Five Years Ago - Westbury
"Quickly!" Xander yells as Giles pulls over the car by the cottage, the minute the car stops Xander reaches into the backseat where Buffy was currently breathing very shallow and turning very pale.
He lifts her into his arms and runs after Giles, they had been driving for 2 hours and Buffy was getting weaker and weaker, they needed Willow.
The minute the front door opens Xander forces himself and Buffy inside. "Willow!" He screams as he moves into the study, pushing everything off the desk he carefully places Buffy on it, placing his jacket under her head.
Suddenly Giles runs into the room with an exhausted looking Willow in tow, however, the minute she spots her two best friends her eyes widen and all exhaustion disappeared from her face.
"What happened?"
"Pugarmina Demon." Giles answers as he moves to stand beside Buffy, "We didn't know." He says panicked.
Willow frowns in worry, however, she was slightly confused, the venom of a Pugarmina demon killed its victims in under 10 minutes and that's not including the blood loss. "How is she—"
Willow starts only to be cut off as both men tilt Buffy to the side revealing the cauterised wound that was starting to bleed again.
The witch's eyes widen if they did this it may have saved them some time but she needed to do something now or Buffy was going to die. Again.
Willow takes a shaky breath holding back tears "Turn her over and then back away."
The two men do as she says, and once they are out of the way she approaches her best friend, collecting some herbs from the shelf next to Buffy she rubs them with her fingers in a bowl of salt.
She closes her eyes, as she does a red glow covers her hands, she hovers her hands over Buffy's new scar and immediately the girl begins convulsing, Willow allows a tear to graze her cheek as she continues.
The scar on Buffy's back glows and slowly the swelling disappears and the blood slowly rolls off her back.
Buffy screams as the magic hits her, ripping the venom out of her body.
After what felt like an eternity Willow lowers her hands only to dip it in the bowl of herbs. After a brief hesitation, she places her hands on the scar and as she does Buffy howls in agony before darkness consumes her.
Starling City – Present Day
"Ah!" Diggle exclaims as Oliver backhands him with the metal pole, first at 5 foot 3 blonde now Oliver. This really must be the month of kick-the-Diggle.
"Variable acceleration." Oliver says as he continues to circle Diggle who was currently clutching his cheek "Fighters working the pace, you switch it up. Throw your opponent off his game."
Diggle wipes the blood from his mouth before responding "Ah that was nice. You hit almost-actually never mind not even near as hard. So where'd you learn that?"
Oliver frowns for a second curious as to who Diggle was going to mention, however, he doesn't comment and merely answers the question "His name was Yao Fei." He says vaguely.
Diggle glances at him then at the scars on his chest "He give you those scars?"
"One of them." Oliver says with a small smirk.
"And the others?" Diggle asks, curiosity biting at him. When Oliver doesn't answer he stops moving to face him "You know one of these days you're gonna be straight with me about what really happened on that Island."
Oliver grins at the two prepare to restart their training facing each other, and raising the metal batons "Absolutely."
"Lie down." Buffy orders as Willow attempts to sit up only to begin coughing violently, Buffy smiles slightly at her friend before placing a thermometer in her mouth "Stay." She orders.
Willow grumbles something about work merely causing Buffy to chuckle, considering Xander' position in the Queen company now Willow didn't have to worry. But yet she was Willow so of course, she did.
Buffy leaves her friend for a moment and makes her way to the kitchen, grabbing soup from the microwave she heads back to Willow's room and sits at the edge of the bed.
Taking the thermostat from Willow she sighs worriedly as she spots her 100-degree temperature. Immediately Buffy removes Willow's work phone from her grasp "Hey!" Willow coughs, as she reaches for the phone "I can't take work off. Felicity is sick too. We're the only ones with brains in the entire department."
Buffy shakes her head in amusement before tucking Willow into bed "I'm sure she will understand. Now here eat some soup. Eat, sleep."
When Willow, grumbles again and reluctantly takes the soup Buffy smiles in success before making her way out of the room.
As she moves towards the couch her beeper goes off, immediately the blonde groans, her one day off and she was getting called in. "Typical." She mumbles before checking on Willow once more and making her way out of the house.
"How fast can you make it to Starling General?" Diggle asks Oliver the moment he answers the phone.
Oliver who was at the mansion quickly makes a decision "On my way." He says before hanging up the phone and making his way towards the front door.
As he does he freezes as in steps Tommy "Hey, hey just the man I wanted to see." Tommy says with a smile.
Oliver forces a smile on his face realising that he really needed to start locking his front door.
"I just picked up a new sports car." Tommy tells him, an excited look on his face
"And I'm thinking we can open her up pick up a few speeding tickets—"
"That sounds great..." Oliver cuts him off, he was running out of time and he didn't have time to acknowledge Tommy's need to get in trouble with the law "...but something's come up. I got to jet."
As Oliver steps around him heading towards the door, Tommy frowns in confusion "O-ok."
"Scott Morgan doesn't seem like the type to try and kill himself." Oliver tells Diggle as he climbs off his motorcycle and approaches the vet.
Diggle nods and begins to lead him towards the ambulance currently unloading a patient "True, but it's the best lie I could come up with on short notice."
At that point, Oliver spots a familiar blonde climbing out of the ambulance before closing up the back "Is that?"
Diggle's head spins towards the blonde and immediately he glares at Oliver "Man, don't." Diggle sighs before waving at the blonde "Buffy!"
Buffy's was removing her hot sweaty jacket when she hears her name being called, turning her head she spots Diggle and Oliver Queen.
Buffy sighs and waves back at him before turning to the woman who was currently waiting by her mustang. "One minute." She mouths to the woman before making her way over to Diggle.
"You so owe me." She says as she gives him a punch on the shoulder, Diggle chuckles "Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that."
"Hey!" She exclaims "I will cash in those favours eventually." Buffy turns her head towards Oliver was staring at the bullet wound on her lower hip, she lowers her vest which had risen up and smiles at him "Nice to see you again, Mr Queen."
Oliver smiles at the blonde "Call me Oliver."
"Alright, Queeny." She jokes earning a chuckle from Diggle.
After a moment she glances back at the woman still waiting by her car "That's his wife." She tells him "He's not that bad. But he's gonna need treatment whatever reason you needed him transferred here for...well let's just say he'll be go go like bananas soon enough." Buffy pauses and glances at Oliver "What he here for?" She asks Dig "No offence." She mutters to Oliver.
Buffy glances back at the woman once more and checks her watch.
Diggle sighs, hating to have to lie to her "Oliver paid for the transfer."
Buffy nods, and eyes Oliver carefully there was something off about him, and what shocked her the most was that he was looking at her the exact same way.
"Summers!" Stewart calls as he heads back to the ambulance.
Buffy groans in annoyance before turning back Diggle "Can I kill him?"
"No." He chuckles before squeezing her shoulder and pushing her towards the ambulance "Thanks again Buff."
Buffy smiles and gives them both a wave "Remember her name is Jana." She says before climbing into the van with Stewart and speeding off.
Oliver glances at Diggle "She's..."
Diggle glares at him, a warning look on his face "Careful."
Oliver waves his hands in defence "Interesting. Now wanna tell me what's going on?"
Five Years Ago - Westbury
Willow walks into the guest room where Buffy was currently confined to bed, she was lying on her stomach trying to avoid lying on her injury. Willow inhales sharply at the sight of the scar, all Buffy's years of fighting she had very little scars, the only one that was even that bad was the one on her neck and even that had begun to fade after the years.
"It's not that bad." A timid voice mumbles, after a moment Willow finally notices that Buffy was, in fact, awake.
She offers her friend a small smile before sitting on the edge of her bag "I'm sorry, Buffy."
Buffy frowns, forcing herself up she bites her lip, trying to keep from yelling out. Finally, she sits up and leans carefully against the headrest "Willow it's not your fault. We didn't know what we were walking into...why—why are you sorry?" The blonde pauses and watches her friend carefully, it's then she remembers the look of horror on Willow's face at the sight of her scar "Will, it's a scar you-"
"No." Willow whispers quietly "I'm sorry. For what happened in Sunnydale. We never talked about, I just-after you almost-" When Willow begins sobbing violently Buffy sighs and leans over pulling her friend to her.
"I'm so sorry." Willow cries as she hugs Buffy carefully.
Buffy smiles sadly as she runs her hand through her friend's hair and consoles her "It's okay."
Starling City – Present Day
Diggle stands next to Oliver, who was sat at the computer desk in the lair, the two were going through security footage of the bank robbery. As they watch something catches Diggle's eye "See that guy right there? He's got a temper."
Oliver nods "And he shot Officer Washington." He realises.
"That's right."
Oliver rewinds the footage again before enhancing the image slightly, something on the robber was drawing his eye "College ring."
Diggle tilts his head as he looks at the image "From high school more likely."
"That ring will get us an ID."
Diggle nods before reaching over Oliver towards the keyboard "Yeah, but even with photo enhancement, you're going to have a problem getting a clear shot of that ring."
"No, but that ring would have made an impression." Oliver tells his partner as he moves out of the chair and over to his jacket "Police would have gotten a photo, it will be in evidence lockup."
As her Lunch break nears Buffy heads towards the staff room to grab her stuff when someone calling her name makes her pause "Buffy."
She frowns before turning, surprisingly it wasn't Stewart but Doctor Dean Morgan.
"Dr Morgan. What can I do for you?" She asks as she steps into the staff room.
He follows her inside, leaning against the door as he watches her intently "It's Dean."
Buffy, who was only half paying attention to the extremely attractive doctor, who seriously reminded her of one of the brothers on that Supernatural TV show, turns to him a frown on confusion on her face "What?"
Dean smiles and runs a hand over the stubble on his cheeks "Call me Dean. Dr Morgan is too formal."
Buffy chuckles in amusement before offering him a small smile "Okay...Dean. What can I Buffy...cause that's my name...do for you?"
Dean smirks, and in all honesty, Buffy had to admit he was extremely good looking, and if she was any other girl she most probably would have surrendered to his charms by now.
He slowly approaches her as she continues to place her uniform in her locker before grasping her red leather jacket "Do you like coffee?"
Buffy freezes momentarily before continuing to put on her jacket, she stares at him stunned for a moment "You mean that brown stuff that smells like train oil? And makes people shrivel up like a peanut in the winter?"
Dean quirks an eyebrow at her amused before smiling "I take that as a no?"
"Actually I love coffee." She says offhandedly as she grabs her bag out of locker before closing it.
"Great." Dean grins "So shall we?"
Buffy finally understanding that he was asking her out laughs loudly, she taps him on the chest and makes her way past him towards the door "Nice try, smooth criminal. But you got more chance of seeing a flying monkey burp pancakes than with me."
Dean scoffs, actually shocked for a moment, he actually liked her, found her intriguing, he just hadn't expected that she would say no to his proposal "We'll see how long you stick with that."
Buffy laughs again before giving him a wave "Good luck with that."
"Bank manager is punched." Oliver says as he lands on a photo of the manager of the bank right after the attack "His ring left a mark." He points out the large circular mark on the manager's cheek to Dig.
Dig nods and watches as Oliver types into the keyboard trying to enhance the mark to be a better view. After a minute the computer runs an analysis looking for the school that ring belonged to.
"Larchmont High—high school." He admits to Diggle who grins at the way Oliver doesn't look him in the eye admitting his defeat.
"I cross-referenced his height and relative age with the list of students and alumni." Oliver continues.
Diggle sighs, that still left them a long way away from finding the people responsible "That's still a long list." He points out.
Oliver nods, however, he had already dealt with that problem "It was but I dug a little deeper and found Kyle Reston." He informs Dig as he pulls up a photo of the man in question "Right before Kyle's senior year, not only did he drop out, he dropped off the grid, along with his family, father, mother, younger brother."
Diggle circles Oliver and pauses to stare at the photo of Kyle's family, everything seemed to be falling into place "There are two other guys involved in this robbery."
"And a woman."
Buffy sits opposite Xander eating her sandwich and fries as quickly as she can.
Xander frowns at the sight, something was up, Buffy always stuffed her face when there is something she was avoiding talking about.
After a moment of silence, Xander pulls
Buffy's fries out of her reach, immediately the blonde panics "Hey!" She exclaims.
Xander keeps it out of reach and gives her a pointed look "Buffy, you haven't spoken in 10 minutes, what happened?"
Buffy bites her lip before groaning and flopping her head on Xander's desk "NO." She mumbles.
Xander arches a brow, he runs his hands through his hair, before adjusting his eye patch "Buffster, you're eating like you're having your last meal. Not that you don't always do that but normally you enjoy the fatty goodness."
Buffy sighs and leans on her elbows holding her head up with her hands "It's nothing." When Xander scoffs she rolls her eyes "One of the doctor's...at the hospital...he asked me out."
Xander freezes, that explained it, her dull mood, the way she was evading "Buff..."
"I know it's stupid. I just..."
Xander realises then in that moment why she was so freaked out "You like him. Not just one night stand like but like like."
"Ms Rosenberg is not here." The IT division head says as Oliver and Diggle stand in his office.
Oliver groans and is about to ask about Ms Smoak but the man cuts him off "Smoak isn't here either."
The IT head turns his head away from his computer and huffs before turning to them "They're sick. No one else here who can help sorry."
Diggle keeps his arms crossed "You're telling me no one in your department is useful."
"Nope." The man groans in annoyance he was busy playing anger birds on his phone and wanted his peace "Look Rosenberg's roommate is upstairs in Harris's office. Ask her."
Oliver and Diggle both glare at the man before heading for the door only to pause as Willow's boss speaks up again "Oh and if Summers is up there ask her if she's single."
Diggle turns back to the man and glares at him "I carry a gun."
Immediately the man gulps "Never mind."
Oliver chuckles slightly before turning to Diggle "So Buffy is Willow's roommate?"
"Buffy come on it's not that bad." Xander says as he watches Buffy take out her frustrations on the punching bag in his office, he winces as he watches the bag rip slightly "So glad I put that thing in here." He mumbles as the image of Buffy punching holes in the wall of his office fill his mind.
Buffy stops and turns to Xander "No, Xander. I don't like him. He's—he's...alright there's really no fault, he looks like a damn Greek God..." Buffy shakes herself as images fill her mind "But no."
Buffy huffs in frustration before kicking the punching bag sending it off the hook and crashing towards the door just as two men attempt to enter.
Buffy's eyes widen and Xander shoots up from his seat, he glances at Buffy "That was excellent." He mumbles before running over to the two men.
Buffy sighs "I am..." She pauses as she spots Diggle watching her "Dammit."
Oliver who was staring at the bag shocked turns to the small blonde who was unwrapping her hand and slipping her jumper back on. "Two visits in one day." She says to the two of them "Lucky me. Don't I feel like Barbra Streisand? I really am special do I get a price, like a cereal kind?"
Diggle glances at Xander "Let me guess, eye patch...Xander?"
"Yes, sir. Let me guess tall, built, looks like he could crush me like a bug. John Diggle. Nice to finally meet you. Buffy doesn't shut up about you."
Oliver arches a brow everyone is this room seemed to know each quite well, Xander offers them a small smile before turning to Buffy "I've got a meeting with Walter, lock up when you leave Buff." He waves at Oliver and Diggle and heads to the door before glancing back at Buffy "Oh and Buffy this conversation isn't finished."
Buffy rolls her eyes "Nosy freaking Mary." She mumbles before turning to Oliver and Diggle "So what can I do for the two of you?"
"We need a bit of computer help." Oliver tells her, making Buffy chuckle slightly, the irony of them to come to her "Willow's off sick." She states making it clear she knew she was their last option.
Buffy sighs before heading the Xander's computer "Lucky for you, I know all her passwords. She's kind of obvious."
As she types into the computer she glances up "Do you think I can add personal internet researcher for Oliver Queen on my résumé?" She jokes causing the graze of a smile to appear on Oliver's face.
Diggle who was standing behind her chair taps her shoulder in amusement.
"So what's the dude's name?" She asks Oliver who was sat opposite her.
"His name is Derek Reston. We were close before I went away. And I want to get back in touch."
Buffy nods before glancing at him carefully "You know there is this thing called Facebook?" She glances at Dig "And you say I'm bad with keeping up."
"Buffy." Diggle sighs "None of the above. Not even MySpace."
Buffy rolls her eyes before typing the name into Willow's search system "I'm not exactly research gal, just so you know. That's what Will and Xander are for. The research, I'm just the muscle."
Oliver chuckles slightly, the girl was amusing however after a moment she looks back up from the screen "Yeah, Queeny—"
"Oliver." He corrects only to get a roll of the eyes.
"Queeny he's a ghost. And not the type that likes to haunt a bad ex like the one that can't be traced. The only thing here is a record from the Queen Steel factory. Reston worked there for 15 years until is shut down in 07-" Buffy pauses as she realises that they wanted this information for another reason "And you have no idea what I'm talking about."
Buffy glances over at Diggle "Whatever you actually want this information for, here it is." She says before printing off the file and handing it to him "I trust you, John. But be careful."
Five Years Ago
Buffy uses the walking-stick to pull herself up, she was still in a lot of pain, but she was healing. Faster than she should be...thank god for mystical herbs.
Slowly she takes it step by step making her way towards the living rooms where the voices of her friends were echoing through the house.
As she steps into the living room Giles stands quickly from his seat and moves over to her, "You shouldn't be out of bed."
"Aww, you know me. Rules are for suckers." She jokes as he helps her sit in the nearby chair. Once she was comfortable she glances over at Xander and Giles "Thank you both. I would be dead if it wasn't for the two of you."
The two smile and Xander merely waves her off "Come on Buff, you didn't think we wouldn't pay you back for all of the times you've saved us. I'm hurt."
Buffy smiles in amusement before turning to Giles who was nodding in agreement with Xander "It's true Buffy. You do have a habit of saving us all."
Buffy squeezes Giles' hand before turning to Willow "The books?"
Willow nods, confirming that they had the books "I'm close. The books are really helping me learn more about the slayer lineage. I spoke with the guys and we're going to start bringing the girls in once you're healed."
Starling City – Present Day
"Victim's been stabbed." Stewart tells Buffy as they pull over the ambulance by the small run down house in the Glades.
Buffy nods as she grabs her gear before climbing out of the vehicle and staring at the small house, the walls looked destroyed by termites and the roof looked like it was about to cave in.
"Prepare the back, I'll head in." She tells Stewart before making her way to the house.
"Hello?" She calls as she knocks on the door, she tenses up as the door opens easily. Inhaling sharply she enters the house "I'm from Starling General, got a call asking for help."
Suddenly someone runs at Buffy forcing her to crash through the wall leading into the living room.
Buffy groans and coughs slightly before she can even process what is happening something kicks her in the stomach sending her flying off the ground and across the room. She crashes into the next wall before landing painfully on a glass table, which shatters under her.
"Buffy Anne Summers. What a pleasure." Buffy groans in pain before turning her head ignoring the pain as the glass slices her cheek.
Her eyes widen as standing there was a man, he was about 6 foot 5 and dressed in a grey suit. He smiles sweetly at her before sighing "You had to bring a human to our first meeting. I'm feeling slightly insulted here." He tells her before turning to the door where Stewart was now entering the house, he merely grabs Stewart and slams his head against the wall knocking him unconscious.
The man taps his suit, removing the wrinkles before turning back to Buffy who was now standing "That was very impolite. Interrupting me."
Buffy glares at the man "Look suit I don't care who you are but I am so—"
"Shh. My name is Marcus Hamilton." He says raises his finger "I am here on business girl."
"Woman." Buffy corrects with the tilt of her head before running at him, however, he merely steps to the side and grabs the back of her head, grasping her hair before swinging her body sending her crashing through another wall.
Marcus steps through the hole left in the wall by Buffy and sighs "The senior partners warned me about you."
Oliver turns his attention away from the computer screen and the tape recording of Derek and his wife as Diggle enters the room.
"What is this?" Dig asks as he approaches, confused as to how Oliver got hold of this recording.
"I dropped a bug in Derek Reston's jacket."
Diggle frowns "I thought you were going to give him a second chance."
Oliver nods, he still was planning to do that, but he was careful with everything he did, he never left loose ends untied "I believe in that, but I also believe in covering all my bases." He tells Diggle before switching the recording back on.
"Derek, we can't abandon our son." Mrs Reston tells her husband "After all this time, he wants to end up a winner. Set for life. Otherwise, what was the point."
"All right." Derek responds "One more."
Diggle turns to Oliver and watches his eyes darken "What now?"
Oliver looks up "We take them down."
Buffy arches an eyebrow at Marcus' words "The what now?"
Marcus tilts his head as he looks down at the small blonde haired Slayer "The Senior Partners. You should know who they are. Considering your boyfriend used to work for them."
Buffy thinks for a moment trying to understand what he was saying, it's then she remembers, Angel had worked for Wolfram and Hart.
Her eyes darken and she forces herself up gritting her teeth "Wolfram and Hart."
Marcus smiles "Yes." He tells her as he paces the room "Your boyfriend. Angel, thought he could stop them. He just buried them. We're small but still powerful."
Buffy winces at Angel's name and the look in her eyes darkens making Marcus chuckle "Still grieving I see. His death was not pretty." Marcus smirks slightly "You should know better than anyone about that. You were there when he died."
Buffy growls and rips the nearby pipe out of the wall and tosses it at Marcus. He raises his hand knocking the pipe away however he misses the table Buffy launches at him next. The table crashes into him sending him crashing backwards and before he can do anything Buffy appears behind the table and kicks him in the gut sending him flying backwards.
Marcus chuckles as he wipes the blood from his face "What is it with you people? You can't defeat us."
Buffy glares at him before removing her jacket and pulling out the knives she keeps hidden "We'll see about that."
Oliver stands over the bleeding Derek who was gasping violently as he tried to keep breathing "Kyle." He gasps.
Oliver takes a deep breath before slowly lowering his hood, allowing Derek to look him in the eye "He's ok. He's just knocked out." He assures him.
Derek nods "It wasn't his fault." He insists, the guilt evident in his face, he blamed himself "I turned my son into this." He admits.
Buffy continues to pound on Marcus with her fists, however, as she aims the knife at him he catches her wrist and backhands her sending her crashing against the wall. He moves to approach her again but she swings her leg up knocking him away from her, when he aims a throw at her she ducks underneath before standing up behind him and grabbing the back of his head before lifting him up and dropping him on the ground.
She climbs on top of him and raises the knife prepared to end it however he catches the blade between the palms of his hands just as it is about to hit his eye.
He throws her off him however she flips through the air before landing on her feet.
"I cannot be killed, girl. No matter what you do they'll just bring me back, as long as you go after the demons in this city."
Buffy glares at him before shrugging "Well guess I have something to look forward to." She hisses before forcing her hand into his chest.
His eyes widen, not even Angel had the guts to kill him this close and personal but this girl...she looked him in the eye as she grasped his heart in her hands.
"I'll see you soon." She hisses before yanking out his heart, her hand dripping in blood as she watches his body topple to the ground.
Oliver sits in the lair, sat on the chair, frozen in silence. He had been sat there for almost an hour now and still hadn't moved a muscle.
As Diggle walks over to him he doesn't move, he still stays perfectly still, trying to process what had happened. It had gotten to him, something which, he had not expected.
"What went down wasn't your fault." Diggle tells him, watching the younger man with sympathy.
"I didn't say it was." Says as he stares at the wall in front of him.
Diggle sighs, he knew that look on Oliver's face, he blamed himself and he was going to deny it not matter what anyone said, taking a step towards his friend he speaks softly "Oliver, it wasn't your fault, man. You gave Reston a chance. It was more than he deserved."
Surprisingly to Diggle Oliver shakes his head in disagreement "I'm not so sure about that."
"Well, listen, I'll tell you this much. You say going after the guys on that list is the way you honour your dad, well, if your dad could have seen you this week, they way you cared about the people he had hurt, the way you stepped up to try and help them. I'd say he'd be pretty damn honoured."
At Diggle's words Oliver looks down at the ground, he wanted to believe what he was saying but he didn't know anything anymore "So maybe..." Diggle continues "...there is more than one way to save this city."
Oliver nods accepting this "Maybe."
Diggle offers him a small smile, before telling him the reason he came down here in the first place "By the way, Stan Washington woke up. He's gonna be fine." He says before heading for the door, as he does his phone starts buzzing "Hello?" He answers as he steps out of the lair.
"John." Buffy's voice says quietly "Can you come get me?"
Five Years Ago - Westbury
Buffy stares at the list in front of her; it was pages and pages of names. Names of girls of all ages: girls who now had a new destiny. Girls who needed help. Her help.
"Is this all of them?" Buffy asks as she glances up at Willow a shocked look on her face,
Willow smiles brightly "Not even close. Buffy, there is so many of them, these are just the ones in Europe. I haven't gotten the lists from the others yet, but my bet we're going to need a bigger space to train these girls."
Buffy nods, trying to process everything "Wow." She breaths still stunned.
She smiles up at Willow "Thanks, Willow." She says gesturing to list.
"No problem. Now sleep rest. Physical therapy starts tomorrow."
Buffy rolls her eyes but climbs into bed, as she does Willow grins happily before practically skipping out of the room.
Once the door was closed Buffy grabs her phone, dialling 1 in her speed dial she waits impatiently for the person on the other line to answer.
"Hello?"
The voice brings a true smile to Buffy's face "Hey Dawnie."
Starling City - Present Day
"What happened?" Dean asks Buffy as Stewart is rolled into X-Ray, Buffy glances down at the attractive doctor who was currently holding an ice bag to her bruised hand which was covered in dry blood.
"Buffy." He asks again as he takes her hand in his.
The blonde sighs before breathing deeply as she notices him holding her hand, a worried frown on his face, taking a deep breath she removes her hand from his and stands "I told you the guys called 911 as a way to get us there. They knocked out Stewart took our wallets. That's it."
Dean looks at her unconvinced "Your hand says you fought back."
"I got my shots in." She mutters.
Dean chuckles before looking at her seriously "You could have been killed."
Buffy chuckles slightly "You really don't know a lot about me."
She smiles at him before standing, grabbing her jacket she heads for the door "Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying." He calls out.
Buffy sighs at his words before stepping into the parking lot.
"Buffy!" Diggle calls from across the parking lot as he spots her coming out of the hospital.
He runs over and immediately spots the cut on her cheek and the dried blood on her clothes and her hands.
"It's not my blood." She mumbles "It's not my blood."
Diggle's face falls as he watches her start shaking before hugging her tightly.
As he hugs her Buffy finally falls apart, those memories Hamilton had brought up had hit a nerve one she had kept buried for a long time. It wasn't Angel's death that was destroying her right now it was what had happened right before that was making her finally break down in tears as she relives the memory.