"Come on Dig, answer the phone." Buffy mutters as she again hangs up the phone for the tenth time.
Willow and Xander watch Buffy sadly as they drive back towards the apartment, Buffy takes a shaky breath "What if he's..."
"Buffy. He'll be fine." Willow assures her.

The blonde sighs again and runs her fingers through her hair: she was panicking; she should have done something, got to him before The Hood did but she didn't. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself.

Oliver hears Diggle wake; he turns his attention away from the computer and stands from his chair "Hey."
Diggle's eyes widen as he forces himself to sit up, he stares in complete shock and astonishment "Oliver?"
Oliver merely nods staying relatively quiet, he watches as Diggle stands and continues to stare at him "You're that vigilante."

Oliver nods again only to have Diggle try and attack him, he throws his arm out intent on hitting Oliver only for the billionaire to duck causing Diggle to stumble.
"Easy, Dig. You were poisoned."
Diggle doesn't acknowledge his statement he merely runs at him again "Son of a bitch."

Oliver grabs a hold of Diggle pinning his arms behind his back before moving him away and looking at him seriously "I could have taken you anywhere. I could've taken you home. I brought you here."
Diggle continues to glare at Oliver as he clutches his injured arm "You really did lose your mind on that island."

"Hello? John?" Buffy asks quickly as she answers her phone closing the front door behind her.
"Yeah, it's me." He says weakly.
Buffy immediately builds with worry, his breathing was shallow and he was grunting in pain in-between breaths.
"Let me guess you need a medic?"
John chuckles wincing slightly as he does "How'd you guess?"

Oliver watches as Laurel exits his house, feeling slightly insulted. He groans before turning to face his sister as she enters the room "That was harsh." She says as she places a hand on his shoulder "Are you okay?"
Oliver nods refusing to speak, making her worry more. Sensing her worry he speaks "Sure. Second time tonight that a friend of mine has taken me to the woodshed. It kind of tires you out. Goodnight."

Oliver moves to head upstairs however what Thea says next makes him pause "Oh, um...the woman that saved Walter did you see her get out? Walter's been wanting to thank her."
Oliver freezes on the staircase and turns to her "What woman?"
"Oh, the blonde that pushed him out of the way of the bullet." Oliver's eyes widen he assumed it had been Lance, as it was the detective that had gotten Walter out of the building.

"Who was she?"
Thea shrugs she wasn't completely sure "Not sure. Lance knew her, said her name was Summers or something weird like that."

Buffy grabs her med kit out of her car and runs into John's apartment, using her spare key to open the door.
Immediately she spots John lying on the ground, it was obvious that he had failed at his attempt to get to the couch.
Buffy sighs, she quickly places her bag down and half drags, half lifts John onto the couch "How you doing, Buddy?"

She asks as she sits him up before grabbing her bag and pulling his shirt over his head. A worried frown crosses her forehead as she sees the two bullet holes, which had just been left "Stupid Hood." She mutters too quiet for him to hear.

"Thanks for coming." Diggle tells her, wincing as she pours the disinfectant on his wound.
Buffy sighs "I was at the auction John, I panicked when I couldn't get a hold of you."
John frowns "Buffy, why were you there? This have anything to do with the work you were doing at that club?"

Buffy locks her jaw and grabs the forceps from her bag "Yes. But John, it's over." When she spots the look on his face that she had seen a hundred times before she sighs, trying to reassure him "I'm not a mercenary anymore. I'm just a paramedic. And a damn good one. I just helping out Xander with some work."

She hated lying to him, she tried to do it as little as possible but when things like these came up he worried about her so he asked questions that she just couldn't answer.

Buffy looks at John carefully "This is gonna hurt." She warns him before grabbing the forceps and forcing the bullet wound open. As John cries out in agony Buffy manages to grab the bullet and yanks it out of his shoulder.

Immediately she grabs a herb from her bag and mixes it with the disinfectant before applying it to the wound.
When John screams she winces "I'm sorry!" She says before beginning to stitch up the wound.

Oliver walks downstairs the next morning, intent on going to speak to Detective Lance about this mysterious woman. As he walks into the living room he spots his mother sat on the couch reading the morning paper "How did you sleep?" She asks without looking up from her paper.
"Just fine, thank you." Oliver turns his head to the man in the black suit standing in the corner "We have a visitor."
"Hm. Mr Diggle's replacement."
Oliver freezes, his jaw locking "Replacement?"
"Yes. He tendered his resignation this morning." She says as she finally turns to look at him.
"Did he say why?"
"He said he didn't approve of the way you spend your evenings, particularly given that they always begin with you ditching him."

Oliver nods smiling tightly and turns to the new replacement "Hi."
"Mr Queen." His new bodyguard says as he approaches "Rob Scott. I'll be your new body man."
As they shake hands Oliver smiles at him tightly "That's a firm grip you got there, Rob."
Rob grins, a satisfied smile "That's five years SWAT with Monument Point MCU."
Oliver nods "I feel safer already." He smiles before turning to his mother "Mom."

"Yes, Oliver."
"Thea mentioned that a woman saved Walter last night."
Moira smiles "Yes. Walter told me, a young blonde woman, she pushed him out of the way. What a selfless act. I just wish that we had gotten the chance to thank her."
Oliver nods as he listens "Thea mentioned that Detective Lance knew who she was."
Moira pulls her attention away from the TV to look at her sure "Why the sudden interest in this mystery woman."

Oliver smiles tightly "Just want to thank her."
His attention is then quickly drawn to the TV as he hears a name from his list mentioned.

Five Years Ago - Chicago

Buffy sits in the corner of Dawn's room watching the now 18-year-old pack her very few belongings.
After a long moment of silence, Buffy sighs "You know you can always go next week. I mean why so sudden. Play hard to get. Make them want you more."
Dawn shakes her head in amusement "As great as your dating tips are in this situation Buffy, I'm going." She stops packing and walks over to her sister hugging her tightly "We talked about this. I'll be fine."

Buffy sighs and hugs her sister back running her hands through her long brunette locks, there was something that just terrified her about letting Dawn go. And that feeling just wouldn't go away.

Present Day – Starling City

"What do you want, Queen?" Lance asks irritated as he spots Oliver walk into the station.
Oliver smiles at the detective acting as though he didn't notice the disdained look on Quinton's face.
"I need your help."
Lance chuckles in amusement "Yeah, sure anything you need." He says sarcastically before moving away from Oliver.
Oliver sighs, he knew this was going to be difficult, but he persists "Wait. Look I just wanna know about the woman that saved Walter."

Lance freezes and turns to face Oliver "Why would you wanna know anything bout that girl?" He asks sceptically.
Oliver looks at him kindly trying to be as believable as possible "This girl saved Walter. Stopped my mother from losing another husband. I just want to thank her."
Lance sighs in frustration, he may hate Oliver but he has nothing against Walter, "I don't know a lot about her. Look she's a paramedic at Starling General but sometimes does cover jobs at the hospital in the Glades."
Oliver smiles in thanks and moves to head for the door however he pauses "Her name?"
Lance hesitates briefly, he didn't really want to put another girl in the line of Oliver Queen "Summers. Buffy Summers."

"Come on, you are not dying on me!" Buffy hisses as she continues to keep applying pressure to the wound on the teenager's bloody head wound.

When Stewart pulls over the ambulance Buffy climbs out with the girl, when Dean approaches her she starts filling him in on her injuries "Charlotte Chaise, 16 years old. Single entrance wound to the left fifth intercostal space, no exit wound. She lost vitals in front of us."

Stewart climbs out the ambulance and helps get the gurney off the van "This is the emergency thoracotomy we called about."
Dean looks at Stewart in shock "You did a thoracotomy in the field."
"No." Buffy says "I did. I had to crack her chest. Either that or she died. We good?"
Dean looks at her stunned before an impressed look covers his face and he nods, Stewart and Dean then roll Charlotte into surgery while she closes the van.

Oliver who had been standing opposite the hospital had watched the whole scene, he watched how the doctor who obviously underestimated the small blonde stare at her in shock before nodding and taking the patient inside.

It's then that Oliver sees her face, she was beautiful he could admit that. After a moment he heads over to her "Buffy Summers?"

Buffy locks the doors only to freeze as she hears someone call her name, she turns only to see a tall, muscular dark haired blonde man standing in front of her. Buffy looks up at him "Yeah? That's my name. This week anyway."
Oliver smiles, an actually honest to god true smile "I'm Oliver Queen."

Buffy frowns again, then remembers he was the client of Diggle's. Buffy sighs "Figured. Your face is plastered everywhere-" Buffy pauses "Well not everywhere you know, TV, magazines and papers, you're face is actually really hard to get away from...I'm insulting you sorry. I'll-just-I have to go."
Buffy heads into the hospital Oliver following her "Wait!" He calls.

Buffy pauses right outside the staff room and turns to him "Dude no offence you seem nice but you're cutting into my lunch break. I've just done a 17-hour shift I have 8 more hours left... I need this hour. So make it snappy."
Oliver tries to keep from chuckling at her quick paced sentences "Um...I'm actually here to thank you."
She arches a brow "A what now?"
"You saved Walter Steele that night at the auction. He's my stepfather."

Buffy blinks "Oh, yeah that. Look no harm no foul." She had been hoping that no one had seen her, looks like that hope had all been for nothing.
"Not to Walter." Oliver tells her "Or me. I give it about two more days before Walter tracks you down himself."

Buffy sighs and checks her watch, Diggle was meeting her for lunch any minute now and this playboy just wouldn't go away "Lucky me, looks like I got you instead." She says the amusement no longer evident in her voice, more annoyance than anything.

Buffy sighs "Look Oliver. It was nice of you to come down here, but I don't need thanks, or anything else. I saw someone in trouble, so I helped. Anyone else would have done the same."

She moves to head into the staff room but Oliver grabs her arm, instantly she senses a threat, grabbing his arm she twists it behind his back and shoves him against the wall.

Oliver was so shocked that the small blonde had reacted that way let alone actually been able to do it that he didn't even try and stop her, he does, however, groan in pain slightly.

Buffy's eyes immediately widen in panic "Sorry, sorry! You should never sneak up on a girl like me. We're jumpy."
Oliver chuckles slightly and touches his now sore arm "It's fine. Really. You have good instincts."
Buffy smiles sweetly at him "Thanks. Look, Oliver, it was great meeting you but I gotta go. See ya."

Before Oliver could say anything else Buffy had already closed the door in his face. He sighs, there was something very peculiar about that woman.

He turns to head back to the lair to come up with his plan for his next target when he spots Diggle walking into the hospital.
"Dig."
Diggle freezes and glares at him "Don't Oliver. Not here. I'm here to get my friend for lunch."
Oliver frowns and can't help but ask "You don't mean a five foot 3 blonde do you?"

Diggle's face falls and he glares at Oliver, his eyes filling with fury "Stay away from her and me is that understood?"

"Dig? Come on I'm hungry." Buffy says as she comes out of the staff room holding her bag and her baseball cap.
Diggle glares at Oliver once more before walking with Buffy, she glances over her shoulder "It was nice meeting you Oliver."
Oliver gives her a wave "You too, Buffy."

She smiles before turning back to Dig and wrapping an arm around his neck, leaping upwards which causes him to laugh as she dangles.

Oliver watches the two of them however his eyes widen as he watches Buffy put on a black baseball cap.

Five Years Ago - Chicago

Buffy pulls over at the airport but doesn't climb out of the car, she sits there frozen to the spot unable to move.
"Buffy?" Dawn asks worried "Buffy my flights soon, I have to go."

Buffy takes a shaky breath and finally allows the tears to fall "I know it's selfish. But I don't want you to go. I know that this is your dream but..." Buffy finally looks over at her sister who had a very similar look on her face "...You're my kid sister. Mom's gone, dad's gone. You're my world. Just the idea of not having you around 24/7 to drive me nuts terrifies me." She says laughing slightly.
Dawn smiles slightly as tears stream down her face "Me too. But..."

The two stay silent for a moment before Buffy nods, knowing the end to Dawn's sentence "You have to go. And I need to let you."
Buffy takes a deep breath and wipes the tears from her cheeks before turning to her sister, pulling out a small box she hands it to her sister.

Dawn frowns in confusion before taking the box, as she opens it immediately her eyes fill with tears. Inside was the last remaining photo of herself, Buffy and their mom.
Dawn takes a harsh sobbing breath before hugging her sister tightly "I love you."
Buffy tucks her chin into her sister's shoulder as she hugs her tightly "I love you too, Dawnie."

After a long moment, the two pull apart "No goodbyes." Dawn says before kissing her sister on the cheek.
Buffy nods in agreement, "No Goodbyes."

With that Buffy squeezes her sister's hand and then watches her as she climbs out of the car and heads into the airport.

Starling City – Present Day

Oliver watches as Laurel enters her apartment, panicking as she realises that none of the lights were working. When she turns to face him, gun in her hands, he squeezes the voice adapter in his hands and makes sure his face is completely hidden in the darkness "Hello, Laurel."

Laurel keeps her gun aimed at him.
When Oliver moves she panics "Don't move!" She orders.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He tells her as he lowers his bow.

When he steps forward she keeps the gun aimed at him "Stay back. My father's a cop. You're making a huge mistake."
"I'm not the person you think I am and I need your help." He tells her as he continues to step closer "Peter Declan is going to be executed in 48 hours. I think he's innocent. Declan's wife was going to blow the whistle on Jason Brodeur. Brodeur had her murdered."

Laurel continues to keep the gun aimed at him, trying to keep her hands as steady as possibly even though despite her efforts they were tremoring "There are 1,000 lawyers in Starling City. Why me?"

Finally, he reaches her, placing a hesitant hand on the hilt of her gun he lowers it "We're both trying to help."

"I found another name on the list." Xander says as he flops next to Buffy on the couch, lifting her feet off the couch and placing them in his lap.
Buffy just continues to stare at her book "Ah huh." She mumbles, clearly not listening to a word he was saying.
"Buffy!"
"I'm fine." She mumbles again clearly not listening to him, Xander sighs and snatches the book from her hands "Hey!" She exclaims as she reaches for it.

She immediately frowns in confusion as she sees Xander "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
Xander's eyes widen "Crap. Oh well. I'll tell them I was at a busy meeting."
Buffy laughs before focusing "So list?"

"Oh, yeah." Xander hands Buffy a sheet of paper "Haklar demon. Posing as a lawyer. His name is Franklin Cooper."
Buffy sighs before dragging herself off the couch "I better get ready then. Where are we heading?"
"The docks."

Diggle turns to see Oliver along with his new bodyguard entering Big Belly, he groans internally, very much annoyed.
When he comes over he smiles at Carly "Hello Diggle's sister in law Carly. I'm Oliver Queen."
Carly offers him a tight smile before folding her arms "I know who you are."
"No, you really don't." Diggle comments.

Carly merely glares at Oliver before walking off allowing the two some time alone.
Oliver takes a seat opposite Diggle, he gestures to the brace on his arm "I take it someone fixed you up."
Diggle nods "Yeah. Small blonde."

Oliver smiles slightly before looking at Diggle seriously "I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me. So have you considered my offer?"

Diggle stares at him sceptically before scoffing at his question "Offer?" He asks in disbelief "That's one hell of a way to put it."
"It is an offer." Oliver argues "It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military."
Diggle shakes his head, he found it hard to believe that Oliver actually thought this was going to work "Please. You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth, Queen. What, you spent five years on an island with no room service, and suddenly you found religion?"

Oliver sighs, everything he was saying was true, yes he had been spoilt, he had never had to work for anything in his life. But one thing Diggle was wrong about was the island. Oliver pulls out his father's notebook placing it in front of Diggle.
"This was my father's. I found it when I buried him."

They continue to talk Diggle merely listening shocked as Oliver tells him what really happened that night the boat went down. However, the moment that shakes Diggle the most is when Oliver brings up his brother.

"Hey, you leave Andy out of this."
Oliver merely continues "The bullets were laced with curare—"
"Floyd Lawton." Diggle says surprising Oliver "I know damn well who killed my brother. Buffy and I spent months trying to track him down. That girl almost destroyed her life trying to help me set my mind at ease. So don't you dare—"
Oliver despite his shock cut's Diggle off "He was the sniper I stopped."

Buffy climbs up the fire escape of the small fishing house by the docks silently. As she reaches the glass roof she places her mask over her face before climbing carefully onto one of the glass windows.
She glances down her eyes scanning for Franklin "Xander? Anything?"

"Not yet Buffster."
There is a brief pause and Buffy listens at the tapping of keyboard keys "Okay he's coming in through the north entrance now."

Buffy turns her head and there just where Xander had said he would be, stood Franklin, stood behind him was a tall man, a bodyguard most likely.

Buffy was in the middle of creating a game plan when the glass she was lying on beings to crack, her eyes widen "Oh fu—"
Buffy is cut off as the glass shatters completely and she goes plummeting inside the building landing painfully on the concrete floor right in front of Cooper.

She smiles awkwardly "Hi."

Willow storms upstairs and despite her best judgment goes straight into Walter's office, resolve face prepared.
"I've got one question." She says as she pushes open the glass door and strolls right up to his desk "Why am I being fired? You people spent a year trying to get me to leave Argonne and now here I am and you wanna toss me out."

Walter looks up from his file and frowns "Ms Rosenberg isn't it?"
"Yes. And I'm sorry but Ms Smoke and I are the most valuable members of you technical division. And I am the most valuable person in the applied science field, and that's including my so-called supervisor."
Walter smiles slightly amused by her outburst "I agree." He says as he places the file on the table "Which is why you're not being fired."
Willow frowns confused before panicking slightly "I haven't just gotten myself fired with that outburst have I?"
"No. I want you to look into something for me." He picks up the file he was reading and passes it to her "The variance of $2.6 million on a failed investment from three years ago." As he speaks Willow opens the file, scanning the pages with interest "It was authorised by my wife. I was hoping you could find out some of the details of the transaction for me."
Willow nods, finally getting his point "You want me to go digging. And not digging like a beach but discrete digging."

When Walter nods she moves to head for the door, however, his words make her pause "Oh, Ms Rosenberg?"
"Yes?" She asks as she turns back to face him.
"The system says that your emergency contact is a Buffy Anne Summers."
Willow frowns confused as to the odd statement and his sudden interest in Buffy "Yeah, she's my roommate. She's a paramedic at Starling City General."
Walter smiles slightly; glad to know he had indeed found the right woman "Thank her for me. For saving my life."

"Ow." Buffy moans as she grabs her side. The bodyguard was clearly a bit more than human; by the way he had just tossed her across the room.

Her eyes widen as she spots him raise his foot prepared to crush her skull into the concrete wall. She quickly rolls away pushing herself onto her feet as she does.
When he turns to face her she swings her leg out only for him to catch it and lift her off the ground and toss her back at the wall.

Buffy groans, this time in annoyance "Okay you wanna play that way. Bring it giant."

She stands, grabbing the scythe from her back, she grabs a knife and tosses it a Cooper pinning his hand to the wall "Stick around."

She twists the scythe in her hand and turns back to the bodyguard "Let's do this."
She swings the scythe but he catches it and jabs her in the face before backhanding her. Buffy stumbles and before she knows what's happening he has her pinned to the wall again. He wraps a hand around her neck; she glares at him before shoving him back and leaping into a side aerial kicking him in the face, sending him flying.
She runs at him and knees him in the face before spinning the scythe in her hands and finally bringing it down, burying it in his skull.

As she does the demon inside him shows it's true form before the body disintegrates on itself.
Buffy smirks to herself before turning to Franklin Cooper, who was growling madly "Oh don't worry you'll be with your buddy soon..." she approaches him carefully "...or you can tell me what I wanna know and I'll let you go."

The demon looks at her sceptically "What do you want?" He hisses.
"Who gave you this?" She asks tapping at his human looking cheek with the blade of the scythe.
The demon's eyes widen "I can't they'll kill me."
"You should learn to be more scared of me right now." She warns as she slices his cheek causing him to cry out.

After a moment when the demon says nothing, she growls, it was becoming clear that whoever these people were they scared a bunch of demons more than she did.
She rips the blade from his hand and slices his throat watching the blue blood spill from the wound before his body crumbles to the ground.

"Matt Istook." Oliver says as he watches Matt slowly wake and take in his new surroundings and the fact that he was currently handcuffed to a rail line.

At the sound of Oliver's voice, Matt sits up straight and looks around terrified before his eyes finally land on The Hood "You're him, that hood guy. You're the guy that's been terrorising the city."

"Peter Declan." Oliver continues as though Matt had not spoken "Your lies helped put him on death row. Now either it's time to tell me the truth, or it's time for the 10.15 to Bloodhaven."

As Matt spots the train approaching he quickly begins panicking "Ok, ok. I—Brodeur paid me to—to say that Camille never spoke to me, but I didn't have anything to do with her death." As he hears the train getting closer he panics more and more "Please, please. I'll do anything—uh, uh. You can have the file."
That peaks Oliver's interest "What file?"
"Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur."
"Where is it?!"
"Let me go and I'll tell you." Matt tries to convince him, hoping and praying that it was enough to get him released.

Matt panics as the Hood walks past him and instantly he catches sight of the train getting closer and closer "Wait, wait, wait, wait, don't go. Uh, it's in my desk. The file. It's in my desk. You can have it. Get me out of here."
Suddenly an arrow hits the cuff, releasing him, Matt quickly takes the opportunity to leap out of the way just before the train could hit him.

Five Years Ago - Chicago

"How did the big goodbye go?" Willow asks Buffy as the blonde walks into the living room.

Buffy doesn't say anything she merely grabs the bottle of whisky from the kitchen before moving to sit next to her best friend. Not bothering with a glass she takes a swig, swallowing the harsh liquid.
"Buffy?" Willow asks, a worried frown on her face.
Hesitating Buffy places the bottle on the table in front of her, refusing to look at Willow as she speaks "It sucked."

Starling City – Present Day

"The company Mrs Queen..." Willow pauses thinking for a moment, she actually wasn't sure if Moira was a Queen or a Steele "...is it Steele. Did she hyphenate?" When Walter gives her an un-amused look she blinks "That's not my business sorry."

Willow sighs before trying to focus on the whole reason she was here, she pulls out the file of all the information she had dug up "Anyway. The company she invested in doesn't exist."
Walter frowns " I don't understand."
"There was no investment." She explains "The money was used to set up an offshore LLC called Tempest."
Walter nods, trying to keep his shock hidden and keep himself composed "I don't recall the name being under the Queen Consolidated Banner."

Willow smiles at him before flipping through the file and placing a sheet of paper in front of him "Because it's not. There's nothing registered with the Secretary of State. No federal tax records, no patent applications filed. But in 2009, Tempest purchased a warehouse in Starling City."
Walter's interest was peaked he holds out his hand, gesturing to the file.
Willow slightly impressed with herself smiles before handing him the file.

"That hurts." Buffy hisses at Xander as he places a bag of frozen peas against her ribs, which were badly bruised.

Xander sighs "Sorry." He says before moving the bag slightly, causing her to wince "You shouldn't keep doing this by yourself, Buff."
The blonde sighs and lets her head fall back against the couch "We don't have any other option."

Xander frowns, as much as he hated to admit it, they didn't have the resources they use to anymore. Although the council was still there, Buffy was the only Slayer again. Hell, not even Faith had her powers anymore, after what happened in Portland nothing had been the same. Hell after what happened when they all separated after Sunnydale, nothing had been the same.

"Xander?" Buffy says trying to get his attention, he seemed to have zoned out "You throwing a rave in that head of yours?"
Xander shakes his head and chuckles "Yeah man, it was awesome."
Buffy smiles and punches Xander on the arm, instantly regretting it as she has to grasp her ribs.

At that moment her phone rings, Xander grabs it "It's someone called Carly."
Buffy's eyes widen and she quickly sits up "Xander grab the cling film, we're gonna have to wrap me up with that, and just hope all my ribs don't pop out." She says before grabbing the phone "Hi Carly."

"Enough moping." Carly tells her brother in law as she approaches him.
Diggle who was currently pretending not to mope glances at her as she sits opposite him. Carly offers him a small smile "You quit, it's done. My advice would be to move on."

"Listen to her, she's smarter than you." A voice says from behind Diggle.
Diggle chuckles "Smarter than you too."
"Well, that's obvious." Buffy says with a chuckle before giving Carly a hug.
Carly grins and turns to Diggle "I called reinforcements."

Carly stands to let Buffy take her seat and gives the blonde a squeeze on the shoulder before heading back to work.
Buffy waits a moment before turning to Diggle "Oh spill, what's got you all mopy?"
"I'm not moping?"
Buffy rolls her eyes "Yeah sure. Now come on. Carly told me you were having some trouble moving on."

Diggle smiles slightly and continues to play with his coffee "If only it was that easy."
Buffy frowns, she'd known Diggle long enough to know when he wasn't saying something, but she wasn't going to push, she knew he would tell her when he was ready.

"Why isn't it? John, come on, I know you, this isn't the only job you've quit." Buffy pauses slightly "Carly thinks it's easy. Personal security is dangerous, you and I both know that. But there's something you're not saying here."

John looks at her carefully "Does it ever bother you we never got Lawton."
When Buffy doesn't say anything, as she felt as though the oxygen had been sucked out of her he smiles "You never stopped. I'm not an idiot Buffy. I saw the red dress, hell you became a mercenary to track him down. So I could be there for my family."
John pauses getting back to his main point "But the thing is, we always said that after coming back from Afghanistan that we hoped we made it a slightly better place. And since I've been home all I do is protect pokes and spoiled one-presenters. I miss feeling like I'm making a difference in the world." He chuckles slightly "Not all of us can be smart enough to become paramedics."

When Buffy rolls her eyes in amusement John's smile widens "So come on Buff? What do I do?"
Buffy freezes for a moment as she tries to think of the best way to put this "Do what you think is right. Not what other's do. If you believe in it...then... well... it's you-you have a good heart. You'll make the right choice...and if you don't you're stubborn as hell and will convince yourself otherwise."

John chuckles, she always had a way of cheering him up, she smiles back before looking at him, worry evident on her face regarding Lawton "You're not mad?"
"Nah. I know you. Can't stop you from doing a damn thing when it comes to protecting me. Even though you don't have to."
Buffy scoffs "Yeah, sure I don't."

"Load him up." Buffy says as she taps the back of the ambulance. She watches as it drives off before looking around the prison and sighing, saving criminals and murderers...not exactly what she had in mind.

After a moment she picks up her bag and heads over to the brunette woman who looked about her age. "May I?" She asks gesturing to the girl's bleeding lip.
The brunette shakes her off "I'm fine."
"It's my job." Buffy tells her, offering her a warm smile, after a moment the girl sighs nodding.

Buffy smiles successful "I'm Buffy by the way." When the girl frowns at her she chuckles "Don't ask. I know it's weird."
"Laurel." The girl says simply.

Buffy nods "It's nice to meet you, Laurel." She says before checking the girl's bruised neck, she winces slightly at the sight of it "You may have some trouble speaking for the next few days." Buffy reaches into her bag and hands Laurel some cream "It will help with the swelling."
Laurel smiles gratefully "Thanks."
"No problem. Trust me I've had one of those. It sucks especially when you're trying to sleep. But you'll be fine."

Buffy turns the girl's head slightly to look at the cut on her lip, she examines it for a moment "You won't need stitches, I've seen worse. Just keep ice on it for an hour or so when you get home. If someone coming to get you?"

"Laurel?!" A voice yells from behind Buffy, immediately Laurel's eyes fill with tears and she runs towards the voice "Dad."

Buffy watches the father and daughter embrace for a moment before grabbing her things, she pauses however as her name is called "Ms Summers?"

Buffy turns to the father only to spot Detective Lance "Detective Lance."
He smiles at her and squeezes her shoulder gratefully "Thank you for helping my daughter."

Buffy smiles at him then at Laurel "She's a tough one. Didn't need my help." She gives him a wave before throwing her med bag over her shoulder and climbing into the next ambulance, as she closes the door she spots a figure standing on a roof nearby holding a bow.

Walter approaches the massive warehouse that Willow's research had sent him to. As he approaches the back door he spots the passcode system. He frowns trying to think of the password.

'Tempest' He enters first only to groans in annoyance when it denies the phrase.
'Oliver' Again the system denies the word.
He sighs 'Thea' Once again Walter frowns before finally, he tries his last option 'Robert'

Suddenly there is the click and the door opens for him, he makes his way inside only to freeze as standing before him was the remains of the Queen's bandit.

"They're going through security footage now." Willow tells Buffy as she types furiously at her keyboard.

Buffy watches the largest screen in Willow's room, the room was filled with computers screen, all filled with algorithms and security footage of local cameras around Starling City.
"Sorry about this Will." Buffy says as she watches her best friend try and stop Detective Lance from seeing her on the security footage from the auction.
Willow nods "It's fine Buffy. That's what I'm here for. I'm tech gal."
"Good cause I am so not."
Willow chuckles "You and technology still on the outs I see."
"That damn phone with the butt dialling. I will never trust technology again."

Willow laughs slightly before glancing at the footage from the Starling City police department. She had hacked into their system a few weeks ago to make sure that no one was suspicious about what Buffy, herself and Xander were up to. Luckily they were all too preoccupied with The Hood.

"Okay, they're looking at the footage now." Willow says as she watches Lance pull up the video of the staircase Buffy had gone up to get to the roof during the auction.

Willow pulls up another file from her screen prepares to do her trick "Okay, 3...2...1"
Her fingers fly across the screen and suddenly instead of seeing Buffy run up the stairs just as she was putting on her mask the screen Lance was watching flashes slightly before returning to normal, just an empty staircase.
Willow grins to herself before high-fiving Buffy.

Buffy smiles and taps her best friend on the back "Well done, Will." She says before checking her phone "Pizza's here."
"Whoop." Willow says before switching off her computer not noticing the next portion of the security footage where Oliver appears and follows the blonde into the living room.

Five Years Ago

Buffy watches from her window as the Slayers all climb into separate cars, heading down their own paths. They were all off to find the others, to help them understand, and hopefully soon bring them to England, where they could be trained.

Buffy sighs, Faith had left early that morning with Kennedy and Robin, Dawn was on her way to Italy and now all the Slayers were gone. This was not exactly what she had imagined would happen.

A knock at the door startles Buffy making her fist clench "Buffy?" She turns only to take a deep breath, as standing there was Giles "Are you ready?"
Buffy glances back out the window watching the rest of the cars drive off before grabbing her backpack "Let's go."

Present Day – Starling City

"You here for the bodyguard position because the new guy just quit?" Oliver jokingly asks as he approaches Diggle, who was currently staring out the window in his living room.
Diggle turns to him "No I'm not. I'm here about the other position."
Oliver smirks internally but doesn't reflect any emotion on his face he merely holds out his hand towards Diggle.

Diggle slowly makes his way towards the billionaire "Just to be clear, I'm not signing on to be a sidekick, but you're right." He stops causing Oliver to lower his hand before continuing "Fighting for this city needs to be done and you're going to do this with or without me."
Oliver nods, confirming his thoughts "Yeah."

"But with me, there'll be fewer casualties, including you."
Oliver looks at him sceptically, "Diggle, I'm not looking for anybody to save me."
John shakes his head, shrugging slightly "Maybe not, but you need someone just the same." He says as he steps closer "You are fighting a war, Queen, except you have no idea what war does to you, how it scrapes off little pieces of your soul, and you need someone to remind you, who you are, not this thing you're becoming."

Once he finishes, Diggle takes his hand out of his pocket and holds it out towards Oliver, after a brief pause Oliver takes his hand.

The second the shake is over however policemen begin to flood the house "What the hell is going on?" Oliver asks as he walks into the foyer. As he does Detective Lance approaches him "Oliver Queen, you are under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault—" As Lance continues another detective handcuffs his hands behind his back "—Trespassing, acting as a vigilante—"
"Are you out of your mind?!" Oliver exclaims as he glares at Lance who merely glares right back before finishing the charges "—and murder."