For most of the night, Oliver laid awake in his bed staring at the ceiling and obsessing over Buffy's words from earlier in the evening. She seemed so resigned, as if the thought of her possible demise was some everyday occurrence that didn't deserve more than a random footnote in her own life.

And that made him angry.

No...it made him furious.

How had she come to that conclusion? Oliver had to admit that it had been hard to watch Buffy's past and not be profoundly changed by what he'd witnessed. To see how hard she'd fought, and the strength in which she kept on fighting gave him pause.

His mind had played her second death on an endless loop for several nights, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Buffy standing with her sister—on the top of that damn tower as she came to the realization of her life ending.

And she'd looked so at peace...

All Oliver could hear in his own mind were her final words before she turned and jumped off the tower and fell to her death. The agony of her sacrifice, as her body and soul was ripped within the energy of the portal had been hard to watch, but it was her final words that wrenched his heart in two.

Closing his eyes, he could picture it vividly within his mind's eye...

"I have to jump." Dawn's voice is filled with sad realization. "The energy.."

"It'll kill you." Buffy's hands gripped her sister's arms, holding her firmly in place.

"I know. Buffy, I know about the ritual, I have to stop it."

"No!"

The tower starts to shake uncontrollably as Dawn cries, "I have to! Look at what's happening!"

In that moment there's a burst of energy from the portal and a winged-creature emerges, it's cry echoing through the night.

"Buffy, you have to let me go! Blood starts it and until the blood stops flowing, it will never stop! You know you have to let me." Tears fall down Dawn's cheeks as Buffy shakes her head in denial. "It has to have the blood."

In that moment, Buffy glances down as if she suddenly realizes the truth and then she turns to look over her shoulder as the sun begins to rise in the distance. The peace and acceptance on her face are clear to see. Dawn, who's watching her sister, gasps in horror as her eyes widen in sudden understanding.

"Buffy, no!"

"Dawnie, I have to."

"No!"

"Listen to me—please there's not enough time time, listen...I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...tell Giles, I figured it out and...I'm okay. Give my love to my friends...you have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave, live...for me."

Buffy leans forward to place a gentle kiss on her sister's cheek, and then with a final look, turns and runs off the tower without fear...without hesitation...

Sacrificing herself.

Opening his eyes, Oliver can feel the remnants of his tears as he hastily wipes at them.

Faith was right...

Buffy was the hero.

And he feels like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

It's hard not to feel like an utter tool for doubting Buffy's motivations, and it's also hard to to admit that he wished he had learned of her past some other way. Not as a reactionary measure in her anger at his stupidity...no. Perhaps, given time he might've earned that right. That she could've come to trust him, in his intentions.

But now, it seems as if she barely tolerates his presence and he had no one but himself to blame for that.

Standing up, and pulling on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt—he figured sleep was a loss at this point, and perhaps a good workout might serve to clear the crushing guilt from his mind.

Walking downstairs, Oliver found himself in his home gym, which had been refurbished a few months after he'd returned home. It was on the south side of the Manor, in what used to be the arboretum, but now housed a state of the art gym with a pool, sauna, weights, treadmills, fighting ring, and salmon ladder.

As he started to go through his paces, he didn't immediately notice he had company until he sensed someone was moving up behind him.

Rounding on the person, he was taken aback when his attack was blocked by a smirking blonde who was smiling up at him.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No."

"Nice gym."

He smirked. "It gets the job done."

Buffy nodded as she eyed him for a moment and then walked over to a large cabinet, and opened it. Pulling out two sets of Kali sticks, Buffy tossed one set to him and kept the other for herself. Then she moved sinuously over to the mat and grinned as she twirled the sticks expertly.

"Let's see what you've got, Queen."

Oliver grinned and moved into his position across from her and then began his drills.

He wasn't surprised in the least that Buffy could counter him, and as he worked through the Heaven and Earth 6 drills, he stepped up his attacks, and readjusted his sequencing—increasing the speed and force of his blows.

But it seemed for every trick, Buffy countered it. She didn't try and invade his space, but kept pace with his style and flow. It was like a dance, and she matched him step for step.

At one point he saw an opening and went to swing his right arm down as his left came across simultaneously, and Buffy turned and blocked both hits as she twisted her body into the air and landed seamlessly and countered with a forced hit up into his right shoulder that he barely blocked in time, while her other hand came down at his midsection simultaneously.

Curling his abdomen out, he dodged the parry just in time as he arced his elbow down at the same moment his leg swung out. Buffy however, turned into his offensive move and kicked her opposite leg out, causing him to miss her entirely, but she managed to land her foot on his shin—which led him to stumble slightly.

Spinning at a one-eighty, he was able to regain his footing just in time as her left arm came down and nearly took out his right shoulder.

"Nice." He huffed as he blocked the move.

"You're good at this." She grinned, moving into his space a bit more as the blows kept coming in rapid succession.

"So are you." He growled out, as he stepped back and tried to create a bit of space—but that didn't seem to deter Buffy from moving forward again.

Then her blows sped up. The speed was blistering and it was taking all of his skills to return the parries successfully.

And then it happened...as he moved down to block her attack, she twisted in a blurring motion and utilized her opposite hand to swing the Kali at his back, knocking him down just long enough that she vaulted over him and the next thing Oliver knew...he was being straddled by a five foot four blonde Slayer, and she had managed to pin his arms to the mattress above his head. Her hair was now falling around them like a curtain of golden silk, and her grin blinding as she breathed out, "Yield."

Chuckling deeply, Oliver made to drop his Kali and the second he felt her body relax—he used his weight to roll her underneath him—her hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.

"I don't think so." He responded with a smug grin.

"Do you really want to play this game, Queen?"

"I don't know, Summers? Do you think you can keep up?"

Rolling her eyes, Buffy stared up at him for a few moments and then something shifted in her expression as her breath hitched, and her eyes darkened noticeably.

Not breaking eye contact, Oliver growled huskily, "This is foreplay for you?"

"Are you asking me or telling me, Queen?"

"Which one would you prefer?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On whether or not I'm just a glorified space filler?"

Oliver scrunched his face in confusion, as he tilted his head at her questioningly.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"I'm not Faith, Queen. So if this is some kind of..."

Oliver quickly placed a finger over Buffy's mouth to stop that train of thought, as he glowered down at her reprovingly.

"That is not what this is, Buffy. I know you're not Faith. This isn't some transference, either. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about the fact that I wish I could go back and have earned your trust before you decided to share your past with me. It's about the fact that after you showed me your truth, I realized what an utter idiot I was. It's about the fact that I can't stop thinking about you and if we're being entirely honest? I want you."

Buffy stared up at endless blue eyes that were filled with conviction and she knew in that moment that she wanted Oliver Queen too.

But she wasn't sure, with what was likely going to happen, if it was fair to start something she possibly couldn't see through.

Noticing her hesitation, Oliver pulled back slightly as he sat up and brought Buffy with him.

"I completely understand if you don't feel..."

"I do." She said quickly. "But, it's complicated."

"Why?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Buffy wasn't sure what if anything, she wanted to say—but Oliver could sense her discomfort and he reached for her hand, which she allowed and curled it within his own.

"Buffy? I know something is going on. You can tell me. I can help."

"You don't know what you're asking."

"Why? Because your life has been fraught with danger and death? Mine has too. I'm not afraid of the unknown, Buffy."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"Living a half life. Feeling as if I'll never be whole again." Oliver tilted his head down to catch Buffy's eye. "Something tells me you know what that's like, too?"

"I do." She whispered pained.

"I'm willing to meet you halfway here."

Shaking her head, Buffy quietly demanded, "What is it you want from me, Oliver?"

"I want to try." He said simply. "With you...if you'll try with me."

Buffy stared at Oliver for several minutes before crossing her legs and facing him directly and watched with interest as he mimicked the position.

"Tit for tat?"

"Huh?"

"Twenty questions? Quid pro quo?"

"Ah, I get it." He nodded in understanding. "You want to go first or shall I?"

"You can."

"Okay." Oliver shimmied a bit, as he got more comfortable and then asked, "you mentioned the Gentlemen once. Care to explain what happened there?"

Buffy shivered, but her expression of disgust let Oliver know he was in for quite the tale.

"My freshman year of college, I was living in the dorms as you probably already know. Anyway, I had sort of started seeing Riley, but I didn't know he was a soldier working for this super secret military initiative. They had created a huge underground lab thingy, and were capturing vampires and demons for their experiments."

"What kind?"

"Placing chips in Vampires heads which among other things, turns them into harmless little puppies. Spike had a chip for a while." Her mouth quirked up into a mischievous grin. "But one night I had a dream. Slayers have prophetic dreams from time to time. This one was of a young girl, and she was holding a box in her hand as she sang a song."

Quirking an eyebrow in intrigue, Oliver asked, "what was the song?"

Can't even shout

Can't even cry

The gentlemen are coming by

Looking in windows

Knocking on doors

They need to take seven

and they might take yours

Can't call to mom

Can't say a word

You're going to die screaming

And you won't be heard

Oliver paled as he muttered, "Shit."

"Pretty much." Buffy nodded in agreement. "Then a couple mornings later I woke up with no voice. So did Willow and since we were roomies, we went outside into the dorms and soon realized it was the entire town of Sunnydale. Outside news agencies were calling it a widespread laryngitis epidemic, but..."

"It was these Gentlemen."

"Yep. Eventually, Giles made the discovery and when I tracked them down to a local church, I ran into Riley—who was dressed in high tech military garb. We fought them, and then I saw the box that the girl was holding in my dream and I knew what I needed to do. I was being held down by a few of their goons, and was able to convey to Riley to destroy the box, which he did. My voice was returned, and I screamed. Sound kills them pretty much instantly, and they were all destroyed."

"Crazy."

"Story of my life."

Oliver chuckled as he waited for Buffy to ask him a question.

"Tell me about Talia."

Oliver blanched, but eventually sighed and spoke up.

"When I was stranded on the island, I met a man Yao Fei. He had been stranded too, and was a member of the League of Assassins. He was once part of the Chinese Government, but I don't know much about his prior life. He taught me how to fight—to use a bow and arrow and Kali." Pulling up his shirt and taking it off, he saw Buffy's eyes widen as she took in his scars. "He gave me this one here."

Pointing to a particularly gruesome scar, Buffy scooted closer and ran her finger down the jagged edge and heard Oliver's quick intake of breath. When she glanced up, his gaze was fixated on her and it was blistering.

"You have a lot of scars." She whispered softly.

"I do. More on my back too."

Standing up, Buffy walked around him and knelt behind him as her hands hovered over the visible reminders of his time on Lian Yu. When her fingers touched his skin, he felt a shock go through his body as if he'd been electrocuted. Closing his eyes briefly, he relished in the feel of Buffy's touch until she pulled away and came back to sit across from him.

Clearing his throat he continued..."I met Talia after I'd been on the island for about six months. Of course, she immediately recognized me, and allowed Fei to continue my training. It wasn't until much later I'd realized that she'd known all along I had been stranded there and had sent Fei to find me and gain my trust."

"Did you and she?"

"Briefly." Oliver nodded, his mouth pulling into a hard line. "She's a beautiful woman, and a master manipulator. I was young, and desperate to get home to my family. It wasn't until she sent me to Russia that I'd realized that she'd intended to use me for her own purposes and had no intentions of allowing me to leave the League. If she hadn't been sent to prison and Bane killed, I don't know if I would've been free to come home."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Oliver replied earnestly. "There are some who probably feel I deserve what happened to me."

"No one deserves that, Oliver."

"I'll take your word for it."

Buffy realized that despite what she might've thought initially about Oliver Queen, he seemed to carry around a lot of guilt and self-recrimination.

"I guess it's my turn?" He asked and Buffy nodded. "I've thought a lot about the things you showed me in your memories and I'm sorry for doubting you."

"I know Queen and trust me...I don't hold it against you."

"Thank you." He shifted slightly, and Buffy could tell that whatever he wished to ask he was uncertain of her response.

"Just ask. If I don't want to share, I won't."

His blue eyes lifted and held hers for a moment before he queried lowly, "I've thought so much about your sacrifice to save your sister and the world. In your memory, up on the tower there was a brief moment where you realized something profound. You then glanced over your shoulder and..."

"I'd accepted my fate."

Oliver sighed and nodded.

"What do you want to know?"

"What were you thinking about in that moment. It was clear to me that whatever it was, cemented your decision to trade Dawn's life for your own."

Buffy slowly let out her breath as she bowed her head and thought back on that time, before calling the Scythe to her. As the mist appeared in the ether, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to return to that fateful moment.

Oliver watched as the images from Buffy's memory began to take shape. She was back on the tower with Dawn except this time, the scene shifted into something else...

A flash of Spike, as he was sitting in what looked to be a store of some kind saying seriously, "cause it's always got to be blood."

The scene shifted again and an image of Dawn and Buffy on the floor, bleeding; as Buffy's voice says pointedly, "it's Summer's blood, it's just like mine." Then she grips Dawn's bloody hand with her own.

As the scene shifted again, Buffy is standing talking to someone as she states firmly, "the Monks made her out of me."

When the final image comes forth, Oliver's breath hitches at the visage of a woman—a fierce dark warrior with a painted face saying deeply, "Death is your gift."

"Death?" Buffy asks, unsure.

"Is, your gift." The warrior replied again.

As the images fade, Oliver stares at Buffy and as she slowly opens her eyes—there's a moment of stark pain before she manages to mask it, but he's seen it and he can't unsee it.

And frankly, he doesn't want to.

Shooting forward, he gently cups Buffy's face within his hands and says unequivocally, "You're amazing."

Buffy is about to say something but Oliver swoops down and captures her lips with his.

He wasn't sure what he thought he'd feel in this moment, however—what he gets is far beyond anything he's ever known...or felt...

It's like fireworks, lightening and sunshine all rolled into a single moment. He doesn't even second guess it when Buffy opens her mouth to his and then it's all instinct and desire...

Pulling her underneath him as he devours her mouth, feels like the most natural thing in all the world. Everywhere his body touches hers it's like...heaven...

And he doesn't want the feeling to end.

He's never felt more alive...

When the moment ends far too soon for his liking, he pulls back and sucks in a rush of air. He takes in Buffy's swollen lips and darkened hazel eyes, her hair fanned out on the floor like a halo and it's a stunning amalgamation of perfection.

"You're so beautiful." He whispers emotively, and Buffy smiles wryly.

"So are you."

Cracking a slight grin, Oliver chuckles deeply.

"Just what every man wants to hear."

"What the matter, Queen? Too macho for a sincere compliment?"

"Not at all, Summers. But I'm sure anyone looking at the two of us would agree that you're much prettier than I am."

"Nonsense. You've just been hanging out with the wrong crowd."

"Oh?"

"Well, Tommy and Thea are exceptions...but I'd imagine you don't socialize much."

"I don't."

"Well, there you go!"

Silently laughing, Oliver pulls Buffy up with him as he stands them both up. "I think you are trouble."

"Probably, but something tells me you can handle a bit of trouble, Queen."

"I'd really like to find out." He replies seriously and watches Buffy's reaction as she considers him. After a few moments she sighs.

"How about a deal?"

"Such as?"

"We defeat Ra's and revisit this after?"

Oliver didn't know why that suggestion put him on edge, but all he could do was bow his head in agreement.

"Fine. We take the League down and then you and I are going to go out on a proper date."

Buffy gaped up him, as she sputtered out incredulously, "a date, seriously?"

"Yes, Buffy Summers. I'd like to take you out on a date. Does that work for you?"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out, Queen."

It wasn't until a week later than Oliver realized belatedly that Buffy had never given him a direct answer to his question, and understood too late why that had been.