Five Years Ago - Westbury

Buffy stares at the mansion in front of her as she sits in the passenger seat of Giles' car...or more appropriately his mid-life crises part 2.

Slowly she climbs out of the car trying not to wince, she was mostly healed now but her nerves were still a little messed up because of the poison, but Willow had assured her it would only last a few more days.

"So this is it huh?" She asks as Giles moves to stand beside her a large grin on his face.

"Yes." He tells her "From my calculations we should be able to house over 200 girls more if we put more than 3 in each room. But it's just a start, I have spoke to the others. Robin is going to head to Asia, Rona to Japan with Kim-Chung. We're having positions all over the globe. This is the start of something great Buffy. I believe that."

Buffy smiles slightly before something occurs to her, how they hell were they supposed to afford all this, not only the mansion but the equipment and supplies they would need to support these girls.

"Giles, this is great and all, but how are we supposed to afford this? We're kind of broke."

Giles smiles at the young woman "Willow was able to transfer the remaining money from the watcher's council too me. And to say they were well benefited is an understatement."

Starling City – Present Day

"What did you find?" Buffy asks as she stands beside Willow's chair, in Willow's makeshift office/bedroom.

The young redhead who was slightly hyped on coffee continues to type away at her computer as she continues "Couldn't find a lot on our man in a suit however..." She pauses bringing up an image of a Chinese woman with long white hair.
Buffy frowns "Who is she?"

Willow smirks, a proud look covering her face "Buffy Summers meet Chien Na Wei or...China White. She's works with the Chinese Triad."
Buffy exhales shocked, she hadn't expected Willow to find out anything about the Triad that quickly, the Triad were so cautious.
"She's bad news Buffy, the demon gig isn't all she doing in Starling City."

The blonde glances away from the photo and turns to her a friend a curious look on her face "What else is she up to?"
"That's what I don't know. But I do know where she is right now." Willow tells her finishing with a large grin on her face making Buffy chuckle.
"Guess it's time for a bit of recon." Buffy says before making her way to the training room where her suit was being kept.

Buffy glances around the dark alleyway, her long blonde hair swishing around her as she does. This was the place she knew it, glancing back at the van Willow was currently sat inside across the street Buffy gives her a swift nod, knowing she can see her on the security cameras.

Buffy's head immediately spins back around to face the alley as she spots a car approaching, she runs at the wall using it to push herself upwards so that she can grab onto the metal ladder to the fire escape of the apartment building.

Climbing up a level Buffy pulls herself slightly onto the fire escape, keeping herself out of sight.

"That's her Buffy." Willow confirms as a woman with long white hair walks towards the car.

Buffy watches intently only to freeze as she hears a gun being clocked, she glances down only to find Helena Bertinelli standing below her.

Buffy panics "Willow!" She hisses.
"Buffy you have to stop her. If she kills her now we won't find out anything about the deal and any demons they're working with at the moment we won't be able to find."

Buffy stretches back her neck groaning in annoyance before grabbing onto the metal handle, she flips over it landing right in front of the brunette.

Helena gasps in shock but tries to take the shot only for the blonde in front of her to snatch the gun from her hand.

Helena growls and tries to attack her but Buffy grabs her arm, twisting it painfully before shoving her against the wall.
Helena elbows her in the face but it does nothing to defer to blonde who kicks her in the back of the knee making the brunette drop.
Buffy spins around and swings out her leg knocking Helena onto her back.

Buffy grins to herself before crouching down in front of Helena and grabbing her chin forcing her up to look her in the eye "Stay out of my way. Mention this to anyone and I'll find you." She hisses before pushing the woman back down to the ground.

Grabbing her gun Buffy snaps it in two before tossing it across the floor.

"Kill her!" China orders as she spots the blonde.
Buffy winces as she realizes the sound must have been heard by China and her men.

Buffy ducks as bullets are fired at her, she flips through the air allowing the bullets to just fly by her as she moves back towards the fire escape.

As she climbs the fire escape she notices The Hood approach Helena who was now holding her broken gun with a shocked look on her face.

Buffy sighs thankful that she didn't need to be the one to deal with Helena. She climbs up the fire escape, but not before throwing a knife at China catching her arm, causing her to cry out.

"Take your hands off me." Helena exclaims as she shoves Oliver away from her, she was furious: first, the blonde had stopped her then Oliver had shown up prepared to do the exact same thing.

Oliver yanks off his hood and stares at her furiously "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"That man was the leader of the Triad." She exclaims "My father blames them for the recent hits against his men." She hisses, purposely leaving out what happened with the blonde, she may be pissed but she wasn't stupid, she had seen that woman snap her gun in half and easily escape bullets flying at her.

Oliver continues to glare at her, he was furious because he cared enough about her that he didn't want to see her in danger "These are men you killed."

"That's right. I take out Zhishan, and the Triad retaliates. I have weakened my father's organization to the point where there is no way that he can survive their onslaught."

Buffy slams the door shut as she climbs into the back of the van before yanking off her mask "Dammit!" She exclaims.
Willow who had climbed into the driver's seat sighs "Nothin' huh?"
"Other than I got to hit a stupid billionaire in the face nope."

"Any idea what she was doing there?" Willow asks, she had watched the cameras and had seen that it was Helena and for the life of her she just couldn't figure out why she had been there putting herself in the fire line of the triad.

"No idea. But she just better stay out of my way." Buffy mumbles as she starts to change back into her jeans while Willow puts the van into drive.

"I don't know where the next Olympics are at, but you might want to think about signing yourself up." Diggle tells Oliver as he enters the lair only to find Oliver doing a handstand against the wall while doing press-ups.

When Oliver doesn't speak and just continues to exercise Diggle carries on "So you want to talk about last night?" Again Oliver stays silent "Ok. Last time you and I spoke you were on your way to stop Helena Bertinelli from her one woman war against the mafia. How'd that work out for you?"

Diggle then pulls out the newspaper from his pocket and begins to read it aloud for Oliver who was still silent "Nick Salvati, Frank Bertinelli's right hand was found with his neck snapped along with a few of his thugs. Was that her or you?"

Oliver sighs before lowering his legs down from the wall so that he can stand and face Diggle "I was with Helena when somebody jumped us. We didn't have a choice."
Diggle freezes as he considers the meaning of Oliver's words, one in particular was standing out to him "We?"

"She knows, Diggle." Oliver informs him as he walks away towards the computers, Diggle close behind him "About me. It was my secret or her life."
"It's not just your secret anymore, Oliver." Diggle hisses, as Oliver heads past the computers and over to the salmon ladder.

Buffy was still in bed fast asleep when her work phone went off, she groans before grabbing the phone off the side table and moaning in annoyance. It was first her day off and now she had to go in. She was exhausted, nightmares keeping her up half the night, making her toss and turn. Pulling herself up she climbs out of bed and quickly slips on her uniform.

Running into the living room where Xander was currently sat in a suit at the table sipping coffee she paused snickering slightly, she had never seen him a suit.

"Heyya Nick Fury." She jokes as she pours herself some coffee and grabs Willow's hairbrush off the couch and quickly runs it through her hair.
Xander glares up at her before pointing to his eye patch "My eye patch is way cooler."

"Yeah but you're not rocking the leather look. Ergo he is cooler."
Xander rolls his eyes before placing his paper back on the table and glancing at the blonde "So how was it?"

Buffy assuming that he was talking about last night sighs "Stupid princess got in the way. I left her for The Hood to deal with."
Xander chuckles "Actually I was talking about the date."

"Oh." Buffy mumbles as her eyes go wide, she quickly shakes her head before tossing the brush on the couch and grabbing her work jacket "It wasn't a date." She denies as she grabs her bad and heads for the door.

As the door closes behind her Xander smiles in amusement "Denial." He sings before returning to his paper.

Helena stares at Oliver in disbelief, she watches her father leave the room before scoffing and shaking her head.

"Was I not clear that I wasn't interested in talking?" She asks him as she walks down the staircase and approaches him.

"You don't have to talk." He says giving her a pointed look towards the security cameras in the living room, he gestures to the front door opening it for her.

After a brief hesitation she grabs her jacket and follows him as he leads her to Sara Lance's grave.

"Possible neck fracture." Buffy says to one of the doctors as she wheels the 25-year-old man into the ER "Bleeding heavily from the left vertebral. He's gonna need a transfusion."
Buffy hands off the man with a sigh before making her way to the staff room.

"Hey." A voice says just before she could enter the room.
She turns only to spot Dean walking over to her, she can't help the smile that grazes her lips as he approaches "Hey." She says as she walks into the staff room him following her.
"So what are you doing tonight?" He asks curiously as he leans against her locker so he can look at her.

Buffy arches an eyebrow at him "Oh you know, cleaning out my torture chamber in preparation for the next victim." She jokes earning a laugh out of him.
"How bout dinner?" He asks hesitantly, almost nervous of what her answer would be.

Buffy chuckles slightly before arching a brow at him in amusement "Dinner?"
"You—you know...you and me. A date." He stutters making Buffy smiles.
She steps closer to him, teasing him slightly "No."
Dean's face falls "What—"
"I like the term non-date."

Dean breaths out a relieved breath and carefully takes one of her hands in his "Buffy Anne Summers, would you like to go on a non-date out to dinner with me tonight?"

Buffy freezes as he takes her hand, her breathing picking up slowly after a moment she looks up at him before shrugging "I guess. Since you're begging."

She steps away from him a smirk on her face before grabbing her phone out of her locker and closing it "I'll see you tonight." She says as she turns to face him waking backwards towards the door "8 sharp, don't be late."
As she leaves the room Dean is left there standing in astonishment, this girl was really a mystery.

Helena grins as the arrow knocks the tennis ball out of her hands and into the metal pipe behind her.

She turns and looks over at a grinning Oliver "I can do this all day" He tells her, clearly showing off.
"I love a man with stamina." She says with a smile as he moves to sit down next to her placing the bow on the table as he does.

"Our crusades have something in common." Oliver tells her "Mine started with my father, too." Slowly he brings out his father's notebook with the list and shows it to Helena "He left me with a list of people who need to be reminded that Starling City isn't theirs for the taking."

Helena stares at the list in astonishment, there were so many names that she recognized "Anthony Venza is in here." She states as the name immediately draws her attention "He works for my dad. He—he deals illegal prescription pills."

Oliver can't help but enjoy the sight of her so interested in what he was trying to do, however before he could get another word in Diggle enters the lair, clearly not happy with his guest.

"Diggle, this is Helena. Diggle is my associate." He says struggling to find the right description.

Helena turns her attention away from the book to Diggle who was very clearly not amused "Well, any associate of Oliver's..."

Diggle cuts her off "Is absolutely nothing to you, ma'am."

"How was your trip to Australia?" Willow asks as she enters Walters office "You know I've been once it was really really cool lots of kangaroos." She chuckles slightly as she remembers what happened when her and Xander had gone together to find some Slayers "My best friend got punched in the face by one it was funny but not so pretty afterward."

When Walter looks at her impatiently and clearly not amused by her babbling she shuts her mouth "You had something important to tell me, Miss Rosenberg."

The redhead freezes for a brief second before nodding "Yep." She says waving the piece of paper in her hands "It's about Tempest, your wife's mysterious LLC, the one she diverted company funds to."

Walter nods, although intrigued he forces himself to turn away
"I appreciate your diligence on this, but um, it was a simple misunderstanding between my wife and I. Everything's been resolved."

Willow frowns before shaking her head, she hated being the one to tell him this she really wished that his wife had done it "See, it hasn't." She mumbles making his head swing around to face her, she clearly now had his full attention.

"Okay..." She says slowly "The money that was transferred, there was an ity bity thing about it. The money your wife withdrew from the company, I wasn't the only one who tracked it. She was being shadowed by another entity, and whoever it is, they're good. Not as good as me but NSA good." She takes a deep breath before placing a piece of paper in front of him "I may have taken a break from hacking years ago but I'm better than ever so I was able to find that little crumb they left in our system."

Walter looks down at the paper, it was an image, a circle with lines going in all different directions "Well, one image." Willow finishes "Does this symbol mean something to you, sir?"

Walter hesitates before snatching the paper off his desk and standing "No." He says as he circles the table to face Willow "What means something to me is one of my employees prying into my wife's private business without authorization, and should it happen again I'll have you suspended. Is that clear?"

Willow stares in disbelief he was the one who started this now he was threatening her. However his threat only made her know he was hiding something, and Willow being Willow needed to know more. So she offers him a small smile "Crystal."

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?" Buffy asks as she does a back flip away from Diggle who had just swung the Bo-staff at her.

When he doesn't speak and just approaches her again and tries to swing the Bo-Staff at her she raises her hands capturing it between her hands before it could hit her in the head. She kicks his knee causing him to stumble before twisting the staff out of his palms, she spins around swinging the Bo-Staff knocking him in the stomach. As he drops to his knees Buffy rolls over his back before placing a foot on his back and forcing him down to the ground, the Bo-Staff pointed at the back of his neck "Talk Dig."

When he taps out she releases him before helping him up and looking up at him seriously "Come on John, spill. Don't make me beat it out of you..." Buffy pauses as she realises that is basically what she just did "...or continue to do so."

Diggle sighs before moving to sit down on the table "Just questioning everything at the moment."

Buffy smiles sadly at her friend before tossing the Bo-Staff on the ground and moving over to him "This have anything to do with the top secret thing you and Oliver are doing that you think I don't know about." She teases as she nudges him.

When he turns to her an astonished look on his face she merely rolls her eyes before arching an eyebrow at him "Four years and you still think you can keep secrets from me." When she notices his slight panic she tries to reassure him "I don't know what you're doing exactly...but I know it's something. But I trust you it's why I helped you. I know that whatever you're doing, you believe it's the right thing to do. That's good enough for me. You don't have to tell me what it is but tell me what's got you all crazy angry fighting pants."

Diggle chuckles slightly, he should have known she would figure it out, she was his best friend, he'd never been able to keep secrets from her. Not about Lyla or Andy, she just knew when something was bothering him. But she knew him well enough when to push and when not too.
"Oliver's involved a woman with what we're doing...but I don't trust her."

Buffy nods in understanding, trust was always important especially when you're working with someone "He trusts her blindly, he just won't listen."

Buffy sighs and tries to think of something to say that would help him, placing a hand on his shoulder she turns to him "Then don't tell him. Make him see."

Oliver and Helena stand on the roof watching as the police arrest Anthony Venza.

Oliver smiles before turning to her, he had shown her that she didn't have to do this her way anymore, "Millions of dollars' worth of illegal drugs confiscated, a massive blow to your father's criminal proceeds, and nobody had to die. Justice. What do you think?"

Helena stares at him and can't help to smile that forms on her face "I think this feels good, and not the justice part." She whispers leaning forwards before kissing him.

"He was a big jerk." Willow hisses as she lies on Buffy's bed playing with the blonde's fuzzy stuffed pig Mr Gordo.

Buffy who was currently going through her wardrobe glances back at her friend "Wasn't he the one that wanted you to look into Mrs Queen anyway?" She asks as she pulls out a black silk dress only to shake her head "Do not want to look like a hooker."
"Exactly!" Willow exclaims as she sits up to look at the blonde only to shake her head at the sight of the black dress "Not that one."

Buffy nods and continues to go through her wardrobe, trying to ignore her shaking fingers, she hadn't been on a date in a long time, honestly, she hadn't done anymore more than a one-night stand here and there since Lincoln and she was terrified.

As Buffy finds a deep red velvet dress she pauses, it came to just above her knees and was very tight ( . )

The back was tall so it would cover her scars, even though the arms were shorter she only had one or two scars on her arms and they would be covered by her jacket. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the questions he would have so this would maybe prevent that for a while. Buffy grabs the dress and turns to Willow who grins "That's the one."

Buffy smiles and while she changes she listens to Willow who continues to rant "I feel like there's a massive part of this puzzle I'm missing."
"Then keep digging." Buffy tells her as she pulls on the dress before grabbing her black heels.

Willow thinks for a moment "It's that symbol, I know it. Whatever Tempest is...a huge part of it is this symbol. I can feel it, Buff."

Willow pauses in her rant as Buffy turns around to face her, she was now wearing the dress, her heels, her hair was in a messy high ponytail which somehow just worked, she had on a deep rough lip stick and had grabbed a silver clutch to complete to look "You look stunning, Buff."
Buffy blushes slightly "Thanks."

Willow sighs as she notices Buffy adjusting the back of the dress, the girl could be really self-conscious. "You can't see the scars. Except the one on your calf." She says gesturing to the thin scar on Buffy's calf, which was mostly covered by her shoes.

Buffy smiles before tucking her hair behind her ear "So umm...anyway, did Xander get anything on the next name on the list?" She asks hoping to get the attention off her.
"Nope." Willow tells her "But when I saw him at lunch he was close...oh and he had beaten his balance a ball on your forehead record."

Buffy chuckles in amusement before placing a knife in her bag, when she notices Willow watching her she shrugs "Just in case."

Willow sighs however before she could say anything the doorbell goes off, she grins and runs to the door yanking it open only for her jaw to drop as she spots the extremely attractive doctor standing at the door.
"Wow." Willow mumbles as she stares at Dean.

"Um...is Buffy here?" Dean asks hoping for the redhead in front of him to stop staring at him at some point.

Dean pauses as he spots Buffy step into the room, a smile covers his face "There's the woman in question."

Buffy chuckles before grabbing her black leather jacket and turning to Willow "Willow I'll be home in a couple of hours."
Willow nods, still not saying anything, she merely backs out of the room leaving a laughing Buffy in her wake.

"You look beautiful." Dean tells her as the blonde turns to him.
"Thanks, so we're we off to?"

As Oliver and Helena step into the over-packed restaurant he pauses as he spots the last two people he expected to see here, Tommy and Laurel.

After a brief hesitation, he calls out "Hey!" causing the couple to turn to him and Helena.
Placing a hand on Helena's back he leads her over to the other couple, Laurel was merely staring at them while Tommy laughs nervously "Hey, Oliver and someone."
"Tommy, Laurel, this is Helena."

Helena smiles sweetly at the two of them and holds out her hand towards Tommy "Nice to meet you."
Tommy smiles at the young woman "Pleasure."

When Helena turns to Laurel the brunette lawyer hesitates before forcing a smile on her face and taking Oliver's dates hand "Likewise."
Oliver offers his ex a small smile "You look beautiful."
"Thank you."

At that moment the waitress walks over to the four of them and turns to Oliver "Mr Queen, your table is ready."
Laurel clearly partially irritated turns to the waitress "When is our table going to be ready?"
The waitress forces a smile on her face, she had been dealing with both Tommy and Laurel for half the night now "When it is." She explains.

Helena thinks for a moment before an idea comes to her, she turns to Tommy and Laurel "Why don't you both join us?"

Both Oliver and Tommy immediately start to panic and argue however Laurel voice cuts through the noise "We'd love to."

"You certainly know your audience." Buffy says with a laugh as she and Dean walk through the park with pizza in their hands.
Dean chuckles "Yeah, I figured you weren't one for fancy restaurants."

"Oh, I can be." She tells him "But this works too. Anything pizza related works. What can I say...I'm a cheap date."

Dean smiles and takes another bite of his pizza as he walks beside the blonde "So..." He starts "I realised that I don't know a lot bout you. Other than you're a pretty bad ass paramedic..." Buffy chuckles "...and whatever I could convince Stewart to tell me."
Buffy arches a brow as the two come to a stop on top of the bridge at the lake in the park "You bribed Stewart."
"Yeah." He says as he rubs the back of his neck nervously "Guy basically conned me out of 100 bucks."

Buffy laughs in amusement before looking up at the stars, growing up in L.A she had never really seen much of the stars, not until she moved to Sunnydale.
Dean watches her intently before taking a deep breath "But something I picked up myself was the twinge of sadness."
Buffy freezes before tearing her gaze away from the sky and back to him "Why do you think I'm sad?"
"Your eyes."

Buffy sighs, taking a heavy breath she looks over at the lake as she speaks "Five years ago... I lost someone I loved. It broke me to the point I couldn't look at my friends or family anymore, so I left...I joined the army did a tour in Afghanistan for about 9 months, to say it left me in pieces is an understatement." She pauses and turns to looks at him seriously, there was more and he knew it "While I was there I met someone, his name was... Lincoln. I loved him and he died." Buffy chuckles to herself slightly to keep from breaking down "Ready to run yet?"
Dean smiles and steps closer to her, placing a hand on her cheek "Not a chance. You Buffy Anne Summers are the most stubborn craziest bad ass I have ever met." Buffy smiles nervously "So princess, if you think I'm gonna run you're not as smart as I thought."

Oliver sits in the lair after the disastrous dinner and merely continues to fix his arrows in silence.
"Didn't expect to hear from you tonight." Diggle says as he enters the room and stands behind Oliver "Something happen?"
Oliver sighs, hating to admit that he was wrong "I think you were right."
Diggle can't help but smirk slightly as he nods "Ok. About which part?"
"All of it." Oliver answers without turning to face him, Oliver merely places another arrow in his quiver "I should have listened to you."

Diggle sighs and when Oliver continues to refuse to face him Dig circles the table to face him "Oliver, you said you wanted to help her change. The thing is she already did change. When her father killed her fiancé, she changed into something dark and twisted. You see that now, don't you?"
Oliver shakes his head "It's not that—it's not that I couldn't see it, Diggle. I didn't—I didn't want to."

"Favourite hobby?" Buffy asks as she and Dean sit on a bench in the park.
Dean thinks for a moment "Not so much of a hobby, but I have a thing for cars. My brother Sam and I used to fix up our dad's old beat up truck."
Buffy chuckles as the two continue to question each other, basically playing 20 questions.
"What about you, blondie?"

Buffy arches a brow at the nickname before shaking her head "TV is obviously a biggy. You know watching movies on silent and making up your own dialogue, that's also up there on the list."

Dean smiles at the slayer, the more time they spent together the more he liked her, which normally he would have just legged it out of there but there was something about this one girl.
Just as he sees his chance and starts to move in closer to her, her phone buzzes.

Buffy groans before grabbing her phone only to pause as she spot an address from Xander "Dammit." Buffy stands quickly and grabs her bag "Dean I am so sorry, but I have to go."

"You wanted to see me, Mr Steele?" Willow asks hesitantly as she steps into Walter's office still in her jeans. She had gotten the call and had to come right after Buffy had left on her date.
Willow pauses "You know did I happen to mention that it was my roommate who saved your life. Which makes it by second removed in terms of friend rules that I saved your life. You wouldn't want to fire the person you second removed saved you right?"

Walter sighs before placing the small notebook he had found in Moira's closet on the table, and sliding it towards Willow "I want you to find out all you can about that notebook—where it was made, how it was purchased, and what it could mean."
Willow nods and approaches his desk, taking the small book in her hands "Yes, sir."
"Willow, I asked Josiah Hudson, our head of security to look into the same subject matter. He died the next day under questionable circumstances. What I may be asking of you, this mystery, are you sure you want to do this?"

Willow nods "I grew up in Sunnydale, trust me I know what I'm getting into. And I don't like leaving any stone un-turned."

"Go now Buffy." Xander tells Buffy who places on her mask and climbs up into the large warehouse. Buffy freezes as she spots two women currently gagged and tied together on the ground.

She keeps looking around the warehouse and finally, a tall man enters the room on his phone "I understand China. I'll report soon."
As he hangs up and turns to the two terrified women on the ground he claps his hands together before rubbing them "So you girls ready to have some fun?"

"Okay I take it back kicking his ass is totally worth ruining my night." Buffy hisses before dropping to the ground landing gracefully behind the demon "Hello James." She hisses causing him to turn to face her, however before he could so anything Buffy swings the scythe at him only for him to catch it easily.

He smiles slightly before forcing her backwards "Marcus said you would come." He says sweetly before punching her in the jaw causing Buffy's head to swing to the side, he repeats this again and again.
Buffy groans in pain but manages to twist the scythe enough so that it falls out of his grasp and he flips in the air landing on his back.

As he stands Buffy runs at him, swinging the scythe she hits him in the face with the blunt end with such strength that it tears through his skin, revealing the red scales underneath the human mask.

She grasps the scythe in both hands and shoves it into his stomach causing him to groan and lean over to clutch his stomach, as he drops to her level she takes the chance and forces the scythe up knocking his jaw, causing him to stumble backwards.

As he backs away Buffy spins the scythe in her hands and swings it at his head however he ducks the blow just in time and backhands her across the face causing her to crash into the metal pillar in the middle of the warehouse.

She is stunned for a moment but she quickly moves to attack again however as she swings the scythe he catches it in his grasps and twists it causing her arms to bend at an awkward angle.

She groans before realising that he had left his side vulnerable, swinging her leg out she kicks him hard causing him to stumble.
He quickly regains his balance and throws a powerful punch towards her, she quickly ducks and the blow ends up leaving a gaping whole in the metal.

She groans before shoving him away from her and quickly tries to regain her composure.

James laughs before blowing the metal dust and grains off his fist "You're not slipping out of this one girl. You made a big mistake. Can't you see? You can't stop us. There will always be another and Marcus well, he can just keep coming back for more.

Buffy's face fills with fury and she jumps up spinning through the air as she twirls the scythe towards James.
James stunned for a brief second catches the scythe before it could catch his face, he then punches the blonde in the stomach causing her to fly backwards into the wall of the warehouse.

Helena stands over her terrified father who was lying on the ground clutching his injured leg. As he stares at her she merely aims her crossbow at him "You finally know what it feels like to find out your own blood is responsible for the death of your entire world."

Just as she is about to pull the trigger an arrow flies at her removing the crossbow from her grasp. Helena gasps before fury fills her, she turns to see Oliver in his uniform.

She moves towards him and stares in astonishment before swinging out her leg.

Oliver steps back easily and merely bends swinging out his arms taking out her other leg causing Helena to flip through the air before landing painfully on the ground.

Buffy lands on the ground painfully and freezes as she realizes that she had lost her grasp on the scythe however before she could do anything James kicks her in the face with such force that she flies backup crashing back into the wall.

As she lands on the ground she attempts to get to her feet only for James to kick his foot out at her facing knocking her back down.
As he attempts to grab the scythe Buffy panics she kicks it from his palms causing it to fly upwards out of his grasp, she jumps back up catching it as it falls and leaps up kicking him in the gut. Before doing a spinning kick knocking James down to the ground.

Taking her chance Buffy runs over to him and swings the scythe down attempting to stab him with the stake end however he grasps the stake between his palms, halting her killing blow.
He laughs before forcing the scythe away from Buffy and knocking her to the ground.

Buffy begins struggling as he pounds on her and doesn't hear Xander's screaming voice in her head.

As she is knocked down to the ground again James strolls away while she struggles to her feet "Your job is done girl. Vampires are gone. Why you consist on killing yourself I don't understand."
She runs at him only to have him kick his leg out knocking her back down painfully.

Buffy groans in pain as she rolls onto her stomach, her eyes widen as looks up at James who was now clutching the scythe in his hands. He spins the scythe easily, enjoying the humming sound it makes as it moves through the air "I was kinda hoping it would go this way."

"Hey!" A voice exclaims from behind them, suddenly a loud noise goes off and a blue light fills the room. The next thing Buffy knew James was flying across the room.

Buffy looks up to spot Xander and sighs "I told you to stay in the van...but thank you."
"No problemo Buff. Been wanting to try out this puppy." He says gesturing to the electronic magnifier shooter that Willow had been developing. It was supposed to be used as an EMP but ended up just shooting out large amounts of blue powerful electricity.
Buffy looks at the glowing weapon approvingly "Pretty badass."
Xander grins "Who beats Nick Fury now? Huh?"

Buffy shakes her head, too disturbed that Andrew and Xander had managed to make her fluent in nerd speak.
She sighs before gesturing back to the demon who was currently attempting to stand "Xander..."
Xander shakes himself and nods "Oh, right. I'm just gonna..."
"Help the girls." Buffy supplies gesturing to the two women in the corner.
Xander nods "Yep that." He says.

Buffy chuckles in amusement before turning to face James, the amusement now off her face, she grabs the scythe and twirls it around as he approaches her.

She kicks him in the chest sending him backwards however when she swings the scythe again he ducks, however as he stands Buffy spins around dropping to her knees and swings the scythe one last time and watches as it buries itself in his stomach.

Oliver crouches next to the still unconscious Helena. After he hand removed the arrow her father had shot her with he had brought her back to the lair but she was yet to wake.

It felt as though he had been holding his breath, waiting for her to finally wake up. After what felt like eternity she gasps taking in large gulps of air.
"Easy." He tells her softly "Easy. You were lucky."

Helena groans slightly but doesn't turn her face to look at him "Am I supposed to be grateful?"
"No, Helena—"
The raven haired beauty cuts him off as she pulls herself up "He's a monster, a criminal. Why would you save him?"

Oliver stands and moves to stand in front of her "I didn't save him. I saved you. You think that because you've killed, you understand what it's like to have blood on your hands. You don't understand. You don't understand the toll that it takes on you, especially when it's your father."

"He pretty much confirmed it." Buffy says as she sits in Willow's office with Xander at Queen Consolidated.
"It's all connected. Anyone getting Initiative flashbacks?" Xander says as he raises his hand in agreement with his own statement.

Willow sighs before turning to Buffy "So this Marcus dude, all the demons, China, the mob, Wolfram and Hart. What have we walked into?"
"Sunnydale 2.0?" Xander offers as he plays with ball on Willow's desk tossing it back and forth across the desktop.
Buffy groans before rubbing the back of her neck "Basically. Plus I have to worry about whatever Diggle's up to with Oliver...you know..."
Willow frowns "What Buff? Something cooking in that brain of yours?"

"I just think... if I didn't know any better I'd say, Oliver and Diggle..." When Buffy gives her a pointed look Willow's eyes widen while Xander just frowns in confusion.
"You think their lovers?" Xander asks still confused.

Willow rolls her eyes before tapping her best friend on the hand sweetly "No honey..." She turns to Buffy "...you think Oliver... is The Hood. No"
Buffy shrugs "50 bucks says I'm right."

Willow grins before holding out her hand towards her best friend "Deal."

"You know, Oliver, I'm no expert at this..." Diggle says hesitantly as he sits opposite Oliver in Big Belly "...but I don't think love is about changing or saving a person. I think it's about finding the person who's already the right fit." As he speaks he ends up glancing over at Carly, a smile appearing on his face as he does, he glances back at Oliver and clears his throat "One day you will."
Oliver scoffs "I think I burnt that particular bridge." He says chuckling to himself as he does "Napalmed it, actually."
"So things didn't work out exactly as you planned. You did save Frank Bertinelli's life." Diggle points out hoping to cheer the brooding billionaire up "He'll be doing time for a while. Justice wins out."

Oliver nods as he listens before shaking his head at disbelief "Helena doesn't see it that way." He says the sadness and misery at the situation evident in his voice.
Diggle nods in understanding "You opening up, took a risk with your heart. The Oliver I met a few months ago would not have been able to do that." When Oliver smiles Diggle leans against the table to look at his friend carefully "And when you meet the right person, you'll be ready for her."

Oliver smiles, before teasingly picking up the plate of fried and jalapeños and sliding it towards John. Diggle chuckles and goes to pick one up before laughing and shaking his head, he wasn't insane.

"Thanks for meeting me." Buffy says as Dean approaches her on the bridge.
Dean sighs before frowning "Look Buffy-"

"Stop." She says cutting him off. She was trying to gather her courage and it was difficult enough all ready and if he spoke she knew she wouldn't be able to do this.
"I—I'm sorry I had to bail, my roommate Xander had an emergency."

When she notices him about to speak she steps closer and places a hand on his arm silencing him "Dean...my friends are all I have. I am not the most reliable person, I have a tendency to run off for weird reasons, I have scars that I won't answer questions about. And too say my history with men is complicated is an understatement but...I'm trying."

Dean chuckles before running his hands through his hair "What have I gotten myself into?"
Buffy takes a deep breath and instead of answering she takes another hesitant step forward and places a hand on his cheek.
Slowly she leans in and as her lips brush his he brings his left hand up running it through her hair while the other pulls her closer, deepening the kiss.

After Buffy and Xander had left her office, Willow heads upstairs to Walter's office, as she does she switches off all the lights leaving the two of them in near darkness.
Walter looks up from his paperwork in confusion, when his eyes land on Willow he frowns "What are you doing?"
Willow makes her way over to him "It needs to be dark, that's the only way this is going to work."

When Walter gives her a funny look she rolls her eyes "I'm gay." She says instantly making him relax "I'd be more interest in your wife than you." She points out before shaking her head in amusement and hands him the notebook he had given her earlier.

As she pulls out a pair of glasses Felicity had helped her design, Walter continues to flip through the empty pages "I don't see anything."
Willow nods "I know, that's the point. Anyway..." She hands him the goggles "Felicity gave me these from applied sciences. They're able to pick up the sub-visible variations in the UV spectrum." As he places on the glasses Willow gestures to the book "Now look at the book again"

Walter does as she requests only to be shocked as now the empty pages were filled with names, names he recognized.