Again, thanks to my wonderful beta Fanfiction fanatic! HAIL TO YOU:P

Chapter 22) Never underestimate your enemy

The Next morning El woke up, stretched his arms and got up. Stiffly, he stumbled into the bath room. There he washed his face and put his hair into a ponytail. As he looked into the mirror he noticed the dark circles around his eyes. Lack of sleep, and of course, living with your enemy, normally doesn't cause a person to feel all that great.

It was pretty pathetic really. For more than half the night he had been tossing and turning. He couldn't stop thinking about what the girl had told him about Sands, and everytime he thought he was about to drift into sleep Sands' eyeless face shook him into wakefulness. He felt bad for Sands, being shot was one thing, but having your eyes drilled out...honestly he was surprised that Sands' was still alive. No man could possibly deserve a fate like that, not even a cold blooded killer.

After thinking it over he came to a decision. All he felt for Sands was pity, nothing more. Finally, he managed to fall asleep for a brief few hours.

El walked into the living room and glared at the still form of Sands that was residing on the sofa. Last night the girl had disinfected his head wound and tied a piece of old shirt around his eyes ,or what was left of them anyways. El walked a few steps closer. 'Maybe he died', he thought. Slowly he reached out his hand to touch the man's shoulder.

"WAIT!"

El jumped and pulled his hand back, turning around. It was Lizz, holding two glasses of water.

"What?" He asked, irritated.

"Let him sleep." She said. "He needs it, and he can't bother you if he is sleeping.."

"Good point." El walked to the kitchen table and sat down. Lizz followed and plopped down in the chair next to him.

"Why two glasses of water?" El asked while pointing at the glasses.

"Oh uhh… got thirsty." She started to turn red.

'She's not telling something, he thought. I can hear it in her voice. " Did
he wake up yet?" He asked in a gentle tone.

"No." She answered curtly.

'He did'. His eyes narrowed. "Lizz look me in the eyes." The girl looked up with wide eyes.

"Did he, or did he not, wake up?" He asked again, this time with more force.

"No...he didn't." Immediately after she said it she looked at the floor. El didn't push the issue, he knew enough. The only thing he didn't quite understand was, why she was lying. He stood up and picked up the car keys from the table.

"Come, where going into town."

"Why?" She looked up again and didn't look thrilled to be leaving.

"Because everything I bought yesterday was out all day in the sun, and by now I doubt it is edible. And I figured you would like to get some normal clothes." He gestured to the large shirt she was wearing. El smiled when he saw the look on her face, but she was still wary about leaving.

"And what about Sands?" She asked as she glanced at the man on the sofa. El cursed under his breath.

"He'll be fine. Like you said, he's asleep. And we will be back before he wakes up." He said quietly so as not to wake the man sleeping on the sofa.

"But what if your boss shows up, or some other bastard who wants him
dead comes here." El rolled his eyes.

"Listen that man doesn't know where I live, I've only met him once. And if there are any Cartels around they'll follow us, I'm worth more to them than Sands is." At his explanation, Lizz sighed, she wasn't getting out of this one.

"Alright, alright, I'll go." She voiced while stepping into her shoes. 'This sucks', she thought. She knew that Sands wasn't actually sleeping because only a few minutes earlier he had asked, well actually he had ordered her, to get him something to drink. Stupid El! She was just glad that she had been in time to stop El from touching Sands. Many unpleasant things could have happened if he had.

"Are you coming or what?" El yelled from outside.

"Yes, chill, I'll be there in a sec!" She yelled back as she looked at Sands. She knew it sounded stupid, but it still stung when she left him alone like this. 'Not like I have a choice though.' She reminded herself. 'Nothing I can do about it now.' She thought as she closed the door and walked towards the car. Then her mind switched gears and started to think of other things. Like the new clothes she was going to be getting very soon.

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"So, now can you explain what's going on. I especially want to know why you are with Sands." El began after a few miles of road was behind them.

"No, I can't." She answered without looking up. El growled, and he had thought Sands was a pain in the ass.

"Need I remind you that I saved your life and that I am currently letting you stay in my house?

"No, I know that." This time she did look up. "But I also know that you did business with my step dad, and he is one of the biggest ass's in the world." She revealed, causing El to frown.

"So...he's your step dad." After hearing this she slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Oh, shit! I'm so fucking stupid!" She sighed. "Well, since I just gave that away, and since I know you aren't going to let up, I mine as well tell you the rest of the story. But, you can't tell Sands that I told. He would definitely shoot me."

"I swear I won't tell him."

"Well here goes nothing." She sighed as she started to tell El her story, The story of here dad who had left, and of her mom. Of how hopeless she had felt when her step dad tried to rape her. How she felt when she kicked out of the house by her own mom, because she didn't believe her. She told him about the money she had stolen, and about her escape to Mexico, where she had found Sands. Then she went on to tell him about their escape from the house and of how she had them been stuck with him.

"At first I hated him." She told. "But after a while, I stopped letting him scare me with the threats and the guns. After I stopped letting his threats bothering me, it turned out he was an okay guy. I mean, I know he isn't the nicest guy out there...Hell, I even know about everything he has done. I know about all of the people he has killed, and about the people he set up only to watch as they fell, taking the money as he went. But he's also the first guy to ever stand up for me." She said slowly as she thought back to the bar where Sands had broken that man's nose for touching her. "And that...means alot to me." She finished watching as El raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds very heroic, but did he know about the money?"

"Yeah, I told him."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but couldn't he have just been in it for the money? I mean...yeah he's blind, but he is still Sands, and to him you would be an easy way to cash in.

"Fine, if you wanna think of it that way, I don't really care." She answered as she made a disgruntle face. "But has it ever accured to you that you don't exactly have the best record either-"

"That's different." He interrupted.

"In what way." With an angry glare she stared into his eyes. "You have probably killed more people than Sands. But you won't own up to it, at least Sands'is man enough to admits he is a killer. You blame everyone else by saying they are 'bad'. Have you ever thought for a second about all of the husbands, dads, sons and brothers that you are killing? I know Sands' excuse, what's yours?"

El Slammed his hand on the dashboard as she finished speaking. "It's not the same! Don't you ever compare me to that sick bastard. He is not brave. The only thing he is , is a rat. He makes people do his dirty jobs for him, kills them, and then finds the next idiot he can use to make money! I never wanted this, I never wanted to kill people. All I wanted to do was be a musician and to live in peace. I just wanted to be happy with my Carolina and daughter, but because of people like Sands they both died. And like you, I took my revenge!" His fingers were digging into the leather of the wheel.

" I never knew that." She whispered.

"Well, now you do." He snapped.

"Can I ask something?" She asked softly.

"Yes, but I may not answer." He replied. She was quiet for a moment before she started to speak.

"How did you get involved with my step dad? I mean you're the 'good guy'"

"I needed money. It's hard for a mariachi to make a living these days... One night a man walked up to me and said that he had a job for me to do. He said that his boss had captured two traitors, and that they wanted me to 'convince' them to cooperate. He then told me that one of the prisoners was Sands, obviously they knew I had worked for him. I guess they thought he would talk sooner if he knew I was the 'bad cop'. They probably thought Sands knew where the money was."

"So you didn't know that you would have to hurt a girl for the money?"

"No, of course I didn't know that. Do you honestly think I like to hurt people? I'm not like that. All I want is to stop Mexico from falling to pieces." He answered and watched as her eyes softened.

"I totally figured you wrong." She replied and saw El's eyes soften as he pulled the car over.

"We're here."
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Lizz was really disappointed when she found out that El was only giving her a half an hour to find clothes. Meanwhile he was going to be getting food. Moodily, Lizz walked through the small shop, looking at the clothes.

"This really sucks..." She mumbled after seeing the hideous apparel the store sold. After ten minutes of fruitless searching, she walked out of the shop that she had promised to stay in. "El won't mind. I'll be back before he even knows I am gone."

She sped up as she walked into a crowd of tourists. She grinned as she saw all of the burned red faces that were dressed in cheap shorts and tacky shirts.

"Lets see...I have around 500 pesos. That's not much, but who am I to complain, I have had to work with less. I'll just have to use my amazing shopping expertise."

She walked into the first clothing store she saw. She bought a couple of t-shirt, a baggy pair of jeans, a jacket, underwear and one pair sneakers.She also thought of Sands, and bought some stuff for him. Guessing with the sizes she bought two black t-shirts, a pair of dark blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. She also found a belt that he could put his holster on and a cheap black cowboy hat.

"Now for a pair of sunglasses." She smiled to herself. Suddenly she stopped walking as her eyes focuses on a pair of dark sunglasses. "My god!" She whispered as she looked into the window.

The sunglasses in question where mirrored and quiet dark, definitely better than Sands' last pair. She gazed at her self in the glasses and said, " I have got to get those." Then she noticed the price. "Fuck, I don't even have enough for the screws..." She cursed, but her mind was already working out the problem. "I could just take them, they're just a pair of sunglasses." She whispered and smiled again. "Yeah it isn't that bad, and they're not even for me anyways..."

As silently as possible, she snuck into the shop. Behind the counter she saw a large man who looked to be in his forties, listening to his diskman and reading a magazine.

'Perfect.' She thought as she tip toed to the sunglass's display. The label said that they were reinforced and practically indestructible. 'We'll see about that.' She thought as she slipped the glasses into her pocket as quickly as possible.

"Oye, qué usted hace!" A loud voice yelled.

Lizz turned around and saw that the man had stopped reading his magazine.

"Qué tiene usted en usted es el bolsillo!" The man stood up from the
counter.

"Fuck!" Lizz's eyes grew wide. She made a run for it and jumped out of the mans reach before slamming into the door. The shrill alarm went off as she ran into the street.

"Obténgala!" The man yelled in frustration. People turned around and looked at Lizz as she ran by them. She looked around.

"Shit!" She whispered when she looked behind her and saw that the man from the store was getting closer. She kept running and periodically she ran into people, out of no where a hand grabbed her. She screamed in surprised and desperation as she pulled loose and walked right into an old lady's fruit and vegetable cart. Lizz spun around and landed in the center of the stand.

"Santa Maria!" The old lady screamed when she saw all her goods broken. She started to yell and curse as she tried to hit Lizz with a stick. Luckily Lizz was fast enough to avoid the stick, she took off running like she was being chased by the devil himself.

"This really isn't my day!" she panted as she looked around and saw that she still had quiet a big lead on the man. "Or maybe it is-" She had spoken too soon because right after she said that she tripped on a loose brick and fell into someone. She stumbled backwards and fell butt first into a mud puddle.

"On second thought, no...this isn't my day." She mumbled, looking at her new, now brown, pants.

"Obtuvole!" She got dragged to her feet and when she looked up she saw the red face of the man. He started to shake her as he yelled about the sunglasses. As he was about to hit her, she was dragged away. She looked up and to her surprise she saw...El.

"What did you do now!" He said in a very low, very mad, voice.

"Nothing." She said looking as innocent as she could. It might have worked if the sunglasses guy had stopped yelling about the stolen merchandise. El looked at the man and silently pushed her behind him. Still holding her shoulder.

"I'll pay for the glasses, si?" He opened his wallet and gave some bills to the still furious man. The man counted the money and nodded slowly. Then he looked back at Lizz and once again started to cuse and yell.

Lizz made a face at the man and stuck out her tongue. That made the man even more furious. He pointed at Lizz and started to whine about the glasses. Lizz looked bored as the man continued to spit all kinds of curses in her face.

Finally after El gave him a dangerous look the man walked away, holding the money like it was his baby. Lizz rolled her eyes, some people…

Before she could think of a good excuse, El turned her around which almost made her fall...again.

"What do you think you where doing!" He screamed furiously. "I told you to stay in that shop! I told you twice, not to do anything stupid! Is that so hard to understand!" He didn't wait for an answer. "You stole a pair of sunglasses! Are you out of your mind! The whole town saw you running! Did you ever stop to think about what would happen if the police had come!" He yelled, surprising Lizz, who took a step back.

"I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean, what! Didn't mean to steal a stupid pair of glasses, run through the entire town, break an old lady's stuff, make me worry...Stop me when I come up with what you were going to say!" He pointed at her. "If you do something stupid like that again, you're out! Think about that! You and Sands are OUT!" He glared at her and saw her eyes grow wide as she noticeably paled.

"I understand." She whispered, looking at her feet.

"Good, now let's go!" He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back to the car.

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During the ride back, neither of them said a word. After El stopped the car, Lizz quickly grabbed her stuff and jumped out. El soon followed carrying the food he had bought.

Sands 'looked' up as he heard El walk in the room, he was already wearing his new glasses.

"Look, it's the almighty El...he can't even baby sit a little girl.." He mocked.

"Shut up." He snapped, putting the food in the refrigerator. He heard Sands'sarcastic laugh coming from the living room.

"Pretty pathetic, El, I mean even I could handle her and I didn't have a daughter to practice with…"

'He's trying to get to you, El, don't let him win'. He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. ' I don't care if he is trying to get to me, one more word about my daughter and I will kill him!'

Sands smiled smugly, he knew he had pushed the right button. He would show El! If he couldn't beat him in a physical fight, he would beat him in a verbal one. He would irritate him to death! He had been planning this the whole morning, ever since they had left. He knew El cared about the girl, and she had told El not to hurt him again. Now he had some control over El...and that was very interesting…He smirked devilish.

"I mean what's so hard about being a dad? I can't figure that out. You just have to watch them, smack them if they're annoying..." He lowered his voices a little. "And don't get them shot."

"Sands, give it a break, wouldya." Said a frustrated voice a couple of steps
away.

"What?" He asked innocently as he turned his attention to Lizz.

"Quit fucking around, I don't want to get kicked out of El's house. So keep your mouth shut. Now, scotch over, I wanna watch tv."

Sands did move a little. 'I'm not letting her order me around or anything, but this is thanks for getting me those sunglasses...and pissing off El.' He heard her switch the tv on. She moved a little and he looked in her direction.

"So, what exactly happened in town? Did you get caught?"

She sighed. "Yeah...I did. It was so stupid, I finally got a headstart and then I bumped into someone. I landed in a puddle of mud and before I knew it the guy from the shop was right next to me. It really sucked, I thought I had made it." She explained glancing over at the smirking form of Sands.

"Told you, you always have to watch where you're going. Or carry a gun, that ,also works very well."

"Yes, but I don't have a gun remember. And I probably would have shot the wrong guy or-" She stopped talking and kicked him softly in the leg.

Sands tensed and heard heavy footsteps walk into the room. 'Oh fucking wonderfull, 'The' has entered the room. Everybody run...'

"Don't teach her things like that." El snapped at Sands. Sands glared at him.

"Or what? You'll sing me to death?" His trademark grin slid onto his face.

"Shut up, gringo, or I'll make you regret it." The man said in a low threatening tone.

"What?" Sands asked innocently, still grinning. "I'm just saying you can't make me do anything, or stop me from doing anything."

"You're walking a very, very thin line Sands..." El growled as Sands sat up a little.

"Oh no, don't hurt me oh great El Mariachi. I am so scared, you are so much stronger than me...I think I am going to piss my pants." He turned his head in El's direction and lowered his voice. "Don't even think about threatening me again fuckmook, or it will be the last thing you do."

Lizz looked from El to Sands. They both looked like they were ready to kill the other. And if that wasn't bad enough, she was right in the middle of it.

"What could you do about it." El continued. "You don't have a gun."

"I don't need one." Sands cracked his knuckles. El started to laugh.

"You want to hit me? How? You're blind."

"Oh… Shit." Lizz whispered. Within a second Sands was on his feet. He pushed his glasses firmly against his head then stood stock still."What did you say?" He hissed.

Unimpressed, El looked at the CIA agent. "You're blind, you can't see me."

Before he knew it Sands had jumped forward, hitting him directly in the jaw. Sands then pulled the gun out of the other man's belt. El groaned and landed on the floor, the sheer force of the punch had made him dizzy. He gently touched his jaw, grimacing at the throbbing pain originating from it. He slowly opened his eyes and was staring right into a pair of dark sunglasses.

"You were saying?" Sands raised both eye brows and pointed the gun in El's direction. He then purposely missed El's head, but only by few ins.

"Never underestimate your enemy El… never." Slowly Sands placed the gun in his own belt. "I'll keep this beauty with me, just in case you forget what I said." He turned his head and 'looked' at Lizz. "I need a smoke, did you get any cigarettes?"

Owh, I love to piss Sands off. Really I do. It's so much fun to let him get mad and let him do the thing he's good at. ( Threatening, shooting, hurting, you name it).

Thanks for reading again. Next chap can take a wiled, I'm little bit out of ideas.