Victoria gulped at the black coffee. It was strong with no sugar. It tasted burnt, but she didn't care. She felt Alejandro's gaze on her, as she concentrated on the warmth of the mug in her hands, and not tasting the liquid as she gulped at it. It did seem to settle her. Something else to think about, it was a relief.

"Zorro...he...he...is," she started, and stopped. "He's passed out."

"How bad is he hurt?" Alejandro asked softly. "That's his blood?"

Victoria glanced at her fingers and her hands started shaking again. She gave the mug back to the older man before she could spill it on herself. There was so much blood. She hadn't realised until she had tried to stop it, to bandage it. Stupid man, he had pretended that there was nothing to worry about.

She was nodding again like an idiot. Stop it, stop doing that, she told herself. Stop shaking, stop nodding. Talk like a person, not a gibbering fool.

"His head...it's bad," she said softly. "I had to bandage his head." His head. Covered in blood, so thick and still building up under that mask. She closed her eyes, trying to block the memory out. She almost couldn't understand who the man under the mask was, the blood had been so distracting. It hadn't made sense until Diego passed out into her arms, helpless and completely undone with pain.

She glanced up at Alejandro again. Did he know who Zorro was? Probably not, otherwise his concern would be more extreme. Should she tell him?

"You had to bandage his head?" Alejandro said softly, as if trying to understand the meaning of the words. "The mask?"

Victoria met Alejandro's eyes and flushed a little.

"You know who Zorro really is?" Alejandro added. Victoria glanced back towards the unconscious man, wondering if she should stay quiet or to tell Alejandro the truth.

She nodded. She reached for Alejandro's hand. "I'm not sure what to do," she admitted. Alejandro was like her father now, surely she could trust him. But why would Diego have kept it from them? From his own father? There must be a reason.

"With a head wound that severe, he will need help and safety. The man under the mask might just have to trust us to provide that," Alejandro said thoughtfully. "Victoria?"

"Hmm?" Victoria said, glancing back into the cave.

"Who is he?"

She drew in a breath, and sighed it out.

"It has to be said eventually. The quicker everyone is on the same page, the better for the young man," Alejandro said.

"He needs me, he's stirring," Victoria said, moving out of sight again. Alejandro sighed a little.

Victoria knelt down beside Diego, rearranging her red shawl over his shoulders. He had only stirred a little, but any excuse was good in a crisis.

"Victoria," Alejandro called. "I sent Luke out for supplies. Some blankets and some food. A lantern for the cave until we can get you out of there."

"Thank you," she answered. She eased the black silk cloak from Diego's shoulders, wincing as he winced as the left shoulder was knocked slightly. Slipping it out from under him, she arranged it around him to cover more of his body. It was getting cooler in the cave, and she needed her shawl back.

He shivered in his sleep as the silk settled against him, but he didn't wake. She sighed, and swung the shawl around herself. Sinking down next to him, she reached for his hand. Noticing that his black gloves still covered his hands, she remembered her lesson about the gloves. His cheeky response to her questions, the badly veiled flirtation that she hadn't recognised.

"You are too clever for your own good," she murmured. "I just don't know what to do. With you, with Zorro, with everything. You'd better wake up soon and take charge of this."

She snuggled next to him, laying her head on his chest. She wanted to feel his heart beating, wanted to feel him breathe. He was too still, too quiet, so not like either man he was. Diego was meant to be lazy, but she couldn't really remember when she had really seen him do nothing. Zorro was always running in and out of her life, never standing still.

Zzz

Alejandro was the first to notice the cart approaching. Luke had brought the supplies. Felipe was with him, his face ashen.

"Felipe?" Alejandro said, grasping the teenager's shoulder as he tried to pass him. Felipe shook him off, and ran to the opening in the cave.

"Felipe," Alejandro said, following the boy. He shook his head, remembering that the young man was deaf, and that in the dark he couldn't very well read anyone's lips. It didn't look like the boy was prepared to stop and try to communicate anyway.

Alejandro raised his eyebrows as the teenager crawled through the opening in the cave. He would have been the only person there who would have fit the small opening. The boy was as headstrong as Diego had been at that age, Alejandro remembered with a startled thought.

"That boy," Luke said, shaking his head. "He was anxious all the way here. I don't know what got into him."

"Did you see Diego?" Alejandro asked, with a strange sense of foreboding. "I would have thought he would want to help."

"Don Diego was kidnapped this afternoon," Pablo said softly. "I believe Zorro was trying to rescue him."

Alejandro's blood froze. He rubbed his arms to try to stop the goosebumps. There had been an explosion, he had heard Luke mention it earlier. Was his son alright? Was he injured? Was he dead? Diego was not a man of action, although he believed strongly in justice. He didn't have the skills to defend himself from bandits or any other sort of criminal. He would have been a sitting duck, easy prey for a dangerous man.

"Have either of you seen Diego since then? Any sign of him?" Alejandro said, anxiety making his voice louder.

"I'm sorry, Patron. No."

Alejandro glanced towards the cave. Zorro must know where his son was. He must have rescued him. There was no way his son was dead. Zorro would have saved him.

Zzz

Felipe sat a lantern on one of the large rocks, and lit it. The whole cave flickered with light.

Victoria woke from her half doze, and Felipe gave her a tiny smile. He had noticed that the mask had been removed, and wasn't sure what to think. Victoria seemed dazed but not too upset, so Diego was still alive.

Felipe began to sign, and then shook his head. He placed a blanket that he had tucked under his arm on the ground, and pointed to it. It was large enough for Victoria to lie on top and cover herself with. Victoria shook her head and laid it around Diego carefully.

"He is getting too cold," she said aloud. Felipe shrugged his shoulders, and approached the unconscious form of his friend. Experience had taught the teenager that an unconscious Diego was not a very good sign that things were going well.

He crouched beside Diego, and ran a gentle hand over him. The left shoulder was hurting, he noticed, as Diego flinched at the slightest touch. Felipe examined it further, testing the muscles and feeling for the bones. He half expected Diego to wake and yell in pain, but he didn't. He didn't know if that was good.

He felt around the collarbone area, and noticed the break in one of the bones. A broken collarbone? Nasty, and he hadn't been hurt that bad before.

"Do you need a bandage, Felipe?" Victoria said, ripping a strip of material from her petticoat behind him. He turned at the question, and Victoria's eyes lit up.

"You heard that," she murmured. "You heard me. You can hear."

He stared at her with surprise. Felipe prided himself on being good at ignoring voices from behind him, but tonight he had exposed his secret. He glanced down at Diego. Both their secrets had come undone.

Felipe nodded once, and took the bandage. He made a rough sling for Diego's shoulder, placing it on his friend gingerly.

"Can you speak?" She was asking, as he registered the voice again.

Felipe shook his head, as he examined Diego's right side, including his torso and legs. Then he rose and glanced at Victoria finally.

Victoria went forward and hugged the boy, making him flush with embarrassment.

"It was horrible. The cave collapsed around us, dirt and rocks and stones everywhere. If he hadn't protected me…" Victoria said, the words gushing out. Felipe knew the secrets of Zorro, he had reacted coolly and without surprise to see Diego dressed in the black silk of Zorro. He had his own secrets, and he could be trusted. Maybe he knew what to do next?

"When I woke up, he was on top of me, and several rocks were on top of him. That head wound, and his shoulder...It could have been so much worse. And then, not long after those two men started digging and light came into the cave."

Victoria shivered. She had been so frightened. She hated the dark, and being alone in the dark was one of her darkest nightmares. He had been so quiet, probably fighting the pain and fears of his own. A man with secrets had more fears than any normal man, she thought.

"I was always scared of the dark. Since my mother died, and I had to look after my brothers, I was always afraid. I was a small girl and they were so little. Alejandro was good to us, but he wasn't there at night," she said with a shiver. "The tavern was so big, and I wanted to stay there, to run it, so that my brothers would have a home. So many people said it would be too hard for me, but, you know, Diego never said that. Instead he helped me as much as he could before he had to leave for university. He never once said that I couldn't do it. He always said I could do whatever I set out to do."

Felipe glanced down at Diego and nodded. His friend had loved Victoria for a long time. Probably longer than he had realised, Felipe thought. He glanced back at Victoria who was hugging herself, maybe to keep warm, maybe for comfort. Maybe he should fetch another blanket for her?

Felipe eyed the opening he had climbed through. Victoria could go with him through the gap, but if she didn't want to leave the cave, he was sure he couldn't persuade her. Felipe was sure that thought hadn't even crossed her mind yet. She wouldn't leave until Diego did, and they still had to remove more rocks for that - they needed to widen the gap.