A dark haired girl ran through the dark streets of The Glades, the thick heels of her black leather boots thumping against the cement sidewalk. She ducked into an ally, realizing too late it was a dead end. She ran to the wire fence and started to climb it. The men following her easily caught up to her. They grabbed her and threw her to the hard ground. She rolled over to face them, strands of her hair catching in her long eyelashes and clouding her vision.
"You're out all alone, pretty girl?" One of the men asked. They'd circled her, leaving her no chance of escape. She started to push herself up but they kicked her down again. She covered her head as they continued kicking her, a feeble attempt to protect herself.
"Hey!" A deep voice interrupted the stream of kicking. All the men turned around. A green, leather clad man with a bow stood on a roof, staring down at them. One of the men grabbed the girl, pulling her to her feet, and wrapped an arm around her throat.
"You really think this-." He shook the girl roughly. "-was the target? You were! We know a lot of people that would pay a pretty penny for your head!" The man growled. Anger surged through the girl. They were not going to hurt her just to get some guy's attention. She was done running from shadows. She kicked the man's knee and when he unlocked his grip on her throat, she spun around and decked him. In seconds the leather clad hero was shooting arrows into the men's shoulders and legs, nothing that would kill them. The girl was grabbed by the remaining man. She elbowed him in the face and then spun around, rewarding him with a roundhouse kick to the head. A man that had been shot in the shoulder jumped up, shoving a knife into the girls back. She gasped as blood ran down her black shirt and onto her dark jeans. The leather clad hero jumped down from the roof and onto the man, knocking him away from the girl. The girl collapsed on the ground, already unconscious. The hero punched the man. Again. Again. Again. Finally he was unconscious as well. The hero ran over to the girl, looking her over. She was bleeding badly, but that's not what caught his attention. She couldn't have been more than sixteen. Even younger than his sister... She was short; barely over five foot. She was thin in a slightly athletic way with wavy black hair that was strewn around her on the ground. He was not going to let her die. He grabbed her, scooping her up in his arms, and carried her back towards his hide-out.
"What happened? Who is she?" Felicity Smoak asked, her voice barely high enough for them to hear, as Oliver Queen, a.k.a The Arrow, hurried into the hide-out, the girl still in his arms. Diggle cleared off one of the metal tables. Oliver set her down. Her shirt was soaked with her own blood and her previous tanned complexion and turned deadly pale.
"Can you just help her? Please?" Oliver asked Felicity. She stood there, mouth open in shock. Then she unfroze and ran for the first aid kit. Diggle turned to Oliver.
"Who is she? Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" Diggle demanded. Oliver leaned over the girl, busying himself with ripping over the lower half of the girl's tank top.
"The Arrow dropping off a random girl at the hospital in the middle of the night? Someone would say something or un-mask me or…" He tried to think of a good reason. He couldn't find one.
"Or you'd have to leave the girl there? Why is she suddenly so special; you've never seen her before tonight?" Diggle asked as Felicity returned. Oliver and Diggle stepped away to let Felicity work.
"I don't know. I don't know why I brought her here instead of a hospital… It was just… I couldn't let her die, Diggle!" Oliver told him. He turned backed towards Felicity, who was holding pieces of white cloth over the stab wound in an attempt to the stop the bleeding.
"She was stabbed through the back." Oliver told her. Felicity, looking flustered, grabbed more cloth. Oliver hurried over and picked up the girl just enough so that Felicity could put cloth under her. He set her back down. Her own weight was enough pressure to slowly stop the bleeding on that side. Felicity still worked on the front side. Oliver ran a hand through his short hair and then angrily took off his jacket, tossing his bow and quiver onto another table.
"I… I think I stopped the bleeding… I'll start the, uh, stitches. Oliver, I'm not a doctor, I…I don't know how to do this right!" Felicity cried.
"You've stitched me up before!" He reminded her.
"That was in the shoulder and the side with minor injuries and even that I wasn't comfortable with. Not a stab wound that went through her! It could have done some major damage besides loss of blood, Oliver! I'm not a doctor! I'll… I'll try my best." She began digging through the first aid fit, her face red with frustration and her blonde hair slipped out of the loose ponytail. Oliver leaned over the girl. Despite looking nothing like Thea, she reminded him of her. He looked up at Felicity and she met his eyes.
"I'm trying." She whispered.
"I know you are. Please. Just save her."