A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you're all ok. Ready for another chapter? I knew you would be. Sorry I have kept you in the dark about Evelyn for so long but now you know what poor Sands is going through...except his dark is a little more extreme I expect.

Without further ado...enjoy! :)

Chapter 17: Sands' plan

Sands continued to push his recovery despite Nino and El's insistence that he take it easy. Not once did he mourn for Evelyn. El did not fail to notice this but he simply thought the man incapable of grief or any other deep emotion come to that, save for anger. Sands didn't care what he thought, if the Mariachi wasn't going to help him then he could fuck off. Sands cursed himself for still feeling weak and in pain. He staggered to the bathroom forcing himself to get up and move. He reached his intended destination and tasted blood. That couldn't be good. He spat it into the sink. He couldn't wait much longer.

"You should be in bed," said El as Sands sat down.

"Fuck you." Sands preferred being outside, he was willing to believe the fresh air was good for him. He lit a cigarette and smoked it as he thought. El had told him a great deal over the last week, more than he should have done but El had always been a simple man. Damn the Mariachi.

"I expect you would not appreciate being asked about Evelyn," said El unexpectedly. Sands wondered what the Mariachi was up to, he may have learnt to trust Nino and Evelyn but he was instinctively suspicious of everyone else. He continued to smoke as if El had said nothing at all but El was determined to break through the man's denial. If he really had loved this woman, which El frankly doubted, then he would have to show it sooner or later.

"I didn't think so," said El. He waited. Sands lit another cigarette.

"Couldn't she drive?" El asked.

"What?" asked Sands sharply proving he was listening.

"Couldn't she drive?" El repeated, "Is that why it was you driving the car?"

"She could drive," said Sands carelessly.

"Then why..."

"Because it happened that way." Sands short answers were annoying and they prompted El to go for the kill.

"I didn't think you'd be all that comfortable around woman after Aje...."

"Don't!" said Sands. He pointed at El with the hand that still held his cigarette, "Don't say her fucking name." El put up his hands in a gesture of compliance and although Sands could not see it he seemed to understand because he resumed smoking although he was visibly more tense. El noticed that his hand shook ever so slightly as he raised it to his mouth. He felt a tiny bit guilty.

"Never talk about that," said Sands. He flicked his finished cigarette to the ground and lit another one.

"Ok," said El who was wise enough to heed that piece of advice.

"You don't believe I love Evelyn do you?" asked Sands. He remembered he had never told Evelyn he loved her, not once, perhaps she didn't know it was true. He tried to push this thought to the back of his mind but it refused to budge.

"No," said El truthfully.

"You think you are the only man to fall in love?" Sands asked, "Think again Mariachi, think again." He threw the stub of his cigarette down, crushed it with his heel and then walked into the house. He had suddenly realised that he could not afford to waste another moment.

"Time for your medicine senor," said Nino. He was carrying a tray with a tall glass of water and several large pills upon it. He entered Sands' room quietly thinking Sands might be asleep and hoping he hadn't already woken him. But as Nino got closer to the bed he saw it was empty. That was when he heard it, the unmistakeable sound of a car engine starting. The tray fell to the floor.

"Senor Mariachi!" Nino cried, "Senor El!!!" The little boy was frantic.

"What?" El asked seeing the boy running towards him. Nino grabbed hold of El his eyes full of wild panic.

"Senor Sands," Nino said in Spanish, "He's taken his car, he's gone!" Nino had told him about the car and he could not help feeling angry with the boy.

"Would it be so hard to hide the car keys from a blind man?" he demanded. Nino hung his head. El sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said. Maybe it was this house, or maybe it was Sands but El found he had not felt this tense and quick to anger for a long time. El knew at once where Sands had gone of course. He had gone to find the girl.

She should have been dead. They should have killed her straight away but they had not and so here Evelyn was locked in the dark handcuffed to a radiator unable to even stand up. She knew they were waiting for something or more likely someone. Then she would die, she was sure of it. She had overheard one of them talking to someone on the phone, the person on the other end must have been shouting because the cartel member held the phone quite a distance away from his ear. The cartel man had apologised over and over again, saying something like he died instantly or words to that effect then Evelyn heard her name being mentioned and the shouting seemed to cease in intensity. Evelyn wished she had learnt more Spanish in the time she had been here so she could understand what was being said about her but it was too late now. They hadn't asked her questions or hurt her...much. The room was cold and she was shivering badly. She tried to move to keep warm but there was very little movement she could hope to achieve. There was little to distract her from the horrors that lay in the not too distant future.

She cried for Sands believing him to be dead. She had fallen in love with him so completely that knowing he was gone hurt like nothing else she had ever known. He hadn't been unconscious when they had set the car on fire, he would have been aware of exactly what was happening to him until...she wiped her eyes with her sleeve which was a difficult operation at the moment. She had screamed when she had seen the flames and tried to fight her way out of the car but she had had no chance. They had driven her away just as the flames had consumed the car completely and Evelyn was haunted by that image until it seemed the room in front of her was burning. She pressed her cheek against the cold metal of the radiator and cried herself to sleep.

El had started running hoping to find a vehicle of his own to "borrow" so he could chase after Sands and hopefully stop him before something really bad happened. He had only just turned the corner however when he stopped running. Sands' black car was in front of him, it had come to a halt apparently for no reason that El could fathom. El walked up to it slowly feeling cautious. Sands was sitting in the driver's seat his hands still gripping the steering wheel, one finger tapped on it impatiently as though he was waiting for something.

"You took your time," he said when El reached the open passenger window.

"How did you know it was me?" asked El. Sands gave him a dry don't-be-stupid look before he climbed out of the car. Before El could ask what Sands was doing he was looking down the muzzle of a gun.

"I want you to get in the car El," said Sands in a deadly calm voice. El decided Sands was highly unstable so going along with him seemed the best idea until he could think of a way out of this situation.

"The driving seat you fuckmook," Sands said with pronounced exasperation. El had been about to get in the passenger's side.

"Now what?" asked El once he was in front of the steering wheel. Sands was next to him, he had shut the passenger door. His pistol was aimed at El's head.

"You drive," said Sands in a patronising tone.

"Where?" asked El who had made no movement to start the engine.

"To where the cartel are," replied Sands and El realised he had planned this all along.

"Sands, listen..."

"No," said Sands hotly, "You listen. I'm the one with the gun. I'm the one in control." He looked set to continue but stopped abruptly. He had heard something.

"Where's Nino?" he asked.

"I told him to stay at the house," replied El.

"Idiot," growled Sands, "You should have told me you were bringing me back or something."

"Why?"

"Because he's followed you that's why." El looked in the rearview mirror. Sure enough pedalling furiously towards them on his bike was Nino. Sands opened the car door, his gun still trained on El.

"Piss off kid," he shouted harshly, "This has nothing to do with you."

With Sands distracted El seized his chance. He knocked the gun from Sands' hand. Sands' wrist slammed into the dashboard and he gave a little yelp of pain. He felt the gun slip from his fingers and lunged to grab it. El knew he could not afford to let this happen so he pushed the agent hard right where he knew the bandage to be. Sands gasped and fell sideways, out of the open car door and onto the dusty ground. Unfortunately for El the gun went with him. Nino abandoned his bike and sprinted onto the scene. Sands landed and a jolt of pain paralysed him completely. He thought he might pass out or at the very least vomit but fortunately he did neither. He had heard the gun fall too, he knew it had to be close by. Recovering partially Sands' hands searched the ground for his weapon until he heard the very definite sound of his own gun being cocked. He froze, and with some difficulty sat back so he wasn't on his hands and knees. He could taste blood again.

"Are you going to shoot me El?" he asked with a faint smile. He sounded as if he didn't much care if El did pull the trigger. El did not reply, his heart was racing.

"No!" Nino skidded to a halt in front of Sands, right in line with the gun, "I won't let you shoot him!"

"Step aside kid," said Sands and now there was real pain behind his words. Nino stubbornly stayed where he was.

"It's alright Nino," said Sands gently, "El won't shoot me." Nino looked over his shoulder.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Si," said Sands wearily. Nino evidently believed him because he went to stand by Sands, he rested his little hand on Sands' shoulder and Sands did not shrug him off.

"How can you be sure I won't shoot?" asked El.

"You would have done it already," replied Sands calmly, "Besides, as you said, you saved my life, what would be the point of killing me now?" He began to get to his feet. El moved in to help but Sands only accepted help from Nino. When he was standing El noticed how strained he looked, as if every breath was costing him more than he had.

"Give me my gun," said Sands. El did so, though he wasn't quite sure why. Sands put the weapon away.

"I take it you remembered your own weapons this time," he said. El looked uncomfortable. He hadn't. He had run out of the house so fast, he had only been thinking of stopping Sands. Sands heaved a heavy sigh.

"I don't know why I bother," he said to himself.

El drove them all back to the house. They stopped but no one moved.

"I'm going with or without your help," said Sands. He was sitting in the back now with Nino, who to El's surprise and considerable amusement, was holding Sands' hand.

"You'll be killed," said El frankly.

"Hasn't happened so far," said Sands with a small shrug, "I don't see why that would change." El got the distinct impression he had used the word 'see' on purpose.

"What about Nino?" asked El.

"Nino, get out," said Sands bluntly.

"But senor!" protested Nino. Sands raised one hand for silence and Nino shut his mouth at once.

"I don't want you getting hurt," Sands said stiffly as if the words were hard to say.

"I don't want you getting hurt either," said Nino his grip on Sands' hand much tighter now.

"I won't," said Sands. Nino looked up at him. El could tell the kid actually believed him.

"Ok senor," he said, "I'll stay here." He opened the car door but before he got completely out he asked one more question.

"Are you going to save Evelyn senor?" Sands turned to him.

"Si," he said, "Now fuck off."

A/N: Once again, thank you to all my reviewers! I love hearing from you and you really cheered me up with your encouragement and kind comments. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.

Oh, and last chapter's title was open to interpretation. I called it that because there were a lot of things that happened that wouldn't have happened if the people involved didn't love someone (did that even make sense? oh well :D).

As always let me know what you think.