Disclaimer: No copyright infringement meant with story. Characters owned by ZPI, not by me. I only wish to borrow them for a little while.

AN: Thank you for returning. I apologize for my Muse being stubborn about finishing this story. I guess she is easily distracted by the bright shiny newness of new ideas and stories. Sigh. At least it has been a good amount of ZORRO stories (YAY!) But…. she sat down and behaved for this chapter, finally. (I guess she finally got "talked to" by "Ernesto"….inside joke of Zorro Fanfiction Facebook group).

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy this new chapter. I believe we are getting close to the end…unless….

Previously:

As he was contemplating returning to the hacienda, Felipe rushed up to him. He thrust an envelope at Diego and rapidly began to sign.

"Whoa, wait a moment, Felipe. What's the matter?"

Felipe signed, "Petro arrived with this note from the pueblo. He says Victoria has been kidnapped, and they left this note for you."

"What?" Diego, after noting his name on it, tore open the envelope and read the note.

It read: "Dear Zorro, if you wish to not have a dead Victoria on your conscience please come to the same campsite you had captured us at sunset. Come alone, and unarmed."

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

Victoria struggled in vain against her bonds. She was sitting on the dusty ground leaning against a large boulder. Her wrists tied behind her back, her ankles tied securely together, and she also had to endure a gag tied securely in her mouth as well. Shaking her head, she again couldn't believe how easily she'd been kidnapped from her tavern at siesta by the bandits. In spite of herself, she'd allowed her disgust of the bandits, and their rotten timing, to come out of her mouth and had received several slaps in return. And the gag. Considering their history, Victoria considered herself lucky that was all she had received.

As time passed, Victoria became even more uncomfortable with the looks she was receiving from the various bandits, especially the leader. Max. The one who had sworn he would get back at Diego. She knew his plan, and she'd never been as afraid as she was at this moment. Even though she kept reminding herself Diego was indeed Zorro, capable of rescuing her and getting away unharmed, just as he'd done so many times in the past, the fact she now knew who was under the mask was preventing her from totally trusting that fact.

Victoria never expected things to be so different once she knew the identity of the masked hero. All the time she'd only dreamt of happily-ever-afters, and little Zorros running around. She never thought of the reality of worrying about the man himself, the very mortal man, as he carried off his dangerous missions.

Victoria was too involved in her thoughts to be aware of Max approaching her. She jumped when she felt hands on her face, which removed the gag. She looked up into Max' leering face as he told her, "Only two hours until Lover Boy comes for you. Hate to tell you this, Senorita, but we're ready for him."

Victoria bravely attempted another denial. "I don't know why you persist in this belief that Diego is Zorro. I love Diego, but he isn't a fighter. He is not Zorro. Everyone knows that."

Max gave a rough laugh. "Yeah, you keep trying to convince me. I'm not believing it. We shall see, wouldn't we, when he arrives."

"I don't know. There's no guarantee Diego was able to contact Zorro. No one knows how to do that."

"Well, I've heard stories, Senorita, how Zorro always comes to your rescue, never fail. So, we shall see who arrives to rescue you after all."

Max walked away, and Victoria's lips curled in disgust. The man simply sent all her nerves into a state of panic, being so unpredictable in his behaviors and motives. She could only cling to the fact, the indisputable fact, that Zorro had never, ever let her down before in all these years. And she was certain he wouldn't now.

Determined to help Diego as much as she could, Victoria knew she should try to loosen her own bonds, in case she could escape before he arrived. Ruing the fact she never had Zorro teach her how to get out of bonds, she lost herself in trying to loosen the knots while continuing to keep an eye on the bandits.

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

Zorro had ridden Toronado, but had left him in a grove of trees a distance away from the campsite he suspected the bandits to be located. He silently approached the area, searching for any signs of trouble. Unsure as to how paranoid Max would be, Zorro wasn't sure if any lookouts would be posted. He had arrived an hour before the appointed time in the hopes of possibly rescuing Victoria and springing the trap he was sure Max was attempting to set for him.

He still carried his sword and whip, for he wasn't going to trust the life of his beloved to the honor of bandits. Zorro wasn't surprised to find the bandits were instead camping off to the side of the original meeting place. Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Victoria conscious, apparently not seriously hurt, and sitting against a rock, Zorro also bit down an angry cry when he observed several bruises beginning to color her forehead and cheek. Suddenly she looked his direction, across the campsite. He hurriedly fell silently to the ground, hoping no one indeed had seen him.

Zorro wondered how the bandits had managed to escape. He only counted two of the men and Max milling around the campsite, ignoring Victoria for the moment, Zorro was certain. Those answers he was sure would be forthcoming at a later time. Now was the time to decide the best way to get Victoria out of here safely.

He watched for ten minutes, then one of the other bandits walked out of the camp. Presumably to empty his bladder, Zorro believed. He decided to make his move, and while the man was preoccupied, Zorro knocked him unconscious and tied him up. One down, two more to go.

Zorro approached the camp again and quickly located Max and the other bandit. He didn't like it, but they both were watching Victoria. The sooner he got her away from them, the better. Max got up, walked past Victoria, and Zorro noted her trying not to cringe as he walked away from her. Zorro crouched lower in the brush as Max looked out beyond the camp. "Maybe you should go see where Pedro is, Juan. He should've been back by now."

Juan nodded and walked in the direction where the other man had. Zorro waited until Juan had walked a fair distance away from the camp, hidden by brush, before sneaking behind him and knocking him unconscious. Zorro quickly tied the bandit up and gagged him as well, pulling him deeper into the brush.

Standing up and looking towards the camp, Zorro debated whether to make his presence known to Max or to meet him at the designated spot. Suddenly, Max' voice came across the brush.

"Zorro, I should've known you won't play fair. I gather you incapacitated my two men. If you know what's good for you, you'll make yourself known now. I have your lady love by the throat and I can't promise what I will do if you don't show yourself immediately."

Zorro sighed and quietly approached the camp, still keeping an eye out for any other bandits, just in case. When he got to the edge of the clearing, he was met with a sight he hadn't wanted to see but had been expecting. Max indeed was standing there, with Victoria in his grasp, in a secure headlock. She noticed Zorro first, and Zorro could see her try to hide her fear as she shook her head slightly in a plea for him not to give himself up.

"Max, here I am. Let Senorita Escalante go."

Max laughed and only grabbed a tighter hold onto Victoria's neck, which resulted in eliciting a little squeak from her. "No, that's not how this is going to go, Diego. I want you to remove your mask to prove to me how right I am."

"Oh, Senor, if you think you're right, why should I remove my mask and leave you without any doubt? Totally unnecessary, won't you say?"

"That's an excellent attempt, Diego, but…no." Taking a knife out of his pocket, Max held it up for Zorro to see. He then placed it at Victoria's throat. "Do you still wish to stand here and make jokes, Diego, or should I carve out her annoying little voice box?"

Victoria chose this moment to say, "No, Zorro, it's not worth it. Don't unmask because of me," and squeaked again as the knife made a small cut along her collar bone.

Holding up his hands, Zorro said, "You win, Max. Just don't hurt her." Meeting Victoria's eyes, he gave a small nod, hoping Victoria caught his message. He then slowly brought his hands behind his head and began to undo the knot in his mask. Zorro prayed Victoria caught his meaning as it was probably the one chance of escape they had.

Upon the removal of Diego's mask, Max exclaimed, "I knew it!" as he caught a glimpse of Diego behind the mask. Victoria, taking advantage of the split second distraction, brought her head up roughly and administered a hard punch to Max' nose. She then stepped on his foot as she pulled herself out of his grasp and ran behind him.

Before Max could chase after Victoria, Diego had quickly approached him and snagged the knife out of his hand with his whip.

"Doesn't matter, Diego. This time, I will run you through myself," Max threatened, as he unsheathed the sword at his side.

"You, Max, are no gentleman, but I will still honor you," Diego stated, as he unsheathed his own sword, saluted, then proceeded to joust with Max, at first observing Max's style of fencing.

Max was surprisingly good, but Diego was better. He was cautious, however, watching for any tricks the bandit might pull. Diego, getting tired of the games, decided to put the fight to a quick end. In three steps, he had disarmed Max, sending Max' sword flying through the air. Before he knew it, Max was on the ground, Zorro's whip wound around his ankles.

Cautiously, Diego approached Max. He quickly located another knife hidden in Max' boot and threw it into the bushes. Diego quickly tied Max' wrists, unwound the whip from his ankles, and bound them as well. He then went over to Victoria and cut her bonds with Max's knife.

Taking her into his arms, Diego whispered, "Are you all right, Victoria?"

"Yes, Diego, thanks to you. Again." Reluctantly pulling herself out of his embrace, she looked sideways at Max, sitting on the ground watching them with a sneer on his face. "What are we to do regarding Max?"

"Well, his two comrades are out of earshot; he's the only one who had seen me unmasked," Diego said, replacing his mask. "I doubt the Alcalde will believe him any more than he did before."

"Are you so sure, de la Vega?"

Shooting Diego a worried look, Victoria asked, "Does he have a point, Zorro?"

Appearing more confident than he felt, Diego said, "Like I said, I doubt the Alcalde will give his accusation any more weight than he did before." Walking to the bandits' horses he brought two over, loaded Max on one horse and assisted Victoria to mount the other, handing her the reins to Max' horse. He then brought the other horse to where the other two bandits were, loaded them on it, and brought it back to the others. Whistling for Toronado, Zorro then mounted him and led the way back to camp.

As they travelled, Zorro gave Victoria an encouraging smile and whispered, "Don't worry, Victoria, it truly will be all right."

"I sure hope so, Zorro, I sure hope so."

AN: Whew, this chapter was a bugger to write for some reason. I guess I'm still new at writing fight scenes. And then I took the easy way out. Oh well. Still learning I guess. Hope it read all right. Thanks again for reading, and again sorry it took so long. If you are kind, please shoot me a review. Always GREATLY appreciated, Zorro fans are the BEST, after all!