"We have to talk Buffy."
Buffy hears Diggle's voice in her head as she continues to do pull ups using the wall to pull herself off the ground.
"You promised me, you wouldn't do this again, Buffy, dammit!"
Buffy drops to the ground and turns to her punching bag sending powerful hit after powerful hit at the bag as the events that happened six weeks ago continue to plague her.
"Doing this almost got you killed once!"
Buffy punches the bag again however she instantly realises that she had, in fact, missed the bag and herhand was now buried in the wall.
John stops by the fallen tennis ball and looks over at Oliver who was currently holding his bow, staring at the tennis ball that he had missed with his arrow.
"How you doing? Rehab going good?"
Oliver sighs pacing slightly before turning back to Diggle "Any news on Walter?" He asks changing the subject.
Diggle sighs before shrugging "My contact at the bureau stuck out. Same with my guy at Interpol. They're both saying the same thing."
Oliver nods watching as Diggle approaches him "Either my stepfather doesn't want to be found or someone doesn't want him to be found."
Diggle sighs and looks at his friend carefully "It's been six weeks, Oliver. No contact from the kidnappers, no ransom demand, no proof of life." Diggle pauses he didn't want to be the one to point this out to Oliver, but it seemed like no one else was going to "I hate to sound—"
"Diggle..." Oliver says finally turning to look at him "We both know he is more than likely dead."
Five Years Ago - Westbury
"I love Empire, of course, I love Empire, let's not waste the questioning my loyalties but the moment I saw Billy D. In the hizzy I smelled the troubles."
Andrew continues to rant completely forgetting what the question one of the Slayers had actually asked was about.
Buffy who was sat in the back of the training room stretching, glances over watching in amusement as the other Slayers continue to get more and more frustrated with the wannabee watcher.
As he continues to rant about some character in Star Wars looking like a magician, Buffy grabs the sword to her right and launches it towards him.
"Yelp!" Andrew exclaims as he screams like a girl and leaps in the air landing in one of the Slayer's arms.
"This is not an episode of Scooby Doo." Buffy tells Andrew as she walks over; while the Slayer who had caught Andrew lets him drop to the ground.
Andrew glares up at her, a terrified glint in his eye "Says the girl that looks like Daphne."
"Shut it." Buffy orders before she smiles at the girls "Girls, you wanna learn about weapons. Why don't you see which ones Andrew is more afraid of."
When all the girls grin Andrew gulps before running out of the room leaving a bunch of laughing girls in his wake.
Starling City – Present Day
Buffy was eating dinner, staying completely silent which was unusual for her. Willow frowns ever since Diggle had shown up Buffy had been acting differently, she hadn't told her or Xander what had happened but it was obvious that there had been a big fight, considering John and Buffy hadn't spoken in 6 weeks.
"Buffy..." Willow says hesitantly "What happened? The night at the factory"
Buffy groans before taking a deep breath, she places her spoon down and clasps her hands together "The Arrow was there." She tells her friend refusing to look her in the eye as she does "The Dark Archer almost killed him. I saved him...told him to call his contact but then..." Willow frowns as Buffy struggles to tell her the truth "John was the contact. He showed up and lost it. He knows about me...The Hood must have told him about the scythe. John has seen me with it before."
Willow's eyes widen that she had not expected, but something about this just wasn't adding up "Buffy, I don't get it, why is he angry?"
Buffy sighs "When I was a mercenary John was the one that tracked me down. I was...I was not in a good place when I was in Bulgaria. It was John who brought me back to Chicago...I promised him that I would never take another mercenary job again."
Willow takes a deep breath finally understanding, John thought that she was going back to the person she was, the woman who didn't feel anything, a mercenary and nothing more.
Buffy sighs before running a hand through her hair "I—I don't know what to do. I can't tell him about this world. He fainted when he saw me use my strength for the first time I don't know how he'll react to demons. I—I just I don't know what to do anymore."
Oliver pauses outside his mother's room as he spots her gazing at a photo of her and Walter at her vanity.
"Mom." He says as he leans against the door frame, startling her.
Moira jumps slightly as she hears her son, quickly she lowers the photo and turns to him "Hey." He says as he offers her a small smile.
She returns the smile "Hey."
Oliver pauses for a moment before speaking "I stopped by the Big Belly Burger. Thought maybe you, me and Thea have some takeout, watch a DVD."
The smile falls from Moira's face and is quickly covered by a look of pure misery "Thank you, sweetheart, I'm not very hungry."
Oliver nods slightly disappointed but from the look on her face, he could tell that Walter missing was taking a toll on her but it wasn't something she was going to speak about with him yet. She just needed time.
"Well if you change your mind."
Xander tosses the tennis ball at the wall for the twelfth time before catching it in his right palm. He was bored out of his mind, he hated being a consultant between the Watcher's Council and Queen Consolidated, and he missed construction. Doing something that he was actually good at, building things with his hands.
He sighs in boredom before jumping into shock as the phone on his desk begins ringing. He quickly takes his feet off the desk and swings his chair around before grabbing the photo.
"Hello?"
"Xander." Giles says the second Xander picks up the phone.
Xander grins glad to hear a familiar voice "G-Man, thank god I am bored out of my mind."
Giles sighs "I'm sorry Xander but this is a business call not personal."
Xander sighs slightly disappointed "Oh."
"Xander, how are you and Buffy doing with finding these demons?"
Xander runs his hands through his hair, he cursed himself, he had completely forgotten to fill Giles in on what they had discovered. "Sorry Giles, yeah Buffy's been making her way through the list. Turns out Wolfram and Hart are behind the whole human lookalike party. They sent some guy in a suit after Buffy."
When Giles goes silent for a moment, Xander frowns as he hears the shuffle of books and pages flipping through the background. After a moment Xander approaches the dreaded topic, one that was never spoken about "Giles...why didn't you call Buffy, she could give you—"
"She won't answer my calls." Giles says cutting him "She hasn't spoken to me in over a year Xander." He finishes a wave of emotion in his voice.
Xander sighs, he had been the middle ground between Buffy and Giles for so long now, it still astonished him to this day how two people so close could not speak for so long.
"She won't be angry with you forever—" Xander tries only gaining a sad sigh from Giles "I appreciate the effort Xander but we both know after how I reacted she will never forgive me. And I can't say I blame her."
Oliver walks into Laurel's apartment in his suit and stands with his back to her before switching on the voice modulator. When she continues to ask him questions about his disappearance he cuts right to the chase "You said it was important."
Laurel sighs "My best friend's brother..." She says as she grabs a file off her desk and makes her way over to him "My best friend's brother, he died two days ago fighting a fire. The police and fire department say that he died in the line of duty. But my friend she thinks he was murdered."
As Oliver continues to listen he realises why she stole Lance's phone to call him "So you're asking one killer to find another? I heard what you said to your father about me that I'm a killer. That I have no remorse." As he speaks he can't help the hurt that her previous words stirred in him, out of everyone he had wanted Laurel to understand, yet she saw him as nothing more that a monster. A murderer.
Laurel's eyes widen before stepping closer to him, slowly and hesitantly "Do you?" When he doesn't say anything she continues "Take a look at the file. If Danny De La Vega was murdered, that we have to bring his killer to justice."
Oliver stretches his neck and clenches his jaw before turning to her and taking the file "I'll look into it." He says before making his way his out.
"Charge to 200." Buffy orders as she presses the shock pads from the defibrillator against the young man's chest.
It had all gone south, it had been a simple call about a neck injury but when they had arrived the man had gone into sudden cardiac arrest, so here Buffy was now desperately trying to keep the man from dying in front of his girlfriend who was crying in the corner.
"Clear!" Buffy exclaims as she presses the pads to his chest for a moment.
"What happened?!" Buffy yells as she glances over at the girlfriend while the man's body leaps up at the shock of electricity flowing through him before flopping back down.
The girl takes a shaky breath before turning away from Stewart and looking at Buffy "I don't know, he was complaining about his neck and some chest pain—and then—he..."
Buffy groans as the girl turns away, hiding her face in her knees; unable to breathe properly due to her sobs.
When there is no response on the machine Buffy's eyes widen and she turns to Stewart "300!"
Stewart sighs and looks over at Buffy, he doubted they were going to be able to save this one, but she just wouldn't give up.
"Clear!" Buffy says as she again presses the pads to the man's chest.
When again there is no response Buffy sighs, leaning back on her heels she stops, the world becoming mute around her as she stares at the man she was unable to save.
Diggle continues to pound on the dummy in the lair, throwing all his anger and worry for his best friend into his hits.
As he continues to replay the events of the past few months in his head, trying to figure out where he went wrong, how he let her get back into that life, his throws become harder and less controlled.
"Rotate your hips, Diggle." A voice says from behind him just as he swings his leg out throwing a powerful kick at the dummy.
"That's where the power comes from." Oliver says as he watches Diggle pause in his attack on the dummy. "It's not just your arms, even if they're..." He pauses to see Diggle's arms "...the side of bowling balls." He says with a small chuckle before getting to the whole reason he had interrupted Diggle in the first place "Laurel reached out to The Hood last night."
Diggle takes a deep breath, burying his anger before turning to his friend and plastering a grin on his face "Really? I thought the vigilante spooked her pretty well last time."
Oliver doesn't respond to that he merely shows him the file Laurel had given The Hood "She thinks someone's killing firemen."
Diggle frowns before taking the file "It looks all in the job. Seems pretty thin." He says gesturing to the limited amount of pages in the file.
Oliver turns to face him as he heads over to the chest on the table "Can we look into it?"
Diggle nods, he needed something to distract himself, this could be it "Yeah." He says as he reaches for his shirt. I have a friend who has a friend in the fire investigations department. I'll reach out."
At that moment Oliver says something that almost knocks Diggle off his feet in surprise "If you get any leads, tip the police."
Diggle pauses and approaches Oliver "The police?"
Oliver runs a hand over the wooden box containing his bow before turning to Diggle "Police need something to jump start them."
"Isn't the whole idea of being a vigilante is that you do the police's job? You know Oliver you've been spending a lot of time around here lately. I thought after six weeks you'd be anxious to hood up. Hell, I even prepared the whole you got to slow down speech."
When Oliver and Diggle hear noise coming upstairs, Oliver quickly makes an excuse and makes his way upstairs.
Diggle frowns, Oliver was avoiding going out in The Hood, this wasn't good.
After a brief pause and a contemplation of what to do next, he glances over at the file once more. There was something there and if Oliver wouldn't do something then someone had to. And there was only one person he knew that could handle something like this.
Buffy strolls into the staff room frustrated and annoyed. She was pissed at herself if they had just got there five minutes earlier that man may not be dead. She scoffs at herself, they hadn't rushed over, it hadn't been a distress call at the time so those extra five minutes it took didn't seem like a lot. But now he was dead, so clearly they had meant something to him.
She throws her jacket into her locker and groans, running her hands through her hair pulling at it slightly.
"Hey." A voice says from behind her startling her, Buffy gasps and raises her hands in defence only to take a breath in relief when she spots Dean standing at the doorway grinning at the blonde.
Buffy sighs before glaring at him "Don't do that. You need to make noise when you walk. Otherwise, you're just a big creep."
Dean chuckles in amusement at the beautiful woman before him before approaching her, cupping her cheeks he kisses her softly before smiling "I promise. I will be loud for now on."
"You don't have to be loud." She mummers "Stump or yodel whatever just some form of noise would help."
Dean chuckles once again before nodding in agreement and releasing her.
He frowns as he watches Buffy turn back to her locker, her fists clenched, tilting his head he watches the blonde carefully, something was wrong "Buffy? What's wrong?"
Buffy huffs before suddenly all her anger and frustration comes rushing back slamming her hand on the locker "It's nothing." She grunts off before yanking off her shirt leaving her in her vest, she reaches for her jumper as quickly as she can but that doesn't stop Dean from spotting the scars on her back.
His eyes widen and he steps closer to her, shocked at the marks on her back, he shakes his head and places a hand on her shoulder making her pause "Is this about the patient today?" He asks avoiding the topic of her scars, knowing now was not the best time to bring it up.
Buffy takes a deep breath before turning to face him "I—I don't like losing them. I've watched a lot of people die, that impact is still the same even now."
Dean watches her carefully for a moment before leaning forward and kissing her.
Diggle moves through the hospital on the phone to Oliver as he searches for Buffy.
"I hacked into Stag's video security feeds, parked right on the street running along the plant."
Diggle informs Oliver as he turns the corner heading towards the staff room where Stewart had told him Buffy had disappeared to.
"Same pickup?"
Diggle smiles slightly "You gear is in your car. I'll be there soon."
The smile immediately falls as he notices a long silence, Oliver was hesitating again, Diggle groans "Oliver, by the time I get someone on the phone that will even listen to me, at least one of those firemen is going to be dead. They need the man in the hood."
Diggle sighs as Oliver stays quiet for several minutes before finally, he gets an answer "Fine."
Quickly Oliver hangs up the phone just as Diggle approaches the staff room door. Looking around he quickly makes sure there are no doctors in sight or nurses before pushing the door open.
Diggle freeze at the sight before him, it was the last thing on the planet he had expected to see today or anytime soon.
Buffy was pressed against the staff lockers while an attractive tall doctor leant into her kissing her.
Diggle clears his throat uncomfortably hoping for the young couple to break apart.
Buffy gasps and pushes Dean away from her only to freeze as she spots Diggle standing in the staff room his arms crossed, his gaze narrowed at the man she had just seconds ago been making out with. Buffy can't help but smile at the elder brother in him that wanted to hurt all men that went near her.
"Diggle." She says softly before turning to Dean who was staring genuinely confused as to how he had gotten into the staff room.
Buffy sensing Dean about to argue places a hand on his arm "We'll talk later."
Dean nods hesitantly before kissing her cheek and heading out the room
As the door closes behind him Diggle turns to Buffy "That's new." He points out gesturing to the doctor.
Buffy clenches her jaw that hadn't spoken in six weeks and this is how he wanted to start this conversation.
"Over a month." She says simply before crossing her arms "You here to yell at me again?" She asks sharply, her feelings still hurt from their big blowout.
Diggle sighs and runs his hand across his face "No...I need your help."
Buffy scoffs in disbelief "You cut me out." She hisses, knowing that he would understand what she meant.
"I just...I needed time. I don't want this life for you..."
"I'm not a mercenary, Dig." She says cutting him off. He didn't understand her situation but she wouldn't let him blame himself; thinking that she had reverted back to the person she was.
Diggle frowns in confusion, he opened his mouth prepared to ask what she meant but freezes, as much as they needed to talk he had come here for a reason "I need your help." He repeats making it clear he was changing their topic of discussion.
Buffy sighs, this reunion was not going how she had planned, she groans before moving to sit down, looking up at him with doe eyes she frowns "What is it?"
Diggle takes a breath before sitting opposite her "I work with The Hood."
Buffy arches a brow "I figured."
Diggle couldn't help but chuckle slightly after showing up at her house it had been painfully obvious that he worked with The Hood. He shakes his head and tries to focus "That night...when you saved him...it's changed him. A firefighter Danny De Le Vega he was killed and someone made it look like it happened on the job. The Hood turned around a told me to send all the information we had to the cops."
Buffy frowns in confusion, The Hood seemed to be the type of guy that liked to take the situation into his own hands, so it was confusing as to why now he wanted to follow to rules of law enforcement.
"He thinks he's failed." Diggle continues "His head isn't in the game. He's going after the people we think are responsible but..."
Buffy looks up at him finally realising what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to go in there and make sure that the vigilante doesn't get himself killed.
"I'll grab my suit."
"What now Ned?" Xander asks in annoyance as Ned Foster the COO of Queen Consolidated stands in his office, arms crossed on his chest.
"You need to speak to Mrs Queen." Ned practically orders making Xander chuckle in amusement. He had spoken to Moira about 2 times and much preferred Walter's company. At the thought of the CEO a wave of sadness fills Xander, he was fond of the older man who had seemed to have taken him under his wing.
"So why do I need to talk to the she-devil?" Xander asks remembering the nickname some of the member's of the IT department had come up with.
"This company's standing may be helped by the Watcher's Council of England however that is not enough. We need a CEO, investors are seeing the loss of the past two CEOs as a reason to back out. We need to show the company is still strong. I suggest that you and Mrs Queen hold a press conference presenting her as the CEO and strengthening the agreement between our two companies.
Xander groans he hated corporate jobs, this is the exact reason he had worked in construction back in Chicago he preferred to work with his hands rather than handle paperwork and press conferences. That was more of an Andrew job or even Giles.
Xander sighs before running his hands through his hair as he goes into deep thought about what he was supposed to do here. After a moment he shakes his head "Leave her be Ned. Her husband is missing, let her family grief I'll deal with the CEO crap until she makes her decision."\
Buffy adjusts her mask before turning to Diggle "You sure this is it?" She asks as she places the knives along the edges of her suit before sharpening the blade and looking out the window at the firemen.
"It's the only fire in town." Diggle tells her flatly before turning to her, staring astonished for a moment by her suit, he remembered her suit in Bulgaria to say this one was different was an understatement. This one was slicker clearly meant for that of an assassin whereas her other one had seemed rougher around the edges.
Buffy frowns noticing Dig still watching her carefully "Yo, Diggle, anyone in there?"
Diggle shakes his head and clears his throat "Sorry. I'm just..." He sighs at the young woman who was so much like his little sister that it scared him how protective he had become over her in the years they had known each other.
Buffy seemingly noticing his worry smiles slightly, they may not be in the best place right now and they definitely had a long and loud conversation that needed to be had but his worry made her know that they would make it through it.
"I'll be fine. Not like I haven't done this before." She tells him before placing a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment.
Diggle smiles before opening the car door for her "Remember I'll be on comms with The Hood so you can't contact me. Text me, let me know what happens...and Buffy..."
Buffy pauses and turns around to face him her hair swishing around her "Yeah."
"Be careful...and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
Buffy smirks before giving him a mock salute "Yes sir, oh captain my captain." She says making him chuckle as she runs out the car and leaps up the side of the building climbing along the drain pipe.
Buffy crashes through the second story window only to freeze at the sight before her, The Hood was climbing the ceiling while a firefighter was holding another by the hand as he dangled above the flames below.
Her eyes widen as she spots the fireman currently holding the other grin murderously, as his hold on the other man loosens Buffy runs towards the flames, grabbing onto a metal chain dangling from the wall she swings towards the man just as the other firefighter releases him.
Grasping his waist as she swings by she manages to get them both onto the lower level of the building right below where The Hood was currently attacking the attempted murderer.
She dumps the man on the ground before kicking him in the face "Sorry." She winces. She hated doing that but she couldn't let him see her, anyway better unconscious than burnt to a crisp and dead.
Grabbing the scythe off her back she climbs up the scaffolding, just as she leaps onto the platform she watches as the man knocks down The Hood before violently kicking him in the stomach.
Buffy steps forward and kicks the man in the back knocking him away from The Hood.
The man stumbles before glaring at the blonde, he swings out his fist but she merely ducks the blow before grabbing his arm, twisting it awkwardly he cries out in pain only to grunt as she kicks him in the gut. Dropping down to her knees she sweeps his legs out from under him, knocking him down to the ground.
She glances down at him for a second before grabbing a pair of handcuffs in her suit and cuffing him to the scaffolding "You sit tight." She hisses before turning to The Hood.
Oliver stares up at the woman who had saved his life for the second time, her face was hidden by her mask leaving only her eyes visible, which seemed to be gleaming with fire. As did her hair.
She crouches down next to him being aware to keep a fair distance so that she wouldn't reveal her identity "We have to stop meeting like this." She says sweetly.
Oliver stares up at her in confusion, however, the next thing he knew there was a searing pain in his head before everything went black.
Buffy looks down at The Hood for a moment before turning back to her prisoner only to drop backwards as she sees him dislocate his own hand before lighting up some sort of device which makes her momentarily lose her focus and make her clench her eyes shut tightly due to the brightness.
When she finally opens her eyes again she groans in annoyance he was gone.
Rolling her shoulders in frustration she kicks at the ground "I hate this town." She mumbles "Demons simpler ergo much better." She continues to complain as she throws The Hood over her shoulder before heading back down to grab the unconscious fireman.
Oliver hangs up the phone after speaking to Laurel and moves to head to the exit. He was angry and upset, he had almost let a man die and he himself had almost gotten killed. If it wasn't for the woman in red both of them would likely be dead. Oliver for the first time in his life felt utterly and completely useless.
As he heads for the door a voice makes him pause "So Laurel's on her own against a murderer who burns people alive." Diggle hisses clearly unimpressed that Oliver had decided to leave Laurel to finish the case alone.
Oliver pauses in his steps but doesn't turn to face his friend "I can't right every wrong in this city. And she's not on her own."
Diggle scoffs "Yeah the woman in red. Look, Oliver, I get it. Maybe you're not back to 100% like you thought."
Oliver after a brief hesitation turns to face Diggle "Maybe I'm not."
Diggle tilts his head in disbelief before swinging his fist out at Oliver who immediately blocks the blow, only to have Diggle grab his other elbow and force him down onto the table.
Oliver groans before elbowing Diggle in the stomach and reversing their positions.
"What did that prove? Oliver hisses.
"This is one sturdy desk." Diggle quips before standing and turning back to face Oliver "Clearly your problem isn't physical. What do you want to do here Oliver...want me to contact the woman in red? You want her to take over your mission...cause right now you don't seem to be dealing with your problem."
Five Years Ago: Westbury
"I'm done." Buffy hisses as she snaps the last demon's neck before stabbing the one of the ground through the heart with the scythe.
She takes a deep breath before turning to the quivering whimpering man in the corner of the room "Stop making me save your life, Andrew." Buffy hisses as she grasps the back of his neck and yanks him off the ground and back to his feet.
"I am finally allowed free rein, Andrew. I don't fancy spending my time, helping you try for the billionth time not to die. I haven't even stepped foot in a mall in over 6 months Andrew, 6 months!" She cries out in frustration before twirling the scythe in her hands "Are we in an understanding?" She asks as she points the blade at Andrew.
Andrew gulps as he stares with wide eyes at the weapon "Yes, Ma'am."
"Good." Buffy says with a grin before launching the scythe behind Andrew making him gasp loudly before turning around to see the scythe bury itself in a demon's skull.
Present Day: Starling City
"I thought you were done helping Laurel." Diggle says as he spots Oliver back in the foundry going through computer files regarding the fireman's case.
He frowns in confusion just a few hours ago, Oliver had made it dead clear that he wasn't going to get involved and now he was back, something must have happened.
"The first firefighter to die was Garfield Linz." Oliver says as he continues to stare at the computer screens ahead of him.
"Well, being dead kind of rules him out as a murder suspect, right?" When Oliver doesn't respond Diggle sighs before grabbing a seat and moving over to him "Oliver, I'm sorry I came at you so hard, but I've been there. I know what it's like to stare death in the face and be the one who blinks."
"That's not it." Oliver tells him quietly "I've—I've been close to death on the island more times than I can remember and I never feared it because I had nothing to lose. But when that archer almost killed me, when I stared death in the face then, I thought about all the people that I've let into my life since I've been back, my family, Laurel, Tommy. And that made me afraid—afraid of what would happen to those people if they lost me again. And for the for the first time in so long, I had something to lose."
Buffy runs a hand through her hair and crosses her legs underneath her as she continues to flip through books and search for intel on her laptop.
She was looking into finding out why a member of the League was in Starling, however, nothing she was finding was adding up.
She groans in frustration, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere until she could find out who Al Sa-Her actually was behind the mask.
"Hey Buff." Xander says as he pops his head into her room making her gasp in shock before quickly slamming her laptop shut and hiding the books she had stolen from the League years ago under a pillow.
Xander frowns "You alright?" He asks slightly confused to her odd behaviour, she wasn't looking him in the eye and she seemed nervous.
He glances down at her laptop frowning "What you looking at?"
"Nothin much." Buffy says sweetly as she stands from the bed "Just a new target." She offers him a small smile willing him to believe her. She hated this, not telling him the truth but there were things in her past, from the past five years that her friends were better off never knowing about. Her past with the League was one of them.
When Xander looks at her sceptically for a second she inhales sharply only to breathe in relief when he shakes his head and offers her a small smirk before gesturing to the garment bag in his hands.
Buffy's eyes instantly drop "No." She hisses.
Xander merely grins before shoving the bag into her arms "Come on Buff, we have a fundraiser to attend."
Buffy runs her hands through her curly blonde locks before adjusting her dress ( /images/kmeI3V), it was a beautiful red dress, with a silk jacket to cover her scars, which actually surprised her, considering some of the clothes that Xander wears around the house this dress had shocked her.
"So why are we here?" She asks as she places her arm through Xander's and lets him lead her through the party.
Xander glances at her before looking around the room, clearly, he was looking for something specific "I've been digging into the Intel Diggle sent you about The Noddel Tower fire. The first victim, Garfield Linz...he was assumed dead."
Buffy arches a brow at him as he leads her onto the dance floor before leading her into a waltz.
Buffy bites her lips to keep from laughing at the look of concentration on Xander's face as he kept from trying to step on her toes.
"Assumed?" She asks holding back a chuckle and trying to get back to a serious point.
"They never recovered his body." Xander tells her as he twirls her.
As she spins back to him she frowns "Figured he'd be shish-kebabbed but not dust."
"Exactly. Think about it all the other men in that regiment have alibis. Except the one..."
"That's already dead." Buffy finishes before smiling "One of those team members is here now." She realises finally, as she spots Laurel Lance and Oliver Queen currently speaking to a man from the photo that had been in the file.
Buffy smiles before pulling herself away from Xander "I am suddenly finding myself a little thirsty."
Xander chuckles in amusement "I will see you soon Lady Buff." He says before tapping his comms giving her a knowing look before heading further into the fundraiser while she herself heads towards the bar.
"Scotch on the rocks." Buffy asks politely to the cute bartender as she approaches the bar.
Leaning her arms on the table she tucks one of her curls behind her ear while taking a sip of her drink.
"I've been doing this a long time." Buffy hears the firefighter say "...but I've never seen a fire like that. It was like some monster out of a science fiction movie. I radioed for my men to get the hell out of there. But Linz, he wouldn't go. Begged me to send the unit back in. But I wouldn't do it. I couldn't do it. God help me, I left him to burn." Buffy eyes widen at that and she can't help but sympathise with the man she understood having to make that tough choice. As much as she loved her job she had been forced to make that decision before. Once when a young couple had both been impaled by the same tree log, the man was as good as dead but the only thing keeping him alive was the log, whereas the woman would die if it wasn't removed.
Sighing Buffy takes another drink before pausing as Oliver Queen speaks up "You don't have to." He says to the firefighter who was washed with guilt at not being able to bring his friend back "He is back."
Before Buffy can even do anything else she freezes as she hears loud footsteps approaching.
She reaches for her comms "Xander, we have a problem."
"Mask?"
Buffy nods and moves across the dance floor away from Queen and Lance towards where Xander was standing in the corner.
"No time for the suit." She says as she takes her mask from him and places it over her face before pausing as Xander hands her a pair of sunglasses "We're in light here Buffy." He tells her "Not darkness, you really think people won't recognise you just because they can't see your cheekbones?"
Buffy rolls her eyes, but takes the dark glasses and places them over her eyes, she then reaches for the hem of her dress and tears it up her right leg up to the thigh "Get those lights and camera's off." She tells him just as a young woman screams and an explosion goes off.
"Go!" Buffy yells before turning to see Linz standing in front of Oliver, Laurel and the fireman.
Buffy runs at the man tackling him to the ground causing Laurel to gasp in shock whole Oliver's eyes widen.
Buffy stands and kicks the man in the chest before grabbing the back of his head and slamming it onto the bar.
"Go!" She hisses towards Oliver and Laurel.
Oliver stares at her for a moment mesmerised before pushing Laurel towards the exit.
Buffy momentarily pauses as she spots Diggle across the room "Bu-!" He tries to yell only for Xander to appear next to him speaking to him loudly.
Diggle and Xander both glance at her before heading for the exit.
Buffy grunts in pain as a log is tossed at her making her fly towards the flames.
"Stay out of this!" Linz yells as he glares at his friend. Buffy growls and moves to stand however suddenly the fire spreads and the upper-level drops and she is suddenly pinned down by two large metal poles.
Buffy groans in pain as the metal begins to heat up, the flames spreading rapidly.
She looks up and her eyes widen as she spots Linz holding his lighter prepared to light up the man that had betrayed him however quickly an arrow shoots it out of his grasp.
"Crap." Buffy mumbles before finally shoving the metal poles off her legs and standing it's then that she sees The Hood pointing an arrow at Linz while the other fireman makes a run for it.
Buffy tilts her head in interest before grabbing the hidden knife from her thigh and approaching the two, making sure to keep a fair distance from The Hood and Linz. She found herself curious as to how he would handle this, and couldn't make herself stop it.
"I'm not scared to die." Linz hisses.
The Hood lowers his bow "You're afraid to live. Let me get you out of here. Linz, let me get you help."
Buffy turns to the man "That's what you want." She says softly drawing both men's attention "Things set right. To get help like you should have."
Linz looks down at the ground "Thanks, but I'm already burned."
Buffy's eyes widen as he moves to walk into the fire "No!" She exclaims she tries to approach him only for The Hood to grab a hold of her waist "No!" He growls at her before yanking her towards the fire escape.
Buffy allows herself to be dragged as it was too late to help Linz, she frowns in confusion at herself, she shouldn't want to help him, he was a murderer but there was something...something about him that reminded her of herself not so long ago. A part that still needs redemption.
As The Hood pulls her onto the roof Buffy pushes him away from her knocking him to the ground. She hisses at him before moving to the edge of the roof only to have an arrow fly right by her head, narrowly missing her ear.
"Who are you!?" He hisses his bow aimed at her.
Buffy rolls her eyes and turns to him "None of your business." She hisses in a sultry deep voice, hiding her normal sweet voice.
"This is my city." He growls as he approaches her "That makes it my business when you run around like you own the place."
Buffy can't help but chuckle slightly "Your city huh?" She asks with a slight scoff "Last I heard you didn't care anymore."
Suddenly another arrow flies at her, he was obviously hoping to pin her hand to a nearby brick wall, however, what he didn't expect was her quick reflexes as she catches the arrow in her hands and launches it back at him with ease.
"Look Legolas." She says annoyed "I have other things to do that don't concern you. So do your job, I'm not here to do it for you."
Buffy turns on him "Damn Robin Hood." She mutters under her breath as she heads for the exit.
She pauses as she hears feet running towards her, she turns just in time to block a blow from The Hood, she glares at him as she catches his wrist in her palms "That's how you say thank you for saving your life, kinda sucks if you ask me. You could use some pointers." She says for shoving him away.
"I didn't ask for your help!" He hisses as he swings his fist out.
Buffy rolls her eyes before ducking the blow, she swings her leg up kicking him in the stomach before spinning around and backhanding him across the face.
She kicks her leg up again but he blocks it with his arm and grabs a hold of her ankle, she smirks at him before twisting her body into a cartwheel yanking her ankle from his grasp and kicking him in the face.
The Hood stumbles before growling, he swings his bow at her catching her jaw, as she stumbles he kicks her in the gut making her stumble.
Buffy chuckles impressed before running at him, placing a foot on his knee she swings her other leg around kicking him in the face before wrapping it around his neck. Wrapping her thigh tightly around his neck she twists her body around him pulling him down to the ground while she lands on top of him.
Her knees were pressed against his chest as he glared up at her "You should really learn to say thank you." She says sweetly as she yanks to bow from his grasp and takes an arrow from his quiver, when she spots the leather wiring she grins "I mean come on, Captain Hook most probably has more manners than you."
The Hood growls and attempts to move her only for her to hold him down easily "You saved me yes...but why...?"
Buffy shrugs "You were there. Plus...I would have felt like a real bitch if I had just left you there to die. Any archer deserves a better fall when he spends so long trying to rise."
The Hood frowns this woman, this woman in red, she was truly fascinating, trained like an assassin but with a heart of gold, she had sympathy and respect for fellow fighters.
Suddenly she raises the bow and releases an arrow burying it in a nearby building. Before he can do anything she attaches him to the leather wiring before climbing off him.
Kicking him quickly sending him skidding across the floor she stands and wraps the other end of the wire around a metal pole "Let me know when I can stop doing your job." She says before tossing the bow at him with such force that he goes off the roof.
Oliver momentarily thought he was going to die only to gasp in shock as his body collides with the nearby wall of another building opposite the club. He looks down to see himself handing 20feet off the ground the metal wire keeping him from falling to his death.
He looks over back at the other building only to spot the woman in red leaping off the building onto a nearby roof.
Five Years Ago -Westbury
Buffy leaps off the roof of the mansion before taking a deep breath, soaking in the countryside air. The roof was one of the few places she could go to be alone these days, there were girls everywhere, taking up every corner, there was nowhere to breath in there.
Taking another deep breath she stretches out her arms over her head taking pleasure in the silence.
After a few minutes of just enjoying the peace before the war, she heads back into the building only to instantly groan as she hears arguing teenage girls yelling across the room in the common room.
She quickly hides behind the wall as a bunch of the girls walk by "Oh I am so telling Buffy on you!" One of the girls whines immediately making the blonde groan.
Once the coast was clear Buffy quickly legs it up to her room and locks the door behind her. Taking a deep breath she sighs, there would only be a few more moments before the girls realised where she was. Taking a step towards her bed she flops down on the bedspread and closes her eyes. Picking up her phone she takes a quick peek only to sigh sadly as she sees the missed call from Dawn.
Present Day – Starling City
"So I see Red did a number on you." Diggle says as he enters the training room just as Oliver jumps down from the salamander ladder. He gestures the Oliver's bruised jaw and the growing bruises on his ribs.
Oliver chuckles "Yeah...she's strong." He says seriously, something curious about her tearing at him.
Diggle shrugs "Don't look at me." He says, he may know who she is but like he kept Oliver's secret he would keep Buffy's. Plus when it came to her strength that was a question he was still asking to this day.
The two stand there is silence for a moment before Oliver looks at Diggle seriously "Thank you." He says softly he says surprising the other man.
"What for?" Diggle asks curiously, even though it was pretty obvious, but he just wanted to hear Oliver admit it.
"You know what for." Oliver says as he approaches his friend.
Diggle surprises his smile and looks at his partner "So what's next? More training?"
Oliver smiles "No, we go hunting." He says with a grin before grabbing his father's book from Diggle's hands "But first, call up the friend in red."
Buffy sits on the dustbin in the alleyway where Diggle had asked her to meet The Hood. She was in her suit, mask covering her mouth and nose while her eyes were hidden by the darkness of the dark alley.
She sits patiently and continues to sharpen the scythe, as she does she hears an arrow land by the wall before a body floats to the ground and a set of footsteps approaches her.
"Legolas...bout damn time." She says as she crosses her legs staying in the shadows.
Oliver glances at the woman before him, her blonde hair, which, always seemed to be changing colours was tied up in a high ponytail. Her suit was interesting, it seemed to be built for an assassin, it suited her.
"You going to keep gawking Hawkeye?" She asks unimpressed.
Sighing Oliver places a hand on the voice modulator before approaching her, making sure to keep a fair distance, he had already had his ass beat by her once in the past 48 hours. He really didn't fancy going at it another round.
"Why are you here?" He asks.
Buffy arches a brow at him "You asked me to show up." She states obviously.
"No." He growls "Why...are...you...here, in my city?"
Buffy rolls her eyes before twirling the scythe in her palms and leaping off the bin to approach him "Oh, we're back to that whole, this is my city gig, huh?"
When The Hood doesn't respond she chuckles before tapping him on the chest lightly and circling him "Someone doesn't like to share." She replies her voice deepening.
The Hood glares down at her "I asked you a question?"
Buffy rolls her eyes and leaning against the wall and plays with the scythe before pointing the axe at him "Don't worry, I don't want to join your little vigilante team and I'm not here to help you...no one...cops...civilians can know I'm here."
"Why?" He huffs out as he stares at the scythe currently pointed at him "What so secret?"
"Let's just say the people I'm here to take down...they need to be taken down by someone who can hide. That's me. The cops don't know me...no publicity...very few people know I'm here and the ones that do aren't very nice."
"Who are they?" He growls, he didn't like unknown threats, especially in his home.
Buffy chuckles in amusement; like he would believe her, that was extremely unlikely, if she told him demons were masquerading as humans in his city he would most likely attack her again.
"These people are strong and dangerous, no soul, they will kill whoever they want whenever they want. Trust me...you deal with your people I'll deal with mine. Then I'm gone." Buffy pauses and looks at him seriously "So you gonna get back to work?"
Oliver stares at the woman in front of him in interest, the phrase no soul has struck, it reminded him of a creature he met during his time on the island. At her question he freezes, he knew he shouldn't trust this woman but there was something about her, a kindred spirit of sorts.
He nods "I'm back."
"Hey." Buffy says as she lowers herself from the fire escape ladder right in front of Diggle as he moves to enter his apartment.
Diggle freezes as the assassin clad woman lowers herself from the fire escape before looking at him with big green eyes. He smiles as she lowers her mask, she still had the innocence of a child sometimes, even after all she had seen and done. Even when she was 23 and had lost the person she loved so much she still had these child-like eyes.
Buffy looks at him nervously "So I talked to your boss...partner...friend..." She groans "How does that work?"
"I'd tell you if I knew." He says with a chuckle before moving to sit down on the ground.
Buffy sighs before sitting next to him "Dig..."
"Stop." He says cutting her off "I should have believed you." He says softly, the regret at their argument 6 weeks ago evident in his voice "It's just...after I realised it was you who saved The Hood and then with what happened at the club and the broken ribs...I just...I thought you went back to that life. It crushed me, Buffy. You're my kid sister and when I found you in Bulgaria, you were in such a dark place. I understand that losing Lincoln..." Buffy winces at the sound of her dead lover's name, Diggle notices and places a comforting hand on her shoulder before continuing "After he died, that piled up with everything that had happened to you, you snapped. I hated seeing you like that, you didn't care about your life nor anything else. Being a mercenary was the worse thing for you at that time and I was worried you were going back to bad habits."
Buffy takes a shaky breath before looking at her best friend carefully "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but what I'm doing...there are...people from my past they are dangerous...I managed to track them. That's why I'm in Starling City. I can't tell you everything because it's a mission from the Watcher's Council. I need you to trust me here, Dig...can you do that?"
Diggle looks at his best friend before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and placing his chin on the top of her forehead "Always will, Buffy."
Buffy chuckles before asking him a question that had been nagging at her "Can I trust The Hood?"
"No." Diggle says softly "But you can trust the man underneath and you can trust me."
Buffy pauses for a moment to think about what he was saying and what he meant before nodding.
The two sit there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes for Diggle smirks "So whose The Goofy pretty boy doctor?"
Buffy's eyes widen before she places her head in her hands and groans in embarrassment "Oh God."
Later that night Buffy sits down on Willow's bed in her PJ's and looks over at her friend who was currently staring at the computer screens in front her intently.
"Are you sure about this Buffy?" Willow asks sceptically as she turns to the blonde.
Buffy nods, after talking to Diggle Buffy knew what she needed to do. She needed to focus on her mission, The Hood was right, this was his city, yes she will help when she can but she needed to focus on the whole reason she gave up her life in Chicago.
"I need to focus on why I came here. No more distractions. Leave The Hood to handle the city."