She glanced at Diego. "I don't know. I'm not sure if Diego should be riding yet."

Don Alejandro said contemplatively, "I suppose that it would be a bit out of character right now. But you could come with me for a short ride. You could use the fresh air, I think."

"Yes, she could," Diego said. "But keep an eye out for trouble."

"Do you really expect trouble, son?" Don Alejandro asked. "Nothing's happened, and if anything, it looks like the stranger is scouting around with the notion of capturing the bounty on Zorro, and we know he's not going to be riding out any time soon."

"We may know it, but I'm not sure what that man is up to. Perhaps he's hoping to ambush the men bringing the bounty in the next few days, though I'm not sure how he'd expect to learn precisely when it is, since no one in the pueblo knows. In any case it's best to be vigilant. Isn't that what you've always said?" Diego said with a bit of a smile.

"No, but I probably should have," Don Alejandro replied with a grin. "So, Victoria, up to a ride with an old man?"

"You are hardly old, Father," Victoria replied. "And on horseback even less so."

"Oh, Dulcinea is my treasure," he said. "Well, I'll meet you at the stable then, Victoria, so you and Diego can say goodbye without me getting in the way." He had a wicked grin as he turned and left.

"My father is very subtle," Diego said wryly.

"But he has a point," Victoria said. Since Baquero died, Diego's expressions of affection had been more subdued, and perhaps her own as well, as she had been harboring concerns for her husband's health as well as... that anger that hadn't really settled though she tried to manage it. Yet she still longed for his embrace, but there was no time for a long conversation now. Victoria leaned in and kissed his lips trying to convey her love through it brief though it was. "I love you."

Diego returned her kiss. "I love you, too," he said. "Have a pleasant ride. I look forward to joining you soon, once it's believable." He smiled wryly.

~Z~Z~Z~

Victoria and Don Alejandro rode quietly until they were out of sight of the hacienda.

"How are you, Victoria?" he asked.

Victoria sighed. "Tired of being asked the question. Angry at that... pig for causing so much trouble even after his death. I hate that Diego feels guilty while I don't, not even a bit."

"Nor do I. I don't condone easy killing, and I know you don't either, but I do know the scars it can leave inside a man. Diego's been very lucky so far."

"I know. And I'm trying not to burden him with my feelings on this."

"And he's trying not to burden you either, and I have no idea whether this is a good idea or not. I kept my own share of burdens from Diego's mother, and though it seemed to work, I don't know."

"I don't know either," Victoria said. "We've had so many secrets in our lives that I'm not sure it's best to keep them from each other anymore. But still..."

"I'm sure you two will work it out, but I will say that I certainly understand the issues of dealing with a temper. De la Vegas and Escalantes alike both have it. I don't think Diego will have a problem understanding it."

"He never has," Victoria said. "But I know he hates it when he loses control of his."

"He does like staying in control of himself," Don Alejandro said. "The more I think back at what he's done, the more I'm amazed at what he has accomplished. For so long just him and Felipe, and... then you."

"But it's always been him in charge, doing things that no one else can do," Victoria said.

"So much so that it's easy to forget that he has his own weaknesses and needs help from time to time," Don Alejandro said softly.

Before Victoria could say anything, there was a sudden shower of rocks from a nearby hillside, and a rock flew and hit Don Alejandro's horse. Dulcinea reared suddenly and despite his best efforts Don Alejandro was thrown. Victoria got down from Fortuna to check on him.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Just winded," he said, starting to sit up when they were both startled by the sound of pistols being cocked.

Victoria looked up to see a man in black pointing guns at them. He wore a bandana which covered his face with eye holes cut into it and an oversized black jacket with silver threads that she assumed he'd stolen from a caballero, at least she hoped it had only been robbery, but he had the look of a man at ease with dealing death, and that made their position very dangerous.

"Señor, Señora," the man said, "don't make any sudden moves. It would be a pity to have to kill you."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Don Alejandro demanded.

"Who I am doesn't matter. You can call me a student of the Fox," he said. "What matters is what I want in exchange for your safety. A small matter of three thousand pesos. I hear your son should have it, and I want that money."

"My son isn't getting any reward. It's being given to the orphans."

"Well, Señor, then since I'm an orphan, he should have no problem delivering it to me. Surely he values the two of you over such an insignificant sum," he said. "Now, we'll just make our way to a little spot where you can stay until my transaction with Don Diego is complete."

~Z~Z~Z~

The afternoon was starting to wane, and Diego was getting worried. While he knew that both Victoria and Don Alejandro enjoyed their rides, he had expected them to return much earlier, if only because of their concerns about the stranger and perhaps to keep him from brooding and riding out after them. Actually, Diego rather expected it to be the latter more than anything. And yet they had not returned.

Walking outside the hacienda, Diego stepped out to the road and looked in both directions in the vain hope that he would be seeing Victoria and his father riding home. No such luck. He knew that they would not be happy if he rode out after them, but if they did not return soon, he would do it anyway, though perhaps it would be more in character for him to ask a couple of the hands to do it in his stead. Perhaps it might, but still he would do it himself if it came to it.

As he was contemplating returning inside, Diego noticed a horseman in the distance heading towards the hacienda in a hurry. It took a moment before he recognized the rider as the man Narcisco. He remained unmoving watching as the man raced up and stopped in front of him.

"Señor de la Vega!" he called before dismounting from his horse.

"What is it, Señor... Narcisco?" he asked.

"I have some bad news for you, Don Diego," he said.

"What news?" Diego asked, though the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach gave him a good hint of what it was.

"While I was scouting about, a man got the drop on me. Zorro he said his name was and that he needed a messenger to deliver a message to you."

"And what is the message?" Diego asked impatiently, wanting the tarradiddle to be done with.

"There's no other way to say this, Señor, but he's got your father and wife and wants 3,000 pesos for their safe return."

"Why should I believe you?" Diego asked. "Zorro has never kidnaped anyone before, and he has been a friend to my family for years."

The man shrugged. "I'm just passing on the message. Maybe this man is just claiming to be Zorro. I don't know, but he told me to show you this to prove that he had them." He pulled out a glove from his jacket and handed it to Diego. He instantly recognized it as one of his father's, not even needing to check the small initials worked into the inside to be sure. But there was also something inside it, and Diego tipped it over into his hand to reveal the necklace he had given Victoria after they had become engaged. Anger simmered in him.

He grabbed the man by his lapels. "Where are they?" he demanded.

Narcisco barely flinched. "I don't know. I'm just the man delivering the message, and if you want to recover your family members, you need me alive and well and able to deliver your response. So how much are they worth to you?"

"I'll pay the ransom," Diego finally said. "But it will take time to get it together."

"You have until tomorrow, Señor," Narcisco said. "At least, that's what I was told."

Diego glared. "They had better not be harmed in any way," he bit out.

"As long as he gets the money, I don't think you have anything to worry about, Señor," the man said with a swagger as he returned to his horse and rode away.

The man was barely out of sight before Diego made his way down to the cave. Much as he hated it, this was a job for Zorro not Diego de la Vega. It took longer than he liked to get ready as he not only wanted to pack Toronado's saddle bags with a number of distractions but he also added a padded sleeveless vest that wrapped around his torso under his shirt to protect his ribs from the jostling of riding and any blows in the event of another fight. He disliked the notion, but considered it a necessary precaution as he would never forgive himself if something happened to his wife and father just because he was too proud to admit he was not at peak fighting trim.

Once he was ready, Zorro headed out of the cave, anger and fear burning in his gut as he started following the man's trail, determined to find his loved ones. God help the man if they had been harmed because nothing would stop him from seeing him pay. It wasn't as if blood were not already on his hands. Guilty blood at that.

Zorro could not believe how easy it was to track Narcisco. De Soto left less of a trail. He would have thought even a bounty hunter would do a better job. It was enough to let him suspect a trap and use even more caution in his approach, which was helped by the fact that the man had not left de la Vega land, and Zorro knew every inch of it. He wasn't too surprised to discover the man was hiding in the abandoned mines, though he had not chosen the one that had collapsed a couple of years before.

Hiding above a hill, Zorro looked down through a spyglass to see the half covered with brush entrance of a cave, one he knew from experience was large enough on the interior to hide several people with a nearby overhung area capable of concealing several horses from general view. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to see inside to determine if Victoria and his father were there, but once Zorro worked his way around he saw their horses tied up next to the horse he had seen Narcisco riding. While he could spot the indicators of some trip wires, they seemed more for the purpose of slowing down or warning of intruders than anything more deadly. And frankly he had no difficulty in avoiding them, as he knew a secret about this particular cave that he was sure Narcisco didn't.

There was another way in, a well-concealed one. It was just past the first turn in the passage, above and behind some rocks. In order to spot it, a person would have to either know it was there or be very particular about searching the ceiling of the cave to realize it existed. The fact that the cavern soon tapered into a solid wall made it even more unlikely someone would note it.

A plan in mind, Zorro circled the long way round, still keeping his eye out for traps until he reached the area where the second entrance was. Of course, he'd need to hope that nothing had happened to block things or change it too much as there was a short section where there would be no light from either end of the tunnel and things were going to be rather tight as he had been much younger the last time he had worked his way into the cave, and he hadn't been carrying a sword at the time. Removing his hat and cape, he left them with Toronado before unstrapping his sword in order to carry it and hopefully prevent its betraying him by clanking against something unexpectedly.

Cautiously, he made his way inside, and to his relief he was able to work his way down to the other end without making too much noise. He sat concealed in the opening for some minutes, just listening in order to be sure of what he could be facing. He could hear his father protesting loudly. He sounded like he was just around the corner.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Alejandro said.

There was silence for a moment, then a man's voice— Narcisco's made deeper as a disguise, Zorro believed— from further away, the cave's entrance probably, which made sense as Narcisco probably believed that was the only way a rescue party could approach. He had struck Diego as a rather basic thinker, with a low level of cunning, just enough to look at things crookedly and suspiciously but not enough to see all the tricks. "It's simple enough. I'll get the money one way or another, but you'd best hope your son is the one to make the payment. Anything tricky and you two are going to be the ones to suffer for it."

Even more carefully, Zorro lowered himself to the floor, hoping the sounds of the conversation would drown out his movements, as he refastened his sword around his waist. His eyes were well adjusted to the darkness of the cave and the thin light that seeped around the corner. He crouched low in order to peer around the corner. As he suspected, he saw a man standing next to the cave entrance, the light on his masked face as he looked out. It also meant that the man would not be able to see as clearly into the darkened area where Zorro was. His father was just near the corner and he could make out Victoria on his father's other side. He shifted a bit further back covering up the bottom of his face with his arm as he edged to where he could get a better view out of range of the man's view.

As far as he could tell, Victoria and his father were simply tied up, no additional traps like either the Falcon or the Rabbit had set up. Not that he'd put this... Narcisco into the same category as either of them. Just another criminal who treated people as things, this time as things to be bargained for. Normally he'd get the man's attention before striking, but he was on the far side of his family, and he had no intention of giving him the opportunity to aim his pistol in their direction. Narcisco had turned back to look out the entrance. With a sudden leap, Zorro was across the room, striking the man before he could do more than start to turn his head.

The man hit back hard, but Zorro's rib protector did its work to minimize the pain. Pulling a knife, Narcisco lunged at Zorro, who grabbed his arm and twisted it until the knife dropped from his hands. He shoved Narcisco face first into the wall, twisting his arm nearly to the breaking point.

"I take it very personally when someone uses my name in their crimes. It does not end well for them."

"I'm willing to split the money," the man choked out.

Zorro pressed the man harder against the wall. "It's not about the money," he bit out. "I am no kidnapper. I don't threaten the lives of innocents. You, on the other hand, you I have no problem threatening. Justice has come." He knocked him out and watched as the man slid to the floor before turning back to his father and Victoria, who had been busy untying themselves while he had been fighting.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine," Don Alejandro said. "Just angry and annoyed that this man got the drop on us." He brought the rope over and helped Zorro tie the man up.

Victoria watched them. "Are you all right, Zorro?" she asked. Though the man seemed thoroughly unconscious, none of them would take any chances of him overhearing anything that would give away their secrets.

"Yes," Zorro said. "But I will let you and Don Alejandro take this man in. And have the alcalde check the wanted posters. I suspect that for this man bounty hunting is a fairly recent sideline."

"Well, if he's got a price on his head, he's both bold and not too bright to have approached the alcalde as he did," Don Alejandro said.

"Perhaps our alcalde's reputation preceded him. After all, he's done nothing of use in this whole business, and he only seems to manage to be clever when the wind is southerly, so it's not so surprising that he wasn't overly suspicious," Victoria said. "But we won't know until we get this..." she was obviously struggling to find a word which wasn't a curse, "thing to the pueblo."

"You are correct, Señora," Zorro said, as he took the ropes, and he and Don Alejandro tied Narcisco up and with Victoria's help got him out and slung over his horse, a process that took longer than he liked, though he took a little malicious glee in cutting his trademark Z into the man's trousers.

Whistling for Toronado, Zorro was very aware of Victoria's stare boring into him as if trying to determine what injuries he might be trying to hide. He wanted to reassure her that apart from some new bruises he was no worse off than in most of his fights, but this was neither the time or the place, so he kept his back to her as Toronado arrived. Once mounted and assured that Don Alejandro and Victoria had everything else in hand, he gave a brief salute before turning and riding out of sight in a hurry to get back and changed before they could pass the hacienda on their way to Los Angeles.

He was surprised to see that Felipe had returned from the tavern and was waiting for him, obviously wondering what had sent Zorro out. As he was changing, Diego filled Felipe in on what had happened and asked him to go hitch up the carriage, as Diego wasn't supposed to be riding for a few more days, and it was time for him to go out and either report the kidnaping or gather the funds since he wasn't supposed to know that Victoria and Don Alejandro were already safe.

Diego was sure he looked a bit wild as he spotted the horses in the distance, but the relief he felt was more real than it should have been as a part of him was worried that something might happen on their way back despite how tightly the man had been bound. He ran out to meet them. Victoria dismounted before he reached her. He wondered if she was worried that he'd try plucking her directly from the saddle. It didn't matter; he swept her up into a hug, ignoring the slight pain, before kissing her not quite as thoroughly as he wanted to considering their audience.

"I'm glad you're safe," he said, holding her close and then looking up at his father. "You too, of course, Father."

"Glad to hear it," Don Alejandro said dryly, with a smile. "But we still have some refuse to deliver into the pueblo, if you care to join us."

"Certainly," Diego said.

Victoria's horse was handed over to Miguel, who had come from the stables with Felipe and the carriage. Don Alejandro insisted on continuing on Dulcinea, and refused to dump the apparently still unconscious body of their prisoner onto the back of the carriage, saying that he deserved no better than being hauled in on his own nag. Felipe ended up driving the carriage with Diego and Victoria sitting together in the back.

While they rode into town, both sides told the story of what had happened to them and with Victoria and Alejandro telling of Zorro's rescue, as if Diego could have no idea, as when they got to that part of the tail, it was becoming obvious that Narcisco was starting to regain consciousness, and they had no intention of giving anything away.

Happily they were at the entrance of town by the point the man started moaning. Mendoza was the first to spot them, and Diego could see him sending Sepulveda into the alcalde's office as Don Alejandro rode ahead with the prisoner.

De Soto exited the office just as Mendoza was helping Don Alejandro pull Narcisco from his horse.

"What is going on here?" he demanded as he saw the half conscious man swaying between the two.

Victoria practically leaped from the carriage as soon as it stopped. "That man," she said, "kidnaped Don Alejandro and me for ransom."

"And Zorro saved you?" Mendoza asked, looking at the Z cut into the man's trousers, as some of the other lancers grabbed him to cart him into the cuartel.

"Yes, he did," Don Alejandro said.

"And how did he know where to find you if he wasn't in league with that man?" De Soto asked.

"How does Zorro know anything?" Victoria asked rhetorically. "But a stranger in town? Claiming to be the friend of Lamarca until he finds out he's dead and then suddenly is a bounty hunter chasing him for the reward? Surely Zorro would be curious about that... even if our authorities aren't." Her bitterness was clear even to De Soto.

"Señora," he said with some asperity, "I know you have had a rough time, but I have had enough of your insinuations."

Before Victoria could retort, Diego quickly spoke up. "Yes, she has, and I am sure you understand that. However, I would like to check through the recent wanted posters as I have a feeling this Narcisco, or whatever his name really is, is among them."

"I assure you..." De Soto huffed and broke off seeing the glares of the three de la Vegas. "Fine, come into my office and we'll look."

It took Diego not more than half a minute to manage to extract the wanted poster of the bearded man he had seen, and only about three times that time to convince De Soto that the wanted man Nacho Murillo and Narcisco were one and the same. The beard really didn't make that much difference in the man's appearance. But Diego believed that the greed for the reward is what made De Soto give in so quickly. However, he had no more than voiced his thoughts about the reward when Don Alejandro firmly reminded him that it was he and Victoria that brought him in.

"You don't need the reward!" De Soto insisted.

"No, but the poor certainly can use it, and Padre Benites will be the one to properly oversee its distribution," Don Alejandro said. "If you'd spotted this before he turned his hand to kidnaping and arrested the criminal whose wanted poster was sitting on your desk, then you could do what you wish with the reward."

Diego could see that Victoria was about to add her own bit into the mix and not wanting things to escalate further, he said, "Naturally, you must be pleased to see the rewards go to the betterment of the community no matter how it's come to be. Now if you would excuse us. I think my family would like to go home and try to forget about... the strains of the day."

De Soto stared at him, annoyed but willing to save face. "Yes, of course. You all have had quite a trying experience. We can discuss more details later. We know enough for now."

"I'm certain you do," Don Alejandro said sharply. "It's always amazing how well you understand after everything is all over. So we'll leave it to you as it has been a tiring day, and I believe we would all like to be home. Come along, children." Don Alejandro snapped his gloves in De Soto's direction before turning and marching for the door, not particularly waiting to see if Diego and Victoria followed, merely expecting them to.

Diego nodded in De Soto's direction before accompanying Victoria out the door. Felipe looked at them quizzically, but it was Don Alejandro who spoke.

"We're finished here. Let's go home," he said as he pulled on his gloves.

"Yes, let's," Victoria responded while Diego merely shrugged as he helped Victoria into the carriage.

De Soto strode out his office door. "However, I may wish to speak with you later," he called, attempting to sound authoritative.

"Yes," Alejandro shouted back as Felipe snapped the reins, sending the horses forward, "much later."

~Z~Z~Z~

Once home, exhaustion seemed to settle over everyone like a heavy cloak. There was very little talking as they ate dinner, and Don Alejandro excused himself immediately thereafter.

Victoria looked at Diego. "I'm tired as well. How about you?" she asked, though her expression was ambiguous and he had no idea what she was thinking. "You must be tired, and we should check your ribs."

A man could get tired of being coddled, and Diego tried to repress his irritation as he replied. "I'm fine," he said, "but it has been a long day."

Diego and Victoria entered their room together. Silently they started to get undressed. Diego could feel the tension between them thickening the atmosphere. He hated this feeling.

"The rib protector did its job today," he said, trying to keep the edge of annoyance out of his voice. After all, it was because she cared that she was so overprotective, and yet still it chafed. "I'm fine; all my wounds are superficial." He pulled his shirt off, spreading his arms out so that she could see for herself. "There's no need to treat me as if I'm about to break."

"Really, is that what you think I'm doing?" Victoria asked, irritation in her own voice, as she came to stand in front of him.

She touched him lightly, her fingers ghosting a trail down his chest to his abdomen. His muscles involuntarily contracted, and something other than irritation began to course through his system.

"It certainly seems like it," Diego replied, taking her hands in his so that he could focus better. "I can understand it when other people are around. But even when it's just us, you seem overly worried about my health. At least since..." His voice trailed off.

Victoria stared at him. "Since that man died?" she finished it as more of a question than a statement. She pulled her hands free of his and stepped closer to him, pushing him to sit down on the bed so that their eyes would be more in line. She placed her hands on his shoulders, while he rested his on his legs, not sure what to do. "And you think this is about your injuries?"

"It isn't?" he asked.

She shook her head. "If anyone one has been treated as if they're breakable, it's been me," she said. Her eyes drifted down to where his hands were. "It's your feelings more than how you're feeling that's been worrying me. Baquero was vile, and now he's dead. I know you hate that you were involved in that, but it's you he's left his mark on, not me. Or perhaps it's both of us, if you can't let go of the guilt and be the husband you've always been."

Diego stared at her for a moment before bringing his hands up to hold her waist lightly. "I think we both have scars from so many things, over so much time," he said softly. "But you're right that we can't let that change who we are and what we have together." He looked in her eyes for a moment before a smile came to his lips. Tightening his hold on her waist, he leaned forward. "So here's my thought. We can both finish getting undressed. Then I can examine you, and you can examine me, and we can prove to one another that neither of us is made of glass."

Victoria slid her hands into Diego's hair with a smile of her own. "Now that, my love, sounds like the perfect medicine for us both."

The End

Next Up: "Symbol of Hope." This was arbitrarily moved from both broadcast and production order because it fits better after "The Reward" than "Love Potion No. 9" which is what would have been next. While I do like to follow serious stories with lighter ones, this would have been far too much of thematic shift, as this story was so dark or dark by my standards (yes, I am well aware that I'm a light weight when it comes to angst).

End Notes:

As odd as it may seem considering how very uncomfortable this episode was for me to deal with, I have been planning this story for a long time. I've always thought that the show went rather easy on Diego when it comes to Zorro being faced with killing someone. First there was Ramone who died by accident at Devil's Fortress. Yes, Zorro was taunting him, but Ramone's the one who grabbed the mask instead of the wall. Then there was Saragosa who fell on his own knife in a fight with Zorro. Again another accident. So I wanted another step closer; this too is an accident of sorts, but Diego (not Zorro) is truly angry. He may not have meant for Baquero to break his neck in the fall, but this is closer to a direct killing, though not much more than what happened with Saragosa. However, I wanted this to happen when Diego didn't have on a mask so that he didn't have that little extra bit of distance to help him deal with what happened.

And I know I've been a bit coy in my notes here, but the reason I have a hard time with "The Reward" is not what happened but what might have happened, and I am not particularly comfortable with either reading or writing about sexual assault (I have less trouble writing explicit violence than sexual violence, and I don't really write that either). The only nods to that particular brand of realism that ever appear in my stories are innuendo, leering, and vague threats, and possibly the implication of something having happened in the past or well off page to a character who does not appear in the story; any one being threatened in story will be rescued or rescue themselves before anything serious can occur. I am not putting down those writers that deal with the subject in a sensitive way. It's just that I can't handle it, so that's a big reason why most of the focus on this story was not the man's intentions towards Victoria but the consequences of Diego's defense of his wife.

It was as I was discussing some of the details of the aftermath of Lamarca/ Baquero's death with my husband that he asked if he could write some of them, and as I am not terribly good with angsty situations, I agreed that he could so he's responsible for expanding the fight (and adding the knife) and the immediate aftermath as well as Alejandro's conversation with Diego, which is part of what made this story take so long to get ready since as previously mentioned he's deployed again and overworked so that he has very little time to write (or do much of anything other than his job).

I hope I did well by all the characters here; this was a tough story to write. Diego felt guilty, Victoria was angry, and I have no idea if those were the right choices, but they are the ones that ended up happening. Especially Victoria's anger, that just seemed to bubble up and stay there, and I hope that her and Diego's conflict was believable as well. After all, even loving married couples get angry and aggravated with each other at times, and they'd gone through a rough time, and neither was really sure how to deal with it.

Also, I know I changed a lot with the character of Narcisco and even De Soto here. I just couldn't see De Soto, as he's been impressed a bit more with the de la Vega influence over the course of this AU than in the series, casually setting a wanted man against Diego simply to get the reward, nor did I think Narcisco would simply challenge a caballero in order to get the money (as he did the poor man in the episode), so I had De Soto not recognize Narcisco, and Narcisco play bounty hunter rather than just an angry friend before also resorting to poorly disguised kidnapping in order to get the money. And of course I had fun with De Soto once again losing the bounty out this time to Don Alejandro and Victoria.


Responses to Guest Reviews

DietMJ: I'm glad you liked it, and hope you like the conclusion as well.

Guest Chapter 40. I'm glad you liked the changes, as it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to make it work.

Guest Chapter 41. Poor Diego indeed. He really had a rough time in this episode, and then to have to avoid matrimony as well. I'm glad the Pit of Despair made you laugh.

Guest Chapter 42. Thank you. I hope the conclusion lives up to the beginning.

Dapet: Thank you. I'm glad you think it worked.


So it has been exactly five years since I started posting this epic. I'm sorry this has taken so long; however, I've been trying to press forward to get things done, as there are now really only 3 stories left (I've decided I can actually skip "As Ye Sow" and am counting the final 4 episodes as one story, albeit a really long one). In any event, feedback is definitely encouraging on this long— too long—journey, one that looks close to getting to the finish. Reviews are always inspiring in one way or another.