When Moira reaches for the phone Oliver releases the arrow from its quiver firing it towards her hand. The arrow buries itself in the table causing Moira to gasp and quickly back away.
Oliver quickly grabs another arrow and aims the weapon at Moira "Stand still." He orders.
Moira stands there rigid, she was terrified and her hands were shaking "Please..." She begs stuttering slightly "...don't kill me."
Oliver ignores her, his fury still filling him as he took slow steps towards her "Do you know anything about your husband's disappearance?"
Moira's eyes widen in shock and her hands fall to her sides "What?"
"Is Walter Steele still alive?" He yells making her jump slightly.
Moira shakes her head fearfully "I don't know where my husband is. I swear." She breaths as she takes several steps back, trying to keep as much distance between them as she could.
Oliver continues to grow closer to her, he needed to know, he was too lost in his rage and curiosity now to even be bothered by the fact that he was the reason for that terrified look on his mother's face.
"Do you know anything about the undertaking?" When she starts to reach for something Oliver screams "I said, don't move!"
"I'm a mother." She stutters suddenly as she crouches down on her knees holding up a picture of him and Thea "I have a son, Oliver. A daughter. Her name is Thea. She's just a teenager. Please don't take me from my children. They've lost their father...they can't lose me too. Please, whoever you are, please."
Oliver freezes for a moment, this wasn't just another one of his targets, this was his mother. "Okay." He breaths before slowly lowering his bow and watching her guiltily "I'm not going to hurt you."
Moira takes a deep breath before suddenly reaching for her safe yanking the gun which was hidden there she points it at The Hood.
Oliver's eyes widen in shock as he spots the gun and before he could do anything she started firing rounds at him.
Dropping to the ground in an attempt not to get shot he groans slightly as he feels the bullet that had hit him move. He looks down only to spot blood seeping from his suit, he needed help and now.
"Almost there." Buffy says as she half carries the injured Willow to the car, she winces slightly as she adjusts her hold on Willow, her own leg was still hurt pretty bad and carrying the beat up Willow was making her leg worse, she was worried that she might have pulled it back out of place.
Slowly they make their way into the Queen Consolidated car park where Willow's car was, as they spot Willow's Green station Wagon she breaths in relief, she may hate the car but it had enough space in the back that Willow would be able to lie down, and it wasn't like they could have got a cab, they were both covered in bruises and blood.
"Why didn't you bring your car?" Willow asks before gasping and grabbing her broken rib.
Buffy sighs as she opens the car door and places Willow in the passenger seat "Was working on adrenaline, didn't exactly think to grab my car."
Willow nods and lifts herself properly into the seat wincing slightly "I'm sorry, Buffy." She tells her best friend as she climbs into the driver's seat.
Buffy frowns "Willow, hey never apologise. That man took you because of me, but no matter what some terminator reject does, I will protect you."
Willow smiles at her best friend before squeezing her hand, no matter what they would stick together, they had almost lost each other so many times over the years but no matter what through thick and thin, they were family.
"Let's get somewhere less camera happy. My kit is in the car, I'll get you fixed up some." Buffy tells her before turning to make sure she wasn't going to reverse into anyone only to gasp as lying in the back seat of the cruiser was The Hood
"What the hell?! What is it with you and the breaking and entering?!"
The Hood winces slightly "I'm not going to hurt you, Buffy. Either of you."
Buffy freezes for a moment and glanced over at Willow before turning back to the Hood, there was no voice modulator on him this time, she recognised his voice as clear as day "Oliver?"
Oliver yanks off his Hood and looks at her seriously "I need your help."
Buffy eyes widen while Willow sits there in shock, Buffy had been right "Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear."
Buffy shakes her head before grabbing her emergency medical kit that was at Oliver's feet, she yanks it open and hands Willow some white cloth "Your forehead. Oh and before I forget you owe me $50." She tells her before turning back to Oliver "I take it hospital is a big no?"
Oliver nods "Portable doctor like you said."
Buffy chuckles slightly only to panic when he winces "I need somewhere to work."
"My father's old..." Oliver takes a gasping breath "...steel factory. Diggle is there..."
"Tracking Dig's phone now." Willow says as she grabs her phone and her fingers begin flying across the screen.
Buffy groans before starting up the car, "There better not be any blood stains in this car when I fix you." She warns Oliver before speeding out of the car park causing both Willow and Oliver to have to clutch onto their seats for dear life.
Diggle sits in the foundry waiting for Oliver while listening to the news report, from what he could hear something had gone really wrong.
"So far, the police are unwilling to comment, but unsubstantiated eyewitness reports claim that the Starling City vigilante attacked Mrs. Queen in her office earlier today. Alexander Harris, American CEO of The Watcher's Council of England and COO of Queen Consolidated, has confirmed that she was unharmed in the assault."
Suddenly Diggle's attention is pulled away from the news as he hears a pounding noise from the back door, he grabs his gun and swings around in his seat only to freezes as suddenly the metal door goes flying off its hinges and lands on the ground. Standing above it was Buffy, she had blood all over her white sweater, her left eye was covered in bruises and she was favouring one side more than the other.
She looks over at him and takes a relieved breath "You have no idea how many people I have freaked out doing that tonight."
Diggle stands there frozen for a second before lowering his gun "How..."
Buffy doesn't let him finish as she quickly disappears from view only to reappear a moment left half caring Oliver, still in his Hood gear "We have a problem."
Diggle's eyes widen and he quickly runs over to help only for Buffy to shake her head "Table?"
"Over there." He tells her gesturing to the corner of the room.
Buffy nods "My kit is in the car, grab it. Help Willow she got banged up she can't walk properly yet. Quick!"|Diggle frowns in confusion before nodding and heading out to the car. Buffy pulls Oliver up as he continues to drop, she groans throwing his arm over her shoulder and moving forwards dragging his body with her.
Buffy pulls Oliver up as he continues to drop, she groans throwing his arm over her shoulder and moving forwards dragging his body with her.
Grabbing the table in the corner she pulls it into the middle of the room before laying Oliver on top of it.
Buffy turns her head just as Diggle enters the room with Willow in his arms, he quickly places Willow in the large chair at the desk before running over to Buffy.
"Get his shirt off." Buffy tells him as she places her emergency kit on the table and opens it up.
Buffy quickly grabs what she needs and moves around Diggle before leaning in close to Oliver to look at bullet wound "Damn..." Buffy breaths before reaching for the white cloth out of her bag, she needed to get the blood out of the way "The bullet just missed the carotid. It's a zone two wound." Buffy breathes before nodding at Diggle.
As he takes over and holds pressure on the wound, Buffy grabs her light out of her bag and opens one of Oliver's eyes flashing the light at his pupil.
"Come on Oliver." She breaths when there is no response, she groans before looking around the room "Deliberator?"
Diggle nods and quickly heads to the other side of the room to grab it while Buffy goes to try and stop the bleeding "I'm gonna have to get the bullet out...but I need him breathing to do that."
Willow who was sat on the spinning chair by the computer system finally tears her gaze away from the abomination that Oliver was calling his computer system and glances at Diggle "I'm guessing how Oliver got shot is not a question we get to ask?" Willow pauses "I'm guessing the whole how and why are not his favourite questions period."
"Yeah, well..." Diggle pauses before passing Buffy the equipment while he set up the heart monitor and started hooking Oliver up to it "...there's also the when and the where he's not too fond of."
Buffy groans "He's losing too much blood, tell me you have..." Buffy pauses as Diggle shows her the bag of blood that he was pulling out of the cooler.
Buffy smirks slightly "That's my boy." She breaths before setting up an IV.
"I take it he stored up for a rainy day...cause right now it's storming like a bitch."
As Diggle comes to stand on the other side of Oliver Buffy glances up at him "Do you remember any of your training?"
"I sewed you up remember?" Diggle points out gesturing to the bullet wound on her shoulder. Buffy shades her head in amusement "Yes because that butterfly stick was lovely." She says sarcastically before turning back to Oliver.
Willow groans at the sight of all the blood "You know I used to play operation as a kid...this is different. It never made me want to throw up."
Buffy smiles at Willow before turning back to Oliver a worried frown on her face, she may not know him all that well but she would hate to watch him die, he had dedicated his life to helping others despite the risk to himself and she couldn't help but find a kindred spirit within him "Hey Buffy." Diggle breaths as he looks up at her "You're a good medic, you are gonna safe him. He's been through worse than this."
Five Years Ago - Boston
"6 months!" Buffy exclaims in annoyance as she glares at Constantine who was now smoking a cigarette as he crouched by her floor length windows.
"6 months!" She yells again "Since Sunnydale went to hell, yet you nut jobs just won't go and get lives...I mean come on!"
Constantine chuckles slightly before turning to the blonde, she was a pretty nutball that was for sure, but she was strong and useful, and he needed her help.
"Come on, luv..."
Buffy raises her hand cutting him off "Oh, don't you 'luv' me! You break into my house like some sort of Blues Brother's rip off and try and tell me to calm down! God, I should have let that demon eat you!" She suddenly laughs loudly "God I saved a moron!"
Constantine continues to stare at her as he smokes, he waits a moment before putting out his cigarette and turning to her, he adjusts his jacket before standing and looking at her "Come on pet, I just need a little help."
Buffy scoffs "The jackass who broke into my apartment wants a favour. Yeah like that's going to happen."
"It's going to happen." Constantine says confidently before walking into her kitchen where she was stood glaring at him. He reaches into one of her cupboards and grabs a bottle of scotch that Giles had left during his last visit "Nice." He breaths before grabbing a glass and pouring himself a drink.
Buffy rolls her eyes before snatching the bottle off of him "Hands off the booze. Now old cryptic dude wanna explain why I'm going to help you...cause I sure as hell can't figure it out."
Constantine smirks slightly before hopping onto the counter top "Now pet that's a complicated question. But let me put it simply...I need to find something...it's called the Orb of Horus."
Buffy rolls her eyes "And I'm helping you find this orb thingy because...cause trust me the last orb I found did not exactly lead to rainbows and puppies."
The blonde sorcerer chuckles in amusement, this girl was quite entertaining "Actually you're gonna help me look for the book that will lead me to the Orb etcetera."
Buffy rolls her eyes, she was getting really frustrated and she just wanted to sleep "Explain to me Pink Panther, why would I do that?"
Constantine smirks slightly, he was really enjoying this back and forth banter, hadn't had a good banter in a few years, no one had been able to keep up with his quick wit "Well Powergirl, I am a sorcerer..." He points out giving a little bow as he does "...So I know things...like how you The Slayer..." He says dramatically "...just love to help people. You honestly are quite sickening, you just can't help yourself. But that's beside the point. You see I can place a little spell on that scythe of yours..." He points out causing her eyes to widen.
He smirks slightly, he definitely had her attention now.
Present Day – Starling City
"There we go..." Buffy says successfully as she pulls out the bullet from Oliver's shoulder and dumps it in the metal bowl next to the table.
Reaching for the needle and thread she glances over at Diggle "I take it he won't want to keep it as a Christmas decoration." She jokes as she places the needle through Oliver's flesh after dosing the needle in alcohol. She glances over at the machine next to her that was monitoring Oliver's heart rate and sighs in relief, she had managed to get the bullet out without killing him, so, so far that was a good sign.
She glances down only to groan at the sight of her white sweater "Why do I even bother wearing white." She says to herself before glancing over at Diggle who was placing a bandage on Willow's forehead "His heart rate is elevated." She tells him as she continues to sew up the wound "But at least the bleeding has stopped. For now." Buffy pauses and glances over at her best friend with a worried frown "How you feeling Will?"
"Dizzy." Willow mumbled as the effect of the painkillers start to kick in before she looks over at Oliver "You know I always wondered if I'd react the same way to my boss being shot as to how I reacted when our second principal got eaten...it's not the same." While Diggle frowns in confusion Willow pouts "I'm never gonna get the blood out of my car."
Diggle chuckles slightly before glancing over at Buffy who had finally finished sewing up Oliver and was now removing her gloves and starting to put away her equipment "You know I was thinking all this would be more of a shock."
Willow chuckles in amusement while Buffy scoffs before moving over to the line up of arrows and watching them curiously before picking up one "We actually had a bet going. Willow said Oliver wasn't the Hood but she doesn't know you very well...I knew you were bluffing the minute I asked you about the Hood. Ergo I just made 50 bucks."
Willow glares at her before shaking her head in amusement and turning to Diggle "Oliver brought me a laptop riddled with bullet holes and had me trace a black arrow and research into armoured car heists. I should have realised sooner, I just didn't want to admit I was gonna lose the bet."
Diggle laughs slightly, finding the amusement in the fact that somehow despite everything Buffy had managed to make this screwed up situation into a game for fun. He pauses however as his attention is brought back to both her and Willow's injuries, Buffy technically should still be in bed after her fight and Willow hadn't been banged up last time he had seen her. Obviously, something very wrong had gone down, something that had almost gotten the two of them killed.
"What happened to the two of you anyway?" He asks curiously with a worried frown.
Buffy sighs before leaning against the wall while Willow twirls in the chair, looking way too much at home. "Marcus..." Buffy says softly "...he's..."
"The man that almost killed you." Diggle breaths as he stands and moves over to his best friend "Buffy..." He starts only for her to cut him off, she knew what he was going to say, she knew he was worried, he always was.
"Look...one of his..." She pauses trying to figure out how to explain what had happened without bringing in too much supernatural stuff "...associates kidnapped Willow."
"It's true." Willow says from the computers where she was now playing with the equipment "He doesn't like what we're up to." She says only to immediately slap her forehead.
Diggle frowns before turning back to Buffy "And what is that?"
Buffy sighs "Look it has to do with the list the Watcher's Council gave me. Marcus and his people don't like that I've been looking into it, their starting to threaten people I love. He had one of his associates Eric Peterson...that's the guy that killed all those people at the construction site...he sent him to kidnap Willow. I went after them. No one touches my family."
Willow looks up from the computer and smiles at Buffy who smiles back, Diggle sighs however, he was so worried, whoever these people were they were bad news.
Buffy sighs as she notices the look on Diggle's face, she looks over at Willow for help who quickly spins in the chair and turns to face Diggle "So what do you guys do down here?" She asks curiously "Other than come up with crappy cover stories."
Diggle shakes his head, he knew what they were both doing, but decided not to push it, it was clear Buffy wasn't ready to discuss this, so, for now, he would wait till she was ready "Yeah, Oliver's excuses are not the best."
Willow scoffs, that was an understatement "Wasn't he planning to ask Buffy to do a test on a vial of pretend hangover cure?" She asks laughing slightly as she does.
Buffy smirks slightly and crosses her arms, she was rather curious about that herself "Yeah, the vial that made me use hospital resources. What happened with that Vertigo anyway?"
"We took down The Count with that analysis." Diggle tells Buffy causing Willow's eyes to widen "That was you and Oliver?" the redhead asks.
Diggle nods "And Buffy...without her, we would never have found it. Just like with all those other objects he brought you Willow. Helped us stop bad people."
Buffy takes a deep breath before glancing at her best friend as he moves to sit beside Oliver's bedside "Why come to us?"
Diggle smiles slightly as he glances back at Buffy "You've been doing this a lot longer than him Buff...you realised something he hasn't admitted yet. That sometimes you need help."
Five Years Ago – Boston
"Mud." Buffy says slightly disgusted as she glances down at her boots which were now covered in dirt and mud, she groans she really hated that she had agreed to this.
"Mud, and dust and trees." She mutters before glaring over at Constantine who was walking ahead of her "Remind me why I agreed to this?"
Constantine chuckles in amusement before glancing back at the blonde Slayer "Come on darling, you lived in Sunnydale this is nothing."
"Yes Sunnydale, Sunny being the imperative word. Warn sunny and dry, not cold muddy and wet."
As he laughs Buffy rolls her eyes, this guy was really getting on her nerves and quick, she was gonna end up hitting him over the head before the day was over.
They continue to walk in silence before finally, they stop right in front of a large tree, Buffy frowns before glancing over at Constantine, it looked like this is where he had intended for them to go.
"Great." Buffy says with a sigh "A big tree. Can't wait to tell my friends. They've never seen a tree this big." She says sarcastically before glancing over at sorcerer.
When Constantine just glares at her she rolls her eyes, "Look can we just speed this along, I have class.."
The blonde male chuckles before grabbing a book out of his jacket and turning to the tree "Yes." He says to her not looking away from the tree "You do go to school, don't you. Top of your class. I looked into you, you're smart, although that seems to be a new thing..." Buffy glares at him while he merely continues while flipping through the pages of the book "...You know your teachers seem to think you come finish early especially if you do the training program with the military."
Buffy's eyes widen, no one knew about that, hell she had only just found out last week that she was in consideration for it, she hadn't even had time to process it herself let alone tell anyone else. "How the hell did you know about that?"
"I'm a nosy git." He says with a shrug before slamming the book shut and turning back to the tree.
"Clearly." Buffy mutters before she sighs she hadn't exactly been filled in on a lot of what was going on and it was driving her insane.
"So how are we supposed to get this damn book?"
"Well..." Constantine says as he places a hand on the tree "A demon has the book that will lead me to the Orb."
"And this orb thing is..." She asks hoping for an answer but knowing it was very unlikely she was going to get one.
"Somewhere in the North China Sea. That's all I know. So you and I are going in here..." He says gesturing to the tree before turning back to her "To get said book."
Buffy frowns in confusion, this guy really was a nutcase, he had led her to the middle of the forest and now they were standing staring at a damn tree.
Suddenly, however, the tree starts to spilt into two, cutting down the middle as it separates. Buffy's eyes widen at the sight before her, inside the tree was now a market "What the..."
"Welcome to one of the many Hell dimensions Bunny."
Buffy stares in shock only to freeze as suddenly two large demons come busting out of the doorway. "Oh, crap."
Starling City – Present Day
"Dammit!" Buffy yells as she runs over to Oliver where he was currently having a seizure.
"What's happening?" Willow asks as Diggle and Buffy work to help Oliver.
Buffy looks over at the heart monitor and panics "He's spiking." Buffy hisses before moving to hold Oliver down.
Diggle panics for a brief second before looking over at Willow "There's a syringe labelled Ativan. It should stop the seizure."
Willow nods and quickly wheels over to the draws and grabs the needle.
"Dammit." Buffy exclaims again as Oliver's heart rate continues to sky rocket before suddenly the line goes flat.
"No." She breaths before turning to Diggle "Get me that deliberator! Now!" She orders before she climbs up onto the table, due to her height she couldn't do CPR properly from being stood beside him, so she climbs on top of Oliver and begins doing compressions to his chest "Come on."
"Diggle!" Buffy yells hoping he would speed it up, she glances back at him as he continued to try and set up the machine, walking around her as she continued to try and keep Oliver's heart beating.
"How old is that thing?" Buffy asks him as she stares at the old fashioned machine.
"Is that even going to work?" Willow asks from her chair beside the two of them.
"We're about to find out." He tells her as he grabs the pads and begins charging them, he hands them to Buffy who quickly places them on Oliver's chest "Clear!"
Buffy freezes when nothing happens "No." She breaths before glancing at Willow "Will..."
"On it." Willow says as she wheels over to the machine while Buffy goes back to doing compressions.
"I heard the charge. That's good news." Willow tells Diggle as she moves over to the wiring system while Diggle takes the pads off Buffy.
Buffy glances over at Willow before turning back to Oliver, they were losing him "Come on." She mutters before she leans down and presses her lips to his forcing air into his lungs. As she pulls away she quickly goes back to compressions "One...two...three..." Buffy sighs before leaning back down and continuing mouth to mouth "Come on Oliver." She breaths as she sits back up.
"It might be the wiring." Willow tells Diggle as she yanks out a set of pliers from the top drawer and starts moving around the wiring systems.
"Come on. Come on. Come on." Diggle mutters as he watches Buffy continue to try and keep Oliver breathing while they waited on Willow.
"Should be working now." Willow tells him.
Diggle nods and moves over to Oliver with the pads, Buffy grabs them and places them on Oliver's chest "Clear!" She yells as the first shock goes through Oliver.
She glances over at the machine and still, there was no change, pressing the pads against his chest again she turns to Willow "Clear!"
The charge goes through Oliver causing his body to surge upwards.
As his body drops back down on the table Buffy glances over at the heart monitor and breaths a sigh of relief as Oliver's heart beats.
"Thank God." She mutters before climbing off him.
Diggle leans on the table relieved, that had been a close call "What the hell did you do?" He asks as he turns to Willow.
"I've been using computers for years. Rebuilding them, hacking into government files etcetera. Wires are wires." Willow takes a deep breath before glancing over at Buffy "So what do we do now?"
Buffy takes a deep breath before moving to lean against the table, the wound on her leg had reopened and was now bleeding.
Diggle helps the blonde while grabbing some bandages "Pray we don't have a heart attack ourselves." Dig tells her before tapping Buffy's good leg and beginning to bandage up her bad one.
Five Years Ago – Unknown Location
"This is your fault." Buffy hisses as she pulls at the chains keeping her pinned to the wall while Constantine laid on the ground with his hands chained to a pipe.
"How is this my bloody fault!" Constantine hisses as he pulls at the chains effortlessly.
Buffy rolls her eyes "Um...let's see, the demon who you've been looking for, who you've been asking every demon left right and centre about, is the one that took us at the border. Yes, I'm gonna go with your fault on this."
Constantine opens his mouth to argue only to groan in annoyance, she was actually right, it's not like he had been that subtle in his search.
When he closes his mouth Buffy smiles, she had one that round of banter, however, her smile quickly disappears as the large demon walks into the room. She hadn't really gotten a good look at him before but he actually sort of looked like a big hulking tree. Literally, his arms and legs were made out of branches which he could move around the room. Buffy sighs knowing that Xander would most probably tell her he's like some comic book characters, at the thought she realizes how much she misses her friends in England.
Sighing sadly she glances over at Constantine who was now glaring at the tree demon.
"Bodjnsoh wropeda Constantine." The demon growls making Buffy frown in confusion "What'd he say?"
Constantine groans "That he's going to rip my organs out."
Buffy winces at the thought, the idea of it was disgusting alone, she didn't exactly want to experience seeing the real thing live.
She watches the creature in fascination only to frown in confusion and panic as instead of going towards Constantine the creature moves towards her "Hey!" She yells at Constantine "Why is he coming near me?! I thought he wanted you gone!"
"Perhaps he changed his mind."
Present Day – Starling City
Buffy was swinging around one of the bo-staff's in the corner of the room when she hears the heart monitor starts to go crazy. Dropping the bo-staff she runs over to Oliver "He's going into cardiac arrest again." Buffy tells Diggle as he moves to prepare the deliberator, Willow frowns and limps over only to smile as she stops the issue "No need." She tells them "The lead's just came loose." She smiles slightly before fixing the lead while both Buffy and Diggle sigh.
Buffy groans in annoyance "You need updated equipment."
Diggle sighs loudly "Ahh, it's less stressful when he's jumping off roof tops."
Buffy shakes her head in amusement only to have Diggle glare at her "You're no help in that stress department you know."
Buffy winces and raises her hands in defense before backing away slowly "Sorry Dig."
Willow shakes her head in amusement before she spots Oliver's bow in the corner of the room "Huh, his bow..." She says as she stops next to Buffy who had picked up the bow and one of his arrows "...his bow has put arrows in quite a few people." Willow says as she watches Buffy pull back the string before firing an arrow into the centre of one of the wall targets.
"Bad people." Diggle argues before smirking as he watches Buffy easily use Oliver's weapon "Don't let him see you do that..." Dig tells her "...it will make him self conscious."
Buffy smiles before putting down the bow and moving to sit next to her friend.
Willow frowns slightly, it bothered her, the idea of killing people, yes she wasn't exactly innocent in that department, she had killed but she had never forgiven herself and had promised to never do it again, yet Oliver did it on a daily basis.
"Does it bother you? Because—and I mean this is a good way, you seem like the kind of guy it would bother."
Diggle glances at Buffy who looks away from a moment, as the blonde turns away Willow's eyes widen, she hadn't even realized that her words may hit a nerve with the Slayer "Buffy..." She says hesitantly only for the blonde to cut her off.
"It's fine Will. But I can't exactly judge given my history. I've done what Oliver's doing and a lot worse than what he's done."
Diggle places a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving it a sweet squeeze before glancing over at the curious yet guilt riddled Willow "When I was in Afghanistan, our unit..." He says gesturing to Buffy "...was tasked with protecting this local, warlord..."
"Gholem Qadir." Buffy finishes before turning to look at Diggle a broken look on her face, she remembered that mission so vividly, remembered the effect it had had on Dig.
Willow frowns in confusion, she had only seen that look on Buffy's face once before, so it was clear that what ever had happened in Afghanistan had been bad "Who was he?"
"He was less than human." Diggle tells her "He sold opium, sold children. One day, we were accompanying him to Mazul when our convoy was ambushed by insurgents. We had them outgunned. The fire fight didn't last more than a minute. When the smoke cleared, I moved in on their position..." Diggle pauses for a moment lost in the memory and the guilt "...they were all dead. I knew which one I killed. When I pulled off his kafei, he was just a kid, no more than 18. I shot him in throat."
Buffy takes a shaky breath and grabs Diggle's hand gripping it tightly, she remembered that day, and how much it had crushed him. Leaning her head on his shoulder she sighs "John, that wasn't your fault..."
"Yeah it was Buff." He tells her as he kisses the top of her head before glancing over at Willow "I killed this kid to protect this human piece of garbage, and I thought am I still good? Am I still a good man?"
Buffy sits up and looks at him sadly she places a hand on his cheek and watches him carefully as he closes his eyes and leans into her palm, letting the emotions cross over his face for a moment.
"You're a good man, John Diggle." She tells him before hugging him, she understood now why he was doing this, he wanted to feel good and stopping these people with Oliver was making him feel good.
"If this is what you need to do to believe that yourself..." She says as she pulls away and smiles up at him "...then do it."
Willow frowns as she watches the unspoken conversation between the two, honestly sometimes John and Buffy were more brother and sister than anything else, Buffy could trust him with things that she couldn't with herself or Xander, which sucked but she was happy for her.
"And that's worth all the collateral damage?" She asks suddenly
"Willow." Buffy hisses as she glances over at her.
Diggle turns to the red-head "I haven't killed any one, if that is what you're asking."
"But he has." Willow argues as she glances over at Oliver.
"So have I." Buffy tells her, drawing her best friend's attention "There are always casualties when you're fighting a war."
Five Years Ago - Unknown Location
"Would you hurry it up along luv?" Constantine baggers as he pulls at the hand cuffs before glancing over at Buffy who had just done a back flip using the chains she was still attached to, allowing her to kick the demon in the face.
Buffy growls slightly, this idiot was seriously having a go at her for not speeding up in rescuing him when he was the one that put them in this situation "I swear to God if you don't shut up—" Buffy is cut off as a gasp of pain escapes her as the demon punches her in the gut.
The anger quickly rises and she raises her legs kicking the demon in the stomach sending him flying backwards. As he crashes into a bookcase Buffy quickly attempts to get the chains out of the wall.
"Come on, come on blondie!" Constantine tells her as he looks over to spot the demon standing.
Buffy turns and glares at him "I'm chained to a wall, you have fire powers!" She yells "Use them!"
"Can't exactly do that here, luv. That hulking tree friend of ours doesn't like it when I come to visit so puts up precautions."
Buffy's eyes widen at that, he had not mentioned that he had previous encounters with the demon, hissing in pain slightly she ignores the blood dripping down from her wrists and yanks on the chains tearing them from the wall violently.
She takes a deep breath before turning and glaring at the British sorcerer "You know this thing!"
Constantine merely shrugs "Did I forget to mention that?"
Buffy growls slightly before she strolls over to him, yanking the handcuff off his wrist she then grabs him forcing him to stand "Are you trying to get us killed?!"
Constantine rolls his eyes for a second, she was being very dramatic in his opinion, before he could say anything, however, something catches the corner of his eyes "Distract." He tells her before he dives out of the way just as the massive demon runs at Buffy throwing her through the wall.
Buffy groans as her back connects with wooden staircase, as her body falls to the ground, she groans slightly, she really hadn't pictured today going this way. It was supposed to be simple, help the jackass and he helps her, this wasn't supposed to be happening.
Sighing slightly, she glances into the other room where the trench wearing blonde lunatic was currently riffling through the bookshelf. Her eyes widen as she spots the demon moving in on him, groaning slightly she clenches her jaw before running forward and grabbing onto the door frame she swings her body forward kicking the demon in the back, as he stumbles back her body swings back before she lets go of the wood and allows herself to drop back onto her feet.
"Crap." She mutters as she watches the giant demon turn back to her, it's focus now completely on her "Oh I'm gonna die." She mutters to herself before ducking underneath the demon's arm as he swings it at her.
She drops to her knees and swings her leg out at him knocking him off his feet however within a mere second he was back up and he grabs her by the shoulders and slams her up against the bookcase.
She groans as her some of the broken wood digs into her back but quickly recomposes herself only for Constantine's voice to pipe in "Try to cause a little less damage, luv." He tells her before going back to searching.
Buffy stares at him astonished only for the demon to wrap an arm around her neck trying to chock her, she gasps slightly but pushes against the bookshelf causing them both to go crashing to the ground.
As it's release on her loosens Buffy gasps loudly before she glares over at Constantine "Oh, I'm sorry, how about you fight the big hulking tree!" She yells sarcastically before flipping back onto her feet only for the demon to release several branches which wrap around her legs, it yanks her backwards causing her to crash face first on the ground painfully.
Buffy groans slightly as blood drips from her nose, she struggles slightly as she feels the branches continue to wrap around her. She gasps slightly as she feels the branches begin to cut off her circulation, just as her vision begins to blur she spots the scythe near her only an arm's reach away.
Using all of her strength she turns her self over and kicks the demon in the leg as it approaches her, as it stumbles it's hold on her loosens, ripping herself free, she flips herself back up and leaps up sending a powerful kick to his stomach.
Quickly she rolls across the ground and grabs the scythe just in time to block his arm as he attempts to grab her again.
Jumping up she swings the scythe at him slicing it right through his arm, as it howls in pain she flips into a side aerial kicking him in the face, she then drops to the ground and spins on her knees, swinging the scythe as she does she removes both of his legs before she stands.
Pinning the creature down with her feet she smirks "Bye bye Groot." She hisses before swinging the scythe once more removing his head.
"Groot?" A voice says from behind her.
Buffy takes a deep breath and rolls her head back, this pain in the ass was still here, she had almost forgotten, five minutes without him speaking had been complete heaven.
"It's a comic book, never live with a nerd." She tells him before she turns to face him "Did you get it?"
Constantine smirks before raising the book towards her "Oh yeah."
Present Day – Starling City
"How are you even doing that?" Willow asks from below in the chair that she had dubbed her own while Buffy climbed onto the top level of Oliver's salamander ladder.
Buffy merely chuckles "It's fun." She says before releasing her hands allowing herself to drop to the ground landing perfectly like a cat.
Willow smiles before clapping her hands "10 out of 10."
Buffy smiles back before walking over to her friend and bending down in front of her "How's your leg?" She asks with a worried frown, seeing Willow like that, hurt, beaten down, it was something she never wanted to see again, not if she could help it.
"Buffy, you can't always protect me." Willow tells her best friend, she sighs knowing Buffy was worried, she always would be.
"Buffy!" Diggle calls from the other side of the room making Buffy's head instantly spin around to face him.
Standing she quickly squeezes Willow's hand before making her way over to Dig who was know standing over a very conscious Oliver.
Oliver turns his head and watches as Buffy and Diggle approach him, he lays there silent for a moment before sighing "I guess I didn't die. Again." While Buffy laughs in amusement Diggle shakes his head in disbelief, one of these days he really was gonna just kill Oliver "Cool."
"Fancy." Oliver says as he glances at the neatly sewn wound on his chest, maybe going to a paramedic had actually been a good idea, she saved his life and the scar wouldn't be too bad, but still, it was another scar to explain.
"I don't do ugly sewage when it comes to wounds." Buffy tells him as she stands by the knife collection only to earn a glare out of him when he spots her about to pick one up.
She raises her hands in defence before climbing up onto the table to sit down.
Oliver sighs before glancing at the wound once more "So how am I going to explain this one?" He asks Diggle.
Diggle chuckles and glances at Buffy who was now sat beside him "Hickey gone wrong?"
Buffy thinks for a moment "Oh what about...an experimentation into the same sex."
Oliver glares at the two of them, having the two of them together all the time in here could and would likely drive him insane "Neither of you are helping."
"We're not trying to." Buffy tells him with a smile.
Oliver sighs before moving to put the blanket back over him only to wince in pain slightly as he does Buffy frowns and quickly moves to her bag.
Grabbing out some morphine she makes her way over to him, as she grabs one of her needles and prepares it he watches her intently, he still was a little unsure about her, he couldn't get a read on her, which just made him that much more intrigued.
"Give me your arm." She tells him only for him to look at her sceptically.
Buffy sighs "Oliver, I just cut a bullet out of you and did CPR to keep you alive, do you really think I'm gonna kill you with a needle." When he still doesn't hand her his arm, she places her hand on his and looks at him seriously "Trust me." She tells him softly.
Oliver watches her for a long moment before he slowly hands her his arm wincing slightly as he does.
She smiles at him before quickly injecting the small does of morphine into his system.
"Police collected a sample of your blood at Queen Consolidated." Willow says from behind them where she was currently playing with the computer system.
Oliver, Diggle and Buffy move over to the red head as her fingers continue to fly over the computer keys "I just hacked the crime lab and ordered the sample destroyed." She says before smirking slightly "Oops." She whispers to herself before spinning in her chair to face the three soldiers.
Her eyes immediately widen as she spots the look on Oliver's face "I hope it's all right."
Buffy merely shakes her head in amusement, Will just couldn't help herself.
"Your system looked like it was from the '80's, and not the good part of the '80's like Madonna and legwarmers."
Buffy arches a brow at that "Wil...legwarmers?"
"Okay, that's bad." She agrees only for Oliver to clear his throat drawing the attention of the two women.
"That's a lot of work." He says as they both turn to him "Does that mean you're in?"
Buffy coughs slightly, of all things she had been expecting him to say that had not been one of them. He actually wanted them to join forces, they couldn't, they wouldn't.
She shakes her head before looking at him seriously "What? Join? As in your crusade causing I take it you're not asking us to join your rock band."
Oliver turns to the blonde "Well, you're both practically honorary members of the team already."
"So Dig said." Buffy pauses and glances over at Diggle who had a knowing expression on his face, he knew why she couldn't she had her own mission, one far more dangerous which needed all of her attention.
"No." Buffy tells Oliver shocking him.
Oliver takes a step closer to the blonde, he was shocked, to say the least, she had saved his life and Diggle was her best friend, yet she didn't want to help them, it didn't make any sense "Why?"
"I can't." She tells him honestly "Dig knows why."
"I want to find Walter." A voice says from behind Buffy, making the blonde's eyes widen in shock. She turns to face Willow a shocked expression on her face, Willow wanted to stay she could see it in her expression "Will..." Buffy starts only for Willow to cut her off.
"I want to find Walter, Buffy." Willow tells her before she slowly stands using the chair to support her. Once she was sure she wouldn't topple over she focuses on Oliver "He was nice to me, and Xander is worried about him. Plus Mr Diggle told me that the notebook you use to fight crime is the same notebook that got Walter abducted. I'll help you rescue him, but that's it."
"Willow..." Buffy tries again, she didn't want her friend involved in this, she could get hurt again, it was bad enough that her bein involved in the Watcher's Council had almost gotten her killed but what if she was out there with The Hood and got hurt.
Willow looks at her best friend hoping that she would understand, she had to do this, had to help Walter, even if it meant not helping the Watcher's Council at the moment.
Slowly Willow turns back to Oliver "That's my offer."
Oliver stays silent for a moment before nodding "Ok."
Willow takes a relived breathe "So I've been meaning to ask, is there a bathroom? Because I've had to pee since I got
here."
Oliver smiles slightly "It's upstairs to the left." He tells her before moving out of the way allowing her to pass by him.
Buffy merely stands there for a moment, she may understand why Willow was willing to do this but it still shocked and worried her. Taking a deep breath she turns back to Oliver "If she stays, I'll help..." She tells him, however when she spots the smirk coming on his face she raises her hand stopping it before it could take form "Uh-huh, no. I will help...with wounds etcetera. I'd feel real guilty if you died." She shakes her head before sighing "Get that smirk off your face." She orders as she walks past him to follow Willow.
Oliver shakes his head in amusement and despite her protests, he does smirk slightly, "Buffy..." He says drawing her attention, as she turns back to face him he holds out his hand towards her "Thank you."
Buffy stares at his hand sceptically before taking his hand and shaking it, slowly she releases his hand before moving upstairs to make sure Willow was alright.
Diggle watches his best friend climb up the stairs before he turns to face Oliver, he was worried Buffy and Willow were already in danger against the organization they were fighting for the Watcher's Council, bringing them into this was just more danger "Oliver, Buffy is all I have and Willow is one of the only people she has, and I know you don't wanna hurt them and you didn't have any choice in telling them who you really are but..." Diggle sighs trying to think of how to explain this without breaking his promise to Buffy "...you saw the state they were in. Willow's seriously hurt and Buff has cuts and bruises all over her. They are all ready involved in something pretty dangerous involving them just adds more to their pile."
"We can protect them." Oliver argues.
"How? Your mother just shot you, Oliver." Diggle points out "You can't even keep yourself straight. Buffy is strong enough but she can't be everywhere at once, and neither can you."
Oliver sighs, it was bad enough that his mother had shot him he really didn't need a reminder "She was scared. She was defending herself." He argues not wanting to get back into the argument they had yet to finish.
"or..." Diggle starts "...she was hiding something, like maybe her involvement In Walter's disappearance or worse."
"Diggle, we don't always know why people do what they do, but what I do know is that when I was standing in her office with an arrow aimed at her heart, she begged me to spare her on behalf of me and Thea. Now I've taken down a lot of bad people, none of them brought up their kids, Dig."
Diggle sighs, as much as Oliver wanted to believe what he was saying it didn't argue with the facts "Oliver, she had the list. Now, she may not be in charge of whatever it is, but she's definitely involved."
Five Years Ago – Boston
Buffy watches as Constantine leads her back out of the forest away from the entrance to the Hell Dimension. Slowly she pushes branches out of the way as they continue to come into her path, slicing through them with the scythe.
"Tell me you got the right book." Buffy says as she glances at the blonde male as he continues to flip through the book that they had stolen.
Constantine smirks slightly before showing her the page he had stopped on, on the page showed an image of the Orb that he had been looking for "About bloody time." He mummers to himself before lowering the book and quickly placing it inside his jacket for safety, he really couldn't risk losing this book otherwise there would be no way of knowing where in the North China Sea this book was.
Buffy smiles slightly as annoying as the man was it was nice to work with him, he actually kind of reminded her a bit of Spike, only more of the pre chip Spike then anything else.
"Thanks for all your help, luv." He tells her honestly as he pushes his sleeves up before glancing at the scythe on her back "I'm a man of my word, hand it over."
Buffy hesitates for a moment, she never really let anyone other than a few of the other Slayers touch the scythe, it was precious to her, it had literally become a part of her.
But what he had promised to do would help her in the future, help her protect the world and her friends and her sister, and that was something that she would always do, if this could help her do then she had to do it.
Slowly she takes the scythe out of it's holder and holds it towards Constantine, the sorcerer stares at the object for a moment before smiling, he could sense the power coming off it. As he takes it in his hands he could feel it too, the heavenly power that it had been blessed with.
Slowly raises a hand over it he closes his eyes and covers the scythe in a blue glow "Bar ziddi har torikī va ʙad. Bar ziddi dahşati osmonī va devhoi. Bigzor qudrat dar osmon ʙoznatavonad cī az çahannam xud."
Slowly the glow disappears and Constantine merely stands there for a moment before tossing the scythe back at the blonde "There. No matter what, a creature of hell cannot touch that scythe of yours without being burnt by the heavenly power inside it. If they hold it too long...let's just say it won't be pretty."
Buffy catches the scythe and glances down at it, this could be pretty cool, plus it would mean that she would be able to tell if someone was a demon a lot easier.
"Thank you." She tells him honestly.
The blonde man merely smirks "Oh no thank you...it's taken me a long time to get this close to that orb."
Buffy shakes her head in amusement before looking at him seriously "Oh, by the way, leave me to die again I will kick your ass."
"Point taken." He tells her before giving her a little bow "Seriously consider that program in Afghanistan, there are things coming in the coming months, it will be a nice escape. I'll be seeing you soon princess."
And with those final words, he merely disappeared before Buffy's eyes leaving her alone in the forest.
Present Day – Starling City
"Wait for me in the car." Buffy tells Willow as they come back down the stairs where Oliver was now stood alone in the empty room, Diggle was gone.
"Fine but I'm driving, you still drive like a crazy person." Willow argues before moving to the exit, she waves at Oliver before leaving the room, leaving the Slayer and the Hood alone.
Walking towards him Buffy grazes her hand over the salamander ladder as she does, "I have one too you know."
Oliver chuckles in amusement "For a woman who keeps Sais underneath a coffee table that doesn't surprise me."
Buffy lets out a small breath before she smiles, she remembered that night quite well "I did kind of whoop your ass huh?" She teases as she walks over to him.
Oliver arches a brow "No."
Buffy laughs slightly "You know you could have just asked for my help, the whole breaking and entering...a little pink panthery if you ask me."
Oliver smiles slightly, she was probably right in that department but before he could say anything she speaks seriously cutting him off and making him focus on her.
Buffy takes a deep breath and looks up at the man seriously, she knew what he was doing, she understood his crusade, but this was Willow's life and protecting her was what mattered most.
"Oliver...she's my tech...my best friend..." Buffy takes another breath, this was difficult for her, she didn't do this very often, allow her emotions to show so much and it was even rarer for her to do it in front of a man who wasn't Diggle or Xander and hell Xander had barely seen it in five years.
"I don't have a lot of people in my life I care about..." She tells him honestly making him stare at her with a caring gaze as she continued "...she is one of the few people in this world who doesn't make me wanna turn off every emotion...she keeps me floating. So let me make something clear, I will train with you, fix you up when your hurt, hell I will do field work for you if needed but she...never goes out there, she is never put in any situations that could harm one hair on her head because...she is too good to die...and I can't...I can't survive without her...Oliver let me make something very clear and I know this sounds horrible but if anything happens to her...I will kill you..." She tells him honestly as her voice goes hard and her jaw line straightens, in that moment the look in her eyes made it very clear to him that she was very much serious, this girl really meant that much to her.
"I understand." He tells her "I'll protect her."
"Good." She tells him "Just so you know, your training area a lot nicer than mine, so I will be here...keeping an eye on you. I wanna trust you Oliver, but her life matters a hell of a lot more to me than my own."
Oliver blinks at that, he had never seen her like this, so emotional yet so well contained about it at the same time, it was like he was when it came to Thea "Buffy, I promise you...I will do everything I can to keep her safe."
"So..." Willow says cheerfully as Buffy climbs into the car "...how'd it go?"
Buffy merely glances at her as she closes the door, Willow really did seem to be fascinated by her relationship with Oliver "We made a deal." She tells her best friend honestly before looking at her seriously her worry for her being very evident in her expression "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
Willow sighs, she understood why Buffy was so hesitant but for her own mindset she needed to do this, she needed to help find Walter and maybe this time working with Oliver could allow her to help more people.
"I need to do this, Buffy. You don't have to worry about me...you'll get wrinkles." She teases causing Buffy to tap her arm slightly before smiling slightly.
Buffy leans back in her chair before groaning, "What am I going to do without you?"
"You have Xander." Willow argues knowing that she was talking about their mission however as the words leave her lips Willow shakes her head "You need help."
Buffy nods in agreement, she loved Xander, but he wasn't the best with tech plus he got distracted too easy, anyway his work at Queen Consolidated was more important at the moment.
"I'm gonna need a new tech."
As the words leave the blonde slayer's mouth an idea comes to Willow's head, she had the perfect candidate in mind, slowly a smirk covers her face "I may have an idea."