Disclaimer: I do not own Zorro, nor do I make any money from writing this story. Dialogue and situations used from the episode are property of ZPI, the rest of the story is my property and cannot be printed or used without my permission.

Author's Note: Violence is never forgivable, and Diego got off way too easy in Wicked, Wicked Zorro. Thought I'd make him suffer a teeny tiny bit. It's still a one chapter reveal story, but I think especially someone as big as Zorro, someone she trusted, robbing Victoria would have a bigger impact on her psyche. It would be a great beginning, but I don't have time to do lengthy stories anymore So this ends with a quick promise of a happy ending.

Though the scene at the end of the episode with Mendoza drawing on Zorro is one of my favorites, imagine Zorro comes into the tavern to apologize after it's closed and Victoria is alone, pretty much in the same place Zorro robbed her.

zzz

"Victoria," Zorro spoke from the shadows.

Victoria almost dropped her tray, and then set it on a table and backed away as Zorro took a step forward. "I have nothing to say to you. You're not welcome here."

Zorro held his hands up in surrender, not coming closer but stepping into the light of the tavern. "Victoria, for whatever I've done, I truly apologize. It wasn't me."

"Oh, it was you alright." Victoria backed away and put a table between them. Her hand went to her apron pocket, wrapping her fingers around the knife she'd carried since Zorro had robbed her.

"No," Zorro protested. He saw her defensive position and he gave her more space, making sure he wasn't blocking either exit. "It was something deep inside me. An irrational force. Perhaps a dark side we all share, unleashed by a dangerous mental science. The same irrational force that seemed to have Sergeant Mendoza in its grip."

"Right. So now you're free from this…force? This…dark side?" Victoria asked skeptically.

"Yes. Completely."

"How can you be sure?"

"Querida, I'm not a violent man." Victoria laughed. "I'm not," Zorro pleaded. "You know that."

"Why would I know that? Every man is violent." Victoria relaxed slightly at the space he was giving her, but still eyed him with suspicion. "I've been foolish. All I know about you is violence. Every time I see you, you're fighting someone. Who's to say you're not the same without the mask? I have no idea what kind of man you are. I don't know you at all."

"Every man is not violent. I only fight against injustice, I swear."

Victoria thought for a moment. "Alright, I know one man who isn't, so I won't say all men are violent. You aren't him, so it still doesn't change the fact that I don't know you." Victoria's voice cracked. "And I don't trust you like I trust him, not anymore. Not everyone has a dark side. You can leave now."

"Victoria, I don't even remember what happened the last two days! I love you. I would never hurt you."

"You did hurt me. I don't need a man. I especially don't need one who pushes people around and manipulates them like you do." Victoria brought out the knife she'd been holding in her apron to show him. "I haven't carried a weapon in years. You came into my business…my home. Took something that didn't belong to you. Destroyed my security. You can't talk your way out of that."

"Wait, look!" Zorro reached into a pocket. "I brought this to give to you. It's a promise it will never happen again. It was my mother's ring. I want to marry you! You can trust me."

Zorro backed up quickly into the bar as Victoria advanced on him a few steps, this time brandishing the knife instead of showing it to him. "You say it wasn't your fault, then promise it will never happen again? When have I ever lead you to believe I want gifts from you? False promises? I wanted love…respect. A companion and friend to go through life with. I don't even get that with you, because you're never around. Now, you've lost my trust as well." Victoria looked at the knife, then at her feet as she turned away from him to re-stack her dishes on the tray.

Zorro's voice was hoarse as he watched her turn away from him. "They're not…it's not a false promise."

"It's all been in my head. I don't want to play anymore. If it wasn't false, I would know your name after three years of promises. I would never marry someone who claims to have a dark side. Dangerous mental science or not, you can leave now. Go back to your life, whatever that is when you're not Zorro."

Zorro's entire body seemed to deflate and he stared at his feet and fell onto a bar stool. "Did I hit you?"

Victoria could barely hear him, and she briefly considered lying. "No."

Zorro let out a breath he'd been holding at her admission and he turned to fold his arms on the bar. He took off his hat and set it on the bar, staring intently at it and thinking of all the Zorro costume represented.

Victoria grit her teeth and advanced on him, bristling at the slump of relief in his shoulders. "You think that makes it alright? Haven't you heard a word I said? You think it's all ok because you didn't hit me?"

"I hit Felipe," Zorro mumbled.

"Felipe?" Victoria wasn't sure what he'd said since he wasn't facing her.

"The boy I think of as my son. I found him unconscious on the floor of the cave. He said I hit him. Knocked him out." Zorro didn't have anyone anymore. His reputation and all he'd fought for was destroyed along with his sidekick and his love. He reached up to pull off the mask he'd come to respect as much as anyone else in Los Angeles.

"You really think I'm manipulative?" He took off a glove, spread the black satin against the white of his skin. Maybe working outside the law for so long had changed something deep inside him. Did he think he was so above the law that he could be so easily swayed by a parlor trick?

He didn't turn to her when she didn't answer. She didn't even care enough to be curious about his identity after what he'd done. "Can you call Mendoza back, please? I hit him, too. He should get the arrest."

His grip tightened on the mask when he saw her hand reach for it. He hadn't heard her come sit beside him, didn't want to let go of something which had become so important to him since he'd come back to California. She tugged and he released it, eventually looking up at her.

She stared at the mask for a long time in silence before she finally met his eyes. He didn't move, didn't say anything as he waited for his judgment.

"I said I knew one man who wasn't violent."

Diego ran a hand through his hair before looking back at his hat, picking it up and turning it over and over for a distraction. "Guess you were right. All men are violent. Even peaceful, clumsy Diego." Diego put his head in his hands, still staring at the hat. "I didn't want to be. Now I'm a manipulative, violent outlaw with a huge reward on my head. My father will be so proud."

His hand clenched on his hat, crushing it before he realized this type of anger might be the reason he'd just lost everything. "After you collect the reward, would it be too much to ask if you go tell my father? I'd rather my father not hear it from DeSoto."

"Your father doesn't know?"

Diego shook his head. "Only Felipe. Maybe you could watch out for Felipe and my father. They shouldn't have to suffer for what I've done."

"You sound like it's all over."

"Isn't it? I'm a thief. I've stolen from the alcalde before, and haven't exactly followed the law since I came back. But this time… I'm dangerous. I can't even trust myself anymore. Felipe flinches when I come near him. You're afraid of me, too. I am manipulative. I've lied to everyone. I'm not sure when it all went wrong, but it has to stop."

Victoria draped the mask back over his hand, and Diego balled it up and stuffed it under his hat on the bar. "Call Mendoza before he goes to bed."

"What do you think would happen if I called Mendoza?"

Diego looked up at her in surprise. "I'll go to jail?"

"You really believe Mendoza will arrest you because you hit him one time?"

"Victoria, I've hit him more than once. And sliced up his clothes. I'm sure he'll be happy to have the arrest on his record. Better than DeSoto at any rate."

Victoria watched him for a moment. She had her doubts that the kind sergeant would really arrest his friend. "And after you're arrested?"

Diego shook his head and pushed his hat further away from him. "Don't worry about me. I'm not above the law. I'm not sure why I thought I was."

"And your father? What about him?"

Diego crossed his arms against his chest. He hated to think about what his father might think of all this, to think about what he'd be subjected to in the future for being the father of Zorro. "Maybe I should just go away then."

"And after you go away?"

Diego turned sad eyes to her. She really didn't care if he went away? She asked as if it meant nothing, as if she was asking what would happen if she ran out of tomatoes. "What does it matter? I've lost everything here."

Victoria shook her head and reached out to pull the hat and mask closer to him. "What happens to the people of Los Angeles without Zorro?"

"I can't be Zorro anymore. I don't want to be violent." Diego's shoulders slumped further as he mumbled, "…manipulative."

"Diego, you're not thinking clearly. You've had a bad day."

"I had a bad day?" Diego cried.

Victoria shrugged. "We had a bad week."

Diego dropped his eyes from her steady stare and looked back at the bar. "The people will get along fine without Zorro."

"Your father needs you."

"My father doesn't even like me most of the time."

"That's because you're always acting. The people need Diego, too." Diego shrugged. "How many farmers do you help with your chemicals? You teach people to read. You put out an unbiased newspaper. Who would look after your father? Who else would care to educate a deaf mute?"

"He's not deaf."

"Felipe?"

Diego nodded. "He's not deaf."

"So that's how you always knew what was going on in the pueblo."

"Felipe doesn't trust me anymore. He's almost a man. He'll be fine."

"Felipe will forgive you. You're like a father to him."

Diego hugged himself, trying to block out the memory of Felipe flinching away from him this afternoon. He looked at her hand where it rested near Zorro's hat. "And you?"

Victoria played dumb. "What about me?"

Diego watched her for a moment before looking back down at the bar. "Never mind." He stood and took the mask, grimacing as he tied it back on. His hat dangled loosely from his fingers as he started walking toward the kitchen.

Victoria watched his bowed head and dragging feet. "Diego?"

Diego swatted sadly at the closed curtain separating the kitchen from the tavern, then slowly turned to look back at her.

"Did you mean it?"

Diego held her eyes for a long time as he thought about how much she meant to him. She had no idea. "More than you'll ever know."

She spoke before he could turn away again. "Tomorrow's a holiday."

Diego frowned. "I know that."

"The tavern will be closed. I don't have any plans."

"I thought you were…"

Victoria didn't give anything away. She wasn't ready to smile at him yet. Diego could see it in her eyes, though. She'd had plans ten minutes ago. Closing the tavern on a holiday was a foolish business decision, and Victoria knew it. Diego knew it, too, and seized on the chance she was offering him.

"So if Diego came to call on you around ten o'clock, you might have lunch with him? Maybe spend your holiday with him?"

Now Victoria did grant him a small smile. "Perhaps."

Diego smiled for the first time since his father had snapped him out of his trance. "I'll show you." Diego pushed the hat on his head and gave her a salute. "I can't use words to block out what I did. But I'll show you. I'll be a good husband. I'll earn your trust back, and now I'll be at your beck and call."

Victoria blushed. "Husband…" she whispered. "You meant that, too?"

Diego slowly approached, watching her body language closely. He held out his hand instead of taking hers, and waited for her to take it. He bent to kiss her hand, relieved she wasn't flinching from him anymore. "I love you."

Her fingers tingled as she took her hand back and watched him straighten up, but her face turned serious again. "You scared me."

Diego took a chance and put a hand to her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"I know. But I still think I'm right. I don't know you. We have to start over. You have to give me time."

"I promise. How about if I show you how to beat up pushy men? Maybe that will help you feel safe again."

"Do I get to practice on you?" Victoria smiled at the panic which crept over his face. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow."

The End

Zzz

Author's Note: One day I'll write something funny and more involved again. I still hope you liked it. If you enjoyed, please review.