John Diggle, Former US Marine that's how most people described him but no. That was not how he liked to describe himself, sure they weren't wrong he was a former marine but he was so much more. When he'd gone back home following his last stint in Afghanistan he was a changed man, he was tired of taking orders and of following blindly. He needed a change, that's why Australia had called to him, he'd spent a few years working here before he joined the army. He'd made some amazing friends and even fallen in love and though he'd lost touch with Lyla she still held a very place in her heart. So he looked her up, she had been married it seems for about 2 minutes at least that's how she described it. She never talked much about her ex but he could tell she had been hurt deeply, so when she asked him to come and help her run her property in rural Australia. He jumped at the chance, of course that was when he'd finished laughing at the prospect of being the first black cowboy in Australia. She of course pointed out how ridiculous he was being because of course 1. there are plenty of black cowboy's in Australia and then 2. he'd have to get a damn lot better on a horse to call himself a cowboy apparently his first ride hadn't impressed her much. It must have had something to do with him ending up sideways in the saddle hanging on for dear life and her nearly falling off hers because she was laughing so hard. She did make him feel a little bit better later on when she pointed out that she thought he did look mighty sexy on a horse and suddenly it was like the horse that he'd nicknamed Satan wasn't such a bad guy after all. That was 2 years ago and in the last 2 years so much has changed.

Lyla now wears John's ring, sure it's just an engagement ring and she wears it on a chain around her neck but it's definitely a start. The first time he saw her take off his ring and put it on the damn chain, he'd been upset and then she pointed out that very few people who lived and worked on the land wore rings. It wasn't out of any moral objection to the concept but a safety issue, there were a lot pieces of machinery that she worked with daily and apparently losing a finger didn't appeal to her. Who would've thunked it..

He also started to appreciate her decision a few weeks later when he met a man on a neighboring property who was bitching that his wife had just lost her third wedding ring. 1 was apparently at the bottom of a 1000 bale hay stack - she wasn't sure where but she knew she had it before she started, the next had been lost helping a cow give birth - he knew that shouldn't freak him out but there was no way he wanted to go into details and the third well apparently had fallen victim to the old tale and ended up in the pig pen. He wasn't sure what world he was living in , where it was a common thing for rings and the what not to disappear in the pig pen. Lyla simply walked away laughing and said "Welcome to Australia." His discomfort had simply kept her entertained for days which of course only made him smile. As for the horses , he may not have consider himself a natural but after 2 years he could honestly say it was his favourite way t o get about the property. Although some people still laughed at the sight of such a large man on his favourite horse but he and ' Satan' had bonded after their first fe w w eek s of torture. Since he had no family left in the states it was easy to break free, his brother Andy had died a few years earlier. Killed in a plane crash, he'd gone down somewhere over Asia the true story not known but since in his line of work deniability was key he figured he'd never know.

When he'd first came to Australia he worked in the rural Victorian town Bright and he'd gotten to know some pretty amazing people, his two favourite being Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen. They were the cutest couple he'd ever seen, they'd finish each others sentences and generally just look into each other's eye's longingly. It would be really frigging annoying if he didn't like them so much. So when he heard about the tragedy that befell them after he left he couldn't believe it. It was during his first week back in Australia that he'd visited Oliver and what he found was beyond tragic. Gone was the light hearted boy he'd known and sure he'd changed too - after a few tours in the Army he couldn't ever be the same man again. Oliver on the other hand wasn't just changed, he was broken and when he heard that Felicity had ran away and she hadn't spoken to anyone in 8 years. If anything that was what surprised him the most so when he came in this morning to a text from Oliver he couldn't help but smile.

it simply read " She's back and we need your help."

After he showed it to Lyla, she grinned and said the damndest thing. " About Time. So when are you going?"

"I can't go, we're in the middle of harvest."

"Yes and we both know you need to go." Sliding her arms around his waist " We both know that if Oliver says he needs you he means it and he's scared. So go be with your friends and I'll be there in 10 days."

He was about to object when she gave him a quick kiss and said " Go, I can cope without your help for a little while I just cant cope without your body so go and I'll be there soon. " Smirking he couldn't believe how much this woman meant to him.

"I Love you! You know that right."

"You bet your ass, I love you too! So go and be with your friends."

It didn't take him long to pack, just a few bags and his trusty dog "Arrow". A long haired border collie with about as much cattle sense as he had hair, so they were both in short supply. Arrow sat up front his Mitsubishi Triton or L200 as they hit the road, sure his dog probably should sit in the back but as he told Lyla more than once 'it was his damn car and Arrow would travel where he wanted to.' She had pointed out that since it was car he could pick and the dog would simply have to deal with it, to which John replied " You don't argue with The Arrow, he always wins". Lyla knew there were a lot of reasons as to why he let the dog get away with being the most spoilt farm dog in history but she never pushed and he'd even caught her on more than one occasion sneaking him treats. It was a 5 hour drive to get there but he kept himself busy with plenty of music an d more than a few trips down memory lane. As he drove down the road that led to all their places he picked up his phone and sent a simple text. "I'm here."

The reply was swift and as direct as usual. "Theas."

So that's where he had headed not knowing what he was walking into or whether he'd be walking into a war zone or something a little happier.